Presidents of Ukraine and Turkey launch the new phase of relations between the two countries

President Petro Poroshenko has held a meeting with President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is on an official visit to Ukraine.

After the meeting, President Poroshenko has expressed gratitude for an "extremely fruitful three-hour conversation in vis-a-vis format". The President has explained the prolongation of their conversation with a fact that there had been a lot of topics to discuss. "The potential of our relations is extremely high," Petro Poroshenko emphasized.

"Today's session of the Ukrainian-Turkish Strategic Council will have a special importance for the further development of bilateral relations," the President noted.

The Presidents have held the Fourth Session of the High Level Strategic Council of Ukraine and Turkey, at which the whole spectrum of issues of bilateral cooperation has been discussed. Following the session, the President of Ukraine has made a statement noting that Turkey was one of the main strategic partners of Ukraine. "We highly appreciate Turkey's support of our sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence, non-recognition of Crimea's occupation and active cooperation with Ukraine in the international organizations," Petro Poroshenko said.

The President has thanked President Erdogan for the allocation of USD 10 million in the form of humanitarian aid for our state and the decision to provide a credit in the amount of USD 50 million for Ukraine to cover the budget deficit.

The Presidents have discussed the issue of security in the Black Sea region, where, according to the Ukrainian President, "the strategic balance and the atmosphere of trust have been destroyed by the Russian aggression against Ukraine". Petro Poroshenko has thanked Turkey for supporting Ukraine's efforts to invite the UN peacekeeping mission for de-escalation of the situation in eastern Ukraine.

Petro Poroshenko has emphasized common aspirations of Ukraine and Turkey on mutually beneficial cooperation in all areas, determination to contribute to peace and stability in the region and support each other in important and acute issues of the international agenda.

The interlocutors have discussed the violation of the rights of the Crimean Tatar people in Crimea. "We have agreed to continue coordinating our actions on the issue of the Crimean Tatar people in the international organizations," he said.

It was agreed to intensify negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement and hold a meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation in April. "We have agreed that the given commission should work on a regular basis," the President informed. He is hopeful that one of the key vectors of the activity of the given commission would be the assistance of Turkey in the restoration of Donbas infrastructure.

The Heads of State have agreed to cooperate in a significant number of large-scale high-tech projects. It goes about the development and production of regional passenger aircraft for Turkey's needs based on the latest technology of the State Enterprise "Antonov", projects in aerospace sector, joint projects in engine construction and military-technical sphere.

The President is grateful to President Erdogan for a comprehensive attraction of Turkish investments in Ukraine. The evidence of that is the signature on the check for investments in Ukraine in the amount of more than UAH 3 billion by the company Turkcell and its receiving of the license number one for 3G mobile communication. "Today, it is a good indication of transparency and efficiency of competitions that are taking place in Ukraine," Petro Poroshenko noted.

The parties have paid special attention to cooperation in energy sphere. Ukraine has expressed interest in implementing the international gas transportation projects, including the supply of natural gas from the Caspian shelf and the countries of Central Asia, in exchanging experience in the construction of underground gas storage and the conditions of gas storage in the Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities. They have also discussed the possibility of participation of Ukrainian companies in the construction of the pipeline TANAP. "I have drawn the attention of the President of Turkey to the risks of building the "Turkish Stream" and to the additional opportunities of reverse gas supply from Europe," the President emphasized.

In his turn, President Erdogan has noted that Turkey was willing to develop and enhance strategic partnership with Ukraine. "We support territorial and political integrity and independence of Ukraine, including Crimea. We recognize the legitimate aspirations of Ukraine to be united with Europe and support them," the President of Turkey stressed.

The Turkish President has wished Ukraine peace and stabilization of the situation. "We wish the decision for the problems in Ukraine to be found by diplomatic means and the Minsk agreements to be implemented," Recep Tayyip Erdogan noted.

The President of Turkey has thanked the Ukrainian President for the support of Crimean Tatars. "We are directly observing the situation of the Crimean Tatars who have been under constant pressure for a year," he emphasized adding that Turkey would continue to touch upon the given issue in the course of the discussions at the bilateral and multilateral levels.

Turkey is also interested in enhancing trade-economic cooperation. "At the end of 2014, the volume of bilateral trade increased to USD 6 billion. We agreed that in 2017 the figure would be 10 billion dollars, and in 2023 - 20 billion dollars," the President of Turkey noted. He says that in order to achieve the given goal, it has been agreed to sign the Free Trade Agreement, negotiations on which have reached the final stage, as soon as possible.

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