Distinguished guest, and Ladies and gentlemen,

-         First of all I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to President Synn Ilhi, Chairman of Daegu Gyeongbuk International Exchange Association, Ms Suk Jung-dal, President of Korea-Turkey Association and Prof. Chaeki Synn, Secretary of Korea-Turkey Association for the establishment of the Korea-Turkey Association.

-         It is a great pleasure for me to be here today, in Daegu, to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Korea-Turkey Association.

-         Turkey and Korea have a strong relationship which has its roots in the history.

-         Throughout the Past we always had friendly relationship with Korea.

-         The participation of the Turkish troops in the Korean War has transformed the long-standing and deep-rooted friendship into blood brotherhood and thus, we call ourselves as blood brothers.

-         Turkish people always take pride in being the blood brothers of the Korean people and I am also honoured to be the 21^st Turkish Ambassador of Korea.

-         Today, extensive bilateral as well as international cooperation and partnership between the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Turkey continue to grow on the basis of this exemplary friendship.

-         Today, two countries are among the emerging global powers. They are among the top 20 largest economics in the world and they are both members of the G20. We happily observe that our two countries are acting as a bridge to represent the interests and views of the developing economics.