OREANDA-NEWS. March 18, 2008. At a meeting with Recep Tyyip Erdoрan, Prime Minister of Turkey, the diplomatic notes for finalizing the Estonian-Turkish visa agreement were exchanged. When the treaty enters into force, citizens of Estonia will be able to stay in Turkey without a visa for up to 90 days, within six months. The issues discussed at the meeting of Prime Ministers of Estonia and Turkey included bilateral relations, EU enlargement and the upcoming NATO summit in Bucharest. The same topics were discussed at a meeting with Abdullah Gьl, President of Turkey.

“Estonia and Turkey may be geographically separated, but this does not limit good relations between the two countries,” noted Prime Minister Andrus Ansip at a meeting with the Prime Minister of Turkey and emphasized that close relations between Estonia and Turkey date back to before World War II and have now developed further as NATO allies.

Prime Minister Ansip pledged Estonia’s support to the further enlargement of the European Union: “I believe that the degree of how far the European Union will finally enlarge depends mainly on the countries that wish and are ready to respect European values. Turkey has made its decision in moving towards this objective. I am convinced that in ten years, when Estonia holds the presidency of the European Union, the membership of the EU will have grown with new members”. The Prime Minister emphasized that the degree of enlargement depended mainly on the readiness of the candidate countries, while the European Union should stick to current agreements.

Discussing key issues at the NATO summit, Prime Minister Ansip highlighted the fact that Georgia had made significant progress in moving closer to NATO, to which NATO should respond. The Prime Minister of Turkey noted that Turkey had always been a supporter of the open doors policy of NATO. It was noted at the meeting that possible new members must be encouraged to achieve further progress and this should be considered in the positions to be taken in April at the NATO summit in Bucharest.

The Prime Ministers emphasized that they were keen to develop bilateral economic relations and expressed hope that the business delegation accompanying Prime Minister Ansip, which mainly represented the IT and telecommunications sector, will help to achieve that. Estonian and Turkish IT businessmen will meet on Tuesday, 18 March, at the information and telecommunications technology conference to be held in Istanbul. The Prime Ministers found that the information technology and telecommunications of both countries are developing and that the exchange of experience is likely to lead to a mutually beneficial cooperation.

Before lunch the Prime Minister gave a speech on European Union affairs at the Bilkent University in Ankara. It is the same leading university in Turkey where President Lennart Meri gave a speech ten years ago.

On the invitation of Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoрan, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip will be on an official visit to Turkey until 18 March. This is the first official visit by the Estonian Prime Minister to the Republic of Turkey.