The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, met yesterday evening the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, Mr. Ahmet Davutoglu.

In the year that marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, common assessment is that the bilateral relations between the two countries are excellent, that in many areas the level of strategic partnership has been achieved and that the co-operation in certain fields, especially in the economy, is marked with a constant positive dynamics. At the meeting the continuous political dialogue at all levels was appraised, as a confirmation of the friendly relations between the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Turkey.

President Ivanov expressed his appreciation for the continued and principled support of Turkey for Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic integration and expressed expectation that it will continue in the future.

Given the fact that the Republic of Turkey is among the ten most important trading partners of the Republic of Macedonia, the two interlocutors expressed satisfaction with the upward trend in the economic cooperation and expectation for increase of the Turkish investments in the country.

At the meeting, they exchanged views on the conclusions of the last European Council meeting, as well as the latest developments in the SEE region, but also on the situation in the wider region, the Middle East and the Mediterranean.
 
Both interlocutors reaffirmed the interest and willingness to further strengthen the cooperation in all areas of mutual interest and for mutual support at regional and multilateral level.

At the same time, the Turkish Foreign Minister was informed about the priorities of the Chairmanship of the Republic of Macedonia with both regional initiatives - SEECP and Dialogue among Civilizations.