ANKARA - British Prime Minister Tony Blair will pay a daily working visit to Turkey on Monday.
It will be the first of the visits after 14 years of interval which are planned under an agreement that was reached last year to hold regular summit meetings between Turkish and British prime ministers.
Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had held meetings in Turkey on April 25, 1990.
During his visit to Turkey, Blair will be received by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and he will also meet with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Issues such as Turkey-European Union (EU) relations, Cyprus, fight against terrorism, NATO Summit to be held in Istanbul in June, Iraq and the other bilateral, regional and international developments are expected to be taken up during meetings.
Blair is expected to confirm Britain's support to Turkey's EU process and give messages for lifting the isolation on Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
Direct flights between Britain and TRNC can be brought onto agenda within that scope.
Blair earlier said in a speech on May 9 EU day that instead of undervaluing the problems which would emerge with Turkey's EU membership, it was necessary to overcome those problems.
Blair had recalled that the decision to accept Turkey in the EU was taken in principle and said that EU should apply the same criteria to Ankara with other candidate countries.
Blair will depart from Turkey after completing his meetings today.
Blair is also expected to participate in NATO Summit which will be held in Istanbul in June.
(GC-AÖ) 17.05.2004