Anadolu Agency
December 19

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that the historical ties, common views and interests between Uzbekistan and Turkey showed that necessary conditions prevailed to upgrade the bilateral relations.

Two countries signed protocols on cooperation with international terrorism and fight, exemption of diplomatic passports from visa and joint economic commission before the joint news conference between Erdogan and Uzbek President Islam Karimov.

Erdogan said that they evaluated international developments and problems during his meetings with Uzbek officials.

The basic foreign policy target of Turkey was membership to EU and contribute to creation of a broad cooperation field in Eurasia, Erdogan said.

The cooperation with Uzbekistan would be beneficial for the two countries and it would contribute to regional and international cooperation particularly in respect of security, he said.

Erdogan stressed that during the meeting with Uzbek President Karimov, he confirmed that the support Turkey extended to Uzbekistan regarding relations with OSCE, NATO would continue.

''We evaluated with Karimov the developments which disturbed the security of our region and the world recently. We particularly assessed the situation in Afghanistan. Turkey launches efforts for improvement of the situation there. We searched for cooperation possibilities with Uzbekistan to contribute to the prosperity and development of Afghanistan by sharing the belief that all Afghans had to take part in the administration. Turkey, which faced all sorts of terrorism is the country which can perceive well the fight with terrorism. Turkey shares the concern of Uzbekistan in fight with terrorism and its perception of terrorism. We appreciate the solidarity which Uzbekistan showed with the international society in fight with terrorism. In that respect, we attribute great importance to cooperation in military and security fields and we are resolved to develop cooperation in this field. We believe that our cooperation should also be strengthened to respond to the expectations of the society and the public opinion.''

Referring to the economic cooperation between the two countries, Erdogan said that they discussed the potential in this field during the meeting and that Turkey praised the reform activities of Uzbekistan in economic and commercial fields.

Erdogan said that there were many businessmen in his delegation showing the importance Turkey attached to Uzbekistan.

Erdogan stated that Turkey would continue to carry out its relations with Uzbekistan within mutual respect, common benefit and support.

Uzbek President Islam Karimov said in his part that 53 of the companies working in Uzbekistan belonged to Turks, and those companies had an investment of 1 billion dollars.

Karimov stated that the two countries would come closer to each other with the cooperation to be made, adding that they decided to hold a summit regarding the things that could be done in the year 2004.

Recalling that the situation in Afghanistan was also taken up in the meeting, Karimov said that they exchanged views about the measures that needed to be taken to overcome the problems in that country.

Expressing his condolences upon the terrorist attacks that took recently in Istanbul, Karimov said that terrorism was a crime committed against humanity.

Karimov said that cooperation had to be made against terrorism, radicalism in international platform, adding that Uzbekistan also wanted to make cooperation in the field of military.

Erdogan: It is never possible to fet hundred percent result in fight against terrorism.

Erdogan said, ''it is the Pentagon which took the biggest measure against terrorism. As it is known, terrorism even hit Pentagon.''

Replying to a question if Turkey and Uzbekistan would have cooperation in training of Uzbek pilots about F-16 planes and other issues, Karimov said that Turkey had a big military power.

Karimov recalled that Turkey had extended 2 million U.S. dollars of military assistance to Uzbekistan recently.

Uzbekistan could make use of experiences of Turkish special forces in fight against terrorism, Karimov said.

Karimov stated that they wanted officers of Uzbek air forces to be trained in Turkey.

When asked how Turkey's European Union (EU) process could affect Turkey-Uzbek relations, Erdogan said that Turkey expected to get a negotiation date in December 2004.

Erdogan noted that Europe and Uzbekistan would come closer to each other by Turkey's EU accession and it would ensure development in every field.

Recalling that trade volume between two countries was around 1 billion U.S. dollars, Erdogan said that Turkish businessmen were excited about increasing that potential.

Erdogan touched on importance of taking steps with common solidarity and said, ''as Turkish Republic, we are ready to take necessary steps. We will achieve everything in solidarity.''

When recalled that Turkish businessmen came across with bureaucratic hurdles in their investments in Uzbekistan, Karimov said that Uzbekistan would do everything to overcome problems.

Replying to a question on fight against international terrorism, Erdogan said that Turkey was not ''inexperienced'' in fight against terrorism.

Erdogan recalled that ten thousands of Turkish citizens lost their lives due to terrorism and said, ''we have forces experienced in countering terrorism. Terrorism is not an ordinary phenomenon. Terrorism is a phenomenon who and when it will hit is unknown. It is never possible to get a hundred percent result in fight against terrorism. it is the Pentagon which took the biggest measure against terrorism. As it is known, terrorism even hit Pentagon. Minimizing it is a success. Therefore, it is obligatory to form an international platform to counter international terrorism. It is important to broaden intelligence networks and provide healthy flow of information. We are in an effort to achieve this target.''

Replying to the same question, Karimov said that he shared views of Erdogan.

Karimov noted that the agreement signed between two countries to counter terrorism was one of the best examples of international cooperation and reiterated that they wanted to make use of Turkey's experiences in fight against terrorism.

Ideology and source of terrorism should also be fought against, Karimov said.

Karimov pointed out that Islam did not any connection with terrorism and terrorism had no language, religion or nation.

Condemning those who associate terrorism with one religion, Karimov said that there was good will, brotherhood and right in Islam.

But some groups used Islam as a tool and ''aimed war'', Karimov stated.

Karimov said that he was mentioning Al Qaida and Hizbul Tahrir and noted that those organizations should be condemned.

Although European countries condemned terrorism, source of terrorist organization was London, Karimov noted.

Karimov said that they were acting with an understanding that ''nobody should disturb them and they should disturb nobody.''

Meanwhile, sources said that in the meeting of delegations, Erdogan brought onto agenda tax taken from flights of Turkish Airlines (THY) to Uzbekistan.

Recalling that Turkish government did not do the same to Uzbek Airlines, Erdogan asked Karimov to end this practice.

Erdogan wanted number of THY flights to Uzbekistan to be increased from 4 to 7.

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