On the occasion of the National Day of the Republic of Turkey (October 29), Ambassador Akif Ayhan celebrates the partnership between two countries.

It is a great pleasure for me to address the readers of Việt Nam News on the occasion of the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Turkey. I would like to present our warmest sympathy and regards to the Vietnamese people, while also re-extending our hearfelt condolences for the untimely demise of the late President, Mr Trần Đại Quang and convey our most sincere congratulations to his successor, Mr Nguyễn Phú Trọng.

Today, Turks at home and abroad are celebrating the 95th anniversary of their Republic with joy and pride. After more than nine decades of progress through the founding principles set by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey now stands focused on stability with an evolving economy as part of the G-20. 

She has attained some regional sway and global outreach as seen through her pro-active involvement in refugee crises and humanitarian issues while advancing in the economy, trade, health, education, culture, technology and science. Our rather young population is one of our major assets for sustainable growth and social development. 

Furthermore, Turkey has a unique location at the junction of Europe, Asia and Africa. That allows her to play a pivotal role in several areas. Turkey therefore has reasons to look to the future with confidence.

In 2023, the Republic of Turkey will celebrate her centennial anniversary. Turkey has set out a number of objectives which will help raise standards of peace and prosperity, while fostering her support for her neighbourhood and other parts of the world. Turkey pursues an “enterprising and humanitarian foreign policy” with a view to strengthening regional security and stability, fighting terrorism, protecting the rights of  her citizens, deepening strategic ties, enhancing and diversifying trade networks and energy security, consolidating bonds with all geographies, co-operating within multilateral groupings and improving her soft power.

Turkey and Việt Nam have enjoyed friendly bilateral political relations ever since the establishment of their diplomatic ties in 1978. At multilateral scale, the two countries continue to extend support to each other. Turkey has become a sectoral dialog partner with ASEAN, thanks to, among other factors, precious backing by Việt Nam. Our economic and commercial dealings play a noticeable role in our partnership. We aim to increase our bilateral trade volume from the current level of US$3 billion.

The ongoing year, which marks the 40th anniversary of our diplomatic ties, has witnessed yet another leap forward. The visits by Binali Yildirim, former Prime Minister of Turkey to Việt Nam in August 2017 and by Chairwoman of the National Assembly of Việt Nam Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân to Turkey earlier this October, each set a landmark as they were the highest level official visits from Turkey to Việt Nam and vice versa. During the parliamentary visit, the parties reiterated their determination to boost their joint endeavours in a vast array of fields, including political, security and defense, commercial and cultural spheres.

As part of our Embassy’s contributions towards this, we have just staged Turkish cuisine days and a fashion show last week in Hà Nội for increasing Turkey’s visibility in Việt Nam to the delight of the Vietnamese and foreign audiences. So we have now seized momentum in our relations, which we aim to keep up in the near future.

It is worth mentioning that Turkish and Vietnamese people do not yet know each other’s cultural values and assets well enough, despite certain similarities in our social and family fabric.

We should therefore continue to promote reciprocal cultural, tourism and business exchanges by easing visa regimes, which will make travel in both directions smoother.

The daily flights operated by Turkish Airlines between Istanbul, Hà Nội and HCM City facilitate the development of people-to-people contacts in addition to official visits. Incremental cultural promotion events in our respective countries will enable intensifying social interactions between our friendly peoples.

In sum, the Turkey - Việt Nam partnership thrives on a positive agenda based on promising prospects. I hereby greet the readers of Việt Nam News with expression of my earnest sentiments while wishing well to the friendly people of Việt Nam and to their eminent leaders. — VNS