The Turkish president expressed willingness on Tuesday to boost cooperation with Russia.

Turkey's President Abdullah Gul expressed Turkey's eagerness to further improve cooperation with Russia.

"Turkey attaches great importance to cooperation with Russia in fight against terrorism and organized crime, and two countries have taken satisfying steps in this area," Gul told "Rassiskaya Federatsiya Sevodniya" magazine of the publication organ of the Russian parliament.

Gul said that Turkey also wanted to enhance cooperation with Russia in energy.

The Turkish president said that Russia had become the biggest trade partner of Turkey in 2008, and almost three million Russian people visited Turkey last year.

Also, Gul said that peace and stability were a must in Caucasus to talk about peace and stability in Eurasia.

Gul said that Turkey, Russia and all other countries interested in Caucasus should assume an understanding of cooperation, instead of an understanding of competition, and regional countries should boost their cooperation.

The Turkish president also referred to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, and underscored importance of ensuring a continual cease-fire in the region, meeting urgent needs of regional people, opening borders and lifting embargoes, normalizing the daily life in the region, and reconstructing the region.

Gul expressed his belief that efforts to find a fair and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute through negotiations and on the basis of two states that could live side-by-side within secure and acknowledged borders would be speeded up in coming days.

The Turkish president said that Turkey would do its best to contribute to the process.

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Güncelleme Tarihi: 04 Mart 2009, 08:46