Turkey will extend total support to the interim government of Professor Dr Mohammed Yunus in carrying out necessary reforms, strengthening democracy and boosting the economy of Bangladesh.

Additional Foreign Secretary (Bilateral-East and West) and Inspector General of Missions Dr. Md. Nazrul Islam has expressed this view while talking to this correspondent in the city on Tuesday.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan  in a phone call to Chief Adviser Dr Yunus in August said he would soon send a high-powered delegation to Bangladesh in their efforts to help rebuild the country.

As part of his commitment, a high-powered Turkish delegation at the director general level came to Dhaka on Monday and held a series of meetings with stakeholders of the government on October 14-15. The delegation will leave Dhaka on Wednesday.

Dr. Md. Nazrul Islam said the Turkish delegation discussed matters of mutual cooperation with Bangladesh including trade, investment, technology transfer, defence and conducting national elections.

Sources said Turkey offered Bangladesh to conduct a transparent national election  incorporating expatriate Bangladeshis.

It is to be mentioned here that some 15 million expatriate Bangladeshis are living abroad who are voters in the national election of Bangladesh. In contrast, expatriate Turkish living in different parts of the world can cast a vote in the national election of Turkey.

Additional Foreign Secretary  Dr. Md. Nazrul Islam said that both Dhaka and Ankara have shown the commitment to reach a  new height in the coming days .

Turkish Ambassador to Bangladesh Ramis Sen led the Turkish delegation in the meeting held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the city on Tuesday afternoon.

Bangladesh-Turkey relations suffered a hiccup in 2016 when Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan  strongly condemned the execution of Jamaat-i-Islami leader in Bangladesh in March 2016 and recalled his ambassador from Bangladesh in protest.

Motiur Rahman Nizami, the 73-year-old head of Bangladesh's largest Islamist party, was executed in March 2026 for his role in acts of genocide and war crimes during the country's independence war against Pakistan in 1971.

Sources in Dhaka and Ankara said that the political ideology of the interim government of Dr Yunus and that of  Recep Tayyip Erdoğan share common views on some major issues that are set to bring both countries closer in the coming days.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the  phone call to Bangladesh Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus  congratulated  him on his assumption as the head of the Interim Government.

During the call, President Erdogan condoled the loss of valuable lives in the flood-affected areas of Bangladesh, the chief adviser's press wing said.

He said Turkey would provide humanitarian aid to the flood-stricken people.

Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus thanked the Turkish president, who is a long-time friend of the 2006 Nobel Peace laureate.

He said he and Turkish First Lady Emine Erdogan are members of a high-profile UN zero-waste forum.

He called for increased trade with Turkey and said Bangladesh would need Turkish investment in key sectors, including manufacturing, in which Turkey is a formidable global power…….

Meanwhile, on October 15, 2024, a bilateral meeting took place at the BIDA conference room between a visiting Turkish delegation and officials from BIDA, chaired by  Chowdhury Ashiq Mahmud Bin Harun, Executive Chairman of both BIDA and BEZA. The meeting, part of the Turkish delegation’s visit to Bangladesh from October 14-16, focused on enhancing bilateral cooperation and exploring new investment opportunities.

Key discussions centered around signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between BIDA and Turkey’s Investment Office. This MoU aims to foster collaboration, with both parties expressing interest in sector-specific investments, reflecting Bangladesh's expanding potential across various industries. 

The meeting also highlighted Turkish Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Bangladesh and its promising future.

The Turkish delegation invited BIDA officials for a follow-up visit to Ankara, emphasizing the need for detailed sectoral surveys to better understand areas of mutual interest. Bangladesh’s diverse product range and the incentives offered to foreign investors were key points of discussion.

Turkey was acknowledged as a trusted partner of Bangladesh, with both sides exchanging ideas on how to strengthen their investment relationship.

Meanwhile, Foreign Adviser Md Touhid Hossain recently  sought Turkish  continued support to keep the Rohingya issue focused in all international forums to resolve the long -pending crisis. 

He made the remark while a Turkish delegation led by its foreign ministry’s Director General for Humanitarian and Technical Assistance Ambassador Korhan Karakoc met him at the foreign ministry   here, according to a press release. 

Karakoc is visiting Bangladesh to coordinate Turkish humanitarian aid to support flood affected people in Bangladesh.

Turkish Ambassador to Bangladesh Ramis Sen accompanied the delegation.

During the meeting, the Turkish delegation reiterated its government’s continued support for  Rohingyas and briefed about the activities of the Turkish Hospital located at Rohingya refugee  camps in Cox’s Bazar

The delegation sought Bangladesh government’s assistance to improve the quality of services provided by this hospital.  

In response, the foreign adviser assured them of extending necessary support for the Turkish Hospital at the Rohingya Camps.

The delegation also apprised Hossain of Turkish ongoing initiatives for assisting the flood affected communities in Bangladesh.

The foreign adviser expressed gratitude to the Turkish government for providing humanitarian aid to the flood victims in Bangladesh.

Ambassador Karakoc also congratulated Hossain on his assumption of office as the Adviser for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh's interim government. 

Meanwhile, Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus last week sought more Turkish investment in Bangladesh, saying Dhaka is now ready for business, and both nations should explore full potentials in their relationship.

"We should give a big effort," he said when Turkish Ambassador to Bangladesh Ramis Sen paid a courtesy call on the Chief Adviser at his Tejgaon office in Dhaka.

They discussed ways to deepen trade, economic, and defence cooperation between the two countries, the Rohingya crisis, and more exchanges of students between two Muslim majority nations.

Prof Yunus appreciated the Turkish humanitarian response to recent Bangladesh floods, its continued assistance to the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh's southeast, and a visit by a Turkish official delegation to enhance trade and business ties between the two nations.

He also extended an invitation to the Turkish president and the first lady to visit Bangladesh at an opportune time.

The envoy thanked Bangladesh for expressing solidarity with the earthquake victims of Turkey last year and sending some 10,000 tents for them.

He conveyed Ankara's invitation to Bangladesh to attend the upcoming World Halal Summit and a ministerial-level meeting in Istanbul.

He said a Turkish official delegation is now visiting Bangladesh in an effort to explore new business and trade opportunities and help reform initiatives of the interim government.

"We want to deepen trade and economic ties," Sen said.

He said another Turkish team travelled the country during the recent floods in southeast Bangladesh. The team provided humanitarian aid to the flood victims in Feni, Noakhali, Lakshmipur and Cumilla, he added.

The Turkish ambassador said bilateral trade between the two nations now stands at $1.1 billion, but there are huge scopes to scale up exports from both countries.

The ambassador emphasised a high-level business delegation's visit to Turkey to engage with Turkish business people and officials.

He said the Turkish Trade Minister would visit Bangladesh in December this year.