Turkey will not reject any visa application, says ambassador to Algeria
The Turkish embassy in Algiers will not reject any visa application, Turkey’s ambassador to Algeria Ahmed Nadjati Bighali told Echorouk in an interview.
- Turkey is now a destination for a number of Algerian tourists. Will visa be banned to Algerians?
- The Turkish embassy in Algeria will not reject any visa application. Documents to be submitted are very simple. Any Algerians can get the visa in less than two days. Yet, that does not mean that it may be banned.
- We offered more than 50,000 touristy visas in 2010 compared to 42,000 in 2009. In the last three months, we offered 5,000 visas to Algerian tourists and businessmen.
- Turkey is now a touristy destination for Algerians due to the Arab revolutions, the crisis in Libya and the closed borders between Algeria and Morocco. Are there any measures in favour of Algerians?
- Tourism in Turkey is very wanted by Algerians. The embassy noted that 50 touristy agencies were accredited to transport tourists to Istanbul and Antalya. In 2010, a total of 57,000 visas were delivered and we expect that more than 60,000 visas would be delivered this year. We want that every Algerian knows every part in Turkey.
- Algerian-Turkish relationships have recently reached an important level. Can you talk about cooperation fields between the two countries?
- There has been recently an increase in Turkish investments size in Algeria. They reached $650 million. The biggest iron and steel group is expected to establish a factory in the province of Oran (west of Algiers) worth $500 million. Turkey expects that the investment would be an opportunity to satisfy the Algerian market demands in iron.
- Turkey is the honour guest of the 44th edition of the International exhibition of Algiers. Do have something to say about that?
- We are very happy to be the honour guest. We want to make the event a new step in the development of sustainable relationships between Algeria and Turkey. We invited about 60 Turkish companies to participate in the exhibition. Most of that are operating in construction.
- What is the size of Turkish investments in Algeria?
- Trade exchange size between the two countries reached about $5 billion. Turkish investments in Algeria are estimated at about $300 million.
- There are 200 Turkish companies operating in Algeria. Of them, 100 work in construction field.