Gul said that the time has come to adopt modern norms and it was necessary to be bold in determining the route for this change. He said that it was necessary to remove ignorance and unlawful action and that, “If we take these steps as soon as possible, we shall challenge those who speak about conflict of civilizations.”
We are ready for active contribution to Middle East
Gul said that Turkey was ready to take an active role in the Middle East peace process. Recalling that Turkey spent strong efforts to prevent the Iraq war, Gul stressed that it was important to protect the territorial integrity of Iraq and to provide the usage of all Iraqi resources by Iraqi people.
Support for TRNC
Gul said that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus brought into practice a unilateral package of trust-boosting measures continued to take steps for the normalization of relations in the island. He said that Turkey encouraged this process and that he believed the Islamic countries would also support it.
Gul also stressed that it was necessary to provide full opportunity for Turkish minority in West Thrace to use their own language and to perform their religious needs freely.
The question of military coup embarrasses Gul
In his press conference after the meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference, Gul confirmed that some EU foreign ministers asked him about whether there was a preparation for a military coup in Turkey, saying that he was embarrassed because of hearing such a question. Some Greek officials reportedly concluded the issue by saying that no military coup would be experienced in Turkey again.
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, which extended full support to U.S. during the Iraq war, and Afghanistan did not join the meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference. They reportedly protested the summit on grounds that Iraq had responsibility for the bomb-raids recently committed in Riyadh.
