On January 26, 2010, Turkish President Abdullah Gul met in Istanbul with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi who is visiting Turkey.

Yang first conveyed the cordial greetings and best wishes of Chinese President Hu Jintao to Gul. During his successful visit to China last June, President Gul reached consensus with President Hu on building friendship and enhancing bilateral cooperation, injecting strong impetus into the development of bilateral ties, said Yang. The foreign minister noted that his current visit is mainly aimed to discuss with the Turkish side how to implement the agreement reached by the leaders of the two countries and further push forward bilateral ties.

Yang said that as developing nations, the two countries have always shown mutual understanding and support for each other and have respected and taken care of each other’s concerns. China highly praises Turkey’s adherence to the one-China policy. Yang said Turkey and China, with their complementary advantages, enjoy huge potential for cooperation in all areas. Both sides should seize the opportunity, tap potential to the full and continuously expand and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in a bid to push bilateral ties to a new level.

Gul thanked for President Hu’s cordial greetings and appreciated him for designating a special representative to attend the regional summit on Afghanistan in Turkey. He said both countries have a time-honored history and hold great influence in the world. The steady development of bilateral ties is of great significance to the world peace and development. Turkey is satisfied with the exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in recent years and is ready to work with China to comprehensively implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries on the development of bilateral ties. The two countries with their complementary advantages enjoy huge potential for cooperation. Both sides should make full use of these advantages and enhance cooperation in an all-round manner to further push forward bilateral ties. Gul emphasized that his country always adheres to the one-China policy and respects China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Such a position will remain unchanged.