U.S. Treasury lauds economic talks with Turkey

“We were pleased with the progress and level of cooperation with Turkey on a number of issues,” spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters. “Turkey is a very good friend and ally of the United States and we look forward to continuing our discussions.”
Taylor arrived in the Turkish capital Ankara last Thursday for discussions about the state of the Turkish economy and the country’s efforts to introduce reforms to spur growth. He returned to Washington on the weekend.
A Turkish parliamentary vote on allowing American troops to use Turkey’s bases is due on Feb. 18. The country, which shares a border with Iraq, also is at the center of a tug-of-war between NATO allies after France, Germany and Belgium had blocked proposals to start planning for the deployment of AWACS surveillance planes, Patriot missiles, anti-chemical and anti-biological warfare teams to Turkey.Turkey has formally invoked Article 4 of the 19-member alliance’s 1949 founding treaty — a rarely used measure that highlighted the gravity of the situation facing NATO. The United States has denounced the action by France, Germany and Belgium and, on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said that NATO had an obligation to offer Turkey assistance in the event of a war against Iraq.