VILNIUS
Turkish President Abdullah Gul on Thursday expressed his pleasure of Latvia and Lithuania sharing their support for Turkey's EU membership with the public.
Turkey's President Abdullah Gul, received Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius, attended the opening ceremony of Turkish-Lithuanian Business forum and the Islamic Culture and Education Center and finally held a press conference in capital Vilnius.
Gul said that the visits to Latvia and Lithuania were very beneficial.
Referring to Lithuania's EU Term Presidency beginning in three months time he said "An extraordinary development. I am very pleased that both Latvia and Lithuania have shared their strong support to Turkey's EU membership with the public. They told us some chapters would be opened during the EU Term Presidency of Lithuania. We are on the wait. However, what is more important is the the opportunity to speak about Turkey's thesis in meetings Turkey isn't present. I believe president of Lithuania will fulfill this duty with his broad experience."
Upon being asked of the increasing ethnocentrism in Europe, Gul said, "These incidents are very saddening. German authorities must shed light onto this matter without leaving any room for doubts."
