Turkish foreign minister says Turkey wants to give message of friendship with Greece

ATHENS (A.A) - 08.03.2011 - Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Tuesday that they wanted to give messages of friendship, neighborhood and common destiny with Greece.
Davutoglu, who is currently in Greece, held a press conference with Foreign Minister Demetris Droutsas after they had a meeting. 
Davutoglu said that relations between Turkey and Greece gained a brand new dimension and today's meeting was a preparation for High-Level Cooperation Meeting that would take place in July.
Despite global economic crisis, trade volume between Turkey and Greece was about 3 billion U.S. dollars, he said.
Davutoglu said that they always appreciated Greece's support to Turkey's EU bid.
Turkey was disappointed by EU's attitude regarding visa procedure for Turkish people and it was double standard against Turkey, he said.
"I would like to say that Greek people should visit Turkey. You should have Turkish friends. I say the same thing to Turkish people. We hope that Turkish and Greek peoples will establish friendly ties as the two governments did," he said.
Foreign Minister Davutoglu said that they also discussed the Cyprus issue in their meeting. "Turkey is not glad about the situation in talks in Cyprus," he said.
"We want to turn East Mediterranean into a basin of peace. We consider that some obstacles are put in front of us regarding our EU accession process due to political problems in the Cyprus issue. It is not fair," he said. Turkey was determined to launch some joint initiatives on the matter with Greece, he said.
Davutoglu said that he also discussed regional developments especially in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya with Droutsas.
"We are resolute to develop cooperation and consultations with Greece in Middle East, Balkans, Black Sea and Mediterranean region," he said.