Turkey's Ambassador to Cameroon Atilay Ersan admits Ankara-Yaounde ties are excellent, but relations lag in intensity.

President Abdullah Gül is on a whirlwind tour of Africa. What are the specific objectives of this visit?

I would first of all like to thank Cameroon Tribune for showing so much interest in this visit. I would like to welcome you very warmly to our temporary chancery. I arrived in Cameroon on January 12, 2010 and I am the first resident Ambassador of Turkey to Cameroon. We had previously operated from Abuja. Turkey declared 2005 as the year of opening up to Africa. The project to open up embassies took a little longer than we had expected; My presence here is a manifestation of that political will. I was Minister-Counsellor in the Turkish embassy in London when my Minister of Foreign Affairs announced to me that I was going to be my country's first resident Ambassador to Cameroon. I was very happy. It is usually difficult to be the first because you have to think of everything and begin from scratch. It is my sincere desire to build a firm foundation so that future ambassadors work without any difficulty.

The working atmosphere here is very good. In fact Foreign Minister Henry Eyebe Ayissi received copies of my letters of credence the day after I arrived in Yaounde. He also assured me that various government departments and agencies would lend me their support. Indeed, they have been very supportive. Life is very easy here for me because I have the support of the Cameroonian government. Not all Ambassadors have such a privilege.

As I said, my government decided to step up the number of Turkish embassies in Africa. Up to this year, we had only 12 altogether, with seven in Sub-Saharan African countries. We plan to open nine more. We started with Côte d'Ivoire and, now, it is Cameroon. From here we'll be opening an embassy in Kampala, Uganda. The others will follow next year.

Why this sudden interest this time?

As you know, Africa is a very rich continent. It has over 50 countries represented at the United Nations and many are members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. We do have contacts with all these countries. Why not extend these relations to a bilateral level? Without an embassy, it is not that easy to know a country. You cannot understand the realities of the country or the functioning of its government. A sporadic visit by an ambassador once a year will not achieve much. My presence here gave the way to my president, while planning his visit to Africa, to choose Cameroon also. You can see the importance of this visit from the number of people accompanying the president: about 120 businessmen and an official delegation of about 100 persons.

What informed the choice of Cameroon for President Abdullah Gül's current visit?

Cameroon is a very strategic country. I have had occasion to say this to H.E. the Prime Minister and to the Ministers of External Relations and Trade also. Turkey and Cameroon can work hand-to-hand on two key areas: promote bilateral relations and joint-ventures. Turkey is strategically placed between the Balkans, the Middle-East and Europe, so Cameroonian businessmen and enterprises can draw huge advantages from that. On the other hand, Cameroon is very strategically located with a huge sea port which is an important outlet for other landlocked countries of the sub-region. Cameroon is also endowed with rich economic potentials, minerals and other natural resources. The choices to make here for Turkish businessmen are very varied: industry, agriculture, metallurgy, fisheries, tourism, textiles, cement, mining etc. The visit will not only provide the opportunity to meet for the first time; it will be possible for business people from the two sides to meet and say "hey, we can work together". It is an opportunity which shouldn't be missed.

Is this visit just about exploring possibilities or are there concrete agreements or accords to be signed by the two sides?

Of course, there will be agreements to be signed. But I don't think it would be appropriate for me to talk about them before they are formally signed. An ambassador must be a cautious person. I am however expecting a memorandum of understanding and about two agreements. That may look small, but this is not the end, but just the beginning. Let us put it this way: an embassy is just opened, staffs are taking up duty, a presidential visit is announced This is a good augur for more things to happen.

As we await President Abdullah Gül today, what is your assessment of the state or relations between Turkey and Cameroon today?

The two countries enjoy friendly relations. There are no political or economic problems. Our relations are free from problems. But they are not intense. We have taken the first initiative to intensify these relations by opening an embassy in Yaounde. We also hope Cameroon will be able to open an embassy in Ankara. In the hearts of all the people we meet, we have the feeling that they would like to see things move; and faster.