By WAM
Abu Dhabi : Turkish President Abdullah Gul has said that his country is in the process of negotiating a free trade agreement with all the Gulf States including UAE.
In an exclusive interview with the Dubai-based English Daily Khaleej Times, Turkey’s 11th President also said that Turkey attaches great importance to the security and stability of the region. But he called for using dialogue rather than force to solve problems.
“Economic cooperation and trade are the main objectives for the welfare of our region. The policy of ‘soft power’ is worthy of applause. But the US uses hard power to impose its will on other nations”; Gul said.
Speaking about Turkey’s plan for boosting relations with Gulf countries, Gul said that in the last four to five years the ties with the Gulf States have been strengthened.
“This comes from the strategic outlook that we have towards this region, towards all the Gulf States. This view is based on the two pillars of security and economics.” said the Turkish Head of State.
Earlier in February the Turkish President had reiterated his country’s commitment to further boost ties with UAE. After the UAE-Turkey joint committee meeting in Ankara, he said private sectors of both countries should seize opportunities provided by economic reforms.
UAE and Turkey are expected to increase their bilateral trade to USD 10bn in the next two years.
Speaking about UAE, the Turkish President said: “I have been there and the economic progress I have seen there is very impressive. Mutual investments are bound to grow. This is all satisfactory, but we can go further”.