On Khaddam's visit to Turkey

The BBC correspondent in Ankara said on Friday that the current visit of the Syrian vice- President Abdul Halim Khaddam to Turkey comes at a time when the debate continues on the future of Turkish- Syrian relations.

The correspondent added that despite the rejection of the Turkish traditional circles over the participation of the Turkish President in the funeral of the late President Hafez al-Assad, however, Ankara did not hide its satisfaction over the security cooperation with Syria.

The Turkish officials admitted that Syria has stopped all forms of cooperation for the Kurdistani workers party at a time when certain traditional forces centers have reservations over any strategic relation with Syria, as far as the latter ( Syria) still demands for having back the Iskandaroun Sanjak. An issue which these Turkish sources find the most important in Ankara's relations with Damascus as Damascus calls for signing a bilateral agreement to settle definitely the question of the Euphrates river waters.

The correspondent added that at a time when diplomatic sources see in Khaddam's visit to Turkey as an initiative from Damascus to open a new page with Ankara, similar to what happened in the relations between Turkey and Greece, this is the very thing thought by both Damascus and certain Turkish sides which see in Syria an important gate for Turkey and for opening, though it into the Arab states.

For its part the Monte Carlo radio said that Khaddam's visit to Turkey came in the framework of the Syrian desire to reach with Turkey to " declaration of principles " that draws the general framework for relations between the two countries.

The radio added that Khaddam is carrying a message from President Bashar al-Assad to the Turkish President, believed to convey acceptance for al-Assad's visit to Turkey in a later date. This visit ( Khaddam) which is the first for a high ranking Syrian officials since years is an indication that Syrian- Turkish relations are in the phase of normalization, especially as these relations are sometimes stuck since years by differences in view points on matters like dividing the waters of the Euphrates, border demarcation at Iskandaroun Sanjak and other security issues.