Al-Assad, Sezer statements, following talks
Syria-Turkey, Politics, 1/7/2004

Syria's Presidents Bashar al-Assad and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Necdet Sezer on Tuesday evening held a plenary meeting attended from the Turkish side by Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and Ministers of Foreign Trade, Tourism and Finance.

At the end of the meeting, three agreements were signed in the presence of the two presidents. The agreements are on the Prevention of Double Taxation, Protection and Encouragement of Investment, and Tourist Protocol.

Presidents al-Assad and Sezer delivered two statements to the press. President al-Assad said talks with the Turkish officials were held in good atmosphere of common fraternity and understanding that reflected the historical ties between the two brotherly and friendly countries.

He added that "we expressed content over growing development of our bilateral relations, and keenness on further cementing them in all official and public fields. We have signed three economic and tourist agreements. Some ideas offered by our two governments were discussed on setting up a joint free trade zone. We also agreed on opening a general or honorary consulate in a city close to Syrian borders, and it could be Gaziantep, in addition to discussion on how to eliminate the obstacles that hinder movement of people on both borders."

President al-Assad said that there was full agreement in opinion on the subjects discussed. "We stressed our condemnation of recent terrorist actions which targeted Turkey and some Islamic countries. We expressed our evaluation of the Turkish stances regarding our Arab causes, particularly in Palestine and the Golan." He added that "our points of view were identical on the general assessment of the situations in Iraq and the potential dangers, which affect Iraq and directly the neighboring countries. We also emphasized the necessity of marinating Iraq's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, and the rejection of any measure that could lead to its disintegration in the future."

"We also reviewed the Syrian initiative to the UN Security Council, which calls for freeing the Middle East region from weapons of mass destruction that threaten security and peace in the region...Turkish brothers were content with the initiative," he added.

The President thanked President Sezer and other Turkish Ministers and officials for all they did concerning the visit to Turkey.

For his part, President Sezer said "we held a meeting with His Excellency President Bashar al-AssadÉTalks were fruitful and constructive. We continued our joint work with the participation of the two delegations. His Excellency's visit is of historical nature, for it is the first visit to our country by a President of Republic in Syria." "We discussed in details our bilateral relationsÉ.each side expressed pleasure over the development of cooperation in various fieldsÉwe saw once again that new prospects of cooperation and relations have been opened. We agreed on developing our cooperation in all fields, and to boost our relations, which derive its strength from the deep historical unity. We discussed political, economic and trade relations and how to make maximum benefit from available opportunities," the Turkish president added.

He said the just-concluded agreements with Syria would greatly contribute in developing and cementing cooperation between the two countries, particularly in the economic and trade fields, and open the way to businessmen from both countries.

President Sezer said "the visit of President al-Assad to Turkey is paid at a sensitive time in the Middle East region, adding both sides reviewed developments of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the developments in Iraq. In this regard we saw similarity of ideas and aims concerning maintaining Iraq's people and territorial unity, and establishing stability as soon as possible, so that Iraq returns to the international communityÉand supporting international efforts to rebuild Iraq." He added that there are identical points of view on the importance of stability in the region, and the necessity of establishing just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

The Turkish president expressed confidence that President al-Assad's visit to Turkey would help develop bilateral relations between the two neighboring countries, and helps more and more in establishing peace and stability in the region.

Previous Stories:
  Gul: al-Assad's visit is a starting point for a new stage of Turkish- Syrian relations   (1/6/2004)
  Al-Assad starts historic visit to Ankara today   (1/6/2004)
  Turkish officials and al-Assad's expected visit   (1/3/2004)

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