ANKARA - Turkey's Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Monday that the historic ties between Turkey and New Zealand helped bring together two remote countries and inspired courage for future steps.
Babacan met New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who is in Ankara on a formal visit. The two held a joint news conference following their meeting.
Speaking at the press conference Babacan said the high level visits between the two countries gave momentum to bilateral relations.
"Enhancing the cooperation between the two countries and diversifying it to include different areas are a common goal for Turkey and New Zeland," said Babacan.
Babacan said they were in accord with the guest minister over the fact that current level of economic relations between the two countries did not reflect the true economic potential. He said they agreed to further enhance relations in this area.
Babacan said cultural exchange was also important and noted that they also discussed arrangement of "student exchange" and "work and travel" programmes.
Babacan said they discussed international and regional issues as well as Turkey's EU membership bid. He said they would continue to discuss these issues over a working luncheon after the press conference.
Guest Minister Peters said he was honoured to represent New Zealand in the Anzac Day commemoration ceremonies in Canakkale. He said the strong relations between the two countries were shaped after the disastrous losses of two countries against each other at Canakkale Battles.
"Canakkale Battles had been a turning point in the independence of the two countries and the development of their national identities. This tragedy that took place 93 years ago helped establish strong relations between our two countries," said Peters.
Peters referred to a report prepared jointly in Wellington and Ankara on the level of commercial relations between Turkey and New Zealand. He said the report revealed that commercial relations were not satisfactory and there was potential for cooperation between private sectors.
Peters said they signed a cooperation agreement on education this year aiming to boost communication between educators and education institutions of the two countries. He said a cooperation agreement on agriculture techniques and an agreement on the prevention of double taxation would be signed shortly between Turkey and New Zealand.
Peters said his country supported Turkey's EU bid and its candidacy for a non-permanent seat in the UN Security Council.
Thousands of Austrian, New Zealander and Turks gathered at Anzac Bay in Gelibolu Peninsula in northwestern province of Canakkale on April 25th to commemorate their ancestors who died in the World War I, on the 93rd anniversary of Canakkale Battles.
New Zealand's Foreign Minister and Australian Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon and Air Forces Commander Gen. Graham Lintott also attended the ceremonies.
Each year, thousands of people, many of them Australians and New Zealanders, travel to the battlefields in northwestern Turkey on Anzac Day, the anniversary of the April 25th, 1915, start of the campaign.
Anzacs, as the Australian and New Zealand forces, formed the backbone of a 200,000-man, British-led army that landed at Gelibolu in an attempt to take control of the Turkish Straits and capture Istanbul. The Turks held strong for more than eight months, driving the allies off their land in a campaign.
Nearly 1 million soldiers fought in the trench warfare at Gelibolu. The allies recorded 55,000 killed in fighting with 10,000 missing and 21,000 dead of disease. Turkish casualties were estimated at 250,000.
(OZG-MS)