Luigi Pietro Rocco Di Torrepadula, Turkey's Honorary Consul to Naples, stated that Turkey's membership to the European Union is "a historical necessity". He underscored that he is confident that EU would show greater interest in the issues related to the Mediterranean region thanks to Turkey's membership to the Union.

Noting that "EU would grow stronger economically and politically by adding Turkey to its structure," Torrepadula said joint investments between Turkey and Italy as well as investments of Italian businessmen would rapidly increase following Turkey's membership to EU. Torrepadula also underlined that Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Turkey would be a great opportunity to boost relations between religions, reports the Anatolian News Agency.