DAMASCUS - State Minister Kursad Tuzmen said on Saturday that they wanted to make cooperation with Syria on energy and oil search.
Tuzmen, currently in Damascus, visited Syrian Oil and Natural Resources Minister Ibrahim Haddad.
Speaking at the meeting, Tuzmen said they wanted to improve Turkey's studies on energy with the energy studies of Syria carried out in the recent period.
Pointing out that Turkey and Syria were complementary with respect to their strategic positions, Tuzmen said they wanted to work with Syria on oil search, drilling of oil wells, services, natural gas transportation and technical aid.
Meanwhile, it was seen that Hatay province was included in Syrian borders in maps in Syrian reserve map and some booklets.
Replying to questions of reporters on the issue, Tuzmen said, ''that is not a political map, that is a reserve map. It shows the reserves in that region. There is not such a thing in maps of Syria after 2003. I can not engage in that small detail. My duty is to increase reciprocal trade volume and investment.''
Tuzmen stressed that Turkey was a very big country and a strong country in the region, and noted that a full peace atmosphere in the region could be provided in case Turkey managed to apply a good model.
Stressing that poverty was the difficulty of the region, Tuzmen said, ''it is not possible to prevent anything before overcoming this poverty. Those people are our relatives.''
(AY) 07.03.2004