State Secretary Hido Biščević visited Ankara

State Secretary Biščević met, as part of political consultation between the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Turkey, with Vice-Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey Ertuğrul Apakan and Assistant Vice-Secretary Ahmet Acet.

Both parties expressed need for ensuring permanent stability and resolving remaining open issues in Southeast Europe, also by strengthening the Euro-Atlantic dimension in the region. Also, the Turkish side confirmed its support to Croatia's becoming a member of the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) as soon as possible and expressed expectations that corresponding decisions will be made at the NATO summit in spring 2008.

The two countries exchanged opinions on the status of their Accession negotiations for the EU membership. State Secretary Biščević reported his Turkish colleagues on the latest resolution of the European Parliament and expressed belief that the Republic of Croatia will finish its EU Accession negotiations by 2009.

During political consultation both parties stressed the current state of affairs in the Southeast Europe and the need for permanent solution to all open issues, above all the future status of Kosovo. The two countries share a belief that the solution to the Kosovo issue needs to ensure the stability of the wider region and approval of the international community.

Both parties assessed the Croatian SEECP chairmanship as having opened the transformation of the Stability Pact towards the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) successfully.

State Secretary Biščević was also received by Süleyman Demirel, former Turkish president who had a significant role in the 1990s as a friend to Croatia.