Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu made a two-day official visit to Ukraine, and announced the inauguration of Yunus Emre Enstitüsü in Kiev at a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin. Çavuşoğlu stated that special courses can be offered to Ukrainian diplomats and journalists who aspire to learn Turkish.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu stated that Turkey and Ukraine have reached an agreement to enable travelling only with ID card and said, "We wish to mutually increase the number of visits and tourists. We would like our people to get in contact more. For this reason, we have completed the preparations to enable the citizens of both countries to visit only with their ID cards without requiring a passport. We aim to achieve that before the summer season.”

Çavuşoğlu and Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin chaired the Joint Strategic Planning Meeting following the private meeting. During the visit, the 2017-2018 Consultation Plan was signed between the two countries' Ministries of Foreign Affairs.

Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu said at the joint press conference that they celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Turkey and Ukraine, and spoke as follows: "We have made numerous important achievements in the past 25 years, we have brought our peoples closer, abolished visa requirements and established a strategic partnership. We have gathered to get ready for the next summit of this strategic partnership.”

Reminding that the summit will be held in Ukraine this year, Çavuşoğlu said that their aim is to deepen the relations between the two countries as they have in the last 25 years also in the coming period through stronger projects and resolutely.

Marking that Turkey fully supports the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political unity of Ukraine, Çavuşoğlu expressed that they emphasize their support at all international conferences and bilateral visits.

Çavuşoğlu iterated that Turkey does not recognize the illegal annexation of the Crimea, and continued as follows:

"Crimean Tatars remaining in Crimea, which is their historical homeland, protecting their identity, rights and interests is a major priority for us. We will maintain our close cooperation with our Ukrainian friends in this subject. We will continue to closely monitor the rights and interests of our cognates. We will continue to bring it on the agenda of the international community."

Çavuşoğlu stated that they evaluated the bilateral issues at today's talks and said that they are preparing the agreements to be signed at Turkey-Ukraine High-level Strategic Council Summit, and that they deal with issues as the free trade agreement and the renewal of the agreement to avoid double taxation.

It will be Possible to Travel between Ukraine and Turkey only with ID cards

Pointing out that they aim to develop trade and increase mutual investments through such negotiations, Çavuşoğlu expressed the following:

"Thanks to friendly Ukraine and Ukrainian people. Last year, the number of tourists from Ukraine increased by 50 percent, and we were pleased to host nearly 1 million 25 thousand Ukrainians in our country. We would like to increase the number of visits and tourists. Only last year, we made around 25 senior meetings. We wish our peoples to get in contact more, so we have completed preparations to enable the citizens of both countries to visit Turkey and Ukraine only with their ID cards without a passport in the coming term. We will achieve that before the summer season.”

Çavuşoğlu stated that the tests carried out at Ukrainian airports for passing with ID cards have been successful and that the same tests will be held at the airports in Turkey.

Announcing that Turkey will open a Yunus Emre Enstitüsü in Kiev, Çavuşoğlu stated that special courses can be offered to Ukrainian diplomats and journalists who aspire to learn Turkish.

Çavuşoğlu reminded that in the last two years, they hosted Ukrainian soldiers with their families and children in Turkey, and said, "I would gladly like to say that this year, we will be pleased to host the families and children of Ukrainian soldiers in Antalya again.”

On the question of the journalists, Çavuşoğlu said that in President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visits to Moscow and Kiev, regional and bilateral issues will be discussed, and spoke as follows: "There are joint operations we conduct with Russia on Syria. The conditions must be better on the ground for these efforts to yield results, unfortunately there are violations. The process should resume as soon as possible in Geneva, and there is benefit in launching negotiations in Geneva.”

Çavuşoğlu stated that they wish to resolve the problem between Ukraine and Russia peacefully and through diplomacy, noting that the agreements signed by Turkey for energy supply security and resource diversity are not against any country.

"Turkey has invariably aided us"

Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin said that the relations between the two countries are in fact at a strategic level and that they have always seen Turkey's aid and support at every platform.

Klimkin said that the both countries carry out numerous joint projects, and spoke as follows: "There was a visa exemption between Turkey and Ukraine. Citizens of both countries will be able to travel only with new ID cards in the coming period, and without passports. Only technical issues are left figure out. This is significant. Citizens who travel from Turkey to Ukraine and from Ukraine to Turkey should feel like at home and feel out of it.”