Ecevit: We Believe That Our Relations With The Eu Should Be Improved

ANKARA - Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said on Thursday that they believed that Turkey's relations with the European Union (EU) should be improved.
Ecevit, who attended a program broadcast on private CNN Turk channel, said, ''this is our right. I think that EU countries cannot delay our relations.''
Upon a question about a probable operation on Iraq, Ecevit said that Iraq was a close neighbor of Turkey, and to this end, having strong relations with Iraq was beneficial for both the region and Turkey.
Ecevit noted that they took pains to have strong relations with Iraq and for this reason, had always had close relations with Iraq.
''Our relations had impediment after the Kuwait war; however, Turkey has taken pains to continue its strong relations with Iraq,'' he said.
Reminding that the United States had obviously talked about his military operation plan on Iraq, Ecevit stated that Turkey attributed importance to continuing robust relations with the region and Iraq without causing any war.
Ecevit stressed that what the result of the current developments would be was not definite yet.
Pointing out that positive developments had recently been recorded in Turkey's economic relations with Iraq, Ecevit said he hoped that those developments would not be negatively affected.
Ecevit said, ''if there is a military operation on Iraq, Turkey will be under the effect of this operation although it does not want to take part in that operation. To this end, we hope that our U.S. friends will prefer solving problems with Iraq without a need for a military operation.''
Upon a question about Turkey's EU membership process, Ecevit said that they believed that Turkey deserved to become an EU member thanks to its initiatives and efforts.
Noting that the EU had not made a final decision yet, Ecevit said that some EU countries seemed unwilling about this issue and that there was not any concrete reason for their attitude.
Ecevit stated that he believed that they could make necessary giant leap forwards about this issue.
Ecevit said that Turkey has the right to continue its relations with the EU, adding that the relations with the EU have to develop.
''This is our right,'' said Ecevit and noted that Turkey is an inseparable part of Europe for 600 years. ''I think that the EU countries would not postpone our relations,'' said Ecevit.
Upon a question about his party programme on economic regulations, Ecevit said that Turkey launched great efforts to revive the economy and to reconstruct the economy on a sound basis.
Noting that Turkey started to take strong steps in the economic field, Ecevit said that the negative economic incidents in Southeast Asian countries and Russia negatively affect the Turkish economy, but Turkey undertook reforms to improve and reconstruct the economy.
Ecevit stressed that almost 400 new structural reforms were adopted during the 57th government, adding that the Turkish economy has entered into growth period despite all the problems. Ecevit said that the most negative dimension of the Turkish economy was seen in the banking sector.
Ecevit noted that the inflation started to decrease rapidly and the 60-70 percent inflation started to reduce.
''There is great development in exports. Tourism started to revive again and if we can assess these developments, Turkey will have better days,'' Ecevit noted.