ANTALYA - Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said on Friday that authority was given to the government on dispatch of Turkish soldiers to Iraq, but that there was nothing like this authority would be used immediately. He said this authority would be used after formation of all conditions.
Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul, who represented Turkey at the meeting, replied to questions of reporters after ending of the 10th Ministerial Meeting of the Mediterranean Forum (FOROMED).
When asked about the attitude of forum member countries toward the issue, Gul said information was given to the ministers, and that intention of the Turkish government was conveyed.
Gul said a stable, peaceful and democratic Iraq, having positive relations with its neighbors, was important for Turkey, stating that territorial integrity, integrity of political structure of Iraq, and its sources belonged to Iraq, and that Turkey wanted to make contribution in this respect.
Foreign Minister Gul said they conveyed to the ministers that Turkey would not be a part of occupation, and that they determined a period of time for this. He said all the countries, particularly Moslem Arab countries, evaluated this as a positive sign.
Gul said Turkey, by determining a period of time, showed that nobody would be continuous in Iraq, and that Iraq belonged to Iraqis. Gul said, ''this is not an easy mission, but you would be obliged to fulfill some difficult missions if you are a neighbor''.
When Gul was reminded about the statements made by Iraqi Governing Council that they did not want Turkish soldiers in Iraq, he said, ''everybody may have ideas, but it is not right to reflect only the negative views.''
Gul said, ''some members, who were appointed to Iraqi Governing Council, recently began to make policy by using us. We feel uneasy about it. We clearly conveyed our uneasiness to the United States.''
Stressing that Turkey wanted Iraqi Governing Council to play an important role in transition period, Gul said, ''however, nobody should try to make policy on Turkey.''
Gul said Iraqi Governing Council did not take a decision against Turkish soldiers, noting that the Council did not have any authority regarding security.
Gul said Turkish soldiers would go to Iraq to meet needs of people, not to daunt Iraqi people, stressing that no decision has been taken yet on the issue of how the soldiers would go to Iraq. He said this was a military issue.
Replying to another question, Gul said Turkey's decision on dispatch of soldiers to Iraq would not effect EU process.
Gul said Turkey took a concrete step by giving a decision for one year, stating that, ''this one year period in fact shows the end of the tunnel to Iraqi people. This is also a sign for the other countries.''
(AY-Öª) 10.10.2003