Mordehai Amihai, the Israeli consul general in Istanbul, said that Israel was actively supporting Turkey's accession to the EU.

"We think it is important for not only Turkey but also for the region if Turkey joins the EU, and thus Turkey will fulfil its role as a bridge between the West and the East," Amihai told AA correspondent.

The consul general said that Turkey and Israel could understand each other regarding terrorism.

On economic relations, Amihai said that the bilateral trade volume was over 3 billion USD in October and forecast that this figure would almost reach 4 billion USD by the end of 2008.

Amihai also said that 500,000 Israelis had visited Turkey since January 2008, and this figure would continue to go up in coming days.


aa