Turkey and Japan are eager to further develop ties in all fields, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said yesterday.
Speaking at a joint press conference with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono in Tokyo, Çavuşoğlu said, "During our mutual visits and bilateral talks, we are making efforts to further deepen our relations in every field and further strengthen ties."He added that both countries exert efforts to further deepen the ties through reciprocal visits and bilateral meetings. He said the countries will soon discuss a number of joint projects including the Turkey-Japan Science and Technology University and Economic Partnership Agreement.
In relation to bilateral ties, the Japanese foreign minister said: "We think that it is our duty to further strengthen good relations between Japan and Turkey. In this regard, we would like to improve the cooperation between the two countries in the fields of politics, economy, culture and disaster."
He also highlighted that Turkey is a strategic partner of Japan.
Diplomatic relations between Turkey and Japan were first established in 1924, accordingly, Turkey's first mission in Japan opened in 1925.
The year 2003 was celebrated as Turkey Year in Japan and 2010 as Japan Year in Turkey. In contribution of mutual high-level visits in the recent period, political relations were further advanced to the level of strategic partnership in 2013, and since then relations continue to improve rapidly.
Noting that Japan has a special place in the hearts of Turkish people, Çavuşoğlu said that they are very pleased to be celebrating 2019 as the Year of Turkish Culture in Japan, adding that they have already started their activities for these events.
"We are delighted that 2019 will be celebrated as the Year of Turkish Culture in Japan. We have already started our work for these events. We are very pleased that Japan is not only interested with the problems in this region, but interested with the problems in our region including the Middle East, while taking an active role in solving these problems and [with an] attached importance to the humanitarian dimension," Çavuşoğlu said.