Our economic ties with Romania constitute the driving force of our bilateral relations

Speaking at a joint press conference with Romanian Prime Minister Ciolacu, President Erdoan said that the Turkey-Romania High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council was established today and added: Our economic and trade ties constitute the driving force of our bilateral relations. The volume of our bilateral trade has exceeded 10 billion dollars two years in a row. Our goal is to reach $15 billion. We are moving towards this goal with firm steps.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoan and Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu held a joint press conference following their bilateral meeting at the Presidential Complex.

Announcing the establishment of the Turkey-Romania High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council with the joint communiqué signed today, President Erdoan said that they also co-chaired the first meeting of the mechanism.

Stressing that they discussed relations with Romania in depth, President Erdoan stressed: “Our economic and trade ties constitute the driving force of our bilateral relations. The volume of our bilateral trade has exceeded 10 billion dollars two years in a row. Our goal is to reach $15 billion. We are moving towards this goal with firm steps. Nearly 19 thousand Turkish companies operating in Romania contribute significantly to this success and to the friendship between the two countries. Investments by our companies in Romania reached $8 billion, including those from third countries.”

COOPERATION IN THE DEFENSE AND MILITARY INDUSTRY

Underlining that they addressed the issue of increasing cooperation in the energy field, President Erdoan added: “Our cooperation with Romania in the field of defense and military industry constitutes one of the pillars of our relations with Romania. In recent years, we have gained significant momentum in cooperation in this area and in the defense industry. We contribute to the security and stability of our region by carrying out joint activities with Romania, both bilaterally and under the roof of NATO. Our four F-16 warplanes served for four months until the end of March in Romanian airspace as part of the NATO air policing mission. We work with Romania in the Black Sea as two riparian states and NATO allies. As is known, with the participation of Bulgaria, we formed the Black Sea Mine Action Working Group.”

President Erdoan continued: “The fight against terrorism was also on the agenda of our talks. We shared with the Prime Minister our expectations of Romania in the fight against terrorist organizations such as the PKK and FETO. We consider the Turkish and Turkish Tatar communities living in Romania as a bridge of friendship between us. We are happy that our parents live in harmony with the Romanian community. We thank the Romanian officials who are ensuring this.

“THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FOR STOPPING THE ISRAELI ATROCITY ARE OBVIOUS”

“I also exchanged views with Mr. Prime Minister on ongoing regional and global developments,” underlined President Erdoan, before adding: “Israeli oppression taking place in the occupied Palestinian lands , in Gaza in particular, has been the main topic of the news. agenda. The responsibilities of the international community to end Israeli atrocities and ensure a secure future for our Palestinian brothers and sisters are clear. However, measures likely to prevent the massacre have not yet been taken. Netanyahu and his wild-eyed government continue their policy of genocide at the cost of endangering the security of their own citizens. Everyone should already say “no” to this. I believe that our ally, Romania, will make the necessary contributions to the ongoing international efforts on this issue. During our talks, we also discussed the progress of the war in Ukraine, which is entering its third year. Since the start of the war, Turkey has contributed and continues to contribute significantly to the work aimed at ending the conflicts and ensuring global food security as well as the safety of navigation in the Black Sea.