ANKARA - Austria's president said on Tuesday that Europe was surprised due to the recent closure case filed against Turkey's ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party.
President Heinz Fischer of Austria, who is currently paying a state visit to Turkey, met his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul at the Cankaya Presidential Palace.
Speaking at a press conference after the meeting, Fischer said EU watched the process regarding the closure case closely.
Fischer said such a development was surprising for EU, adding that Europe could not understand why such a case was filed. "I think such a thing would not happen in Austria," he said.
Commenting on the context of his meeting with Gul, the Austrian president said they intensely discussed the energy issue.
Fischer said the Nabucco Project was on the agenda of the talks, stating that Gul expressed his support for such project.
The Austrian president also said that the fight against terrorism was another issue discussed during the meeting. He said Austria found terrorism unacceptable and believed that it should be fighted strongly.
Regarding Turkey's EU accession process, Fischer said Austria had a fair, constructive, honest and open-minded stance towards the issue.
He said, when the time comes for Turkey's membership, it should be checked whether the country has met the requirements in the latest period.
Fischer said Turkey's negotiation process was described as "open-ended" due to such reason.
Commenting on the Cyprus issue as well, Fischer said efforts of both Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders strengthened hopes for the future.
Gul also said that Turkey would take a share from the cake of the day it became a member, not today's cake.
"Every one should guess that a Turkey, which has completed the EU negotiation process successfully, would be very different from the Turkey of today," Gul told a joint press conference with his Austrian counterpart Heinz Fischer in Ankara.
Gul said that Turkey was the sixth biggest economy of Europe and there were great investment opportunities in Turkey.
"All these would be reflected to Austrian people (if Turkey became a member of the EU)," Gul said when commenting on a survey in Austria that showed support to Turkey's EU membership around only 5 percent.
Gul said Turkey was linking east and south energy corridors to Europe and was a country that would ensure energy safety of Europe.
"I once more reaffirmed Turkey's strong political will for developing the Nabucco project," he also said.
The Nabucco pipeline is a planned natural gas pipeline that will transport natural gas from Turkey to Austria, via Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary. The pipeline will run from Erzurum in Turkey to Baumgarten an der March in Austria with total length of 3,300 kilometres (2,050 miles).
President Gul said Austria was one of the countries that benefit from EU's enlargement the most, and expressed thought that this country should be more objective about a new enlargement wave.
Gul also said that Fischer and he underlined importance of cooperation of the two countries in fight against terrorism.
Fischer, who is paying a state visit to Turkey, visited the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Founder of Turkish Republic. Later, he attended the official welcome ceremony at the Cankaya Presidential Palace and had a tete-a-tete meeting with President Gul.
Fischer received Turkish Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan afterwards, and is scheduled to participate in a banquet hosted by President Gul this evening.
(BRC-DO-AÖ)