ROME - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended on Saturday dinner hosted by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi following his contacts and bilateral meetings held as a part of the Ambrosetti Forum.
State Minister Ali Babacan, Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan, deputies Nazim Ekrem, Egemen Bagis and Omer Celik, Turkey's Ambassador to Italy Necati Utkan, Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Volkan Bozkir, businessmen Mustafa Koc, Sevket Sabanci and Ferit Sahenk accompanied Erdogan during dinner hosted in his honor by Berlusconi.
Italy was represented in the dinner by Berlusconi's spokesman Paolo Bonaiuti, Telekom Italia Chairman Marco Tronchetti Provera, Italian gas company ENI's Executive Board Chairman Victorio Mincato, Italian Industrialists' Confederation Chairman Antonio G'Amato and officials of the Italian Foreign Ministry.
Prior to the dinner, Berlusconi told reporters that he was welcomed very well in Turkey, where he went to attend the wedding ceremony of Erdogan's son.
Asked how he and Erdogan established a close relationship, Berlusconi said that they understood that they would get along well with each other when they first met.
Berlusconi stated that he was very talented in establishing relations with people and he believed that establishing dialogue was a very important thing.
He told directly what he could do and could not do, Berlusconi said.
Berlusconi emphasized that Erdogan was like himself and they both played football in the past, adding that it could be seen that Erdogan was a very strong defender.
Recalling that he supported Turkey's EU accession process, Berlusconi noted that his support was sincere.
(BRC) 07.09.2003