ST. PETERSBURG - Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc said on Thursday that today, Turkey was one of safest and most stable countries in the world.
Arinc took over term presidency of Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) from Sergey Mironov in the meeting of PABSEC in St. Petersburg. Arinc and Mironov held a joint press conference.
Replying to a question, Arinc said that there were Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin in Turkish Republic and added that those people did not have any problem with the state.
Stating that Turkey went through painful days due to acts of terrorist organization for 10-15 years, he said that there was not any terrorist action in Turkey currently. Arinc said that this terrorist organization carried out propaganda for foreign tourists not to visit Turkey and stated that this propaganda did not work. He stressed that there was increase in the number of tourists visiting Turkey in recent years.
Arinc noted that especially Russia was one of countries which sent many tourists to Turkey and said, ''Turkey is one of safest and most stable countries. Turkey succeeded in its fight against terrorism. Those who will visit Turkey should not have any doubt on this issue.''
(EÖ-AÖ) 03.06.2004