NICOSIA (CIHAN) - Turkish Agriculture and Rural Affairs Minister, Sami Güclü met with the Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), Mehmet Ali Talat on Tuesday after he met with KKTC President, Rauf Denktas.
Noting that Turkey and Turkish Cyprus share much in common and in particular in agriculture Güclü said that the collaboration would continue with a stronger focus.
Güclü noted the benefits and contributions of agriculture to the economies of the two countries and added that if the countries are strong economically, they become stronger in other ways.
KKTC Prime Minister, Mehmet Ali Talat also spoke and said that agriculture is very important for the European Union (EU), and therefore collaboration in agriculture is important.
Talat said, "We made a great effort and worked hard to merge Cyprus for EU membership but now it will not happen. We have not lost our hopes in spite of the measures taken by Greek Cyprus".
Commenting on the foreign ministers meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conferences (IKO) held in Istanbul Talat said that, "It was important to come to the IKO. KKTC was upgraded to observer state."
Talat said, "The world supports the KKTC. If we follow a policy that is compatible with the world, we will be successful. We are starting to reap the fruits from our efforts."