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DAVUTOGLU RULES OUT TALIBAN-PKK COMPARISON IN LONDON
Today's Zaman
29 January 2010, Friday
Foreign Minister Davutoglu had a brief meeting with US Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton over Ankara's uneasiness with the reasoning of
the Armenian Constitutional Court's decision.
Foreign Minister Davutoglu had a brief meeting with US Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton over Ankara's uneasiness with the reasoning of
the Armenian Constitutional Court's decision.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has reacted strongly to comparisons
between Taliban fighters in war-torn Afghanistan and the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which took up arms in 1984 to fight
for an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey.
Davutoglu arrived in London on Wednesday evening to represent Turkey
at a 60-nation conference on Afghanistan held on Thursday. The
conference followed a regional conference on Afghanistan which took
place in Ä°stanbul on Tuesday. In Ä°stanbul, in a joint statement
issued after the conference, Afghanistan's neighbors and Turkey backed
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's plan to offer incentives to Taliban
fighters to make them lay down their arms.
"We ... support the Afghan national process of reconciliation and
reintegration in accordance with the constitution of Afghanistan in
a way that is Afghan-led and driven," the statement said.
Davutoglu, speaking with reporters en route to London, emphasized
the importance of reaching national reconciliation in Afghanistan.
Recalling Karzai's recent remarks in which he said he would make a
statement at the London conference asking for Taliban names to be
removed from a UN blacklist, Davutoglu said Turkey's approach to this
idea was positive.
"We will do everything for national reconciliation," Davutoglu said
but did not elaborate further when asked whether Turkey had been
involved in talking with the Taliban to persuade them to disarm.
In response to a question which appeared to put Taliban fighters in
Afghanistan and the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization
by a large majority of the international community, on the same page,
Davutoglu reacted harshly.
Everybody in Turkey is free to be involved in the political process,
Davutoglu said, adding: "There is a political system in Turkey
which functions healthily. In Afghanistan, there is an extraordinary
situation. There is public order in Turkey."
In early 2008, the Turkish military conducted a major operation
against the PKK in northern Iraq, and Turkish warplanes have since
carried out regular cross-border bombing raids against targets in
the mountainous region.
In Washington, US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs
Philip J. Crowley praised Turkey's efforts in Afghanistan, in reply
to a question on a trilateral summit with Afghanistan and Pakistan
on Monday in Ä°stanbul ahead of the regional conference.
Turkey, as a key member of NATO and the NATO-led International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, has been playing a
unique and significant role, Crowley said on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, at the US Department of Defense on the same day, Pentagon
Press Secretary Geoff Morrell announced that US Defense Secretary
Robert Gates will pay a visit to Turkey next week, to attend an
informal meeting of NATO defense ministers in Ä°stanbul on Feb. 4 and
5. Gates will later proceed to Ankara to meet with Turkish officials,
Morrell added.
Talks with Clinton on Armenia
Upon his arrival in London on Wednesday evening, Davutoglu had a
brief meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, once more
explaining Ankara's uneasiness with the reasoning of the Armenian
constitutional court's decision on Jan. 12, which found the protocols
signed on Oct. 10 of last year in Zurich in conformity with the
Armenian Constitution.
Ankara believes that "the decision contains preconditions and
restrictive provisions which impair the letter and spirit of the
protocols." Ankara is expecting to receive a written guarantee from the
Yerevan administration reaffirming that the detailed reasoning by the
Armenian constitutional court will not have an impact on the process
of normalization of bilateral relations between Armenia and Turkey.
Today's Zaman
29 January 2010, Friday
Foreign Minister Davutoglu had a brief meeting with US Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton over Ankara's uneasiness with the reasoning of
the Armenian Constitutional Court's decision.
Foreign Minister Davutoglu had a brief meeting with US Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton over Ankara's uneasiness with the reasoning of
the Armenian Constitutional Court's decision.
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has reacted strongly to comparisons
between Taliban fighters in war-torn Afghanistan and the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which took up arms in 1984 to fight
for an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey.
Davutoglu arrived in London on Wednesday evening to represent Turkey
at a 60-nation conference on Afghanistan held on Thursday. The
conference followed a regional conference on Afghanistan which took
place in Ä°stanbul on Tuesday. In Ä°stanbul, in a joint statement
issued after the conference, Afghanistan's neighbors and Turkey backed
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's plan to offer incentives to Taliban
fighters to make them lay down their arms.
"We ... support the Afghan national process of reconciliation and
reintegration in accordance with the constitution of Afghanistan in
a way that is Afghan-led and driven," the statement said.
Davutoglu, speaking with reporters en route to London, emphasized
the importance of reaching national reconciliation in Afghanistan.
Recalling Karzai's recent remarks in which he said he would make a
statement at the London conference asking for Taliban names to be
removed from a UN blacklist, Davutoglu said Turkey's approach to this
idea was positive.
"We will do everything for national reconciliation," Davutoglu said
but did not elaborate further when asked whether Turkey had been
involved in talking with the Taliban to persuade them to disarm.
In response to a question which appeared to put Taliban fighters in
Afghanistan and the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization
by a large majority of the international community, on the same page,
Davutoglu reacted harshly.
Everybody in Turkey is free to be involved in the political process,
Davutoglu said, adding: "There is a political system in Turkey
which functions healthily. In Afghanistan, there is an extraordinary
situation. There is public order in Turkey."
In early 2008, the Turkish military conducted a major operation
against the PKK in northern Iraq, and Turkish warplanes have since
carried out regular cross-border bombing raids against targets in
the mountainous region.
In Washington, US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs
Philip J. Crowley praised Turkey's efforts in Afghanistan, in reply
to a question on a trilateral summit with Afghanistan and Pakistan
on Monday in Ä°stanbul ahead of the regional conference.
Turkey, as a key member of NATO and the NATO-led International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, has been playing a
unique and significant role, Crowley said on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, at the US Department of Defense on the same day, Pentagon
Press Secretary Geoff Morrell announced that US Defense Secretary
Robert Gates will pay a visit to Turkey next week, to attend an
informal meeting of NATO defense ministers in Ä°stanbul on Feb. 4 and
5. Gates will later proceed to Ankara to meet with Turkish officials,
Morrell added.
Talks with Clinton on Armenia
Upon his arrival in London on Wednesday evening, Davutoglu had a
brief meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, once more
explaining Ankara's uneasiness with the reasoning of the Armenian
constitutional court's decision on Jan. 12, which found the protocols
signed on Oct. 10 of last year in Zurich in conformity with the
Armenian Constitution.
Ankara believes that "the decision contains preconditions and
restrictive provisions which impair the letter and spirit of the
protocols." Ankara is expecting to receive a written guarantee from the
Yerevan administration reaffirming that the detailed reasoning by the
Armenian constitutional court will not have an impact on the process
of normalization of bilateral relations between Armenia and Turkey.