10/18/2010Kuwait focal point of Arab-Turkish cooperation - FM
KUWAIT, Kuwait's Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah said Sunday his country is the focal point of the Arab-Turkish cooperation, particularly the GCC-Turkish cooperation.
"The strategic partnership between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Turkey has entered a new chapter of development through the Third Ministerial Meeting of GCC-Turkish Strategic Dialogue," he said.
Sheikh Dr. Mohammad made the remarks in a joint press conference with GCC Secretary-General Abdulrahman Al-Atiyyah and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on the sidelines of the two-day meeting which started here earlier today.
"The first session of the meeting approved the blueprint of an action plan which envisages forming joint committees to deal with a range of topics of common interest," the minister pointed out.
The agenda of the current meeting includes a host of regional and international issues foremost among which is the Middle East peace process.
"Turkey plays a pivotal role in pushing forward the Arab-Israeli peace talks despite Israel's recklessness. Once again we affirm the full support of the GCC for the wise policies of Ankara," Sheikh Dr. Mohammad said.
"The GCC-Turkish strategic dialogue is part of a larger Arab-Turkish dialogue which indicates the special status of Turkey on the regional scale.
"In the eyes of all Arabs Turkey is a reliable ally who plays constructive role in key regional issues," he underscored.
Dealing with the situation in Iraq, Sheikh Dr. Mohammad voiced hope that the Iraqi political leaders would be able to reach agreement on the formation of a fully representative government "as early as possible." On his part, Davutoglu expressed gratitude to Kuwait for hosting the current GCC-Turkish dialogue, saying that the dialogue takes place at a time when both sides need to cement ties in all domains more than ever.
The Republic of Turkey and the GCC member countries share the desire of signing agreements on cooperation in many fields including the planned joint free trade area, economy, energy, education, healthcare, environment, mutual investments, and building railway lines such as the trans-GCC-Turkey-Europe line, he pointed out.
Meanwhile, Al-Atiyyah said the Third Ministerial Meeting of GCC-Turkish Strategic Dialogue tackled almost all issues relating to cooperation.
"The meeting charted a road map for the joint technical committees to realize the targets of the dialogue," he affirmed, noting that the GCC Secretariat would meet in May to review the process in this process.
The ministers of finance of all Arab countries and Turkey are scheduled to meet on Monday to launch the initiative of His Highness the Kuwaiti Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for backing the medium and small-size enterprises.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2118549&Language=en
