ERDOGAN SAYS DAVOS PROVIDES FRUITFUL TALKS ON FINANCIAL CRISIS

Jan 30 2009

Turkish PM said he had very fruitful talks during the WEF meetings
in Davos.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had very fruitful
talks during the World Economic Forum meetings in Davos where many
statesmen, businesspeople and representatives of international finance
organizations gathered.

At his return to Istanbul from Davos, Erdogan told reporters that
Davos meetings discussed global finance crisis erupted in the second
half of 2008 and ways to revive the global economy.

"I had chance to explain Turkey’s vision and priorities in these
meetings," Erdogan said.

"We also told our views on Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as
the Gaza issue and future of the Middle East," he said.

Erdogan held talks with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin,
Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Azerbaijan’s President
Ilham Aliyev, Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha, Dutch Prime
Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe
Velez, former British Prime Minister and Special Envoy of the Quartet
for the Middle East Tony Blair, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore,
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Armenian President Serzh Sargsian
and Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian.

Erdogan said he also had a meeting with John Lipsky, First Deputy
Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.

Erdogan said he called on international investors to invest in Turkey
at his talks with business circles.

"They see Turkey as a safe harbor, which is really good for us. I
heard from many of them that they were planning to invest in Turkey
this year," Erdogan stated.