site.btaNational Assembly Chair Karayancheva Confers with Turkish Counterpart Kahraman

Geneva, March 24 (BTA) - National Assembly Chair Tsveta Karayancheva conferred with the Speaker of Turkey's Grand National Assembly, Ismail Kahraman. The two met within the 138th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, held in Geneva, Parliament's press service told BTA Saturday.

Turkey is a neighbouring country, an ally in NATO and a priority partner for Bulgaria in a number of fields, said Karayancheva. Among the areas of cooperation, she outlined migration, the fight against terrorism, the energy sector, agriculture, animal husbandry and trade. The stable and sustainable relations between the two countries are based on the principles of goodneighbourliness and mutual respect, the Bulgarian Parliament Chair underscored.

Karayancheva also noted that Bulgaria gives high marks to Prime Minister Boyko Borissov's visit to Turkey this January and the opening of the restored St. Stephen Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Istanbul. This way, the two countries sent a positive message of religious tolerance, she said.

She congratulated her Turkish counterpart on his country's efforts directed at dealing with the migration flow, noting the positive effect of the EU-Turkey migration agreements, which have led to a reduction in the number of illegal migrants entering the EU. Bulgaria highly values the trilateral contact centre for police and customs cooperation between Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey, Karayancheva further said.

The existence of a significant potential for further developing trade and economic relations was underscored during the meeting. Karayancheva said that important topics are expected to be discussed during the upcoming summit in Varna between Turkey and EU leaders.