4th TURKEY-SPAIN INTERGOVERNMENTAL SUMMIT

4th Turkey-Spain Intergovernmental Summit co-chaired by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was held in Madrid.

Among the delegation accompanying Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in his visit to Spain to hold talks and attend the summit were Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoglu, Minister of National Defence Ismet Yilmaz, Minister of Economy Zafer Caglayan, Minister of National Education Omer Dincer, Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications Binali Yildirim, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz and government officials.

While the economic crisis Spain is in also has a negative impact on the economic relations between Turkey and Spain, in “the European Union” titled part of the final declaration of the Summit which aimed at demonstration of political determination by both sides in order to give a new impetus to the relations, it was stated that Spain confirmed its commitment to Turkey’s EU accession process. The declaration read:

“Within this context, the parties have agreed that it was necessary to benefit greatly from the Positive Agenda as a provisional arrangement, which was initiated by the European Commission and Turkey in 2012 in order to support and complement Turkey’s accession process. The parties have expressed their expectation that negotiation process would regain momentum in 2013. The parties noted that within the extent of their responsibility they would encourage considerable development of relations between the EU and Turkey in every field, including the free movement of persons.”

Source: AA, İHA