Turkey, the only Muslim NATO country, reasserted on Wednesday its support for the US anti-terrorism campaign and said it would push the EU, which it hopes to join, to strengthen laws to fight against terrorism.
"In the US struggle against terrorism, of course, we are in, we are beside the United States," Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said in an interview with the NTV news channel.
But he declined to comment when asked whether Turkey would back eventual strikes against any of its neighbors, which include countries accused by Washington of supporting terrorism such as Iraq, Iran and Syria.
"Nothing like this is on the agenda at the moment. Let's not talk about hypotheses," Cem said.
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, however, has earlier said that Turkey would take part in a joint NATO strike even if it targeted one of its neighbors.
Cem said that so far Washington had not asked for any particular assistance from Turkey, whose southern base of Incirlik is already home to US and British aircraft enforcing a no-fly zone over northern Iraq.
Cem stressed that Ankara would also launch a campaign within the European Union, to which Turkey is a candidate, for the outline of a legal definition of terrorism by the pan-European bloc to strengthen efforts to combat terrorism.
"We will prepare work on this issue and bring it to [the attention of] EU members and candidate countries. We will ask the EU to finally make a legal definition [of terrorism], to build a legal infrastructure on this subject," he said.
Ankara has long accused EU countries of tolerating on their soil radical Turkish Islamist and leftist movements as well as Kurdish militants, who have waged an armed campaign for self-rule in mountainous southeast Turkey and carried out terrorist attacks in urban areas.
But Ankara's appeals have found little backing within the EU due to the country's troubled human rights record.
"Everybody should take up seriously the issues related to terrorism. A common understanding should be established," Cem said.
The minister also denounced as "unfortunate terminology" expressions such as "Islamist terrorism," saying that terrorism should not be identified with any religion -- ANKARA (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
