Top �� What's up around the Prime Minister �� April, 2004

Prime Minister Meets with Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey Monday, April 12, 2004 Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi held talks with Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey and exchanged opinions on the situation in Iraq and the case of Japanese hostages at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. At the meeting, Prime Minister Koizumi said regarding the case of Japanese hostages in Iraq, "I believe that Turkey, sharing borders with Iraq, possesses a great deal more information than Japan does. The Government of Japan is faced with a difficult challenge of safely rescuing the three hostages," and requested cooperation on every front including the provision of information. In response, Prime Minister Erdogan expressed his position of sparing no effort in providing necessary cooperation, saying, "I gave instructions to report to me if any new information is obtained during my stay in Japan."