The new Turkish Ambassad-or to Guyana Nihat Akyol has said he will place focus on tourism and industry, after presenting his Letters of Credence to President Bharrat Jagdeo at a simple ceremony held in the Credentials Room of the Office of the President.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release, after making his presentation to the president earlier this week Akyol said that the cooperative agreement signed by Guyana and Turkey in 2005 is the framework for engagements between the two countries during his tenure. He said Turkey will be able to grant assistance to Guyana in areas including disaster prevention, industry and tourism. Akyol said his country has developed an excellent tourism product and is willing to impart the knowledge garnered from their experiences to Guyana.
“Turkey is a full-fledged tourist economy. We are having every year more than [twenty to twenty-two] million people coming in our country.
I know Guyana has plenty of possibilities and potential,” he said. “To work on this issue (tourism), you have to support the infrastructure, the logistics and the training in this field which is a very specific area of expertise,” the Ambassador added.
Akyol said too Turkey’s education sector can benefit from its relationship with Guyana. “I know Guyana is strong in the education field. You have a good, well-organized base on that so probably those exchanges could be beneficial to my country. We would be happy to learn about your success,” he said.
Akyol is a life-long diplomat who has served in the Turkish Foreign Service since 1974. He has represented his country at the European Community directorate, the United Nations Office in New York and the embassy in Zaire during 1980 to 1984 (Zaire was renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1997).
The Turkish ambassador was born in Ankara in 1947 and has a graduate degree in social sciences from Ankara University and a post-graduate degree from Nancy University in France. He speaks French and English, along with his native Turkish.