ISTANBUL 2010 EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE MEETINGS IN BRUSSELS

Several coordination meetings were held in Brussels after the designation of Istanbul as the Cultural Capital of Europe for 2010. Mr. Kadir Topbas, Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality; Egemen Bagis, Chairman of the 2010 Advisory Board; and Mr. Nuri Colakoglu, Chairman of 2010 Executive committee attended these meetings.

The delegation met with several members of the European Parliament such as the Education and Culture Committee Chairman Mr. Nikolaos Sifunakis conveyed the public satisfaction in designation of Istanbul as the Cultural Capital of Europe for 2010. Delegation also exchanged views with the Turkey's membership to EU and hosted a thank-you dinner.

Bagis, in a short interview regarding his trip, stated that there was neither a change in Turkish Government's goal of joining to the EU nor did the EU gave up on Turkey, in spite of the difficulties encountered at the accession EU, and added "If Istanbul can be the Cultural Capital of Europe, than Turkey can be part of EU."