Foreign and Military Affairs

Education fosters friendly relations

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-10-05 08:40

ISTANBUL - Educational cooperation is the best way to foster ties between Turkey and China, according to the president of Okan University in Istanbul.

Professor Sule Kut said on Monday the two countries are capable of achieving a lot together.

"When China and Turkey cooperate, it becomes a very big thing and it becomes news," she said.

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Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will begin a three-day official visit to Turkey on Oct 7.

Kut, who is also president of the Turkish Political Science Association, said she expects a series of protocols will be signed between the two countries during Wen's visit.

According to Kut, improved educational contacts will lead to greater social and cultural ties, enhancing cooperation in other areas.

"We will become knowledgeable about China when we educate more specialists," she noted.

Kut pointed out that Turkish students are becoming increasingly interested in China, while more Chinese students travel to Turkey each year.

"It is essential for the younger generation to visit each others' countries," she said.

In addition to more educational cooperation, she said residents of both countries would benefit from learning more about each other.

"The more information we get from China, the more we will be enriched," she said, while stressing that "Turkish people like China and they would love to go to China" despite the long distance between the two countries.

Kut also called for stronger economic cooperation.

"If education is one way to improve relations, economics is the other and Turkish-Chinese trade relations are continually growing," she said.

The two countries have enjoyed frequent visits from each other's senior officials in recent years. Turkish President Abdullah Gul visited China in June 2009.

And the nations are also trading more with each other. The volume of trade surged from more than $1 billion in 2000 to $12.6 billion in 2008. However, as a result of the global recession, it fell 19.8 percent from the preceding year to $10.08 billion in 2009.