Saturday, 21 December 2019
MEETING BETWEEN PRESIDENT XHAFERI AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE GRAND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF TURKEY, MUSTAFA ŞENTOP
The President of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, Talat Xhaferi, met today with the President of the Grand National Assembly of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Şentop, who together with a group of MPs is on a working visit to the Republic of North Macedonia. The meeting was attended by the Vice Presidents of the Assembly, Goran Misovski and Zekir Ramcilovik, the President of the Parliamentary Group for Cooperation with the Parliament of the Republic of Turkey, Enes Ibrahim and its members Alija Kamberovski, Muhamed Zeqiri, Nikola Micevski, Amdi Bajram, Jusuf Hasani and Teuta Bilali.
President Xhaferi expressed his pleasure and compliments that the visit is being held on this important day for the Turkish community in the Republic of North Macedonia - 21 December, the Turkish Language Day. He noted that the high level of intensive communication between the Republic of North Macedonia and the Republic of Turkey is an indicator of the friendship between the two countries and strongly contributes to the promotion of the overall bilateral relations, especially the economic cooperation. 
The President of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia expressed gratitude to the Republic of Turkey for the continuous support for our country's Euro-Atlantic integration, as well as to the Turkish Assembly for the ratification of the NATO Accession Protocol of the Republic of North Macedonia. He pointed out that defence cooperation is particularly important, and our troops are currently part of the 
Turkish contingent in NATO's Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan. In the context of EU integration, Xhaferi pointed out that we remain committed to the reform agenda and the promotion of good neighbourly relations, and we expect that in March or May 2020 a date will be set for opening accession negotiations for the Republic of North Macedonia in the Union.
President Şentop briefed on the upcoming activities to mark the 100th anniversary of the Grand National Assembly of the Republic of Turkey and personally invited President Xhaferi to be part of the central event to be held on 23 April 2020 in Ankara.
The two presidents referred to the fruitful parliamentary cooperation, with emphasis on the contribution of the Friendship and Cooperation Groups which are continuously established and successfully operate in the two legislative houses and pledged to further enhance, deepen and expand bilateral cooperation in all fields of mutual interest, especially the economy. At the end of the meeting, the interlocutors expressed hope for further deepening the excellent relations and cooperation between the two assemblies.