ANKARA - Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said on Thursday, ''I will pay a visit to Romania and this will be under the scheme of regular high-level meetings between Turkey and Romania.''
President Sezer left this morning for Romania on a two-day state visit as the official guest of Romanian President Ion Iliescu.
Holding a news conference at Ankara's Esenboga Airport prior to his departure, Sezer said, ''I visited Romania about three years ago. Now, I will pay a second visit.''
Recalling that he had the chance of holding bilateral talks with Romanian President Iliescu during NATO Summit in Istanbul on June 28 and 29, 2004, the President said, ''significant progress has been made in bilateral relations with Romania, especially in the last 15 years. There has not been any political problem between our countries. Our commercial and economic relations have also been developing. Trade volume between Turkey and Romania reached up to 2 billion U.S. dollars in the last two years.''
Eulogizing Romania's efforts to integrate with Europe, President Sezer said, ''as you know, Romania became a member of NATO a short while ago. Further development of our cooperation with the allied Romania will make a significant contribution to efforts to secure a lasting peace and stability in the Balkans.''
''Besides bilateral and multilateral cooperation and commercial relations between our countries, recent regional and international developments will be discussed during our meetings with Romanian officials,'' he told reporters.
Recalling that he would also meet representatives of Turkish community in Romania, President Sezer added, ''I believe this visit will promote our bilateral relations and cooperation with Romania.''
(UK-ULG) 08.07.2004