Vice President Fuat Oktay visited Bucharest on Friday to be the guest of honor at a quartet summit of Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece where regional issues were discussed in detail.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila also participated. Romania hosted, while Turkey attended as guest of honor, which was interpreted by many pundits as a strong move to show Romania's support for Ankara's accession to the EU. Oktay was accompanied by Deputy Minister of Health Halit Erdemir and Turkey's Ambassador to Bucharest Füsun Aramaz.
Addressing Romanian and Turkish businesspeople in the business council, Oktay emphasized that the trade volume between the two countries should be increased from $6.3 billion to $10 billion. He added that exports to Romania have exceeded imports from Romania by $1.4 billion.
"There is rapprochement between Romania and Turkey. We have close ties as Romania has supported us in terms of regional relations and relations with the EU since it became the term president of EU," Oktay said.
Oktay also visited the Turkish martyrdom memorial in the city and left a note in the martyrs' journal. "We remember that this country was entrusted to us by martyrs. We will also work non-stop to leave a more strong and prosperous Turkey for the next generations," Oktay wrote.
Romania has been one of the supporters of Turkey's long journey to join EU, as stated by various Romanian officials. In January, Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Meleşcanu said that Romania strongly supports the continuation of Turkey's accession talks.
