Dhaka, Ankara to further bilateral relations

Bangladesh and Turkey are set to deepening bi-lateral relations through increasing trade and commerce and work in security areas as strong allies on the global stage.
To cement ties between the two countries, and increase cooperation in different areas, Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu will visit Bangladesh on January 8 for some few hours and hopefully sign a "Memorandum of Understanding" on bilateral cooperation in the areas of security and containing terrorism jointly.
"He will in person visit the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar including Bhasan Char to see the Turkey funded humanitarian projects in camps, later he will sit with his counterpart Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to lead the bilateral talks," a senior official of the
Foreign Ministry confirmed.
Bangladesh, which has been facing serious diplomatic challenges for the Rohingya crisis, needs its ally, and Turkey has proved to be one in various global forums, including the International Court of Justice.
At the invitation of the home Minister, the Turkish minister is set to arrive here on a special flight and set to sign a deal on cooperation on security and containing terrorism between the police forces of the two countries.
Turkey, a NATO member with a strong military power, is an influential voice at the UN, OIC and other global forums and has been supportive of Dhaka's stance on the Rohingya issue.
Bangladesh also eyes to increase trade with Turkey, which Ankara wants to push to $2 billion from the current two-way annual trade worth $1 billion, official said.
Turkey, an upper middle-income country in Europe, can be a large market for Bangladesh. The countries can also have joint ventures, including in textile, as they both have specialties in the sector and other areas, he said.
In June, 2021, Bangladesh signed a defence purchase agreement with Turkey for importing various defence equipment from Rokestan, a Turkish military hardware company and contractor.
"Our Turkish defence industry signed a deal for export [to Bangladesh] of various types of defence equipment. Don't stop, keep going!" said Ismail Demir, president of Turkish Defence Industries in a tweet on June 29, 2021. However, officials of Bangladesh Embassy in Ankara confirmed the deal.
Traditionally, Bangladesh buys major defence equipment from China, Russia, US, UK and South Korea.
Turkey has taken up its 'Asia Anew Initiative' that is re-engaging with Asia as its foreign policy priority. "Asia Anew" initiative focuses on strengthening relations with Asian countries to build synergies in education, defence, investment, trade, technology, and culture. Turkey appears to be fostering closer relations with Bangladesh through this initiative, turning its attention to countries including Bangladesh, a country with a $4.45 billion military budget allocation for the fiscal year 2021-22.
Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu during a visit to Bangladesh expressed Ankara's keenness to enhance defence cooperation with Dhaka and engage in "joint production and technology transfer."
Turkey, which sided with West Pakistan during Bangladesh's Liberation War in 1971, recognised Bangladesh in 1974 and opened its embassy in Dhaka another two years later.
The relations had grown since then, but it took a nosedive in 2012 when Ankara started condemning the International War Crimes Tribunal's prosecution of Jamaat-e-Islami leaders.
Following the execution of Jamaat leader Motiur Rahman Nizami in May 2016, Turkey withdrew its ambassador to Bangladesh, bringing the bilateral relations under severe strain.
The strained relations began healing when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina wrote to Turkish President Erdogan, condemning the coup attempt to overthrow him in July 2016.
Consequently, Ankara sent a new ambassador to Dhaka later that year.
Turkey's Anadolu news agency recently reported that Bangladesh became the fourth-largest arms buyer from Turkey, reportedly receiving up to $60 million worth of weapons out of Turkey's roughly $1 billion in global defence product exports in the first four months of 2021.
Meanwhile, 41 members of the Bangladesh Armed Forces participated in training in Turkey in June this year. "Bangladesh is set to become one of the top defence equipment clients of Turkey in the next five years," the news agency said.
Bangladesh has become the fourth-largest arms buyer from Turkey, reportedly receiving up to $60 million worth of weapons out of Turkey's roughly $1 billion in defence products exports in the first four months of 2021.