28 December 2016•Update: 29 December 2016
ANKARA
Guinean President Alpha Conde has said his country stands with Turkey in its fight against terrorism and especially the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).
On an official visit to Turkey Tuesday, the west African leader also visited the Turkish parliament, damaged by the July 15 defeated coup.
"Terrorism has nothing to do with Islam. Indeed, Islam is a religion of peace, coexistence and tolerance; extremism has nothing to do with Islam," Conde told Anadolu Agency.
"We will try to tell the world why we accepted the transfer of FETO-linked schools to another organization. If Turkey faces a threat, we will also face this threat," said Guinean President Alpha Conde
The Guinean president said he and his Turkish counterpart President Recep Tayyip Erdogan share the ambition to strengthen cooperation between their two countries as well as between Turkey and the entire African continent.
Referring to his relationship with Erdogan, Conde said: "Since his visit to Guinea last March, we have established excellent personal relations, exchanged messages, and talked on the phone."
"Turkey is a very big country, technologically developed, and many Turks work in Guinea, especially in the building industry. Several hotels were built by Turks," said Conde.
Areas of cooperation
He said the areas of cooperation between Turkey and Guinea are very broad, mentioning counter-terrorism, construction and infrastructure, energy, agriculture, and mining.
"We aspire to be accompanied by Eximbank so that Turkish companies can invest in Guinea. We have a lot of minerals and we want Turkish investors to have access to our raw materials, including bauxite, iron, oil, and possibly gold," Conde said.
He also lambasted Western countries that he considers responsible for what is happening today, illustrating his remarks, in particular, with the chaotic situation in Libya.
"We warned the great powers against the intervention in Libya having two harmful consequences: The Somali-zation of this country, and the proliferation of weapons and terrorism. They did not listen to us and intervened. They killed [Muammar] Gaddafi and today there is no state in Libya, and weapons and the terrorist threat are proliferating," he said.
He then touched on the current post-election crisis in neighboring Gambia, expressing hope for "seeing this crisis resolved through dialogue."
Earlier this month Gambian President Yahya Jammeh rejected his electoral defeat at the hands of property developer Adama Barrow.
Admiration for Erdogan
In Africa, it is necessary to reassure outgoing presidents and avoid witch hunts, Conde said.
On the situation in his own country, Conde said: "We have succeeded in convincing various politicians to put themselves at the same table and to agree to the rules of the game that each party must respect... not in armed struggles."
As for the Ebola epidemic, Conde said that the disease is now under control.
"We know and master the disease better now. Today we have doctors who are able to deal with it. Even as we pray to God that this will not happen again," he said.
"We have opened many health centers in all sub-prefectures. We are building hospitals. In this connection, the construction of a hospital is [being] done with Turkey."
The Guinean leader also reiterated his commitment to stand with Turkey and the Turkish people.
"Personally, I have a lot of admiration for what President Erdogan has done... We have followed developments in Turkey and we are aware of all the changes made by President Erdogan in terms of the economy and the strengthening of Turkey's independence and sovereignty," he concluded.
