Gul: A Result Will Be Reached In The Coming Days

ISTANBUL - Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said on Friday that consultations between Turkey and the United States were carried out in confidence, friendship, sincerity and by sharing worries, stating that, ''they understand our worries, we understand theirs. A result will be reached in the coming days.''
Gul addressed Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) extraordinary meeting.
Gul said many things were told about the Iraqi issue, and that he did not want to speak more about it not to pave ways for misunderstandings.
Gul said, ''Turkey is a country which had experiences of war. We have conveyed this to all our allies, and everybody knows this. Consultations of the recent days are carried out in confidence, friendship, sincerity, and sharing each others' worries.''
Gul said, ''obviously, the United States is our strategic partner. We have cooperation in many areas. They understand our worries, we understand theirs. A result will be reached in the coming days.''
Gul said it was wrong to consider the consultations, carried out with the United States, as only an economic issue, stating that, ''considering it as a trade is also not right. First of all, our Constitution says this is not right. As you know Article 92 of the constitution speaks about international legitimacy. Obviously there are many political and military areas. Studies are made in the direction of Turkey's interests.''
Pointing out that those issues were not only discussed by the government, but also discussed at the meetings of National Security Council (NSC), Gul said, ''Parliament will give the final decision on this issue.''
GUL: RELATIONS BETWEEN TURKEY AND THE UNITED STATES WILL CONTINUE IN ANY CASE
Gul said, ''relations between Turkey and the United States are of great importance. These relations have been continuing on the basis of mutual friendship and understanding. Our relations with the United States will continue in any case.''
''Recently, issues of the foreign policy have been high agenda. However, this does not mean that we have neglected our issues. Since the day we formed the government, we have been dealing with problems such as the European Union (EU), the Cyprus question, the Iraq issue and economic issues. We have never ignored economic problems of Turkey. One of our prior targets is a sound economic structure,'' he said.

YAKIS: IT WILL BE WRONG TO DETERMINE FUTURE STRUCTURE OF IRAQ SECRETLY
Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis said on Friday that it would be wrong for two people's determining the future structure of a country behind the closed doors.
In a program at Turkish NTV channel, Yakis said that there were things that they could not do politically, answering a question on the future of Iraq and Northern Iraq. "Let's turn Iraq into this or that! You may appreciate how contrary to international ethics this is."
Noting that they were against possession of Mousul-Kirkuk oil by any ethnic group or another group in Iraq, Yakis said this was not a natural resource under the possession of any group, but a common richness of all Iraqi people. He said that Iraqi people should also be pleased with this approach, adding "if a group draws benefit from turmoil and tries to control the oil, rest of the Iraqi people cannot benefit from this richness."
Upon a question whether there was a disagreement with the United States concerning the transition period, Yakis said that they saw that this was not based on a format that was put on paper and whose limits were determined and could not be changed. He said that the U.S. authorities also expressed it this way and they assumed it as correct.
Noting that a model inspired from Kosovo, Bosnia and Afghanistan was being developed for postwar Iraq, Yakis said that it could be a model in which adaptations could be made as it was getting improved. He added that the scenario that the United States considered for postwar Iraq could not be implemented to territory easily. Stating that the U.S. authorities also shared this view, Yakis said the model did not take a clear form in the minds of the U.S. authorities yet. "It would be wrong if it had taken shape," he said, "a general frame should be drawn and mistakes should be corrected as they were approached."
Yakis underlined that Iraq had a unitary structure, but now there was an "entity", which was very close to a state that had a parliament, armed force, and made customs controls in its north. "We do not desire this structure to exceed its status before Baghdad. As we shared our concerns with the U.S. authorities, they now started to tell us that they understood that a separation in Northern Iraq, division of Iraq, a federation and then emergence of an independent state would be an element of instability. We have to assume correct whatever the authorities of a responsible country such as the United States say. We think that the United States would not support any development that would endanger territorial integrity of Iraq."
YAKIS: THEY ARE CLOSE TO AN AGREEMENT WITH THE UNITED STATES
Yakis said that they made great progress in the ongoing consultations with the United States and they were very close to an agreement. "If there is an agreement, we will surely send the motion to the Parliament,"
Noting that the U.S. authorities asked Turkey to clarify some issues and Turkey asked the United States to clarify some issues, Yakis said that if responses of both sides were acceptable, then the motion could be send to Parliament.
Yakis said, ''they told in the United States that February 18 was the deadline. We said that if you push it, we can do, but there is the possibility of rejection of motion in the Parliament. Then, both of us will be harmed. We said that let's firstly clarify these issues and then go to Parliament more powerful.''
Yakis added, ''Americans told us why February 18 was important for them. Then, we told them why presenting the motion in that date was difficult. They told us that they understood. There is not a tense atmosphere in relations or relations are not breaking off.''
YAKIS: WE ARE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH UNCONDITIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF WEAPONS TO KURDS
Responding to a question how the weapons given to Kurds would be taken back and how Turkmens would be protected, Yakis said, "we do not want to fall into the position we fell in 1991. We want to take a lesson from it, but this does not cause concern for the United States as much as it does for us. If there is a development similar to the incidents in 1991 when the weapons have turned towards us, we will have the right to intervene. That is, our legitimate concerns come under threat and give us the right to stop it. We will not enter Northern Iraq to fight."
Noting that they were uncomfortable with the unconditional distribution of weapons to Kurds, Yakis said that they preferred to know to whom the weapons were given and then to re-collect them when the need ended. He added that it would be possible to protect Turkmens by showing up in their places, instead of giving them weapons. Yakis said that the military, which would be formed after the crisis ended in Iraq should be under the central command of a unitary state. "There may be security forces in the north. Sufficient amount of weapons can be found for these all the time. But if these are equipped with heavy weapons, the balance will be spoiled, causing instability in the region. The U.S. authorities told us that they did not want this. We have consensus in this issue."
Upon a question whether Turkish soldiers would move down to the north of Mousul, Yakis said that this did not happen and added that they would proceed to the south of border sufficient enough, but they would stop in a place that would not go down to Mousul-Kirkuk line. Concerning the number of soldiers that would enter the region, Yakis said, "not one or five folds of the number of the U.S. soldiers, but many more soldiers are foreseen to go there. It would not be correct to make a statement about the figures now." Responding to a question that it seemed that the negotiations with the United States would continue more than two days, Yakis said, "I think this is not a high possibility because the United States is in a hurry. If there is a will, the remaining very few elements - which are very few in a sense and very much in another sense - are issues that can be reached a result by working on Saturday and Sunday."
PEARSON: WE HAVE BEEN CONTINUING TO OVERCOME OBSTACLES
U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Robert Pearson said on Friday that they had been continuing to overcome obstacles in negotiations between Turkey and the United States about a possible military action against Iraq.
Addressing journalists following his meeting with Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal, Pearson said that they had exchanged views and discussed the details.
Pointing out that they had been continuing to overcome obstacles in the negotiations, Pearson refrained from giving detailed information.
21.02.2003