Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel at the ministry. Fidan and Gabriel organised a joint press conference after their meeting. Minister Fidan said that the multidimensional friendship and alliance between Turkey and Bulgaria is the basic element of stability in the Balkans. Noting that Bulgaria is an important route for exports to Europe by land and for the transport of Turkish citizens living in Europe, Fidan said that they are in close cooperation with the Bulgarian authorities. Regarding the other issues discussed during the talks, Fidan said, "Another area of co-operation of strategic importance is energy. The Ukraine war created a global energy crisis. It caused uncertainties in the markets. Our cooperation with Bulgaria in the field of energy is not only a commercial activity, but also of great importance for energy security in the region. We also discussed the Ukraine war and the Grain Initiative. The security and stability of the Black Sea is of vital importance for our countries."

'WE SUPPORT THE RIGHTFUL POSITION OF TURKEY'

Responding to the question about the tension regarding the construction of the Pile-Yiğitler road in the TRNC, Fidan said, "As Turkey, we support the TRNC in every field to the end. We are working with all our strength to ensure that the just struggle of the Turkish Cypriots is recognised worldwide. Unfortunately, the recent events have once again demonstrated how some of the UN's practices on the island are actually incompatible with the spirit of the founding of the UN. The project of building a road from the village of Yiğitler was always on the agenda in order to deliver the necessary humanitarian aid to the Turkish community. The road built for the Greek population in Pile was never subject to condemnation and obstruction by the UN. However, when the same happens to the Turkish side, we see that the UN officials on the island have taken serious steps to prevent this humanitarian road project, almost as if they left the role of UN officials and became hawks. Unfortunately, undesirable incidents occurred on the 18th of the month," he said.

Pointing out that there is a lack of coordination between the civilian and military elements of the UN in Cyprus, Fidan said, "Because there have been ongoing negotiations between the civilian representative and the TRNC authorities about the construction of this road for a very long time. They were informed when the construction of this road would start. Despite this, the UN vehicles suddenly piling up in the disputed area, which the UN calls the 'buffer zone' and the TRNC calls its own territory, is obviously not an attitude that we welcome. We believe that the UN has lost its impartiality with this behaviour. Our work on this issue will continue. We support the TRNC's rightful position on this issue to the end."

'I RECOMMEND USING THE WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY'

Regarding Turkey's European Union (EU) membership process, Minister Fidan said, "We expect the EU to reconsider their rigid attitudes of the previous years. We attach importance to Turkey's EU membership process at 2 points. The issue of compliance with rational criteria and conditions. Turkey has taken very important steps in this sense for many years. The issue took on a political colour, the rational evaluation process of the EU criteria was suspended and the process of political evaluations began. The use of Turkey's EU issue as a political material in the domestic politics of the central European countries has led to Turkey's EU membership being treated as a matter of identity politics in domestic politics rather than a rational issue. By underlining this issue again and reminding the initiative, our President is offering new opportunities to both the EU and our region. I recommend that the new window of opportunity be used by European leaders before it closes."