ANKARA - U.S. President George W. Bush and his wife Laura Bush will come to Ankara on Saturday to hold a series of talks.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice will accompany President Bush during his visit to Ankara.
President Bush is scheduled to meet with Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday.
After partaking in a luncheon to be hosted in his honor, President Bush will proceed to Istanbul to attend NATO Summit.
Issues such as the bilateral relations between Turkey and the United States, Iraq, presence of the terrorist organization in northern part of Iraq, Cyprus, Turkey's European Union (EU) membership process, global defense strategy of the United States, NATO Summit, Afghanistan and recent developments in the Middle East will be high on agenda of President Bush's meetings with Turkish officials.
At the meetings, the Turkish side will reiterate its expectations about elimination of presence of the terrorist organization in the region. The Turkish side will stress that it expected the United States to take more concrete steps to this end.
The Turkish side will also underline its sensitivities about Iraq and Kirkuk. It will emphasize that Turkmens should be represented in the Iraqi administration.
President Bush is expected to inform Turkish officials on his meetings in the current EU term president Ireland. He is also expected to extend the United States' support to Turkey's EU process.
The Turkish side will ask the U.S. side to clarify its commitments of supporting Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) following the referenda on April 24.
Sources said that President Bush might announce the package of financial support to TRNC.
There have been close relations between Turkey and the United States since Turkey's becoming a member of the Alliance in 1952.
During the Cold War era, the relations between Turkey and the United States based mainly on military co-operation, were defined as ''strategic partnership''.
Due to its geo-political position, Turkey has always taken its places among the key countries for the United States.
Fundamentalist terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the Gulf Wars, ethnic clashes and environmental problems have added new dimensions to the co-operation between the two countries.
On numerous occasions, the United States said that it supported Turkey's EU process.
Bill Clinton was the last U.S. president paying a state visit to Turkey between November 15 and 19, 1999. During his visit, Clinton visited the tent-city in quake-stricken Izmit province.
Tight security measures have been taken in Ankara for the scheduled visit of President Bush.
(UK-AÖ) 25.06.2004