Middle East

On January 7 (Tuesday), Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a summit meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey, who paid an official working visit to Japan, for approximately 90 minutes from around 5:45 p.m. After the meeting, the two leaders attended the signing and exchange of Memorandum of Cooperation on the establishment of the Japanese-Turkish science and technology university, the exchange of Letter of Intent between Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan and Ministry of Health of Turkey, and the exchange of Letter of Intent between Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan and Turkish Prime Ministry of Turkey on a framework for disaster management collaboration dialogue, and had a joint press announcement. An outline of the summit meeting is as follows:

1.Politics and Regional Situation

• Prime Minister Abe expressed Japan’s intention to contribute more actively to peace and stability in the international community, including the Middle Eastern region, from the standpoint of “proactive contribution to peace”, based on the National Security Strategy adopted in December last year. Japan hopes to hold frequent talks with Turkey through such mechanisms as periodic meetings between Ministers of Foreign Affairs, and promote dialogue with Turkey in the area of security strategy, he said. In reply, Prime Minister Erdogan said Turkey hopes to exchange views and hold discussions with Japan on security issues.
• Prime Minister Abe briefed Prime Minister Erdogan on Japan's assistance related to the situation in Syria, including providing everyday goods to Turkey, and additional aid totaling 11 million U.S. dollars prepared for the country. Prime Minister Erdogan expressed gratitude for Japan’s assistance. The two leaders concurred to work together to ensure the success of the Geneva II Conference scheduled to be held this month. In addition, they exchanged views on the situation in the Middle East and North Africa region, including Egypt, Libya and Yemen, as well as the situation in Northeast Asia, including China and North Korea.

2.Economy

• The two leaders agreed that Japan and Turkey will open intergovernmental negotiations on concluding Japan-TurkeyEconomic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and Social Security Agreement. Noting that Japan is Turkey's most important partner in the Asia-Pacific region, Prime Minister Erdogan said he hopes to see a further expansion of bilateral trade and investment.
• Prime Minister Abe explained additional yen loans for the Marmaray Project (the Bosphorus rail tube crossing project) and the dispatch of a mission to study the advisability of extending yen loans for bilateral collaboration that makes use of Japanese technologies for power generation with pumped-up water. Prime Minister Erdogan expressed appreciation for the additional yen loans for the Marmaray Project.
• The two leaders concurred to work together to achieve an early conclusion of the Agreement for Co-operation in the Use of Nuclear Energy for Peaceful Purposes between Japan and Turkey.
• The two leaders welcomed progress in bilateral cooperation in the field of space and concurred to further promote the cooperation. They also welcomed the signing of documents on cooperation in disaster management, medical services and health, and science and technology between the relevant authorities of the two countries.
• Prime Minister Abe reiterated his request that Turkey ease and abolish its regulation on radioactive substances in Japan-made food products from Japan.

3.Culture and Education

• Prime Minister Abe welcomed progress in preparatory work for the establishment of the Japanese-Turkish science and technology university, such as the holding of a joint meeting of the committees of the two countries, and encouraged efforts toward the realization of the project. Prime Minister Erdogan said the Memorandum of Cooperation to be signed later in the day would mark a big step toward the establishment of the university, adding that his government is considering plans to set up the campus on the Asian side of Istanbul.
• The two leaders concurred to discuss bilateral cooperation for the release in 2015 of a movie co-produced by Japan and Turkey on Ertugrul Frigate and the rescue of Japanese citizens in Tehran.
• Prime Minister Abe asked for Turkish cooperation in holding a symposium in Turkey this year to overview the outlook of the future relations between Japan and Turkey in a broad range of areas, including diplomacy and security, history, language and culture. The symposium is to commemorate the 90th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties.