By Muhammet Tarhan
Mexico’s ambassador to Türkiye, Jose Luis Martinez y Hernandez, celebrated the centenary of the Republic of Türkiye on Saturday.
“We admire a lot what Turkey accomplished in this first 100 years,” he told Anadolu.
Highlighting the profound historical ties between Türkiye and Mexico, Hernandez noted the historical origins, dating to interactions with the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century.
Hernandez said the two countries share common interests. "Especially, we are playing an important role internationally. Not only in the region. but at the world level, global level. And it's really a great pleasure to be ambassador here.”
- Cooperation at bilateral and multilateral level
He underscored the significance government-level relationship between Türkiye and Mexico, pointing out their joint membership in the G20, UN, MIKTA, OECD and strong collaborative efforts.
Noting Türkiye held the term presidency of MIKTA -- a partnership with Türkiye, Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Australia -- last year, the envoy underlined that they did "a lot of things" together with Türkiye during the tenure.
There is a lot of cooperation between both countries at the bilateral level, Hernandez said.
"We are very pleased that Turkey established the Yunus Emre Institute in Mexico last year and it is really becoming active," he said.
“The cultures of Mexico and Türkiye are very similar,” he said, adding both countries have a very rich cuisine, music and old history.
Touching on Ankara’s efforts to ensure the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the Mexican envoy said: “We appreciate very much what Turkey did in the grain problem because of the Ukraine war and we support completely this and its efforts to bring peace to Ukraine.”
The Friendship Agreement, which established diplomatic relations between Türkiye and Mexico was signed in 1927, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Mexico became Türkiye’s second strategic partner in the Latin American and Caribbean region in 2013.
Former Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto visited Türkiye in December 2013 in the first presidential-level trip between the two countries.
The trade volume between the two countries reached $1.3 billion (Türkiye’s exports: $601.6 million, Türkiye’s imports: $677.9 million) in 2019.
*Writing by Seda Sevencan