ATHENS - Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said on Tuesday that during his visit to Athens it was confirmed that the tension between Turkey and Greece left its place to cooperation and that stability prevailed bilateral relations.
Speaking in the joint news conference with Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, Gul said that they took up Turkish-Greek relations and cooperation during the meetings.
Thanking his ''friend and colleague'' Papandreou for the aid, expertise and information which the Greek side presented within the scope of Turkey-Greece EU Committee's studies, Gul said that they had the opportunity to take up both the bilateral relations and also the Middle East process, Iraqi and the Balkans issues during the meetings.
Noting that they were pleased with the increase in cooperation and contacts between Turkey and Greece, Gul said that ''these contacts are not only limited to political contacts. All sections of the two societies are in intense contact. This pleasing development should continue. There is great potential for cooperation between the two countries.''
Gul said that they had the opportunity to assess the developments recorded since 1999 during his visit, adding that studies regarding the agreement on prevention of double taxation were finalized.
''Finance Ministers met and reached a compromise. The agreement will be signed soon. This is a very important stage. It will speed up our commercial and economic relations. We target to increase the trade volume between our countries to 1.5 billion dollars. As you know I came to Athens with businessmen. They meet with their Greek counterparts and discuss common cooperation fields. We believe that the privatization studies in Turkey and Greece will also provide opportunities,'' Gul said.
Recalling that natural gas agreement was signed on Feb. 23, Gul said that the agreement constituted a new stage and Turkish pipeline company BOTAS and its Greek counterpart DEPA continued the meetings on natural gas and he hoped that the agreement would be signed soon.
Gul stated that important developments were also recorded in tourism field, adding that the number of mutual visits reached 600,000 this year.
''There is great potential in this field and the Olympics will also bring a new momentum. I think travel agencies will benefit from this opportunity,'' Gul said.
Gul stressed that he and Papandreou ordered the concerned units of Foreign Ministries to improve cooperation in fields of environment, youth, culture, art and press-broadcast.
Upon questions of journalists about Turkey's sending soldiers to Iraq, Gul said that the government took the necessary authority from the parliament.
''We got this authority, but it does not mean that it will definitely be used. If conditions necessitate, we will certainly use it. We are neighbour of Iraq which have common border of hundreds of kilometers and we wish protection of Iraq's territorial and political integrity. We can't stay indifferent at that point. We wish Iraq to get its place in the international society in a democratic and peaceful way. We don't have any secret agenda about Iraq. We want our neighbour to be in stability and peace, this is to our interest. We got the authority from the parliament to help that. We will look at the conditions and decide according to them,'' Gul said.
Papandreou said in his part that the Turkish-Greek relations entered a different framework. Noting that the visit of Gul was positive not only due to its general atmosphere, but due to its concrete results, Papandreou said that Turkey and Greece took up issues with a new point of view and by respecting international law. ''This does not mean that our problems are solved automatically,'' Papandreou said adding yet it created a dynamism.
Papandreou stated that they took up Cyprus problem and the course of exploratory talks in their meeting with Gul, adding that those issues would keep their place on the agenda next year in connection with the EU.
Papandreou gave the agreement on cleaning off anti-personnel mines and cancellation of military manoeuvres as evidence of improving cooperation between the two countries.
Papandreou said that they took up tourism, cooperation in ensuring safety during the Olympics and bringing the Olympics Fire to Istanbul in the meetings, adding that the region of the two countries had to be taken to forefront in tourism field. Papandreou said that he brought onto agenda once again the issue of canceling the visa application for daily visits to Greek islands during his meeting with EU Commission's concerned official in Barcelona, adding that this was not only the demand of Turkey, but also of Greek citizens living on the islands.
Papandreou said that cooperation issue between Turkey and Greece in energy field also had strategic importance, underlining that EU also attached very much importance to this project.
When asked what would be the attitude of Greece if Cyprus issue could not be solved until December 2004, Papandreou said that the issue should be seen as an opportunity, rather than an obligation. Noting that this was an EU decision, not a Greek attitude, Papandreou said that the contribution of Turkey would be determining. The solution of this problem was a need for Turkish and Greek Cypriot, said Papandreou, asserting that Turkish Cypriots in EU would constitute an important tie for Turkey. Papandreou stated that the sides should not regard 2004 date as a threat, but as an opportunity.
Upon questions, Papandreou also referred to ''violations in Aegean'' and said that they took up this issue with Gul, but they could not talk about the details. Noting that political directors of the two countries discussed the issue, Papandreou said that they hoped solution of the problem within the scope of international law soon.
Answering the same question, Foreign Minister Gul said that both sides claimed that they were right in this problem to date. ''Now we started to discuss it. Our military representatives also attend the meetings. I suppose that we can solve this issue by mutual understanding,'' Gul said.
Upon questions, Papandreou stated that exploratory talks continued, but no concrete result was reached yet.
After attending the breakfast with Finance Minister Kemal Unakıtan and State Minister Ali Babacan which will be hosted by Greek Foreign Minister Papandreou on Wednesday morning, Foreign Minister Gul will be received by Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis.
Gul will later proceed to Sarajevo to attend the funeral of former Bosnian President Alia Izzetbegovic.
(ÖŞ) 21.10.2003