Reception of the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of the Republic of Turkey

Ljubljana, 15.4.2008  |  press release

The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr Danilo Türk, today received the Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of the Republic of Turkey, Köksal Toptan. The two statesmen discussed cooperation between Turkey and Slovenia and between Turkey and the European Union. In their assessment, bilateral political relations between Turkey and Slovenia are excellent and the economic exchange between the two countries, which reached a volume of 400 million euros in the last year, has been increasing. "Turkey is an important political actor and Slovenia supports its candidacy for membership of the European Union," stated President Türk.

Dr Türk and Mr Toptan exchanged views on the situation in Cyprus, where a positive political atmosphere was created during the recent elections, showing promise for good dialogue on the island. According to Dr Türk, this could help re-establish diplomatic relations and renew the process of arriving at an ultimate solution to the Cyprus problem.

The two dignitaries also discussed Turkey's candidacy for EU membership and intercultural dialogue. President Türk stressed that political pluralism, well developed and established in Turkey, is a good basis for discussions on cooperation among peoples of different cultures.