The Slovenian president is scheduled to start the visit in Ankara on Wednesday for talks with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gül. He is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Parliamentary Speaker Cemil Cicek.

Pahor, who will be accompanied on the visit by Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec, will travel to Istanbul on Thursday for the investment conference dedicated to promoting Slovenian business and investment in Slovenia.

The conference, which is due to be addressed by Erjavec and a number of other Slovenian officials, will be the latest in a series of events organised by Slovenia in recent months to promote business opportunities to potential foreign partners.

While business cooperation will be in the focus, the visit will be an opportunity to examine all forms of cooperation between the countries, the president's office said ahead of the visit.

Indeed, the two countries have had frequent political dialogue following the signing of a declaration on a strategic partnership signed in 2011. Recent contacts have included the visit by Cicek to Slovenia in May of 2013. A year earlier, Prime Minister Erdogan visited Slovenia.

Cooperation with Turkey has been in the centre of Slovenian foreign policy, with Slovenia focusing on the opportunities presented by Turkey's fast-growing economy.

Turkey is an increasingly important trade partner, with mutual trade standing at EUR 400m in 2012, while it is expected it will also become a more prominent investment partner in the coming years.

Turkey's large and bustling domestic market is interesting for Slovenian exporters, while Slovenia has also expressed interest in joint ventures on third markets.

Business ties have been centred on merchandise trade, transport and logistics services and tourism.

Mutual investment has been modest; data from the Slovenian central bank show the incoming FDI stood at EUR 5.8m and Slovenia's investment in Turkey at EUR 6.9m at the end of 2012.

In the political arena, Slovenia has been a steadfast supporter of Turkey's bid to obtain EU membership, which is a divisive issue within the bloc.

Turkey's progress towards membership has been hindered by its dispute with Cyprus and doubts about whether it should be able to obtain full membership among some key EU members, foremost Germany.