ANKARA - Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said late on Wednesday that talks at the Turkey-the United States Joint Commission had been continuing within mutual understanding.
Speaking at a program on the private Channel 7 TV, Gul said, ''reason of presence of Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq is quite clear. Number of our soldiers and their weapons are known. We experienced a really distressing event. Our soldiers were not staging secret activities in the region. They were fulfilling their duties. Speculations cannot be valid because Turkey is a country expending efforts for settlement of stability in Iraq.''
''Relations between Turkey and the United States cannot be considered ordinary relations between two countries. Therefore, a high-level commission has been formed to investigate the event. Talks at the Turkey-United States Joint Commission had been continuing within mutual understanding,'' he said.
Noting that the commission had a program, Gul said, ''works will continue under the program. At the end of the works, facts will be revealed. We will request all necessary things from the United States.''
Referring to claims that U.S. soldiers detained Turkish soldiers upon a denunciation saying that Turkish soldiers were planning to assassinate the governor of Kirkuk, Gul said, ''such a probability is not valid for us since we do not have any benefits. Our real benefit is settlement of stability in Iraq as soon as possible. However, there have always been factors, who want to damage friendly relations between the two allied countries.''
Describing detention of Turkish soldiers as a local event, Gul said, ''if the event had occurred as a result of approval of Washington, it would have had a different dimension. No one has the right to make mistakes against Turkey.''
Upon a question about criticisms of the opposition, Gul said, ''all necessary initiatives were launched. If we had given a note to the United States, our relations would have come to an end. I believe that no one would want declaration of war. No one neglected his duty.''
Responding a question about his scheduled visit to the United States, Gul said, ''we have been assessing the issue. There is a problem. But we cannot resolve it by leaving it behind.''
''U.S. and British forces are the authority in Iraq at the time being. Both the United States and Britain do not cooperate with the terrorist organization. We expect them to fight against terrorist organizations. We did not receive any intelligence about such a cooperation,'' he said.
Referring to recent developments in Iran, Gul said, ''we have been monitoring all developments without intervening in domestic affairs of Iran. We believe that Iran would resolve the problems with its own experiences. Cooperation between Turkey and Iran on security issues has been increasing. In recent months, Iran has been fighting against the terrorist organization PKK.''
(UK-AÖ) 10.07.2003