CAIRO - Before leaving Cairo at the end of his historic visit, Turkish Premier Recep Tayyib Erdogan met Wednesday night with some of the young Egyptians in the Turkish Cultural Centre, after he had inaugurated its new premises in the upmarket area of Doqqi. “The two most important Eastern Mediterranean countries are Egypt and Turkey. Israel is trying to dominate this area and we must work together to silence Israel,” he said. “We have created the infrastructure for co-operation between Turkey and Egypt by signing twelve agreements with the Egyptian Government, which will be applied after Egyptian parliamentary elections in November,” he added. In fact, this was the second meeting between these 30 Egyptian activists and Erdogan. The first one was in June, during his electoral campaign in Istanbul, when they were invited to Turkey by Turkish President Abdullah Gul. They are members of the Egyptian-Turkish Dialogue Forum (UFUK), established by a group of Egyptians, who represent a diversity of backgrounds and political inclinations. They strongly believe that strong Egyptian-Turkish relations are something not only needed by the people of Egypt and Turkey, but by the region as a whole. Since its launch in Cairo last July, UFUK has received unlimited support from Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Turkish Ambassador to Cairo Huseiyn Avni Botsali. They stressed their support when they met with the UFUK group in Cairo in July. UFUK will help people from both sides to come together to learn more about each other and discuss issues of mutual concern and interest in areas like culture, economy and education, as well as coming up with ideas to boost co-operation and exchange, beneficial for both sides. Erdogan met with them along with his wife, Mrs Emine Erdogan; their daughter Sumeyye; and seven Turkish officials, including Davutoglu and Ambassador Botsali. He talked in detail about his Justice and Development Party (AKP), and its success in attracting millions of his people to join it. He revealed that the secret of his party's success is that they love their people, who appreciate this and the fact that they are united and organised. Erdogan also talked about his party's experience in local council elections and he advised them, saying: “Don't be separate, be united. I believe that, in November's elections, you will set a good democratic example for the whole world. “As for your economic problems, they will be solved as you have the infrastructure. You have other problems too. You have to get rid of corruption and poverty. You need to be a stable country to attract investments. “I believe in you, Egyptian youth. You will build Egypt's future with very solid materials. For those who are married, have three or more children. You should depend on human resources. God be with you.” After the meeting, one of UFUK's members addressed Erdogan and the gathering. “We the Egyptian people are aware of the role entrusted to us as civilisation's leaders. We want to build bridges of co-operation between the Egyptian and Turkish people and together create a future inspired by the past. “We have therefore launched UFUK to activate genuine projects in various fields. We hope you will support our initiative and encourage the Turkish youth to do so too.”
