Turkish president Abdullah Gül will on Thursday and Friday make a state visit to Switzerland, where he will meet his Swiss counterpart Doris Leuthard.

He will also spend time with representatives of economy and the Cleantech Forum.

A spokesman for the Federal Environment Office said Swiss-Turkish bilateral relations were in excellent shape.

Swiss-Turkish relations became strained back in 2003, when the cantonal parliament of Vaud decided to recognise as genocide the killing of more than 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, at the beginning of the 20th century.

Geneva and the House of Representatives followed suit.

In response, Ankara withdrew an invitation for Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey to visit the country, but she eventually made the trip in March 2005.

Swiss-Turkish relations have since returned to normal.

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