THE BULGARIAN AMBASSADOR MLADENOV TALKS IN MARMARA FOUNDATION ACADEMIC COUNCIL MEETING In the picture above (left to right): The Chairman of the Academic Council of the Marmara Group Foundation, Ret. Ambassador Ertugrul Kumcuoglu, the Bulgarian Ambassador in Ankara, Branimir Mladenov, President of the Marmara Group Foundation, Dr. Akkan Suver and Ogan Soysal. Participating in the Academic Council meeting as the guest-speaker, the Bulgarian Ambassador Branimir Mladenov addressed the Academic Council members. Mladenov started his speech by stressing the importance of Turkey to Bulgaria. Stating that the bilateral economic relations were improving rapidly in the last years, Mladenov added that Turkey was the fourth biggest partner of Bulgaria in trade. The Ambassador also said there were no political problems among the two countries. He further added that the two countries also started to cooperate in the field of energy. Stating that Bulgaria fully supported Turkey’s EU membership, Mladenov said “there are now two more countries in the EU supporting Turkey’s full membership to the Union: Bulgaria and Romania.” Mladenov also expressed how important Turkey was to the EU by referring to the words of the former EU Commissiner for Enlargement, Gunter Verheugen, and said “if the EU really wants to become a global actor, it needs Turkey.” At the end of the meeting, the Chairman of the Academic Council, Ret. Ambassador Ertugrul Kumcuoglu and the President of the Marmara Group Foundation, Dr. Akkan Suver, gave a present to Mladenov on behalf of the Marmara Group Foundation.