Bagis conducts EU diplomacy in Latin America

Turkish Minister for EU Affairs and chief negotiator Egemen Bagis had talks with a great many presidents, prime ministers and ministers at the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)-EU summit in the Chilean capital of Santiago. Representing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the CELAC-EU summit, Bagis was welcomed by Chilean President Sebastian Pinara and Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno. Besides, Bagis had bilateral talks with top officials of many countries including President of the Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus, Romanian President Traian Bacescu, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, Cuban President Raul Castro, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Prime Minister of Luxemburg Jean-Claude Juncker, Deputy Prime Minister of Ireland Eamon Gilmore, Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans and Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Portas. As part of her meeting with Bagis, Merkel said that she was looking forward to visiting Turkey in February, underlining that she attached importance to the continuation of Turkey's EU membership talks. Seeming to have soften her hard-line, Merkel said she would support the opening of a new chapter in Turkey's EU membership talks during the term presidency of Ireland and hold contacts with French officials on the issue. Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, had also extended his support for the revival of Turkey's EU accession talks with the opening of a new chapter. For his part, Pinara said that he was highly impressed with the official trip that he paid to Turkey earlier.