BTA - Ankara relies on Sofia to support its membership in the EU, outgoing Turkish Ambassador Mehmet Gucuk said in a public lecture Tuesday, organized by the Atlantic Club in Bulgaria. He recalled that Turkey was the only state to support Bulgaria for its NATO membership with a adoption of a special law and expressed fears that there are state which will reject Turkey's full-fledged membership.
Turkey is the sixth largest economic partner of the EU and is practically very much involved with the Union, more than many other full-fledged members of the Community, Gucuk said, noting EU countries account for 60 per cent of Turkey's foreign trade.
EU membership is a strategic goal for Turkey and the country is striving to fulfill the respective economic and political reforms, which are also necessary to the Turkish public. Turkey's membership will also benefit all European states.
Turkish investments in Bulgaria amount to approximately 1,300 million dollars, but majority of them come through third countries and are not included in this figure, the Turkish Ambassador noted. He cited as an example the largest Turkish investment here - the Sisecam glass plant, which is to the tune of 480 million dollars and which statistics report as a Dutch, not a Turkish investment.
Energy is one of the main spheres of cooperation between Turkey and Bulgaria, Gucuk said, noting the current work on the rehabilitation of the gas pipeline between the two countries.
The Nabucco gas pipeline was cited as an important project in Turkey's plans related to the diversification of energy supplies, not only in terms of routes.
So far his country has not had a nuclear power plant, but now it plans to develop two such plants. A preliminary agreement with Russia has already been reached for the first one and talks are currently under way for the second one, which will probably be built parallel to the first one.
Noting that two-way trade with Bulgaria has dropped by some 30 per cent in the last two years because of the economic crisis, Gucuk said there are intentions to establish a high-level strategic council for cooperation between Bulgaria and Turkey.
Such a structure could be agreed upon during a future visit of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Sofia, Gucuk said and expressed hope that this could happen before the end of the year.
The lecture of the Turkish Ambassador opened the new political season of the Atlantic Club in Bulgaria whose Chairman Solomon Passy stated Bulgaria should be ready to border on one of the political and economic giants of the 21st century.
