Republic of Turkey’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Hidayet Bayraktar, has revealed that his country will be supporting Nigeria’s military in the war against terror with drones and helicopters.
Turkish is one of the countries with the best drones, as some of their products have been in use in the Russia-Ukraine war.
NAN reported that Bayraktar spoke during the commemoration of the 99th National Day of the Republic of Turkey in Abuja on Friday, where he described Turkey’s security support to Nigeria as part of the gains from the defence cooperation contract signed between both countries in 2021.
Bayraktar stated, “The defence contracts signed between our countries last year marked a historical record. Taking this opportunity, I am proud to announce that two of our flagship defence industry platforms, Bayraktar (TB-2) drones and (T-149) ATAK helicopters, are set to arrive in Nigeria.
“We are confident that the new Turkish defence products will support the efforts of the Nigerian government and contribute immensely to the peace, prosperity and security of fellow Nigerians.”
Bayraktar said the Turkish Government is also expecting the Nigerian Government to reciprocate its legitimate security concerns by taking the necessary steps against the strong presence of “the FETO terrorist group in Nigeria.”
“Remaining as the sole obstacle hindering our bilateral relations to develop further, we call on Nigeria not to let terror groups undermine our excellent ties by allowing this terrorist group to fund their illegal aims and activities, by the generation of revenues in this country,” he added.
Bayraktar said 2022 which marked the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties with Nigeria, gained momentum with the reciprocal high-level visits of President Recep Erdogan in October 2021 and Buhari in December 2021.
He said with the current pace of increasing commercial relations, he was confident that Turkey would soon achieve the target of $5bn bilateral trading volume with Nigeria, one of its top trading partners in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“These mutual high-level visits have provided the opportunity to underline our shared goal of strengthening our bilateral ties in every field, especially in terms of commerce, defence industry, energy, construction, manufacturing healthcare, education, tourism and culture,” he added.
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Amb Zubairu Dada, affirmed that Nigeria and Turkey witnessed increased trade and bilateral relations since the high-level visits by both Presidents in 2021.
