TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review(April 13, 1995)

From: hristu@arcadia.harvard.edu (Dimitrios Hristu)

Subject: TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review(April 13, 1995)


CONTENTS

  • [01] PM CILLER SIGNS OIL DEAL IN BAKU

  • [02] A FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISTS NOT KURDS

  • [03] US STATE DEPARTMENT: NO AUTONOMY FOR TURKISH KURDS

  • [04] KURDISH LEADERS EXPECTED SOON

  • [05] ANKARA ASSURES US ON IRAQ WITHDRAWAL

  • [06] 75 MILITANTS KILLED IN FIGHTING WITH GOVERNMENT TROOPS IN SOUTHEAST

  • [07] TURKEY PROTESTS ERNK PLAN TO OPEN DANISH OFFICE

  • [08] KURDISH "EXILE PARLIAMENT" IN THE HAGUE

  • [09] CINDORUK: "NO RIGHT CAN BE GIVEN TO TERRORISTS TO ESTABLISH A PARLIAMENT"

  • [10] KANDEMIR: "HISTORY WILL NOT REPEAT ITSELF"

  • [11] BSEC MEETING IN ATHENS

  • [12] HIGH LEVEL US LIAISON GROUP

  • [13] 113,400 VOTERS LINE UP TO CAST VOTE IN TRNC

  • [14] ARSON ATTACKS ON TURKISH SHOPS IN GERMANY

  • [15] TURKEY COMBATS PKK TERRORISM IN NORTHERN IRAQ


  • WITH THE COMPLIMENT OF

    DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION

    TURKISH PRESS REVIEW

    APRIL 13, 1995

    Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish

    press this morning.

    [01] PM CILLER SIGNS OIL DEAL IN BAKU

    Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller signed a deal with Azeri President Haydar Aliyev yesterday in Baku that will give

    Turkey 5 % of Baku's shares in an international oil consortium. According to the agreement, the state-run

    Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) took over 5 % more shares to raise its total to 6.75 % from the present 1.75 %.

    Speaking before leaving Ankara, Ciller reiterated Turkey's continued support for Azerbaijan in its conflict with

    Armenia. "The occupation of Azeri lands by Armenian forces must end. I'd like to see more efforts in international

    fora and within the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)" she said. Foreign Minister

    Erdal Inonu, Housing and Settlement Minister Erman Sahin, Industry and Commerce Minister Hasan Akyol, Energy and

    Natural Resources Minister Veysel Atasoy, Culture Minister Ercan Karakas and several business leaders accompanied

    Ciller on her visit. Ciller said that Turkey hopes to build a Mediterranean terminal at the end of an envisaged oil

    pipeline that will carry Azeri and Kazakh oil from the Caspian region. Aliyev met with Tansu Ciller at Baku's Bine

    Airport yesterday. Azeri Parliament Speaker Resul Guliyev and Cabinet members participated in the meeting. /All

    papers/

    [02] A FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISTS NOT KURDS

    In an interview with the newspaper "Correio Braziliense" President Suleyman Demirel said that Turkey was fighting

    against terrorists, not Kurdish people.

    Demirel noted that "our Kurdish citizens are our brothers, and we have no problems with them at all." Expressing

    sympathy for the difficulties endured by some Latin American countries because of terrorism, Demirel went on to say that

    the PKK terrorist organization was not defending the rights of the Kurdish people, but was more concerned with

    establishing an illegal Kurdish state against the wishes of the Kurdish groups living in the region. /All papers/

    [03] US STATE DEPARTMENT: NO AUTONOMY FOR TURKISH KURDS

    US State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns disclosed yesterday that the US they did not support autonomy for

    Turkish Kurds living in Turkey. Burns touched on the explanations of State Department Spokeswoman Christine

    Shelley about Iraqi Kurds last Monday. Burns stressed that the solution proposal suggesting autonomy for Kurds did not

    include Turkey. Burns said that "we are against Kurdish autonomy inside Turkish borders". Burns noted too that the

    US did not accept a Kurdish parliament-in-exile. Burns expressed his views saying that :"We do not accept the PKK

    Parliament in The Hague. The US can not support an initiative coming from the PKK terrorist organization. We

    have stated to this to both Dutch and Turkish governments". The expression "PKK parliament" instead of "Kurdish

    parliament" is noteworthy. The US Embassy to Ankara also stressed that the US saw the PKK as a terrorist

    organization, and that this terrorist organization was not only active in Turkey but in Western Europe as well.

    /Hurriyet-Sabah/

    [04] KURDISH LEADERS EXPECTED SOON

    Government officials said yesterday that leader of the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) Mesud Barzani will come to

    Ankara at the end of the month with a large delegation. Foreign Ministry officials have also confirmed that

    Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Celal Talabani has informed the ministry by letter that he wants to have talks

    with government representatives.

    Turkish government officials want to talk to the leaders of the two main Kurdish political parties about security in the

    northern Iraq region once Turkish military forces pull out. After initial details have been sorted out, then dates will

    be fixed for visits and talks. During the weekly Foreign Ministry press meeting yesterday Spokesman Ferhat Ataman

    said that Ankara viewed these developments positively. /Hurriyet/

    [05] ANKARA ASSURES US ON IRAQ WITHDRAWAL

    During a press meeting after the two day meetings in Ankara between a top level US delegation and Turkish officials

    including Prime Minister Ciller and Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu, US delegation leader Strobe Talbott said that he had

    been given assurances about a Turkish forces withdrawal from northern Iraq.

    Talbott said that both Ciller and Inonu had assured him that the Turkish military incursion into northern Iraq would be

    limited in scope and time. Talbott closed his comments by saying that the delegation attached a lot of importance to

    the government's assurances, and that it was the hope of the US administration that as far as possible Turkey would be a

    stable, strong country. /Cumhuriyet/

    [06] 75 MILITANTS KILLED IN FIGHTING WITH GOVERNMENT TROOPS IN

    SOUTHEAST

    Seventy-five terrorists and three members of the state security forces were killed in fierce fighting in villages

    surrounding the city of Tunceli yesterday, when government troops launched an operation in the region against the PKK

    terrorist organization. /All papers/

    [07] TURKEY PROTESTS ERNK PLAN TO OPEN DANISH OFFICE

    Turkey said yesterday it would ask Denmark to stop the Kurdish separatist ERNK organization from opening an office

    in Copenhagen this month, the Anatolia news agency reported. Turkish Ambassador Faruk Logoglu said: "It would be quite

    wrong for Denmark to host an ERNK office- the organization is connected directly to the PKK". ERNK has announced it

    plans to open the Copenhagen office on April 25.

    [08] KURDISH "EXILE PARLIAMENT" IN THE HAGUE

    Kurds, including the six deputies of the banned pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP) now living in Europe as well as

    members of the PKK terrorist organization, yesterday formed an "exile parliament" in The Hague, despite Turkey's

    opposition. PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, in a message sent in English" wished "success" to the Kurdish representatives

    and stated that AGRK, the armed-wing of the PKK, supported the parliament. The 65-seat parliament, initially drawn

    only from exiled Kurds, opened in The Hague's main conference centre as about 2,000 Kurds raised flags of

    yellow, red and green which are considered the traditional Kurdish colors. The elected member and chairman of the

    Kurdish Institute, Ismet Serif Vanli, said the parliament constituted the first step towards a Kurdistan National

    Congress, uniting with the parliaments of the Kurdistan provinces to fight for national liberation.

    Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu said it was not possible to characterize the stance of the Netherlands' government as

    friendly and wanted the Netherlands to reconsider its approach toward the "so-called parliament-in-exile. It has

    been reported in the press that a so-called Kurdish parliament-in-exile has been established in Holland by

    groups led by the PKK. This does not agree with the Netherlands' international obligations". Inonu also

    recalled that both Turkey and Netherlands are NATO members, saying: "Such a course of action by the Netherlands is

    contrary to NATO's common values as well as to the spirit of the traditional friendship between our countries, the

    toleration of the formation of a parliament-in-exile by a terrorist organization which threatens the territorial

    integrity of an allied country, by citing gaps in the domestic legislation, will signify, even if it is

    unintentional, nothing less than the encouragement of terrorism itself". /Sabah/

    [09] CINDORUK: "NO RIGHT CAN BE GIVEN TO TERRORISTS TO ESTABLISH

    A PARLIAMENT"

    Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) Speaker Husamettin Cindoruk qualified the establishment of a Kurdish

    parliament- in-exile as "a situation directed to violate the territorial integrity, sovereignty and political unity of

    Turkey". Cindoruk said: "No right can be given to terrorists to establish a parliament". True Path Party

    (DYP) Group Deputy Chairman Ihsan Saraclar noted that Turkey was an independent and free state, and that she struggled

    against a terrorist organization, therefore some western countries should take this under consideration. /Sabah/

    [10] KANDEMIR: "HISTORY WILL NOT REPEAT ITSELF"

    Nuzhet Kandemir, Turkish Ambassador to the US, sent a severe answer to the editor of "Newsweek" pertaining to an article

    on Turkey published in the latest issue of the magazine. In response to the magazine's allegations that "the sick man

    coughs again" (referring to Turkey's operation in northern Iraq), Kandemir replied "This time, history will not repeat

    itself". The ambassador stated that the term "sick man" had been coined in the 19th century by the big European powers

    with the aim of dismantling the Ottoman Empire. He said this strategy had been successful then, but that this was no

    longer the 19th century. He concluded that Turkey would overcome its difficulties democratically within the

    structure of a unitary state. /Cumhuriyet/

    [11] BSEC MEETING IN ATHENS

    Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ferhat Ataman, in his weekly press conference, stated that the 5th meeting of the Black

    Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Foreign Ministers would be held in Athens and that a Turkish delegation headed by

    Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu would attend the meeting. Pointing out that Greece was the term president of the BSEC,

    Ataman said that it was foreseen according to the English alphabetic order that BSEC term presidency would be handed

    over Moldova at this meeting. /Cumhuriyet/

    [12] HIGH LEVEL US LIAISON GROUP

    A "High Level Group" will be established in order to develop common strategies between Turkey and the US, to facilitate

    taking common attitudes regarding issues concerning both countries and to establish grounds for agreements regarding

    developments in Turkey. Lawrence Eagleburger, former US Secretary of State will preside over the High Level Group

    which will be introduced by Prime Minister Tansu Ciller in a ceremony to be held in Washington on 19 April. Nearly 30

    representatives from both countries will participate in the group which is expected to gather twice a year. The group,

    which will carry out its work at academic levels, will present reports and strategical evaluations as proposals to

    both sides. The Turkish-US High Level Group will carry out its work under the International Strategic Research Centre

    which is one of the leading US think-tank institutions. The US has similar High Level Groups with countries that have

    strategic importance. The US-Russia High Level Group called the "St.Petersburg Commission" is carrying out its work

    under the direction of Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Counsellor during the

    presidency of Jimmy Carter, is presiding over the US-Ukraine and the US-Poland High Level Groups. /Milliyet/

    [13] 113,400 VOTERS LINE UP TO CAST VOTE IN TRNC

    113,400 voters will vote for the new President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on April 15, the

    Anatolia news agency reported yesterday.

    [14] ARSON ATTACKS ON TURKISH SHOPS IN GERMANY

    Arsonists set fire to two Turkish stores in the western German cities of Ludwigshafen and Berlin yesterday morning,

    causing substantial damage. The police, quoted by the Anatolia news agency, said they were searching for two young

    men seen driving away from the store in Ludwigshagen.

    [15] TURKEY COMBATS PKK TERRORISM IN NORTHERN IRAQ

    BUSINESSWEEK (April 10, 1995)

    "Some 2,400 insurgents belonging to the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) have been using bases across the Iraqi frontier

    to mount raids into Turkey."

    ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS (APRIL 1, 1995) Prof. Joe Szyliowicz

    "You have had an ongoing campaign by the PKK, the Kurdistan Workers Party, that is seeking independence for

    Kurds from Turkey. They have enjoyed support in the past from neighbors of Turkey - Syria, Iraq, Iran - and they have

    bases along the Iraqi-Turkish border. The offensive is aimed at destroying those bases and also the PKK guerrilla

    bands. We consider Turkey to be an important ally and one that

    occupies a critical strategic location. It borders on central Asia and has powerful connections to the former

    Soviet republics. Turkey has played an important role in supporting U.S. policy toward Iraq since the invasion of

    Kuwait. Turkey also borders Iran and Syria, countries that in the past have been troublesome for the U.S."

    THE WALL STREET JOURNAL EUROPE (APRIL 6, 1995) Dilip Hiro

    "PKK terrorists from Turkey have exploited the power vacuum, and Turkey's incursion has come in response to the

    PKK's increased influence in the war-torn region... (fighting between Mr. Barzani's KDP and Mr. Talabani's

    PUK) deepened the power vacuum in northern Iraq and gave the PKK increased leeway to launch its terrorist actions against

    Turkey from the Kurdish enclave... It was against this background that Turkey sent 35,000 soldiers..."

    THE WASHINGTON TIMES (MARCH 30, 1995) Stephen Green

    "Although the 3,500-square-mile area was placed off-limits to Iraqi aircraft and soldiers to protect Kurdish

    residents from Saddam's army, the resulting vacuum of authority has had an unintended effect. The "no fly" zone

    has become a refuge and logistical base for separatist Kurd terrorists, seeking sanctuary between operations in Turkey.

    Turkey has been castigated by some for the incursion, but the criticism is unfounded. Clearly, Turkey has a right

    to protect itself from terrorism. If there is no authority in Northern Iraq capable of preventing the region's use by

    terrorists, Turkey is justified in taking matters ito its own hands.

    Indeed, under the circumstances, Turkey has every right to expect the United States, Britain and France to assist in

    keeping terrorists out of the area."

    REUTER (March 22, 1995)

    "'Turkey has justified security interests in its conflict with the terroristic activities of the PKK (Kin

    north Iraq,' the (German Foreign) Ministry quoted (Foreign Minister) Kinkel as saying."

    NEWSWEEK (April 3, 1995)

    "Bill Clinton's administration has been broadly supportive, recognizing that the Kurdish Workers' Party

    (PKK) is a brutal terrorist group and concluding that Turkey's actions could be justified under international

    law."

    END

    TRKNWS-L index page Previous Message Next Message


    HTML by the HR-Net Group / Hellenic Resources Institute
    news2html v2.05 run on Tuesday, 16 May 1995 - 13:21:41