Diplomatic Dairy: British royals visit Turkey

13/05/2008

Queen Elizabeth II is in Turkey this week. Also in diplomatic news: French Prime Minister Francois Fillon visited Cyprus, and Albanian Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha attended a session of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, arrived in Turkey on Tuesday (May 13th). [Getty Images]

England's Queen Elizabeth II arrived in Turkey on Tuesday (May 13th) for her third visit to the country. The queen visited Turkey for the first time after the military coup on May 27th 1960, meeting with state leader Cemal Gursel. She returned in October 1971, again after a military coup. This time, she and Prince Philip are visiting at the invitation of President Abdullah Gul.

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Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis met on Monday (May 12th) with visiting Cypriot House of Representatives Speaker Marios Karoyan. He also plans to meet President Karolos Papoulias, Parliament Speaker Dimitris Sioufas and Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis before wrapping up his visit Tuesday.

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France will do everything within its power as a UN Security Council permanent member to help Cyprus, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Saturday (May 10th) in Nicosia. At a joint press conference with Cypriot President Demetris Christofias, Fillon said that resolving the Cypriot issue must be based in international law. "As a result of the initiatives that we have taken, there is mobility, which we hope will lead eventually to negotiations for a complete solution to the Cyprus problem," Christofias said.

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Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Presidency Chairman Haris Silajdzic met with Libyan Prime Minister El Baghdadi Ali el-Mahmoudi on Sunday (May 11th). Discussing bilateral economic co-operation, Silajdzic said that there are many fields in which the two countries could boost ties, including culture, sports and tourism. He added that BiH, though not a big country, has major resources, including electricity.

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Albania believes that <b>Kosovo</b>'s independence is the best contribution to peace in the Balkans, Albanian Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha said on Thursday (May 8th) in Strasbourg, where he attended the 118th session of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers. "We supported the newest state, Kosovo, as the most stable solution contributing to peace, security and stability in the region and in all of Europe," Basha said.

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The interim special representative of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Cyprus, Elizabeth Spehar, left the divided island on May 7th. She replaced former UN Special Representative Michael Moeller in March. Her successor, Ethiopian diplomat Taye-Brook Zerihoun, is expected to arrive this week.

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Greece and Estonia agreed on Monday (May 12th) to broaden economic co-operation, especially in tourism. Agreement came at a meeting between Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis and her Estonian counterpart, Urmas Paet. Greece is one of the most popular destinations among Estonians; 40,000 visited the islands last year.

(Various sources 06/05/08-13/05/08)