U.N. Special Representative For Iraq Mello In Ankara

ANKARA - The United Nations Special Representative for Iraq Sergio De Mello arrived in Ankara on Monday for holding meetings.
Foreign Ministry and U.N. officials welcomed De Mello at Ankara's Esenboga Airport.
De Mello was accompanied by Turkey's Baghdad Ambassador Osman Paksut.
De Mello, who had earlier coordinated rebuilding activities in war regions such as Cambodia, East Timor and Balkans, was appointed to his current mission by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on May 23.
De Mello will work in Iraq for four months.
GUL-DE MELLO JOINT PRESS CONFERENCE
Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said on Monday that Turkey's sending soldiers to Iraq should be considered in a broad vision, not only as sending a gendarme force to the country.
Gul and the United Nations (U.N.) Special Representative for Iraq Sergio De Mello held a joint press conference after their meeting at Foreign Ministry building.
Upon a question regarding Turkey's sending soldiers to Iraq, Gul said that the issue should not be considered as the country's sending only a gendarme or police force to Iraq.
He said that the issue should be considered in a broad political vision as taking role in re-structuring process of Iraq and being more effective there.
Stating that Turkey knew the region well and had cultural ties with the region, Gul said, ''if we believe that we are helpful, you can see developments according to it. Everything is at the level of mutual assessment now.''
De Mello said that a conference on re-structuring of Iraq would be held in October and stated that they also expected Turkey to participate in this conference.
De Mello said that Turkey, as a neighbor of Iraq, could play an important role in the region and stated that it could contribute in formation of legitimate government in Iraq and extend assistance to Iraqi administration in settlement of democracy consciousness in the country.
De Mello added that they should support not only humanitarian aid, but also all efforts which would be exerted in other fields.
Stressing that De Mello's visit to Turkey was beneficial, Gul said that De Mello and he had chance to take up what happened in Iraq.
Gul said that Turkey was playing an important role with respect to humanitarian aid and added that the aid would continue.
Stating that Turkey had a moral responsibility for Iraq since this country was a neighbor of Turkey, Gul said that there was a new structuring in Iraq and a government including civilians was formed. He recalled that assignments would be made to the cabinet and a new constitution would be prepared.
Gul said that De Mello and he discussed developments regarding those issues in the meeting.
Upon a question regarding Turkey's participation in international coalition in Iraq, he recalled that no. 1483 U.N. resolution invited countries to re-building of Iraq and stated that however there was not any separate U.N. resolution concerning re-building of Iraq under the structure of the United Nations.
Gul said that's why parliaments of countries would take a decision whether they would extend help to re-structuring process of Iraq by their own will.
''We are at the level of assessing it now. As you know, it was demanded from us officially. We, as Turkey, are evaluating what Turkey can do in regard with humanitarian, military and political issues by considering current situation and the future of Iraq,'' he stated.
Gul said that issue should not be considered as the country's sending only a gendarme or police force to Iraq.
He said that the issue should be considered in a broad political vision as taking role in re-structuring process of Iraq and being more effective there.
Gul said that Turkey knew Iraq well, adding that ''we have historical relations with the region. We know the traditions of the region. In that respect, if we believe that we can be helpful, then you can see developments in line with it. Everything is being mutually evaluated now.'' Gul said that he talked with De Mello the importance Turkey attributed to territorial integrity of Iraq, noting that ''no separate structures should be formed in Iraq, a central authority has to be formed and Baghdad has to be strengthened. Kurds, Arabs should be told to be active in Baghdad. If different advantages are given to different groups, this will endanger the territorial integrity of Iraq.''
When asked his view about the claims saying that ''the members of the Kurdish parliament in exile met with American officials in Iraq,'' Gul said that ''the thing you say is the information you have. We hope those who will benefit from the Reassociation Law will benefit from it. This is the last opportunity given to them, we hope they will use it well. There is an authority in Iraq. Earlier, terrorists could settle there as there was an authority vacuum. The authority in Iraq is determined not to permit those terrorists to take shelter.''
When reminded about the recent developments in Azerbaijan, Gul stated that Azerbaijan had its own constitution, political parties and order, adding ''we think that everything will come out in that order without causing any instability.'' Expressing his good wishes for Azerbaijani President Haydar Aliyev, Gul said that there was no need for any worry and that he believed everything would happen within democracy and peace.
Recalling that Azerbaijan was a member of Council of Europe, Gul stated that this showed that the legal system in that country had come to a certain level.
DE MELLO: TURKEY CAN PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN RECONSTRUCTION OF IRAQ
De Mello said that he came to Ankara within the scope of his visits to neighbouring countries of Iraq.
Noting that there were deep bonds stemming from history between Turkey and Iraq, De Mello said that Iraq went through a very difficult and problematic period and as Foreign Minister Gul said, a responsibility was in question.
De Mello said that Iraq could overcome this transition process with the help of U.N. and its neighbours, adding that it could have a full democratic structure. The special representative said that they would appreciate the contributions of Turkey to this difficult and complicated mission.
When asked about his expectations from Turkey regarding the reconstruction of Iraq, De Mello said that they didn't only support humanitarian aid, but all efforts. De Mello said that they expected the participation of Turkey to the conference to be held in October.
Noting that they expected the assistance of Turkey in the transition period of Iraq, De Mello said that Turkey could play an important role both politically and diplomatically. De Mello commented that Ankara could help by supporting the administration to be formed in Iraq and also contribute to formation of an awareness for democracy in Iraq.
When reminded about the wish of certain countries for adoption of a new U.N. resolution for sending soldiers to Iraq, De Mello said that the issue of whether such a resolution would be adopted or not didn't become certain yet. De Mello said that U.N. Security Council members would discuss this issue and take a decision.

DE MELLO: MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM IN IRAQ IS TO ENSURE LAWS AND ORDER

ANKARA - United Nations (U.N.) Special Representative for Iraq Sergio De Mello told on Monday Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul that the most important problem in Iraq at the moment was to ensure laws and order.
Diplomatic sources quoted De Mello as saying in his meeting with Gul that there were still serious security problems in Iraq and therefore, formation of police force was very important.
But, De Mello said, that force should be formed within Iraq not from outside.
De Mello emphasized that one of the most important problems in Iraq was to make state departments operational again.
Turkey was the country which had close ties with Baghdad since it was Iraq's neighbor, De Mello stated.
De Mello was also quoted as saying that in that context, they welcomed Turkey's interest in Iraq.
De Mello expressed his personal view that Turkey had worked well in Bosnia and therefore, could be successful in Iraq.
Meanwhile, sources said that Turkish side noted in the meeting that Turkey was carrying out a research on how sending soldiers to Iraq would be met by Iraqi people.
The sources noted that Turkish side underlined that it did not want to ''be occupier force'' in Iraq and pointed out that a special unit could be formed in Turkey regarding humanitarian aid to Iraq.
In the meeting, De Mello defended the view that the distribution in the interim governing council in Iraq was the best that could be made although there were various complaints about the problem of representation.
De Mello said that ''they saw that none of the groups in Iraq were left outside the council when they examined the council well.''
A U.N. team of experts carried out searches in Iraq about how well elections could be held in that country, De Mello said.
De Mello noted that a report would be prepared and that the transition period in Iraq could end in mid-2004.
In the meeting, De Mello stated that Iraqi people trusted the U.N. and stressed importance of U.N.'s being independent from coalition forces. He added that Iraqi people wanted that.
De Mello also said that U.N. Security Council's taking a resolution on Iraq was supported by several circles including U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan but expressed thought that the Americans could cause new problems about that.
Sources quoted De Mello as saying that ''a new possible U.N. Security Council resolution was being supported by several circles but he did not know how possible it was.''
In the meeting, De Mello inculcated Turkey with intensification of its relations with the interim governing council in Iraq and contacts with the United States.
De Mello drew attention that groups which were spread around during the Saddam regime were now discussing issues at the same table, stressing importance of the meeting of all the groups in Iraq.
(BRC) 04.08.2003