PRESIDENT GUL VISITS SLOVAKIA
President Abdullah Gul yesterday flew to Slovakia to further develop cooperation with the country. Speaking at Ankara's Esenboga Airport before his departure, Gul said that Turkey's economic and commercial relations with Slovakia have showed substantial progress, and that bilateral trade has risen from 75 million euros in early 2000 to one billion euros today. /Cumhuriyet/

DAVUTOGLU IN MALAYSIA FOR D-8 SUMMIT
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu left for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia yesterday to attend a foreign ministers summit of the Eight Developing Countries (D-8) set to start today. Accompanied by State Minister for Foreign Trade Zafer Caglayan, Davutoglu also held talks in northern Iraq late last week. During their visit, Caglayan and Davutoglu held talks in the cities of Basra, Erbil and Mosul. They also attended opening ceremonies of Turkey's new consulates in Iraq. Davutoglu met in Erbil with Massoud Barzani, the leader of the regional administration in northern Iraq, and with Barham Salih, the regional administration's new prime minister, with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari also in attendance. Speaking at a joint press conference afterwards, Davutoglu said he had discussed many issues with Barzani in detail, adding that they share a common vision. "This common vision is one of the Middle East," he said. "Arabs, Turks, Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis, together we will rebuild the Middle East. It's high time for everyone to take bold steps." He added, "Iraq's security and welfare is crucial for Turkey, as Iraq is like a small model of the Middle East. We (Turks) look at the Iraqis as close relatives. The happiness of the Iraqi people is the happiness of Turkey, and the sadness of the Iraqis is our sadness. Any threat to Iraq's security is a threat to Turkey." Before leaving Mosul, Caglayan attended a business forum on Turkish-Iraqi cooperation for reconstruction and development. Caglayan said Turkish businessmen would like to play a large part in Mosul's reconstruction. Caglayan later told reporters that he had proposed to Iraqi officials that Iraq export raw petroleum to Turkey in return for Turkish investments in the country. /Star-Turkiye/

AK PARTY DEPUTY LEADER: "TURKEY'S ROLE WILL BE DISCUSSED DURING ERDOGAN'S US VISIT NEXT MONTH"
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to the US in December will go towards encouraging good relations, ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) deputy leader Kursad Tuzmen said over the weekend. "During the visit, issues such as Turkey and Armenia, Turkey and Israel, and policies on the US withdrawal from Iraq as well as Turkey's position and role in the region will be discussed," he added. Stating that Turkey's importance will be stressed and that its profile is rising, Tuzmen said, "Turkey is very important in its region. It's the most important NATO country after the US. The visit also point to an era in which we'll sign onto important projects." /Cumhuriyet/

OECD LAUDS TURKEY'S SOCIAL SECURITY PERFORMANCE
Turkey has the best social security performance amongst the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), according to the bloc. Turkey's social security system has the best performance in terms of working efficiency and gains, it said. As of the latest data, Turkey's social security system has 10% gains on nominal bases, followed by Norway. According to the OECD, Turkey's social security system is 2.5 times more efficient than the US'. /Aksam/

IRAN'S AHMADINEJAD DUE IN TURKEY FOR OIC MEETING
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will travel to Turkey next week to take part in a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), Iranian officials announced over the weekend. Ahmadinejad will attend the last two days of the 25th session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of OIC (COMCEC), which starts in Istanbul on Thursday, officials said. He will deliver a speech on developing relations among OIC member countries and the global economic crisis. While in Istanbul, Ahmadinejad will meet with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul, as well as leaders of other OIC member countries. He will also attend the COMCEC Economic Summit on the last day of the session. The summit will bring together heads of state of the OIC Executive Committee member countries (Egypt, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Uganda) as well as heads of state of other OIC member countries. /Turkiye/

DINCER TO PUSH FOR ADMISSION OF TURKISH WORKERS TO FINLAND
Labor and Social Security Minister Omer Dincer will travel to Finland for official talks tomorrow. During his visit, Dincer is expected to learn more about Helsinki's plans to admit foreign workers from several European countries, including Turkey, to meet the country's rising workforce needs due to its aging population. Dincer will work to ensure that these plans prioritize Turkish workers. During his visit to Turkey last month, Finnish Premier Marti Vanhanen confirmed the plans to admit foreign workers. Turkey's chief negotiator for European Union talks Egemen Bagis also discussed the matter with the Finnish migration minister during his visit to Helsinki late last month. /Aksam/