WASHINGTON - Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal had a meeting on Tuesday with U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs Marc Grossman, the number three person in the U.S. State Department.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz also attended the meeting while State Secretary Colin Powell attended only some part of the talks.
Turkish and U.S. officials stated that Iraq, Cyprus, Turkey-EU relations and European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) were the main topics of the meeting. The two sides also discussed all aspects of the Turkish-American relations.
Powell attended the meeting by delivering a speech and later he left the meeting.
Ziyal is also expected to visit Pentagon and have a second meeting with Wolfowitz. U.S. Chief of Staff Air Force General Richard Myers will also be present during this meeting.
After the meeting held at the State Department, a high ranking U.S. State Department official stated that during the meetings, the United States thanked Turkey for the role it played in the fight against terrorism.
''Turkey has an extremely beneficial role in the fight against terrorism. Turkey's commanding the peace force in Afghanistan is a part of this. The two sides discussed the fight against terrorism, Turkey's EU pre-accession process, Cyprus, Iraq and other issues,'' the U.S. official said.
''The United States is giving full support to Turkey's efforts to join the EU and to develop its relations with other European countries. The reforms passed by the Turkish Parliament on Aug. 2 and 3 are very important steps taken towards EU membership,'' he commented.
Turkish officials defined the meetings at the U.S. State Department as ''very positive.'' A Turkish official said that they reiterated Turkey's attitude regarding Iraq during the talks.
After lunch, Ziyal and the accompanying Turkish delegation came together with Under Secretary for Economics, Business and Agricultural Affairs Alan Larson, Under Secretary for European Affairs Elizabeth Jones and Under Secretary for ESDP Robert Vratky.
Qualifified Industrial Zones (QIZ) and other economic relations between Turkey and the United States were the chief topics of the meeting with Larson.