国际英语新闻：Syria, Turkey move towards closer cooperation

DAMASCUS, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Syria and Turkey on Wednesday signed 50 agreements and memorandum of understanding (MoU) and a work program for joint cooperation, as leaders of the two countries met and vowed to further enhance bilateral relations.

    "The Syrian-Turkish relations have developed over the past few years, however we still have a long way to go," Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said at a joint press conference with visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

    "The fruits of our deep relations could be seen in all fields, which became a reality that anyone couldn't ignore," said Assad.

    The agreements were signed at the end of the first meeting of the Turkey-Syria High Level Strategic Cooperation Council co-chaired by Erdogan and his Syrian counterpart Naji Otri, a mechanism launched during the Syrian president's visit to Ankara in September.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (R) speaks at a joint press conference with visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Damascus, capital of Syria, Dec. 23, 2009

    After the visit, Syria and Turkey announced that the two countries have decided to cancel entry visa requirements of each other for their passport-holding citizens.

    Erdogan said the first meeting of the High Level Strategic Cooperation Council is a historic day for relations between the two countries, adding that cooperation between Syria and Turkey made considerable progress in the fields of economy and trade.

    He said canceling the entry visa requirements between the two countries and the Free Trade Zone agreement led to increasing trade exchange, adding "we will work to increase trade exchange incoming years to reach 5 billion U.S. dollars."

    The two leaders hailed that the "brotherly ties" between the two countries is an example to be followed.

    Assad also reiterated his country's readiness to participate in any peace talks if Israel shows real will to achieve just and comprehensive peace, saying that "Syria doesn't need (French President) Nicolas Sarkozy to be the mediator of peace talks."

    The Turkish prime minister started his official visit to Syria on Tuesday evening, accompanied by a large ministerial delegation.