ROME - 150th anniversary of Turkish-Italian relations was celebrated in Rome last night with a ceremony in which the diplomatic corps and prominent guests participated.
Turkish Foreign Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul sent a message to the reception hosted by Turkish Ambassador in Rome Ugur Ziyal, underlining that Italy`s support to Turkey`s EU accession and sound cooperation in several sectors between the two countries showed the compliance between policies and cultural values shared by the two.
Recalling that Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini said in a meeting in Rome on May 9th, 2005 that Italy considered Turkey a strategic partner, Gul indicated that Turkey attached great importance to its dialogue with Italy.
Gul said, ``Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi paid a visit to Turkey in 2005. It brought forth a new initiative to the relations. Cooperation to be developed especially in areas of culture, economy and investment will improve relations between Turkish and Italian people.``
``We will work to make Mediterranean the region of stability and cooperation,`` he added.