SkopjeDiem Macedonia in English
On Friday, in Istanbul, PM Hristijan Mickoski held a meeting with Turkiye’s President, Recep Tayipp Erdogan. Also, they signed a joint political declaration on the establishment of the High-Level Cooperation Council between North Macedonia and Turkiye.
The signing, Turkiye’s President said, is a very important step through which relations between the countries in the field of trade and economy to an even higher level can be raised. Also, he stated that he hoped to attend the first Council session that would be held in Skopje.
Expressing satisfaction with hosting Mickoski and his delegation, the Turkish President said efforts to double the trade volume continued.
“The steps that can be taken to improve the commercial and economic relations between our countries constituted an important part of our talks today. Our companies are successfully continuing their activities in North Macedonia with investments approaching two billion dollars in many fields, especially in sectors such as banking, health, education, tourism, renewable energy. We continue our efforts to double our trade volume, which nearly reached one billion dollars last year, in the first stage. Updating the Free Trade Agreement between our countries will undoubtedly contribute to these efforts”, he underlined.
Military relations and joint projects in the defence industry were discussed as well.
“Turkiye was among the first countries to recognise the independence of North Macedonia. We, together with our NATO Ally, North Macedonia, are two friendly countries that directly contribute to peace and stability in the Balkans. Over the past 30 years, our relations have become as strong as Stone Bridge in Skopje”, President Erdogan also said.
One of the most important bonds between the two countries, President Erdogan underlined, is, undoubtedly, the Turkish community in North Macedonia.
“Our brothers and sisters who migrated from North Macedonia to Anatolia in the past have made great contributions to our country and have consolidated the foundation of the cultural bond between us and the geography of North Macedonia. For this reason, during our meeting with Mr PM, we specifically talked about the contributions of the Turkish community in North Macedonia to the relations between the two countries. We are determined to jointly fight against FETO, which targets this long-standing friendship”, the Turkish President pointed out.
Views on global and regional issues, especially on Ukraine and Gaza, were exchanged as well.
“We underscored our support for the ongoing negotiations for peace in Ukraine. With regard to the liberation of Palestine from occupation, we reaffirmed our shared will for a two-state solution”, the President stressed.
Mickoski said both countries were committed to building a strong partnership. Regarding the declaration to found the Council, he said the grounds were contained in the 2008 Strategy to strengthen bilateral relations.
“Both countries are allies in NATO, with stability and security in the region being the common priority”, he said.
