TURKEY: GUL RULES OUT IRAQ’S FRAGMENTATION AS SOLUTION, COMMENTS ON TIES WITH US

Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Nov 14 2006

["FRAGMENTATION OF IRAQ CANNOT BE A WAY OUT, GUL" – AA headline]

ANKARA (A.A) -14.11.2006 -"Some circles try to show fragmentation
of Iraq as a way out. Such an approach, which will certainly drag
Iraq into a chaos, cannot be Turkey’s policy. The mistake that were
made at the beginning of Iraq war cannot be repeated," Turkish FM &
Deputy PM Abdullah Gul said on Tuesday.

Commenting on Turkish-US relations, Gul said, "our relations with the
USA cover a wide range and are directed towards similar targets." He
said fight against terrorism was the main concern of Turkey and
the USA.

Briefing MPs at the parliament about recent developments in Iraq, Gul
said Turkey, from the very beginning, did its best for a democratic and
well-administered Iraq, which also preserve its territorial integrity
and political unity.

"Unfortunately, we are sorry to see that sectarian acts of violence
escalated in Iraq and the security, generally speaking,is worsened,"
Gul noted.

"Another issue on which Turkey feels uneasy is the future status of
Kirkuk," Gul indicated, and noted that the ambitious policies carried
out on this matter were very dangerous.

-PKK/KONGRA-GEL-Pointing to the presence of members of PKK/KONGRA-GEL
terrorist organization in (northern) Iraq, Gul said fight against
terrorism can only succeed in case all support coming from abroad
is stopped.

-MIDDLE EAST-Underscoring that Palestine-Israel conflict was on the
basis of the problems in the Middle East, Gul said Turkey believed
that the only way out was through (the establishment of) two-states
(Palestine and Israel) living side by side.

Commenting on sending of Turkish peacekeepers to Lebanon, Gul
added, "not only military but also members of NGOs and humanitarian
organizations were sent to this country. This proves that Turkey is
a reliable partner as regards preventing clashes and human tragedies
in its region."

-IRAN-"Turkey closely monitors the developments regarding Iran’s
nuclear programme.

Turkey exerts efforts to solve this problem through diplomatic means"
Gul said.

"Turkey supports the right of all countries to take advantage from the
nuclear technology for civilian purposes," Gul said, indicating that,
"Turkey deems proliferation of nuclear weapons as a serious security
threat."

-ARMENIA-Touching on relations with Armenia, Gul said, "Turkey
expressed its willingness to normalize relations with Armenia within
the framework of good neighbourhood, mutual interest and respect
to territorial integrity. Armenia has not yet displayed a similar
approach."

-RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA-Gul said Turkey considered relations with
Russia from a positive point of view, noting that recent reciprocal
high ranking visits strengthened mutual confidence.

Turkish FM indicated that Turkey has become Russia’s second biggest
trade partner last year with a trade volume of 15-billion USD . "We
hope to raise this figure to 20 billion by the end of this year and
to 25 billion USD in 2008," he said.

-GREECE-Gul said Turkey deployed efforts to solve problems with Greece
through dialogue and underlined that Turkey’s objective is to raise
the bilateral trade volume with this country to 5 billion USD.