Visiting Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking after meeting Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris on Thursday, stressed his optimism on the building of a "new Greek-Turkish friendship" and "a new Greek-Turkish axis," while underlining the "good climate in Greek-Turkish relations."
The Turkish Foreign minister also said "we are experiencing a period of very great friendship between the two countries and we can raise these strong bridges of friendship between Thessaloniki and Istanbul and Thessaloniki and Izmir."
Davutoglu further said that "in the past year the number of Turkish tourists in Thessaloniki has doubled, while it has trebled all over Greece" and stressed that he will support the appeal for a wider air, railway and coastal shipping linking of Thessaloniki with Istanbul and other cities in Turkey.
During their meeting, Davutoglu raised the issue with Boutaris of the functioning of a mosque and a moslem cemetery. Boutaris explained that the issue of the mosque is up to the central administration and then, in his statements, reassured him publicly that he will do all that he can to facilitate the moslems "in the exercising of their religious duties and the creation of a cemetery that has been scheduled."
Earlier, Davutoglu visited the Turkish consulate in Thessaloniki where he was received by Turkish consul Hussein Oztemir. Davutoglu was given a guided tour of the historic building's premises where Kemal Ataturk lived and signed the visitors' register.
(ANA-MPA)
