Turkish president meets Kyrgyz counterpart

Turkish President Abdullah Gul Thursday met with his Kyrgyz counterpart Almazbek Atambaev in the Azerbaijani city of Qebele. Gul expressed his pleasure over meeting with Atambaev as part of the 3rd summit meeting of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States. Stating that they were shown excellent hospitality at the Turkic Council summits held in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek in 2012, Gul said, "We make important decisions in regards to realizing mutual projects, strenghtening cultural cooperation and establishing solidarity among Turkic republics with such occasions. We are pleased with these developments." Atambaev stated the foundations of a great Turkish society was laid and added, "Our roots and history are same and hopefully our future is, too. Our aim is to further strengthen Turkic republics, establish unity and protect our language and spirit." Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs, and Communications Binali Yildirim were also present in the meeting which continued closed to press.