ANKARA - Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said on Saturday that there was a dynamic process in Iraq and Turkey would determine its attitude according to the conditions.
Gul attended a program in private NTV channel.
Gul said they decided that it would not be beneficial to send soldiers to Iraq due to current conditions in Iraq and after negotiations with the United States.
Upon a question whether conditions would change in the future or not, Gul said, ''there is a dynamic process in Iraq and we will determine our attitude according to conditions. I hope they will not need us in the future.'' He added that they would not give back the authority to Parliament.
Noting that the decision of not sending soldiers should not only be related to Kurds, Gul said that there were other circles in Iraq which were concerned about this issue.
Gul said that he had broad consultations about the issue of sending soldiers with U.S. State Secretary Colin Powell during their phone conversation and a joint understanding came out.
Gul said that they had reached a consensus with Powell on every kind of struggle against PKK/KADEK terrorist organization in the north of Iraq and he was sure that concrete developments would be seen regarding this issue in the future. He added that American administration confirmed that every type of struggle would be given on this issue.
Gul said that Turkish soldiers would remain in the north of Iraq as long as terrorist organization stayed there and withdrawal of Turkish soldiers from the north of Iraq was out of question.
Gul said that in case of a threat or attack against Turkey, they would do every necessary thing without hesitation.
Noting that he had talked with Powell on the reconstruction of Iraq as well, Gul said that it was clear that Turkey and the United States would have the leading role on this issue. He added that Turkey-U.S. friendship was reinforced again and the United States saw that Turkey was an ally to be trusted.
Noting that the impression was clear that U.S. administration was protecting Kurds in Iraq, Gul said that Kurds were a reality of Iraq, but the balance should not be destroyed, adding that if this was not the case a potential danger could appear.
Emphasizing that everybody attributed importance to territorial integrity of Iraq, Gul said that Iraq's controlling its own territorial integrity was important.
Gul said that EU made a mistake about Cyprus issue in its progress report, adding that Turkey was launching efforts for Cyprus issue, the EU had to know that.
Gul stated that good willing efforts had to be launched to find a solution for Cyprus issue until May 1. Gul stressed that not only the Turkish side, but also the Greek Cypriot side had to be told that they had obligations to fulfill in that respect. Gul underlined that both sides had to start negotiations after the elections in TRNC.
Foreign Minister Gul said that 2003 Progress Report on Turkey didn't include negative issues in its political criteria part, adding that the report clearly stressed the progress recorded by Turkey.
Noting that the report mentioned the deficiencies in implementation, Gul said that the government already knew them, and the government knew them even better than Europeans.
Gul said that there were some circles within EU which didn't want Turkey to be a member of EU and they caused trouble, adding Turkey would fight those circles.
(GC-ÖŞ) 08.11.2003