Australia-Turkey Friendship ‘Very Rare In History’

Tony Abbot said that people should draw inspiration from Australia’s friendship with Turkey. The Australian prime minister spoke at a peace summit in Istanbul.

Abbott said that Australia and Turkey were foes before but became friends. According to him, the bilateral cooperation between the two countries is better than it has ever been. Abbott said that both countries were working together to defeat terrorism in all its forms.

The comment came a day after Australia had signed a new agreement on sharing its intelligence with Turkey. The purpose of the agreement is to stop foreign recruits from going Iraq and Syria for joining militant forces like Islamic State.

The Australian PM said that Turkey was “manfully rising” to the challenge of battling terrorism. He referred to Turkey’s border with Iraq and Syria while appreciating the Islamic country’s efforts against extremism. “In declaring a caliphate, this death cult has declared war on the world,” Abbott said, “Regrettably, some Australians have joined this madness.”

Abbott recalled the time when Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu had addressed Griffith University in Queensland in November 2014. In the centenary year of the Anzac landing at Gallipoli, Abbott remembered Davutoğlu saying that his great uncle had fought the Australians at Gallipoli 100 years back.

According to the Australian PM, the friendship between the two countries was an example of respect growing between former foes. He said that the Turkish PM had been welcomed as a friend in Australia while entering the homeland of a former enemy in some parts of the world would be to invite hostility and suspicion even two generations on.

Abbott attended the peace summit at the Turkish capital. Turkish and New Zealand leaders also attended the event. This was Abbott’s first visit to the country which has a history of animosity with Australia during the World War I. Abbott said that he had been invited to the peace summit as a friend, "notwithstanding Australia's role in the 1915 attack on Turkey."

Davutoğlu said that it was very rare in history that two countries, which had ferociously fought against each other once, became friends. Abbott will spend Friday in Turkey and then return home for Anzac Day events on Saturday.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au