US President George W Bush will meet Turkish President Abdullah Gul next month to discuss efforts to fight Kurdish separatist rebels and Turkey's goal of joining the European Union, the White House said Friday, according to dpa. Also on the agenda of the January 8 talks at the White House - Gul's first visit to Washington as president - is promoting peace in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and the broader Middle East, White House deputy spokesman Scott Stanzel said. Turkey, a key member of the NATO military alliance, has recently stepped up raids on bases in northern Iraq of armed Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) separatists. The Bush administration has tacitly condoned the raids but urged Turkey to avoid killing civilians, fearing a major assault would destabilize the Kurdish part of Iraq. Turkey and the US both call the PKK a terrorist group. Countering the PKK is "of mutual concern," Stanzel said in a statement. Looking westward, the US backs EU membership for Turkey, but EU governments are split over whether to admit the secular Muslim country as a full member. Bush "looks forward to establishing a good relationship with President Gul," Stanzel said.
