The Romanian and Turkish defence ministers, Mircea Dusa and Ismet Yilmaz had anofficial meeting in Istanbul on Thursday, April 23, when they discussed strengtheningbilateral relations as well as the security situation in the extended Black Sea region.

The two officials pointed out the mutual interest for extending cooperation in militarytraining by participating in joint exercises conducted in both Turkey and Romania.

They also emphasized the excellent cooperation in the field of defence intelligence.

The Strategic Partnership between Romania and Turkey offers the framework needed tointensify military bilateral cooperation related to achieving common goals, such asmodernizing the armed forces, fighting terrorism, strengthening the south-eastern flank ofthe Alliance and endorsing regional cooperation formats in south-eastern Europe,minister Mircea Dusa declared.

MoND Press Office