Swedish PM reiterates firm support for turkey's EU accession bid

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt arrived in Ankara yesterday for a two-day official visit at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. After being welcomed by Erdogan by an official ceremony at the Prime Ministry, Reinfeldt and Erdogan spoke on issues such as Turkey's European Union accession bid, the global economic crisis and environmental issues. Speaking to a joint press conference afterwards, Reinfeldt said that his country fully supports Turkey's EU accession bid. "Turkey, an important part of Europe, carries great importance for the EU," he said. For his part, Erdogan said, "Nearly 100,000 Turks live in Sweden, more than one-fourth of them from the Kulu district of the central Anatolian province of Konya. As part of his visit, my friend Reinfeldt first visited Kulu, and this brought a different meaning to his visit to Turkey." Erdogan also urged EU countries to give more support to Turkey's EU accession bid. In Kulu, where almost everyone has a relative living in Sweden, Reinfeldt had stressed that the EU cannot ignore Turkey's power, adding that the 27-member bloc needs Turkey as much as Turkey needs the EU. There is a great distance between Turkey and Sweden, but we have elements in common and sound ties, he said. Many Turkish migrants from Kulu immigrated to Sweden in the 1960s to find work. Reinfeldt's visit comes ahead of Sweden's assumption in July of the EU's rotating term presidency. Erdogan yesterday hosted a dinner in honor of his Swedish counterpart, who is expected to meet with President Abdullah Gul today.