Weekly Press Briefing Held At Cankaya Presidential Palace

ANKARA, March 21 (A.A) - Presidential Chief Adviser for Foreign Affairs Tacan Ildem said on Thursday, ''President Ahmet Necdet Sezer told U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney that any military intervention against Iraq in the current atmosphere where Middle East peace process has been halted and tension has escalated, could lead to an undesired turmoil in the region.''
Speaking at the weekly press briefing at the Cankaya Presidential Palace, Ildem said, ''during the meeting between President Sezer and U.S. Vice President Cheney, all issues concerning the two contries having strategical partnership relations were taken up. President Sezer and Cheney did not focus on a certain issue. Issues such as fight against terrorism, the Middle East dispute, Turkey's membership to the European Union (EU), bilateral relations and Iraq were taken up. During the meeting, President Sezer told Vice President Cheney that Turkey was not positive about a possible military intervention against Iraq that could yield negative results.''
''President Sezer told Cheney that any military intervention against Iraq in the current atmosphere where Middle East peace process has been halted and tension has escalated, could lead to an undesired turmoil in the region,'' he told reporters.
Ildem added, ''Cheney said that news stories and comments about such an operation were nothing but speculations for the time being. Noting that the United States attributed importance to Turkey's concerns, Cheney said that they had been taking into consideration Turkey's concerns.''
Ildem said, ''during his meeting with U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer stated that Turkey is not in favor of an intervention which may have negative reflections on either Iraq's domestic stability or peace and stability in the region.''
Sezer stressed that an operation against Iraq in today's atmosphere when the Middle East peace process was interrupted and violence was escalated might cause undesired chaos in the region.
Holding a weekly press briefing at the Cankaya Presidential Palace, Ildem gave information about Sezer's meeting with Cheney.
According to the information given by Ildem, all dimensions and aspects of bilateral relations were taken up at the meeting.
Sezer stated that cooperation between the two countries had increased more after September 11, the bilateral trade volume had reached 7 billion U.S. dollars but this did not completely reflect Turkey's capabilities, the latest Economic Partnership Commission meeting constituted the first step for an increase in bilateral trade volume and U.S. investments in Turkey, and stressed that the economic and commercial dimension of the strategic partnership should be further developed through joint efforts of the sides.
Touching on the issue of fight against terrorism, President Sezer stressed that nations should reach a compromise on common definition of terrorism and they should prevent double standards.
Giving information on the steps taken by Turkey on its European Union (EU) membership path, Sezer said that Turkey attributed great importance to continuation of its being a cornerstone in defense and security of Europe-Atlantic while NATO was carrying out adjustment works that could keep in step with new international condition and while it was assessing the expansion.
Meanwhile, Cheney stressed the special characteristics of the relations between Turkey and the United States.
Noting that relations between the two countries had been strengthened after September 11 and they appreciated this, Cheney said that Turkey was playing an important role in a broad geography.
Dick Cheney expressed his pleasure with satisfactory level of cooperation in fields of military and defense industry.
Stressing that NATO had a similar approach with the United States regarding maintenance of the characteristic of being the main organization in defense and security of Europe-Atlantic, Cheney said that the United States supported Turkey's EU membership and appreciated the steps taken by Turkey on this process.
Tacan Ildem said that the issues of fight against terrorism had been taken up in detail during the meeting.
According to the information given by Ildem, Cheney said that they would continue taking important steps in this issue, it was a global fight, they had almost fulfilled all of their targets in Afghanistan and they were pleased with Turkey's interest in and contribution to both settlement of security and stability in Afghanistan and works on rebuilding of Afghanistan.
Stressing that the Al-Qaeda organization should not take shelter in a country except Afghanistan, Cheney said that possibility of Al-Qaeda's reaching mass destruction weapons concerned them seriously, but they were determined to take necessary measures.
Giving information about his contacts in the Middle East, Cheney said that his visit to Turkey had started after a one-hour delay as his important talks in Israel had lasted long.
According to the information given by Ildem, Sezer and Cheney also discussed Iraq issue.
Sezer said that this issue closely concerened Turkey as Iraq was one of its neighboring countries.
Stressing that Turkey was not in favor of an intervention which might have negative reflections on either Iraq's domestic stability or peace and stability in the region, Sezer emphasized importance of maintenance of the approach which included quite cautious and comprehensive evaluation.
Ildem said President Sezer told Cheney that Turkey suffered a lot due to the Gulf Crisis and its influence on the economy is still felt, adding that ''Sezer noted that an intervention in Iraq in an atmosphere where there is an interruption in the Middle East Peace Process and where tension and violence continue, would cause a chaos in the region.''
''Sezer said that Turkey was also concerned about the danger of mass destruction weapons like the U.S., and Turkey believed that Iraq has to implement the decisions taken by the U.N. Security Council. He also stressed the need of steps that have to be taken by third countries that will encourage Iraq to make cooperation with U.N. and international society,'' Ildem said. Noting that Turkey continues to encourage Iraq in this regard, Ildem said that positive developments took place recently and that the Iraqi Foreign Minister started a dialogue with the U.N. Secretary General.
Ildem stated that Sezer explained Cheney the importance of encouraging Iraq in a way that will cause this cooperation to bring out expected results.
''Cheney said in his part that the Iraqi issue was frequently brought onto agenda by the press and media organs, but such a U.S. intervention in Iraq is a sheer speculation and the concerns of Turkey were important for the U.S. Cheney told Sezer that their aim in visiting the region was to be in solidarity with friendly and ally countries and to take the views of these countries. Cheney also noted that the U.S. always wants to learn the views of Turkey, with which the U.S. has strategic cooperation. Sezer said in his part that the countries have to be in effective consultation process in issues related to the region and Iraq. Cheney accepted the words of Sezer,'' Ildem said.
Noting that the meeting between Sezer and Cheney gave the opportunity to exchange views about all issues that concern the two countries, Ildem said the two leaders didn't focus on a specific issue.
Responding to questions of journalists, Ildem said that ''Sezer said in the meeting that the Iraqi issue was very complicated and he underlined the consequences of such a military intervention both in respect of the territorial integrity and political unity of Iraq and also in respect of regional stability. Both the U.S. and Turkey favour the protection of the territorial integrity and political unity of Iraq. President Sezer pointed out to the negative consequences of such an operation.''
When asked if Cheney had warned Sezer about the Al-Qaeda threat, Ildem didn't want to elaborate.
Upon another question, Ildem said that Cheney brought the good willing messages of U.S. President George W. Bush to Sezer, adding no issue about the invitation of Sezer by Bush came to the agenda.