Turkish president meets with senior Chinese diplomat on bilateral ties

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) shakes hands with Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, during their meeting in Ankara, Türkiye, on July 26, 2023. [Turkish presidency/Handout via Xinhua]

ANKARA -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday met with senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi to discuss enhancing bilateral cooperation in various fields.

Erdogan asked Wang, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, to convey his sincere greetings to Chinese President Xi Jinping, adding that Türkiye and China are both countries with global influence and the importance of their cooperation goes beyond bilateral boundaries.

Erdogan emphasized Türkiye's adherence to the one-China principle and said his country does not see China's development as a threat.

Türkiye is willing to enhance high-level exchanges with China through mechanisms such as the Intergovernmental Cooperation Committee and the Joint Economic and Trade Committee, said Erdogan, adding his country is ready to enhance synergy between Türkiye's Middle Corridor initiative and the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), deepen bilateral cooperation in trade, energy, tourism, and other fields, and elevate Türkiye-China relations to new heights.

Chinese enterprises are welcome to increase their investments in Türkiye, said Erdogan.

The Turkish president stressed that his country does not support the increase of NATO activities in the Asia-Pacific region and is willing to maintain communication and coordination with China on international and regional issues, including the Ukrainian crisis.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, conveyed the Chinese president's greetings to Erdogan.

He told the Turkish president that China congratulates him on his re-election and supports Türkiye in upholding independence and pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions.

Both China and Türkiye are representatives of emerging markets and major developing countries, which share broad common interests with no conflict of fundamental interests, the Chinese diplomat added.

The development of bilateral relationship is future-oriented and has broad prospects, Wang said, highlighting that China stands ready to work with Türkiye to help each other on the path of national rejuvenation, support each other on issues of core interests, strive to maintain and deepen mutual political trust and uplift China-Türkiye strategic cooperation to a new level.

Wang expressed China's willingness to make good use of the mechanism of the China-Türkiye Intergovernmental Cooperation Committee to comprehensively advance pragmatic cooperation in various fields, facilitate the BRI construction, achieve a higher level of mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation, and make positive contributions to global economic recovery.

During his one-day visit to Türkiye, Wang also held talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.