Turkey's FM says Bulgaria ties have great potential, mainly on energy

Davutoglu, currently on a two-day formal visit to Sofia, and Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov gave a joint news conference following their meeting where they focused on bilateral relations as well as recent developments in the region.

Davutoglu said relations between Turkey and Bulgaria should be seen as an example to other countries, and noted that Turkey's investments in Bulgaria exceeded 1 billion USD.

"The two parties should make use of this potential through common projects," Davutoglu said and showed NABUCCO project as example. He said NABUCCO was a strategical project for Turkey and expressed Turkey's readiness to work with Bulgaria on many projects.

Davutoglu also underscored importance of cooperation between Turkey and Bulgaria on culture, saying, "we should consider our common cultural heritage as friendship bridge. Bulgarian citizens of Turkish descent are signs of this friendship bridge. Turkey is willing to boost cultural relations. I will be very pleased to visit Bulgarian church when Mr. Mladenov comes to Turkey."

Davutoglu also thanked for the support Bulgaria extended to Turkey's EU membership and underlined that Turkey and Bulgaria negotiate and resolve every problem through good neighborhood relations.

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Mladenov said both Turkey and Bulgaria respected each others' own histories and differences.

"We, taking into consideration the European values, give priority and credibility to incidents that unite us," he added.

Davutoglu was also received by Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov. The two parties assessed recent situation in bilateral relations.

On Friday, Davutoglu is set to meet with Bulgarian Parliament Speaker Tsetska Tsacheva and Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and proceed to Plovdiv.

Davutoglu and the accompanying delegation will return to Turkey on Friday after visiting Cuma Mosque.


/World Bulletin/