Mintimer Shaimiev meets Turkish Ambassador to Russia Umit Yardym

On November 20, Tatarstan State Counsellor Mintimer Shaimiev met Turkish Ambassador to Russia Umit Yardym, who was appointed Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Russia on October 1, 2014. 

Tatarstan is the first Russian region Umit Yardym visited. He arrived in Kazan to take part in the 32nd meeting of the Permanent Council of Culture Ministers of TURKSOI Member Countries and a closing ceremony of the Year "Kazan - the cultural capital of the Turkic world in 2014".

At the beginning of the meeting Umit Yardym said that he had visited Kazan in the Soviet times and today, 20 years later, the capital of Tatarstan has been wonderfully improved. "A lot has changed for the better in Kazan during these years, as well as relations between Tatarstan and Turkey. We believe that it was you who has opened the door to cooperation between our republics and made a great contribution to the strengthening of friendly relations between Turkey and Russia, they are very important to us," the guest said, addressing Shaimiev.

Tatarstan State Counsellor noted that Tatarstan is proud of its good relations with Turkey and thanks its leadership for attention and support. "The main thing is that there is a mutual understanding between our peoples. This is the true wealth, which will favour the preservation and development of our languages and cultures. In these years we have proven the need to establish closer relations between the two republics and today we have excellent results of our cooperation,” he said.

The participants of the meeting exchanged their views on the results of the Year "Kazan - the cultural capital of the Turkic world in 2014", upcoming events dedicated to its closing, as well as the II International TV Song Contest «TURKVIZION» held in Kazan. They discussed specific areas of cooperation between Russia and Turkey, Tatarstan and Turkey in the field of culture and education.

Umit Yardym said that he is familiar with the activity of the Foundation for Revival of Historical and Cultural Monuments of the republic under the leadership of Shaimiev. He stressed the great importance of the inclusion of the Bolgar historical and archaeological complex in the UNESCO World Heritage List for the Turkic world. "This is our common heritage, recognized by the whole world thanks to the work of the Revival Foundation and your efforts," he said.

Summing up, Umit Yardym thanked Mintimer Shaimiev for the warm welcome, interesting ideas and wise counsel and assured him that the Embassy of Turkey in Russia will continue to give overall support and help to strengthen relations between Turkey and Tatarstan.