Davutoglu discusses Egypt with several FMs

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu discussed incidents in Egypt with several foreign ministers on the phone in Singapore. Davutoglu has visited Singapore with a view to develop economic relations between his country and the southeast Asian nation. Before leaving Singapore, Foreign Minister Davutoglu phoned US, British, French, German, Qatari foreign ministers to discuss recent events in Egypt. Davutoglu's talks in Singapore In only the second visit by aTurkish foreign minister to Singapore since the foundation of the Republic of Turkey, Davutoglu met President Tony Tan Keng Yam, Prime Minister Lee Hsian Loong, and Parliament Speaker Halimah Yakob. The leaders are reported to have discussed the "tremendous potential" in bilateral relations. "We would like to draw investment and tourists from Singapore, enhance our foreign trade, and establish closer ties with the country as a base for our trade in the ASEAN region," Davutoglu said. Singapore is the fourth-largest financial center in the world. Yakob said her country and Turkey would soon begin free trade agreement talks. Davutoglu has reiterated the plan for an agreement to compensate for a recent decline in trade between the two states, which stood at over one billion dollars in 2011, but has since fallen. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was willing to visit Singapore in the future, he said. The country supports Turkey's "dialogue partner" status at ASEAN, an economic organization of Southeast Asian nations with a combined economic size that if listed would rank as the eight largest in the world. During his official talks, Davutoglu also visited the Sultan Mosque and the grave of the first Ottoman consul general stationed in the country.