Obama to visit Turkey

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Obama to visit Turkey

by Mike Dorning and Christi Parsons

President Barack Obama is planning a trip to Turkey as part of his administration's ongoing outreach to the Muslim world, a senior administration official said this morning.

The trip is meant to continue dialogue with leaders in Muslim countries, the official said. But it will not include the speech from a Muslim capital that Obama spoke of during his presidential campaign.

"Planning for the Turkey visit is just the beginning," the official said. "It will be an important opportunity to visit a NATO ally and discuss shared challenges."

Obama said in an address in the summer of 2007 that he would deliver an address in a "major Islamic forum" during the first hundred days of his administration. He said he would make it clear that "we are not at war with Islam" and that "we'll stand with those who are willing to stand up for their future."

But in an interview with the Tribune in December, Obama said he wasn't sure about the timing of that speech.

Earlier this week, the White House announced that the president is planning a trip to Europe the end of this month, and that he will be at the NATO meeting in Germany in early April.

Week In Review With Daniel Schorr

This week, more sobering economic news from the Labor Department. The country's unemployment rate jumped to 8.1 percent last month, the highest since 1983. Meanwhile, President Obama held a day-long summit on health care at the White House. And Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is making the rounds with visits to the Middle East, Brussels and Geneva.