ANKARA - Ankara is preparing to host U.S. President George Bush before NATO Summit that will be held in Istanbul between June 28 and 29.
Sources noted that U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice would accompany Bush and his wife who were expected to arrive in Ankara on June 26.
Bush will come to Ankara after he participates in EU-U.S. meeting in Ireland on June 25. Bush will hold his meetings in Ankara on June 27.
U.S. President Bush will separately meet with Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Bush will visit Anitkabir, the Mausoleum of Ataturk, the Founder of Turkish Republic. He will later proceed to Istanbul.
Sources stated that bilateral relations, Iraq, presence of terrorist organization in north of Iraq, Cyprus, Turkey's European Union (EU) process, global defense strategy of the United States, NATO Summit, the Middle East and Afghanistan were expected to be taken up during Bush's short visit to Ankara.
Stating that presence of terrorist organization in north of Iraq would be the one of the main agenda items during the visit, sources noted that Ankara would recall U.S. President once again its expectations on elimination of terrorist organization from the region. Sources said that Turkish officials would say that they expected the United States to take concrete steps on the issue.
Sources stated that Bush was expected to inform Ankara about his meetings in Ireland during meetings which would also focus on relations between Turkey and EU. It is expected that the United States will reiterate its support to Turkey's EU process.
(EÖ-AÖ) 21.06.2004