Skopje, 7 June 2022 (MIA) – As part of his official visit to Ankara, Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani met with Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Mustafa Şentop, reaffirming traditionally good and friendly relations between the two countries and highlighting the importance of the role of parliamentary groups for cooperation. “The friendship between the citizens of the two countries and our diaspora in Turkey is the bridge that connects us. The Turkish ethnic community has a special contribution to the political, cultural and economic development of North Macedonia, as part of our unique model of multiethnic functional democracy,” said Minister Osmani. In addition, Osmani met with former foreign minister of Turkey, Hikmet Çetin, to whom he presented a special recognition on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the independence of North Macedonia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release. "Çetin was foreign minister at an extremely important time in our recent political history - of our independence and Turkey is among the first countries to recognize our independence," reads the press release. During his visit to Ankara, Foreign Minister Osmani laid a wreath at the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern Republic of Turkey.