Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that they were determined to further improve Turkey-Australia relations. Ahmet Davutoglu and his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd, who is currently in Ankara on an official visit, signed an action plan to develop cooperation between Turkish and Australian foreign ministries.

Davutoglu said at the joint news conference following the signing ceremony that Rudd was the first Australian foreign minister paying an official visit to Turkey except for those who visited Turkey to attend the Anzac Day memorials.

"Turkey and Australia have already been working together in many international platforms such as G-20 and UN. We agreed to further improve Turkey-Australia bilateral relations. We signed an action plan to develop our cooperation. Under the deal, we will meet three or four times in a year," he said.

Davutoglu said that the Turkish Airlines would begin flying to Australia by the end of 2011.

"On the other hand, 2015 will be celebrated as Turkish Year in Australia and 2016 will be declared as Australian Year in Turkey to let Turkish and Australian peoples to know each other in a better way," he told reporters.

Referring to recent development in Egypt where widespread protests aimed at ending Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year-old rule left more than 100 people, Davutoglu said, "we highlighted importance of ensuring democracy in the region when tension erupted in Tunisia. Egyptian people have definitely rightful demands. In today's global society, democratic freedoms, transparency and accountability are the common values in combat against corruptions. But Egyptian people should express their demands without resorting to violence."

Australian Foreign Minister Rudd, on his part, said that both Turkey and Australia have open systems, open economies and active diplomacies, he said, adding that they agreed to develop a new partnership.

Source : Anadolu Ajans