Anadolu Agency, Turkey
Jan 20 2010

Turkish PM warns Armenia against "harming" normalization process

Jedda/Ankara: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said
Wednesday Armenia attempted to make an operation on the protocols
signed recently by Turkey and Armenia.

Erdogan’s comments came after a decision made by the Armenian
Constitutional Court on the signed protocols.

Speaking at a joint press conference with the Secretary General of the
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu in
Jedda, Erdogan said that "Turkey sent the protocols directly to the
Turkish parliament without making any other institution an
intermediary. We have not conducted an operation on the sentences. We
have sent the protocols as they were signed and showed sincerity".

At the moment, Armenia has attempted to make an operation on the
protocols. Such an attempt must be corrected. Unless a correction is
made, the process would get damaged. We are not in a position to keep
the relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia out of this context,
Erdogan stressed.

Erdogan said Wednesday "Turkey’s attitude in the Middle East was
shaped by a humanitarian attitude based on our own values".

Erdogan’s comments came at a joint press conference with the Secretary
General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC),
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, after he was asked if Turkey’s developing
positive attitude towards the Arab people would make a change in
Turkey’s EU membership process.

We have displayed our attitude in Georgia and elsewhere in the world.
The EU can never change it. We do not look at the EU as a Christian
club but rather as a political club. There is no other country that
has waited for 50 years at the EU’s door. The EU has not acted fairly
here, Erdogan noted.

Asked if mutual visa requirement between Turkey and Saudi Arabia would
be ended, Erdogan said that a development would take place involving
diplomats and businesspeople.

"Saudi Arabia and Turkey are brotherly countries"

At the beginning of the joint press conference, Erdogan said that
Saudi Arabia and Turkey were two brotherly countries.

We have discussed what we could do in the fields of military, economy,
commerce and politics, Erdogan said.

In 2008, the Turkish-Saudi Arabian trade volume was six billion USD.
We have discussed raising this amount to 10 billion USD in the next
two years, Erdogan said.

We have talked about the issue of energy. Turkey and Saudi Arabia
share a joint will in the matter of energy, Erdogan said.

Erdogan thanked Saudi Arabian officials for the hospitality displayed.

I am proud to receive the "Service to Islam" award by the King Faisal
Foundation. This award will increase our responsibility, Erdogan also
said.