Gul meets with Slovenian Turk

President Abdullah Gul yesterday met with his Slovenian counterpart Danilo Turk at the Cankaya Presidential Palace. Gul and Turk held a joint press conference after the meeting. Afterwards, Gul hosted a dinner in honor of Turk at the Cankaya Presidential Palace. Speaking at the gathering, Gul said, "Our talks focused on ways to further improve our bilateral relations and development. We consider Slovenia a significant ally and friendly country with which we cooperate for stability and prosperity of Europe and our region." Touching on economic and commercial relations between the two countries, Gul stated that trade volume between the two countries increased to $900 million last year. "We aim at further increasing this amount in years to come," he added. For his part, Turk spoke about attendance of the Alliance of Civilizations Forum, saying that the Alliance of Civilizations initiative was very important. Turk added that he would not forget Turkey's support to Slovenia's membership process to international organizations such as the UN. Stating that they appreciated Turkey's policies in the Middle East, Caucasus and Central Asia, he stressed that Turkey and Slovenia had similar opinions about international affairs. He said that Slovenia, as a European country, believed that Turkey should take place in the EU, and that Turkey would make important contributions to the EU with its economic and demographic dynamism and strategic location.