Thursday, 17 May 2012
THE ACCESSION OF MACEDONIA AND TURKEY IN THE EU IS IN THE INTEREST OF THE COUNTRIES, THE BALKANS AND EUROPE
The Parliamentary Group for Cooperation with the Parliament of the Republic of Turkey of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia met with the Turkish Delegation headed by Mr. Cemil Çiçek, Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.
The Chairman of the Parliamentary Group Mr. Kenan Hasipi said that the visit of the Delegation from the Turkish Parliament is confirmation of the successful cooperation between the two parliaments and the two countries. He added that the overall relations are on the highest possible level and are characterized by traditional friendship, understanding and cooperation, with no open issues.
Both sides emphasized the increased interest of the Turkish business community to invest in Macedonia and the intensification of the economic cooperation and the interest of the tourists from Turkey, because of the large number of cultural and historical monuments from the Ottoman period and the involvement of Turkey in their restoration.
The Macedonian MPs expressed appreciation for the support from Turkey for the EU integration process and for the use of the constitutional name of the country.
Mr. Çiçek said that Macedonia is a hospitable and friendly country and that the members of the Turkish Delegation feel like at home here.
He also said that when the other countries had doubts, Turkey recognized Macedonia under its constitutional name. Regarding Macedonia’s membership in NATO and the EU and the EU accession of Turkey, Mr. Çiçek said that it is in the interest of both countries, the region and Europe in general. The Speaker of the Turkish Parliament added that every country that can contribute to the strengthening of the EU, should become a member of the European family.