Turkey’s President, Recep Erdogan, has offered to share intelligence with Nigerian authorities, and ramp up trade with Nigeria.
During his two-day official visit to Nigeria, President Erdogan held a joint press conference, Wednesday, with President Muhammadu Buhari, where he also hinted that Nigeria was harboring terrorists from Turkey.
In 2016, Turkey had experienced a coup attempt, which was foiled, and President Erdogan had accused some citizens of Turkey to have drawn inspiration from the philosophy of the Hizmet movement of renowned cleric, Fethullah Gulen, to stage the coup.
Erdogan had unsuccessfully put pressure on the Nigerian authorities to shut down the Turkish schools and hospitals across Nigeria, being operated by Gulen’s loyalists.
Erdogan had at his joint press conference with Buhari said, “As Turkey, we have been closely monitoring the development in Nigeria, our brotherly and friendly nation. The terrorist organizations, the armed gangs and the marine vendors are continuously active in Nigeria and the Nigerian authorities are continuously fighting them.
“The sensitivity we show in fighting terrorism, I hope will be reciprocated by our Nigerian brothers and sisters and our counterparts. The perpetrators of the heinous failed coup of July the 15 FETO are still very active in Nigeria. And we are continually sharing our intelligence with Nigerian interlocutors and authorities.”
Promising to expand trade volume from the current $2bn to $5bn between Nigeria and Turkey, Erdogan expressed hope that the relations between Nigeria and Turkey would be further developed on the basis of mutual respect.
President Buhari, on his part, acknowledged signing eight major agreements/Memoranda of Understanding on energy, defense industry, mining and hydrocarbons, among others.
