ANKARA - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that he paid visits to many countries since the beginning of the year in order to sort out the internal and external problems of Turkey, and to strengthen the friendship and commercial ties with all parts in the world.
''Our target in our visits was to re-explain Turkey to foreign officials and to voice the peaceful views of Turkey which are based on good will,'' told Erdogan in the parliamentary group meeting of his party.
Prime Minister Erdogan said that they were launching efforts to voice the expectations and sensitivities of Turkey regarding international issues which directly concerned Turkey, adding that ''we had many meetings which will guide the new period of Turkey during our visits to Jeddah, Davos, U.S. and South Korea in the past month. We were pleased to see that when Turkey explained its views about various international issues in a sincere and rational way, it makes headway. I would like to clearly stress that there is a serious difference between the look on Turkey from the country and the look on Turkey from outside. Turkey does not have the luxury in its region to just manage the situation with passive and insignificant foreign policy manoeuvres. We are in a position to cope with all issues and to find solutions to all matters with goodwill without damaging the historical inheritance and high interests of Turkey.''
(Öª-AÖ) 11.02.2004