ANKARA - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel said on Sunday that Turkey expected that the European Union (EU) would decide a date to start the negotiations before the end of the year.
Gurel who paid a one-day visit to Iran upon the invitation of Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi and who returned to Turkey responded to the reporters' questions at Ankara's Esenboga Airport.
Gurel said that his visit to Iran was very beneficial and added that they took up Turkey-Iran relations, Israel-Palestine dispute and Iraq and Afghanistan issues during his contacts in Iran.
Gurel said that they decided to improve the relations between Turkey and Iran on every issue including security and added that Turkey and Iran would have a close cooperation for restructuring Afghanistan.
Stating that President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's visit to Tehran in June 2001 was evaluated positively in Iran, Gurel said, ''I believe that my visit to Iran will contribute to our relations with this country.''
Gurel said that they exchanged views on regional issues and added that the two countries had same views on the regional issues.
When a reporter reminded him about the statement of European Union (EU) Commissioner for enlargement Guenter Verheugen that it was not possible to give a negotiation date to Turkey till the end of this year, Gurel said that they fulfilled all political criteria for the negotiations to be started and added that Turkey expected that the EU would decide a date to start the negotiations before the end of the year.