WEYMOUTH: What is your reaction to the beginning of the war?
Erdogan: I’m sad I couldn’t reach my goal of peace.
Are you happy at the prospect of the end of the regime of Saddam Hussein?
It would please us to end a totalitarian regime and to have a democratic process in Iraq.
Are you sorry Turkey is not a full part of the coalition?
Turkey is part of the coalition.
But you are asking your Parliament to grant the United States overflight rights only.
Yes, to have overflight rights and to approve that Turkish troops operate along with U.S. troops in northern Iraq.
But that was part of the full cooperation package that Turkey turned down.
The latest demand from Secretary Powell was for overflights only. But when we were asked for overflight rights, we said we would like to see Turkish troops in northern Iraq, and the U.S. approved that.
Are you sure?
Our foreign minister made this agreement during a discussion with Colin Powell.
In the first package, Turkish troops were allowed to go 12 1/2 miles inside Iraq. How far do you plan to go now?
I think it’s approximately the same. It’s to prevent having any difficulties among the [Kurdish] groups there.
President Bush called and said he needed your help. Why did the call go badly? Reportedly, the president put down the phone and said, “We are going with another plan.”
Nothing like that happened. We told him that we needed time to change the negative atmosphere after the last vote.
Shouldn’t Turkey have gotten onboard with the United States earlier? Turkey would have given the United States bases and the right to station troops here in return for $17 billion and the right for Turkish troops to enter northern Iraq with the Americans.
The negotiations started back in January, and we came to this point because we didn’t have positive results. The U.S. media has a huge responsibility: they showcased Turkey as a country just doing things for monetary gain. We suffered major damage after the gulf war, and our people and Parliament know this. Now we are entering this war and will incur another loss.
How do you view post-Saddam Iraq?
Our goal is an Iraq with a totally democratic structure where the territorial integrity is secured and where all the natural resources belong to the citizens of the country. We’d like to see an Iraq where the interests of the Kurds, the Arabs and the Turkmen are respected.
Do you think that American troops will have to stay on the ground in order to achieve this?
It’s obvious that some forces will need to stay there.
Do you foresee Turkish participation in a U.N. peacekeeping force?
I think it would be appropriate to have a U.N. force. Turkey has always been involved in such operations.
At least one Kurdish leader has said that if Turkish troops enter Iraq, the Kurds will resist. How do you plan to resolve that?
We have spoken to our American friends about this situation. Turkey is not going there to occupy [northern Iraq].
Are you apprehensive that Iran will try to play a role in post-Saddam Iraq?
Obviously, Iran has contacts with the Shiite groups. And there are some fundamentalists among them.
If you say that Turkey has the right to send troops into northern Iraq, why doesn’t Iran?
We are doing that in accordance with an agreement [with the United States].
