Turkish FM Gul meet with EU representative Solona

The foreign minister expressed that Turkey was a part of the Europe. “The EU has a great potential and capacity,” he said, adding that it was further a civilization. Later, Gul met with European Union High Representative Javier Solana to discuss a number of issues. Speaking afterwards, Gul and Solana said that they had discussed such issues as Cyprus, Middle East and Turkish-EU relations. “Cyprus […] dominated our discussions,” said Solana. “I am optimistic about Turkey’s role in the search for a solution. I am also confident that the efforts recently deployed by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, will bring the two parties back to talks.” For his part, Gul said that Turkey wanted the Cyprus issue to be solved by May, when Greek Cyprus is scheduled to join the EU. Later, Gul met with Luxembourg Foreign Minister Lydie Polfer and Greece’s New Democracy Party leader Costas Caramanlis. Speaking afterwards, Gul said that they had discussed Turkish-Greek relations. Touching on the Cyprus issue, Caramanlis said that if a resolution could be reached on the island on the basis of the UN plan, then Greece would support Turkey’s EU membership.