ANKARA - Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday, ''Turkey does not want to enter northern Iraq to occupy territories of its neighbor. Such an intention cannot be in question.''
Erdogan responded to criticisms against the draft law on 2003 year budget, which was debated at the Parliamentary General Assembly.
''Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said, 'Erdogan met with U.S. President George W. Bush before the elections and made him some promises.' Later, he claimed that relations with the United States were damaged due to wrongful policies of the government. During the negotiations with the United States on the Iraq issue, political and military issues have always been Turkey's priorities,'' he said.
Prime Minister Erdogan said, ''Turkey has done its utmost to find a peaceful solution to the Iraq crisis. Despite all our efforts, the war has begun in Iraq. Our efforts to provide a national compromise have not yielded any results. We have taken a series of steps in line with interests of our state. Some circles claim that we should act in line with requests of the United States. I want to remind them that Turkey is an independent state. We cannot take any steps with our economic concerns. We will not allow anyone to criticize us to this end.''
Referring to the issue of northern Iraq, Prime Minister Erdogan said, ''Turkey does not want to enter northern Iraq to occupy territories of its neighbor. Such an intention cannot be in question. Turkey has been saying that it was in favor of Iraq's territorial integrity since the very beginning. Turkey can respond requests of its allies in the affirmative as long as its sensitivities are protected. Turkey cannot act without coordination with its allies. Turkey is an independent state and does not get directives from anyone.''
''We have conveyed our sensitivities to our allies. We believe that our allies will take into consideration these sensitivities of Turkey,'' he added.
(UK-MS) 29.03.2003