Brussels, 16/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas travelled to Turkey on Tuesday 16 May to enhance transport cooperation with this candidate country for EU accession. The trip was very important from a tactical perspective, due to Turkey's strategic geographical position at the crossroads between Europe and Middle East and Caucasus. This visit is part of a programme for building constructive ties with Turkey, complementing the accession process.
Kallas met Turkish ministers responsible for foreign affairs, EU relations and transport. He said that he wanted, “to achieve full integration of Turkey into the EU aviation system as soon as possible in order to provide both Turkish and EU citizens with more connections and cheaper and safer flights”.
Although Kallas' goal in Ankara was the establishment of a roadmap for EU transport relations in general with Turkey, air transport was top of the agenda. Both sides would like to set up an integrated airspace, which is why Turkey is eager to enhance its sector's security by working more closely with the European Aviation Safety Agency and help towards creating the European Single Sky. It will also have to countersign the agreement of March 2010 on bringing all bilateral agreements between member states in Turkey into line with European legislation.
Kallas also took part in the ground breaking ceremony for the Irmak-Karabük-Zonguldak railway line, which had received significant funding from the Union (pre-accession aid instrument. Thanks to this project, the north-south freight connection from the Turkish Black Sea region to Europe wil be modernised. (MD/transl.fl)