ANKARA - Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul will visit several European capitals, while Ankara will host guests from some European Union (EU) member countries before the European Council meeting due on December 17th (when the EU leaders will decide whether and when to open negotiations with Turkey), spokesman of the Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
According to information received from Namik Tan, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman, Gul will attend the Mediterranean Forum in French capital of Paris on October 25th.
Gul will also make a short trip to the Netherlands the same day that will last for a few hours, and then proceed to Czech Republic.
On October 26th, Gul will go from Czech capital of Prague to German capital of Berlin, and join the tripartite summit among Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac.
Gul then will go to Italian capital of Rome to assist the signing ceremony of the European Constitution on October 29th.

-NOVEMBER-
On November 3rd, Gul will pay an official visit to Portugal, and then he will attend EU interim summit to be held in Belgian capital of Brussels on November 5th and 6th.
On the other hand, Slovakian Foreign Minister Eduard Kukan will visit Turkey on November 11th, while capital Ankara will host Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht on November 18th.
Turkey-EU Troika is expected to convene between November 23rd and 25th, but the exact date of this meeting is not immediately known.
Meanwhile, Turkey Forum will be held in Italian capital of Rome on November 25th.
Turkey will host Hungarian Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs on November 29th, and be represented in Euromed meeting in The Hague on November 30th.

-DECEMBER-
Gul will pay an official visit to Slovenia between December 1st and 2nd, while Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Santana Lopes will be the guest of his Turkish counterpart between December 2nd and 3rd.
On December 8th, Atso Nicolai, the Dutch State Secretary for European Affairs will visit capital Ankara.
NATO council will convene in Brussels between December 9th and 10th. Gul will represent Turkey in this meeting.
And, finally, the European Council, in which EU heads of state and government will decide whether and when to open negotiations with Turkey, will be held in Brussels on December 17th.
(BRC-ULG) 22.10.2004