site.btaPM Borissov Confers with Turkish President Erdogan

PM Borissov Confers with Turkish President Erdogan

Istanbul, June 14 (BTA Special Correspondent Hristo Vodenov) - Bulgaria will ask for a bilateral readmission agreement with Turkey if the latter fails to conclude such an agreement with the EU, said Prime Minister Boyko Borissov after meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday evening at his Bestepe Palace in Ankara. Borissov was on a one-day visit to Turkey at the invitation of his counterpart Binali Yildirim.

Borissov said he and Erdogan discussed many issues, because tension had accumulated during the referendum in Turkey and the elections in Bulgaria. It is important that the situation goes back to normal now, because it is imperative for the border protection. Bulgaria wants to sign a readmission agreement with Turkey if the EU delays signing one, because both sides currently observe their commitments and want to formalize it with an agreement, he said.

Over three million migrants are in Turkey, on whose border a war is being waged, Borissov said, adding that the topic about an independent Kurdistan is also delicate.

Europe in practice becomes dependent on natural gas supply from Turkey - all gas corridors will pass through it. "The Azeri gas will go through Turkey and we must take part. There is no way the Azeri gas will bypass Turkey and come to Bulgaria," Borissov said, recalling that Bulgaria's Energy Minister Temenouzhka Petkova recently signed in Saint Petersburg a road map for the supply of over 15 billion cu m of natural gas, while next week Bulgaria will sign an agreement with Serbia for supplying it with 14 billion cu m of natural gas.

Prime Minister Borissov said that he and President Erdogan both have differences for smoothing out, explaining that he had tried to apologize for the behaviour of his coalition partner Valeri Simeonov, who was seen getting involved in an altercation with a woman at the Bulgarian-Turkish border. Simeonov co-chairs the nationalist Patriotic Front, which on occasions blocked the border during the last Bulgarian general elections, trying to prevent Bulgarian expatriates living in Turkey from coming to vote in Bulgaria's last general elections. "I believe it (the apology) was accepted ," said Borissov.

"I expressed some views regarding the behaviour of the Turkish Ambassador during the elections. Did you notice that Turkey's Ambassador Suleyman Gokce was not part of the delegation?" Borissov asked. The Bulgarian Government's information service later explained that Bulgaria has not intervened in the Turkish delegation's composition.