WASHINGTON (AA) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that U.S. President George W. Bush instructed U.S. State Secretary to study direct flights from U.S. to Ercan Airport of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
Erdogan replied to questions of reporters following his meeting with Bush.
A journalist asked, ''if the United States launches an operational action in Syria, and in case an expectation from Turkey appears, to what extend Turkey can meet this expectation? Is such a military possibility in question from the United States? Has this issue been discussed at the meeting?''
Erdogan said, ''this is a very very negative assumption,'' and noted it was wrong for him to make a political assessment over an assumption.
''We have done this over the topics democratization, freedoms, human rights, supremacy of law and joint fight against terrorism. There are many steps that have been taken. For example the issue of Hatay. There are no more land mines and soldiers in Syrian side in the border. Now, we will sweep the land mines and draw our soldiers. Of course this requires time. All of them are change of mentality. All can not happen instantly. We believe to have positive outcomes,'' Erdogan said.
Asked if any timetable was taken up regarding withdrawal of U.S. presence while Iraq issue was under discussion, Erdogan said, ''no. We have not discussed any timetable or withdrawal of the United States from there.''
''We only discussed how we considered the success of the current interim administration. We have a positive point of view to Ibrahim al-Jaafari. We have personally listened to his sincere feelings about democratization. Now, the new constitution should be prepared and Iraq should get prepared for the following process. The conditions are difficult. There is a prime minister and administration struggling under those difficult conditions. We said we will expend necessary support.''
Replying another question, Erdogan said he gave information about the foundations of the minorities in Turkey. He said, ''188 foundation real properties have been given to them so far and registered for their names. Process continues on this issue. We have prepared Foundations Law to accelerate and facilitate the process and sent it to the Parliament. We have given information about this.''
CYPRUS ISSUE
Asked whether start of direct flights from Washington to Ercan Airport of the TRNC, and teaching of U.S. lecturers in universities in TRNC were discussed, Erdogan said, ''we mainly focused on start of flights between Washington and Ercan Airport. U.S. President George W. Bush personally instructed the U.S. State Secretary to study direct flights from U.S. to Ercan Airport. I also thanked to him for visit of U.S. Congressmen to TRNC. A group of British businessmen also visited TRNC. However issues about the universities were not discussed. More than one year passed for the period about the report which UN Secretary General presented to UN Security Council. We asked support for this. We expressed our belief that UN Security Council should make its decision from now on about this issue.''
Asked what the government was thinking to do to prevent anti-Americanism tendencies, Erdogan said, ''we are already showing this with our implementations. Reactions are not needed.''
ECONOMIC RELATIONS
Regarding economic relations between Turkey and the United States, Erdogan said that there are 373 U.S. companies in Turkey at the moment.
''We expect some incentives to increase this number. If several suggestions are made in this issue, I believe interest of U.S. companies towards Turkey will increase,'' he added.
''These companies have several problems in Turkey and we are aware of them. We have taken steps to eliminate these difficulties,'' he noted.
Erdogan said, ''there are positive developments about some new investments. I believe this process will speed up after our meeting with Bush.''
Upon another question, Erdogan stressed that Bush used the expression 'strategical partnership' regarding relations between the two countries. Erdogan said, ''we have confirmed this during our meeting. Steps which were and will be taken can only be possible through partnership. The clearest example is Afghanistan issue. We have seen examples of this in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Somali.''
IRAN ISSUE
When asked whether U.S. concerns over Iran's nuclear armament possibility was discussed during the meeting, Erdogan said, ''it is impossible to react positively to nuclear energy when it is taken up as weapons of mass destruction.''
''If it is considered as humanitarian means, then it has become a different issue. We conveyed that if this issue is considered as weapons of mass destruction, Turkey is negative towards it and it made necessary suggestions. We will continue to do so,'' he added.
     Erdogan said, ''Turkey and Iran have relations in natural gas and trade areas. Certainly, it is impossible to undervalue this condition. But Turkey is negative towards nuclear energy in the aspect of weapons of mass destruction.''
Upon a question about demands of the United States from Turkey, Erdogan said, ''opposition in Turkey criticizes us about our accomplishments regarding these issues. I gave you concrete examples; Turkey has planned to give an assistance worth of 100 million USD to Afghanistan. Turkey commands ISAF for the second time within two years. Turkey has provided logistic support in Iraq issue. Also attitude of citizens of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and determination of Turkish government about Cyprus issue as well as Turkey's attitude towards Broader Middle East Initiative are obvious.''
SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Upon another question, Erdogan said that so-called Armenian genocide was not discussed during the meeting.
''Statements of Bush on April 24th about the issue are known. This issue was overcome and there is no need to keep it on the agenda. There are positive developments about the issue. For instance, so-called Armenian genocide was rejected in Belgium. Also there are positive developments in Council of Europe in this issue. Positive activities are continuing in Germany as well. We will pursue our studies based on documents and information,'' he added.

2005-06-09