Erdogan meets with president calderon in Mexico, stresses stronger ties

After completing his talks in Washington, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday proceeded to Mexico City for official talks at the invitation of Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who welcomed Erdogan with full military honors at Los Pinos Presidential Residence. Erdogan and Calderon later had a face-to-face meeting and chaired an interdelegational meeting. Speaking to reporters at a joint press conference afterwards, Erdogan called for further improvement of bilateral trade ties between Turkey and Mexico, calling the current $450 million trade volume very low in view of the fact that Mexico and Turkey have the world's 13th- and 17th-largest economies. Telling how Turkish-Mexican diplomatic ties started 81 years ago, Erdogan said his government sees Mexico as key to its outreach to Latin America and the Caribbean. Erdogan said Turkey wants to cooperate with Mexico on international platforms such as the UN, G-20 and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) at the highest levels. Erdogan also said the two countries have agreed to share their experience fighting drug traffickers and organized crimes. For his part, Calderon invited President Abdullah Gul and Erdogan to attend 200th anniversary celebrations of his country next year. Calderon also expressed his support for the Alliance of Civilizations, co-chaired by Turkey and Spain. During his visit, Erdogan also addressed a meeting of the Mexican Foreign Ministry's diplomatic academy, and attended in a luncheon hosted by Calderon in his honor. Erdogan also visited a clock tower that was once presented to the Mexican government by an Ottoman colony.