Turkish deputy PM meets Japanese premier in Tokyo

By Tevfik Durul

TOKYO (AA) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday received Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Recep Akdag, government officials said.

During the meeting at Prime Ministry residence in Tokyo, Akdag expressed willingness to enhance cooperation in all fields with Japan.

The deputy prime minister also conveyed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and PM Binali Yildirim’s good wishes to Abe.

Akdag said Turkey wants to speed up its cooperation with Japan in the field of disaster management and the relevant ministers should prepare a 5-year joint action plan in this regard.

During the meeting, Abe pointed out that cooperation and bilateral ties in all fields are getting stronger after the frigate Ertugrul incident.

Japan wants to develop deep strategic partnership with Turkey, Abe added.

Turkey opened its embassy in Japan in 1925 and since then links between the nations have risen to a “strategic partnership”, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry website.

A bond was formed during the Ottoman era when the frigate Ertugrul sank off the coast of Japan as it returned from a goodwill visit in 1890.

Nearly 600 lost their lives but Japan’s rescue effort and the support shown to survivors sealed friendly ties between the peoples of both countries.

A French-Japanese consortium is involved in plans to build a nuclear power plant near Sinop province on the Black Sea coast.

* S. Ahmet Aytac contributed to this story in Ankara