News

On 27 March Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Petras Vaitiekūnas received the new Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey Oğuz Özge.

During the meeting they welcomed friendly relations of Lithuania and Turkey and the potential of economic cooperation of the countries. The cooperation development perspectives in the area of culture, science and education were also discussed.

Minister P.Vaitiekūnas emphasized that Lithuania viewed Turkey as a reliable and serious partner for ensuring the Transatlantic and European Union’s Neighbourhood security and stability.

The Head of Lithuanian diplomacy indicated that the continuing EU-Turkey accession negotiations are an important achievement and common interest of the EU and Turkey. Lithuania consistently speaks up for Turkey’s striving for accession to the EU and welcomes Turkey’s progress in the reform process.

“The continuity of Turkey’s reforms, purposeful preparation for implementation of the EU membership criteria and consistent fulfilment of its commitments are significant factors in the European Union accession negotiations,” said Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs. According to the Minister, Lithuania is ready to share its EU integration experience.

During the meeting the perspectives of Lithuanian-Turkish energy cooperation were also discussed. The Minister expressed hope that further development of the EU-Turkish relations would contribute essentially to the diversification of oil and gas transit and import routes to Europe. Lithuanian and Turkish representatives agreed that a closer bilateral cooperation in the area of energy is a shared interest of Lithuania and Turkey.

Ambassador of Turkey O. Özge has been accredited to Lithuania since 22 February of the current year. Before the accreditation to Lithuania, Ambassador O. Özge worked at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a Director General for economic affairs, in 1999-2004 Mr Özge was accredited as Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to the Republic of Moldova.