ANKARA - Turkey and Slovenia signed a memorandum of understanding on security and cooperation on Thursday.
The memorandum of understanding was signed by Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu and his Slovenian counterpart Dr. Rado Bohinc.
Aksu said that terrorism topped the agenda of the meetings between Turkish and Slovenian delegations and training and fight against organized crimes were also discussed.
Noting that at the end of meetings, both countries decided to carry out an effective joint fight against terrorism and cross-border crimes, Aksu said, ''I hope that this agreement would offer us new opportunities on fight against crimes and enable emergence of an opportunity of a closer cooperation between security units of our two countries.''
''Together with the closeness provided by the agreement, Turkish security units will be honored to share their information and experiences with their Slovenian counterparts regarding fight against terrorism and cross-border crimes,'' he said.
Meanwhile, Bohinc said that crimes did not have borders and an effective fight against crimes was a desired matter. Noting that the agreement would constitute the basis of other agreements between Turkey and Slovenia in the future, Bohinc said that the two countries exchange information and experiences and carry out joint operations under agreements.
Stating that Slovenia became a NATO member and an ally of Turkey, Bohinc said that Slovenia was going to be a European Union member and they were ready to share their experiences in their membership process with Turkey.
Stressing that Turkey and Slovenia were on the ''Balkans crime route'', Bohinc said that there were human, illicit drugs and arms smugglers and other criminal networks on this route.
They attributed importance to bilateral cooperation with all countries on this route but they thought a regional stance was much more important and necessary for an effective fight, he said.
(MS-AÖ) 08.04.2004