Turkish PM admits he also made mistakes, calls for reconciliation

"Of course we also made mistakes... We might make them. A politician always makes assessments about yesterday, today and tomorrow by putting himself in the center. We also do this on a daily basis. I reiterate. We also made mistakes, we still can make them," Erdogan, who has had no interview since the closure case was filed against his party, was quoted as saying by Hurriyet on Saturday.       Â

 

The political tension has been high in Turkey since a case was filed to disband the ruling party after it pushed for a bill to lift the headscarf ban in universities.

 

The country's top prosecutor demanded in March a ban on 71 party officials, including Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul, as well as the closure of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) that he accused of being engaged in a systematic effort to impose Islam on Turkey.

 

Erdogan said they are only accountable to the people. "And now if the mistakes were made and the tension has risen, then we should re-establish the social peace," he added.

 

Erdogan also said the Turkish Republic is the roof of the country and the main pillar of this roof is "solidarity and integrity."

 

"If this pillar collapses, all of us will be buried under the pile. What is important is to be able to live with solidarity and integrity under this roof. As I said earlier, in my opinion, one of the most important ideals of the Ataturk Republic is it unites all members of our society on the basis of being a citizen without any discriminations."

 

The differences among people should not be a reason to prevent a national peace, but to strengthen peace in the country, he added.

 

"Don't we have difficulties or problems, sure we do. But all these problems can be overcome. Only if we don't think that the rights and freedoms we demand for ourselves are too much for the others. We should constitute such a social restoration in all fields of our lives," he said when asked about the ongoing closure case.

 

"I know very well what (people) think. There is no problem among the people. The problem is with the elitists. They want Turkey to follow the direction that they want. But the people also have their own will. There are election results. The elitists managed to make people do what they want them to do. But this is changing from now."

 

He declined to comment on the Constiutional Court's decision to annul the headscarf bill, adding the legal process is still underway.

 

The ruling AKP pushed a controversial bill in February to lift the headscarf ban in universities, a move that increased polarization in the country.

 

"The difficulties that we experience exhaust everybody. If you look at the last year (Turkey) has attracted $22 billion-foreign investment. This year we expected more. But what does the foreign investor want? Stability and confidence. This environment should not be ruined," said Erdogan, implying the negative impact of the closure case on the deteoriating investor confidence amid worsening global conditions."

 

Erdogan strongly rejected the claims that the government demanded the European leaders in the Union for Mediterranean summit in Paris to show a joint reaction the AKP is closed.

 

"The most beneficial thing (in the summit) was our meeting with (French President Nicolas) Sarkozy. We had a positive return from this (meeting), he added.

 

Erdogan attended earlier in July the Paris Summit of the Union for Mediterranean, which aimed at strengthening cooperation with countries in the Mediterranean basin from Morocco to Turkey, during which he also had a tet-a-tete with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

 

Turkey had its concerns as the proposal by Sarkozy to form a loose grouping of Mediterranean countries was seen as an alternative for "the country's relations with the EU. However the final communiqué of the summit said Turkey was a country which was pursuing full membership negotiations with the EU.