ANKARA - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to meet US President George W. Bush in Washington on June 8 after a period of chilly ties between the two NATO allies over Iraq, Anatolia news agency reported Wednesday.
Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, who will be in the United States on a separate visit, will hold talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the same day, the agency said.
The situation in Turkey's neighbour Iraq is expected to dominate the talks during Erdogan's visit which will last until June 12.
Turkish-US ties suffered a blow in 2003 when the Turkish parliament denied US troops access to Turkish territory for a planned invasion of Iraq.
Relations were further strained by US reluctance to take military action against Turkish Kurd rebels in northern Iraq and Ankara's concerns over too much power for Iraqi Kurds in post-war Iraq.
In a bid to mend fences, Turkey last month allowed the United States to use a key military base in the south of the country as a logistical cargo hub for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
05/11/2005 09:53 GMT