The Cyprus problem to be discussed at the Turkish-Spanish Intergovernmental Summit in Ankara

Turkish Cypriot daily Vatan (02.09.11) reports on the 3rd Intergovernmental Summit between Spain and Turkey to be held on September 6 in Ankara. Citing information by Ankara Anatolia news agency, the paper writes that the Spanish delegation will consist by Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez, Defence Minister Carme Chacon, Development Minister Jose Blanco and Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Alfredo Bonet.

Diplomatic sources said to the news agency that “providing Spanish companies’ participation in infrastructure projects in Turkey and exchanging views on the Middle East are the priority issues of the Spanish Government. It was added that bilateral relations, Cyprus, Iran, Syria, Libya, the Alliance of Civilizations and Turkey’s EU accession process will also be discussed.

The summit will take place upon Zapatero’s insistence although an early general election is scheduled for November 20 in Spain, Anatolia said, while noting that the summit in Ankara will be the latest bilateral summit Zapatero will participate in since the Spanish Prime Minister announced in April that he will not stand for re-election in 2012.

Spanish companies are eager to strengthen cooperation with Turkish companies in air and maritime transportation, and some of them are willing