Turkish EU minister says Turkish-German relations can be regarded as privileged partnership

ANKARA (A.A) - October 31, 2011 - Turkish EU minister said on Monday that Turkish-German relations could be regarded as "privileged partnership". EU Minister and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis met with German deputy Johannes Vogel and Alexander Count Lambsdorff, a member of the European Parliament, in Ankara.  Bagis said that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and an accompanying delegation would visit Germany to attend celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Turkish-German labor recruitment agreement. Nearly 3 million Turks living in Germany contributed to the German economy, he said. Trade volume between Turkey and Germany had been 29 billion U.S. dollars 2010 and the figure exceeded 25 billion U.S. dollars in the first eight months of 2011, he said. Lambsdorff said that they were visiting Ankara to discuss the course of relations between Turkey and Germany, stating that there were friendly relations between the two countries.