NEW YORK - Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said on Monday that Turkey does not have any secret agenda regarding Iraq.
Gul who addressed a dinner organized by American-Turkish Society (ATS) and National Committee for American Foreign Policy said that Turkey had a legitimate interest in developments in Iraq.
Gul said Turkey sincerely wanted peace, stability and prosperity for Iraqi people, and political and territorial integrity of Iraq be preserved.
Gul noted that Turkey worked together with the United States for a prosper Iraq. Replying a question on establishment of a federal administration in Iraq, Gul said that what was important for Turkey was that Iraq`s protecting its political and territorial integrity as a democratic country having peace inside and outside the country. He added that it could be any system that would not lead to destruction of its integrity, underlining that no doorway should be left open that would lead to destruction of Iraq`s integrity.
Emphasizing that Turkey was a neighbor to Iraq, Gul said that Turkey would continue to live in the region when others left. ``That`s why, we consider your success as our success, and your failure as our failure,`` he said, adding that they understood from success providing democracy and prosperity in Iraq and usage of Iraq`s own resources for prosperity of Iraq`s own people.
Gul said that Turkey and the United States needed to make more cooperation, consultation and coordination regarding Iraq. Gul noted that all logistic needs in Iraq were met by Turkey, and 3 thousand trucks carried goods from Turkey to Iraq every day, and number of trucks carrying goods to Iraq exceeded 285,000.
Underlining that Turkey condemned terrorism on every occasion, Gul said that no reason could legitimize terrorism. Recalling that Turkey suffered much from terrorism, Gul said there were no safe haven in the world against terrorism. He said that they should fight altogether against terrorism.
Gul said that they tried to increase standards of democracy and human rights in Turkey with reforms for the last two years. Adding that they also made radical structural reforms in economy, Gul said that they literally made a ``silent revolution`` in the country.
Noting that human rights standards were increased with these reforms to the level of that of European standards, Gul said the decision that European Union would give in December on starting membership negotiations with Turkey would be a historical decision for the world as well.
Gul said that the decision would be a proof that democracy and human rights were not peculiar to a single religion or a region. He added that Turkey`s EU membership would bring momentum also its relations with the United States. Gul added that Turkey which was an EU member and a strategic partner of the United States would play a significant role in Trans-Atlantic relations. Noting that Turkey and the United States had joint targets on a wide scale, Gul said that their partnership and cooperation with the United States was very valuable for them.
Gul said that Turkey wanted to diversify its relations with the United States and increase joint economic initiatives.
Noting that a chance for solution was missed in Cyprus because of negative stance of Greek Cypriots, Gul said that efforts were under way to increase confidence building measures between Turkey and Greece.
Replying to a question on relations between military and civilians in Turkey, Gul said these relations were quite different than three years ago. Underlining that they were also proud to have a strong Turkish Armed Forces, he said but their being strong and their place in the democratic system were two different issues. He added that all military spendings were taken under parliament`s control, and an ambassador was appointed as Secretary General of National Security Council, and this institution which was a ``shadow government`` a few years ago was completely turned into an advisory body.
Replying to another question, he said Turkish military existence in Cyprus continued because of Greek Cypriots` attitude against solution. He underlined that there would have been only 600 Turkish soldiers, not thousands of them if Greek Cypriots had accepted Annan plan.
(AÖ) 28.09.2004