Former president urges reforms in foreign policy

ISTANBUL

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Turkey’s former president Abdullah Gül has stressed the need to develop a new approach in the country’s foreign policy which will take into account both history and current developments in politics, daily Hürriyet has reported.

“A new approach should be developed in foreign policy that will take into account both historic realities the country has been through and the current political environment,” Turkey’s 11th president said at a ceremony organized to mark the 30th anniversary of the opening of the Unity Foundation in Istanbul Dec. 27.

Gül noted that Turkey had several problems and one of the most important was the Kurdish issue.

“There has been a lot done to solve this issue,” Gül said, adding that the latest attacks carried out by outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants had escalated the issue.

Recalling that he was among those who had founded the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Gül praised the AKP’s lawmakers.

“I believe in the experiences my friends had,” Gül said, referring to lawmakers in the AKP.

“We’ve been through a lot. We’ve been tested multiple times. We fought attacks and problems ahead of us. It is clear how Turkey has changed over the past 15 years,” Gül said, speaking on behalf of the party.

Gül recalled that Turkish Parliament Speaker İsmail Kahraman mentored him between the 1960s and 1970s when he was head of the Turkish National Student Union (MTTB).

“Parliament Speaker İsmail Kahraman, who once founded the Unity Foundation and was the former head of the Turkish National Student Union, is an indicative figure that shows the progress of the party,” Gül added.