Japan Heads on a nuclear venture to Turkey

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is planning his first trip to Turkey since taking office at the end of last year. As the Japanese Prime Minister takes off for a round of visits to Russia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on April 28, he will be fitting a number of energy projects in his bag. Making Russia his first official stop in the region, Prime Minister Abe will be accompanied by high-level administrators and owners of a number of Japanese firms. According to the information obtained, Abe is planning to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to discuss furthering bilateral relations. The focus of his trips to Turkey, the UAE and Saudi Arabia is expected to be on energy and petroleum investments. Prime Minister Abe will be joined by Hiromasa Yonekura, Chairman of the Japanese Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) as well as Sumitomo Chemical. Yonekura and Nippon Oil Chairman Fumiaki Watari will be serving as advisers to Prime Minister Abe. According to the Japanese press, the most significant item on the agenda will be nuclear power. On April 4th Japan's Nikkei newspaper had reported that a joint venture by Mitsubishi and the French energy firm Areva SA submitted the highest bid for the nuclear power station planned for Sinop at 22 billion dollars.
 
Nikkei reported that the nuclear power station process will gain formality following the May meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Energy Minister Taner Yıldız responded to the reports by pointing out that the unclear race continues and stated, "South Korea is out of the race. China and Japan are two countries that are standing out." Other topics that will be tackled during Abe's visit are slated to be finance and infrastructure. During his tour in the Middle East, the Japanese Prime minister will be discussing oil and natural gas.
 
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe comes from a family who was instrumental in shaping Japan's politics. In April of 1958, Abe's grandfather Nobusuke Kishi, who was prime minister at the time, hosted former Prime Minister Adnan Menderes in Tokyo. The trip marked the first time a Turkish prime minister paid an official visit to Japan. Shinzo Abe's father is former Foreign Minister Shintaro Abe. In 1983, he became the first Japanese minister to visit Turkey. Abe's other grandfather Kan Abe was also an influential figure in Japanese politics in the 1930's.