Turkey celebrated the birthday of the European Union with an exciting street festival calling the rhythm of Europe here on Sunday.

Performers coming from 18 EU member states displayed their art and performances in Istanbul's busiest tourist street of Istiklal. The musicians drew the attentions to the multicultural characteristic of Istanbul and agreed that the music is the universal language.

"It was very nice to play on the street and Istiklal is my favorite street in the world," said Daniel Kahn to Xinhua. Kahn is an American musician living in Germany.

"It is also very good to bring a little cultural perspective to the every vibrant music culture of Istanbul," he said, adding "We use the universal language of music. It is the best union in the world."

Augustinas Rakauskas who plays accordion in the Lithuanian music band "Tutto a Dio" said "The festival is very attractive and very brilliant actually as it brings together many people from different cultures in one place."

The violinist Greta Staponkute said "It is very good to see another country to listen different music with joy and energy."

The festival also featured theater and dance shows and DJ performances as well as giant dinosaurs, stilt walkers, and jugglers beloved by children.

Turkey has been celebrating the Europe Day along with all other EU member states and the candidate countries since 1999 when European Union has recognized Turkey's candidate status.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in a press release published on Friday that the EU should look into Turkey's accession process from a broader perspective and consider the contributions that Turkey would make for EU.

He drew the attentions to Turkey's contribution to the peace and stability of the continent and to the economic prosperity of the union. Turkey is today at a different stage in economic and political terms than before, he said.

"It took significant political and economic reforms in parallel with regional and global developments particularly during the last decade," the minister said.

He added that Turkey's main expectation is that the accession negotiations are conducted and concluded as a technical process without being subjected to political obstacles.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul in his written statement in the occasion of May 9, Europe Day underlined Turkey's commitment to the EU principles and said that the European Union has reached its current position by opening up, not by introversion.

Turkey has been in negotiations with EU since 1999 over its membership bid. Endi

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