Türkiye advanced in agriculture, irrigation, says Gambian minister

By Gozde Bayar and Muhammet Tarhan

ANKARA (AA) - The Gambia could benefit from Türkiye as it has a highly developed infrastructure capacity in the field of agriculture and irrigation, according to the Gambian agriculture minister.

"Türkiye is fairly advanced in terms of agriculture and irrigation… Also, they have the know-how. We are still struggling with irrigation and water engineers. This is something that Türkiye has the capacity to extend to the Gambia and we'll be looking forward to that," Demba Sabally told Anadolu.

Upon the invitation of an agricultural company in Ankara, Sabally praised the hospitality and products which could increase agricultural productivity in the Gambia.

"The Gambia is an agricultural economy," he said, adding that the country is also rich in water, including the fresh water in the Gambian River.

"We have a lot of land compared to the size of the country. The Gambia is a small country, but the arable land is like over 500,000 acres, and we are only cultivating about 200,000," he said, adding that 65% of the population is young.

Underlining that many Gambian students receive university education in Türkiye thanks to scholarships, he considers this as cooperation in agriculture between both countries.

"There is not a lot of agreement between the countries as far as agriculture is concerned. I think this is the first step and probably the step in the right direction," he said, adding that he had an invitation from his Turkish counterpart to establish an agricultural relationship.

Noting that the main cooperation between the countries is on the military, he said the Turkish army had been giving training to the Gambian military since the early 90s.

On diplomatic relations, Sabally said the Gambia has only 20 embassies around the world, including one in Ankara.

"Türkiye is a very important partner to the Gambia. We have an embassy here in Ankara and a consulate in Istanbul. So there is a very excellent relationship between Türkiye and the Gambia," he added.

Regarding the visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2020, he said the Turkish people and the president are highly rated in his country as both populations are of the Muslim majority.

"The relationship between the countries is excellent. It has gotten much better even after the visit of the Turkish president," he said, adding that they look forward to another visit from Erdogan again.