BELGRADE - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan took up on Wednesday improvement of Turkey's relations with Macedonia, Croatia and Bulgaria during his contacts with presidents of these three countries.
Bulgarian President Georgi Purvanov thanked Erdogan, who attended the summit of heads of state and government of the Southeast European Countries Cooperation Process, for the support Turkey extended to Bulgaria's NATO membership during their meeting.
Sources quoted Purvanov as saying that they hoped to develop trade and increase investments between the two countries.
Erdogan said that Turkish-Bulgarian relations were in a good level in recent years.
Prime Minister Erdogan once more explained the problems that Turkish businessmen faced in Bulgaria like the visa and residence and reiterated Turkey's support for NATO membership.
Erdogan expressed pleasure with the stance of Bulgaria about the terrorist organization PKK/KADEK and asked the activities of the terrorist organization in Bulgaria staged under some cultural associations to be stopped.
During his meeting with Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski, Erdogan expressed pleasure with the representation of minorities in Macedonia in proportion to their population.
Erdogan stated that Turkey could contribute to restoration of Ottoman works of art in Macedonia, including Fatih Bridge in Skopje.
Iraq war was mainly taken up during Erdogan's meeting with Croatian President Stjepan Mesic.
(BRC-AÖ) 09.04.2003