CHICAGO (AA) - Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc said on Sunday that Turkey was a friend of the United States, but this did not mean that Turkey would always do what the United States asks.
Arinc, who is currently in the United States on a state visit upon formal invitation of U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Dennis Hastert, had a meeting with the members of the Turkish community living in Chicago.
Stating that during the Iraq war, Turkey opened its airspace to U.S. planes just for humanitarian reasons, Arinc stressed that ''but we did not allow U.S. troops to stay in Turkey or pass to Iraq via Turkey.'' He added that the position adopted by the Turkish parliament regarding this issue was approved all over the world.
''We are a friend of the United States. But this does not mean that we always do what the United States requires. National interests of countries are important,'' Arinc indicated.
Stating that the United States was an important country regarding world peace, Arinc noted that relations between Turkey and the United States would grow better if the two countries would support each other.
(E֭ULG)
2005-05-30