Turkish P.M. Says Turkey Maintains Friendly Relations With U.S.

ANKARA - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey maintained friendly relations and is an ally of the United States.
Addressing the gathering of his Justice & Development Party (AKP) at the parliament, Erdogan said that some communication problems that emerged between friend and ally countries from time to time could not harm bilateral relations. He went on saying, ''differences between countries which can understand each other can't be turned into a tension because of the speculations (by some circles). Turkey's interest in the regional peace and justice necessitates the communications channels be kept open. We have always stated that we want a democratic and integrated Iraq in which Iraqi people can use their right to self-administration. We also expressed these concerns in international platforms before the operation (i.e. military operation against Iraq).''
Erdogan added, ''we are still expecting the coalition forces who are in Iraq to restore peace and stability. We want a democratic structure in which all the Iraqi people are represented. As (U.S.) President (George) Bush stated during the NATO summit the U.S. administration has a vision of Iraq which aims at achieving all these goals.''