ANKARA (AA) - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed that statements, except what he said and what U.S. President George Bush said, in regard to Syria and Lebanon, were made-up.
Erdogan who completed his visit to the United States returned to Turkey today (Saturday) and replied to questions of reporters at Ankara's Esenboga Airport.
When reminded of some statements saying that U.S. President George Bush and he had some disagreements on Syria, Erdogan said: ''I think that media should assess what was said... Statements, except what I said and what Mr. President said, in regard to Syria and Lebanon, are made-up.''
When a reporter asked, ''what role will Turkey have in the Broader Middle East Initiative? Will Turkey be a role model country?'' Erdogan noted, ''its name has changed. It has become the Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative. As Turkey, Italy and Yemen, we have started to work.'' Stating that in a near future he would pay visits to several countries including Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia, Erdogan stated that Foreign Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul was also paying visits to Gulf countries. He stressed that they focused on democracy, fight against terrorism, security, human rights, supremacy of law and freedoms, adding that they would carry out talks on these matters.
When a reporter said that the chapter on enlargement was excluded from the draft document which would be submitted to the European Union (EU) Summit to be held in Brussels, asking whether there was a problem regarding Turkey's EU accession, Erdogan said, ''these matters have nothing to do with Turkey.''
Stressing that Turkey has already been in the process (of expansion), he stated, ''Turkey is a member of the Customs Union... We are playing the final now... The steps Turkey will take is towards October 3rd negotiation process. Our friends are continuing to work on this issue.''
2005-06-11