NATO head praises Turkey’s role

On his inaugural tour of NATO member countries as the alliance’s new head, Scheffer yesterday met with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul. “For NATO to play a role in Iraq, we need to have a legitimate new government there,” Scheffer told a press conference after meeting with Gul. In his talks with Erdogan, Scheffer stated that efforts against weapons of mass destruction and terrorism were among the alliance’s top goals, adding that Turkey’s experiences in the fight against terrorism were invaluable in this.