Turkey seeks visa waiver with Algeria

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday expressed desire for cancelling the visa procedures between his country and Algeria. Turkey has visa waivers with 70 countries, so why Algeria shouldn not be one of such countries, he said in an address to the Algerian People's National Assembly (lower house). If a decision in this regard is made, it will give quantum leap to the people-to-people exchanges and two-way tourist flow, Erdogan affirmed. On the Syrian conflict, he said Turkey supports the Syrian people's struggle for democratic change and hosts more than 300,000 Syrian refugees. Appreciating the central role of Algeria in settling regional disputes, Erdogan called on the Algerian leaders to step up efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis. As for the Arab-Israeli conflict, he said Israel should realize that true peace lies in fair settlement to the Palestine question. He urged the international community to force Israel into adopting a peaceful approach to this conflict. Later today, he held talks with Algerian Prime Minister Abdulmalek Sellal on ways to strengthen the bilateral political and economic ties. Commenting on the talks, Sellal said in a press release they discussed a range of regional and international issues of common concern foremost among which is the situation in Euro-Mediterranean region. The security cooperation also featured prominently in the talks, he said, noting that the growing menace trans-border terrorism made it imperative for Algeria and Turkey to join forces and work together on the bilateral and the multilateral levels to combat terrorism. "As we forge into the 21st century, we face similar challenges and opportunities on the track of socio-economic development," Sellal pointed out. He expressed desire of Algeria to push forward the political dialogue and economic cooperation with Turkey. He noted that the two nations maintain historical ties and similar cultural backgrounds, dating from the Ottoman Empire, which constitute a firm ground for a more active role in the geopolitical sphere and closer ties in all domains. Sellal added that Erdogan's current visit to Algeria will give momentum to the implementation of the treaty on friendship and cooperation signed in 2006. On the bilateral trade volume, he said it doubled five times in the last decade and topped USD five billion last year. The Turkish leader started a two-day official visit to Algeria earlier today leading a large business delegation and senior-level government officials.