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Bangladesh, Turkish premiers agree to work together on Rohingya crisis

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and visiting Turkish premier Binali Yildirim today agreed to continue to work together for socio-economic development and issues of mutual concerns like Rohingya crisis.

The two premiers reiterated their commitment to work closely and support each other on bilateral and international matters and issues of mutual concern including the crisis involving the forcibly displaced Rohingyas of Myanmar, BSS reported.

The two premiers made the commitments issuing separate statements after their officials talks at Prime Minister's Office (PMO) here today.

Sheikh Hasina was aided by Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal during the talks.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and Co-chair of Turkey-Bangladesh Joint Economic Commission Bekir BOZAG and Turkish ambassador in Bangladesh Devrim OZTURK accompanied Yildirm, who arrived in Dhaka yesterday on a two-day official visit.

Sheikh Hasina in her statement expressed the hope that Turkey would remain beside Bangladesh in course of its journey towards development while she thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his continuous support towards Bangladesh particularly in addressing the Rohingyas issue.

The Turkish Prime Minister in his statement pointed out Ankara's strong ties and brotherly relations with Bangladesh and said Turkey did not forget Bangladesh's support for its democracy and government.

Sheikh Hasina said she had very fruitful discussion with the Prime Minister of Turkey on bilateral and international issues of common interests.

"We have reiterated our commitment to work closely and support each other on bilateral and international issues of mutual concern, including the issue of forcibly displaced Rohingya people from Myanmar," she said.

The Bangladesh premier appreciated Yildirm's planned visit to Rohingya camps tomorrow.

Sheikh Hasina said she also talked discussed with her Turkish counterpart on consolidating cooperation of the two countries in key areas, such as, trade and investment, defence, education, tourism and connectivity.

She hoped that the instruments signed between the two countries would help strengthen cooperation in the areas of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), industrial production, standardization, capacity building, knowledge sharing and skill development.