ISTANBUL - The 17th NATO Summit started in Istanbul on Monday.
Presidents, prime ministers, ministers, as well as civilian and military officials of 26 allied countries and 20 other NATO partner countries are attending the two-day summit.
The summit started with the opening remarks of NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer will also make a welcoming address as the head of the host country.
During the opening session of the summit, the senior statesman of France will formally welcome new NATO allies, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, on behalf of the Allies.
Following the opening session, heads of state and government, foreign ministers and defense ministers will meet at three separate working lunches.
NATO-Russia Council will convene at the level of foreign ministers later in the day.
The first day of the summit will end with a banquet at the Topkapi Palace.
The second day will start tomorrow with the ``NATO-Ukraine Commission`` meeting at the level of heads of state and government.
Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council will also convene tomorrow.
At the end of the summit leaders will held a news conference.
Developments registered since NATO Prague Summit in 2002, new and future missions of the Alliance, and regional issues such as Afghanistan and Iraq will be high on agenda of the 17th NATO Summit which started in Istanbul today.
Fight against terrorism, efforts to provide stability in the Balkans, modernization of NATO force structures, broadening of cooperation with non-allied partners are among other issues to be taken up at the summit.
NATO pledged to extend support to security in Afghanistan during the planned elections in September or October. NATO also plans to cover northern and western regions of Afghanistan by setting up local units.
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer announced during the NATO Istanbul Summit that five such teams would be formed, and called on the allied countries to contribute to the formation of the teams. The nature of these contributions is expected to be clarified during the Istanbul Summit.
President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan Hikmet Cetin are among the participants of the summit. Cetin`s tenure is expected to be extended during the summit.
Iraq is one of the most ``sensitive and controversial`` issues to be discussed in Istanbul. -IRAQ-
On the other hand NATO heads of state and government will make a general assessment prior to June 30 when the administration in Iraq will be handed over to the sovereign local government.
During the Istanbul Summit, NATO is expected to announce its support to the new Iraqi government.
Sources said that 16 allied countries had soldiers in Iraq, adding that steps were expected to be taken at the summit to put all activities about training of Iraqi police and soldiers under the umbrella of NATO.
A separate joint declaration will be released at the end of the summit about Iraq.
NATO is also expected to adopt a document about Central Asia and Caucasus to enhance its cooperation with regional countries.
Under a process initiated in 1994 NATO has broadened its dialogue with Mediterranean countries such as Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Mauritania, Jordan and Israel. During the Istanbul Summit, NATO will also start an initiative to increase its relationship with Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait) under the heading of ``Istanbul Initiative for Cooperation``.
No EU-NATO Summit is scheduled during the Istanbul summit, it was learned. Meanwhile EU High Commissioner for Foreign Policy and Defense, Javier Solana, will attend the summit.
NATO is expected to hand over its peace-keeping mission in Kosovo to EU by the end of the year. NATO Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer and Solana will hold a joint news conference to this end.
The final communique of the summit is expected to include issues such as international cooperation against terrorism, Afghanistan, the Balkans, developments in defense capabilities, partnership, relations with Russia and Ukraine and combat against weapons of mass destruction.
(UK-ULG) 28.06.2004