WASHINGTON D.C. - Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal, who is currently in the United States, met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman and U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz.
Addressing journalists following his meetings, Ziyal said that they had reached agreement that relations should continue in the near future.
Ziyal said, ''I held a very beneficial meeting with Grossman. We reviewed our relations in detail. We have reached an agreement that relations should continue in the near future. We will continue expending efforts to this end. We will continue further improving our relations.''
Meanwhile, Grossman said that Ziyal and Armitage had held a very beneficial meeting earlier in the day.
Noting that they had exchanged views on all issues concerning Turkey and the United States, Grossman said that Ziyal and he had reached a compromise that relations were of great importance both for Turkey and the United States.
Upon a question, Grossman said that the issue of Iran was brought onto agenda during his meeting with Ziyal.
Grossman noted that Iran's nuclear program was taken up at the G-8 meeting.
Meanwhile, Ziyal said, ''we held a very positive meeting on our relations. We stressed that Turkey was opposed to presence of weapons of mass destruction in the region and nuclear initiatives. This issue was discussed at the International Atomic Energy Agency and the G-8.''
TURKEY PRESENTS A COMPREHENSIVE PROPOSAL PACKAGE TO UNITED STATES
Responding questions of journalists following Ziyal's meetings with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman and U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, Turkish Ambassador to the United States Faruk Logoglu said that the package included many fields including political and economic issues.
Pointing out that Turkey had several proposals about rebuilding process of Iraq, Logoglu said, ''the package also includes the issue of financial support to Turkish companies. The United States can allocate a part of its donation of 1 billion U.S. dollars or its loan of 8.5 billion U.S. dollars to rebuilding process of Iraq. The U.S. side conveyed a document to the Turkish side a while ago about this donation and loan. Turkish and U.S. bureaucrats will start holding meetings on the issue in Ankara in the coming days.''
Logoglu told reporters that the package included possible contributions of Turkey to stability force in Iraq. He noted that the U.S. side would assess Turkey's proposal.
He added, ''terrorist organization PKK-KADEK was also taken up at the meeting. Since this problem could not be resolved yet, the United States did not request Turkey to withdraw its soldiers from Iraq.''
ZIYAL: ''TALKS TO START WITH U.S. TO GET 8.5 BILLION DOLLARS OF CREDIT SUPPORT FROM U.S.''
Ziyal said on Monday that the negotiations about ensuring one billion dollars of donation or 8.5 billion dollars of credit from the U.S. would start within this week, adding that part of that aid would be used in activities of reconstruction in Iraq.
Ziyal attended a tv programme in American C-Span tv channel, and said that Turkey went through difficult economic crises, but it was about to overcome those crises. Ziyal said that the aid of the U.S. and the support through the IMF was appreciated by Turkey.
Ziyal said that the 8.5 billion dollars credit would come to Turkey within the scope of IMF programme, adding that ''the part of that aid can be used in reconstruction of Iraq. This aid in fact comes in relation to the Iraqi issue.''
Referring to a comment published in Washington Post newspaper claiming that Turkish-American relations were tense and went worse, Ziyal said that the two countries were long term allies, accepting that a certain kind of tension was seen in the relations. Ziyal said that allies can't be expected to agree in all issues, adding that relations had many dimensions and Turkey and the U.S. which shared a common vision, would continue to work together.
Ziyal stressed that Turkey and Israel were the democratic countries in the region, adding that the U.S. appreciated the call of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul to Middle East countries for democracy.
Upon a question asking about the possibility of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Washington D.C., Ziyal said that ''it is very likely.'' Ziyal noted that both Gul and Erdogan could visit Washington D.C. in the coming months, adding that they would work to plan their schedules.
Ziyal stressed that Turkey wished the coalition in Iraq to be successful, adding that Turkey suffered economically during the regime of Saddam Hussein and that Turkey wanted to improve its economic relations with Iraq in time of peace and it was ready to work with the U.S. for the success of Iraq.
When a person who called the program said that he found the words of U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz regarding Turkey harsh, Ziyal said, ''Paul is my friend. He also announced that his words were reflected wrongly in the press.''
Replying to a question about Turkey's relations with Syria and Iran, Ziyal said, ''we are neighbor to Syria and Iran. Our neighborhood with these countries is both positive and negative. The United States can have some concerns about this issue. Our aim is to develop relations positively.''
Emphasizing that regional stability was important for Turkey, Ziyal said that the Middle East underwent an evolution and Turkey closely followed developments in Iran.
Ziyal noted that they wanted to continue economic relations with Iran and self-determination of Iranian people was wanted.
Expressing Turkey's concern over the terrorist organization PKK, Ziyal said that there were 4000-5000 PKK terrorists in the north of Iraq and that it was the main issue to prevent infiltration of those terrorist elements in Turkey.
Recalling that Incirlik air base was still important and provided logistic support to U.S. soldiers, Ziyal expressed belief that Incirlik would play an important role in the future.
Ziyal drew the attention that injured soldiers were still being brought to Incirlik base.
When a participant said that he wanted to bring his family to Istanbul and asked if ''there were radical Islamist there'' and if ''it was secure'', Ziyal said that 10 million tourists came to Turkey the previous year and emphasized that Turkey was a very secure country.
Ziyal added, ''I recommend you to see Istanbul and other places in Turkey.''
Turkey and the United States had exerted extraordinary efforts in negotiations carried out before the war, Ziyal said.
Ziyal noted that serious effort was exerted within the framework of the belief that the decision regarding U.S. soldiers would be accepted in parliament.
Asked about the lessons taken from the Iraq issue, Ziyal said that both Turkey and the United States should pay more attention to concerns of each other and public opinion should be well-informed.
(UK-Öª-BRC-AY) 16.06.2003