In South Korea, Turkey's Erdogan agrees to boost ties
Baku, May 2, AZERTAC
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed Wednesday to boost relations with South Korea in numerous areas ranging from trade to defense after an official welcoming ceremony and summit meeting with President Moon Jae-in in Seoul, according to Anadolu Agency.
Erdogan's two-day trip makes him Turkey's first leader to pay a state visit to the South since the countries upgraded bilateral relations to the level of a strategic partnership in 2012, a year before signing a free trade agreement.
"The two leaders noted the South Korea-Turkey free trade agreement (FTA) has become an important foundation of mutually beneficial economic cooperation by ensuring balanced growth of trade between the two countries and agreed to quickly implement an agreement on the service industry and the investment sector within the framework of the South Korea-Turkey FTA," a joint press release stated following Wednesday's summit.
Just days after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un took an unprecedented step onto South Korean soil, Erdogan also congratulated Moon on Friday's Seoul-Pyongyang agreement to seek peace and prosperity on the peninsula.
The Turkish president also met National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun and termed the strong ties between Turkey and Korea as a "historical fact".
He announced that four agreements had been signed between Turkey and South Korea.
"We discussed what we could do in the area of defense industry and many other areas in the future during our bilateral meeting and delegation meeting."
He added: "It will be a distinguished pride for us to have Korea included in our Canal Istanbul Project."
The Canal Istanbul Project is an artificial sea-level waterway that will connect the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara.
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