Harun Kutbe
02 February 2023•Update: 02 February 2023
ANKARA
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay on Thursday met his Bulgarian counterpart Iliana Iotova to discuss bilateral relations at the Turkish Presidential Complex.
The Bulgarian Ambassador to Ankara, Anguel Hristov Tcholakov, was also present for Oktay and Yotova's meeting.
During the meeting, Oktay emphasized his appreciation for the development of relations with Bulgaria based on mutual benefit.
Oktay emphasized his desire for the momentum generated in bilateral relations to be maintained, citing the immense potential of Türkiye-Bulgaria relations and the growing need for cooperation.
He noted that the number of trucks crossing through Bulgaria has doubled in the last five years and that Türkiye's trade volume towards Europe is expanding on a daily basis.
He added that the ability to travel with the identity card provided to Bulgarian citizens in July 2022 will be beneficial in terms of tourism and the economy, emphasizing that issuing multiple-entry-long-term visas to Turkish citizens and facilitating these processes will encourage especially entrepreneurial business people to invest more in Bulgaria and contribute to the development of cultural ties. He described it as a significant accomplishment.
Oktay drew attention to the experience of Turkish defense companies with high-quality, competitively priced, and advanced technology products that have proven themselves in the field, expressing that Türkiye is ready to cooperate in the defense industry and to support the Bulgarian army's modernization efforts.
Bulgarian Vice President Iotova remarked that they supported Türkiye's endeavors and peace efforts in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
During the conference, it was emphasized that combating terrorism and preventing illegal immigration are two critical topics that require continuous collaboration in the sphere of security.
The natural gas agreement signed between the two countries on Jan. 3 was also reminded during the meeting, which was recorded as a turning point in terms of energy cooperation, that with the agreement, which will be valid for 13 years, Bulgaria can obtain nearly half of its natural gas needs through Türkiye.
