Erdogan: "If you don't sit down at the table, you can't get anything"

Asked about President Abdullah Gul's decision to travel to Armenia this Saturday to watch a soccer match between the national teams of the two countries, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday said that he views the visit favorably. "If you don't sit down at the (bargaining) table, you can't get anything," he said in Syria, where he had met Syrian, French and Qatari leaders for a summit on the Middle East. "You should sit down at the table and let others leave." Rebuffing criticisms of the visit, Erdogan accused opposition parties of exploiting the issue for political gain. "Such things (visits) are normal among states," he said, and dismissed main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal's criticisms as fruitless and unconstructive. "Baykal is doing the only thing that he can," the premier said. "He continues to base his opposition on negativity alone. He has no plans for today or the future."