President Erdogan: ‘Romanian citizens will be able to travel to our country with ID cards’

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated, ‘I would like to announce that we have implemented the regulation that will allow Romanian citizens to travel to our country with an ID, believing that this will increase our human relations.’ President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a joint press conference with Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu. President Erdoğan expressed his pleasure in hosting Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu and his delegation on the occasion of the first meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council. President Erdoğan noted the mutual high-level visits between Turkey and Romania have been improving day by day. He said, ‘The visits of my deputy Cevdet Bey and my Ministers of National Defense and Foreign Affairs to Romania in recent times have been very beneficial. During my term as Prime Minister in 2011, we elevated our relations with Romania to the level of a strategic partnership. Today, with the joint declaration signed with the Prime Minister, we have established the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council between Turkey and Romania. We chaired the first meeting of this mechanism. Thus, we have taken another historic milestone in our relations.’ President Erdoğan emphasized that during the discussions, relations were comprehensively addressed, highlighting that economic and commercial ties and bilateral relations form the locomotive. He mentioned that the bilateral trade volume has exceeded $10 billion for two consecutive years, with the goal of reaching $15 billion, and they are progressing confidently towards this aim. President Erdoğan also stated, ‘The investments of our companies in Romania have reached nearly $8 billion when including those coming from third countries.’ He pointed out the contributions of approximately 19,000 Turkish companies operating in Romania to this success and to the friendship between the two countries. President Erdoğan mentioned that they focused on increasing cooperation in the energy field and highlighted that defense industry and military cooperation constitute significant pillars of their relations with Romania. He noted the significant momentum in defense industry cooperation in recent years. He also mentioned the contribution to the security and stability of the region through joint activities with Romania at both the bilateral and NATO levels. He stated, ‘Our 4 F-16 fighter jets carried out NATO air policing missions in the Romanian airspace for 4 months until the end of March last year.’ President Erdoğan expressed that as neighboring countries in the Black Sea and NATO allies, they work together with Romania, and they established a mine countermeasure task group in the Black Sea, including Bulgaria. He highlighted that counterterrorism was also on the agenda of their discussions. President Erdoğan shared their expectations regarding the fight against terrorist organizations such as the PKK and FETO with the Prime Minister. He emphasized that they consider the Turkish and Turkish Tatar communities living in Romania as a bridge of friendship between the two countries and expressed satisfaction with the harmony of our compatriots with the Romanian society, thanking the Romanian authorities for enabling this. President Erdoğan announced the implementation of the regulation enabling Romanian citizens to travel to Turkey with an ID, saying, ‘We believe that this will increase our human relations. We discussed regional and global developments with the Prime Minister. Of course, the foremost among these is the Israeli oppression in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories. The responsibilities of the international community are clear in stopping Israeli atrocities and ensuring the security of our Palestinian brothers. However, despite this, steps to prevent the massacre are still not taken. Netanyahu and his reckless government continue their genocide policies at the expense of endangering the security of their own citizens. It is necessary to put an end to this. I believe that our ally Romania will contribute as necessary to the international efforts being made in this regard.’ President Erdoğan mentioned that they also discussed the developments of the ongoing war in Ukraine during their meeting with the Romanian Prime Minister. He stated, ‘Since the beginning of the war, Turkey has made significant contributions, and continues to do so, towards ending the conflicts, ensuring global food security, and ensuring navigation safety in the Black Sea. We will continue to work to advance our relations with Romania, our NATO ally, strategic partner, and neighbor from the Black Sea, in line with the interests of our countries. As I conclude my words with these thoughts, I wish that the decisions taken at our council meeting and the agreements we have just signed will be auspicious. Our next meeting will be in Bucharest, hopefully. I thank Prime Minister and his delegation for their visit.’ Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu also stated that President Erdoğan is a visionary leader who knows who his true friends are. Ciolacu said, ‘Turkey is one of our most important allies in NATO; we can say it is a strategic partner, a good neighbor, and a friend. I also thank President Erdoğan for his special gesture. With today’s decision, Romanians will now come to Turkey with their identity cards.’ Furthermore, Turkey and Romania signed 6 important agreements covering cooperation in various fields. The agreements were signed in the presence of President Erdoğan and Ciolacu.