Gul: Premature pullout of troops will not help Iraq
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Voicing concerns about the escalating violence in Iraq, Turkish foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on tuesday that US troops should not quit early. "The Iraqis should be able to administer themselves, but we say the withdrawal of coalition forces before these things can happen would cause a vacuum, a gap," Gul told reporters. Gul denied reports that he had said last month in Ankara that Turkey feared the violence would strengthen Iran's hold in the region.
Turkey does fear, however, that the escalating violence will plunge the region into a period of instability, and that a pullout of troops would not help the situation. But Gul said that it didn't believe the situation would go far enough to destabilize Turkey. "Turkey has shown itself as a model country... We have begun European Union membership talks. It is very false to say such a country could be affected by another country's regime," he said.
Gul denied reports in Turkish newspapers on Thursday, which quoted Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda saying Gul had told him during talks last month in Ankara that the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq would greatly bolster Iran's influence. Gul was also quoted as saying Iran might then be able to export its militant brand of Shi'ite Islam to Turkey, which is mainly Sunni Muslim but has a secular political system and is firmly anchored in Western institution – Gul also said that there was no reason for Turkey to hold such fears.
"The words attributed to me are not correct," Gul added.