The Turkish-Polish friendship and alliance have deep and historical roots that span six centuries, Turkey's Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop said Wednesday.
The visiting Turkish parliament speaker met the Polish president and counterpart in Warsaw on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters following his meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda, he said the two countries have taken important steps recently to further improve bilateral relations.
Şentop also stated that they want to strengthen the tripartite mechanism between Turkey, Poland and Romania by adding cooperation on the level of parliament speakers.
Underlining that European Union membership is still a strategic goal for Turkey, he praised Poland’s support in this context.
Aside from security-oriented issues, NATO's eastern flank countries, Turkey, Romania and Poland, have also been focusing on various issues, such as Turkey's European Union talks. Romania and Poland have traditionally supported Turkey's accession to the EU.
Referring to the current migrant crisis on the Poland-Belarus border, Şentop reiterated that Turkey is in full solidarity with Poland.
For weeks, thousands of people seeking a new life in the European Union have been stranded at the bloc's external border with Belarus. The EU accuses Minsk of pushing or transporting migrants from countries like Iraq to its frontiers in revenge for Western sanctions. Minsk refutes this.
Poland, where most migrants have arrived, has already halted asylum claims at legal entry points and has been accused of pushing people back into Belarus against international law.
Duda, on his part, mentioned the Polish purchase of Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles and said more steps would be taken in security cooperation.
During a meeting with his Polish counterpart Elzbieta Witek, Şentop stressed that the addition of parliament speakers to the existing trilateral mechanism between Turkey, Poland and Romania would be beneficial for all parties involved.
Witek, on her part, said that the Turkish-Polish inter-parliamentary friendship group works extensively.
She also praised Turkey’s support for Poland, particularly in the security area.
