Japan-Turkey Relations

On September 24, commencing at 6:00 p.m. (local time) for approximately 50 minutes, Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, held a summit meeting with H.E. Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Turkey, in New York where the Prime Minister is visiting to attend the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly. The overview of the meeting is as follows.

1. At the beginning, President Erdoğan expressed his appreciation for the Prime Minister's congratulatory telephone call following the Turkish presidential election in June and stated that he is happy to be able to meet the Prime Minister in New York once again after one year. President Erdoğan welcomed the recent visit to Turkey by Her Imperial Highness Princess Akiko and congratulated Prime Minister Abe on his victory in the presidential election of the Liberal Democratic Party on September 20. In response, Prime Minister Abe thanked the President for the congratulations on the Prime Minister's presidential election victory. Prime Minister Abe stated that the relationship between Japan and its strategic partner Turkey has been steadily deepened in a variety of areas of politics, economy, culture, and disaster risk reduction, and that the Prime Minister seeks to further strengthen their cooperative relations under the strong leadership of President Erdoğan based on Turkey's new presidential system of  government.
2. The leaders welcomed the Japan-Turkey Business Council Joint Meeting that was recently held for the first time in three years. With the goal of reaching an agreement on the Japan-Turkey Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) as early as possible, the leaders confirmed that they would aim to further strengthen the Japan-Turkey economic relationship through such measures. In addition, the leaders confirmed that they would enhance their cooperation in a broad range of fields, including the Turkish-Japanese Science and Technology University and disaster risk reduction.
3. Prime Minister Abe welcomed the persistent diplomatic efforts of Turkey in regard to the Turkey-Russia Summit Meeting held on September 17, which led to an agreement on the establishment of a demilitarized zone in Idlib and to the avoidance of full-scale attacks on Idlib for the time being. The leaders shared the view that they would continue to work closely also on international affairs.