Buhari Leaves For Turkey Wednesday

President Muhammadu Buhari has been scheduled to depart Nigeria for Turkey on Wednesday in a bid to attend the ninth Summit of the Developing 8 (D-8).

The meeting which is to hold on Friday October 20 has Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey as members.

The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina disclosed this in a statement made available on Tuesday.

Adesina said the President would be accompanied on the trip by ministers, top government officials, including the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Hameed Ali.

He said President Buhari would use the occasion of the D-8 Summit to bolster warm and growing ties across a broad range of areas of cooperation with leaders of the D8-member countries, namely Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan and Turkey.

The Summit with the theme, ‘‘Expanding Opportunities through Cooperation’’, will among other things, focus on cooperation in the areas of agriculture, trade, transport, energy and increased private sector participation among member-countries.

During the Summit, which will also mark the 20th anniversary of the organisation established to improve the developing countries’ positions in the world economy, Buhari will highlight the significant show of confidence in Nigeria’s business environment and economy.

He would also affirm Nigeria’s resolve to work with D-8 member-countries on many key areas, including peace and security, economy and trade.

At the end of the summit, the Heads of State and Government would adopt a communiqué, also known as the ‘Istanbul Declaration’.

The Special Adviser said that prior to the D-8 Summit, President Buhari, at the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, would participate in an official working visit to Ankara, the capital city.

“In Ankara, the President will have a tete-a-tete with his Turkish counterpart while delegations from both countries will hold discussions in various fields including defence cooperation, security, educational and migration issues.”

Adesina said President Buhari would also visit the Grand National Assembly of the Republic of Turkey in Ankara where he will meet with the Speaker, Ismail Kahraman.