Journal of Turkish Weekly
April 11 2005

Turkish FM: We’ll Extend the Use Period of Incirlik
Kemal Balcý
The New Anatolian / Ankara

‘I went to the United Arab Emirates last week. The UAE is in an
incredible economic dynamo. If you look at the map you’ll see two
dynamic countries in the region, one is Turkey and the other is the
UAE’

‘Turkish-Greek cooperation moves forward with each passing day. There
have been encouraging decisions. Very important agreements were
signed. Trade between our two nations is developing. There is
friendship between our leaders, between our premier and his Greek
counterpart Karamanlis’

Speaking to The New Anatolian last week, Foreign Minister Abdullah
Gul spoke on recent foreign policy developments and made many
interesting observations. Addressing the controversial issue of U.S.
requests to make greater used of Incirlik Airbase, Gul said that the
permission for U.S. use will be extended in June. The government
doesn’t need to go to Parliament to extend this use for humanitarian
purposes, such as aid for Iraq, he said. `Even if the decision comes
to Parliament, there won’t be any problem extending it,’ he added.

Answering TNA’s questions, Gul discussed Turkish-Greek relations,
developments with Armenia, closer ties with Arab countries, and this
week’s upcoming visit of the Greek foreign minister.

TNA: What will you be talking about with your Greek counterpart?

GUL: We’ll have talks in line with our mutual goodwill. The
friendship between our countries benefits us and the whole region. We
do have many problems. But we’re trying to solve them through mutual
understanding and for mutual benefit. Along these lines, we’re having
meetings and talks. I paid a visit to Greece last year. I’ve been
inviting the Greek foreign minister to visit for a while now. Next
week he’ll come to visit us. His visit will be an important event,
just as our visits are important for Greece. In truth, our
cooperation moves forward with each passing day. There have been
encouraging decisions to increase the trust. Very important
agreements were signed. Trade between our two nations is developing,
our economies are developing. There is friendship between the
leaders, between our premier and his Greek counterpart Karamanlis. As
you know we’re both conservative parties. We invited Costas
Karamanlis before. He came and made a speech to our party congress.
He then became Greek prime minister. The foundation for friendship
had been laid. We are together in Europe’s conservative union the
European People’s Party (EPP). Karamanlis contributed to our
membership in the EPP. His visit will be very successful and we will
discuss many subjects openly. This visit will be provide an
opportunity to improve relations.

TNA: We’ve been holding many talks to improve the relations at a
lower level. Does this visit means that the contacts have matured?

GUL: There were contacts not only at a lower level but also the upper
level. The undersecretaries have been contacting each other for a
long time. They are all goodwill contacts to solve the problems
between both countries and to protect mutual benefits and interests.
I’m hoping that these will yield positive results. We will have to be
patient about these things.

TNA: In recent days, Turkish-U.S relations have gone through a tense
period, especially over the use of Incirlik Airbase. As far as I know
the permission for use will end on June 23. Is the government
planning to extend the permission? And what about expanding the scope
of use? Are demands to use other bases also being made? How is the
government approaching this?

GUL: It is a decision of our government to allow the use of Incirlik
for humanitarian aid purposes. This also falls under a UN Security
Council resolution. It binds all countries that are members of the
UN. It’s related to the aid to Iraq and Afghanistan. Since Turkey
borders Iraq, we’re helping other countries that are helping Iraq. We
can also benefit from other countries’ help if a resolution of the UN
is concerned.

So when the time comes we’ll extend the term for use of Incirlik.
There’s no need to worry. Even if there is a need for a Parliament
decision, Parliament will extend the permission. Not all of the
stones in the Iraq mosaic are in its place. Everybody has to support
this period. There is international legality on this, so there’s no
need for hesitation. We have relations with the U.S. as allies. We
have relations and expectations as allies can have expectations from
each other. We will sit down and talk everything over. In the end,
there will be something done or not.

Incirlik is being used for humanitarian aid purposes for Iraq and
Afghanistan at the moment. This is an open implementation. There is
no secrecy there. There are requests from the U.S. to place this use
in a regular structure. We’re looking into this. We will also explain
the reasons for this to the Turkish public.

TNA: Has the use of other bases been mentioned?

GUL: Nothing else has been mentioned. Clearly the use of Incirlik
will be within the knowledge of the Turkish state. Incirlik is a base
on our soil. The Turkish Armed Forces (TCK) will be informed of all
developments.

TNA: Is the use without the knowledge of the Turkish commanders
possible? How is the government approaching this?

GUL: No that won’t happen. There won’t be any developments without
our knowledge.

TNA:You’ve been visiting surrounding countries recently. If you look
from there, how do you see Arab-Turkish relations? How will these
close relations with Arab countries affect Turkish-U.S. relations?

GUL: Every country has different foreign relations and interests. No
country will tie its relations to only one country. Especially for an
important country for the region such as Turkey, multifaceted
relations are very normal. We’re trying to advance our relations with
the European Union; on the other hand, we’re also trying to
strengthen our relations with our allies including the U.S. We also
have relations with our Muslim neighbors, Russia and other nations. I
visited Russia, China, Japan, Korea and other important nations in
Asia. We signed agreements with each country. I went to the United
Arab Emirates last week. We have economic relations with them as
well. The UAE is in an incredible economic dynamo. If you look at the
map you’ll see two dynamic countries in the region, one is Turkey and
the other is the UAE.

TNA: What does this dynamism mean?

GUL: There’s dynamism in the economy. They have tremendous funds at
their disposal. They have funds amounting to $500 billion. These
funds were directed to many parts of the world for various reasons.
They are looking for new channels to direct these funds. They have
new moves that will be examples to the rest of the world. Dubai
doesn’t have a single drop of oil but they had 6 millions visitors in
the last year. Dubai is a free trade zone, and the seaport in Dubai
is one of the biggest trade centers in the world, including the U.S.
and Singapore. It’s the biggest port in the world. The biggest firms
of the world are based there. They don’t have oil but they have the
sand and sea. But their trade expertise came to such a point that if
you look at Shanghai or Singapore they seem dated.

TNA: Are there Turkish firms in Dubai?

GUL: Of course. There are very successful Turkish firms in the free
trade zone. Big Turkish firms have big investments there. They’re
involved in big projects. I ‘m going to Algeria soon [note: Gul flew
there on Saturday night]. Algeria is a very important country in the
regional bloc MAGRIP. They have a $60 billion budget surplus. There’s
a friendship between Turkish and Algerian leaders.

TNA: What are the recent development in Armenian relations? Are more
flights or opening the borders possible? Or, if the Armenians’
occupation of Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh continues, will relations
stay as they are?

GUL: Relations between Armenia and Turkeys are developing. There are
flights and there is an increasing demand. Recently, the Yerevan
Symphony orchestra was invited to play here. They came and gave a
concert in Turkey. Parliamentarians from both sides are coming and
going as well. They are involved in efforts to develop relations and
trying to bring the region into a place where peace can be
established. This area won’t be left neglected for long. I’m talking
about Turkish, Armenia and Azeri relations. We have to proceed with
courage. Certainly we need a long stretch of time and more efforts.
We’re looking at things from the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). I hope we will solve our problems.

Source: The New Anatolian, 11 April 2005

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress