ANKARA - AK Party leader and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Turkey would save itself from the global crisis and the fight without serious sufferings.
Speaking in the party group meeting about the fight in Iraq, Erdogan said that ''we must do our best to prevent more deaths in Iraq, and to stop the war as soon as possible. On the other, hand we must continue our relations with the allies and contribute to the new form of the region and new balances that will come out in the post-war era by taking into consideration the long term interests of Turkey and the stability of the region. We must also continue our relations with European countries which were out of sync with the U.S. and even within themselves regarding the crisis in Iraq. We must explain well the position, obligations of Turkey to our neighbour countries and the Islamic countries in the Middle East and make these countries contribute to the regional peace,'' Erdogan said.
Erdogan added that Cyprus issue's being put as an obstacle in relations with the U.S. and with EU, and particularly European countries' correlating Cyprus issue with other issues was a problem which should be sorted out.
Erdogan stressed that Turkey had to take into consideration balances within the country, in the region and in the world regarding the global crisis.
(ÖS-AÖ) 08.04.2003