“Underscoring the commitments that Turkey has yet to respect cannot mean that its final goal of full integration into the European Union is called into question”. This was the strong message launched by Minister Franco Frattini, who opened the sessions of the 6th Italo-Turkish Dialogue Forum today in Istanbul with his Turkish colleague Ahmet Davutoglu, an annual meeting between the civil societies of the two nations. The Istanbul meeting will be followed on 16 December by the second Intergovernmental Summit of the two premiers Silvio Berlusconi and Tayyip Erdogan, with the participation of the ministers authorized for the main sectors of bilateral collaboration.
Minister Frattini’s mission, contemporary with the State visit by President of the Republic Napolitano, falls within the strategic Italy-Turkey partnership, whose already excellent bilateral relations are further strengthened by Italy’s convinced support for Turkey’s accession to the EU. “Europe”, Minister Frattini asserted, “would draw a great advantage from having Turkey as a member; trustworthy and, at the same time, capable of negotiating with Iran, the Arab nations and those of the Caucasus”. “Italy can help to explain and further convince those European countries with doubts that Turkey is an added value and can help Europe become a global player”. The Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu summarised the excellence of the relations linking the two countries by affirming that “the friendship that unites Italy and Turkey is a model for the world”.