The President of Turkey Abdullah Gül and his spouse Hayrünnisa paid an official visit to the Slovak Republic.

The talks between the heads of state revolved around Turkey’s EU integration and the ways to increase the quality of the bilateral Slovak-Turkish relations. Discussing the issue of EU enlargement, Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič reiterated his stance on Slovakia’s support of a full-fledged Turkish membership.

He expects that Turkey would continue to work towards meeting the accession criteria, thus laying the groundwork for a more intensified EU accession process, because “the larger the Union is, the stronger it will be in economic and political terms”.
“I am convinced that as long as Turkey meets EU criteria, it will become a full-fledged member,” the Slovak President told a press conference held after the talks with his Turkish counterpart. He underlined that the Union, despite its own problems, should not hinder the associated countries in their effort to become full-fledged members of the EU.

President Abdullah Gül thanked Slovakia for supporting his country’s integration effort towards joining the EU. After the talks with Mr President Gašparovič, he said that Turkey had launched the accession process on the basis of an affirmative position by all EU 27 Member States. He believes his country would meet the criteria and will be granted full-fledged membership – without any additional obstacles put in its way.

Their talks also touched upon further global problems, such as the activities of both countries within the UN, NATO and other international institutions. Another topic discussed was the Greece-Turkey dialogue on Cyprus, where the Slovak diplomacy plays an important role in the peace talks between the representatives of both ethnic groups.

Mr President Gül thanked his host for the Slovak participation in this dialogue as a mediator. On the international political arena, both statesmen discussed issues concerning the Middle East territory, Afghanistan or energy industry.

 
Ivan Gašparovič said that Slovakia was keen to participate, through its companies, in energy projects in Turkey. According to his guest, mutual cooperation could also be bolstered by a broader cultural exchange.

The itinerary of the Turkish President’s visit also included Slovak-Turkish economic forum where both statesmen delivered their speeches.