PRIME MINISTER: BOTH THE TRNC PRESIDENT AND PRIME MINISTER HAVE TO BE IN UNITY AND SOLIDARITY IN THIS NEW PERIOD

COLOGNE - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that both Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas and TRNC Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat should be in solidarity and unity in the new period.
Erdogan addressed Turkish citizens late on Tuesday at the Energy Dome Basketball Hall in Cologne.
Noting that a new period had started in Cyprus, Erdogan said, ''both the President and Prime Minister should be again in unity and solidarity altogether there. Now it is time for unity and solidarity. This referendum should never damage this unity and this solidarity. It should be considered as a political decision and democratic right and it should be respected. As the state of the Republic of Turkey, we respect it. Everybody should respect it. Nobody should see himself as a power superior than nation.''
Erdogan stressed that they had the understanding of making the TRNC which is not recognized by any country except Turkey to be a state recognized by whole world.
Noting that if they succeeded, flag of united Cyprus republic would wave at the United Nations instead of the flag of southern Cyprus, Erdogan said that Turkish would start to be spoken in all international meetings as an international language.
Recalling that 76 percent of Greek Cypriots voted ''no'' in the referendum as they would have lost being state, Erdogan said that the most important step in the world was ''being a state''.
Stressing that many countries in the world and European Union (EU) states did not believe Turkey and the TRNC would make such a decision, Erdogan said, ''we earlier said, 'we will keep our word. We will always be one step ahead of Greek Cypriots'. We kept our promise.''
Noting that they had experienced very interesting things during talks with Greece and southern Cyprus, Erdogan said that Turkey had received a request for ''postponement'' but they had told them that they were ready to resolve it before May 1.
''You know about the results of the referendums. We fulfilled our responsibilities and now the world has to fulfil its responsibilities,'' he said.
Stressing that they would never allow violation of Turkey's rights, Erdogan said that they would also never allow violation of rights of Turkish Cypriot people.
''THIRD GENERATION SHOULD SPEAK GERMAN FLUENTLY''
Erdogan has said that third generation of Turkish citizens living in Germany should speak German language fluently, adding, ''their mothers should learn German language, too. We are obliged to do it.''
''I came here to take a step which we can call the economic and commercial breaking point between Turkey and Germany. We have opened the Turkish-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry. I believe it will serve our common benefits and consolidation of our ties,'' he said.
Stressing that Turkey had been waiting in front of the European Union (EU) door for 40 years, Erdogan said, ''did they refuse us or didn't we do what was necessary? Both of them but you have to create the environment on your own because nobody brings you to a place without your efforts. We have to focus on our responsibilities.''
Recalling that they had decreased the state's borrowing interest rate from 69 to 23 percent and inflation rate from 32 to 11.4 percent, Erdogan said, ''it is not a dream to decrease inflation rate to one-digit figures. Our target is to decrease borrowing costs.''
Noting that many state facilities in Turkey had been transformed into touristic facilities, Erdogan said that 3.4 million German tourists had visited Turkey despite Iraq war.
Recalling that nearly 50 thousand German citizens were living in southern Turkish province of Antalya, Erdogan said that Turkish citizens living in Germany should introduce Turkey better.
''I see each of you as an envoy of Turkey. I want you to exert more efforts for integration. Integration and assimilation are different things. It does not happen only with going to work. Can you speak to your German neighbors? Can you eat German meal from time to time?'' he said.
Noting that he wanted the third generation Turkish youth grew up in Germany to speak German language fluently, Erdogan said, ''their mothers should learn it, too. You are obliged to do it. We have two foreign language lessons, English and German, at schools in Turkey.''
Stressing that third generation Turkish youth should also be influential in scientific field, Erdogan said that nearly 30 thousand Turkish young people among 2.5 million living in Germany studied at universities, which was very few.
Regarding Iraq issue, Erdogan said, ''we followed a policy for Iraq. Situation in Iraq is not good. Turkey sends necessary aid to Iraq. We sent one billion U.S. dollars of humanitarian aid last year. We do it in coordination with the United nations.''

(MS) 27.04.2004