Turkish parliament speaker congratulates Romania on national day

By Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) - The speaker of Turkish parliament on Wednesday congratulated Romania on the 103rd anniversary of the unification of the country.

In a letter to Romania's House of Representatives Speaker Ion-Marcel Ciolacu, and of Senate of Romania President Florin Vasile Citu, Mustafa Sentop said the two countries' multi-faceted cooperation should be raised to the level of strategic partnership.

Sentop said bilateral relations have reached "a higher level in all dimensions."

"I am pleased that the existing cooperation between our two parliaments continues to strengthen at the bilateral level and on multilateral platforms, especially in the European Union," he said.

Romania celebrates the Great Union Day, or Ziua Marii Uniri, on Dec. 1, marking the unification of Transylvania, Bessarabia, and Bukovina with the Romanian Kingdom in 1918.

Turkey and Romania have strong political, economic, cultural relations and humanitarian bonds. ​​​​​​​They signed the Strategic Partnership Declaration in December 2011.