ANKARA (AA) - Turkish Foreign Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul left for Bucharest, Romania on Monday to attend the 8th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP).
Prior to his departure, Gul told reporters, ''main topic of the meeting, which is also known as Balkans Summit, is more active functioning of the process as well as providing cooperation and coordination with other organizations in the region.''
''Greece will take over the acting presidency from Romania at the end of the summit. Turkey has been undertaking an important role in foundation and development of Balkan cooperation process from the beginning,'' added Gul.
Gul noted, ''I will have the chance of holding bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of Balkan countries during the summit. I will also meet businessmen.''
''Following the summit, I will proceed to Ukraine on May 11th. During my meetings in Kiev, we will discuss political, economic, commercial and cultural bilateral relations as well as regional and international issues,'' noted Gul.
Gul said, ''we will also make preparations for the meeting of Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in Ukraine in June. I will also have meetings with Turkish businessmen in Ukraine.''
Gul will proceed to Crimea on May 13th and have meetings with officials. He will return to Turkey on May 13th.
(GC-MS)
2005-05-09