Schmidt meets with Erdogan, Gul

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Danish counterpart Helle Thorning Schmidt yesterday held a meeting, which was closed to press corps. Afterwards, the two leaders held contacts in a luncheon at Erdogan's official residence for two and a half hours. Schmidt is paying a visit to Turkey on behalf of Denmark as the rotating president of EU. The main subjects on the meeting's agenda were Turkey's EU membership process, developments in Syria, as well as many other foreign policy issues. Schmidt's visit to Turkey marked the first prime ministerial visit between the two countries since 2005. Following her contacts with Erdogan, Schmidt was received by President Abdullah Gul. During the meeting, Gul said he appreciated Denmark's support to Turkey's EU process, and Schmidt extended Danish Queen Margareth's invitation to President Gul to visit Denmark.