Following his visit to Algeria on Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arrived in Mauritania yesterday afternoon. Mauritania was the second stop of his five-day, four-country trip to Africa, and is the first time a Turkish president has visited the country.

During his one-day visit to the country, Erdoğan was expected to hold talks with President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and discuss bilateral ties and cooperation.

The two leaders were expected to attend the signing ceremony of agreements to boost bilateral economic ties between the two countries.

The two presidents and their delegations were also expected to exchange views on regional and international developments as well as the common fight against terrorism. Accompanied by a group of businesspeople and investors, Erdoğan was scheduled hold business meetings to enhance economic relations.

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) was expected to open an office in the counw try as part of the visit.

Despite common cultural and historical ties between Mauritania and Turkey, political relations between the two countries experienced real progress after 2008.

Aziz's visit to Turkey in 2010 after former Foreign Minister Ali Babacan's visit to the country and the mutual opening of embassies gave great impetus to bilateral relations. With the objective to develop commercial relations between the two countries, the Joint Economic Commission and the Turkey-Mauritania Business Council were established. As a result, the volume of mutual trade increased from $22 million in 2008 to $131.9 million in 10 years.