Both the EU and Turkey would benefit from Turkey’s membership.

However, he added that if Turkey were not able to join the EU, then it would continue its own way without the Union. Asked about Ankara’s National Security Council (NSC) becoming a civilian institution, Gul said that no state institution would be exempted from the nation’s reform process. The foreign minister stated that he expected the support of the opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) for reforms for Ankara’s EU bid. Also touching on Turkish-US relations, Gul said that last week, in the wake of a high-level Foreign Ministry visit to Washington, the US administration had sent a letter to Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok telling about Turkey’s contributions to the Iraq war, Turkish-US relations and the importance of Turkey and the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). He stated that he believed the US would not conduct an operation against Syria or Iran. Gul added that Ankara favored good relations with Armenia and that there was nothing in Turkey’s past for it to be ashamed of. “We did not assimilate any nation,” said Gul.