Macedonia and Turkey will strengthen the cooperation in education.

Expert teams from countries' ministries of education are to begin work on preparing a fresh cooperation accord, Macedonian Minister of Education and Science Pance Kralev and his Turkish counterpart Omer Dincer announced Wednesday after their joint meeting in Skopje,

Dincer is in Macedonia upon an invitation by the Democratic Party of Turks.

An emphasis will be put on increasing the number of Macedonian students studying in Turkey and those studying in Macedonia as well as on the cooperation between academic and scientific institutions in both countries.

"The new cooperation agreement is going to cover several areas. As a result, experts from the Macedonian and Turkish ministries will determine the areas where there is potential for cooperation," Kralev told a press conference.

Nearly 400 students from Macedonia study in Turkey, most of them being scholarship holders. "Students from Turkey, who will decide to come to Macedonia to study at our universities, will be provided with all the necessary conditions and standards for studying," Kralev said.

The Turkish minister of national education noted that the excellent political ties between Macedonia and Turkey should be echoed in other areas.

"The political relations between Macedonia and Turkey are exceptional. We will support Macedonia in its bid for EU membership. However, our pledge is the excellent political relations to be reflected in the fields of economy, education and culture," Dincer said.