(DIP)TURKEY OPTIMISTIC ABOUT SPAIN'S EU ROTATING PRESIDENCY.

CORDOBA, Nov 16, 2009 (TUR) -- Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Sunday that Turkey was optimistic about rotating presidency of the European Union (EU) that would take place in the first half of next year.

Turkish and Spanish delegations met in Cordoba under the chairmanship of Davutoglu and his Spanish counterpart Miguel Angel Moratinos.

Speaking to media, Davutoglu underlined that bilateral relations between Turkey and Spain were strategic. He said they discussed bilateral relations, EU topics, global and regional cooperation during the meeting.

Davutoglu said Turkey and Spain supported continuation of talks between the parties in Cyprus, noting that Spain extended strong support for the talks to continue to find a solution.

"Not only the political relations, but also economic and cultural cooperation between Turkey and Spain are excellent," Davutoglu said and underlined that trade volume between the two parties was 8.5 billion euro.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said Spain, which would assume EU rotating presidency in the first half of 2010 would speed up its support to Turkey's EU membership. He said they would be in an effort to make Turkey's accession to EU irrevocable.

Moratinos said Spain was willing to boost relations with Turkey in the Middle East, Mediterranean, Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Asked to comment on Cyprus question, Moratinos said Spain supported continuation of negotiations in Cyprus.

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