President home after chairing 2nd Africa-Turkey Summit

23 Nov, 2014 - 05:11 0 Views

The Sunday Mail

President Mugabe on Friday night returned from Malabo, Equatorial Guinea where he chaired the 2nd Africa-Turkey Summit in his capacity as First Vice Chair of the African Union.

President Mugabe was in Malabo as Sadc Chair, with the summit being held under the Banjul formula that advises that there is no need for every AU member to attend such meetings as regional representatives can suffice.

The closed session of the summit started on Friday afternoon with AU Chair President Mohammad Abdel Azziz of Mauritania chairing, but he had to attend to other commitments and President Mugabe stepped into the chair’s seat.

Leaders from Africa and Turkey agreed that not much had been done to build strong partnerships since the inaugural Istanbul Summit of 2008 and adopted three documents that they hope will ensure greater progress before the next meeting in 2018.

The key outcomes of the summit were a Joint Implementation Plan 2015-20188, a joint matrix activating this over the same period, and a general political declaration.

Present at the summit were leaders and senior representatives from the host country, the AU Chair and Deputy Chair, Algeria, Chad, the DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa. Another 32 African countries and 11 regional and international organisations attended as observers.

At the opening session, Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo said his country was committed to a successful Africa-Turkey partnership, a call reiterated by the leaders of Mauritania and Turkey.

Prior to the summit, President Mugabe met South Africa’s Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and President Nguema Mbasogo.

Deputy President Ramaphosa, the Sadc-appointed mediator in Lesotho, briefed President Mugabe on developments in the Mountain Kingdom.

He said the country was on course to hold elections in February 2015 after a coup attempt in August forced Prime Minister Thomas Thabane to temporarily flee to South Africa.

In the meeting with the Equatorial Guinea leader, Presidents Mugabe and Nguema Mbasogo discussed the agenda of the Africa-Turkey Summit as well as other matters affecting the continent from a geo-political and economic perspective.

And on arrival at Harare International Airport on Friday, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi said the two leaders had also discussed how best they could solidify their bilateral ties, particularly within the contexts of economic and cultural co-operation.

Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea’s relations have been sound since Harare foiled a coup attempt led by British mercenary Simon Mann and his financier Sir Mark Thatcher to overthrow President Nguema Mbasogo in 2004.

President Mugabe was received in Harare by Vice President Joice Mujuru, senior Government officials and service chiefs.

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