Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Turkey supports Macedonia's membership in NATO.
Erdogan made the remarks at a joint press conference in Ankara after his meeting with visiting Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, saying, "Macedonia's membership in NATO will contribute to regional stability."
Erdogan added that all countries that have recognized Macedonia's independence must respect Macedonia's decision to use its name.
Macedonia has been in dispute with Greece regarding its name shortly after Macedonia gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.
Athens, which says its neighbor's name could imply territorial claims against its own northern region of Macedonia, has threatened to block Macedonia's entry into NATO unless the name issue is resolved.
Macedonia, along with Croatia and Albania, are hoping to receive invitation to join the alliance of NATO at the bloc's summit in April in the Romanian capital, Bucharest.
Erdogan also added, "Macedonia has an EU process. We have informed our Macedonian friends that we want to share our experiences."
For his part, Gruevski hailed Turkey's support, saying Turkey has always been the first country to help Macedonia when it was in need, adding that Macedonia would always open its doors to Turkish investors.
He said there was a good cooperation between Turkey and Macedonia in various fields such as defense, security and health, adding that Turkey was the 10th biggest trade partner of Macedonia and cooperation would be expanded to boost the bilateral trade ties.
Source: Xinhua
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