NATO's Scheffer meets with Turkish journalists

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer yesterday met with a group of Turkish journalists in Belgium in the runup to next month's NATO summit in Romania. Turkey's NATO Permanent Representative Tacan Ildem also attended the gathering, where Scheffer spoke about Afghanistan, PKK, Kosovo, and US plans for a missile defense system. "If the chaos in Kosovo gets worse, the number of Turkish troops may be increased and their mission extended," he said. "The solution to problems emerging from Turkey not recognizing Greek Cyprus will be up for discussion at the Bucharest summit. I support Turkey's European Union membership. It shouldn't be delayed by difficult issues to be solved only by Turkey. Turkey shouldn't be painted as the only party responsible in these processes. The Cyprus problem should be discussed in both EU capitals and NATO." He added that Turkey would have no role in a planned US missile defense system.