Stoltengers praises Turkish maritime sector

As part of his visit to Turkey, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg yesterday attended a luncheon that was hosted in his honor at Ciragan Palace, where he cooked raw salmon with Norwegian cook Jostein Medhus. In reply to a reporter's question about his views on terrorist attack which occurred in Norway in July 2010 and killed dozens of students, Stoltenberg said, "It's important to take care of and heal the pains suffered by those who have lost their loved ones in the terrorist attack. I'm also grateful to the Turkish people for sharing our pain. As you know, Gizem, a Turkish girl, has also lost her life during these attacks, which showed the cruel and dangerous face of terrorism to Norway. The Turkish people already know how painful the terrorist attacks are," adding that Norway is now also aware of the pain caused by terrorism. Following the luncheon, Stoltenberg proceeded from Istanbul to Yalova along with Transportation, Maritime and Communication Minister Binali Yildirim to attend a ceremony to launch a Norwegian-Turkish ship named "Grand Canyon" that was constructed at Yalova Shipyard. Speaking at the ceremony, Stoltenberg and Yildirim said that the commercial cooperation between Turkey and Norway in maritime and ship construction would continue and that the cooperation between the two countries evident in many sectors has gained acceleration particularly in terms of maritime. Stating that he could seize the opportunity of seeing an important potential to develop relations between the two countries, Stoltenberg said, "Turkey and Norway are both friendly and ally countries. In this respect, I believe that we will be able to improve our cooperation both in economy and politics. I also think that your economic potential is enormous." Speaking in his part, Yildirim said that ship construction orders between the two countries amounted to only 30 billion American dollars at the beginning of 2000s, adding, "We were building fast ferries in Norway before the 2000s. Today the situation is just the opposite. We are now building Norwegian ships at Turkish shipyards." Yildirim said that these perfect products were the result of a combination of Norway's experiences in ship equipment and materials, as well as Turkish shipyards' construction skills.