ANKARA - U.S. State Department Undersecretary Marc Grossman for Political Affairs said on Tuesday that they wanted continuation of arrangements made in Incirlik base in the past and it was for the benefit of two countries.
Following his meetings with Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul and Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal, Grossman replied to questions of reporters about the situation of Incirlik within the scope of re-arrangement of U.S. military existence abroad.
Grossman said that Incirlik was a Turkish base and they wanted arrangement made between two countries in the past to continue in the future.
Consultation process about the arrangements in Incirlik continued at the moment, Grossman noted.
Grossman stated that they had not made a final decision yet and they wanted arrangements to be perfect.
They would continue talks with Turkish side especially about training and operations, Grossman said.
Grossman stated that Turkey and the United States were victims of terrorism.
Noting that terrorism was a crime, Grossman said that Turkey and the United States had to fight against that crime shoulder-to-shoulder.
Expressing his sorrow over the attacks in Istanbul, Grossman said that the attacks did not have any link with Iraq.
Grossman noted that there had been terrorism in Iraq before them and it would continue to exist, adding that the aim of their presence in Iraq was to end terrorism.
Grossman said that they were in Iraq to fight against terrorism, better living conditions of Iraqi people and help Iraqi people continue their own lives.
It was more likely for a country under Saddam Hussein's control to produce and use weapons of mass destruction, Grossman noted.
New global threats occurred after the Cold War had ended, Grossman noted.
Grossman stated that NATO member countries were face to face with new threats like global terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.
They wanted to make use of new technologies and fight against threats more efficiently with their NATO allies, Grossman emphasized.
When he was recalled that 8.5 billion U.S. dollars of loan to Turkey was conditioned on Turkey's not entering into north of Iraq, Grossman said that some of those conditions were the conditions put by the Congress and they wanted to record progress in 8.5 billion U.S. dollars of loan.
Grossman expressed belief that two countries could find ways to record progress in this issue.
Noting that Cyprus issue was also taken up in his meetings, Grossman said that they expected a progress in this issue in the near future.
(BRC-AÖ) 09.12.2003