Gul initiates his official program in Latvia

President Abdullah Gul and First Lady Hayrunnisa Gul were welcomed with an official ceremony by President Andris Berzins of Latvia and Latvian First Lady Dace Seisuma in the Latvian capital city of Riga.After the welcoming ceremony, the two Presidents chaired the delegational talks and held a joint press conference, during which Gul said that the two countries were two old friends. Underlining that the current trade volume between the two countries amounts to $300 million, Gul said, "Both Turkey and Latvia have successfully implemented their measures against the global financial crisis." Referring to the diplomatic relations between Turkey and Latvia which date back to 1925, Gul said, "Meanwhile, Turkey did not recognize the invasion and annexation of Latvia at the time, but instead it saw Latvia as an independent country. Since 1991, the bilateral relations between the two countries have considerably developed and Turkey has strongly supported the Latvian integration with the European-Atlantic institutions." Gul also offered his thanks to Latvian administration and his people for supporting Turkey's accession to the EU. For his part, Berzins defined the Turkish-Latvian relations as very dynamic and offered his appreciation for Turkey's contribution to NATO's Air Police Mission for the Baltic region. Stating that cooperation between the two countries will be improved in such fields as energy, aviation and real estate, Berzins added that they supported Turkey's integration with the EU in a determined manner.