Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım visited Ulaanbaatar on 6-7 April. With the aim of boosting ties, Turkey and Mongolia signed seven different agreements in such areas as agriculture, transportation and communication technologies, disaster management and migration. The two sides made certain proposals targeted at reaching a trade turnover of USD 300 million in a short time; this represents a tenfold increase – last year turnover stood at USD 31 million.

Turkey plans to provide USD 300 million to Mongolia through its EXIM bank with the following two main conditions: USD 120 million will be used for constructing an airport in the Orkhon Valley in order to increase tourism and USD 350 million will be spent for supporting cooperation projects with Mongolian companies in the agriculture and construction sectors.

On Saturday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım visited the Orkhon valley in the Arkhangai province to see the Orkhon inscriptions, written in the Old Turkic alphabet. On the second day of his official visit to Mongolia, Yıldırım also visited the Bilge Khagan Museum in the town of Kharkhorin.

‘The protection and passing on of these monuments, that are common value to Turkish and Mongolian history, to future generations is essential for the respect of our history and ancestors,’ Yıldırım wrote in the museum’s memorial book.

Yıldırım was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Hakan Cavusoglu, Culture and Tourism Minister Numan Kurtulmus and Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Minister Ahmet Arslan.