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Turkey's president says to discuss regional problems in Saudi Arabia

Türkiye Materials 3 February 2009 15:48 (UTC +04:00)

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Tuesday that the relations with Saudi Arabia, based on mutual respect, dialogue, joint history and cultural values, have reached a pleasing level.

Speaking to reporters at Ankara's Esenboga International Airport prior to his departure for Saudi Arabia, Gul said that Turkey wished to promote relations with Saudi Arabia in every field possible, reported World bulletin.

"During my visit to Saudi Arabia, I will be accompanied by State Minister Kursad Tuzmen, Minister of National Defense Vecdi Gonul, Minister of Transportation Binali Yildirim, high level bureaucrats and businessmen," Gul said.

"We will exchange views on the Middle East and Iraq following Israel's attacks on Gaza recently. We will go over what Turkey and Saudi Arabia can do for regional stability and peace," Gul said.

Israel killed more than 1,300 Palestinians, a third of them children in the 22-day military aggression on Gaza and wounded 5,300 Palestinians. Still, Israel air strikes into Gaza have not stopped.

"We plan to raise the annual trade volume between Turkey and Saudi Arabia to 10 billion USD in the year 2010," Gul said.

The current trade volume between Turkey and Saudi Arabia stands at 5.5 billion USD.

"Saudi Arabia is the biggest country in the Gulf region and they plan to make infrastructure investments worth 200 billion USD by the year 2010. There could be many projects for Turkish businessmen, especially contractors, in Saudi Arabia," Gul said.

"We will hold discussions on cooperation in the defense sector with Saudi Arabia," Gul said.

"There are more than 100,000 Turkish citizens living in Saudi Arabia. I will meet with Turks living in Riyadh," Gul said.

"I will also attend business forum meetings in Riyadh and Jeddah," Gul also said.

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