Turkish FM meets Cheney, Rice

Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul met with Vice President Dick Cheney and then held talks with National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley.

Gul reportedly conveyed Ankara's concerns over an alleged Armenian resolution possibly reaching the floor of the House of Representatives, warning that should the measure pass; relations between the two allies could be seriously damaged.

He also stated that Turkey has had enough of the terrorist PKK and expressed Ankara's impatience on the issue, urging US officials to take concrete steps soon.

Furthermore, he touched on the Kirkuk issue, adding that Ankara favors the preservation of Iraq's territorial integrity.

Gul will also meet new United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki-moon on Friday and will discuss Cyprus problem.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with her Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul, on Tuesday for talks about Iraq and Turkey's European Union aspirations.

Rice and Gul met at the State Department in Washington and were also to discuss Iran, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

Turkey has been increasingly concerned about Kurdish separatists using northern Iraq to carry out attacks inside Turkey and has pushed the US military to do more to crackdown on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a group designated by Washington as a terrorist organization.

The United States strongly supports Turkey's desire to join the European Union, but Ankara has failed to persuade most EU countries to back Turkish membership. DPA, Turkish Weekly