Turkey and Turkmenistan may sign some important agreements in the first half of 2020, said Ambassador Mustafa Kapucu of Turkey in an exclusive conversation with nCa on Thursday (26 December 2019).
The ambassador, who has completed his tenure in Turkmenistan and will return to Ankara within the next few days said that considerable work was done during this year to align the positions and prepare the terms and content of the agreements.
He said that relations between Turkey and Turkmenistan continued to grow during his tenure. He attributed it to two factors: 1. The wide base of commonalties that constitute the very special nature of relations – one nation, two countries; 2. The mutual desire of both the countries to always find a joint position on shared issues.
Ambassador Kapucu said that the trade turnover this year had increased by 45% compared to the figures of last year. He said that the bilateral trade relations were already bouncing back from the setbacks caused by the global financial and economic crisis.
The ambassador said that many high level visits took place during his stay of four and half years in Turkmenistan.
Speaking of the role of the Turkish construction companies in Turkmenistan, the ambassador said that the main construction phase in Turkmenistan had been completed and that is why the number of Turkish companies in Turkmenistan had decreased in the recent years.
He said that the local construction companies in Turkmenistan had gained the know-how in their working relationship with the foreign builders including the Turkish companies, and now they were able to handle most of the projects on their own. This, he said, was a sign of successful partnership.
Ambassador Kapucu said that the Turkish company Chalyk Energy will start the ground work on TAP (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan power transmission network) in next year.
The ambassador said that throughout his stay in Turkmenistan he tried to build relations with the people from all areas of the society. He said that because of the genuine and sincere brotherly feelings from the Turkmen people his tenure was one of the most satisfying periods of his career.
He said that the new ambassador of Turkey to Turkmenistan will officially assume his duties on 15 January 2020.
Orient.tm reported recently that Togan Oral, till recently the consul general of Turkey in Rotterdam, had been appointed as the next ambassador of Turkey to Turkmenistan. /// nCa, 27 December 2019