Argentina is "open to the Arab world," Foreign Minister Hector Timerman said Thursday ahead of a international tour later this month by President Cristina Kirchner to Kuwait, Qatar and Turkey.
Kirchner will arrive in Kuwait on January 16 for a two-day stay, head to Qatar on the 18-19 then Turkey from January 20-21, according to the official agenda for the trip.
With Turkey, Buenos Aires would especially like to boost relations, Timerman said, noting the G20 member was already a partner with Argentina on a number of issues including UN reform.
"We have an ongoing dialogue between our foreign ministers, we would like to establish a dialogue between presidents," Timerman said.
There is a large Arab community in Argentina, mostly of Syrian-Lebanese descent, with approximately three million immigrants from the region out of Argentina's 40 million-strong population, according to the Federation of Argentine-Arab Entities (Fearab).
Many of the Arab population, which is largely Christian, are nicknamed "Turcos" (Turks) as their ancestors had fled persecution during the the Ottoman Empire, which had included Syria and Lebanon.
Argentina last month was among several South American nations that recognized Palestine as an independent state, drawing a harsh rebuke from Israel.
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