Ecuador's President received by Gul

President Abdullah Gul yesterday received Ecuador's President Rafael Correa Delgado in a welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace. Prior to his official visit to Turkey, Delgado has sent 2,000 Ecuador roses as a gesture to Istanbul and Ankara. The roses were delivered to Turkey in a 30-hour flight. Holding a joint press conference with Gul, Delgado expressed hope that the two countries will coordinate more closely on politics, development policy and tourism. Delgado also predicted that a recent Turkish Airlines request to begin flights to Ecuador is likely to be approved in the coming month. Stating that he has been concerned over the developments in Northern Africa and Middle East, Delgado said, "If these countries have had a great leader like Ataturk in the past and succeeded in carrying out these political reforms at that time, they wouldn't have been in such a situation now." Delgado defined Turkey as an amazing country and invited everybody to visit his country. Speaking in the press conference, Gul said that Turkey has been showing further interest in Ecuador since the launch of its policy of opening to Latin America and Caribbean in 2006. Gul defined Ecuador as the shining star of the region, saying that they have jointly decided to improve political, economic and commercial cooperation between the two countries. In reply to reporter's questions, Gul also joined his voice to a recent wave of outrage over a court decision to drop the Sivas case concerning the deaths of 33 intellectuals as well as two assailants and two hotel workers in a hotel fire which was set by an angry mob. Gul complained that light has not yet been shed on the incident. Furthermore, Gul said that the court decision on releasing< two investigative journalists, namely, Ahmet Sik and Nedim Sener, have contributed to boosting Turkey's image.