U.S. Centcom's Head Gen. Abizaid Expected To Visit Turkey This Week

ANKARA - Lieutenant General John Abizaid, the head of the U.S. Army's Central Command in Qatar, is expected to come to Ankara this week.
Sources said on Monday that Abizaid who took command of the U.S. Centcom from Gen. Tommy Franks last week would stop by Ankara on his way to the region and hold several meetings.
Sources said that preparations for the program of Abizaid in Ankara were under way.
Abizaid's visit is important because it will be paid during a sensitive period which Turkish-U.S. relations are going through and Turkish-U.S. joint fact-finding commission meetings are under way.
Abizaid, a grandson of Lebanese immigrants, speaks fluent Arabic and has been serving for the U.S. army for thirty years.
(MS-AÖ) 14.07.2003