November 14, 2007 | 12:00am
The newly appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to the Philippines Adnan Basaga vowed to expedite the civil aviation agreement between the Philippines and Turkey to pave way for a direct flight access between the two nations.
Basaga said Turkey, especially Istanbul, has the potential to become a gateway for the Philippines to penetrate Europe and North America.
According to Basaga there were already attempts to seal the civil aviation agreement between the two countries, but has not been seriously acted upon.
Personally, he said there is a need to connect Turkey and the Philippines, through a direct flight in order to boost the human contacts and commercial exchanges between the two countries, the reason why he has promised to work on this concern during his term as Ambassador.
Basaga, together with his wife, were in Cebu on a five-day visit to celebrate the 84th anniversary of the proclamation of Turkey as a Republic.
The Ambassador said, once the Philippines and Turkey will complete the civil aviation agreement, there is a possibility that commercial airlines may be interested to open up direct flights starting with Manila to Istanbul.
Cebu for instance, he said is a “golden place” that has great potential to attract Turkish tourists, however, direct flight infrastructure must be in place to maximize such potential.
Basaga specifically mentioned the distinct friendliness of Cebuano people, as one of the attractive come-ons to attract Turkish nationals, as well as the very relaxed atmosphere in the province.
He mentioned that a Turkish Airline representative visited the Philippines twice this year and expressed interest open up a direct flight from here, but the civil aviation agreement still has to be fulfilled first.
Turkey, a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Southeast Asia and Balkan region of southeastern Europe, is attracting an average of 22 million tourists a year.
A direct flight facility could also provide access for Turkish nationals, or its tourists to consider the Philippines, as its tourism destination, as well as Turkey as an emerging vacation destination of Filipino travelers.
The visit of the Basaga to Cebu, signaled the strengthening of trade relations between Cebu exporters and strong awareness of Cebuanos of Turkey as a good destination, and export market.
Turkey is importing Information Technology (IT) products made from the Philippines. Basaga said this could be enlarged further as the Embassy of Turkey to the Philippines is intensifying its work to connect Filipino traders, including Cebuano businessmen to the 76 million Turkish markets.
