‘Turkey ready for Cyprus meeting in Malta’ – Ankara’s chief EU negotiator
Turkey's European Union minister and chief negotiator has expressed Turkey's readiness for a meeting to take place in Malta in order to help settlement of the Cyprus issue.
Speaking at the end of his meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, Turkey's chief negotiator Egemen Bagis said that all parties could convene in Malta to solve Cyprus issue: "if you can convince the Greek Cypriot administration and Greece, I can promise you to bring the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Turkey and Britain to the meeting," Bagis said.
Bagis said Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot administration had always been willing to solve the issue, however they could not see the same will in the Greek Cypriot administration.
During the meeting, Bagis proposed to set up Turkish-Maltese Parliamentary Friendship Group, and expressed eagerness to boost bilateral trade.
Bagis said Turkish businessmen could organise a visit to Malta, and Maltese businessmen could visit Turkey.
Egemen Bagis said the Greek Cypriot administration had prevented the EU from opening negotiations with Turkey on human rights, justice, security and freedoms, and described it as "hypocritical".
Gonzi, in his part, said Malta would fulfil its responsibilities in order to achieve those proposals, and noted that Malta would be proud to host Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Malta.
Lawrence Gonzi also reaffirmed the importance and support Malta extended to Turkey's EU membership.
Upon Gonzi's remarks, Bagis promised that Erdogan would be the first Turkish prime minister ever to visit Malta.