Gul receives his Armenian counterpart Topi

Speaking at a press conference jointly held with his Albanian counterpart Bamir Topi at the Cankaya Presidential Palace yesterday, President Abdullah Gul said that Turkey and Albania enjoyed very close relations drawing their strength from historical, cultural and human ties and values and shared common visions and goals for the region. "We will always continue to support Albania whenever it needs, just like we did in the past," said Gul. Stating that economic relations were also discussed as part of the official visit paid by Topi, Gul said that trade volume between the two countries amounted to 350 million American dollars with an investment made by approximately one hundred Turkish companies totaling nearly 1.5 billion American dollars. Speaking in his part, Topi touched upon Turkey's growing economy and called on Turkish businessmen to increase the amount of their investments in Albania. Topi added that he was grateful to Gul for all the help that he has provided for the independence of Kosovo. As part of his three-day visit, Topi will also meet with the businessmen from Istanbul today.