Turkish parliament speaker meets Finnish, Malian groups

By Huseyin Gazi Kayki

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey’s parliament speaker separately received on Tuesday distinguished deputies from the Scandinavian nation of Finland and the West African country of Mali.

Speaking during his meeting with Matti Vanhanen, the head of the Finnish parliament’s Foreign Affairs Commission, Ismail Kahraman said that he hoped to accelerate cooperation between the two nation's parliaments as well as their committees.

Vanhanen for his part stressed that the two countries have strong ties and mentioned the Finnish government’s denunciation of the July 15, 2016 defeated coup attempt in Turkey.

The Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup, which left 250 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Vanhanen also said that as an EU member, Finland is working to help Turkey to adopt an EU perspective and will continue to do so.

Later Kahraman also received Mahamadou Lamine Djiguine, co-chair of the Mali-Turkey parliamentary friendship group, saying he was very pleased to see the Malian delegation.

Djiguine also expressed pleasure at being in Turkey, while the group’s deputy chair, Abdoul Gallil Mansour Haidara, said that they hoped to improve ties between the two countries.