Algeria, Türkiye Discuss Bolstering Ties in Various Fields

President Erdogan receives Tebboune at Dolmabahce Palace. (Turkish Presidency)
President Erdogan receives Tebboune at Dolmabahce Palace. (Turkish Presidency)
TT

Algeria, Türkiye Discuss Bolstering Ties in Various Fields

President Erdogan receives Tebboune at Dolmabahce Palace. (Turkish Presidency)
President Erdogan receives Tebboune at Dolmabahce Palace. (Turkish Presidency)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune held talks in Istanbul on Saturday and discussed bilateral relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest.

Erdogan welcomed Tebboune at the presidential office at Dolmabahce Palace. They held one-on-one talks followed by talks involving delegations from both countries to discuss bolstering ties in various fields.

The meetings were attended by ministers of foreign affairs, defense, trade, finance, energy, industry, technology, health, environment, and education.

Tebboune arrived in Türkiye for a two-day working visit on Friday. This is his second visit since becoming president in 2019.

Turkish sources revealed that the talks focused on the developments in Libya, Palestine, and Mali, in addition to enhancing bilateral ties namely in the economy.

The two countries seek to increase trade from $3.16 billion to $5 billion. Economic cooperation between them witnessed a leap during the term of Erdogan.

Official data showed that more than 1,300 Turkish firms are active in Algeria, contributing to providing around 30,000 jobs. Investments of Turkish companies reached an estimated $6 billion.

Türkiye aims to make its companies win the greatest share of Algeria’s plans to reinforce its infrastructure with a $150 billion budget.

Algeria is the third biggest natural gas exporter to Türkiye after Russia and Iran.

Algeria's Sonatrach oil company renewed contracts to supply liquefied gas to Türkiye in 2018, in quantities amounting to 5 billion cubic meters annually.

The company also constructs a petrochemical plant in partnership with the Turkish company Ronesans Holding in Adana, southern Türkiye, to produce the plastic polypropylene, which is used in several industries.

The two countries seek to boost military cooperation in a way that reinforces the defense capacities of Algeria, especially with the remarkable development in Turkish military industries, namely in drones.

Türkiye and Algeria signed the Friendship and Cooperation Agreement on May 23 in 2006. The agreement stipulates the development of dialogue in political, economic, and cultural fields, and the commitment to reinforcing economic cooperation.



Israel Says it Will Maintain Control of Gaza-Egypt Crossing

Hamas militants secure aid trucks that arrived the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, days after a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel went into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Hamas militants secure aid trucks that arrived the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, days after a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel went into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
TT

Israel Says it Will Maintain Control of Gaza-Egypt Crossing

Hamas militants secure aid trucks that arrived the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, days after a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel went into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Hamas militants secure aid trucks that arrived the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, days after a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel went into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Israel says it will maintain control of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip during the first phase of the ceasefire with Hamas.

A statement issued by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu´s office on Wednesday denied reports that the Palestinian Authority would control the crossing.

It said local Palestinians not affiliated with Hamas who had been vetted by Israeli security would merely stamp passports at the crossing. It noted that, under international agreements, this stamp "is the only way Gazans may leave the Strip in order to enter, or be received in, other countries."

According to The AP, the statement said Israeli forces would surround the crossing and that Israel must approve the movement of all people and goods through it. It said European Union monitors would supervise the crossing.

Israel captured the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing last May, forcing it to shut down. Egypt, a key mediator in more than a year of negotiations that led to the ceasefire, has demanded that Palestinians control the Gaza side.

Meanwhile, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Gaza says trucks from the UN, aid groups, governments and the private sector are arriving and no major looting has been reported -- just a few minor incidents.

Nearly 900 trucks of aid entered Gaza on the third day of the ceasefire Tuesday, the United Nations said. That's significantly higher than the 600 trucks called for in the deal.

Muhannad Hadi, who returned to Jerusalem from Gaza on Tuesday afternoon, told UN reporters by video that it was one of the happiest days of his 35-year humanitarian career to see Palestinians in the streets looking ahead with hope, some heading home and some starting to clean up the roads.

In his talks with families at a communal kitchen run by the UN World Food Program and elsewhere, he said, they all told him they need humanitarian assistance but want to go home, to work and earn money.

"They don´t like the fact that they have been depending on humanitarian aid," Hadi said.

Palestinians talked about resuming education for their children and about the need for shelter, blankets and new clothes for women who have been wearing the same clothes for more than a year. He said a shipment of tents is expected in the coming days.