Turkey to Call on Putin to Remove Russian Veto on Cyprus

Russian leader Vladimir Putin arrived in Ankara Sunday evening, with his wife. In the dinner hosted to him by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, he said that “We came to Turkey to take bold decisions.”Turkey will seek the support of Putin for the report prepared by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan which calls on the removal of the isolation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The report of Annan can not be submitted to the Security Council, because of the veto threat of Russia. Ankara plans to take up the issue with Putin in today’s talks. Diplomatic sources say that Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul had also talked about this issue with his Russian colleague Sergey Lavrov. Vladimir Putin , accompanied by her wife Ludmilla Putina is accompanied by 26 members of the secret service. The President was welcomed by State minister Kursad Tuzmen and his wife. �