"As Lithuania is preparing for the EU Presidency starting on July 1, Turkey's EU membership talks, which have been stalled for a long time, will inevitably be one of the issues," Laurynas Jonavičius told Žinių Radijas (News Radio) on Tuesday.
"Recently, especially after the French position changed, there have been signs and gleams that those talks will move from the dead point, and the Turkish president's visit is related to this issue," the presidential adviser said.
According to Jonavičius, Turkey's fast-growing economy makes it an increasingly important state in the economic, energy, and geopolitical sense and it's role in resolving Middle Eastern crises is especially significant.
Turkey's President Abdullah Gul will pay a two-day visit to Lithuania on Wednesday, accompanied by a large group of businesspeople. The Turkish president will arrive in Vilnius from Riga.
Turkey's EU membership talks have been stalled in recent years. Since 2005, when Turkey submitted its application, out of the 35 negotiation chapters that candidates need to agree on, Turkey has launched talks on only 13.
In an interview to BNS last week, Turkish Ambassador to Lithuania Akin Algan said that Turkey expects to resume EU membership talks by July and to open negotiations on two additional negotiating chapters during Lithuania's EU Presidency in the second half of this year.
