Ukraine is already an important market for Turkish construction companies, which are looking to resume some of the projects disrupted by the war.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday conveyed to his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Türkiye would give the necessary support for the reconstruction of the embattled country.
Erdoğan’s remarks came as he paid his first visit to Ukraine since the war began and alongside Zelenskyy, oversaw a signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the rebuilding of the country’s infrastructure that has been either damaged or destroyed by the invasion.
Erdoğan met with Zelenskyy in the western city of Lviv and held bilateral talks before they were joined by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The trilateral summit focused on diplomatic efforts to help end the almost six-month war, as well as to discuss a mechanism that was set up last month to free up exports of Ukrainian grain to the world markets.
“We discussed the extent of the physical destruction caused by the war in Ukraine. We shared with Mr. Zelenskyy that we will give the necessary support for the reconstruction of Ukraine, as we have done so far,” Erdoğan said following the meeting.
Ukraine’s leader dubbed his Turkish counterpart’s trip a “powerful message of support.”
“We talked about the reconstruction of Ukraine after this war. In this context, I would like to especially thank Türkiye for undertaking the reconstruction works in the city of Kharkiv and the Kharkiv region,” Zelenskyy said.
The MoU, signed by Turkish Trade Minister Mehmet Muş and Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, foresees a formation of a joint working group that will coordinate work to rebuild facilities of social and economic importance, including roads, bridges, water and electricity infrastructure, hospitals and schools.
The Turkish government and businesses are expected to develop specific reconstruction projects and provide consulting and technical assistance, the Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry said in a statement.
“Turkey is our strategic ally and the war has only highlighted that. We are grateful to the Turkish partners for their intentions to cooperate in rebuilding the infrastructure destroyed by Russia,” said Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov.
“This is facilitated by the extensive experience of Turkish business participation in the construction of roads and bridges, in particular, this applies to our megaprojects – the Zaporizhia and Kremenchuck bridges,” Kubrakov was cited as saying by the Kyiv Post.
“We know Turkish business as a reliable partner, so we expect that very soon we will achieve concrete practical results in issues of joint reconstruction. In the near future, a joint working group on rebuilding issues will be established, where we will work out mechanisms for attracting Turkish investments, as well as develop specific projects for cooperation.”
Türkiye Contractors Union (TMB) Chair Erdal Eren voiced the organization’s readiness to engage in the post-war process and said the Turkish builders already have the necessary equipment due to the unfinished projects in Ukraine.
“We hope to be able to continue our construction projects from where we left off and play a role in the reconstruction of the country (Ukraine),” Eren told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Friday.
“We, as Turkey, did not play a role in the destruction of these places, but we are ready to take part in the reconstruction of the country. We are proud to be the representatives of the country that does not destroy but builds. This has been the case in Iraq and Libya as well.”
Türkiye has engaged in a balancing act, maintaining good relations with both Russia and Ukraine, and has tried to steer a middle course between the two combatants.
Türkiye has criticized Moscow’s invasion and provided Ukraine with arms, including drones, which played a significant role in deterring a Russian advance early in the conflict, while refusing to join the West in imposing sanctions on Russia – a stance it says has helped its mediation efforts reap results.
Eren hailed what he said were “extraordinary” efforts to maintain relations with both Moscow and Kyiv at the same level.
“In addition to the uninterrupted continuation of our business in Russia, we are excited to take part in both our unfinished business and the restructuring project in Ukraine,” he noted.
Eren said they had engaged with the Foreign Ministry in May looking to launch such a process and had conveyed letters to the relevant ministries regarding the formation of a combined task force.
He pointed out that the Turkish contracting sector can undertake all kinds of work, from the demolition, the removal of the debris, the design of the structures to be reconstructed to the construction of the structures.
“We had already proposed cooperation to demolish the bombed buildings and to clean up the debris, and to carry out contracting works, including projects. Now the memorandum of understanding on the cooperation between the two countries has been drafted. We have also conveyed our views on this issue,” Eren noted.
Eren stated that there are Turkish companies specialized in debris removal, recalling works done on the Syrian border and in Iraq in recent years.
“Debris of buildings needs to be moved quickly so that new ones are built instead. For that, significant machine power is needed. We had $3 billion in business volume in Ukraine. We have a lot of road projects in progress. So we already have the right machine power for this,” he noted.
“Since our machines are ready, we can play a role by moving faster than EU countries. I hope developments hereafter will proceed within this framework.”
Source:dailysabah.com
