On October 29, it was exactly 91 years since the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey.

To commemorate this anniversary, the Turkish Embassy in Cameroon organised a grand reception at the Turcam Hall in the Mvan neighbourhood in Yaounde. The reception brought together Government officials, members of the diplomatic community as well as business people.

Addressing guests at the occasion, the Turkish Ambassador to Cameroon, His Excellency Omer Faruk Dogan, said the occasion offered his country the opportunity to celebrate its relations with Cameroon. He described the relations between Turkey and Cameroon as win-win.

He said, while Turkey was looking forward to celebrating its centenary as a nation, it was also determined to help Cameroon triumph as an emerging nation. Enumerating some of the friendship moves Turkey has made in Cameroon, the Ambassador said his country has offered scholarships to some 40 Cameroonian students to study in Turkey.

Making allusion to the Turkish trade fair that took place in Yaounde recently, the diplomat said it was not only win-win but a step to accelerate the growth of Cameroon’s economy, because, Turkish companies will establish some of their production units in Cameroon.

To Dogan, Turkey, the 16th economic power in the world was ready to do real business with Cameroon that has continued to assert itself as the leading economy in the Central African sub-region. He said the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency, TIKA, was very present in Cameroon, carrying out projects in many areas including Yaounde and Bamenda.

The Ambassador revealed that during the recent Moslem feast of the Ram, the Tabaski, 40,000 people in Cameroon benefitted from some 2,000 cows offered by the Turkish Embassy. Many of the underprivileged, like the centre for the handicapped, benefitted from the Turkish Government’s charitable gesture.

Memory Lane Although relations between Turkey and Cameroon began somewhat tacitly when the latter gained its independence in 1960, the former only opened its embassy in Cameroon on January 15, 2010. Since then, both countries have accelerated mutual beneficial cooperation ties. Bilateral relations between both countries took a new twist when the Turkish President visited Cameroon on March 16 to 17, 2010.

Both countries signed a number of cooperation agreements; the agreement for the mutual abolition of visas for holders of diplomatic, service and special passports and a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Turkey and Cameroon’s Ministry of External Relations, as well as a protocol agreement between both countries on technical, scientific and economic cooperation in the field of agriculture.

President Paul Biya of Cameroon also visited Turkey and signed a number of cooperation agreements. Since then, the level of economic cooperation between the two countries has swelled with businesspeople looking for investment opportunities on both sides.

During the visit of the Turkish President, TIKA donated drugs to the Chantal Biya Foundation. In July 2010 and February, 2011, dentists and other medical personnel from the Aegean Health Volunteers in Turkey carried out consultations and training and donated over two tons of drugs to Cameroon.