US President Bush will meet with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan om January 28, the White House announced, also noting that this year Istanbul will host the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit in June.
“This visit will provide an opportunity to deepen our strategic partnership with our NATO ally, Turkey, on counter-terrorism, transatlantic relations, Iraq, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Eurasia, the Greater Middle East, and economics and trade,” said the White House Press Secretary.
US leaders have repeatedly called Turkey "a valuable regional ally ... a partner in the global war on terrorism ... [and] a valuable example of a strong and economically stable democracy in the Islamic world." In September, the US signed the war supplemental appropriations act that provides as much as $8.5 billion in economic assistance for Turkey. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
