ANKARA, Jan 25 (A.A) - Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit received on Friday Defense Minister Alain Richard of France and accompanying delegation who are currently in Turkey on a two-day official visit.
The meeting at the Prime Ministry Office was closed to the press.
National Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu and Prime Minister Ecevit's chief advisers for foreign affairs Erdal Tumer and Ertugrul Ciragan were also in attendance at the meeting.
FRENCH DEFENSE MINISTER VISITS NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTER CAKMAKOGLU
National Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu on Friday received his French counterpart Alain Richard. Cakmakoglu said they described Richard's official visit to Turkey as ''tour to improve relations between Turkey and France which entered to stagnancy period after the acceptance of draft resolution on so-called Armenian genocide in the French parliament.''
Speaking about the visit of the guest minister, Cakmakoglu said, ''we evaluate the visit of the French minister as a tour to improve stagnancy and regression period which we entered following the adoption of draft resolution on so-called genocide on Armenians. Relations between the two countries were very positive till the year 2001.''
Cakmakoglu said, ''we believe that such intiatives aiming to compensate this situation will continue.''
French Defense Minister Richard in his part said the visit aimed at improving the relations in a constructive way.
Pointing out that voting in the French Parliament took place in a way that the French Government did not approve, Richard said the incident should be considered as an isolated one because relations between the two countries have a very positive course.
Cakmakoglu and Richard spoke to reporters after holding tete-a-tete meeting and interdelegational talks.
Cakmakoglu said they had a beneficial meeting discussing bilateral and regional issues as well as political and military issues, and added that, ''we evaluate the visit of the French minister as a tour to improve stagnancy and regression period which we entered following the adoption of draft resolution on so-called genocide on Armenians. Relations between the two countries were very positive till the year 2001.''
Pointing out that a delegation, comprised of French businessmen, visited Turkey, Cakmakoglu said reaction of Turkish public and administrators to the adoption of resolution on so-called genocide on Armenians was known. ''We believe that such initiatives aiming to compensate this situation will continue.''
Stressing that they assessed the two countries have similar views on regional issues, Cakmakoglu said they had the opportunity to discuss support of France to Turkey regarding European Union (EU), and that the sides exchanged views in fight against terrorism.
French Defense Minister Richard in his part said they targeted improving bilateral relations in a constructive way.
Pointing out that voting in the French Parliament took place in a way that the French Government did not approve, Richard said the incident should be considered as an isolated one because relations between the two countries have a very positive course.
Richard said he would like to stress particularly the consensus of opinion between the two countries on strategical issues, and pointed out the support of France regarding Turkey's integration with the EU.
Richard said there were Turkish-French relations on realization of French investments in Turkey, situation of Turkish citizens living in France, willingness of French citizens for touristic visits to Turkey, and scientific areas.
Richard said they would like to establish constructive relations in defense field, adding that he brought a series of proposals in this respect.
When asked about the Armenian problem, the guest minister said he could hold a news conference at the airport, and noted that Turkish and French soldiers acted together in crises periods.
Responding to a question about the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, Richard said the French government thought that Turkey was perfect enough to undertake the responsibility of this force in the future. Richard said the final decision and the conditions belonged to the Turkish government and that they would respect the decisions of Turkey.