Gul welcomes president of Ghana

President Abdullah Gul on Thursday welcomed President John Dramani Mahama of Ghana with an official ceremony at the Cankaya Presidential Palace. The two leaders, afterwards, chaired the delegational talks and held a joint press conference, in which Gul drew attention to the remarkable development of the bilateral relations between Turkey and Ghana in recent years. "Ghana is the first country in the Sub-Saharan Africa to gain its independence and to achieve democracy, a free market economy and the rule of law. In this respect, it's taken as an example by all of the African countries," Gul noted and thanked Mahama for paying his first official visit to Turkey since taking office. Gul added that the trade volume between the two countries has grown by 85% to reach $550 million and that a great many Turkish businesspeople started to invest in Ghana. For his part, Mahama expressed gladness that Turkey has adopted Ghana as an important partner, adding, "We support Turkey's candidacy for non-permanent membership for the U.N. Security Council in the 2015-2016 period, as well as for the UNESCO World Heritage List and Expo 2020." Mahama also said that both Ghana and Turkey shared common democratic values and established peace and stability. Furthermore, as part of Mahama's visit, Turkey and Ghana signed several agreements, including those for cooperation between free trade zones, in the defense industry and between the foreign ministries of both countries.