Cem To Have Contacts In Brussels, Tirana And Athens Next Week

ANKARA, March 23 (A.A) - Foreign Minister Ismail Cem will go to Europe for a series of contacts next week.
Cem's first stop will be Brussels. In the city, Cem will attend a conference entitled Turkey and Europe's Future. EU Commissioner for regional polities Michel Barnier will also attend the conference which will be chaired by European-Turkey Foundation Secretary General Giles Merritt. Cem is expected to return home on March 26. It was reported that in Brussels, Cem might also have a meeting with EU Commissioner for enlargement Guenter Verheugen.
On March 27, Cem will go to the Albanian capital of Tirana to attend the South East European Countries Summit.
Cem who will represent President Ahmet Necdet Sezer at the meeting will meet with presidents and foreign ministers of a number of participating countries. He will leave Tirana and return to Ankara on March 28, Thursday.
Foreign Minister Cem will go to Athens, Greece on March 29 and he will participate in the meeting related to the joint process started by Turkey and Greece to support the NATO candidacy of Romania and Bulgaria. The meeting which will bring together the foreign ministers of Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey, will be the successive meeting of the one held in Istanbul during the OIC-EU Joint Forum last February. Cem is expected to return to Turkey on March 30.
Foreign Minister Cem will participate in the Euroasian Working Group Conference to be held by East-West Institute on March 24 in Istanbul and he will make the opening remarks. The Institute based in the U.S. has the idea of opening a research centre in Istanbul for studies related to the Balkans, Caucasus and Central Asia. Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, Secertary General of Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Jan Kubis and former Russian Prime Minister Victor Chernomirdin will attend the conference.