ANKARA/ISTANBUL - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on Sunday that Turkey attributed great importance to United Nations (U.N.) resolution but nevertheless did not link everything to U.N. resolution.
Gul left for United States on Sunday to participate in U.N. General Assembly 58th session that will be held in New York.
Speaking at Ankara's Esenboga Airport, Gul said he would also meet with foreign ministers of around 30 countries. Gul said U.S. State Secretary Colin Powell and Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou were among the foreign ministers he would meet.
Gul said he would address the U.N. General Assembly on September 26, stating that he would meet U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Gul said he would participate in special meeting on Afghanistan that would be held under the leadership of U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Gul and his Greek counterpart George Papandreou will hand over the documents which show that two countries had approved Ottawa Convention on land mines to Canadian Foreign Minister. The convention is on the Prohibition of the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of antipersonnel mines and on their destruction.
Stating that he would hold bilateral meetings, Gul said he would meet with 30 foreign ministers including United States, Britain, China and Greece.
Gul said he would meet with EU Commissioner Chris Patten for foreign affairs, EU's Special Envoy to the Middle East Marc Otte and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa.
Foreign Minister Gul said he would meet with Turkish citizens living in New York and environs and with administrators of Turkish associations and federations. Gul said he would participate in meetings with Turkish Businessmen Forum and Turkish-U.S. Chamber of Trade and Industry. Gul said he would deliver a speech that would be hosted by Turkish-American Association.
Gul said he would attend Eurasia 2003 that would be held with the leading think-tank organizations of the United States. He said he would participate in World Leaders Forum, interview with American press, and receive administrators of some Jewish institutions in the United States.
Gul said he would later pay visits to Brussels and Rome, and have talks on Turkish-EU relations.
In Brussels, Gul will meet with EU Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen on September 29 and inaugurate ''Contemporary Turkish Art Exhibition'' together with Verheugen.
Gul will meet with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on October 1.
When asked what kind of a message would be conveyed regarding dispatch of Turkish soldiers to Iraq during his meeting with U.S. State Secretary Colin Powell, Gul said, ''as you know, this will take place with the political will of the government. Prime Minister announced, there would not be a NSC meeting from now on. Meetings take place in Presidency when necessary. The government will assess the situation when parliament opens, and will bring the issue onto the agenda of the parliament. There is an intense effort in the United Nations to issue a new resolution. Turkey launches every kind of initiatives on this issue.''
Replying to a question about importance of the U.N. resolution for Turkey, Gul said, ''Turkey of course attributes great importance to this, but nevertheless does not link everything to U.N. resolution.''
Gul said Turkey was a neighbor of Iraq and to this end it had a different responsibility from the other countries. He said Turkey wanted to contribute to efforts to restore order in Iraq.
Gul said Turkey was in a position to take a decision by taking into consideration the interests of the region and its own interests.
When asked whether or not the information coming from the United States was satisfactory to take a decision on Iraq, Gul said Parliament would authorize the government.
Gul said there were still some technical issues to work on.
When Gul was recalled about the statements that Iraq people did not want Turkish soldiers, he said everybody would favor departure of foreign soldiers from their country, but noted that, ''if foreign soldiers are to go to Iraq, Iraqi people will prefer Turkish soldiers to soldiers of other countries since the beginning.''
(AY-BRC) 21.09.2003