Ｔｕｒｋｅｙ－Ｃｈｉｎａ Ｆｒｉｅｎｄｓｈｉｐ Ａｓｓｏｃｉａｔｉｏｎ Ｄｅｌｅｇａｔｉｏｎ Ｈｉｇｈｌｙ Ｐｒａｉｓｅｓ Ｃｈｉｎａ’ｓ Ｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔ

At the invitation of the CPAFFC， a delegation of Turkey-China Friendship Association led by its president Kemal Baytas paid a goodwill visit to Beijing， Yanji， Changchun， Nanjing， and Shanghai from June 25 to July 3. Ismail Amat， vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and president of the China-Turkey Friendship Association， and Chen Haosu， president of the CPAFFC， met with and entertained the delegation respectively.

At his meetings with Vice Chairman Ismail Amat and President Chen Haosu， Baytas said he was delighted to see great progress achieved in Sino-Turkish relations in the last years， especially the expanded cooperation in the fields of trade， economy， social services and tourism， and the increasing contacts in which the non-governmental friendship organizations of the two countries played an important role. In the past， there were few contacts between the two sides， and the Turkish people knew little about China. In recent years， as the relations between the two countries developed continuously and the mutual understanding grew day by day， the Turkish people gained a completely new knowledge about the Chinese people， and， thus， had a better impression of and deeper friendly feeling toward the country and its people. Recently， a poll conducted by a Turkish institution showed that 67% of the interviewees regarded China as the best country in the world. It is an important basis for the development of the Sino-Turkish relations that such a high percentage of the Turkish people liked China. Baytas considered that the understanding and friendship between the peoples is more significant than the development of governmental relations. For years， the Turkey-China Friendship Association has made ceaseless effort to further the understanding and friendship between the Turkish and the Chinese people by organizing and sending high-ranking delegations to China every year to push forward non-governmental exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in all fields. He hoped that in future， the friendship associations of the two countries would continue to make efforts together to constantly deepen the friendly relations between the people of the two countries.

This is President Baytas’ 10th visit to China. He recalled that every time he came to China he could find new development and changes in all fields， which were resulted from implementation of the wise policies of reform and opening to the outside world and the socialist way with Chinese characteristics suitable to the conditions of the country. Baytas said that the Turkish people paid close attention to the development and prosperity of China， and so did the whole world. He mentioned that China is the “Star of Hope” in the 21st century and Turkey wishes to learn from China’s development， follow China’s example， and speed up its own development and progress. Mr. Donat， a member of the delegation and columnist of Sabah (Turkey)， recalled when he visited China with Prime Minister Ozal 20 years ago， he found Shenzhen was merely a fishing village which now has become a modernized city adopting high technologies. He hoped China’s opening-up would achieve further successes. He said he would publish articles in newspapers and magazines and speak on television after his return， telling the Turkish people what he saw and how he felt so that more Turkish people would understand the present situation of China as well as its development and change.