Mr Mehmet Poroy, the Turkish Ambassador to Nigeria, has pledged to partner with the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) to strengthen bilateral relations on diaspora engagement between the two countries.
The envoy made this known when he paid a courtesy visit to the Commission’s Chairman/CEO, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, in her office on Monday in Abuja.
He said that Nigeria and Turkey both shared similarities, with Nigeria having 17 million citizens abroad, while Turkey has 7.5 million diaspora.
According to him, 6.5 million Nigerians were living in Europe, while the rest were scattered in America and other parts of the world.
The envoy further said that there were about 5,000 Nigerians currently living in Turkey, and expressed his embassy’s readiness to work with NiDCOM to learn from it to better his country’s diaspora engagement.
Responding, Dabiri-Erewa appreciated the ambassador’s visit, adding that the commission was ready to partner with the Turkish government to learn and grow together.
She acknowledged that both countries have similarities in various ways, adding that the more reason for the collaboration was to deepen the relationship between the two countries.
“Nigeria has over 17 million diaspora living around the world and the Nigerian diaspora are regarded as the most intelligent in the U.S. and the UK.
“Turkey has been friendly to Nigerian students studying in the country and I promise to return the visit.
“I promise to work and partner to share information and to collaborate with Turkish diaspora commission,” she said.(NAN)
