Mihkelson and Ergma met EU Affairs Committee of Turkey
At the meeting of Chairman of the EU Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Marko Mihkelson and the Chair of the European Union Harmonization Committee of Turkish parliament Yaşar Yakış and the delegation accompanying him, the relations of the two states and Turkey’s accession process to the European Union were discussed. Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Sven Mikser and member of the EU Affairs Committee and the Estonia–Turkey parliamentary group Maret Maripuu also took part in the meeting.
When speaking about economic relations of the two states, Marko Mihkelson pointed out that Turkey is an important tourist country for Estonia and it would be very important to establish a direct air service between Tallinn and Ankara which would help tighten the ties between the two states even more.
Yaşar Yakış expressed his gratitude for Estonia’s support to Turkey’s European Union accession aspirations and he noted that Estonia is supporting Turkey in the same way as Turkey supported Estonia’s accession to NATO. Yaşar Yakış also pointed to Turkey’s important role in mediation activities between, on the one hand, the Western states and, on the other, the Middle East, Iran and other states in that region.
After the meeting with the EU Affairs Committee, President of the Riigikogu Ene Ergma and Yaşar Yakış had a conversation, focusing on the role of women in politics and energy security.
Ergma pointed to women’s stabilising and consensus-oriented activities in politics and she stressed that politics has to be cooperation of both parties. Representatives of Turkey asserted that the role of women has grown significantly in the public life of Turkey.
The Chair of the European Union Harmonization Committee of Turkish parliament Yaşar Yakış also spoke about Turkey’s role in the context of energy security and he pointed out that supplying Europe with oil and gas independently of Russia is possible only through Turkey.
Both meetings were held in an atmosphere of friendship and mutual understanding.
The Riigikogu Press Service
