ANKARA - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that Turkish Armed Forces and Republic of Turkey could not be use as a tool of simple plans.
Erdogan attended a program live broadcast on private NTV channel and replied to questions.
Asked if he believed in sincerity of the Americans in fight against terrorism, Erdogan said that nobody could know about the internal world of people and noted that the United States accepted KADEK as a terrorist organization.
Erdogan stated that sanctions were debated and they wanted the United States to assume a different approach.
''After the September 11th terrorist attacks, the United States pioneered fight against terrorism. The United States should impose necessary sanctions against terrorism by a fair attitude irrespective of the nation, race, country and source of terrorism. As Turkey, we said that an international anti-terrorism platform should be formed and we wanted to take part in that platform. In the end, we have taken our place in it. The United States is also in it. We have to continue this joint fight against terrorism. Because, we have lost almost 40 thousand of our people due to terrorism. We have paid a very serious cost. The United States should understand us well. I believe that the United States will approach our demands positively,'' Erdogan said.
Erdogan noted that Turkish Armed Forces fought against terrorism in Southeastern Anatolia Region whether or not the United States was beside it and in the end, the armed forces got the result.
''Our armed forces will make the necessary fight from now on. And, we will get the result we want in the end. We don't have any problem with this. But, we won't make Turkish Armed Forces and Republic of Turkey be used as a tool of simple plans. We won't permit it,'' Erdogan said.
Erdogan pointed out that those who made evaluations in television channels sometimes used the issue as a very simple bargaining tool and expressed sadness.
''We make necessary consultations and negotiations with the General Staff. We make consultations with the Presidential Palace when necessary. This issue was sometimes discussed by the National Security Council. Then, the government will take necessary steps. We are evaluating the issue with not only the Foreign Ministry, but also the General Staff. And, we are taken our steps accordingly. There are issues which should be kept as secret. Everything can't be explained in detail,'' Erdogan said.
When asked about rumors if he had frozen 45 helicopters project of the Turkish Armed Forces worth of about 3 billion U.S. dollars and informed the U.S. companies about the move, Erdogan said, ''I did not make such a statement. The National Defense Minister told me that there was such a situation. Then, the project automatically froze. When such a demand is conveyed to me by the Chief of General Staff and National Defense Minister, we evaluate it. Moreover, we always talk about strengthening Turkish Armed Forces with modern defense vehicles and materials.''
Erdogan added, ''we have to seize these opportunities. We should not continue our path by a mentality that we can use helicopters if helicopters come from only one source.''
TURKEY WILL USE 8.5 BILLION U.S. DOLLARS OF LOAN TO REPAY DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN DEBTS
Erdogan said, ''the protocol on loan says that this loan doesn't have any connection with dispatch of soldiers to Iraq. The protocol has a condition that Turkey and the United States should be in solidarity in Iraq issue.''
When he was recalled about the statement of the military that they were uneasy about connection of 8.5 billion U.S. dollars of loan with northern Iraq issue and asked if State Minister Ali Babacan would visit Chief of General Staff Hilmi Ozkok to give information, Erdogan said that it was an economic issue and it concerned the Treasury.
Erdogan stated that the government did not plan the budget according to that loan agreement.
They aimed to continue the economic program seriously, Erdogan said.
Erdogan noted that they would not make concessions of financial discipline and a Turkey which had prepared its budget accordingly was not in need of 1 billion U.S. dollars of grant.
Recalling that Turkey would pay 63.5 quadrillion Turkish liras (TL) of interest this year, Erdogan said, ''when we take this into consideration, is a Turkey which pays this much interest in need of 1 billion U.S. dollars?''
Erdogan said, ''we don't accept such a grant. We will accept it if you turn it into loan. What has happened? It was turned into 8.5 billion U.S. dollars in grants and has a maturity of 18 months. We will determine the timing. We will pay it whenever we want. The loan is connected with this or that condition is not a serious thing. Why? Because, it will be linked to a condition if I take the loan. Otherwise, there will not be any conditions. In fact, the protocol on loan says that this loan doesn't have any connection with dispatch of soldiers to Iraq. The protocol has a condition that Turkey and the United States should be in solidarity in Iraq issue. We continue consultation on some issues with the United States.''
''Two-three thousand lorries carry food, medicine and oil to Iraq every day. Nobody talks about what the contribution of the lorries to economy is. All these are indication of economic revival. All these are steps taken as a result of positive developments with the United States. We don't have any problems at the moment,'' Erdogan stated.
Erdogan said that the loan had a very low interest rate and the amount of money saved only from this low interest was 1 billion U.S. dollars.
Asked when decision on dispatch of soldiers to Iraq would be made, Erdogan said, ''there is no need to make such a decision for the loan. Whether or not to use this loan is a decision to be made by us. We will either use it or not use it according to the repayment schedule. For example, the first installment can be taken till the end of this month. We will use it in repaying our domestic and foreign debts. We don't think of using it for other purposes.''
When he was recalled that the military made a statement that they did not accept connecting the loan with the condition that Turkey would not enter north of Iraq and asked if there was a communication gap among some units of state, Erdogan said that if the issue was evaluated in the way it was reflected to the press, such misunderstandings could occur.
Replying to a question if steps would be taken to overcome the problem, Erdogan said that lack of information could be overcome and it was not a problem.
Asked about the stage of talks between Turkey and the United States on terrorist organization PKK/KADEK, Erdogan said that initiatives were carried out ''in a very serious dialogue'' with the Office of General Staff.
Erdogan said, ''we have given an authority to the Office of General Staff. The Office of General Staff continues talks. We don't continue our meetings in connection with any development. We don't say the United States that we will do something on condition something is done in return. We are discussing what we can do and what should be done.''
''Firstly, what is the requirement of our national interests? Of course, I will regard my interests first of all for the sake of my country and my country's security. Isn't the security of my country a national interest? I have to think about these. I have to think about the Office of General Staff. We have to take this step by thinking the future instead of today,'' Erdogan said.
Erdogan went on saying, ''moreover, Iraq is our neighbor yesterday, today and tomorrow. Many of our tribes in Southeastern and Eastern Anatolia regions are of the same root with the tribes in Iraq. So close people can't be separated from each other. We think what we can do for happiness and tranquility of Iraqi people. There is no infrastructure, water and electricity in Iraq. We start sending them water, electricity and food. We want to do more.''
''Our businessmen will undertake projects there and better the infrastructure. These projects can be carried out by some international partnerships. I have expressed my positive opinion that our soldiers can contribute to peace and positive atmosphere there. We sent soldiers to Korea in the past. Similarly, we sent soldiers to Kosovo, Somalia and Afghanistan. We have soldiers in more than 20 countries in the world,'' Erdogan said.
Erdogan noted that the parliament could take the necessary step regarding the issue and could authorize the government to take the step.
They planned to make a decision at parliament soon, Erdogan added.
(BRC-AÖ) 02.10.2003