ANKARA - Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said on Thursday that passing laws from the parliament was very important, but implementation of those laws was more important.
Speaking at a news program on private television channel CNN Turk, concerning criticisms of some circles from the European Union (EU) who said that ''Turkey does not show sensitivity in implementation of laws,'' Gul said laws which were passed from the parliament were implemented and stated that not implementing those laws was a crime.
Gul said that there could be some problems in implementation of laws from time to time and stated, ''laws are being implemented and it is impossible for laws not to be implemented.''
Regarding criticism of some circles from the EU on ''Turkish army's guardianship on the policy'', Gul said that those kinds of criticisms were not fair.
Stating that no one should make such criticisms, Gul said that such an impression should not be created in this period when the country exerted efforts for joining the EU.
Gul said that Turkey had army-policy relations as in democratic countries and recalled the decision of the parliament during Iraq war. He said that the parliament took a decision with its own will and people should respect this decision.
Abdullah Gul said that everything was done in compliance with interests of Turkey.
Concerning some criticisms which said that Turkish-U.S. relations were harmed, Gul said that Turkey has been continuing its relations with U.S. government for a long time and added that there were rooted relations between the two countries.
Gul said that Turkey had good relations with the United States since Korean War and stated that there were also good relations in Afghanistan and one of the most important signs of those good relations was Turkey's undertaking the command of international force in Afghanistan for a certain period of time.
Foreign Minister Gul said that Turkish-U.S. relations would further improve in the future.
''It is out of question for Turkey to say yes to everything,'' he said and noted that what would be made was to work for settlement of stability in the region.
Noting that Turkey did not want nuclear weapons in the region, Gul said that Turkey suffered from terrorism a lot. He recalled that the United States started to attribute great importance to fight against terrorism after September 11 attacks in this country.
Concerning the statement of former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Richard Perle who said that Turkey's not supporting the United States on Syria and Iran issues can yield negative results in relations, Gul said that the United States put pressure on Syria for nearly a month, but tension decreased now.
Gul recalled that he said in the meeting of Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) that Turkey, as a Muslim country, did not have any prejudices regarding anyone and noted that he also said that everyone should firstly put their domestic affairs in order, and equality, transparency and democracy were necessary for all Muslim countries.
Regarding Foreign Ministry Ugur Ziyal's visit to the United States which will start on June 15, Gul said that Ziyal would discuss technical and concrete issues with U.S. officials. Gul said that he would hold political talks in the United States and added that there were concrete issues between Turkey and the United States.
Gul said that decisions were taken on concrete issues during U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit to Turkey, stating that transportation of gas oil to Iraq was also included in those things.
Stressing that there were many things which should be done in Iraq, Gul said that a meeting with Powell could be held according to results of talks of Ziyal.
(EÖ-AÖ) 12.06.2003