TOKYO - Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul, who is currently in Japanese capital Tokyo on an official visit, was received by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan on Thursday.
Responding questions of journalists following the meeting, Gul said, ''we held a very beneficial meeting.''
Recalling that Japan had taken a decision to send its soldiers to Iraq, Gul said, ''Prime Minister Koizumi wanted to learn Turkey's views and to benefit from Turkey's experiences. I told him that Turkey has become a center of humanitarian aid to Iraqi people. I also informed him on possible role of Turkish and Japanese firms in rebuilding process of Iraq. He was very interested.''
Meanwhile, Japanese press showed great interest in Gul's visit.
In an interview with the Yomiuri Shimbun daily, Gul said about capture of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, ''a new era has begun in Iraq. Turkey has welcomed capture of Saddam Hussein. All obstacles in front of democracy in Iraq have been removed. Now, necessary measures should be taken to accelerate the process of democratization.''
Gul told the Asahi Shimbun newspaper that they would allow Japanese defense forces to use facilities in Turkey for humanitarian purposes.
Noting that Turkey had been carefully monitoring all separatist activities of Kurds in northern Iraq, Gul stressed, ''the new constitution of Iraq should not include any characteristics that can lead division of the country.''
Referring to the United States' request from NATO to strengthen its role in providing security in Iraq, Gul said, ''it is not certain yet whether or Turkey would send military troop to Iraq as an ally of NATO. All I can say at this points is that Turkey has been supporting NATO's contribution to Iraq from the very beginning.''
(UK-AÖ) 18.12.2003