Growing cooperation with Cuba important to Türkiye: Erdogan

Ankara attaches importance to its increasing cooperation with Cuba, Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

"I especially attach importance to increasing our cooperation and solidarity with Cuba, one of our main partners in the region," Erdogan said on Wednesday at a news conference with his Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez in the capital Ankara.

Erdogan said they discussed ways to develop existing cooperation in fields such as energy, tourism, construction, agriculture, development, health, and the environment.

Diaz-Canel's visit coincides with the 70th anniversary of Türkiye and Cuba establishing diplomatic relations.

"As you know, our relations with the Latin America and Caribbean region constitute one of the main pillars of our foreign policy," Erdogan said.

Erdogan added that bilateral relations have remained under their potential since unilateral sanctions were imposed on Cuba years ago.

Bilateral trade

Türkiye and Cuba also agreed to raise their bilateral trade volume to $200 million.

Diaz-Canel, for his part, underlined that throughout history, Türkiye-Cuba ties developed "on the basis of respect."

The president said he had a "fruitful" meeting with Erdogan and that the two countries agreed to further diversify bilateral trade relations.

During the visit, Türkiye and Cuba signed six agreements in the areas of media and communication, culture, and diplomacy.

READ MORE: 'El Turco': A closer look at Türkiye-Cuba relations