Turkish parliament speaker sets off for China

By Mehmet Tosun

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish Parliament Speaker Binali Yildirim late Sunday left for a trip to China, the first stop on a multi-country tour.

Before proceeding to Kyrgyzstan and Iran, Yildirim will first meet with Li Zhanshu, the chairman of China’s Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, in the capital Beijing.

With the visit, Turkey aims to strengthen its multidimensional relations with China in the dimension of parliamentary diplomacy, Yildirim told reporters at Esenboga Airport on Sunday in the capital Ankara before leaving.

Later, he will meet with Kyrgyz Parliament Speaker Dastanbek Cumabekov in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek.

Lastly, on Dec. 7-8 in Iran's capital Tehran, he will take part in a multilateral conference on the "Development of Regional Cooperation in Combating Terrorism and Development of Regional Cooperation."

Attending the conference will be the parliament speakers of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia and China, where counterterrorism and regional cooperation issues will be discussed, Yildirim said.