Ankara: No Invitation Made To Turkey By Iraqi Interim Governing Council

ANKARA - Ankara stated on Monday that no invitation was made to Turkey to come to Iraq by the Iraqi Interim Governing Council.
Diplomatic sources said that Turkey was not warm towards sitting at a table with the Council even if there would be such an invitation.
The sources said that despite the statements of Paul Bremer, U.S. administrator in Iraq, the Iraqi Interim Governing Council had not made any call to Turkey to send a delegation to Iraq.
The sources noted that in case of such an invitation, Turkey's interlocutor would be the United States, which had demanded soldiers from Turkey and gave the message that Turkey was not warm towards possibility of sitting at a table with the Council.
Reacting to statements of Bremer that Turkey had been in Iraq for more than 400 years as ''a colonialist force'', diplomatic sources commented, ''so, what was Britain? They should ask this question to themselves.''
The same sources noted that conflicting statements of the United States showed that ''the U.S. side was confused.''

KAPUSUZ REACTS TO STATEMENT OF BREMER

Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Deputy Group Chairman Salih Kapusuz reacted to Paul Bremer, the top U.S. administrator in Iraq, who described the Ottoman Empire which had ruled Iraq for 400 years, as an occupier force. Kapusuz said, ''colonialists rushed to Iraq whenever the Ottoman Empire ended its rule over Iraq.''
Holding a press conference at his office at the parliament, Kapusuz stressed that Turkey attributed great importance to settlement of stability in Iraq, adding, ''we want Iraqi people to acquire their own administration. However, I want to stress that the Ottoman Empire did not have any imperialist goals in its campaigns against other countries. In fact, the Ottoman Empire acted on behalf of the humanity. Therefore, its activities should be assessed objectively. If such an assessment is made, it will be seen that the Ottoman Empire was not colonialist in its geography at all and that it did not intervene in local cultures.''
''Colonialists rushed to Iraq whenever the Ottoman Empire ended its rule over Iraq. Peace could not be settled in Iraq since then. The reason of the current lack of tranquility in Iraq depended on the understanding of colonialism,'' he told reporters.
Kapusuz went on saying, ''we do not desire continuation of terrorism, turmoil and uncertainty in Iraq for a long time. If events in Iraq develop against our views, they can cause serious mistakes that might distract us for a long time. We are sensitive about the events in Iraq because of our country and our neighborly relations with Iraq. The parliament, therefore, authorized the government. The government has been monitoring all developments in the region and expending efforts to do whatever are necessary. We want a stable Iraq.''
When reminded that the interim administration in Iraq objected to Turkey's project to construct two hospitals in Baghdad and Kirkuk, Kapusuz said that Turkey delivered all kinds of humanitarian aid to its neighbor.
Noting that construction of hospitals were included in Turkey's humanitarian approach towards Iraq, Kapusuz added that they had not received any official reaction about the project.
(UK-AÖ) 27.10.2003