During his visit to Iran, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an was scheduled to make a speech at the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS). But this program was canceled as the meeting with Iran's spiritual leader Ali Khamenei ran longer than scheduled. We journalists were planning to ask our questions during the conference.
But the conference was canceled and we had the chance to ask our questions on the plane on the way back home.

I can say we asked about virtually every domestic and foreign policy issue.

Erdo?an noted that Turkey's volume of trade with Iran decreased about 35 percent last year. He said that the trade volume between Turkey and Iran was $13.5 billion last year, and that they will try to boost this figure to $30 billion in 2015 and further improve bilateral trade ties.

Iranian President Hassan Rohani is likely to visit Turkey on Feb. 20.

Below, find excerpts from the prime minister's remarks concerning a number of domestic and foreign policy matters:

Concerning the Syrian crisis:

"Iranian authorities say it is nonsensical to say 'Assad must go' before the terrorist organizations in Syria leave the country. We told them: The administration must change swiftly. A transition government could be set up. This government should consist of people who have not been implicated in violence and who are acceptable to the public, and it must make sure elections are held as soon as possible. Although the civil war is still underway, we believe the Syrian people will readily rejoice at the elections. This is what happened with Iraq and Libya, isn't it? In these countries, elections were held despite the war. In the very least, these elections pave the way for credible administrations. And people respect them."

Concerning the Southeastern Energy Corridor planned to be established in Turkey:

"This relates to Iraq more than it does to Iran."

Concerning democratization:

"Some of the issues discussed as part of the latest democratization package we announced will be referred to Parliament. Will we abolish the specially authorized courts? We will introduce major changes to the Counterterrorism Law (TMK). The cases heard by the specially authorized courts will be transferred to the high criminal courts."

Concerning wiretapping:

"We will introduce new legal arrangements. Unanimity, not a majority vote, will be required for a court to authorize a prosecutor's request for a wiretap. Authorization periods will be shortened."

Concerning retrial:

"Of course, this may create serious problems and there are concerns about it. Moreover, the door to retrials is already open. For instance, the individual application [to the Constitutional Court] is a procedure for retrial. That is, this instrument cannot be employed by arrested and convicted prisoners. I think [Ilker] Ba?bu? Pasha has filed an individual application with the Constitutional Court. But he did so only a week ago."

About the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK):

"We couldn't find an opportunity to amend the Constitution to this end. Currently, we can amend the Constitution only in cooperation with the Republican People's Party (CHP). But the CHP does not favor constitutional amendments."

Concerning the potential impact of the recent row with the Hizmet movement on the nearing elections:

"We are maintaining our electoral support, according to the latest surveys. We will command a vote of 50-51 percent. We are catching up with our rival in ?zmir."

Concerning the effect of the settlement process on the elections:

"I believe it will give the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) a positive boost. The positive atmosphere attributable to the decrease in terrorist attacks as part of the settlement process will have positive effects on the election results. For instance, we are catching up with our rival in Diyarbak?r. There are good developments in Van."

Responding to questions about the Hizmet movement, Erdo?an said that he was concerned about wiretapping. Regarding his scheduled visit to Germany in February, he said that he has many friends in both parties in Germany's coalition government, adding that the visit will be a major turning point in Turkey's EU accession process.

By Today's Zaman

 

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