2 yıl önce

Turkiye to help build El Salvador its first satellite

Visiting El Salvador President Bukele holds talks with President Erdogan over deepening ties as both sides ink six deals covering multiple sectors.

AA

“Turkiye is growing in many areas, such as defence industry, and we also want to be part of this growth,” says El Salvadoran President Bukele at a press conference with Turkish President Erdogan.

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele has said Turkiye will help the Latin American country build its first satellite while both sides signed a raft of deals during his first visit to Turkiye.

Bukele said on Thursday he is meeting various Turkish defence and technology companies and is keen to send into space his country's first satellite with Turkish technology.

"After the meeting with all of these companies, we have another meeting with one more company that is going to help us build our first satellite. So, we can send (it) into space and have the first El Salvadoran satellite that would be built with Turkish technology," Bukele said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Bukele held a joint news conference while both countries signed six agreements in various areas.

There are agreements signed or close to being signed with Turkish companies in areas such as port, defence industry equipment, and aviation materials, Bukele said, adding the agreements are "only for starters."

Turkiye's President Erdogan after meeting with El Salvador's President Bukele:

- We've signed six agreements
- These cover defence, trade, tech, economy, education and diplomacy
- We'll also help build a dry canal, ports and a power plant pic.twitter.com/cR6PergOzY
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) January 20, 2022

President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele all praise for the Turks says the course of history would have been different had the Ottomans reached Americas (instead of the genocidal European colonists)
— Hasan Abdullah (@journalisthasan) January 20, 2022

Being part of Turkiye's growth

Bukele on his first visit to Turkiye after an invitation by Erdogan said his country wants to be a part of Turkiye's growth.

"Turkiye is growing in many areas, such as defence industry, and we also want to be a part of this growth," he said.

Underlining that the trade between the two countries grew by 80 percent in a year, Bukele said that if the bilateral trade volume grows at the current pace, the target of $500 million can be reached in a few years.

The trade volume between the two countries neared $50 million last year, President Erdogan said. Noting that El Salvador mostly works with the US, he said: It is also important for El Salvador to look elsewhere, and Turkiye is one of the most important countries in this regard."

Bukele, a 40-year-old proponent of bitcoin with Palestinian forebears on his father's side, is one of the most popular leaders in the Americas, according to opinion polls.

El Salvador has an embassy in Ankara and Turkiye is mulling opening an embassy in the Central American country.

SOURCE: AA