Gul: The Government Has Not Received The United States' Request For Sending Soldiers

ANKARA - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on Thursday, ''the government has not received the United States' request for sending soldiers.''
Gul replied questions of reporters at Ankara's Esenboga Airport after his arrival from Greek capital Athens.
He said that clashes in Iraq had still been continuing to a small extent and those clashes should come to an end.
Noting that he had earlier said that Turkey could contribute to the political and economical rebuilding of Iraq, Gul told reporters that the government had not received the United States' request for sending soldiers.
GUL: AN UNRETURNABLE WAY FOR TURKEY'S MEMBERSHIP TO EU IS IN QUESTION FOR BOTH SIDES
Foreign Minister Gul told reporters that Turkey aimed to start accession negotiations with the EU as soon as possible at the end of 2004 and stated that Turkey had been taking necessary measures and making legal arrangements regarding that issue.
Gul said that they were monitoring implementations of those things and noted that the EU was also getting prepared for this.
''An unreturnable way is in question for both sides. I say it to remove hesitations of some people. The Greek Cypriot side's unilaterally signing the Accession Agreement with the EU cannot certainly prevent this process. Our great EU project cannot be under Greek Cypriot mortgage. Both Europe and EU cannot certainly allow it,'' he noted.
Stating that Turkey had been exerting efforts for a lasting solution which both sides could accept in Cyprus, Gul said, ''it should be an acceptable solution. If problems start again one or two years later after we said that it was solved, it cannot be considered a solution.''
When asked whether or not the United States requested Turkey to send soldiers, Gul said, ''such a request did not reach the government at the moment.''
''As you know, clashes in Iraq are still continuing to a small extent. First of all, those clashes should come to an end. Secondly, Turkey always said that it will contribute to political and economical rebuilding of Iraq,'' Gul stated.
Gul said that settlement of stability and peace in the region and inclusion of Iraq in the international system as soon as possible are in favor of Turkey's interest. He added, ''it was discussed before the war that such type of programs, plans and ideas could exist. But such an issue is not presented to our government at the moment. Our government will surely evaluate these issues and our attitude will be determined according to this.''
When recalled the statements of Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (IKDP) leader Massoud Barzani, who said ''Kirkuk is a Kurdish city'', Gul said that Kirkuk belonged to Iraq.
Gul said that Kirkuk was belonging to Iraq at the moment and it was a Turkish city in the history. He added, ''Kirkuk, Mosul and many other cities were Turkish cities in the past. But, surely, many population movements must have been occurred in Iraq in the course of time.''
Recalling that Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen had been living together, Gul said that Turkey desired everybody to live peacefully there.
Noting that integrity of Iraq was set forth as the first condition not only by Turkey but also by everyone, Gul said, ''a second condition is that natural resources of Iraq belong all of Iraq.''
Gul said that if everybody in the region would like to live in tranquility and peace, they should have friendship with Turkey. He added that Turkey had provided northern Iraq with many opportunities for a long time which no other country had provided and it protected everybody. Gul said, ''thus, these should be remembered. It will continue like that from now on. So, everybody should be careful while talking. Turkey's friendship is important for everybody.''

(EÖ-GC-UK) 17.04.2003