Turkey Backs India-Pakistan Peace Moves

The first session between the two foreign ministers was held soon after Gul, also Turkey’s deputy prime minister, arrived here Tuesday for a two-day visit.

“Today we discussed important regional developments in Iraq and Afghanistan and again we happily observed that we share similar views,” Gul said.

“Our prime minister is going to visit Pakistan on June 15 and President Musharraf has accepted an invitation to visit Turkey.”

A Foreign Ministry statement here said “the president assured that Pakistan would continue to support the Turkish position on the Cyprus issue till its final settlement.”

Turkey and Pakistan also agreed to cooperate in reconstruction and peacekeeping operations in Iraq, the foreign ministers of the two countries announced in a joint press conference earlier. Gul told the press conference that “the resources of Iraq should belong to the Iraqi people” who, he said, needed peace and security too.

Kasuri, however, said Pakistan would participate in peacekeeping in Iraq only under the United Nations’ cover.

“We have requests (for Pakistan’s participation) but we have asked for a legal cover,” he said. Kasuri said the United States and Britain were “more and more trying” to accommodate the views of other nations, citing the changes made by them in their draft resolution on Iraq for the consideration of the UN Security Council. Gul said Turkey wants to strengthen its “extraordinarily friendly relations” with Pakistan “in all fields.” Foreign ministers of the two countries would meet at least once a year, and their juniors twice a year, to review the progress made in developing relations, Kasuri said.