Bildt meets with Kilicdaroglu

Speaking after a meeting with main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu which was closed to press, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt yesterday said that he was very pleased to be in Ankara, where he held contacts in line with Britain's willingness to develop dialogue both with the government and other political circles. Bildt said that as part of his meetings, the reform process in Turkey and opportunities of further improving Turkey's EU membership process were discussed. When reminded by a reporter that it was previously reported that certain EU member countries which are defined as Friends of Turkey have met in Brussels to work on a new action plan on Turkey and that he has brought the plan to Ankara, Bildt said that EU-member countries often meet in Brussels and usually exerted efforts so that certain problems and difficulties are resolved. Bildt added that consultations were held both by EU member countries and between Turkey and the EU with regard to current problems and that they were working on different headings in order to accelerate the process in a positive way. Bildt stressed the importance of institutionalization, saying that as he has said to his counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu a few days ago, Sweden could take certain measures and provide some conveniences with regard to visa for Turkish citizens as part of current framework. He added that these issues would continue to be discussed.