Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu paid a working visit to France upon the invitation of Laurent Fabius, Minister of Foreign Affairs of France.

Speaking at the joint press conference following the meetings at the French Foreign Ministry, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu expressed that Turkish-French diplomatic relations are of great importance in terms of the world diplomacy history. Despite the current divergences, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu cited that Turkey and France decided to act based on a joint vision, but not on domestic political concerns. He stated that Turkey lifted the measures against France and a new era begun in the bilateral relations. Pointing out that Turkey and France aim at increasing the bilateral trade volume up to 15 billion Dollars, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu stressed that the significant projects in transportation, energy and tourism areas could be developed. He also expressed that Turkish General Consulates in Bordeaux and Nantes would be inaugurated in a very short time.

On the other hand, French Foreign Minister Fabius underlined the will of France to further developing the relations between Turkey and the EU. He also said Turkey, an ally of France is an essential actor and an element of stability in such an unstable region.

As part of his visit, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu also delivered a speech entitled “Turkish-French Relations in an Evolving International and Regional Environment” at French Institute of International Relations (IFRI).

This visit constitutes reciprocation to visits of the former Ministers of Foreign Affairs of France, H.E. Bernard Kouchner and H.E. Alain Juppé on 11-12 October 2010 and 17-19 November 2011, respectively. On this occasion, all aspects of bilateral relations between Turkey and France were discussed with an approach to provide a new understanding to these relations and views on regional/international issues were exchanged.