Syrian deputy prime minister holds constructive talks in Ankara

Syrian Deputy Premier for Economic Affairs Salim Yassin has arrived in Ankara for a two-day official visit to Turkey.

In a press statement to reporters following his meeting with Yassin, Turkish Deputy Premier Hikmet Ulugbay expressed his welcome to Yassin. He said that Yassin's visit will be a good opportunity for the two sides to study all aspects of bilateral cooperation and that through these talks the two countries will be able to develop and strengthen bilateral economic cooperation in the forthcoming phase.

Ulugbay continued that Turkey is exerting all its efforts in order to strengthen economic, trade and political relations with Syria, "with which we share a long common border."

Ulugbay expressed his hope that Yassin's visit to Turkey would achieve fruitful results for the interests of the two countries.

For his part, Yassin expressed his hope that this visit would ensure the opportunity to review the condition of economic and trade relations between the two countries and to search for ways and means to achieve this very objective to meet mutual benefits and interests.

In this respect, he referred to what had been said by his Turkish counterpart regarding ties bringing together the two neighboring countries, a matter which necessitates finding the means to strengthen and develop economic relations, for the interests of the two neighborly peoples.

The talks, to be chaired by the Syrian Deputy Premier and Ulugbay, will deal with means of improving and developing trade relations between the two countries and reviving the mechanism for bilateral cooperation agreed upon in the context of agreements previously signed between the two countries.

During Yassin's visit to Ankara, he will be also welcomed by the speaker of the Turkish Parliament, Hikmet Cetin. Yassin will also meet with the Turkish minister of state and both the ministers of transport and tourism.

Later in the day, the Syrian delegation led by Yassin and the Turkish delegation led by his counterpart, Ulugbay, on Monday held a round of talks during which they discussed ways of developing bilateral relations in the economic and trade domains.

Ulugbay told reporters following the meeting that two sides made proposals conducive to promoting and reactivating the mechanism of bilateral cooperation with a view to serving the interests of the peoples in the two neighboring states.

Yassin later met with Turkish Tourism Minister Ahmet Tan, and both officials reviewed bilateral ties in tourism and ways of developing them.