06 12 02- Turkey to Become Member of EU Committee of Regions -Rome

http://www.zaman.com/?bl=national&alt=&trh=20061201&hn=38845\
By Zaman -Friday, December 01, 2006- (A.M.USA)

The EU Committee of Regions Chief Michel Delebarre invited Istanbul to become a member of the Committee of Regions.

As a part of his Brussels program, Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Kadir Topbas visited Michel Delebarre. The Committee of Regions chief invited the mayor of Istanbul to the 50th anniversary meeting of the Roma Pact to be held on March 22-23 in Rome. Noting that local administrations had never attended the meetings until now, Delebarre said, “It will be a very important meeting. We are inviting a local administration to the meeting for the first time.” Impressed with the information Kadir Topbas gave on Istanbul, Delebarre said, “After listening to you I can conclude that Istanbul is a very powerful local administration. Let me tell you why you cannot enter the EU: If Istanbul becomes an EU capital, everyone will turn green with envy. While everyone I meet here enumerates their complaints, you offer solutions.” Topbas has invited Delebarre to Istanbul in return.

V.V