Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan met his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe for free trade talks Tuesday, as pressure mounted at home over a corruption scandal in which hundreds of police officers were fired.
Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan met his Japanese counterpart Shinzo
Abe for free trade talks Tuesday, as pressure mounted at home over a corruption
scandal in which hundreds of police officers were fired.
The two countries also confirmed their cooperation on nuclear technology, as
Mr. Abe seeks deals to revive the world's third-largest economy.
Mr. Abe visited
Turkey
twice
last year, cementing atomic contracts and pushing the export of more reactors
as the industry tries to emerge from the shadow of the
Fukushima
nuclear crisis.
Mr. Erdogan, who has been under fire over corruption and bribery probes
involving his government, arrived in
Japan
on
Monday as part of a six-day Asian tour.
The pair did not field questions at a
Tokyo
press
briefing and Mr. Erdogan offered no comment over
Ankara
's
reported firing of 350 police officers, the latest twist in the vast corruption
scandal that has ensnared his key allies.
"We agreed to start inter-governmental negotiations on an economic partnership
agreement," Mr. Abe told reporters.
Mr. Erdogan added that "we will make efforts toward an early completion of
the talks", saying the nations' $4.0 billion annual trading relationship
"doesn't match the potential of either country".
In his second visit to
Turkey
in
October, Mr. Abe signed an agreement with Mr. Erdogan that allows Japanese
manufactures to build nuclear power plants in the country.
On Tuesday, the leaders also agreed to cooperate in addressing the crisis in
Syria
and
Iran
's
nuclear program, weeks before of a UN-hosted peace conference, they said.
Ahead of the talks with Mr. Abe, Mr. Erdogan said the peace conference must
work to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power because of his
culpability in tens of thousands of deaths.
"We must make sure that... all the measures will not fail...so that we can
(bring) in an era without Bashar al-Assad," he said earlier Tuesday,
referring to peace talks planned later this month in
Switzerland
.
The huge corruption scandal which has implicated Mr. Erdogan's entourage and
dragged down some of his ministers erupted last month, with elections looming
in March.
The affair has dented
Turkey
's
image as a model of Muslim democracy and stability, while pushing the lira to
record lows against the U.S. dollar and undermining investor confidence.
Διαβάστε ακόμα
Παρ, 26 Ιουλίου 2024 - 16:04
Παρ, 26 Ιουλίου 2024 - 16:02
Τετ, 24 Ιουλίου 2024 - 15:10
Τετ, 24 Ιουλίου 2024 - 15:06
Τρι, 23 Ιουλίου 2024 - 16:51