Rice's 'Mission Critical' in Turkey

The new U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will arrive in Ankara on 5th of February. Her visit will be brief but in no way easy. Rice will stay in Turkey for two days, and plans to discuss American policies in the region and also tackle the Iraq issue. This will be Rice's most critical trip to date since becoming the new U.S. Secretary of State.Rice will arrive on Saturday evening and will meet Foreign Minister Gul, Prime Minister Erdogan and President Sezer. It's not presently planned that she will meet Chief of Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok.    During her visit Rice is expected to address Turkish officials who are critical of U.S. policy in Iraq. Meanwhile, Ankara will be seeking definite assurances from Washington on the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq. Ankara is expected to voice its hopes for support from Washington with regards to preventing Kirkuk becoming the new capital of Kurdistan. She will leave Turkey Sunday after meeting her Russian counterpart Lavrov.  Â