Speech by H.E. Abdullah Gül, President of the Republic of Turkey, at the Dinner Hosted in Honor of H.E. Yoweri Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda

Mr. President, My Dear Friend Museveni,
Esteemed Guests,
I greet, wholeheartedly, Your Excellency, Honourable Ministers and the distinguished members of your delegation.
Welcome to Turkey.
This is the first official visit at presidential level between Turkey and Uganda. Even from only this perspective, your visit has a historical nature.
I believe that our fruitful meetings today are one of the most beautiful indications of the strong feelings of affinity between our peoples as well as the bright future of our cooperation.
My most sincere desire and hope is the speedy strengthening of our relations and cooperation in all fields and the building up of new and lasting bridges between our peoples through your visit crowning our friendly ties.
Mr. President,
Under Your Excellency's able leadership, we follow, with appreciation, the economic and social development moves in Uganda, a major country in Africa situated at the heart of Great Lakes Region. We appreciate your constructive efforts on the establishment of political stability.
In fact, for prosperity, stability is a prerequisite. To ensure stability, resolution of the existing questions peacefully and thus establishment of a solid ground for cooperation takes priority.
In this context, especially in recent years, we appreciate the positive and promising developments achieved by Uganda in its relations with its neighbours and her valuable contributions to peace and stability in East Africa, primarily in Somalia.
We are confident that, our African brothers will reach a more prosperous and bright future as peace and stability are ensured; and, as witnessed by the example of the East African Community, the continental and regional integration and cooperation movements gain strength.
My Dear Friend,
The level attained in our relations and cooperation in the recent period is greatly appreciated. We are enjoying a period of "firsts" in our bilateral relations.
We opened an Embassy in your beautiful Capital City of Kampala a few months before this first Presidential visit between our countries. We will be pleased to see Uganda open an Embassy in Ankara.
We hope that Turkish Airlines will launch, as soon as possible, its first direct flight between Turkey and Uganda.
These "firsts" that we embark on together, will enable our cooperation to enter into a continuous and permanent development process.
Our fruitful and productive talks today, strengthened our common will and determination in carrying our relations to the highest point in every field.
In parallel with our excellent political relations, I personally attach utmost importance to our relations in the fields of economy, trade and investments. There are unique opportunities for developing our relations in every field, especially in energy, construction, agriculture, health and environment.
In this context, you can rest assured that I will continue to encourage our business community and industrialists to invest in Uganda.
I sincerely believe that, in the short term, with valuable encouragement and contribution of Your Excellency and through concrete projects, our economic and commercial cooperation will gain diversity and depth.
Mr. President,
Turkey has maintained friendly relations with African countries and people for centuries.
Throughout history, Turkish Nation has had always sincere and pure feelings of affinity, not based on self-seeking interest, to the African Nations.
As a result, we have carried our relations today to a level of strategic partnership through the distinguished contributions of our African brothers and friends.
However, I want to emphasize particularly that we do not see the current level of Turkey-Africa relations adequate.
The level that we have reached today is not a goal, but a starting point. We are willing to further strengthen our cooperation on the basis of friendship, fraternity, mutual respect, sovereignty, independence and common interests.
You can rest assured that, with determination, we will make every effort to develop our relations with Africa on a just and balanced basis, which will serve to the common interests of our peoples. We will continue to work with perseverance for the peace, security and wealth of the African peoples within our means.
Mr. President, My Dear Friend,
I believe that your visit is perfectly on time and beneficial to strengthen our dialog and consultations in the international platforms.
The close cooperation and solidarity displayed during our simultaneous non-permanent membership of United Nations Security Council for the 2009-2010 term is pleasing.
It is also a pleasing coincidence that following the United Nations Security Council Presidency that we will undertake this year in September, we will hand over this duty to Uganda in October.
I am confident that our cooperation in the international arena, especially within the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Conference, will continue to strengthen.
With this understanding, I invite you to a toast for Your Excellency's health and happiness, our Ugandan friends' and brothers' well-being and prosperity, and the bright future of our relations and cooperation.