Turkey, Finland to meet for political consultations

By Gozde Bayar

ANKARA (AA) - Two-day political consultations between Turkey and Finland will kick off in Helsinki on Tuesday.

The consultations will be co-chaired by Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister and Director for EU Affairs Faruk Kaymakci and Permanent State Secretary of the Finnish Foreign Ministry Matti Anttonen, said a statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

Issues to be discussed at the meeting include bilateral relations as well as Turkey-EU relations and "various regional and global issues of common interest", it added.

Kaymakci will also meet the Finnish State Secretary for EU Affairs, Accreditation Service Director, Director General of the National Agency for Education, Turkish business representatives and students as well as officials of the "Crisis Management Initiative" during the visit, the statement read.

The Crisis Management Initiative is an independent Finnish non-governmental organization which works to prevent and resolve violent conflicts through informal dialogue and mediation since 2000.