Turkey, China agree to deepen political and economic ties

Turkish and Chinese foreign ministers hold talks during high-profile Asian conference in Beijing discussing further cooperation in counter-terrorism, joint economic projects and tourism

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) and Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu attend the meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on April 28, 2016.
TRT World and Agencies

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) and Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu attend the meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on April 28, 2016.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi agreed on Wednesday to enhance bilateral relations in areas concerning counter-terrorism, joint projects and tourism.

Speaking at a meeting of an intergovernmental Asian forum in Beijing, both foreign ministers stressed the need to work together against terrorism and shared ideas on how their respective cooperation could be increased, according to Turkish diplomatic sources.

The anonymous diplomatic sources said that Cavusoglu told his counterpart of Turkey's intense efforts to block travel routes of foreign fighters and human trafficking.

Beijing has been hosting the fifth foreign ministers' meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) on Wednesday and Thursday. Nearly 40 delegations from member and observer states have been assumed to attend the gathering.

Wang underlined that both China and Turkey are founding members of CICA, whose chairmanship it has taken over from Turkey in 2014.

He said China was ready to collaborate in efforts to establish regional security and develop infrastructure projects to promote growth in the Asian region, according to a statement posted on Beijing's foreign ministry website.

China is aiming to raise the profile of the CICA, having also hosted a Shanghai summit of heads of state in 2014.

Diplomatic sources revealed that both foreign ministers also discussed economic cooperation and joint projects like building a railway line and a nuclear plant in Turkey.

They also suggested that Turkish and Chinese contractors could work together in third-party countries.

Cavusoglu has additionally been expected to meet with Belarusian and Ukrainian foreign ministers during the conference.

CICA is established in 1992 as an intergovernmental forum aiming to strengthen cooperation and promoting peace, security and stability among the respective members throughout Asia.

The group consists of 26 member states, including Russia and many countries from Central Asia and the Middle East. The United States, and some of its allies in Asia, including the Philippines and Japan, are among eight observer states.

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