PARIS, Oct. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder kicked off informal talks in Strasbourg in northeastern France on Friday, focussing on Turkey, European financing and Iraq issues.

    The meeting, in the presence of the two countries' foreign ministers, Michel Barnier and Joschka Fischer, is within the framework of "Blaesheim" informal consultations, which were installed in Febuary 2001 to boost the French-German motor for theEuropean Union (EU) construction.

    Besides Turkey and the bloc's finance perspective for the period 2007-2013, the two leaders will prepare for the next French-German ministers council that is to start on Oct. 26 in Berlin.

    They will also talk about other international questions, especially the situation in the Middle East and Iraq, ahead of an international conference on Iraq.

    They will be then greeted by Fabienne Keller, mayor of Strasbourg in the city hall for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the city's liberation.

    It will be another common gesture of the two leaders after the D-Day ceremonies on June 6 to show that a democratic Germany joinsFrance to commemorate Europe's liberation from the Nazism in WorldWar II. Enditem