King Abdullah in Ankara

King Abdullah II of Jordan arrived in Ankara on Tuesday in a visit to Turkey which will last for two days at the invitation of Turkish President Suleiman Demirel.

King Abdullah will hold during this visit talks with the Turkish president, prime minister and other officials dealing with the situation in the Middle East and bilateral relations.

Later in the day the two heads of state held talks while Jordanian Premier Abdul Raouf al-Rawabdeh and Minister of Waters Kamal Hadadin met with the Turkish minister of energy and other officials.

The Jordanian king told reporters that he had discussed with Demirel the Middle East peace process and bilateral trade. The king added, "Turkey plays an important role in this part of the world. Hopefully we will able to bring our two countries together through economic prosperity and trade exchange."

Demirel, for his part, stressed that, "Turkey is determined to work in close cooperation with Jordan in order to establish peace in the Middle East and for the common future of our region."

Later and in a speech before the Turkish Parliament, the Jordanian king made a speech in which he stressed, "Turkey shares with us our dream to establish a stable Middle East, and Turkey has a pivotal role in building peace in the region." He expressed his backing to "regional plans of using joint resources especially the waters, energy and the environment."

A Turkish diplomat who took part in the talks said that the "two sides decided to develop their bilateral relations in the military area and to continue joint training and expand their cooperation in the in the field of weapon industry."

He stated that the Jordanian side also called on Turkish businessmen to invest in a Jordanian free zone and that the Turkish side agreed to that, adding that the two countries decided to increase the volume of their trade exchange which is only estimated at US $100 million at the present.