NEW YORK - Turkey's Ambassador to the United Nations (U.N.) Umit Pamir said on Wednesday that Turkey aimed to find a peaceful solution to Iraq crisis and warned that Iraq should behave convincingly in that historic turning point.
Speaking in the U.N. Security Council session on Iraq, Pamir said that Turkey strongly stressed that it continued its commitment to principles regulating its 80-year relations with its south neighbor since the occurrence of the Iraq issue.
Within this framework, Turkey extended active support to efforts aiming at solution of the Iraq crisis peacefully, Pamir noted.
Pamir underlined that Turkey was ranked the first in regional initiatives carried out to that end.
Countries which signed the Istanbul Declaration a while ago called on the Iraqi administration to determinedly and sincerely fulfill its obligations to ensure peace and stability in the region, Pamir stated.
Pamir said that Turkish government told Iraqi officials in meetings held in every level that ''last warnings'' were being made to Iraq and there was no other way than fulfillment of all requirements of the U.N. Security Council resolution 1441.
Turkey continued to give such messages, Pamir pointed out.
Pamir said that they were still aiming at a peaceful solution and the decision taken at the European Union (EU) summit confirmed the same aim.
Many European countries bargained to accept between 20 and 90 refugees when almost 500 thousand refugees flew in Turkey after the Gulf War, Pamir noted.
Pamir stated that Turkey could not even make trade with its south neighbor for the first time in a thousand years due to the sanctions when globalization continued in the world in 1990s and everybody talked about advantages of globalization.
Turkey, which faced terrorism due to the instability which the Northern Iraq was dragged into, won the fight against terrorism, Pamir said.
''Any mention of war affects Turkish economy negatively. Turkish people have all kinds of reasons and rights to see that the Iraq crisis is resolved peacefully. Despite all these, some circles have still been claiming that Turkey has an agenda about Iraq. In fact, Turkey wants protection of rights of Iraqi people by confirming territorial integrity and political unity of Iraq.''
''Turkey is concerned about escalating tension. We believe that Iraq should fulfill its commitments about disarmament in line with the United Nations Security Council resolution no: 1441 and Iraqi officials should be aware of vital importance of time.''
Pamir noted, ''it was understood that intense diplomacy backed by a persuasive threat of force is the only method to come to a conclusion. We appreciate efforts of United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) Chairman Hans Blix and International Atomic Energy (IAEA) Director General Mohamed ElBaradei to disarm Iraq through peaceful methods.''
''I hope that Iraqi government's permission to flights of U-2 reconnaissance planes over Iraq and to Iraqi scientists' holding meetings in Iraq and abroad will pave the way for the target of active cooperation,'' he said.
Pointing out that there had been historical and cultural ties between Turkish and Iraqi peoples, Pamir emphasized that Turkey would always remain a neighbor of Iraq.
Pamir expressed Turkey's concerns about problems of Iraqi people who have been suffering from economic sanctions and difficult humanitarian conditions for years.
Stressing that Turkey attributed great importance to unity and integrity of the United Nations Security Council, Pamir added, ''the United Nations Security Council is the only legitimate means of three-thousand-year diplomacy history of the humanity. We hope that despite differences of opinion, the unity among members of the United Nations Security Council will be provided again soon.''
(BRC-UK) 19.02.2003