ANKARA - Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said on Thursday that friendly relations had been set up between Turkey and Bulgaria in recent years, and added, ''we have been trying to do our utmost for Bulgaria's becoming a member of NATO.''
Following tete-a-tete and interdelegationary meetings, Prime Minister Ecevit and Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha of Bulgaria who is currently in Turkey on an official visit, held a joint press conference.
Speaking at the press conference, Prime Minister Ecevit expressed his pleasure with hosting Prime Minister Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and his entourage in Turkey.
He said that friendly relations had been set up between the two neighboring countries especially in recent years.
''Our bilateral relations have accelerated during Prime Minister Saxe-Coburg-Gotha's term in office,'' he said.
Ecevit said that he hoped that Turkey and Bulgaria would carry out some joint projects.
Recalling that Turkey and Bulgaria had set up close cooperation in economy, education and culture, Prime Minister Ecevit added, ''we have been trying to do our utmost for Bulgaria's becoming a member of NATO. We attribute great importance to Bulgaria's membership to NATO. Also, we hope that Romania would become a member of NATO.''
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha said that they esteemed great importance to good neighbourly relations between Turkey and Bulgaria and he pointed to important cooperation opportunities between the two countries.
''If we maintain good relations between our countries, we can also contribute to the solution of problems in our region,'' he said.
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha also indicated that he also believed his visit might help to solve certain minor administrational problems between Turkey and Bulgaria.
Answering a question about new projects between Bulgaria and Turkey, the Bulgarian prime minister said they were focusing on some highway projects and added that Turkey could also make contributions to these projects.
Ecevit said that new factors have been added to these relations recently, adding that the Turkish minority in Bulgaria actively participate in the political activities in Bulgaria.
Ecevit said that certain terrorist groups which can't take action in Turkey that much, try to take shelter in Bulgaria, adding ''but recently the Bulgarian officials started to take very effective measures against these terrorist groups.'' Ecevit thanked Saxe-Coburg-Gotha due to that.
Responding to questions of journalists, Ecevit said that there are certain bureaucratic problems between the two countries, adding that ''yet there is no political disagreement. The bureaucratic problems will be sorted out soon.''
Ecevit noted that there is a visa problem between the two countries, adding that they try to it sort out.
''When it comes to Iraqi issue...This has become the most important problem of Turkey. Our friend, U.S., seems to be taking military measures against the Iraqi administration. In the recent weeks, the Iraqi administration announced that it accepted all the demands of the U.N. about weapon inspection. We hope that the American administration will benefit from that,'' Ecevit said.
Upon a question asking his view about the efforts regarding the foundation of a de facto Kurdish state in Northern Iraq and Turkey's attitude to that, Ecevit said ''As you know, a parliament with a Kurdish majority was founded in Northern Iraq. But this parliament couldn't work effectively because of the lack of dialogue. This parliament revived again after the groups reached agreement. But we're hoping that this would not be recognized as a state parliament. Turkey will take the necessary measures if this happens.''
When asked if he was expecting Turkey to be given a date to start membership talks, Ecevit said ''Turkey is going through a preelection period. Definite decisions might not be taken when this campaign is continuing. These efforts will become more clear after the foundation of a government.''
Ecevit said that there were some terrorist groups in Bulgaria using different names to disguise themselves and the Bulgarian government took the necessary measures against these groups. ''I just found out that eight people from these terrorist groups have been arrested,'' he added.
Speaking about the projects between Turkey and Bulgaria, the prime minister said that Rona-Arna dam was the most important project between the two countries.
When asked if Turkmens in Northern Iraq would be given autonomy, Ecevit said ''The previous parliament did not include Turkmens. We'll see in the coming days what kind of problems, both political and other, might be caused because of this parliament.''