WASHINGTON D.C., Jan 29 (A.A) - Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the leader of Justice and Development Party (AK Party) said on Monday that there was no obstacle for him to continue doing politics.
Erdogan, who is currently in the U.S. to attend the ''World Economic Forum'' summit to be held in New York, addressed Centre of Strategic Studies (CSIS).
When asked if there was an obstacle for him to continue doing politics, Erdogan said that ''the court decision does not ignore my membership in the parliament or my being the president of AK Party. It only tells that I can't be the founding member, this is not an impediment for politics. Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals also wanted to cancel my leadership of the party. But this was rejected unanimously. I continue doing politics now. In fact, AK Party is not a person oriented party.''
When asked if his party had an Islamic basis, he said that ''you present our party in a wrong way. We are not the successor of any party. We are focused on human being, rather than religion.''
''The elector basis of our party is not limited to one part of the society. It is also not limited to a certain geography. Independent surveys show this fact clearly. This elector basis is composed of mainly conservative section of the society. An average Turk is a moderate Muslim. Our party represents the common values of moderate Muslims. We target to strengthen the democratic and secular character of the Turkish society,'' he said.
Upon a question on Kurdish education and broadcast, Erdogan said that ''there is no discrimination of people in Turkey in respect of their origins. Our party supports the preservation of an ethnic group's own culture. We can permit that as long as the official language of Turkey is Turkish and as long as this does not give any harm to the unitary structure.''
Answering another question about the fundamentalists' burning a hotel in central Sivas province claiming the lives of 37 persons, Erdogan said that ''it is not possible to approve that incident, I was one of the persons who condemned the incident when I was the mayor of Istanbul. It will be wrong to accuse one certain party for that incident.''
Noting that Turkey had one of its biggest economic crises of the last 50 years, Erdogan claimed that the extreme dependenceny on IMF weakened the economy.
Erdogan stated that the government has to get the support of the people to be successful in economic reforms, alleging that none of the three parties in the coalition would pass the ten percent threshold if elections were held today.
Upon another question about EU membership, Erdogan said that AK Party wants Turkey to join the EU, but it also expects EU to be resolved in admitting Turkey.
Erdogan said that Turkey's EU process lasted more than 43 years, adding that countries which applied to the EU 4-5 years ago, advance on membership process rapidly.
Erdogan condemned the terrorist incidents that took place in the U.S. on September 11, adding that no excuse could justify those attacks.
Noting that September 11 attacks constituted the beginning of international fight with terrorism, Erdogan said that ''our party thinks that military measures would not be sufficient. There has to be a dialogue between the Islam and west. A country like Turkey and a party like AK Party can contribute to that dialogue.''
Democracy functions in Turkey despite the deficiences, Erdogan said and noted that securalism is a constitutional order and Turkey can be taken as an example with its characteristics.
Stressing that he regards the U.S. as the natural partner of Turkey, Erdogan said that Turkey suffered a lot from terrorism, and that 40,000 people died and Turkey lost 120 billion dollars because of that. Erdogan said that Turkey also extended support to the international coalition formed against terrorism.
When a journalist asked his views about punishing Osame Bin Laden, Erdogan said that ''I earlier told that I would accept whatever decision the international court would give about him, Taliban, Molla Mohammad Omer and Al Qaeda.''
When an attendee asked his views about the possibility of Islamic countries' electing dictators like Osame Bin Laden as their leaders if they adapt democracy, Erdogan said that they can come to power, but they can't stay long in power.
When a journalist asked him if he considered Hamas as a terrorist organization, Erdogan said that ''if it is involved in terrorism, it is a terrorist organization.''
Upon a question of A.A after his speech in CSIS, Erdogan said that he would not meet with the American administration officials.
''I came here to participate in the World Economic Forum meetings to be held in New York. If the meeting was held in Davos, I would go there. We will also have contacts with non governmental organizations,'' he added.