Gul Leaves Syria For Turkey

DAMASCUS - Prime Minister Abdullah Gul left Syria for Turkey on Saturday.
Gul paid a one-day visit to Syria and held contacts on solution of Iraq issue through peaceful methods.
GUL HOLDS A PRESS CONFERENCE IN DAMASCUS
Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said an Friday, ''if we cannot come to a conclusion through peaceful ways and an undesired war starts, its negative impacts in the region will concern all of us.''
Prime Minister Gul held a press conference in Syrian capital Damascus, the first leg of his tour to Middle Eastern countries.
Speaking at the press conference, Prime Minister Gul stressed that Turkey attributed great importance to global and regional peace and stability.
''We attribute great importance to our relations with Syria to this end. My tour aims at exchanging views with the regional leaders on what we, as regional countries, can do to ease the recent tension and crisis in the region, and contribute to efforts to solve the problem without war,'' he said.
Prime Minister Gul told reporters, ''we still believe that this problem can be solved without war. In fact, it was understood from statements of United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, U.S. President George W. Bush and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell that the crisis could be resolved without launching a military operation. Everyone wants to solve this problem peacefully without a war. Then, we should expend efforts to this end.''
''Turkey and Syria are the two neighboring countries to Iraq. Therefore, I decided to start my tour to Middle Eastern countries by visiting Syria first. I got the impression from my contacts in Damascus that Syrian officials and President Bashar Al-Asad of Syria shared the same concerns with us. If we cannot come to a conclusion with peaceful ways and an undesired war starts, its negative impacts in the region will concern all of us. Therefore, it is out common opinion to expend great efforts to find a peaceful solution. Turkey and Syria will expend efforts in coordination,'' he said.
Recalling that he would pay visits to Egypt and Jordan on Sunday, Prime Minister Gul said, ''I will pay a visit to Saudi Arabia on January 11. I will explain the same concerns in Saudi Arabia. Also, I will stress that we want to coordinate our efforts to find a peaceful solution.''
''As for relations between Turkey and Syria, we are satisfied to see that these relations have further improved recently. Because, both Turkish and Syrian sides put forward their political will and desire to further improve their relations. We also want to further develop our cooperation in economy, industry, tourism and politics,'' he said.
''President Ahmet Necdet Sezer invited President Bashar Al-Asad of Syria to Turkey. Prime Minister Mustafa Miru of Syria will come to Turkey in coming days. We held a very beneficial meeting in Syria,'' he added.

The first leg of his tour to Middle Eastern countries, and replied questions of journalists.
Question: Will you give a message to the United States and Iraq on behalf of regional countries following your contacts?
Gul: It could be a message or mutual contacts. We are talking about these issues. We want to take concrete steps.
Question: You have taken the first step in Syria for peace. What do you have for peace? Or how will you provide this coordination?
Gul: We did not come to Syria to sign a commercial agreement or to hold talks about our economic relations. Let's say that we signed an agreement of millions of U.S. dollars, that we sold this kind of goods and purchased that kind of products. As you know, this is a process. We understood that positive steps have been in this process. We also understood that we should start a joint work. Preparatory works will be carried out to this end. Syrian Foreign Minister will come to Turkey in coming days. I will pay visits to the other regional countries. We all should fulfill our responsibilities to prevent a war. It is not reasonable to say that we do not want war, but to do anything. Nobody wants war. Neither the United States nor Iraq does not want war. So, we should expend necessary efforts. We have the feeling of responsibility and determined to do our utmost. We held a very sincere meeting with President Bashar Al-Asad of Syria. It was very beneficial. We will maintain our works to turn these efforts into a coordination. Of course, Iraq has some very serious responsibilities. Iraq should abide by resolutions of the United Nations Security Council clearly and transparently. It is of vital importance. Iraq should also prove that it will further improve its relations with the neighboring countries besides purifying itself from the weapons of mass destruction. Both Turkey and Syria attribute great importance to territorial integrity of Iraq. Territorial integrity of Iraq should be protected. Iraq's resources should belong to Iraqi people.
Question: Did you come to Syria with a plan about purification of the region from weapons of mass destruction and participation of Iraq in the international community? Did you take up bilateral relations between Turkey and Iraq? Are the issues of Hatay and water among them?
Gul: We put forward our views mutually and reached to the level of acting in coordination.
These will be expressed also in other countries and they will act under the same framework.
Relations between Turkey and Syria were also discussed, of course. Now, we are looking to the future. Mr. President Bashar Al-Assad desires to develop Turkish-Syrian relations with a great vision in a quite clear and transparent way. We do have the same feelings. Because relations between the two countries which have such a long border should not be at this level. Actually, our peoples are brothers and sisters who are at peace with each other. Consequently, there are many things that we can do after putting forward our political wills. We are positive about the future. Future will be very brilliant. Cooperation between Turkey and Syria will constitute a model to the region.
Question: There was a flash news report in some Arab dailies which quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying that Turkey deployed a position for exile of Saddam Hussein. Is it true?
Gul: Our foreign ministry did not make such a statement. You well know about the statement of our foreign ministry.
Question: Is leaving of Saddam Hussein from Iraq among the solution methods?
Gul: We did not discuss this.
Question: Do you think the time would come for a regional initiative if the inspectors' report would be positive?
Gul: Undoubtedly, these reports will be presented to the United Nations Security Council. The United Nations has permanent members and there are other countries. These issues will be evaluated there. Biggest steps on prevention of a war are taken if they are completely satisfactory. So Iraq should expend extraordinary efforts. It should do more than what it can do. It should be very transparent and it should not allow occurrence of any hesitation.
Question: We suppose that you would visit the United States in coming days. Will you inform the U.S. administration on your contacts. Besides, a total of sixteen ministers welcomed you at Damascus airport. Such a welcoming ceremony happened for the first time. What do you think about this?
Gul: This is a clear expression of political will and desire of the two countries. Syria targets to bring its relations with Turkey to a further level so does Turkey. Also Mr. President paid a visit to Syria. There is a mutual will and desire.
Undoubtedly, also there will be contribution by the U.S. administration for overcoming of the crisis without a war. We think it beneficial to convey our opinions and what we discussed here to the U.S. administration. We can do this through several ways.
Question: You have said 'we will carry on our relations within a mutual dialogue'. Did you discuss a method for this like a special telephone line?
Gul: These will happen in a more concrete way, of course. There can be reciprocal visits.