Turkey, Japan 'foul-weather friends': Japanese envoy

By Nazli Yuzbasioglu

ANKARA (AA) - Akio Miyajima, Japanese Ambassador in Ankara, said Turkey and Japan were “foul-weather friends”, supporting each other during hard times regardless of their geographic distance to each other.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview, Miyajima, who has been in the post since last October, evaluated relations between the two.

"The two countries are very close despite being geographically remote, and two friends that help each other during hard times," Miyajima said.

Recalling the Ertugrul frigate incident in 1890, Miyajima also underlined the mutual aid between the countries during Japan earthquake and tsunami and Van earthquakes in 2011 which also helped the relations to improve.

A bond was formed during the Ottoman era when the frigate Ertugrul sank off the coast of Japan as it returned from a goodwill visit in 1890.

Nearly 600 lost their lives but Japan’s rescue effort and the support shown to survivors sealed friendly ties between the peoples of both countries.

- Sinop Nuclear Plant Project

Turkey opened its embassy in Japan in 1925 and since then links between the nations have risen to a “strategic partnership”, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

According to a 2012 survey by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 83 percent of Japanese people have positive sentiments towards Turkey, and Japan has invested heavily in Turkish infrastructure and energy projects.

Miyajima said there was no decline in investment by Japanese companies in Turkey despite the difficulties Turkey faced over the past years, saying that Japanese investors take into account the country's population potential and geostrategic position.

Regarding the Sinop Nuclear Power Plant, to be built in Turkey's Black Sea coastal city, the Japanese envoy said feasibility studies were ongoing.

"The result will be announced in spring 2018. I hope that the project will go further following the result. Nuclear energy is a project with a high budget but plants may last between 50 and 100 years," said Miyajima, adding it would also provide employment.

"We guarantee that this project is safe. I also think that we can cooperate in many fields such as clean coal use, liquefied natural gas, geothermal energy and energy saving besides nuclear energy," he said.

Turkey plans to build three nuclear power plants, the first at Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant in Mersin province; the second at Sinop but the third plant's location has not yet been announced.

In May 2013, the Turkish government accepted the Japanese government's proposal to install four ATMEA1 reactors with a total capacity of about 4,800 megawatts for the Sinop project.

Construction of the $20 billion plant to be built in Turkish northern province of Sinop, near the Black Sea, will produce 40 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity every year with its four reactors.

The nuclear project will be constructed by a French-Japanese consortium with a share from Turkey’s state-owned energy company EUAS. The agreement between the Turkish and Japanese governments to build the plant was signed in 2013.