BAGIS MET GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER WESTERWELLE

Egemen Bagis, Minister for EU Affairs and the Chief Negotiator met Guido Westerwelle, German Foreign Minister, in Berlin. Reinhard Silberberg, State Secretary of the Federal Foreign Office also attended.

Bagis stated that he had conveyed to Westerwelle, Prime Minister Erdogan's regards. Bagis said that he had also mentioned Erdogan's invitation to Turkey and he added that, Westerwelle, in return, had expressed his willingness to come to Turkey at the soonest possible time.

Bagis said that he had emphasized Turkey's pleasure concerning the statements in the coalition protocol of the German Government on Turkey's continuation of the EU negotiations. Bagis said: "Westerwelle also stated that, that was not important for only the interests of Turkey but also for the interests of Germany."

Bagis said, "I observed that we agree to work together in the forthcoming period in order to promote Turkish-German relations and to provide for these relations to contribute to the EU process more positively" and noted that he believed that this new period in the German politics would be encouraging in terms of Turkish-German relations.

Bagis also evaluated Germany's attitude towards the reforms which were introduced in Turkey and said, "Germany emphasizes on every occasion that it attaches great importance to Turkey's reforms not only because they enable an ally to progress, but also because they enable it to integrate with Europe. Today we received the same support messages again."

Source: AA