Gul: "Ties between Turkey and Japan should be improved"

President Abdullah Gul yesterday met with Japanese Prince Tomohito of Mikasa at Istanbul 's Ciragan Palace . Afterwards, Gul delivered a speech at a ceremony marking the Turkish-Japanese Friendship. Stating that Turkey is now marking the Year of Japan, following on Japan 's 2003 Year of Turkey, Gul said that Japan will be in Turkey 's spotlight in 2010, adding that relations between Turkey and Japan should be improved across the board. "There is a great potential between Turkey and Japan ," he said. "There are many areas of (potential) investment. Turkey provides investment opportunities to Japanese companies." For his part, Mikasa said that Turkey is one of Japan 's most important friends and that he hopes ties between the two countries grow stronger.