Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc voiced appreciation for his country’s ties with Romania, in a speech opening the Balkan Media Forum, according to Mediafax. Arinc represented the Ankara government in the forum instead of FM Ahmet Davutoglu, who had to remain in the Turkish capital because of “recent events on the international stage.” “Between Romania and Turkey, there are very good ties both on government and parliament level. Between 2002 and 2007, I was Speaker of the Turkish Parliament and during my term, I was on a four-day visit to Romania. (…) At the time I saw that we had traditional ties with Romania. And the former Speaker of the Senate, Mr. (Nicolae) Vacaroiu, was a good friend of mine,” Arinc said. The Turkish official also underlined that the two countries work together on several levels and have very good collaboration in the fight against terror, between police and army forces. “The volume of trade between Romania and Turkey is at USD 5 bln currently. In the last few years, a very high number of businessmen invested in Romania,” Arinc said.
