Turkish President Gul departs for Turkmenistan

Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Wednesday left for Turkmenistan on official visit upon the invitation of his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. "In 2012 many mutual visits were paid between the two nations, and it was a golden year for our relations. Our goal is to maintain acceleration while developing new perspectives in our cooperation,"Gul told a press conference before his departure from the Turkish capital, Ankara. Reminding that he visited Turkmenistan four times in the last five years, Gul said "My dear brother Berdimuhamedov visited our country 5 times. We will discuss all aspects of our relation in our bilateral talks and in a meeting between our respective delegations. Also we are going to exchange ideas on regional and international developments." Gul stated that Turkey expected to sign many agreements with Turkmenistan to deepen comprehensive cooperation between the two countries. The Turkish president also said he would be decorated with Turkmenistan State Medal during the visit as well as with an honorary "professor emeritus" title by The State Institute of Turkmenistan Economics and Public Administration. Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz and Minister of Science, Industry and Technology Nihat Ergun will accompany Gul.