CUMHURIYET- Columnist Ozgen Acar writes on the prime minister's planned visit to Washington. A summary of his column is as follows:
The White House's statement on the Jan.16 meeting between US President George W. Bush and Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said that it would provide an opportunity to further improve bilateral relations between key NATO member Turkey and the US. It was also announced that during the meeting nine issues would be discussed, namely the fight against terrorism, the Afghanistan situation, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Cyprus, NATO, the EU, the Balkans, and Turkey's economic reforms. One US diplomat told me that there were no problems between Turkey and the US as Turkey was carrying out its economic reforms with success, there n-have been positive developments concerning Cyprus, Turkey has taken the necessary steps concerning the European army and had set an example to the whole world in the fight against terrorism, and also because everything was going smoothly in the Caucasus, the Balkans and the oil pipeline. The only uncertainty was about Iraq. The diplomat said that Washington did not have a decisive view on the issue as yet. The diplomats of both countries are optimistic indeed. On the economic front, Turkey prefers a growth model based not on IMF loans, but instead closing its foreign trade deficit by selling more goods and services to the US, as well as by making joint investments with US businessmen. Ankara views the issue through the lens of the Chinese proverb 'Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.' And Ankara is asking for fishing line.
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION