ID :
216538
Thu, 11/24/2011 - 09:48
Auther :

Turkish president attends dinner hosted by city mayor

LONDON (A.A) - November 24, 2011 - Turkish President Abdullah Gul and his spouse on Wednesday attended a dinner hosted in their honor by Lord Mayor of London Alderman David Wootton. Prince of Kent Michael Franklin and Princess of Kent Marie Christine were also among some 700 guests who attended the dinner at the Guildhall. The Gul couple were greeted with full military honors as the company commander saluted and invited the president in Turkish to inspect the company.     Speaking at the dinner Gul recalled that Ottoman Sultan Abdulaziz visited the Guildhall in 1867, saying since then relations between Turkey and Britain had significantly improved and strengthened.   Gul said nearly 400 thousand Turks lived in Britain as well as three thousand students studied at British universities, adding that despite a global economic recession bilateral trade volume reached 12 billion USD in 2010.    Gul said Turkish economy had made remarkable progress over the past years, adding that the Turkish government planned to make Istanbul a global finance center.   Wootton, on his part, said Britain welcomed Turkey's growing role in its region, adding, "we appreciate the critical role Turkey plays for newly emerging democracies in the Middle East and North Africa."

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