TRKNWS-L Turkish Daily News excerpts (January 15, 1996)

From: TRKNWS-L <trh@aimnet.com>

Turkish News Directory

CONTENTS

TURKISH DAILY NEWS

15 January 1996

[01] Full assurance from Israel on all points of concern

Semih D. Idiz

Turkish Daily News

ANKARA- Israel has assured Turkey that it will not allow Syria to use the "terrorism card" against Ankara, even if Damascus comes around to agreeing not to use this card against Israel any more, senior official sources told the Turkish Daily News on Sunday.

This assurance was given at the highest levels of the Israeli administration, including from Prime Minister Shimon Peres himself, to Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Onur Oymen during his visit to Tel Aviv last week, the TDN was told.

Equally important, Israeli officials denied suggestions, which have appeared in press reports, that it was planning to pressure Turkey to supply Syria with more water from the Euphrates (Firat) so that it could, in turn, obtain more water from Syria from the Golan.

Oymen was reportedly assured at every level on this score too, including by Prime Minister Peres again, that these suggestions amounted to nothing but "groundless speculation." Peres furthermore informed Oymen that they would continue to lobby western governments for Turkey's full membership in the European Union (EU), just as they had done for the customs union accord between Ankara and the EU.

Receiving a letter from Prime Minister Ciller, through Oymen, in which Turkey expressed gratitude for Israel's support for the customs union, Peres reportedly told the Turkish undersecretary that he would bring up the subject of the need for Turkey to join the EU when he meets western leaders.

While in Israel, Oymen met with a host of high-level officials, including Foreign Minister Ehud Barak and members of key opposition parties.

The talks Oymen held in Israel are being described in Ankara as "much more important than had been expected." Officials say these talks produced a convergence of views on almost all the topics discussed from security and the need for more democracy in the Middle East for the sake of ultimate stability in the region.

Oymen's "highly important" talks with Prime Minister Peres also came as Jordan's King Hussein, and U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher, were visiting Israel.

This led officials in Ankara to surmise that "some of the topics taken up in depth and in such a meaningful way between Peres and Oymen must have been carried over to the talks Peres held with King Hussein and Christopher." There has been clear concern in Ankara that the U.S.-sponsored peace talks between Israel and Syria may work to the detriment of Turkey.

Turkish officials were bothered about reports that Israel, for the sake of ensuring that it is not attacked by Syrian-sponsored terrorist groups, may choose to turn a blind eye to this country's continuing use of its terrorism card against Turkey.

Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is outlawed in Turkey where it is waging a violent separatist war, is known to reside in Damascus and enjoys the protection of Syrian authorities.

There are also reportedly no less than 10 anti-Israeli terrorist groups based in Syria today whose activities Israel would sorely like to see ended.

This has led some in Turkey to conclude that Israel may opt for the: "May the snake that bites me not live a thousand years" attitude so prevalent in the Middle East.

"Ambassador Oymen was assured by his Israeli counterpart Eli Dayal that this was certainly not the case, that they would not sign a peace accord with Damascus unless Syria gave up all support for terrorism," a senior source informing the TDN said.

"Prime Minister Peres, himself, during his meeting with Ambassador Oymen, repeated this position in no uncertain terms and went further by spelling it out in his written statement after the meeting." This statement issued after Peres received Oymen last Thursday had indicated that no concessions should be made to any country which uses terrorism as a weapon against other countries to gain political advantages.

During the high-level talks between Oymen and Israeli officials in Tel Aviv the sides also agreed that it was totally wrong to consider the talks between Israel and Syria as signifying in any way that terrorism ultimately pays off.

"The talks Ambassador Oymen had with members of the Israeli opposition also indicated wide support for the Turkish position in this regard," the senior source informing the TDN said.

"The opposition was adamant that no concessions should be made to Syria unless it totally abrogates the use of terrorism," he added.

"The reason for this is that Israel today has secured peace with Egypt, Jordan, and the PLO. The first two never supported terrorism and the PLO rejected it as a means to an end before it started talking to Israel. This leaves Syria in the unique position of retaining the terrorism card while still engaged in talks, a fact that has not gone down well in opposition circles in Israel, as well as with the Jewish lobby in the United States," he said.

This official said the sides agreed during Oymen's talks with opposition politicians that Syria today is not as strong as it makes itself out to be, having, apart from anything else, lost the backing of the now defunct Soviet Union.

This, the sides agreed, leaves Damascus with only the "terrorism card" as a trump which it is clearly not willing to let go of easily; something which must be considered as unacceptable both from Turkey's and Israel's point of view.

Prime Minister Peres, in his statement after meeting Oymen, also denied reports that Israel is preparing to pressurize Turkey to give more water to Syria, saying these reports were groundless.

He is said to have assured Oymen during their meeting, that this issue is not even part of the Israel-Syria talks and that there are no plans to make it so.

"Ambassador Oymen also met with the head of the Israeli water commission who characterized reports that Israel is preparing to pressurize Turkey over water to Syria as 'ridiculous,'" the senior source informing the TDN said.

"The Turkish side was told that the fact that Israel gets barely a tenth of the amount of water from Syria that Syria gets from Turkey goes to show how ridiculous it would be for Israel to pressurize Turkey," he said.

He indicated that because Turkey is a potential supplier of water to Israel it would not make much sense for Israel to alienate Ankara on this score when it is not clear what will be secured from Syria in the end, if anything.

Officials talking to the TDN also referred to an interview Oymen gave to Israeli television while in Tel Aviv, and which reportedly "went down very well" with the Israeli side.

During the interview Oymen is reported as saying that Turkey fully supports Prime Minister Peres' efforts to institute peace in the Middle East.

Oymen is nevertheless said to have added that such an effort can only succeed in the long run if the people in the Middle East, and not just governments, participate in the search for peace.

Oymen is said to have highlighted in this way the need for democracy in the countries of the Middle East. He is said to have underscored the fact that there is scope for cooperation between Turkey and Israel on this score also, as these are the only two real democracies in this part of the world.

Oymen is said, furthermore, to have suggested in this way that more democracy in Syria, where a very small proportion of the overall population has a say in the running of the country, would increase the chances for overall peace and stability in the Middle East.

[02] Ciller's 'early election' proposal angers ANAP and stirs fresh controversy

Turkish Daily News

ANKARA/ISTANBUL- Prime Minister Tansu Ciller has caused fresh controversy in an already uncertain political environment by suggesting that instead of a lasting coalition government between her True Path Party (DYP) and the Motherland Party (ANAP), these two parties should form a temporary government to take the country to early general elections in six months' time.

Responding to this suggestion angrily, ANAP leader Mesut Yilmaz said on Sunday that to bring the idea of early elections to the agenda at the present time amounted to "trying to sabotage the efforts to form a government." ANAP's Deputy Chairperson Imren Aykut also jumped into the fray on Sunday and indicated that a new election would mean ruin for the economy.

"For someone who says the country has not one minute to loose to come up with words that amount to saying: 'If I am not to become prime minister then the country will go to early elections' is as out of keeping with the country's interest as it is with statesmanship" Aykut said.

Yilmaz on Saturday declined a coalition offer by the pro-Islamic Welfare Party (RP) leader Necmettin Erbakan -- albeit without closing the door on this offer completely -- and said the country was looking to a DYP-ANAP coalition, which has come to euphemistically come to be called a "Motherpath" government.

Repeating this position during an extensive television interview on Sunday, Yilmaz said Ciller and he should meet immediately to discuss such a coalition.

Renewing his party's previous condition, however, Yilmaz said that such a government should not have Tansu Ciller as prime minister.

He added that they expected Ciller to respond positively to the ANAP call for such a coalition and to come up with proposals to this end which did not foresee her as prime minister.

"No single party has the strength to impose their own prime minister on anyone else. Unless Ciller comes up with new proposals she will not get any results," Yilmaz said.

Ciller and her party executives have insisted that their agreeing to a coalition with ANAP was contingent on her getting the job as prime minister because they came out with more seats in the general elections than ANAP.

Yilmaz for his part says that while the DYP may have gained more seats in Parliament due to the proportional representation system used in the Dec. 24 election, ANAP in fact got a higher percentage of the vote.

The prospects of a Motherpath coalition are currently caught between the horns of this seemingly intractable dilemma.

Yilmaz also said on Sunday that his two-and-a-half hour talks with the RP leader on Saturday had shown that it was not impossible for ANAP to cooperate with this party.

Despite this, he said, his feeling was that the most likely workable formula was for ANAP to enter into a coalition with the DYP.

Responding to Ciller's proposal for a "temporary DYP-ANAP government" as reported in Sunday's papers Yilmaz said he disapproved of this suggestion.

"I don't approve of her coming up with suggestions at meetings with certain businessmen that she characterizes as 'centers of power,' when she has to make these suggestions in meetings with us," Yilmaz said.

"If she thinks that she can create public pressure (to her advantage) in this way she is mistaken ... if our grassroots want us to unite and to cooperate, then the two of us have to sit down in a constructive way and seek a solution," Yilmaz said.

Ciller was reported on Sunday as telling a group of leading businessmen she met in Istanbul's Ciragan hotel the previous day that the "Motherpath" formula, despite all the pressures for such a government, could not solve the country's problems.

"There are early elections on the horizon. Let us hold these elections in six months' time. Let the DYP and ANAP form an election alliance. But let us race as two separate parties. Let the head of the party that gets the most votes gather the right wing and become prime minister," Ciller was reported as saying at the meeting.

A written statement on Sunday from Ciller's office did not deny these words but said this was only one of a series of alternatives she had proposed in her meeting with the businessmen.

This DYP statement however did not prevent the ANAP leader from accusing Ciller of "not giving up her habit of playing to the gallery." "What is on the country's agenda today is not elections, but the formation of a government. To bring up the subject of elections today is to sabotage the efforts to form a government," Yilmaz said.

Yilmaz repeated his previous position and said that they did not have to wait for the president to assign either of them to form a government and that they could and should meet as soon as tomorrow to work out a settlement because the country could not afford to lose any more time.

The ANAP leader accused Ciller of shying away from talking to him because she was not open to any government formula which did not have her as prime minister.

He argued that the results of the Dec. 24 elections did not give her the right to put forward such a demand.

Reflecting the impasse the two parties are at, DYP Deputy Chairman Mehmet Golhan said on Sunday that if Yilmaz gave up on his precondition that Ciller should not become prime minister, then both parties could easily agree on most issues and form a coalition government.

Addressing a press conference at party headquarters, Golhan noted that if Yilmaz does that, the obstacles in the way of the Motherpath formula could easily be cleared.

Golhan also added that the DYP hopes that Yilmaz will close the door firmly on the prospect of cooperation with the RP instead of keeping the door open for cooperation with this party as he did on Saturday when meeting RP leader Erbakan.

Asked about who might be the third partner in a coalition government between ANAP and the DYP, Golhan said the program of the Republican People's Party (CHP) provided a better chance in this respect.

[03] Council of Europe suspends debate of report on Turkey

ANKARA- The Parliamentarian Assembly of the Council of Europe has suspended its debate on the "Turkey Report" to an unknown date, since the Turkish members of the assembly have yet to be elected.

The report, written by Hungarian MP Alexandras Barzony, was expected to be debated at general assembly meetings between Jan. 22 and 26.

Barzony's report urges the European Parliament to put more pressure on Turkey over human rights violations, sources quoted by the Anatolia news agency said.

"The newly-formed [Turkish] Parliament did not elect MPs to attend the meetings. The suspension decision is quite positive, since the new Turkish delegation will have some time to become experienced in the procedures of the Parliamentarian Assembly," the sources said.

Meanwhile, the Socialist and Green groups of the European Parliament are reportedly working on a series of draft resolutions criticizing human rights violations in Turkey.

The draft resolutions are believed to cite the recent prison unrest in Turkish jails and the alleged murder of journalist Metin Goktepe under police custody. The resolutions are expected to be voted on in the European Parliament on Jan. 18.

[04] Zana's Sakharov Prize

The prize will be given to her husband Mehdi Zana in Strasbourg, since she was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment under charges of separatism.

The European Parliament awarded Zana the Sakharov Prize and $20,000 in November last year.

[05] Denktas urges EU to lift embargo on TRNC

ANKARA- Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas has urged the European Union (EU) to the lift the embargo imposed on the TRNC, the Anatolia news agency reported on Sunday.

Denktas also criticized the EU's decision to negotiate the Greek Cypriot side's unilateral application for full membership.

"Instead of negotiating this application the EU should spend efforts on lifting the economic, cultural and sporting embargoes that were imposed 32 years ago, when the island was divided," Denktas said.

Recalling the Greek application for renegotiation of the Cyprus issue before the Political Committee of the European Commission, Denktas said, "Before the approval of every decision on the Cyprus issue, we want them act equally to each of the parties." He ask European bodies not to take decisions on unilateral negotiations. Denktas warned that such decisions could affect the communal negotiations in Cyprus.