Uruguay to open an embassy in Turkey, hopes to sign trade agreement

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Foreign Minister of Uruguay, Francisco Bustillo, announced on Tuesday, August 24, during his official visit to Turkey, the forthcoming opening of an embassy in Ankara, and expressed his confidence that both countries can move towards a free trade agreement which, he said, would be joined by the other Mercosur partners.

“Today, we have requested the approval to be able to install our own diplomatic representation, embassy, here in Turkey,” Bustillo said at a press conference together with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavusoglu.

Bustillo affirmed that the Turkish minister has already given him his approval. He hopes that the administrative process can be speeded up “so that the Uruguayan flag will soon be flying here in Ankara”, he added.

The Chancellor also invited Çavusoglu to Uruguay to visit the embassy that Turkey recently opened in Montevideo.

The first by an Uruguayan foreign minister to Turkey began on Saturday in Istanbul, where Bustillo met with the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce representatives and the Turkish National Board of Foreign Economic Relations (DEIK).

During that meeting, the Uruguay Chamber of Commerce and Services president, Daniel Sapelli, and his DEIK counterpart, Nail Olpak, signed an agreement to establish a joint economic commission.

The minister has signed a bilateral customs agreement in Ankara and noted that, once the joint commission is established by the end of the year, two others are expected to be initialed: one for the avoidance of double taxation and another for the reciprocal promotion and protection of investments.

“These instruments, together with the road map to which we have committed, will allow us to deepen the relationship between Turkey and Uruguay and to eventually advance to a free trade agreement, which will not only benefit Uruguay and Turkey but we are convinced that the rest of the Mercosur countries will soon join in,” he said.

Bustillo also met with senior officials of the flag carrier Turkish Airlines, with whom he evaluated the possibility of increasing the frequency of direct flights between Istanbul and Montevideo.

The Chancellor arrived in Turkey after a regional tour that had also taken him to Armenia and Georgia. The last stop of this tour will be Spain, where he will stay for five days.