Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and the former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder took the floor at the conference organized by Sinpaş Real Estate Investment Trust in the course of their visit to Turkey, Turkish Hurriyet daily reports.

“Clinton praised Turkey for ‘successful endorsement of secularism while letting people express religious beliefs without imposing them on others,’ while Gerhard Schröder, the former German chancellor, urged the European Union to keep its promise toward Turkey on full membership.”

Clinton welcomed Armenia-Turkey rapprochement, though criticized the country for closing the Halki International Seminary. “You have to think: While your population is growing, why is your Christian Orthodox community shrinking?” he asked. “Do you think it is better for the Christian Orthodox community to fall under the influence of the Russian Church?” the former President said.

“Clinton also recalled that he was an ardent supporter of Turkey’s accession to the EU,” the daily reads. He underlined that his "efforts on Turkey’s EU membership were also ‘for the good of the American people’. Clinton reminded of the fact that Baku-Tbilisi- Ceyhan oil pipeline was constructed his “tenure.” ""I am happy to see Turkey's energy interconnections continue to expand," he stated.

In his turn, Gerhard Schröder expressed regret on the fact that “EU does not appreciate Turkey's role in solving regional conflicts.” Commenting on Armenia-Turkey reconciliation, Schröder said Turkey played a crucial role “in helping find solutions to conflicts in its region.”

“Schröder said Turkey's role in energy security will also be vital, especially with the Nabucco and South Stream projects. As an adviser to Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, he was careful to mention that these two projects are not competing with each other.

Nabucco aims to bring Caspian gas to Europe via Turkey to reduce European dependence to Russia, while South Stream, a project spearheaded by Russia, aims to provide an alternative route to the Ukrainian route, which has proven to be problematic in the past,” Hurriyet reads.