Agence France Presse — English
September 11, 2008 Thursday

Swiss, Turkish ministers sign cooperation pacts

BERN, Sept 11 2008

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan on Thursday signed accords to
boost economic and energy ties with Switzerland during a visit to
Bern.

Babacan met with his Swiss counterpart, Micheline Calmy-Rey, and said
the new agreements, including one on copmbating terrorism, would help
diversify sources of energy supply and legal cooperation, Swiss news
agency ATS reported.

"Turkey is a very important partner for Switzerland," Calmy-Rey told a
press conference, adding that this year marks the 80th anniversary of
diplomatic ties between the two states.

"There is a common desire to intensify our relations and extend them
to the domains of energy, the environment, migration and the struggle
against terrorism," she added.

Swiss-Turkish relations have come under a certain amount of strain in
recent years after Switzerland passed a new law that makes it an
offence to deny that the World War I massacres of Armenians was
genocide.

Ankara last year protested against the conviction of a Turkish
left-wing politician under the law after a speech he gave in the Swiss
city of Lausanne in 2005.