A link will be built between Bulgaria and Turkey as part of the future Nabucco gas pipeline, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov told a news conference on Monday after a one-to-one session with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan was leading a government delegation on a one-day visit to Sofia.

The guest said that Turkey is ready to build a gas pipeline to Bulgaria. The two countries' economy ministers will specify the details, and Turkey will begin to supply gas to Bulgaria as it does to Greece, Erdogan added.

According to him, Sofia and Ankara maintain intensive cooperation in all fields. He predicted that annual two-way trade will soon exceed 5 000 million US dollars.

Erdogan expressed hope that Bulgaria will continue to support Turkey's bid to join the EU. "If the EU favours its own enlargement, it should not raise any obstacles to itself," the Turkish Prime Minister said. He noted that the opening of some chapters in the EU accession negotiations is not considered at all, while other chapters are opened but are not closed. "We are working patiently and learning our lesson, and we hope to complete the accession process successfully," he said.

Borissov said that the question of a possible Bulgarian referendum on Turkey's accession to the EU will not be considered until Turkey completes the membership negotiations.

The Bulgarian Prime Minister was asked to comment on a statement by former French ambassador to Bulgaria Etienne de Poncins, who said in a farewell lecture in Sofia that Paris and Brussels want to know Bulgaria's opinion about Turkey's accession to the EU. Borissov said that sometimes ambassadors far exceed their rights. "If our ambassador goes and tells President Nicolas Sarkozy what to do, he will be expelled from France," he said.

Erdogan said that the election of a chief mufti of Muslims in Bulgaria is an internal matter for the country. For his part, Borissov thanked Turkey for not interfering with this issue. "We will provide security for a conference which will elect a chief mufti," Borissov said.

He praised the performance of the Bulgarian and Turkish security services in the fight against goods and drugs smuggling. "We will soon conduct an operation which will be good for all of us," he added.

Asked about possible compensation to Bulgarians under the 1919 Treaty of Neuilly, the two prime ministers expressed their shared view that the relevant laws will be applied where there are documents and information about any property of Bulgarians left in Turkey.

They said that bilateral cultural cooperation will be carried out by maintaining and restoring Bulgarian sites in Turkey and Ottoman heritage in Bulgaria.

The two also discussed the issuing of visas to Turkish nationals. Borissov said that the matter will be resolved by issuing identity documents with biometric data.

Source: BTA