Turkish chief EU negotiator says Turkey wants Aegean to become sea of friendship & cooperation

ATHENS (A.A) - June 14, 2011 - The Turkish chief negotiator for talks with the European Union (EU) said on Tuesday that Turkey wanted the Aegean to turn into a sea of friendship and cooperation.
Commenting on Turkish-Greek relations in his statement to the Greek newspaper Real News, Turkish State Minister & Chief EU negotiator Egemen Bagis said both Turkey and Greece currently had brave prime ministers who were determined to solve the problems between their countries.  
"This is a great opportunity to achieve progress in Turkish-Greek relations," Bagis said.
The negotiator noted that resolving chronical problems such as the Aegean and Cyprus was the key to making progress in relations between Turkey and Greece.
"Turkey wants to see the Aegean turn into a sea of friendship and cooperation," he said.
Pointing to the importance of exploratory talks between the two countries, Bagis also said that it was now time to take courageous steps to solve the Cyprus issue.
The minister said the upcoming Greek Cypriot rotating presidency of the European Union could constitute a remarkable opportunity to resolve the Cyprus conflict.
Bagis said, contrary to the remarks claiming that EU's Greek Cypriot presidency would harm Turkey-EU relations, he believed such term would be an opportunity as it would provide the Greek Cypriots with the chance to prove they were mature enough to assess the union's interests accurately.
"We will see whether a country that assumes EU's term presidency prefers peace or isolating people," he said.