PM Dancila meets Levent Gok in Ankara, reiterates suport for Turkey's European aspirations

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila on Monday, on the occasion of her official visit to Ankara, had a meeting with Levent Gok, the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, in which context she appreciated this country' contribution in managing the migration issue and reiterated Romania' constant support for Turkey's European track. 

The head of the Executive also appreciated the excellent cooperation existing at parliamentary level between the two countries, both at bilateral level and under the trilateral strategic dialogue with Poland, and she underscored the importance of the constant and consistent dialogue at this level on strategic issues, reads a press release of the Government. 

"The two high officials analyzed the status of cooperation on topics of common interest on the bilateral agenda and the perspective for strengthening the Strategic Partnership, with an emphasis on the economic relations and cooperation in the security field, which are the main pillars of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and Turkey. The two interlocutors analyzed the recent developments of the security challenges in the Black Sea region and the common action taken in ensuring security and stability in the area, as well as the perspectives for future action," reads the same release. 

On the same day, on Monday, the Romanian PM had a meeting with Rifat Hisarcikliohlu, the President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey. 

According to the Executive, Viorica Dancila hailed the dynamic economic cooperation between Romania and Turkey, which is the priority axis of the Strategic Partnership. 

"The head of the Executive remarked the bilateral exchanges data, which place Turkey as the main trade partner of Romania outside the EU, the 5th partner at global level and the 3rd investor in terms of the number of companies operating in Romania. Bilateral exchanges have seen an upward trend in the past years, with their annual level exceeding the 5-billion-euro threshold in the end of 2017, with the prospect of even exceeding this threshold, based on the indicators for 2018. Moreover, at the same meeting, they analyzed the possibilities of capitalizing on the bilateral exchanges potential, in fields of common interest," specifies the same source. 

The two parties also hailed the dynamic of the sectoral dialogue, which takes place at different levels of the business milieu in Romania and Turkey. 

"The organisation, by the end of 2018, of the 27th meeting of the joint inter-governmental committee for economic cooperation and of the Businessmen Forum will give a new dynamics to the economic relations," said the Government. 

During the talks they also underscored the positive experience of cooperation between Romania and Turkey in implementing common projects at the Black Sea, under the joint operational programme "Black Sea Basin."