Speaking at the Turkey-Macedonia Business Forum, Prime Minister Erdogan reminded about the recent visa-free travel agreements with foreign countries and said they will take steps to introduce the same initiative with the Russian Federation.
About the Turkish economy and the global economic crisis, Prime Minister Erdogan said the following;
"We had said that the global crisis would be tangent to Turkish economy, some circles took it differently. Our economy did not collapse as these circles claimed. Consider Fitch's credit rate for Turkey, it is BB+. That proves there is development in Turkish economy. They just cannot admit this fact. This credit rate is not just ordinary event, it increases Turkey's prestige.
Stating that the strong Turkish economy creates an environment of confidence Prime Minister Erdogan said this confidence lead the way to recent agreements on visa-free travel.
On this issue Prime Minister Erdogan said the following;
"We have promised to lift the barriers. We will continue to lift the barriers. We are lifting the visa barriers. We will take new steps with Russia. There is no visa requirement between Turkey and Macedonia. That means we trust each other."
Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski pointed out that Turkey is a very strong country and called on EU countries to increase efforts to integrate with Turkey.