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Europe
Erdogan says terrorism is now a menace to all humanity
2004-06-30
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that terrorism was currently a menace to the humanity.
Noticed that, did you?
Speaking on Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) late on Tuesday, Erdogan assessed his meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush. Replying to a question which said, ’’especially Turkey’s sensitivities to PKK problem were stressed during your meeting with the U.S. President in Ankara. What was his response?’’ Erdogan said that Bush and he had previously held several meetings and an understanding had developed between them. ’’Mr. Bush does not ignore this understanding. He stated before he arrived in Turkey that he would meet me at the official residence. I thank him for this courtesy. It was meaningful to me. It was also a display of respect to our people.’’

Erdogan said that Bush and he had discussed especially Iraq, Afghanistan and Cyprus issues in addition to relations between Turkey and the United States. Stating that they had also discussed the PKK problem, Erdogan said, ’’Mr. Bush even told me that they have al-Qaeda problem and Turkey has PKK problem. And I told him that we have both PKK and al-Qaeda problems while they have only al-Qaeda problem. Terrorism is now a menace to the humanity. Terrorism is a phenomenon. Its target, reason and where and when it hits are not known. We have to form a joint fight against it. Because it does not have religion, race, nation and motherland. We think that terrorism should be condemned and we should protect our peoples against it by taking every measure.’’

Regarding the Cyprus issue, Erdogan said leaders admitted that Turkey was right, adding that especially Turkey’s attitude during referenda process was appreciated. He stressed, ’’they said they would take every necessary step.’’ Erdogan noted that there were two important matters, that were adjustment and implementation, regarding Turkey’s EU membership process. He stressed that they almost completed issues concerning adjustment, adding that they were closely following the implementation process. Erdogan stated that they would make a change in mentality, noting that countries which became full member of the EU did not fully complete the Copenhagen criteria. Noting that after Turkey won a date for opening of membership negotiations with the EU, there would be a long time to be a full member of the EU, Erdogan stated that when all members of the EU approved membership of Turkey, then the country would be a full member of the EU. By then, Turkey would continue implementation, he stressed and noted that the country would rapidly put into practice the articles included in EU adjustment package one by one.

When asked whether or not Greek Cypriot administration would create any problem during Turkey’s EU membership process, Erdogan said that both Turkey and also Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) overcame it. He noted that Turkey said ’yes’ to the United Nations (U.N.) Secretary General Kofi Annan’s plan on Cyprus.
Posted by:Dan Darling

#2  yea as long as it was our embassies, troops, ships, people..being blown up terrorism was not a threat to humanity..but now it is...

just thank god that Bush brought the battle to our enemies...better this than what we had in the 90's.
Posted by: Dan   2004-06-30 1:12:12 PM  

#1  Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that terrorism was currently a menace to the humanity.

Welcome to the planet Earth. Thanks for dropping by. Hope you can stay for a while.
Posted by: Chris W.   2004-06-30 11:31:36 AM  

00:00