OSLO - ''There is a common will between Turkey and Norway to form a platform to carry out a joint fight against terrorism,'' Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.
Erdogan met his Norwegian counterpart Kjell Magne Bondevik within the framework of his contacts in Norway.
A joint news conference was held after tete-a-tete meetings and talks between the delegations of the two countries.
Speaking at the news conference, Erdogan said joint steps that would be taken between Turkey and Norway for future were discussed during the talks.
Erdogan said, ''we target to improve trade volume between Turkey and Norway. Current joint investments particularly on oil were discussed at the meeting. We also discussed what could be done in ship construction industry and in fishing.''
Erdogan pointed out that Iraq and European Union (EU) issues were also taken up during the talks.
Emphasizing that Turkey and Norway pursued an active peace diplomacy, Erdogan said very positive steps would be made regarding the negotiation process.
Bondevik in his part said Turkish-Norwegian bilateral relations continued very positively, and noted that cooperation issues particularly on energy, oil and telecommunication were discussed. Bondevik said foreign policy issues like the Middle East and Cyprus were also discussed.
Pointing out that the two parties reached a consensus of opinion to make joint steps to fight against terrorism, Bondevik said the role which Turkey would undertake on inter-religion dialogue was also mentioned.
Bondevik said Norway considered the steps made by Turkey on the way to EU as very positive.
Erdogan and Bondevik later answered the questions of journalists.
Replying to a question about the steps made by Turkey on the way to EU, Bondevik said Turkey made positive steps with the laws she issued particularly in areas of regulations, legislation and human rights.
Bondevik said they welcomed the decision of Turkey to liberalize energy markets, noting that, ''we are positive toward Turkey's EU membership. We think Turkey will be a bridge between Christian Europe and Muslim Asia.''