Parliament Speaker Arinc In Syria

DAMASCUS - Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc arrived in Syrian capital Damascus on Wednesday on a four-day official visit.
Syrian People's Assembly Speaker Mahmoud al-Abrash and Turkish Ambassador to Syria Ahmet Oguz Celikkol welcomed Arinc at the Damascus Airport.
Speaking at the airport, Arinc expressed his pleasure with paying an official visit to Syria, a friendly and neighboring country.
Meanwhile, al-Abrash said that a Turkish parliament speaker was visiting Syria for the first time, and thanked Arinc for his visit.
Upon a question of reporter of the Syrian TV Channel, Arinc said, ''our bilateral relations will reach an exemplary level. Turkey and Syria are neighboring countries.''
Referring to the rapprochement between Turkey and Syria, Arinc highlighted importance of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's visit to Turkey in January.
Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Deputy Group Chairman Sadullah Ergin, AK Party deputies Enver Yilmaz and Mahmut Kaplan, and Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Kemal Demirel are accompanying Arinc during his visit to Syria.
(UK-AÖ) 07.04.2004