ISTANBUL - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that an oppressive regime ended in Iraq with capture of Iraq's ousted head of state Saddam Hussein. ''Iraq's gaining stability and peace as soon as possible will undoubtedly have a positive influence on us,'' he added.
Erdogan told reporters that the process of war that started and actually ended in Iraq also ended symbolically with the capture of Saddam Hussein. ''We are against oppressive regimes, dictatorships wherever they are.''
''As an oppressive regime in Iraq is ending, we have full belief that there is a recent suitable infrastructure for democracy, human rights, and wealth that will influence peace process in Iraq. Of course, it is not easy to estimate the duration of this process. What we believe is that: Provided that everybody should respect Iraq's own territorial integrity, accept that Iraq's all assets belong to Iraqi people, we hope Iraq will take its place among world nations in cooperation.''
Underlining that an unrest in Iraq will influence Turkey negatively, Erdogan said, ''Iraq's gaining stability and peace as soon as possible will undoubtedly have a positive influence on us.''
Erdogan said that they did not and would not leave Iraqi people alone. ''We will be together with Iraqi people as a state, as a government, as a nation. I say it clearly. Like we have said earlier 'we are together with Iraqi people in their physical structuring', we will always be with them in their political structuring as well with our current accumulation. Indeed, you all know Turkey's contributions to Iraq in regard to humanitarian aid. This will increasingly continue. I hope this new period will be better for all Iraqi people and humanity.''
Responding to a question about possible effects of Saddam's capture on Iraq's restructuring, Erdogan said that it was early to make a comment on the issue.
(AÖ-AÖ) 15.12.2003