Mubarak heads to Turkey

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his Turkish counterpart Suleiman Demirel during their meeting on Saturday in Ankara will discuss means of developing Syrian-Turkish relations and the possibility of convening a summit between the two countries to settle all pending issues, following the success of their security talks and defusing the crisis.

Egyptian diplomatic sources told the London-based al-Hayat daily on Thursday that the atmosphere is suitable to convene Syrian-Turkish talks on a level higher than security committees to discuss all issues, including water-sharing, which is considered one of the main points of dispute between Iraq and Syria on the one hand and Turkey on the other.

President Mubarak's talks in Ankara will deal with the situation in Iraq and call on Turkey to halt its military campaigns in northern Iraq, preserving the unity of the Iraqi territories and the role that Ankara can play in the peace process on all Arab tracks.

President Mubarak will be accompanied during his two-day visit to Ankara, which comes in response to an invitation issued by Demirel in September 1997, by Foreign Minister Amr Moussa and high-ranking officials.