President Moon Jae-in calls Turkish President Recep Erdogan on June 7. (Cheong Wa Dae)

By Sohn JiAe

President Moon Jae-in held a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on June 7. The two leaders discussed ways to further expand bilateral ties.

“Although geographically far away, Turkey is a country that feels so close and familiar to the people of Korea, including to me, and we call it ‘our brother country,`” said President Moon.

Mentioning that 2017 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Seoul and Ankara, the president said, “I hope that Korea will continue to remain a partner that helps the Turkish government fulfill its ‘Vision 2023’ development initiatives. The span of mutual cooperation will extend from simply infrastructure and into economic, social and cultural activities as well, I hope.”

Pointing out Korean firms’ involvement in the Canakkale 1915 Bridge, a construction project that will be the world’s longest suspension bridge, located in Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, President Moon called it “a symbol of Korea-Turkey cooperation.”

“I look forward to visiting Korea soon, one of Turkey’s allied countries,” President Erdogan stressed. “The solidarity between our two countries has been strengthened by being strong allies. I hope it will continue to grow through mutual respect for each other.”

“Considering the economic scale and potential that we share, trade volume between our two countries will keep increasing, for sure,” the Turkish president said.

The two sides also reaffirmed their stance that they would respond firmly to any provocations from North Korea.

Expressing his gratitude for the Turkish government’s support for the Korean government’s stance against Pyongyang, President Moon said, “We will work to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula as early as possible by means of sanctions and, also, of dialogue, with the goal of completely dispossessing the North of its nuclear weapons. In this process, we ask for support from the Turkish government.”

In response, the Turkish leader emphasized that, “The North’s ceaseless development of nuclear weapons and missiles is a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and a threat to world peace. International issues should be addressed in a peaceful manner, always, and in this sense, the six-party talks need to resume.”

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