ANKARA - Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis said early on Monday that U.S. State Minister Colin Powell agreed with Prime Minister Abdullah Gul's view that relations between the United States and Turkey neither started nor ended with Iraq.
Yakis answered questions of reporters about the phone conversation between Gul and Powell.
Asked if a message was given to Powell for taking up the motion on deployment of foreign troops in Turkey and dispatch of foreign troops abroad which was returned at the parliament, Yakis said, ''no. A decision will be made after the evaluations end. And, I don't know when the evaluation will end.''
Replying a question if they were waiting for a new proposal from the United States, Yakis said, ''no, we continue the evaluation process in our party and the government about the vote on this motion, not the United States. We will decide about what to do in the end of this process.''
Asked if Powell made a suggestion about this process, Yakis said, ''no, he only asked what the prime minister thought. And, the prime minister expressed his views. Powell said that he agreed with those views at a great extent. Mr. Prime Minister said that relations between the United States and Turkey neither started nor ended with Iraq and Powell agreed that. He said that our close relations would naturally continue and wouldn't be affected. A compromise was reached on continuation of contacts.''
Asked if the United States was hopeful about a new motion, Yakis said, ''there will always be such an expectation. We have told about the facts in our hands since we don't want to raise their hopes first and then disappoint them. That is, the evaluation process continues at the moment. He was understanding about this issue.''
(BRC-AY) 03.03.2003