CROATIAN PRESIDENT AND TURKISH BUSINESSMAN HOLD TALKS IN ZAGREB

ZAGREB, Feb 29 (Hina) - Croatian President Stipe Mesic on Tuesday held talks with the chairman of the Turkish company Enka, on cooperation between the two countries and road construction in Croatia. After the talks, President Mesic told reporters the Turkish businessman Sharif Tare and he had discussed the promotion of ties between Turkey and Croatia and the linking of Croatia with Europe via motorways. The two also considered possibilities of Croatia to build more roads in next 4-5 years than it has done to date. "We think we can better use domestic capacities," Mesic said. Sharif Tare, the chairman of the Istanbul-based firm ENKA which together with U.S. company Bechtel is constructing sections of the Zagreb-Dubrovnik highway, voiced hope that the cooperation between Croatia and his country would be furthered. Mesic added they had talked about the cooperation with Bechtel as well. Asked by reporters whether Tare and he discussed announcements of Croatian Construction Minister Radimir Cacic that contracts with this U.S firm would be reconsidered, Mesic answered it was a job of the Government, "and we talked about it in general." (hina) mm ms