SOFIA, Jan 23 (A.A) - State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz who is currently in Sofia to attend the Turkish-Bulgarian Joint Economic and Technical Cooperation (JEC) 15th term meeting, met with newly elected Bulgarian President Georgi Pirvanov on Wednesday.
Yilmaz and Pirvanov took up the relations between the two countries during the meeting which lasted nearly half an hour.
Yilmaz pointed out that Pirvanov had attributed great importance to both Turkish minority in Bulgaria and the relations between Turkey and Bulgaria in his previous political career and that he hoped that bilateral relations could further develop during Pirvanov's term in office.
Stating that Pirvanov sent his good wishes to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Yilmaz noted that Pirvanov wanted to visit Turkey in the shortest possible time.
Mesut Yilmaz said that some key issues were taken up during the meeting and added that Pirvanov had promised to help solution of the problems which occurred regarding those key issues.
TURKEY-BULGARIA JOINT ECONOMIC COOPERATION PROTOCOL SIGNED
Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz has stated that Turkey and Bulgaria had no serious problems and some minor problems would be soon resolved through mutual understanding and good will.
Turkey-Bulgaria Joint Economic and Technical Cooperation 15th term meeting ended in Sofia and an Economic Cooperation Protocol was signed between Turkish and Bulgarian sides on Wednesday.
The protocol includes a number of measures to develop economic and commercial relations between Turkey and Bulgaria.
After the signing of the protocol, Yilmaz and Paskalev told reporters that the two-day meeting was extremely positive.
Yilmaz said that he was pleased to see that both sides had the necessary political will to advance Turkish-Bulgarian relations.
Stating that there were no serious problems between the two countries, the deputy prime minister said ''Some minor problems will be resolved very soon through mutual understanding and good will.''
''We believe that the Bulgarian side will meet our requests on certain areas, especially in the transport field,'' he added.
''There are certain problems caused by using only one customs cate for truck traffic and the high fees charged from Turkish trucks by Bulgaria. But the Bulgarian side promised to bring a solution to these problems during the Joint Transportation Commission meeting end of February. I'm grateful to them for this constructive attitude.''
Paskalev said that Turkey and Bulgaria started obtaining solid results to advance relations and that the current problems would be resolved soon.
He assured the Turkish side that he would take the necessary initiatives to solve transportation related problems. He said that there were ongoing efforts to open Lezoco-Hamzabeyli and Derekoy customs gates to trucks.
Yilmaz had his last official meeting with Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Nikolay Vassilev.
Yilmaz who later left Bulgaria is expected to be in Istanbul about 5.30 p.m.