VIENNA/ANKARA - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that what should be done on the road to the European Union (EU) was to make implementations.
Erdogan, who replied to questions of reporters on the plane en route from Austria to Turkey, said that they would give priority to implementation after the seventh adjustment package.
Asked if Turkey would get a definite date for membership in 2004 and if promises for supporting Turkey would be kept, Erdogan said, ''during the visits we pay to Europe, prime ministers and ministers of EU member countries state that Turkey is getting very close to a date for membership process each passing day. This does not mean that we have taken the result. We will continue our work on adjustment packages.''
Erdogan noted, ''we will continue and accelerate this process we name as adjustment and implementation process. Yes, we have passed adjustment packages but the EU member countries don't assume a positive approach if there is not any implementation. This means that we have to make implementations. We will give priority to implementation after the adjustment package. There are laws which have been put into practice.''
When asked if there was reaction against the seventh adjustment package and what kind of compromise they searched for the Higher Education Board (YOK) bill, Erdogan said that they were in an effort to take step with consensus.
Erdogan recalled that the seventh adjustment package was just a draft and stated that the Foreign Ministry continued efforts to make the draft a bill.
''We want to get information from not only the president, but also the Office of General Staff and the opposition party, the parties outside the parliament and the non-governmental organizations,'' Erdogan said.
Erdogan noted that they would bring the bill to parliament after getting that information.
Asked if the bill would be brought to parliament before recess, Erdogan said that they would do that.
Erdogan said that they also searched for a consensus about YOK bill and recalled the meeting among National Education Minister Huseyin Celik, the rectors and Inter-Universities Board.
''After the meeting with our friends, we said that we should present the draft to the rectors, opposition party, Office of General Staff and president and inform them. We want to bring the issue to parliament after it re-opens in September,'' Erdogan noted.
Asked about the efforts to overcome unjust treatment that Turkey was subject to in Iraq and if a message came from the United States, Erdogan said that he did not agree with the expression ''unjust treatment in Iraq'' more than anything
Erdogan said, ''why should we be unjustly treated in Iraq? What have we lost there? What have we given? There is not such thing. Turkey maintains its current position as it maintains it political dignity within its borders. But, an unfavorable and ugly incident occurred there. Our 11 soldiers in Iraq were released at the end of initiatives launched after this ugly incident. In my opinion, it is ugly to keep this issue continuously on the agenda, make it a virus aiming at deteriorating our friendly relations with the United States, and use this incident for these aims. Because, we are making politics and it is wrong to make politics on anger.''
''Look, the Iraq war is also very interesting. Those who showed the government as deteriorating the relations with the United States and showed it as unsuccessful in bilateral relations with the United States are now acting differently. It is not possible to understand this. After this incident, commissions are formed by two sides. These commissions continue efforts. We wish that this incident will lead to good developments. It will help understand each other better,'' Erdogan said.
Erdogan added, ''we are NATO allies. Therefore, it was wrong to evaluate such an intelligence given by some others without consulting to your serious partner and to cause such an incident upon this intelligence. We feel sad about this. U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney whom I spoke for three times was sincere and kept his promise.''
A ''fait accompli'' was plotted regarding the so-called Armenian genocide allegations, Erdogan said.
Erdogan noted that the resolution did not come onto agenda thanks to efforts of Cheney.
They would continue Turkey's international policy on ''maintenance of existing friendship and increase of friends'' not on ''losing friends and gaining enemies,'' Erdogan added.
ERDOGAN: ''I DON'T THINK THERE WILL BE RETURN TO PAST ABOUT TERRORISM INCIDENTS''
When a journalist recalled the statement of former President Suleyman Demirel that Turkish Prime Minister had to call directly U.S. President Bush during detention of Turkish soldiers in Iraq, Erdogan said he did not know Demirel had made such a statement. Erdogan said, ''however Mr. Demirel can not differentiate status of U.S. President and U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney. I would like to remind him to differentiate their status well. Turkey is not administered by presidency system. All the world knows the position of U.S. President and Cheney.''
When a journalist said Demirel indicated that you had difficulty in reaching Bush, Erdogan said, ''we can reach if needed. However, the person we had to reach there was Dick Cheney.''
Responding to a question about the information that was conveyed to him after detention of Turkish soldiers in Iraq, Erdogan said he could not give information before talks ended.
When asked where they would have the most difficulty on the way to the European Union (EU), Erdogan said, ''Copenhagen criteria are clear. As the 58th and 59th governments, we make the reforms on the way to the EU to upgrade living standards of our people. We can put the name of those criteria as Ankara criteria. You should take Turkey to the EU. The 10 countries, which were lately taken to the EU, don't deserve the EU more than us.''
Responding to a question about broadcast in mother tongue, Erdogan said there were studies which RTUK and private televisions have to carry out in this respect, stating that they could not put pressure on anybody in this respect.
When a journalist said, ''Supreme Court of Appeals will probably approve court decision about DEHAP. It had been stated that DEHAP entered November 3 elections by mistake, and that DYP exceeded the threshold,'' Erdogan said Higher Election Board (YSK) was the institution which would take the final decision. Erdogan said YSK had taken its decision and put the final point.
When a journalist asked about the allegations about the photograph taken with Gulbeddin Hekmatyar, Erdogan said, ''some people want to make use of this. Prime Minister of Turkish Republic will not be a means to this. Our lawyers will carry out the talks about it. We can not keep those in our agenda much because we have many things to do.''
Responding to a question whether or not the increase in terrorism incidents in the recent days created uneasiness, Erdogan said he did not think that there would be a return to the past in this respect. Erdogan said, ''particularly after Re-Association Law steps in this respect started to be taken. I am sorry that we started to construct houses instead of those which had been damaged in quake in Pulumur, Tunceli. We said they are our citizens and that the state would support them. We can not accept an attack on the governor who controlled there. He had gone to control the investment but an attack was launched against his convoy and two soldiers were killed. This can not have any rightful aspect.''
Erdogan said, ''we don't want our people to be deceived by games. We warn our Kurdish citizens to be alert and not be exploited by people that want to use them. All of us are citizens of Turkish Republic.''
(AY-BRC) 13.07.2003