Bulgaria is one of the countries that actively supports the European path of the Republic of Turkey. This was stated by President Rumen Radev, who honoured the ambassador of Turkey to our country, H.E. Aileen Sekizkök with the Order of the Madara Horseman, first degree, reported a BGNES reporter.
"At the end of your successful and fruitful mandate as the Ambassador of Turkey to Bulgaria, it is my honour and pleasure to award you with the high Bulgarian state award "Madara Horseman" first class for your outstanding services to the strengthening of bilateral relations between our countries". said the head of state. The ceremony was attended by the Chief Mufti, Dr. Mustafa Hadji, the US Ambassador to Bulgaria, H.E. Kenneth Merten, the former chairman of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) Mustafa Karadai, as well as other official guests.
Radev emphasized that for Bulgaria, Turkey is a traditional, important neighbour and friend, an ally in NATO and a strategic partner in several areas.
"In recent years, our relations have developed extremely favourably. We highly value relations with our neighbour and believe that we will continue to work together on several extremely important issues," he added, pointing out that many of the topics such as security, energy and transport connectivity, and protection of our borders, require a continuous search for new and effective pragmatic solutions.
The President noted that a large part of these decisions were implemented and initiated during the mandate of Ambassador Aileen Sekizkök.
"The pandemic, the energy crisis, Russia's war against Ukraine prompted us to rethink the concepts of good neighbourliness, mutual assistance, empathy and solidarity," added the head of state.
According to him, the topic of energy and transport connectivity has also seen significant development. "New lanes were opened at the world's second-largest border crossing "Capitan Andreevo - Kapakule", a new laboratory. The design of the second railway line between our two countries began. Bulgaria gained access to all liquefied gas terminals and the gas transmission network of the Republic of Turkey, and at a particularly critical moment for us", stated Radev and added that this is an expression of maturity and responsibility between our two countries, not only towards our energy security and diversification but towards the security of our allies and partners.
The President singled out as an important factor the great growth in the commercial and economic exchange between Bulgaria and Turkey, which in recent years marks an upward line of development.
Radev emphasized that Turkey has also become a strategic investor for Bulgaria.
"Bulgaria highly appreciates Turkey's participation in the multinational battle group on our territory and the recent memoranda we concluded to jointly counter-mine countermeasures in the Black Sea and for cross-border airspace security operations in NATO's integrated air and missile defence.", he also said.
The head of state is categorical that the best expression of the nature of the relations between Bulgaria and Turkey is given by the relations between our peoples, noting the growth of tourist exchange and the readiness for mutual assistance in difficult times of trials.
For his part, the ambassador of Turkey to Bulgaria H.E. Aileen Sekizkök said that the Bulgarian president's words made her feel proud that she had fulfilled her duties. She quoted the words of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk that Turks and Bulgarians should remain friends and those who are against Bulgaria are against Turkey.
"Since the independence of Bulgaria, the two countries have always stood by each other in difficult times," Sekizkök added.
The Turkish ambassador pointed out that "Bulgarian heroes were the first to come to the affected areas to save so many lives under the collapsed buildings."
"Investments in Bulgaria reached 2.5 billion euros, while trade and commodity exchange exceeded 7 billion euros annually. This is an extraordinary success of the visionaries from both Bulgaria and Turkey," Sekizkök said.
The Turkish ambassador also reported the leading role of the Bulgarian head of state for the opening of the new lanes of "Captain Andreevo" and for the signing of an agreement for the potential opening of new border checkpoints for railway transport. /BGNES
