21 January 2017•Update: 23 January 2017
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania
Defense Minister Hussein Ali Mwinyi sent a welcome message on Saturday to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of his official tour to the eastern African country.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Mwinyi welcomed Erdogan, describing Tanzania as a second home for the Turkish leader.
“President Erdogan, welcome to Tanzania. This is your second home,” he said in Turkish.
Mwinyi, a former health minister of the country, had studied at the Faculty of Medicine at Istanbul’s Marmara University between 1985 and 1992.
Since 2014, he has been serving as defense minister of Tanzania.
Mwinyi told AA that he enjoyed his time in Turkey.
“Life style in Turkey is not so different from that of in Tanzania. For this reason, I had a good time in Turkey,” he said.
He said that he feels fortunate to be one of the first Tanzanians who studied medicine in Turkey.
Turkish President’s visit to Tanzania is a great opportunity for the country, according to Mwinyi.
Turkey is an important partner for Tanzania, he said adding “we have many sectors where we can tighten our bilateral ties. Human resources is one of them as well as political and economic cooperation”.
Mwinyi said Tanzania expects to utilize Turkey’s experiences on industrialization.
“Turkey has made significant progress in this sector. I hope, many investors from Turkey will come to our country and invest in different sectors following Erdogan's visit.”
Despite being surrounded by neighbors under extreme political and economic crises, Tanzania has been experiencing political stability since its independence from the United Kingdom in 1960s.
He expressed deep sadness over an attempted military coup in Turkey that martyred 248 people and injured over 2,200 last year.
"We believe in the supremacy of democracy, so we are happy that the putschists couldn't succeed in Turkey."
Erdogan will travel to Tanzania on Sunday kicking off his four-day Africa tour.
Reporting by Tufan Aktas; Writing by Sorwar Alam
