[11/February/2011]

ISTANBUL, Feb. 11 (Saba)- Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay has said that he was honored to see Yemen as the guest country of the 15th East Mediterranean Tourism and Travel Exhibition (EMITT).

In a joint press conference with Yemeni deputy Minister of Tourism Omar Babelghaeth at Istanbul's TUYAP International Fair and Congress Center, Minister Gunay said that Turkey was ready to share its knowledge and experiences with the brotherly people of Yemen.

"Turkey and Yemen share historic ties. Yemen is a colorful and interesting country with geographic diversity. Yemen has important amounts of natural resources. I sincerely hope that these resources would be utilized in the development of Yemen", Gunay said.
Yemen is a new tourist destination but has enermous potential. I am pleased and honored to see Yemen as the "guest country" of EMITT. We are ready to share our experiences with Yemen, Gunay noted.

Babelghaeth, in his part, said that Yemen was a unique country with a coastline of 2,400 kilometers.

Yemen is a country worth seeing, Babelghaeth said.

Yemen was visited by 1.1 million people in 2010 and earned 903 million USD from tourism, Babelghaeth said.

With your support, we can develop our tourism sector. Our relations go back decades. We do have family ties with Turkey. There are people living in Yemen who are of Turkish origin. I sincerely invite you to visit Yemen and make an investment, Babelghaeth said.

Following the press conference, Minister Gunay met his Palestinian counterpart Khoulord Daibes in a meeting that was closed to the press corps.

YA
Saba