BELEK - Turkey was planning to train Iraqi security officers in the Training Center of Partnership for Peace (PfP) in its capital Ankara, Turkish National Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said on Monday.
Taking the floor in the 15th International Security & Cooperation Conference held in southern Turkish city of Antalya, Gonul said that two Turks were currently fulfilling NATO training mission in Iraq.
Gonul said, ''we think of increasing the number of our personnel working in Iraq. One of the most important factors of this mission is the training of Iraqi security forces outside Iraq. We are planning to train Iraqi security officers in the Training Center of Partnership for Peace in Ankara. At the same time, we are using 100,000 Euros for assistance and training.''
-NATO & EU-
Underlining the importance Turkey attached to efforts to increase NATO's role, Gonul said, ''NATO should launch an initiative to handle modern security problems. The first thing to be done in this context is to improve relations between NATO and EU (European Union) and to make these two organizations complementary to each other. The EU has recently contributed to European security and defense policies. It has exerted significant efforts to increase military and civilian capacities. It targets to establish European Defense Agency till 2010 to develop European security strategy. Also, establishment of an assessment group will also be an important institutional development.''
-NATO'S TRANSFORMATION-
Gonul said that NATO was aware that serious changes were occurring in atmosphere of security and it signaled during its Istanbul Summit (held last June) that the Alliance would transform itself in line with this new atmosphere of security.
Stressing that NATO had launched initiatives for adaptation of its military capabilities, Gonul said that several centers were formed within NATO in this context, including a center for defense training against terrorism.
''We attach great importance to these centers and believe that these centers will speed up NATO's transformation in the short term. Today the international security atmosphere has made a comprehensive transformation of NATO more obligatory than ever,'' Gonul added.