On 16-17 March 2015, Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Foreign Minister of Turkey, paid an official visit to Thailand at the invitation of General Tanasak Patimapragorn, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand.

                        During the bilateral meeting, Foreign Minister of Turkey expressed his appreciation to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs for the invitation and took the opportunity to invite the latter to pay a visit to Turkey to enhance mutual cooperation. In this connection, both sides welcome the agreement to elevate the bilateral relations into strategic partnership.  Both sides also agreed to expedite the process for Thailand-Turkey Free Trade Agreement in order to achieve bilateral trade target at 2 billion USD by 2018. In addition, the Turkish side wished to conclude the proposed MOUs with Thailand such as those on Agriculture, Maritime, Customs, Defense and Military Personnel Training.

                        At the invitation of the Turkish side, Thailand will consider a possibility of arranging a horticultural exhibition in the Expo 2016 Antalya, from April to October 2016, as a permanent exhibition and to hand over to Turkey as symbol of good relationship between the two countries.

                        During the visit, the Foreign Minister of Turkey also gave a special lecture on “Turkish Foreign Policy: Getting Closer to Asia and the Pacific” at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The lecture was jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Saranrom Institute of Foreign Affairs Foundation (SIFAF). Attending the special lecture were representatives from diplomatic corps and international organizations in Thailand, academic institutes as well as public agencies’. The Foreign Minister of Turkey also paid a courtesy call on General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of Thailand, at the Government House during which the Prime Minister extended the invitations to the Turkish leader to pay the official visit to Thailand in order to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.

                         This first official visit of Foreign Minister of Turkey to Thailand in 25 years has been fruitful and marked a major step in further enhancing the Thai-Turkish relations.