CHICAGO
Gul on Sunday met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over a lunch ahead of a NATO summit meeting in Chicago. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu participated in the meeting which was held on the invitation of the German chancellor.
The lunch was closed to news media.
Turkish diplomatic sources close to the meeting said that Merkel praised Turkey's economic performance and she briefed Gul on a meeting of the G8 countries summit held on Saturday.
Sources said Gul conveyed Turkey's expectations from the European Union to ease visa requirements on Turkish citizens.
Sources also quoted Gul as telling Merkel that Turkey would not contact EU term presidency if Greek Cyprus assumed Union's rotating helm, but continue talks with the European Commission and other EU bodies.
Turkish president meets UN SG
Gul also met with United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
The two leaders discussed Afghanistan, Syria and Cyprus.
President Gul told Ban Ki-moon that Turkey's support to Afghanistan would continue after 2014 and it was crucial to win the hearts of Afghans.
Gul told Ban Ki-moon that the full implementation of the six-point Kofi Annan Plan on Syria was highly important and that the number of UN observers in Syria should reach several thousand as 300 were not enough for a country as big as Syria.
Ban, in his part, thanked President Gul for Turkey's assistance to Syrians staying in Turkey.
On Cyprus, Ban told President Gul that he was disappointed over not seeing any progress within his good will mission in the island.
Gul meets with French counterpart and Dutch PM
Gul met with his French counterpart Francois Hollande and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutteicago
