TURKISH OFFICIAL HAILS GOVERNMENT’S FOREIGN POLICY
Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Jan 31 2007
Ankara (A.A) 0 31 Jan 2006 -Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
foreign relations adviser and AKP [Justice and Development Party]
Deputy for Istanbul Egemen Bagis gave a seminar called "Foreign Policy"
at the AKP’s Ankara Provincial Chairmanship Political Academy.
At the meeting, which was arranged by the AKP Ankara Provincial
Chairmanship, Egemen Bagis talked about developments in Turkish
foreign policy noted under the AKP government.
Stating that in 2002 Turkey was a country whose relations with its
neighbours were going from bad to worse, Bagis said that over time
important steps were taken in relations with such countries as Greece,
Syria, Bulgaria, Romania, Iran, Georgia and Russia. Bagis said,
"We neither deceived nor were we deceived in foreign policy."
Noting that Turkey had made historic success in its EU bid, Bagis
listed many noteworthy developments such as a Turk being chosen as
general secretary for the OIC, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
being co-chairman of the Alliance of Civilizations project, and Turkey
hosting the NATO Summit.
Stating that not one of these developments had been a matter of chance,
Bagis said that the AKP wanted to return to power a second and even
a third time and complete the work left unfinished during this time.
Questions By Participants
Having set aside part of the seminar to answer questions posed by
participants, Bagis when asked about the Greek Cypriot administration’s
bid to search for oil around the island emphasized, "Turkey is not
going to sit idly by as long as the Cyprus problem remains unsolved."
When asked whether or not Turkey’s rapprochement with Iran might annoy
the United States, Bagis said, "There is no point in anybody getting
annoyed with Turkey developing good relations with its neighbours"
and added that having said that Turkey had been one of the countries
quickest to oppose Iran developing a nuclear arms programme.
Bagis pointed out that Iran needed to conduct its nuclear work in
coordination with the IAEA and the international community.
Regional, Universal Peace And Turkey’s Interests
Bagis stated that since the first day the AKP came to power they
had taken regional and universal peace plus Turkey’s interests into
consideration when formulating foreign policy.
Stating that it was not enough to be right and that a country also
had to be powerful, Bagis pointed out that Turkey needed to strengthen
itself in strategic terms saying, "If being right was ever enough we
would not be tackling the Cyprus and Armenian problems now; you have
to be powerful."
Touching also on the steps taken by Turkey in the field of economics,
Bagis noted that the removal of six zeros from Turkish currency was
a reform in and of itself.
Bagis referred to Prime Minister Erdogan as "the most successful
prime minister in the history of the Republic."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
