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Turkish President Meets China's CPPCC Chairman
Turkish and Chinese leaders on Tuesday expressed the desire to further strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries.
Turkish President Ahmed Necdet Sezer met with Li Ruihuan, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Consultative Conference (CPPCC), who is on an official friendly visit to Turkey at the invitation of Omer Izgi, speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.
Li said in his speech that the Sino-Turkish traditional friendship and economic cooperation have advanced rapidly since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1971.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin paid a successful state visit to Turkey in April 2000, which paved the way for further development of the ties, said Li.
He said that China is willing to make concerted efforts with Turkey to promote their relations of friendship and cooperation to a new level in a comprehensive way.
Sezer said that Turkey, which is situated at the junction of Asia and Europe, is eager to develop friendship and cooperation with all countries in the West and East, including China, on the basis of mutual respect of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
He declared that the Turkish government, adhering to the one-China principle, has consistently recognized the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate government representing entire China.
Sezer expressed the belief that further development of Turkish-Chinese ties would contribute to maintenance of world peace and
stability as the two nations share same and similar views on various international issues.
Li arrived in Turkey on Saturday for a five-day visit. He also held talks with his counterpart Izgi and met with Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit.
Turkey is the last stop of Li's four-nation tour, which has already taken him to Mauritius, South Africa and Morocco.
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