US Secretary of Defense Panetta arrives in Turkey

Before arriving in Ankara for a two-day official visit, US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta had a stopover in Baghdad to join the flag lowering ceremony of the American forces there.  Panetta firstly met with Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz in Ankara yesterday. Reportedly, Panetta thanked Yilmaz for contributions made by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) to Afghanistan and discussed with his counterpart the issue of armed predators that Turkey plans to buy from the US. After paying a visit to Ataturk's Mausoleum, Panetta will be received by President Abdullah Gul today. If his doctors allow him to do so, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will also meet with him. Both Turkey and the US attach importance to Panetta's visit in terms of finding an exact solution to three important issues which has been causing uneasy dialogues between Washington and Ankara throughout 2011, namely, the missile defense system, Turkey's requests with regard to fighting the terrorist PKK which should be adopted by the US Congress, as well as relations between Turkey and Israel. As part of Panetta's contacts, regional issues such as the Arab Spring, efforts exerted by Iran regarding the nuclear and developments in Syria will be discussed. Panetta will also inform Ankara on the impression he got from his visits to Afghanistan and Iraq.