American Military Delegations To Hold Meetings In Ankara

ANKARA - Following the contacts of NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) Chief and the commander of U.S. forces in Europe Gen. James L. Jones in Istanbul and Ankara, two separate American military delegations will hold meetings in Ankara.
The two delegations from the U.S. Central Command (Centcom) based in Qatar and United States European Command (EUCOM) based in Germany, are expected to come to Ankara on Wednesday.
The technical delegations will start their meetings on Thursday in General Staff headquarters.
During the meetings of the delegations, about the process of sending soldiers to Iraq, the responses to the set of questions which Turkey asked to the U.S. are expected to become clear.
In this framework, Turkish side will try to get responses to questions such as the place and mission of the Turkish soldiers in Iraq, the number of soldiers to be sent, the country which would take the command, and the country which would meet the costs of Turkish soldiers.
Besides, the sensitivity of Turkey about PKK-KADEK will also be taken up during the meetings. Officials from Foreign Ministry are also expected to attend the meetings with American delegations.
Meanwhile, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman and Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal discussed many issues in their meeting. Ziyal and Edelman exchanged views about bilateral relations, Iraqi issue and PKK-KADEK which closely concern the two countries.
Sources reiterated that there was no pressure on Turkey to send soldiers to Iraq, adding that the issue had military and political dimension and that only the military dimension came to agenda to date.
Meanwhile, the programme of the Turkish delegation which was expected to return from Iraq to Turkey could be extended. The delegation composed of officials from General Staff, Foreign Ministry and National Intelligence Organization (MIT) could postpone its return to Turkey in order to complete some of the contacts it could not make due to the funeral of Shii leader Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim. Sources said that the delegation could nevertheless return to Turkey on Thursday.
The visit of Iraqi Tribe Council delegation which was expected to have contacts in Ankara this week, has also been postponed due to the funeral of Al-Hakim.
(Öª-AÖ) 03.09.2003