ANKARA

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed his Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez with an official ceremony at the presidential complex in the capital Ankara on Wednesday.

The leaders will hold one-on-one talks, to be followed by a joint news conference.

Erdogan and Bermudez will exchange views on Türkiye-Cuba relations and potential steps aimed at improving the cooperation between the two countries, according to the Turkish presidency.

They will also exchange views on regional and global issues, Latin America and the Caribbean in particular.

The visit coincides with the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Türkiye and Cuba.

Diplomatic relations between Türkiye and Cuba were established in 1952. Türkiye opened its first embassy in the Caribbean in Havana in 1979.

Ahead of his meeting with Erdogan, Bermudez paid his respects to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of the Turkish Republic, at his mausoleum.

"The Cuban delegation visits this place to pay heartfelt tribute and homage to the founding father of the modern Turkish nation, Kemal Ataturk, whom the commander in chief, Fidel Castor Ruz describes as a source of inspiration for the Cuban Republic," he wrote on the memorial book at Anitkabir.

Bermudez added that the Cuban and Turkish people share common values ​​that are the legacy of the founders of both nations.