Turkish president, foreign minister meet top Japanese diplomat

By Berk Ozkan and Gozde Bayar

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on Friday.

The two, along with Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, held a closed-door meeting at the Vahdettin Mansion in Istanbul.

They discussed current regional and international issues, as well as Turkey’s bilateral relations with strategic partner Japan, Cavusoglu said on Twitter.

According to a statement by the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Motegi earlier held a comprehensive meeting with Cavusoglu in which he underlined that Tokyo “attaches great importance to the relations with Turkey, a major power in the region and strategic partner of Japan.”

“Japan would like to further strengthen cooperative bilateral relations towards development of the bilateral relations in various fields, including the early conclusion of the negotiations of Japan-Turkey Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), the progress of the negotiations of Agreement on Social Security, and the establishment of Turkish and Japanese Science and Technology University,” he said.

Both ministers also agreed to establish dialogue on maritime issues between Turkey and Japan, the statement added.

Motegi said Tokyo desires to increase mutual high-level visits as Turkey and Japan head towards the centenary of their diplomatic relations in 2024.

The two also exchanged views on the situation in the Middle East, including Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Middle East Peace Process, as well as on the situation in East Asia, including China and North Korea.

A signing ceremony was also held for a loan of 45 billion yen ($410 million) “for the purpose of improving the social infrastructure of Turkish local governments affected by the influx of Syrian refugees,” the statement said.

Motegi is on a regional tour until Aug. 24 that includes stops in Turkey, Egypt, Palestine, Israel, Iran, Jordan, and Qatar.