Turkey, as in the past, will continue to support the inhabitants of Gagauzia, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated while on a visit to Comrat on October 18. Alongside the President of Moldova Igor Dodon and Governor of Gagauzia Irina Vlah, President Erdogan took part in the official inauguration of the house of culture, a kindergarten and the medical diagnosis office in Comrat. The Turkish official also delivered a speech in the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia Square, IPN reports.

In a news conference that involved the three officials, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had valuable bilateral discussions in Chisinau on October 17 and important agreements were signed in the meetings with President Dodon and Prime Minister Pavel Filip. Over the past 16 years during which he served as Premier and then as President, he wanted a lot to travel to Comrat. “We are happy to see that Moldova and Gagauzia have respectably lived in peace and harmony since 1994. Our Gagauz relatives, who are the main elements of Moldova, form the blood connection between us and Moldova, which we consider a neighboring state. The existence of this region, Gagauzia, makes the Moldovan-Turkish relations become more important and special,” stated the official.

For his part, Igor Dodon said Turkey played an important role in ensuring stability in the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia. “At the start of the 1990s, we were on the brink of a tragedy, but managed to solve the problem thanks to our Turkish partners. I would like to reiterate my position: we will do our best for the agreements reached at the beginning of the 1990s to be applied nationwide and in accordance with the legal framework,” he stated, noting the central authorities will make everything possible to support the economic and social sectors in the region.

Governor Irina Vlah expressed her gratitude to President Erdogan for the assistance provided in developing projects in Gagauzia.