Gül, Bush speak on the phone after Lavrov talks in Istanbul

ANKARA – Turkish Daily News

President Abdullah Gül yesterday held a telephone conversation with U.S. President George W. Bush for “comprehensive consultations” over regional and international matters, reported the Anatolia news agency.

The two leaders discussed the Turkish-led Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform, as well as the problem over the oil-rich Iraqi city of Kirkuk and the negotiations set for today on the divided island of Cyprus, said Anatolia, citing unidentified sources.

The telephone conversation follows a meeting between Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in Istanbul. At the expense of triggering a collision course with the west, Russia declared last month that it recognizes the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The global balances upset in the wake of the latest Caucasus crisis has left Turkey in a dilemma as the country may be forced to choose between the two if the rift deepens in the near future.

The passage of NATO’s military vessels through the Turkish straits, under the Montreux Convention of 1936, to dispatch humanitarian aid to war-torn Georgia has become a source of controversy. Russian military officials raised concerns over the NATO buildup in the Black Sea.