ANKARA - Parliament Speaker Bulent Arýnc said on Tuesday that Turks loved Japanese people, and Japanese people loved Turks, adding that ''but Japanese people are more affable to each other and to their guests than us.''
Arýnc opened the same day ''Modern Japanese Handicrafts Exhibition'' which was organized by Japanese Embassy in Ankara by the contributions of Japan Foundation and Turkish-Japanese Foundation in Ankara the same day.
Before the opening of the exhibition, Arýnc explained his impressions about Japan to which he paid a visit as the official guest of Japanese Upper Chamber (House of Councillors) Chairman Hiroyuki Kurata between May 31-June 7.
Expressing his pleasure over the opening of the exhibition following his visit to Japan, Arýnc stated that he visited many countries as a tourist, but he always wanted to go to Japan. Arýnc said he wanted to go to Japan since his childhood due to his positive views about Japan, adding that he considered Japanese people as heroes, but this didn't stem from Shoguns and Samurais.
Arýnc stated that he was traditional, and that Japanese were also faithful to their traditions, praising Japanese people's being hardworking and well-disciplined.
Arýnc stated that there was a distance of 10,000 kilometers between Japan and Turkey, and there was no historical link between them. Nevertheless, the two peoples loved each other very much, he said, adding he saw that this love was real when he went to Japan.
When talking about his seven-day visit to Japan, Arýnc said that his trip was lively, sympathetic, positive and useful.
Arýnc stressed that Turkish Year would be celebrated in Japan until April, 2004, adding that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan could go to Japan after October.
Noting that Turkish people loved Japanese people and it was possible to see that Japanese people had the same feelings, Arinc said that Japanese people showed cordiality to both their guests and each other more than Turkish people.
''We have much stress. Everybody greets each other with warm feelings and they smile. It is an innate manner. God grant the same thing to us,'' he said.
Recalling that also Japan was frequently rocked by earthquakes, Arinc said that Japan was the country which had extended the biggest assistance and aid to Turkey after the Marmara and Bingol earthquakes. ''I hope that Japanese people would always show the success they have achieved in technology and control, as an example to Turkey,'' Arinc said and added that Japanese people also had great interest in archeology.
Arinc said that he did not know about the excavations which had been continuing for twenty years in a village of Kaman town of Kirsehir province in central Anatolia and financed by Japanese Emperor Akihito's uncle Mikasa's son, adding that the son of the Emperor's uncle would come to Turkey a few days later.
Arinc stated that together with the parliamentarians, he would meet with the son of the Emperor's uncle in Kaman, and they would extend help to exhibition of artifacts that had been brought to light in those excavations.
Meanwhile, Japanese Ambassador in Ankara Shigeo Takenaka gave information about development of handicrafts in Japan.
Takenaka recalled that the exhibition had earlier been opened in Europe, Central Asia and Istanbul.
Following the speeches, Arinc opened the exhibition in which works that reflect characteristics of modern handicrafts are displayed.
The ''Modern Japanese Handicrafts'' exhibition at the Turkish Japanese Foundation will remain open until July 11, 2003.
(ÖÞ-MS-AÖ) 17.06.2003