NEW YORK - Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said on Saturday that decision on dispatch of soldiers to Iraq could not be made under pressure from any country.
Gul held a press conference in Turkish House in New York after wrapping up contacts he had during the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly.
Foreign Minister Gul underlined that ''the fact that north of Iraq was not a base for terrorist was important for Turkey.''
Gul noted that decision on dispatch of soldiers would be taken up after the parliament re-opened.
Where soldiers would be deployed was being debated by military delegations, Gul stated.
When a reporter recalled that the U.S. government called 10 thousand soldiers into military service as foreign countries had been late in sending soldiers to Iraq, Gul said, ''every country makes its decisions under its own conditions. As Turkey, we will take a decision after discussing the issue at the parliament. Such decisions are not taken under pressure from any country.''
Pointing out that the issue would come onto agenda after the parliament re-opened, Gul said, ''this concerns Turkey not the United States.''
When a reporter claimed that the loan was risky and was conditioned on nonentry of Turkish soldiers in north of Iraq, Gul said, ''nothing is secret. The decision of the Congress was announced months ago. Everybody who can speak English read and understood the text. As you know, the United States earlier wanted Turkey to enter Iraq with 30-40 thousand soldiers. The parliament rejected it. There is not any engagement against Turkey. If there is such thing, it is possible for us to reject the loan. We have military presence in north of Iraq. I think that it is not right to cause negative results by force.''
Gul said, ''if Turkey wants to destabilize Iraq, of course the United States won't give any loan. But, we are doing the opposite. I see that the loan has a positive impact on the market and this impact is very obvious. The United States gives this loan to the countries which had some loss due to the Iraq war in order to help them minimize their loss. I will be astonished if some circles come to a conclusion that we give up the fight against PKK.''
Asked if soldiers saw the loan agreement, Gul said, ''soldiers don't need to see the loan agreement. The Foreign Ministry, Treasury Undersecretariat and jurists examined it.''
Recalling that Turkish soldiers were kept ready against any massacre or immigration during the war, Gul said, ''but, we did not intervene since there was not any need. We needn't go there since there is not any massacre or migration. What is important for us is preservation of Iraq's territorial integrity and efforts to prevent the north of Iraq from being a base for terrorists.''
''U.N. resolution on dispatch of multi-national force to Iraq and normalization of the country will be distributed to member countries next week. Then, initiatives will be accelerated. The draft has almost been prepared,'' Gul stated.
Gul said, ''Turkey contributed to U.N. resolution. Iraqi people should see that occupation will not be permanent and new forces are not coming to their country to prolong the occupation. If Turkey decides to go to Iraq, it will go there to normalize this country, help Iraqi people and facilitate daily life of Iraqi people.''
Foreign Minister Gul will attend meeting of D-8 countries in New York on Sunday and go to Brussels at night.
Gul will meet with European Union (EU) Commissioner for enlargement Guenter Verheugen and then go to Italian capital Rome.
(BRC) 28.09.2003