Albright's visit to Ankara

Turkish diplomatic sources in Cairo asserted the importnace of the visit that US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is to pay to Turkey on Sunday at the conclusion of her visit to the Middle East.

The sources said that despite the fact that Albright is going to stop for only six hours in Istanbul on her way from the Middle East to the Far East, this stop has an importance at this time when Turkey is suffering from its devastating earthquake and that this short visit confirms the intention of Washington to support Ankara completely and help it in its plight.

At the same time, a Turkish newspaper pointed out yesterday that by this visit Albright will be the first US secretary of state to visit Turkey in five years. Warren Christopher was the last US secretary of state to visit Turkey, but he was in Turkey to take part in a conference affiliated to NATO and not for bilateral talks.

During her short visit to Turkey, Albright is expected to confer with her Turkish counterpart, Ismail Cem, in Istanbul and to visit some regions hit by the earthquake.