ANKARA
Turkey aims to maintain strong economic relations with countries with which it shares common culture and historical bonds, Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci said Sunday.
Speaking at the Turkey-Turkmenistan Joint Economic Commission meeting in Ankara, Zeybekci said developing relations with countries like Turkmenistan had been among the foreign policy priorities of Turkey in recent years.
"It is essential to launch a transport network comprising Turkey, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan," he said, urging for making efforts in order to reduce the cost of transportation between Anatolia and the Central Asia.
The trade volume between Turkey and Turkmenistan was $3.5 billion in 2012.
For his part, Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister for Trade Palvan Taganov expressed his gratitutes to Zeybekci for Turkey's warm welcome and said Turkmen President Berdimuhammedov's upcoming visit on Monday would contribute to developing multi-dimensional relations between the two countries.
aa.com.tr/en
