TURKEY AND US HAVE MANY SIMILAR GOALS: BABACAN

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
Nov 2 2007

While saying that effective measures needed to be taken against the
PKK, Rice did not specify what those measures would be.

ANKARA – Turkey and the United States have similar positions and
goals on a number of issues, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan
said Friday.

Speaking in Ankara at a joint press conference with US Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice following a lengthy meeting, Babacan said they
had canvassed a number of issues in their talks, including problems,
Iraq and the presence of the terrorist organisation the PKK in northern
Iraq and a bill before the US House of Representatives supporting
Armenian allegations regarding the incidents of 1915.

"We have seen that both Turkey and the US share similar perspectives
on various issues," Babacan said. "The US is a friend and ally of
Turkey. The US is also a strategic partner of Turkey. Within this
framework, we share the same vision regarding the settlement of
problems.

Rice said that the United States considers the PKK to be a terrorist
organization and a common enemy.

"We have agreed with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan that
effective measures must be taken so that Turkey is not faced with
terror attacks in the future," said Rice. "PKK is a threat to Iraq’s
stability; and security of both Turkey and the United States."

Rice said that Turkey was an important friend of the US and that
Washington was thankful to Turkey for organizing the forthcoming
international conference on Iraq in Istanbul, which is due to open
Saturday.

"We discussed various issues, including Lebanon, Iran and the Middle
East peace process during our meeting," she said. "Mr Babacan updated
me on his recent tour of the Middle East."

Following the press conference, Rice met briefly with President
Abdullah Gul.

She is scheduled to leave Ankara late Friday for Istanbul to attend
the international conference on Iraq.