ISTANBUL - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that there were not any problems in Turkish-U.S. relations.
Erdogan attended a program broadcast on private Samanyolu television channel.
Asked about recent situation of relations with the United States, Erdogan said that the principle of their government was to gain friends not enemies.
Erdogan stated that the government was there to gain new friends.
''There could be some disagreements resulting from some mutual mistakes those days. But, they were in the past. We don't want to re-bring them onto agenda. There can be some mistakes from now on. But, importance of Turkey's place and position in this region is certain. The place and position of the United States in the world is also certain. We have cooperation with the United States thanks to many international agreements. You can't consider all these non-existent'' Erdogan said.
Erdogan added, ''we have economic relations with the United States which are improving each passing day. All these improve our relations. Our relationship will continue within the scope of strategic partnership, human rights and freedoms, friendship and peace in the first quarter of the 21st century. We are in an effort to continue our relations with mutual tolerance. There are not any problems in our relations.''
(BRC-AY) 20.09.2003