ANKARA: Czech president says Turkey most important EU candidate

Czech president says Turkey most important EU candidate

Anatolia news agency, Ankara
5 May 05

Istanbul, 5 May: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday
[5 May] that the tendency of inwardness in Europe was very detrimental,
adding that this could harm the long-term EU perspective.

Erdogan met with Czech President Vaclav Klaus, Dutch Deputy Foreign
Minister and Finance Minister Gerrit Zalm and IMF first managing
director Anne Krueger in Istanbul the same day.

Prime Ministry high ranking officials said that in Erdogan-Klaus
meeting, Klaus said Czech Republic was the country which supported
Turkey’s EU bid the most. Klaus stressed that he favoured EU
enlargement and Turkey was the most important candidate of such
an enlargement.

Regarding Armenian claims, Klaus said that there was a general lack
of information and ignorance in the world about Armenian issue.

Issues of Cyprus, Iraq, and developments in Afghanistan were also
taken up in Erdogan-Klaus meeting.

[Passage omitted]