Japan, Turkey agree on free trade talks, nuclear energy cooperation

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed Tuesday to launch free trade talks within this year. "We agreed to start inter-governmental negotiations on a bilateral economic partnership agreement," Abe told a joint press conference after the summit talks in Tokyo. It was their third summit meeting in nine months, following the talks in Ankara last May and October. "Relations between the two countries have developed rapidly over the past year. I hope our bilateral partnership will further deepen in various fields this year," Abe said. The Japanese leader also said Tokyo will provide around JPY 43 billion (USD 412 million) in fresh yen loans to finance Turkey's subway system project which will link the Asian and European sides of Istanbul under the Bosporus Strait. "We will make efforts toward an early conclusion of a Japan-Turkey economic partnership agreement, which is expected to further strengthen bilateral relations," Erdogan said in the same press conference. The two leaders also confirmed their cooperation on nuclear technology and pledged further efforts to accelerate domestic procedures for securing parliamentary approval in both countries for a civil nuclear cooperation pact. During Abe's visit to Turkey in October, the two governments reached the agreement, which will pave the way for Japan to export nuclear reactors to Turkey. A joint venture involving Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. has won an order to construct a nuclear plant in northern Turkey. The two sides also signed an agreement to set up a science and technology university in Istanbul to educate researchers in advanced technology, including that for nuclear energy. In Tuesday's talks, Abe and Erdogan also agreed to cooperate in addressing the crisis in Syria and Iran's nuclear program. The Turkish premier arrived in Japan on Monday for a three day-visit as part of his Asian tour that will also take him to Singapore and Malaysia.