Romanian -Turkish ties

The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has paid an official visit to Romania, the first such visit of a Turkish head of state in the past seven years. Talks with the Bucharest officials focused mainly on the security situation in the region, the R

România Internațional, 02.04.2015, 14:25

Romania and Turkey have common goals and mutual interests, the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday in Bucharest after talks with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The two officials discussed issues mainly related to security and economic cooperation. President Iohannis has said that Turkey’s participation in the setting up of a NATO command center in Romania has a special importance.

According to the Romanian official, the economic and commercial cooperation between the two countries is a strong point in the bilateral relations. Iohannis reminded that Turkey is Romania’s biggest commercial partner outside the EU and reiterated Bucharest’s support for Ankara’s EU accession.

Klaus Iohannis: “Among the things that unite us is our NATO partnership, the cooperation in various fields, especially the economic one and the fact that Romania supports Turkey in its EU accession process. “

In his turn, the Turkish President has also talked about strengthening bilateral ties and about the two countries’ excellent collaboration within NATO. Erdogan has also said that Turkey is a peace supporter in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Balkan and the Caucasus regions. Moreover, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pointed out that a ‘ring of fire’, an allusion to the ongoing congflicts in Iraq, Syria, Ukraine and Crimea, surround his country. On the other hand, the Turkish official has also said that he wants Romanian and Turkish businessmen to go together to foreign markets in order to become stronger and has pointed out there are new investment opportunities on the Romanian market.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan: “As you know, our relationship with Romania has reached the Strategic Partnership level and I believe bilateral trade can be further developed. There are companies willing to invest in Romania if they get the support they need.”

Although the Turkish official has shortened his visit to Romania because of some violent incidents in Istanbul, he has participated, alongside PM Victor Ponta, in a Romanian-Turkish business forum. Erdogan has pleaded for the development of the economic ties and has reminded that he and the Romanian Prime Minister have set the goal of increasing bilateral trade to 10 billion dollars from 6.3 billion dollars at present. In his turn, Victor Ponta has said the two countries plan to carry out joint energy, infrastructure and agriculture projects. PM Ponta has pointed out he wants Romania to make the same progress Turkey made in terms of economy and infrastructure.