Turkey on Friday opened a consulate in central Japan’s Nagoya, the fourth largest city of the Asian country.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu inaugurated the Turkish Consulate General in Nagoya, where he will attend the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting.
On Oct. 30, a Turkish presidential decree published in the Official Gazette said Turkey had canceled its decision to open a consulate in the Japanese city of Osaka and that it planned to open one in Nagoya instead.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Çavuşoğlu said the consulate in Nagoya, Turkey's 246th diplomatic mission, will serve all Turkish citizens and Japanese friends so well that they will feel at home.
The foreign minister noted that Turkey ranks fifth worldwide in the number of diplomatic missions abroad. He went on to say the Turkish Embassy and the consulate will contribute to enhancing political and economic relations between Turkey and Japan.
"Our aim is to provide the best and fastest service to our citizens living abroad," Çavuşoğlu said, adding that Turkish citizens living in Japan will soon be able to obtain driving licenses from diplomatic missions in the country after signing an agreement with the Ministry of Interior.
Çavuşoğlu stressed that Turkey is working to develop a relationship with all countries in all fields, not only with developed countries but also with undeveloped countries.
"We don’t only defend the rights of rich countries but also the rights of the least developed countries. For this reason, the U.N. Technology Bank was opened in Gebze (a district of Turkey's northwestern Kocaeli province) in order to develop the economies of the least developed countries," the foreign minister said.
The consulate general in Nagoya is Turkey's second diplomatic mission in the country. Additionally, Turkey maintains an honorary consulate in the southwestern city of Fukuoka, whereas an honorary consulate operating in the Micronesian nation of Palau also operates under the Tokyo Embassy's jurisdiction.
Çavuşoğlu and Palauan Infrastructure and Trade Minister Charles Obichang signed Monday the Air Transportation Agreement related to civilian aviation cooperation. Saying that global aviation giant Turkish Airlines (THY) is the pride of the country, Çavuşoğlu said the agreement would further increase THY's presence in the Asia-Pacific region.
Çavuşoğlu also met with his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi in Nagoya.
"Based on the strong will of our leaders, our relations are developing. We aim to finalize the Economic Partnership Agreement that will further strengthen our strategic relations as soon as possible," Çavuşoğlu wrote on Twitter.
"Japan attaches great importance to relations with its strategic partner and the region's large country, Turkey," Motegi said, noting that he has visited Turkey several times.
The Turkish foreign minister will attend the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Japan’s city of Nagoya on Nov. 22-23.
Ankara has been taking steps to boost ties with Japan through a series of agreements. For instance, THY will start flights from Osaka's Kansai International Airport to Istanbul as of April 2020. THY will also launch operations at Haneda Airport in Tokyo in addition to the existing flights to Narita International Airport in the city.
