ANKARA - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Turkey had passed the critical threshold with the comprehensive reforms it had made on the European Union (EU) path.
The Turkish Prime Minster and his wife Emine Erdogan hosted dinner on Tuesday at the Prime Ministry Residence in honor of Crown Prince Philippe of Belgium and his wife Princess Mathilde.
Speaking at the dinner, Erdogan said that he thought Prince Philippe's visit would help them accelerate economic relations between Turkey and Belgium, adding that although the trade volume between the two countries had increased, it was still below the real potential.
Recalling that 85 Belgian companies were operating in Turkey, Erdogan said that they expected Belgian businessmen to decide on investing in Turkey with the positive impressions that had gotten during their visit to Turkey.
Stressing that Turkey and Belgium could make joint investments in third countries, Erdogan said that joint investments were beneficial to both countries, adding that Turkey's international successes in this field would constitute reference to such developments in the future.
Expressing his gratitude for Belgium's support to Turkey since it had been granted candidacy status at Helsinki summit, Erdogan said that Turkey would continue taking steps towards its EU membership target.
''We have made comprehensive reforms and we have passed the critical threshold,'' Erdogan said and added that they expected support of Belgium at the EU summit in December at which decision on opening of accession negotiations with Turkey would be made.
Meanwhile, Prince Philippe said in his part that he believed economic cooperation between Turkey and Belgium would further increase.
Noting that there were 200 thousand people of Turkish origin in Belgium and some of them had become Belgian citizens and most of them took active role in social life, Philippe said that Belgium had positive opinions about Turkey's future in Europe, adding that they expected cooperation between the two countries to increase in coming years.
Stressing that Turkey was a unique bridge between Asia and Europe and close to a region full of instability and clashes, Philippe added that prosperous and stable Turkey would play an important strategic role.
Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul, State Minister Kursad Tuzmen and Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler were also in attendance at the dinner.
(MS) 04.05.2004