The Honourable Minister of Interior, Mr. Seyaka Sonko on Monday, 9th of May 2022, received the Turkish National Police Assessment Team, led by the Deputy Director of Department of Foreign Affairs of the Turkish National Police, Mr. Turgay Oglin; and the Deputy Director of the City of Antalya Police, Mr. Murat Baz. The team was accompanied by the Commissioner of Police of The Gambia Police Force, Mr. Famara Jobateh. The purpose of their visit was to strengthen bilateral security ties between the Republic of Turkey and the Republic of The Gambia.
This is, in addition, to formally assess the degree of security preparedness and special needs of The Gambia security institutions towards the hosting of the OIC Summit in 2022. In his remarks, the Honourable Minister of Interior, Mr. Seyaka Sonko welcomed the Turkish National Police Assessment Team and commended them for undertaking such an important courtesy call to the Ministry.
He attested that the Turkish Government is a very good partner when it comes to providing security support to the Ministry of Interior. And that their input would help enhance the Ministry’s capacity to effectively deliver to expectations.
Minister Sonko explained that the security plans for the OIC Summit is that the police will lead the operations throughout the OIC summit, in collaboration with sister security institutions, in order to complement each other’s efforts. He promised that the ministry will consider their recommendations and continue to collaborate with Turkish National Police institution to ensure that they meet the security capacity needs to host the OIC Summit in 2022.
The head of Delegation and Deputy Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Turkish National Police, Mr. Turgay Oglin, affirmed that the visit would afford them the opportunity to present to the Ministry of Interior a catalogue of what is needed in hosting the OIC Summit for the Ministry to examine and prepare a request proposal on the needed areas of assistance.
He noted that the expertise and knowledge he and his team have in hosting such meetings will go a long way toward strengthening the capacity of the security personnel to effectively execute their service during the upcoming OIC summit. “On this trip, we have a special programme and areas to visit within the Gambia Police Force. And at the end of this visit we would want to know the capacity of the Police, and the various security institutions of the Ministry of Interior,” he said. Mr. Oglin intimated that the Turkish team in The Gambia has recently trained about 285 security officers and aims to train up to 2000 security personnel.
He assured that the Turkish National Police will continue to provide security support to the Ministry’s security institutions, to ensure that they meet their security needs to effectively manage and host the upcoming OIC Summit in The Gambia.
Source: Ministry of Interior
