Ankara denies intention to recognize Polisario
Morocco-Turkey, Politics, 9/23/2004

Turkey said it has no intention to recognize the Polisario separatists or their self-proclaimed republic "SADR," that lays claim to Morocco's southern Provinces (known as the Sahara).

"Turkey has no intention at all to recognize Polisario nor its alleged republic," said Turkey's ambassador to Morocco, Algan Akin, assuring that his country "does not have any relationship" with this entity.

The Turkish diplomat's statement came after an article published recently in the London-based newspaper "Al-Quds Al Arabi" which talked about an eventual recognition of "SADR" by Ankara.

"Information in this article are completely false and groundless," said the ambassador in an interview published Wednesday by the daily "Aujourd'hui le Maroc."

"As a country that has suffered for long years from the terrorism of PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), it is inconceivable for Turkey to back Polisario, an organization that I deem similar to PKK," explains Akin.

He said Turkey's embassy in Rabat tried to contact "Al-Quds Al Arabi" correspondent to make an official denial.

On the Sahara dispute, he said Ankara hopes a solution to this issue will "respect Morocco's sovereignty and will be reached under the auspices of the United Nations."

There is no reason to change Turkey's stance, he underlined. On the contrary, he said, "there are many reasons to keep it unchanged."

"During the visit of (Moroccan) Premier, Driss Jettou, to Turkey, the President and the Prime minister stated that our two countries share the same vision on the Sahara issue. Since then, nothing has changed," he noted.

Previous Stories:
  Morocco hails Turkey stance in Sahara issue   (5/26/2004)
  Moroccan, Turkish Parliaments to speed up Free Trade Agreement ratification   (5/25/2004)
  Moroccan-Turkish Joint follow-up committee meets in Ankara   (3/9/2002)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search