WASHINGTON - Turkish President Abdullah Gul will make his first visit to Washington as president next month to discuss Turkey`s EU accession goals and efforts to quell PKK in Iraq, a spokesman said Friday.
President George W. Bush "will welcome President Abdullah Gul of Turkey to the White House on January 8, 2008, for his first visit to Washington as president," said deputy White House spokesman Scott Stanzel.
The two leaders would discuss "issues of mutual concern, including our efforts to counter the PKK," or the Kurdistan Workers` Party which the United States, European Union and Turkey view as a terrorist group.
Turkish warplanes have launched three bombing raids on PKK targets in northern Iraq since December 16, with the most recent raid taking place on Wednesday.
Turkey has massed up to 100,000 soldiers in its southeast near the Iraqi border, and in October Ankara secured a one-year parliamentary authorization for cross-border military action to hunt down PKK.
Also on the agenda between Bush and Gul would be "peace and stability in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and the broader Middle East" as well as how to "advance Turkey`s European Union accession goals, which the United States supports," Stanzel said.
12/28/2007 14:32 GMT