Ankara / Anadolu

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday expressed his country's desire to deepen cooperation with Albania, especially in the field of defense industries.

This came during his meeting with Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama in the capital Ankara, a day after the latter participated in the 36th NATO summit hosted by Turkey at the Presidential Complex on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Turkish Presidency's Directorate of Communications said in a statement that Erdogan and Rama discussed bilateral relations and regional and global issues during the meeting.

President Erdogan stressed during the meeting that his country is working to move forward in relations between the two countries, according to the statement.

The Turkish president explained that the NATO summit held in Ankara clearly demonstrated the strength of the alliance's solidarity.

The statement noted that Erdogan extended an invitation to Rama to attend the COP31 climate summit in Antalya next November.

Over Tuesday and Wednesday, Ankara hosted the 36th NATO summit, the second time Turkey has hosted it after 22 years since the Istanbul summit in 2004, amid rapid security and geopolitical changes in Europe and the Middle East.