Exclusive interview with Turkish PM Bulent Ecevit

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• published: 21 Jul 2015
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1. Exterior government building 2. Mid shot building 3. Ecevit arriving to give AP interview 4. Mid shot Ecevit giving AP interview 5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Bulent Ecevit, Turkish Prime Minister "Actually Turkey's strategic importance has increased after the ending of the bipolar world and after the 11th September's tragic event the value of Turkey's regime- that is a largely Islamic populated country with a secular regime and democracy and a modern way of life. This is becoming increasingly an example to be followed by many Islamic countries and we hope that better understanding and further understanding will emerge here with Turkey's contribution between different religions." 6. Two cutaways of Ecevit 7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Bulent Ecevit, Turkish Prime Minister "Q: Will Turkey take over the command of the peace keeping force in Afghanistan? A: "We have news or rumours that this may be the case but we have not been officially informed that this will be possible. If such a decision is taken then we will of course abide by it and would make the best use of it for the interests of the Afghanistan people. But in any case, whether that project arises or not, we shall give great importance to the economic, social, cultural and educational development of Afghanistan The main issue in Afghanistan is that it has no national army. Yet Afghanistan is situated in a very critical part of the world, politically. So the major and primary situation would be to establish a national army." 8. Cutaway statue 9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Bulent Ecevit, Turkish Prime Minister "You see, our defence expenditure will very much increase because of our prospective contributions to the situation in Afghanistan. We will send a unit, we will send several articles needed there etc, and this will further increase our economic problems. The United States knows that, so either support for our defence expenditure in that region, or reduction of our duties will be much appreciated," 10. Mid shot Ecevit 11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Bulent Ecevit, Turkish Prime Minister "Well thus far we have not received any indication to that effect and we don't yet know what will be the attitude of the present American administration with regard to Iraq. Different voices are heard from the United States even from official circles on that issue. So I can't go into specifics in that respect but I am sure that we will have an opportunity of discussing the situation with regard to Iraq while in Washington." 12 Cutaway Ecevit 13. SOUNDBITE: (English) Bulent Ecevit, Turkish Prime Minister "Accepting the reality that exists in Cyprus is essential. Unless the existing reality is accepted much progress may be not take place. What I mean by the 'existing situation' is that there are two different,t separate states and communities in Cyprus and we need to keep that in mind. The Turks and the Greeks on the island can reach, I am sure, agreement step by step on many issues. We hope that dialogue between Mr Denktash and Mr Clerides may yield some positive results but as long as the United States takes an active interest in Cyprus, it will be very difficult to solve the problem of Cyprus. " 14. Ecevit leaves STORYLINE: In an exclusive AP interview Turkey's Prime Minister said on Friday that he will outline Turkish concerns over any military action against Iraq when he visits Washington next week. Turkey, the NATO member with the second largest army and close US ally, has been a strong supporter of the US- anti-terrorism campaign, but it fears that a US operation against Iraq could lead to the formation of a Kurdish state in the areas of northern Iraq that border Turkey. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/80af36f526e6e34d01a420711481f75f Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork