Turkish President on official visit to Slovenia

Brdo pri Kranju, 14.7.2010  |  press release

The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, and his wife, Barbara Mikliè Türk, met the President of the Republic of Turkey, Abdullah Gül, and his wife, Hayrünnisa Gül, who arrived on a two-day official visit to Slovenia. After the official reception with military honours and a short talk between the two presidential couples, President Türk and President Gül had a one-to-one meeting, followed by plenary talks between the delegation of the Republic of Slovenia and the delegation of the Republic of Turkey, led by the respective presidents.

In his statement to the press after the talks, Dr Türk said that it is a great honour and pleasure to have the opportunity to host Turkish President Gül. He explained that Slovenia and Turkey are linked in various ways and share many common views on international issues, while their bilateral cooperation is also developing very well. The Slovenian President stressed that the global recession has not had any major impact on the bilateral trade in goods, which is currently rapidly increasing. He went on to express his expectation that this growth will continue in the future, because, in his view, there are numerous opportunities for the further development of economic cooperation, particularly in joint action by the two countries on third markets, including the Balkans.

President Gül thanked President Türk for his hospitality. As he said in his statement to the press, he regularly meets the Slovenian President, the most recent exchange of views having taken place in June at the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) summit held in Istanbul. He also considered relations between Turkey and Slovenia to be excellent and highlighted the very good bilateral cooperation and the similarity of his and President Türk's views about political issues. The Turkish President agreed that the two countries can further enhance trade in goods and supported the idea of joint action on third markets. This will also be the focal topic of tomorrow's Slovenian-Turkish business conference, in which business people from both countries will take part.

The Slovenian President emphasised that Slovenia firmly supports the efforts of the Republic of Turkey to join the European Union. He explained that this step would be of great advantage for the EU, since it would secure it a global role. He described the policy of opposing Turkish EU membership as short-sighted and detrimental to EU interests. He called for an intensification of discussions on this issue and for a more expeditious opening of negotiation chapters. Moreover, in this context, technical issues should not be unnecessarily politicized. The Turkish President added that EU membership is of strategic importance for Turkey and represents a national programme, which goes beyond partisan polarization. He gave the assurance that Turkey is willing to take all the necessary steps to attain this goal. He shared the opinion that Turkey's membership would have a positive effect on the European Union, given that his country is one of the largest economies in Europe, recording high growth rates and capable of significantly contributing to the EU. He thanked President Türk and all Slovenes, who have a positive attitude towards Turkey's EU membership, for their support and clearly articulated positions on this issue.

The two statesmen also discussed the situation in the Balkans. President Türk said that the two countries are taking part in various political activities and peace-keeping operations in this region. In his words, Slovenia greatly appreciates Turkey's contribution in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as in Kosovo-related and other issues in the Balkans. He expressed his hope that Turkey will maintain and further develop this role. He also positively assessed Turkey's role in the Middle East and the Caucasus and in other issues, in which this country is assuming an increasingly important role as an international player. President Gül said that stability in the Balkans is very significant in terms of providing more prosperity, progress and increased trade in goods. He highlighted the very good relations between Turkey and Serbia, which has a positive effect on the stability of all countries in this region. He added that stability in the Balkans is also of great importance for the European Union.

The two presidents also discussed the Cyprus issue. The Slovenian President said this issue has been a matter of international concern for decades, with the leading role in resolving this problem being assumed by the UN and its Secretary-General. Slovenia supports these efforts and wishes them every success. Dr Türk added that the European Union will have to carry out the necessary discussions, which should result in the elimination of various barriers to trade and other cooperation with both Cyprus as a whole and with its northern part. President Gül said that Turkey strongly supports negotiations on the Cyprus issue; he hopes that there will already be some positive results by the end of this year He emphasised that this issue impedes several EU political objectives and that its settlement would contribute to an enhanced EU role in the world, as well as to the role of Turkey and Greece in this region.