Türkiye’s Relations with the League of Arab States (AL)

The founding Charter of the League of Arab States does not extend observer status to non-Arab states. Nevertheless, upon the proposal of the AL Secretariat, and with the common aim to develop relations between Türkiye and the League of Arab States, a “Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye and the General Secretariat of the AL” was signed on September 22, 2004, in New York.

Following the MoU, on September 6, 2006, the Council of Foreign Ministers of the AL adopted a resolution for the establishment of the "Turkish-Arab Cooperation Forum" (TAF). The agreement establishing TAF (The Framework Agreement for the Turkish-Arab Forum) was signed on November 3, 2007 in İstanbul.

Areas of cooperation foreseen under the TAF Agreement are as follows: (i) political and security cooperation, (ii) economic cooperation, (iii) cultural cooperation; (iv) social development cooperation, (v) cooperation for the strengthening of the Alliance of Civilizations Initiative. In this framework, various formats and groups such as the Turkish-Arab Economic Forum, the TAF Foreign Ministers meetings and others constitute useful platforms in the development of political, social, economic and cultural relations between Türkiye and the AL member states.

The "Rabat Initiative for a Comprehensive and Sustainable Turkish-Arab Cooperation" was adopted during the fourth meeting of the TAF Foreign Ministers that was held in Rabat in 2011. This document stipulates to hold various activities in the abovementioned cooperation areas. The first two meetings of the Economy, Trade and Investment Ministers of the TAF were respectively held in Mersin (Türkiye) in 2013, and Kuwait in 2015.

Upon the proposal of the AL, the "Agreement on the Establishment of a Mission in Türkiye between the Government of the Republic of Türkiye and the League of Arab States” was signed in İstanbul on October 11, 2008. The AL mission in Ankara was inaugurated in January 2010. The current Head of Mission is Faleh Majed Almutairi from Kuwait. In return, the Turkish Embassy in Cairo has been accredited to the AL since April 2010.