We prefer to see our region solve its problem on its own, says President Gul

ANKARA (A.A) - Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Tuesday that they preferred to see their region solve its problem on its own without a need for intervention from places far away. Gul's comments came in response to recent developments taking place in Syria. Speaking at a joint press conference with his Czech counterpart Vaclav Klaus in Ankara on Tuesday, President Gul said that Turkey had excellent relations with the Czech Republic in all fields. Trade volume between our two countries is 2.5 billion USD. Our businesspeople make mutual investments. President Klaus has arrived in Ankara with a large delegation of businesspeople and, on Tuesday, we will have a meeting of the Turkey-Czech Republic Business Forum, Gul noted. In our tete-a-tete meeting and meeting between the respective delegations, we discussed bilateral relations in all dimensions. New ideas were proposed to boost our already excellent relations, Gul said. Everyone knows the Czech Republic and President Klaus's support to Turkey for EU membership. We thank them for their support. President Klaus is a leader who looks at the EU from a critical point of view at times. Everybody has seen how right Klaus was. We had a chance to discuss all relevant topics, Gul underlined. Following talks in Ankara, President Klaus will travel to southern provinces of Adana and Mersin. It is crucial for President Klaus to get first hand information on Turkey, Gul stressed. -"Turkey does everything possible to conclude the negotiations process successfully"- Asked by a Czech journalist how ready was Turkey for EU membership, President Gul said that Turkey's relations with the EU began when the EU was a Common Market and that entry negotiations began in 2005. Negotiations do not continue at the level Turkey desires. Negotiations are a technical issue. However, the negotiations process has been taken prisoner with many political considerations, Gul said. During the Czech term presidency in the EU in 2009, the chapter on taxation was opened to talks. Since then, there has not been much progress in Turkey's negotiations. Turkey does everything possible to conclude the negotiations process successfully. Turkey's negotiations process has been blocked due to certain local politics and political acts of an EU member state, Gul stressed. Turkey's EU membership is a strategic issue, Gul underlined. Asked by another Czech journalist about how the Syrian issue would be resolved, Gul said that many important developments took place in the region and by Turkey. Change in Syria is inevitable. There is no longer a place for closed regimes and one party politics in the Mediterranean region, Gul noted. At the time, we discussed this issue in great length with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Assad could not display the leadership necessary. Now, there is a road in Syria with no return. Turkey, the regional countries and the Arab League are in close cooperation with each other on the Syrian issue. We do prefer that the region solve its problem on its own. We consider intervention from places far away as risky, Gul said. I invite Assad to prefer to exit without giving an opportunity to chaos. I call on Assad to hold free elections and open the path for the beginning of a new term in Syria before the Syrian people become enemies of each other, Gul added.