ANKARA - Syria had handed over about 59 PKK terrorists to Turkey since two countries signed agreements on fight against terrorism, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.
Erdogan and Syrian Prime Minister Muhammad Naji al-Utri, who is paying an official visit to Turkey, held a joint press conference following their meeting. Al-Utri visited Anitkabir, the Mausoleum of Ataturk, the Founder of Turkish Republic, before he met Erdogan.
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan said that two countries would continue to cooperate in countering terrorism.
Erdogan noted that trade volume between the two countries worth of 820 million U.s. dollars was not sufficient and said he hoped it would increase to 2 billion U.S. dollars.
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan said that he and al-Utri discussed regional issues in their meeting, particularly Israeli-Palestinian dispute and Iraq.
Erdogan stated that both he and al-Utri thought that finding a fair and comprehensive solution to Palestinian issue was of vital importance for enhancement of regional peace.
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan signaled he would visit Syria within this year but said that when he would pay this visit was not immediately clear.
(BRC-AÖ) 13.07.2004