Türkiye Ambassador to Bangladesh Ramis Sen met with State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam at the foreign ministry today. Photo: MoFA

DHAKA, March 9, 2026 (BSS) - Türkiye has assured support for Bangladesh's 
candidature for the presidency of the 81st session of the United Nations 
General Assembly (UNGA) for 2026-2027.

The assurance came when Türkiye Ambassador to Bangladesh Ramis Sen paid a 
courtesy call on State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam at the 
foreign ministry here, said a foreign ministry's press release.

During the meeting, the state minister sought Türkiye's support for 
Bangladesh's candidature for the presidency of the 81st session of the UN 
General Assembly for the 2026-2027 term.

In response, Ambassador Sen conveyed that the Republic of Türkiye would 
extend its support to Bangladesh's candidature.

The Turkish envoy congratulated the state minister on her recent appointment 
and reaffirmed Türkiye's commitment to further strengthening the longstanding 
friendship and partnership between the two countries.

Welcoming the ambassador, Shama Obaed Islam underscored the excellent 
bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Türkiye, which she said are rooted 
in shared values, cultural affinity and deep civilizational bonds.

Both sides discussed ways to further enhance cooperation in key sectors and 
expressed satisfaction over the positive momentum in bilateral trade, 
emphasizing the shared goal of increasing trade volume between the two 
countries.

The state minister welcomed greater Turkish investment in Bangladesh and 
expressed readiness to facilitate such engagements.

She also highlighted the growing defence cooperation between the two 
countries and stressed the importance of continued collaboration in capacity 
building and defence industry cooperation.

Shama Obaed Islam expressed appreciation to the government of Türkiye for its 
humanitarian assistance to the forcibly displaced Rohingyas sheltered in 
Bangladesh and for Ankara's continued support to Dhaka in international 
forums.

She also expressed hope that Türkiye would play an important role in 
facilitating the safe and sustainable repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar.

The state minister noted the growing cultural and educational exchanges 
between the two countries and highlighted the popularity of Turkish culture 
in Bangladesh.

She proposed establishing a full-fledged Turkish cultural institute in 
Bangladesh to promote cultural exchanges.

In response, Ambassador Sen referred to the existing proposal to establish 
the Yunus Emre Institute at the University of Dhaka, noting that the 
initiative could initially begin as a language training centre and later 
expand into broader cultural programmes.

The state minister also expressed hope that once the parliament of Bangladesh 
resumes its sessions, efforts would be made to revitalise the Bangladesh-
Türkiye Parliamentary Friendship Group to further strengthen legislative and 
people-to-people ties.