[Youth along the Silk Road Praise China] Turkish Media Person: Belt and Road Initiative Has Made Mutual-development Invitation to the World

There are a group of young people from the Belt and Road countries. They are studying, traveling, working, or living in China, and therefore bound up with China. They have been witnessing the rapid change of China, sharing their own stories about China with others, and praising China for its change.

Recently, CRI Online has been releasing a series of news reports, Youth along the Silk Road Praise China, to listen to these young people's stories about China.

Caption: Young Turkish media person An Moran is receiving an interview. [Photo by Wang Pengyu]

The protagonist of this episode is a young Turkish media person, Emre Demir, and his Chinese name is An Moran. An Moran graduated from the department of media and communication studies in Ankara University in 2008, and he came to China in 2011. From then on, he has been doing jobs related to media in China.

In An Moran's point of view, Turkey is at the crossroad of Europe and Asia, and therefore it has a geographic advantage. However, the transportation system in Turkey still needs improvement, so it in some ways restricts the development of economy. The Belt and Road Initiative has provided an opportunity for Turkey to promote its economic growth. An Moran said, "Nowadays, every country has its own development plan, but China is willing to take responsibility and has proposed a mutual-development initiative. The Belt and Road has closely related all the countries in the world, and it will become an all-round platform for international cooperation. So I think Turkey needs to grasp this chance."

After the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed, the cooperation has been enhanced between Turkey and China in fields such as infrastructure, new energy, communication industry. The cooperation between the two countries has promoted the development of trade as well. Aligning the Belt and Road Initiative with the Middle Corridor Initiative proposed by Turkey will largely improve and expand Turkish transportation network and help Turkey play a role of the center of international transportation.

Apart from cooperation in transportation and economy, An Moran thinks that the cooperation in culture and tourism industry between the two countries should not be neglected either. 2018 is China's Turkey Tourism Year, and as a result an increasing number of Chinese people are coming to Turkey for traveling. An Moran said, "I heard that from January to April, the rate of Chinese tourists in Turkey increased by 100%. In the future, policies like electronic visa will contribute to more communication among the people in China and Turkey. I believe the communication among Chinese and Turkish people will enhance the friendship between China and Turkey."