ANKARA
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe signed an agreement on a nuclear power plant project on Friday.
"We said that let's finish it sooner than 10 years," said Erdogan in a joint press conference with his Japanese counterpart regarding the project which has 10-year time limit to complete in Turkey's northern Sinop province.
By emphasizing the project as an important step for Turkey, Erdogan indicated that the investment was worth USD 22 billion.
"This visit is meaningful for Turkey. In the following period, Turkish and Japanese relations will be on a different level. We have signed a strategic partnership agreement together" Erdogan said.
Referring to Fukushima incident, Erdogan said, "I actually want to point out one thing: After the Fukushima incident, people said negative things about Japanese technology. In that period of time, we took those steps with Russia. In spite of the fact that people, who approached us in a negative way, I said, should not we get on an airplane because the airplane might crash? One in a million, we should consider there is a risk of accident, but we need that technology. With an advance technology we will take better steps."
Turkish-Japanese Technical University
"Another thing that especially pleased me is that we are founding Turkish-Japanese Technical University in Turkey and later on we also aim to found the same one in Japan. A step like this between Turkey and Japan is really important," said Erdogan.
Mentioning that Marmaray project was fulfilled with Japans, Erdogan stated, "we are completing Marmaray project on October 29, 2013. I said to the Prime Minister, that I hope, Marmaray will be opened by our president and Japanese leader together."
Apart from the projects, Erdogan stated that they focused on the issue of Syria and discussed the incidents in the Middle East. He said, "we also discussed the issues in Myanmar. We had a chance to evaluate our cooperation in this subject."
After Erdogan's speech, Abe said that they were pleased to visit Turkey with more than hundred Japanese businessmen. He stated that Turkey and Japan signed two agreements on the nuclear power plant project, one of them was Sinop's nuclear energy plant to be completed smoothly. Abe expressed belief that Japan could manage a nuclear energy production in which the security of Turkey was assured.
If Turkey wins hosting 2020 Olympics, I will be the first one celebrating
Erdogan told reporters, "I told Abe that Japan has already hosted one Olympics, and expressed my hope that Japan would withdraw its candidacy so that Turkey could host the games. I believe they will consider our request tolerantly".
Abe, as a response to Erdogan's request, said, "if Turkey is chosen to host 2020 Olympics, I will be the first one celebrating and if Tokyo is chosen, I hope that you will be the first one to congratulate us."
"Turkish and Japanese flags complete each other"
Pointing out the flags of Turkey and Japan, Abe said, "I see Japanese one with sun, and Turkish one with moon and star. A day cannot be completed without one of these. That's why I believe that two countries need each other and I believe there will be good results with the collaboration of these two countries."
