ANKARA - U.S. President George W. Bush's special envoy to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad said on Saturday that during the meeting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials, they tried to find answered to the problems mentioned by General Staff Chief General Hilmi Ozkok.
Following the meeting which lasted two hours, Khalilzad and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Undersecretary Ali Tuygan made statements.
Noting that he had conveyed his impressions during his visit to northern Iraq to the Turkish side, Khalilzad said they had evaluated General Ozkok's remarks on last Wednesday.
Stressing that they were determined to work together with Turkey, Khalilzad said that they had tried to find answers to the problems expressed by General Ozkok.
Noting that they had held ''very good'' meeting, Khalilzad added that they would continue holding contacts during the week.
Meanwhile, Tuygan said that they had held one of the routine consultative meetings, adding, ''as you know that Mr. Khalilzad was in northern Iraq. We discussed the issues that we had taken up earlier.''
Meanwhile, sources said that developments especially in the rural areas in northern Iraq were discussed at the meeting while the sides had decided to hold a meeting in detail on establishment of a coordination unit.
Sources said that Khalilzad had told ministry officials that he had good impressions in northern Iraq, and the environment was getting better in the region.
A coordination center is planned to be established in Silopi among Turkey, the United States and opposition groups in northern Iraq. The sides reached an agreement on establishment of such a center in principle but the issue of command has not been solved yet.
(MS) 29.03.2003