ANKARA - Justice and Development Party (AK Party) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that there were steps that the United States had to take regarding the issue of motion, and it would be difficult to ease the atmosphere in Turkey before the United States took those steps.
Speaking on Turkish-CNN, Erdogan said that the United States had acted hastily regarding the issue of motion which had not been adopted by the parliament, and creation of an impression in the public opinion like ''talks were held under foreign exchange bargaining'' had caused opposition in Turkey and also in the AK Party.
Replying a question, Erdogan said that several deputies who had voted against the motion had told him that they would vote in favor of a new motion if it was sent to the parliament.
When asked when a new motion would be sent to the parliament, Erdogan said, ''it is very difficult to say something about its timing. There will be U.N. Security Council meeting and process of formation of new government in question. During this process, we will take a decision after making evaluations.''
When asked whether or not motion would come to the parliament next week, Erdogan said that there were steps that the United States had to take regarding the issue of motion, and it would be difficult to ease the atmosphere in Turkey before the United States took those steps.
Noting that Turkmen issue and Turkey's role were still not clear, and these issues should absolutely be clarified, Erdogan said, ''these doubts should be removed.''
When asked whether or not U.S. troops had exceeded limits of authority in Turkey, Erdogan said, ''I was told that those were totally military equipment and vehicles related to the first motion.''
''First of all, nobody can fool around as it pleases within borders of Turkey. We have an army and we have a government. By keeping every step under control, our government allows it. Our army carries out and fulfils its mission and duties in detail. So there can't be anything that may seriously disturb us there,'' he said.
When asked whether or not the world had approached a war in Iraq, Erdogan said that an expected coalition had not been formed for this issue, and this was threatening the process.
Noting that Saddam Hussein should not take courage from this delay, Erdogan said that the United States nearly completed preparations in the south, and he added that a positive result should come out concerning the studies for eliminating weapons of mass destruction to finish this issue peacefully. He said that however, he was still hopeful about solution of the issue peacefully.
Upon questions concerning Cyprus issue, Erdogan said that they had never considered insolubility as a solution and added, ''however, it seems that the United Nations is expecting solution only from Turkey.''
Erdogan said that there were differences between the third package and the condition which U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan had told him, and this upset them.
Erdogan said that accession of Cyprus to European Union (EU) without a solution could cause problems for Greek Cypriot side in the future.
(GC-MS) 09.03.2003