President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday received the Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Istanbul amid growing ties between Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates.

According to Turkish sources, the meeting took place at the Dolmabahçe Working Office and was also attended by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

In a statement shared on his X account following his meeting with President Erdoğan, Sheikh Mansour said the UAE views strengthening partnerships and creating new opportunities for cooperation as a consistent pillar of its relations with countries around the world. He added that the two sides discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation and expand it across various sectors in a manner that serves mutual interests and supports development and prosperity for both nations.

Erdoğan’s July 2023 visit to the UAE marked a new milestone in relations as the two countries decided to set up a high-level strategic council, essentially recognizing each other as strategic partners. Since then, commercial relations between the two countries significantly increased. Sheikh Mohammed was a guest of Erdoğan last July, co-chairing the first meeting of the council, after Erdoğan’s last visit to his country in February 2024.

The UAE is Türkiye’s biggest trade partner in the Gulf and bilateral trade volume was about $16 billion in 2024. The two countries aim to increase it to $20 billion in the short term and $40 billion in the medium term.