MOSCOW - Turkish Interior Minister Besir Atalay said on Friday that more than 5,000 people died in traffic accidents annually in Turkey.
Speaking to Turkish media representatives after attending the First Ministerial Conference on Global Land Transportation in Moscow, Atalay said that 160 countries participated in the conference, which was important in terms of warnings made by both UN and international organizations about traffic problem.
Turkey was also losing many people in traffic accidents, said Atalay adding that they took several precautions, and the number of accidents dropped by 15 percent when compared to 2007.
Noting that he held a meeting with Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev on Thursday within the scope of the conference, Atalay said that Nurgaliyev would visit Turkey in March, 2010.