Ankara-Bucharest ties source of pride: Turkish minister

ANKARA

Ankara is pleased relations with Romania are developing daily, Turkish Interior Suleyman Soylu said Thursday.

"The point reached by the relations between Romania and Türkiye is a source of pride," Soylu said at a reception in the Turkish capital of Ankara to mark the Independence Day of Romania.

Soylu said Türkiye will continue to enhance ties with Bucharest to sustain peace, stability and welfare in the Balkans.

"I happily state that Romania is our biggest trading partner in southeast Europe," he said, adding that the two countries are working to reach a $10 billion trade volume.

"Our close relations as two friendly states of the region with such strong ties make significant contributions to solving the problems in our region," he said.

Romanian Ambassador to Türkiye Stefan Tinca said Romania and Türkiye are strategic partners and enjoy a "mature and robust" relationship.

"We are good regional partners in the Black Sea and southeast Europe. We are strong allies within NATO. As we come close to the end of the year, I expect our economic exchanges to pass above the $10 billion threshold," said Tinca.