Turkey's EU minister meets Czech counterpart

PRAGUE (A.A) - December 1, 2011 - Turkish Minister for European Union Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis on Thursday met in Prague with Vojtech Belling, Czech Prime Ministry's State Secretary in charge of EU Affairs. Bagis expressed gratitude for Czech Republic's support for Turkey's European Union accession bid, adding that EU's chief enlargement commissioner Stefan Fule -- a Czech national -- had made invaluable contributions to Ankara's membership process.  Belling said on his part that the Czech Republic would continue to do "anything in its power" on Turkey's accession. Bagis also met with Ludwig Sefzig, chairperson of the EU Affairs Committee at the Czech Senate. Sefzig said during the meeting that Turkey played a major role in European defense as an ally of NATO.