the U.S. to participate in high-level Joint Defense Group meetings between Turkey and the U.S. in Williamsburg, near Washington, Second Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug said yesterday the outlawed terrorist organization Kurdish Workers Party - Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (PKK-KADEK) would be on the agenda. Bilateral defense cooperation will also be discussed. Basbug is expected to meet with Deputy U.S. Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, Deputy U.S. State Secretary Richard Armitage, Assistant U.S. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and Deputy of the U.S. Chief of General Staff General Peter Pace, before leaving on Thursday.
| Diplo note: We're giving Turkey the honored guest treatment here. Basbug's meeting with everybody who's anybody except Rice and Rumsfeld, and Rumsfeld's out of the country. Condi might be, too. The dance isn't over yet, and the music changed when Qaeda hit Istanbul. We've still got more mutual interests than we do sticking points. |
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