ANKARA - Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari is expected to visit neighboring Turkey on May 19-20, a Turkish foreign ministry official said Wednesday.
Diplomats from both sides are still working on the visit's itinerary, the official said, adding that Jaafari was expected to meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan as well as President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.
Jaafari wished to travel to Turkey last month to attend a meeting of foreign ministers of countries neighboring Iraq, but political wrangling over his cabinet's line-up forced him to stay in Baghdad.
Turkey supports the post-war political process in Iraq, but has several concerns that it sees directly linked to its own security.
Ankara is particularly uneasy that separatist Turkish Kurd rebels who went into hiding in the mountains of northern Iraq prior to the US-led invasion are increasingly infiltrating Turkey to engage in anti-government violence.
It is frustrated that no action has so far been taken against the rebels, considered as terrorists by both Turkey and the United States.
Ankara is also worried over the future of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, which is claimed by the Iraqi Kurds but also by the Turkmens, an Iraqi minority of Turkish descent.
05/11/2005 09:10 GMT