Bangladesh and Turkey in a bilateral meeting in Dhaka on Friday discussed Rohingya crisis besides bilateral issues of cooperation in various areas to deepen relations between the two countries.

Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan addressing a joint press conference in a city hotel after the meeting said they supported the

‘Safe, voluntary and dignified return of Rohingyas’ to their homeland Myanmar.

He said that Turkey was working on the issue with neighbouring countries for a lasting solution to the protracted Rohinhya crisis.

He lauded Bangladesh’s role in hosting over one million forcibly displaced Rohingyas from the Rakhine state of Myanmar.

Bangladesh foreign minister Khalilur Rahman said that Dhaka would continue its efforts for peace and prosperity across the globe.

He said that both sides discussed the possibilities of free trade agreement and the preferential trade agreement between Bangladesh and Turkey.

The foreign minister-level meeting ended with the signing of a memorandum of understanding on cultural heritage protection between the two nations.

Both sides refused to take any questions from journalists during the press conference.

Khalilur invited Turkish businesses to invest in textiles, shipbuilding, and defence industry among other sectors in dedicated export processing zones.

The Turkish foreign minister would visit Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar to see for himself the humanitarian crisis before he concludes his three-day official visit on Friday.