7 December, Minsk /BELTA/. An agreement on a visa-free regime between Belarus and Turkey may be signed in early 2012. This was stated today by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkey to Belarus, Cevat Nezih Özkay, during a meeting with the Chairman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus, Anatoly Rubinov, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. "Turkey is one of the main tourist destinations for Belarusians. And people themselves suggest to us, politicians, what steps need to be taken today. Belarusians have never had any problems visiting Turkey before, but with this agreement, we will remove a certain psychological barrier," the ambassador believes. The signing of the agreement may take place in January-February of next year, as the visit of the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs to Belarus is planned for this period. In general, speaking about Belarusian-Turkish relations, the ambassador described them as satisfactory and noted that there are no disagreements between the countries at the political level. He emphasized that it was Turkey that became the first country to recognize Belarus's independence at the time. Economic relations between the countries are also developing dynamically, in his opinion. "Currently, our investments in the Belarusian economy amount to over $1 billion," noted Cevat Nezih Özkay. In turn, Anatoly Rubinov expressed hope that Cevat Nezih Özkay's tenure in Belarus as ambassador will serve to further strengthen friendly ties between the two countries. "Both Belarus and Turkey respect the right of the other state to develop along its own path. It is this mutual respect that serves as a good basis for cooperation in the international arena today," the Belarusian speaker believes. Diplomatic relations between Belarus and Turkey were established on March 25, 1992. To date, the countries have reached a high level of interstate relations, actively cooperating within the UN and other international organizations.-0-

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