VILNIUS - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had pledged to do her best regarding so-called Armenian allegations, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on Thursday.
Holding a press conference after completing his meetings in Lithuanian capital of Vilnius where he attended the informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers, Gul said that Turkey trusted Rice regarding the Armenian issue.
Touching on the dinner hosted last night (Wednesday) as a part of the NATO meeting, Gul said that development of political dialogue was discussed in the dinner.
''In this context, NATO's position on political matters was discussed. We also discussed development of democracy in the Middle East and Afghanistan. NATO is fulfilling significant duty in NATO, and Turkey is commanding the NATO force there. Therefore, Turkey has a big role. Also, the future of the Balkans was discussed. I had the opportunity to express Turkey's views about these matters. I also held bilateral talks with Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, French FM Michel Barnier, British Minister of State (Baroness Elizabeth Symons) and Luxembourg's FM (Jean Asseborn). I also met Spanish, Hungarian, Portuguese and Polish foreign ministers. I also discussed several matters with (EU foreign policy chief) Javier Solana,'' said Gul.
-INCIRLIK BASE-
Answering a question on Incirlik base in southern Turkish city of Adana, Gul said, ''there are activities related with Iraq and Afghanistan. There are UN resolutions on Iraq's stability. There are logistic services. There is nothing new about making these activities more regular and technical facilitation.''
-''SHOWING NEW POPE AS AN ENEMY OF TURKS IS WRONG-
Answering a question, Gul expressed thought that it was not right to show the new Pope as an enemy of the Turks.
Recalling an interview of the new Pope with a Turkish reporter, Gul said, ''he says that he is not an enemy of Turks and he is not against Turkey. On the contrary, he says that he believes it is right of Turkey to be in the EU with its own beliefs.''