Turkey to attend 2nd Belt and Road forum in Beijing: spokesman

ISTANBUL, March 6 (Xinhua) -- Turkey is planning to attend the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation slated for April in Beijing, the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.

"Turkey supports the idea of reviving the ancient Silk Road," spokesman Hami Aksoy told Xinhua, referring to the mega infrastructure projects being carried out in Turkey in order to enhance the connectivity between the East and the West.

"We support the Belt and Road Initiative of China since the beginning as a 'win-win' concept," he added.

Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, and aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa through the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the first Belt and Road forum held in Beijing in May 2017.

"This year, we are planning to attend the second forum as well," Aksoy said. "We value our cooperation with China. We expect that the forum will give us the opportunity to discuss the issues of mutual interest and yield concrete results in this respect." Enditem