Turkey’s Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, who is recovering from a brief illness, said he would take a final decision in a couple of days on whether to go ahead with a planned three-day visit to Afghanistan and Pakistan, in comments published in a Turkish daily on Thursday.
"I do not want at all to have to postpone the visit. I will wait for a few more days and then look at the situation again," Ecevit told Hurriyet daily in response to a question on whether the trip would be risky for his health.
The Turkish Premier has been resting at home since being briefly hospitalized on May 4 for an intestinal infection. He is widely expected to return to his office next week after he recovers from a stiff back muscle.
Meanwhile, according to various press reports, Deputy Prime Minister Husamettin Ozkan has advised Ecevit to postpone the visit, scheduled for May 23-25, due to a deadly heat wave that has hit both Pakistan and India, claiming hundreds of lives.
The visit, if it takes place, will come before Turkey, the only Muslim country in NATO, takes over the command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) for six months after Britain. (Albawaba.com)
