President Gul meets with Iraqi counterpart Talabani on sidelines of ECO meeting in Istanbul

President Abdullah Gul yesterday met with his Iraq counterpart Jalal Talabani ahead of an Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) heads of state and government summit in Istanbul. The leaders met at the Tarabya Mansion and spoke for one hour. "I wouldn't leave Baghdad just after the formation of a new government without getting an invitation from you," said Talabani. "Turkey is the only common point of (ECO members). Istanbul is the capital for all of us." He added, "We're determined to improve bilateral relations." For his part, Gul said, "Your high-level attendance at this event shows the cooperation between us. But we haven't been able to make progress on cooperation agreements. We should work to correct this soon."