Algeria says Turkish president’s visit 'to move mutual relations into strategic level'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Algeria is bearing “historical goals,” official Algerian diplomatic sources said yesterday.

Erdogan arrived on Sunday in Algeria on a two-day visit to discuss bilateral relations with the North African country.

“Erdogan’s visit carries historical goals and aims at upgrading the ideal relations between the Algeria and Turkey to a strategic level,” official Algeria Press Service (APS) quoted the sources as saying.

The sources pointed out that the two countries were taking “important steps towards developing mutual economic relations,” adding that the two countries were seeking to enhance relations “at all levels.”

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In a meeting with his Algerian counterpart, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Erdogan signed an agreement to establish a “Turkey-Algeria High-Level Cooperation Council.” Ankara recently said it would increase its annual trade exchange with Algeria to $5 billion.

Erdogan is the first foreign president to visit Algeria since Tebboune was elected as president on 12 December.

Algeria and Turkey have been bound by a treaty of friendship and cooperation since May 2006, which has contributed to raising the volume of trade exchange between the two countries. Turkey is the largest foreign investor in the non-hydrocarbons sector in Algeria with $3.5 billion.