Gul hosts Chilean counterpart

President Abdullah Gul yesterday received Chilean President Sebastian Pinera in an official ceremony at the Cankaya Presidential Palace. Afterwards, the two leaders held a tete-a-tete meeting and jointly held a press conference. In response to a question from a Chilean reporter over media reports that Turkey would ask NATO to deploy Patriot missiles along its border with Syria, Gul said, "There are unfortunately chemical weapons in Syria and missiles to launch them. Turkey has been a member of the alliance since 1952 and NATO's defense concept is holistic and inseparable. Within this framework, there can always be contingency planning in a NATO country neighboring Syria." Gul also at the press conference expressed his satisfaction with the ending of the 68-day hunger strike in Turkish prisons, saying that it is time for a Parliamentary debate to speed up efforts for a resolution to Turkey's decades-old Kurdish issue. Speaking for his part, Pinera said that he admired the Turkish culture and history. "Turkey makes contributions to all special situations in the world. Turkey has always made contributions to solving clashes in the Middle East and solving the Syrian issue," Pinera added. Gul also held a dinner in the honor of Pinera. During his speech at the dinner, Gul said that rooted relations between Turkey and Chile date back to 100 years and Chile became the first Latin American country to recognize the Turkish Republic in Latin America. "We consider Turkey and Chile as the doors opening to Latin American, the Middle Eastern and Asian markets. In this respect, contacts to be held by you in Istanbul tomorrow with business circles will obviously provide our economic and commercial relations with a new momentum," Gul added.