Dr. Ahmet Demircan, Minister of Health of the Republic of Turkey, received Dr. Adeelah Hammood Hussein, Minister of Health of Iraq, and the accompanying delegation on 7 February 2018. Following the meeting, the two Ministers held a joint press conference.
The Turkish Minister Dr. Ahmet Demircan expressed his pleasure for hosting the Iraqi Minister and the accompanying delegation.
Stating that this meeting would contribute to cooperation of both countries in the field of health, Dr. Ahmet Demircan said that there was a wide range of cooperation areas from pharmaceutical industry to medical tourism. “We can produce many products together including medicines” said the Turkish Minister. He further emphasized that development of our relations would terminate external dependence and thus prevent flow of the domestic resources to the foreign countries, and that Turkey adopted it as a principle to share her knowledge in the field of health with the friendly countries and they would share that knowledge and experience with Iraq.
Dr. Ahmet Demircan also said that Iraq was an important country of the region and they would get rid of their problems very soon and concluded “Iraq and Turkey will hold hands and make contribution to the peace of the region and world.” Underlying the will to renew and improve the functionality of the cooperation protocols previously signed between Turkey and Iraq, Dr. Demircan said that “we will make steps to renew the cooperation protocols and increase their functionality even more.”
The Iraqi Minister Hussein thanked to Dr. Demircan for his kind invitation. Stating that the visit would lead to a new development between two countries in the field of health, Dr. Adeelah Hammood Hussein expressed his agreement on renewal and extension of the memorandum of understanding.
Expressing his wish to benefit from experience of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Turkey, Dr. Adeelah Hammood Hussein said that “We are also interested in medicine production. We would like to extend our bilateral relations in all areas. We especially would like to benefit from the Turkish experience in the field of organ transplantation and cancer. In this aspect, Government of Iraq is open to the Turkish firms for investment opportunities. Currently many companies are building hospitals in various regions of Iraq. Therefore, I am convinced that cooperation of two countries will yield to positive results.”
