Turkey 2013

The King and Queen conducted a State Visit to Turkey on 5–7 November 2013. On the eve of their arrival, they were greeted by children with flowers as they arrived at the hotel in Ankara. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB Scanpix)

The State Visit began with a wreath-laying ceremony at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB Scanpix)

King Harald lays a wreath at the Atatürk Mausoleum (Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB scanpix)

The King and Queen were greeted by their hosts, President Abdullah Gül and Mrs Hayrünnisa Gül, at the Cankaya Presidential Palace in Ankara. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB scanpix)

The King and Queen and President and Mrs Gül during the official welcoming ceremony. (Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB scanpix)

The King and Queen and President and Mrs Gül during the official welcoming ceremony. (Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB scanpix)

The King and Queen and President and Mrs Gül met for talks following the welcoming ceremony (Photo: Umit Bektas, Reuters / NTB scanpix)

King Harald and President Abdullah Gül hold a joint press conference in the Presidential Palace. (Photo: Umit Bektas, Reuters / NTB Scanpix)

Mrs Gül gave Queen Sonja a tour of the Presidential Palace. (Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB scanpix)

On a tour of the Presidential Palace. (Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB scanpix)

Queen Sonja and Mrs Gül paid a visit to the Saray Care and Rehabilitation Centre. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB scanpix)

The Queen and the First Lady viewed samples of handicrafts made at Saray Care and Rehabilitation Centre. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB scanpix)

The Queen and the First Lady viewed samples of handicrafts made at Saray Care and Rehabilitation Centre. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB scanpix)

The Queen and the First Lady viewed samples of handicrafts made at Saray Care and Rehabilitation Centre. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB scanpix)

Queen Sonja and Mrs Gül visited children at Sevgi Evleri Nursery School outside of Ankara. (Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB scanpix)

The Queen got to meet some of the children at Sevgi Evleri Nursery School. (Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB scanpix)

The Queen got to meet some of the children at Sevgi Evleri Nursery School. (Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB scanpix)

Queen Sonja opened the exhibition entitled Munch | Warhol and the Multiple Image at the Cer Modern arts centre in Ankara. (Photo: Lise Åserud, Scanpix)

The King and Queen in front of one of Warhol’s recreations of Munch’s “Madonna”. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB scanpix)

King Harald speaking during the banquet at the Presidential Palace. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB scanpix)

President Gül speaking during the banquet at the Presidential Palace. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB scanpix)

Queen Sonja during the banquet at the Presidential Palace. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB scanpix)

The King and Queen began the second day of their State Visit with a Turkish-Norwegian business seminar. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB scanpix)

King Harald opened the seminar. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB scanpix)

The Queen during her visit to the energy seminar. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB scanpix)

From Ankara, The King and Queen travelled to Istanbul. Soon after their arrival, The King and Queen had the chance to view the Bosporus Strait (Photo: Leo)

The Queen took the opportunity to take pictures on their trip on board the M/Y Sabah Rüzgari (morning breeze) (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB Scanpix)

In the evening the King and Queen were the hosts for President Abdullah Gül and Mrs Hayrünnisa Gül and other invited guests at a concert and buffet held at the Çırağan Palace Kempinski. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB Scanpix)

The Queen during the evening’s event. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB Scanpix)

The King and Queen and President and Mrs Gül admire the seafood buffet together with chef Jostein Medhus. (Photo: Lise Åserud, Scanpix)

A lovely illustration (Photo: Lise Åserud, Scanpix)

On the final day of the State Visit, King Harald opened a Norwegian-Turkish business seminar in Istanbul. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB Scanpix)

The King and Queen at the business seminar. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB Scanpix)

Following the seminar, the King and Queen visited the Blue Mosque (as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is often called) and the Hagia Sophia. Here in front of the Blue Mosque (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB scanpix)

The King and Queen outside the Blue Mosque. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB scanpix)

On a tour of the Blue Mosque. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB scanpix)

On a tour of the Blue Mosque. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB scanpix)

The Queen inside the Blue Mosque. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB scanpix)

The King and Queen outside the Hagia Sophia. (Photo: Lise Åserud, Scanpix)

Hagia Sophia was once the largest church in Christendom. After the Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453, Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque, which was then secularised and turned into a museum in 1934 (Photo: Lise Åserud, Scanpix)

The King and Queen on a tour of the Hagia Sophia. (Photo: Lise Åserud, Scanpix)

The King and Queen met the Norwegian and Turkish media for their final comments outside of the Hagia Sophia. (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB scanpix)

Substantial media interest in the State Visit (Photo: Lise Åserud, NTB scanpix)