Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka's visit to Turkey, Portugal, France, the United Kingdom and Spain

January 2002

Minister for Foreign Affairs Makiko Tanaka visited the Republic of Turkey, Portuguese Republic, France, the United Kingdom and Spain from 3 to 12 January, 2002.
Foreign Minister Tanaka had meetings with her counterparts and other prominent members of the governments. In those meetings, Foreign Minister Tanaka exchanged views on various fields such as the international efforts to fight against terrorism, the reconstruction and peace building in Afghanistan, international situation including the peace process in the Middle East, and bilateral relations between Japan and respective countries.
The significance of Foreign Minister Tanaka's visit to those countries is as follows.
(1)The Republic of Turkey, situated on the junction between Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and being a member of NATO, has been playing an important role in the international community in the fight against terrorism.

(2)Portuguese Republic will assume the Chair of OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) in the year 2002. This also marks the first visit to Portuguese Republic by the Foreign Minister of Japan.

(3)The United Kingdom is a member of G8 and one of the major allies of the United States as well as Japan.

(4)Spain assumes the Chair of EU (European Union) for the first half of the year 2002 and has recently attached great importance to the relations between the Asia-Pacific.