COMMUNIQUE

1. We , The Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Heads of Delegations, representing the African Union and its Institutions and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, met in Istanbul, Turkey, on 12 February 2018, at the second Ministerial Review Conference of the African Union-Turkey Partnership;

2. We reemphasized the centrality of the AU Agenda 2063, its First Ten Year Implementation Plan and the UN's 2030 Agenda as the guiding frameworks for our partnership;

3. We further underlined the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on financing for development, which will guide our future work and expressed our commitment to their effective implementation;

4. We also reviewed the Joint Implementation Plan of African Union Turkey Partnership 2015-2019 and the Matrix of Key Priority Projects of African Union-Turkey Partnership 2015-2019 adopted at the Second African Union-Turkey Cooperation Summit. In this regard, we took note of the progress achieved by both sides and discussed further steps in order to enhance the cooperation between the African Union and Turkey and to review the Matrix of Key Priority Projects in order to facilitate its implementation;

5. We took note of the ongoing interactions between African Union and Turkey, individual African countries, and Regional Economic Communities (RECs). We noted with satisfaction that these relations are developing with mutual trust and respect on the basis of a win-win cooperation and commended the momentum rendered to our mutual relations by numerous visits especially at the level of Heads of State and encouraged further contacts;

6. We recognized the essential role played by the RECs in the strengthening of the African Union-Turkey Partnership;

7. We took note with appreciation of the outcomes of sectoral Ministerial meetings held on diverse areas such as trade, economy, agriculture, education and health organized in Turkey since the Second African Union-Turkey Partnership Summit of 2014;

8. We agreed to a streamlined and focused African Union- Turkey partnership that contributes substantially to the implementation of continental priority programs as enshrined in the AU Agenda 2063 and its First Ten Year Implementation Plan;

9. We welcomed the reciprocal increase in the diplomatic representation between African countries and Turkey and its positive contribution to the enhancement of our relations within the partnership;

10. We noted the importance of trade and investment as key components of relations between African countries and Turkey reflecting positively on the economic growth. We reiterated our desire to further strengthen economic and commercial relations through examining possibilities of removing tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade by way of potentially concluding Trade and Economic Partnership Agreements that would be based on an asymmetrical model enabling African countries to protect their sensitive sectors. We also took into consideration the progress made and effort undertaken by the AU to fastrack the establishment of the Continental Free Trade Area as an effective mechanism for boosting intra-Africa trade and broaden the links of Africa with the global economy;

11. We welcomed the organization of the first Turkey-Africa Economic and Business Forum on 2-3 November 2016 in Istanbul with the high level participation of 46 African countries and regional organizations. We agreed on organization of such Forums biennially in Turkey and African Union countries alternatively. In this regard, we also welcomed the Turkey-ECOWAS Economic and Business Forum, which will be organized on 22-23 February 2018 in İstanbul and encourage the promotion of investment opportunities, including through joint ventures in key priority sectors such as agro-industry, tourism, and the establishment of eco-friendly industrial parks and economic zones;

12. We welcomed initiatives for support in the fight against desertification, drought and land degradation and called for enhancing the efforts in terms of sharing know-how and experience on the Great Green Wall Initiative;

13. We underlined the important role of university scholarships in building mutual understanding and cooperation, and welcomed “Turkey Scholarships” and commend the “Turkey-Africa Scholarship Program” as a tool for further cooperation in higher education between African countries and Turkey while at the same time seeking ways of cooperation that would also extend to Pan – African University;

14. We welcomed the organization of the “Congress of Health in Africa" in Istanbul on 20-21 July 2017 and emphasized on the right of all citizens to access affordable healthcare and noted the potential offered by the both African and Turkish public and private healthcare sectors in this regard through various programs;

15. We reaffirmed our support for peaceful resolution of the Arab- Israeli conflict in accordance with the principles of international law and all relevant United Nations resolutions to ensure the establishment of an independent Palestinian State on the borders of the June 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital;

16. We also reaffirmed our commitment to cooperate to fight and eliminate all forms and manifestation of terrorism, violent extremism and radicalization through exchanges, expertise, capacity building, information and experience sharing including to redouble our efforts against all forms of financial and operational support to terrorist organizations and groups;

17. We underscored our support for the legitimate and fundamental claim of rectifying a historical injustice, through an equitable representation in the UN Security Council. The African Union stated the importance it attaches to the Ezulwini Consensus and Sirte Declaration;

18. We commended the attention accorded to the annual May 25 Africa Day celebrations in Turkey as a channel to provide visibility to the African Union-Turkey partnership and as a vehicle to promote, maintain and increase awareness within the population of both sides;

19. We committed to establishing and enhancing Joint Monitoring and Evaluation mechanisms of the African Union-Turkey partnership through regular consultations;

20. We reviewed the state of the important partnership and underlined the positive contribution of the Second African Union-Turkey Partnership Summit to the strengthening of the relations between the African Union and Turkey and called on both sides to streamline efforts for the successful realization of the Third Summit;

21. We also agreed to develop concrete projects in line with the AU Agenda 2063 and its First Ten Year Implementation Plan within the preparatory process of the upcoming third 2019 African Union-Turkey Summit to be held in Istanbul, Turkey;

22. We noted the importance of considering cooperation between Africa and Turkey in the field of civil aviation in relation to advancing the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) as a priority AU flagship project;

23. We noted the importance of the steady increase in development assistance from Turkey to Africa and encouraged the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) to be further engaged with the African Union on deliverable projects;

24. We condemn in the strongest term any form of armed violence and coup attempt to overthrow legally constituted authorities in Turkey and in African countries;

25. It is on this note that we declared our full solidarity with the people and the Government of Turkey as well as people and governments of African states in their fight against any form of unlawful attempt to undermine or overthrow constitutional authorities and promote democracy, justice, security and unity of their peoples;

26. We expressed our sincere thanks and gratitude to H.E. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Government and the people of Turkey for the warm hospitality and expressed our appreciation as regards to the excellent working conditions provided to all delegations.