‘Shared history, common culture, human ties ‘strongly bind’ Jordan, Turkey’

AMMAN — Turkey and Jordan are two close allies and strategic partners in the Middle East, enjoying perfect political and institutionalised relations, said Turkish Ambassador to Jordan Murat Karagoz. 

Both countries are facing common challenges in the region, he told The Jordan Times in an interview on the occasion of his country’s national day, which the embassy will mark on Tuesday.

“We are spending great efforts to overcome these challenges through deeper cooperation and coordination. In terms of people-to-people relations, as the latest public opinion poll shows, strong affection and friendly ties exist between the peoples of the two countries. We, the Turks appreciate it very much,” the ambassador said.

Following the abrogation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by Jordan in 2018, the two countries had negotiated a new Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement and signed it on October 1, 2019, he said.

Due to the cancellation of the FTA, there has been a partial decrease in bilateral trade volume in 2019. Trade volume between the two countries was $854 million in 2018, whereas it was $364 million in the first 8 months of 2019, Karagoz noted.

“Unfortunately, Jordan’s export to Turkey dropped a few times more. But, we hope to correct this course in the near future,” he said.

On the other hand, Turkey is one of the top destinations for Jordanians, he added, citing the more than 400 thousand Jordanians who visited Turkey last year.

“This year we are expecting to host half a million Jordanian citizens. Visa-free regime and multi-destination bilateral flights are boosting dynamism in tourism. We also want to encourage more Turkish tourists to visit Jordan,” the envoy said.

 In regards to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Karagoz stressed that Turkey and Jordan defend the same principles in terms of the status of Jerusalem and the question of Palestine. 

“Turkey desires sincerely a just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which lies beneath the problems in the Middle East, through mutual negotiations on the basis of a vision of two states living side-by-side within secure and recognised borders, East Jerusalem being the capital, and in the framework of the relevant Resolutions of the UN Security Council as well as the principle of land for peace, the Road Map and the Arab Peace Initiative,” he said.

“Turkey supports the Hashemite custodianship of the holy sites in Jerusalem,” the ambassador stated.

Another area of cooperation between Turkey and Jordan that the envoy highlighted is UNRWA. Turkey, he said, increased its annual contribution to $10 million for supporting UNRWA’s activities.

 Touching on the anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic, Karagoz said that the greatest achievement of the 96-year-old Turkish state is the Republic itself.

From “a devastated country of wars” in the early 20th century, 96 years later, Turkey has become the 17th largest economy in the world and sixth in Europe, he noted. 

Despite all the challenges it faces, Turkey, a country with a population of 82 million, a “vibrant business community, creative diplomacy and strong army continues to be an island of stability in its region, whose friendship is indispensable for its partners. Turkey has also a great cultural depth beyond its borders,” said the ambassador.

 Elaborating on the results of Operation Peace Spring and the agreements reached between Turkey and the United States and the Russian Federation, the envoy said: “Legitimate security concerns of Turkey emanating from PKK/PYD/YPG terrorism have been recognised and preservation of Syria’s territorial integrity has been confirmed.”

These developments, he added, have also paved the way for the voluntary and safe return of Syrian refugees to their homeland.  

“Turkey is the largest refugee hosting nation in the world, with 3.6 million Syrians under temporary protection being on the top of the list. We have spent nearly $40 billion for their cause, without sufficient support from the international community,” he highlighted.

“Both Turkey and Jordan are advocating for a political solution to the Syrian crisis. We both are targeted by terrorist threat emanating from our common neighbour. We are the two countries who opened our doors to millions of our Syrian brothers and sisters, and our trade routes have been impeded by this devastating conflict. 

“Therefore, Turkey wants to continue to work with Jordan to overcome these challenges. We deem Jordan as a strategic partner, in this regard,” the ambassador stressed.

 Shared history, common culture and close human ties “strongly bind” Turkey and Jordan, Karagoz said. 

“We consider the nearly 3,500 Turkish citizens who are living in Jordan and the almost 8,000 Jordanians [one-fourth of whom are students] who are living in Turkey as the friendship bridge between the two countries,” said the diplomat.

“We want the peoples of both countries to get to know each other better. To this end, 2020 has been declared as the Mutual Year of Culture between Turkey and Jordan,” he added.

Among the activities slated for 2020 are reciprocal exhibitions, visual art performances, concerts, festivals and literature-related events in both countries, he explained. 

 “As a prelude to this important occasion, last month, our embassy in collaboration with the Yunus Emre Turkish Cultural Centre in Amman organised the ‘Turkish Cultural Days’, where we showed Turkish movies, opened an art exhibition, organised an archaeological conference, promoted Turkish cuisine and music and thus earned well-recognition from our Jordanian brothers and sisters,” Karagoz concluded.