Hurriyet

Head of the Military Staff, General Hilmi Ozkok, in a one and a half hour speech yesterday at the Command Headquarters of Istanbul's Military Academy, referenced the Greater Middle East Project, and the desire of some forces to have Turkey be known as a model of "moderate Islam."

Referring to this, Ozkok stressed in his speech that "the principle of secularism is the cornerstone of all the most important parts which make up the Turkish Republic." In his speech, General Ozkok also touched on Turkish relations with Greece and Armenia. Some noteable exerpts are as follows:
 
Secular republic model
 
In reference to any attempts to present Turkey as a model of "moderate Islam": "Turkey's population is almost 99% Muslim, however Turkey is a secular, democratic, and social justice bound government. Turkey is neither an Islamic government, nor an Islamic country...Secularism is the prime moving force in the development of democracy in Turkey. It is the cornerstone of all the most important parts which make up the country. It must not be ignored that any attempts to change Turkey into a model of "moderate Islam" that would be accepted by certain other countries would be met with national opposition." 
 
Kirkuk should have special status
 
On the subject of Northern Iraq city Kirkuk: "Kirkuk was constituted largely of Turkmens. After the US entry into the area, many more Kurds than were there under Saddam were brought in, and the demographics of the city changed to favor the Kurds. It is very important the Kirkuk have special status."
 
The Armenian question ended in Lausanne
 
On the subject of Armenia: "Armenia does not recognize all of the Turkish lands, and is engaged, in the international arena, with casting unfounded accusations at Turkey. The case of political and legal aspects of the actual genocide accusations was closed with the Lausanne Treaty. The Treaty exempted Turkey from any responsibility in the matter...."
 
PKK should cut off any hope of outside help
 
On the PKK: "This terrorist organization, which changes its name so often, is on the lists of US and EU terrorist organizations, though this does no practical good....The PKK should be deprived of all outside support, and its hopes of any sort of success should be wiped out."