Turkey today marks National Day

Chisinau, 29 October /MOLDPRES/ - Turkey marks its National Day today. The country is situated in south-west Asia, surrounded by the Black, Aegean and Mediterranean Seas.

Turkey is a large country placed on two continents – 97 per cent of its area is situated in south-west Asia and 3 per cent – in Europe. It is bordered by Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Greece and Bulgaria. The country has about 75 million residents and an area of 780,000 square kilometers.

Turkey is a democratic and constitutional republic. Its political system was set in 1923. Turkey is a member of UN, NATO, OSCE, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Council of Europe. In 2005, the European Union opened accession negotiations with Ankara.

Turkey's positioning at the crossroads of Europe and Asia makes the country of great geo-strategic importance. The Turks represents the majority of its population, and there is also a numerous minority of Kurds. Islam is the largest religion in Turkey and Turkish is the state's official language.   

Turkey exports metallurgical products, machines and electric equipment, cotton, tobacco, cattle, hides and fruit. It imports oil products, industrial equipment, transport means and consumer goods. The state has foreign trade with Germany, U.S.A., France, Italy, Iran, Russia and other countries.

The diplomatic relations between Moldova and Turkey were set on 3 February 1992. Moldovan Ambassador to Turkey is Igor Bolboceanu, and Turkish Ambassador to Moldova - Mehmet Selim Kartal.

In 2014, the trade exchanges between Moldova and Turkey amounted to 405.6 million dollars.

According to data by the State Registration Chamber, 1,036 enterprises with Turkish capital are operating in Moldova as of 1 August 2014. Investments in social capital amounted to 286 million lei.

(Reporter N. Roibu, editor M. Jantovan)