TRKNWS-L Turkish Daily News (April 11, 1996)

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

Turkish News Directory

CONTENTS

TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 11 April 1996

[01] Turkey clarifies content of accord:

Turkish Daily News

WASHINGTON/ANKARA- Faced with Muslim countries' criticism for signing a military agreement with Israel, Turkey explained Wednesday that, under this accord, Israeli planes could only use the Turkish airspace for training purposes and had to be unarmed.

"Both countries' planes, which will use the airspace of the other country for training purposes, will be unarmed... and carry no equipment that would be used for electronic monitoring," Foreign Ministry spokesman Omer Akbel said in the weekly press conference.

He firmly denied that the agreement was aimed at any country, as he reminded of some media reports that said that the Israeli planes will use the opportunity of flights to gather intelligence on Turkey's neighbors, namely Iran, Iraq and Syria.

Ha'aretz, an Israeli daily, alleged that, under the agreement, Turkey will allow Israel to gather information on Syria and Iran from inside Turkey. In return, Israel will reportedly help Turkey to organize border control along its frontiers with Syria and Iran.

"Some of the articles in the media said that Turkey allowed the use of its airspace and gave some facilities to Israeli military planes for the use of Turkish airbases," Akbel said.

"There is no question of any of the sides provide airbase facilities for the other," he said, while he allowed that during training flights, the jets may have to use airbases for fueling or in case of an emergency.

He said although the Israeli military jets would use Turkish airspace, and vice-versa, this would only be for training purposes.

A flow of criticism from the Muslim world targeted Turkey after Turkish Defense Minister Oltan Sungurlu told the Turkish Daily News last week that the Israeli jets would use Turkish airspace for training purposes. Sungurlu said two days later that the accord did not entail use of airspace and said "he had got confused" on the content of the accord that had been signed on February 23 in Tel Aviv.

But the explanation of Akbel confirms that the Israeli jets will indeed use Turkish airspace and, under some conditions, Turkish airbases, if only for training.

Asked when the training flights will start, Akbel said they had already started, giving no further details.

Meanwhile, TDN has learned in Washington that an undetermined number of Israeli F-16 jet fighters will be arriving in Turkey in mid-April.

No details were available about the planned training of Israeli jets to Turkey later this month, but it is assumed they will be coming for a joint exercise. The Israeli daily Ha'aretz said the Turkish-Israeli agreement, signed in February, will allow for eight joint military exercises to be held each year.

He said that Turkish and Israeli forces had similar planes which made it useful and necessary for both countries to launch technological cooperation.

In a way to calm the worries of the Muslim countries, Akbel said: "Turkey's flourishing relations with Israel is part of what we pursue from the beginning as a constructive and balanced policy in the Middle East... Turkey ... has supported the U.N. resolutions which said that the occupied territories should bee given to their owners. It is wrong to think that Turkey... will enter into military arrangements that would create new divisions and concern in the region whose problems continue." Akbel also said that Turkey was not the only country that furthered its relations with Israel.

He also confirmed that Syria had summoned the Turkish ambassador to Damascus to the Foreign Ministry for an explanation on the Turco-Israeli deal.

While the Arab world expressed concern, the accord was welcomed by the United States as "one that could be helpful for stability in the area, rather than being a factor of instability." An unnamed U.S. State Department official reportedly told Al-Hayat, which is published in London, that he interpreted the agreement as "the beginning of a relationship between an Islamic and a non-Islamic country. As long as this agreement does not happen on account of any other country with which we have a security relationship, this will be good to enforce security in the region." The U.S. State Department reportedly regards this agreement as similar to a cooperation agreement signed between Greece and Syria.

[02] Foreign intelligence helped crackdown on PKK

ANKARA- Tip-offs by friendly foreign intelligence services has played a key role in the heavy blow delivered to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) separatists in the ongoing military operation in southeastern Turkey, sources close to the government told the TDN.

Sources said intelligence cooperation enabled the Turkish authorities to pinpoint the place and time of a meeting between the local rebel leaders to assess the winter activities and plan the details of a "spring offensive".

Beside the cooperation between Turkish and Western Intelligence agencies under NATO, Ankara has recently deepened "technical cooperation" with Israel. TDN sources said that in the last operation, Turkey could have had access to "all" the intelligence facilities provided.

Government and military officials disclosed on Tuesday that over 100 rebels had been killed since April 5 and more than 300 others had been surrounded by security forces in the ongoing operation in the rugged Saggoze area in Bingol province.

Security forces lost 30 dead in the fierce fighting.

Sources, noting that the PKK rebels were roaming in bands of 30-40 people, stressed that it was for the first time that some 500 separatists had been caught together in a single engagement.

The accurate information on the date and place of the reported meeting has been instrumental in the success of the military operation -- conducted by 3,000 troops backed by Cobra and Super Cobra helicopter gunships -- sources said, adding that the rebel losses could be well over the disclosed figures since the separatist militants were trying to flee the snowbound area and many were injured.

Government sources said the current operation was different from the past ones in the respect of numbers and ranks of encircled rebels.

"After this blow, the PKK's threatened spring offensive has ceased to be a serious threat... From now on, it is not possible for them to regain their strength. Besides, the operations will be spread to other areas to deny the terrorists any military initiative throughout the summer as well," the sources said.

The reported meeting between the PKK local officials followed reports of turmoil within the rebel ranks, attributed to the effects of inaction since PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan announced a unilateral cease-fire in December. Turkish government, keeping to the longstanding policy of avoiding negotiations with "terrorists", rebuffed the calls for a response.

Reports said the PKK leadership, taking advantage of the lull and to assert its authority on the organizations military structure inside Turkey, replaced Semdin Sakik , the senior military chief in Turkey, who was reportedly taken to Iraq for questioning and trial.

But PKK will not break the four-month-old cease-fire in their separatist campaign against Turkey despite recent fierce fighting in which 130 people have died, Reuters quoted a Kurdish news agency as saying.

"The unilateral cease-fire declared by PKK is still in progress," the DEM agency reportedly said, quoting a rebel spokesman.

Guerrilla chief Ocalan, believed to be based in Syria, has threatened to unleash suicide bombers in western Turkish cities if he ends the cease-fire.

[03] Turkey and Iran lock horns over 'spy-diplomats'

Turkish Daily News

ANKARA- The tension between Ankara and Tehran further escalated Wednesday as Turkey announced its decision to call back its four diplomats accused of espionage by Iran.

In a severely-worded statement, Ankara expressed deep resentment for Iran's "public accusations" which provided to be a cold shower during a senior diplomat's crucial visit to Tehran for "political consultations."

"We reject the Iranian charges that our diplomats are involved inn spying. But for their own security, we have asked them to come back to Turkey as soon as possible," Foreign Ministry spokesman Omer Akbel said on Wednesday.

Akbel denied the diplomats had been detained or arrested.

Neither could he confirm reports by the Iranian news agency IRNA that some Turkish citizens had been arrested.

But four hours after Akbel's statement, his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Muhammedi, said that Iran had asked Turkey to withdraw its four diplomats.

Late Tuesday, IRNA quoted the intelligence director-general of Iran's East Azerbaijan province as saying the four Turkish diplomats, attaches at the embassy and consulates in Iran, led a spy ring that "conspired against...Iran and intended to interfere in Iran's internal affairs."

The Iranian accusation that the Turkish diplomats -- Halil Olmez, Kadri Can, Erdal Kozluklu and Ali Huseyin Hakan Karakal -- are involved in espionage is the last development in the souring of ties between Turkey and Iran. Despite recurrent tensions in bilateral relations, the Iranian Islamic republic and strictly secular Turkey, a NATO member, have remained on reasonably good terms in recent years.

But last month Ankara asked Iran to withdraw its four diplomats who were accused of being involved in various terrorist activities in Turkish territory.

The accusation was based on the testimony of Turkish Islamist hitman Irfan Cagirici, who admitted receiving military and political training in Iran.

The Turkish media have said that Cagirici admitted a role in the abduction-murders of Iranian dissidents Ali Akbar Ghorbani and Abbas Qolizade in Istanbul in 1992 at the prompting of Iranian diplomats.

Cagirici has confessed to shooting dead newspaper editor Cetin Emec in Istanbul in 1990 and to ordering the killing of a Turkish secularist writer the same year.

Iran's ambassador in Ankara has denied any link between Tehran and the gunman. The Turkish Foreign Ministry, for its part, kept a very low profile on media accusations, saying they were studying the file prepared by the Security Department and would discuss it with Iranian officials during the visit of Turkish Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Ali Tuygan.

"We had wanted to solve the problems within good neighborly ties and political courtesy in a way that such allegations would not surface again," Foreign Ministry spokesman Akbel said.

But the crisis over the four diplomats during the visit of Tuygan brought an angry response from Ankara.

"Ambassador Tuygan told the Iranian side that the four Iranian diplomats could no longer carry out their duties in Turkey and said Iran, with its own will, should called them back as soon as possible," Akbel said.

"Despite our attitude, Iran has chosen to accuse publicly and openly four Turkish diplomats in Iran." The spokesman voiced the "deep resentment" of Turkey over the Iranian attitude. Saying the Iranian attitude displayed that Iran did not want to solve the problems through cooperation and understanding, Akbel said: "This leaves Turkey in a position to determine its approach to the matter unilaterally." While this was interpreted as a way that Ankara would reciprocate Iranian move, Akbel did not say what Turkey would do. He ruled out calling back Ambassador Mithat Balkan. Turkey's course of action, in view of the escalation, will be determined after the return of Ali Tuygan, deputy undersecretary.

"Then the issue will be taken up, in view of what Ambassador Tuygan has to say, at a governmental level," spokesman Akbel said. In a related development, Massoud Rajavi, the president of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, welcomed Turkey's expulsion of the Iranian diplomats, although Turkey had not yet expelled them.

The dissident leader said that the resistance "had repeatedly exposed the role of the regime's embassy and diplomatic missions in Turkey in assassinating the members of the resistance."

"Today. there is no doubt that the Khomeni regime is not only responsible for murdering, kidnapping and torturing the resistance activists and Iranian refugees in Turkey, but that its exported terrorists have targeted many Turkish intellectuals, journalists and writers," a statement made by the Paris-based Secretariat of the Resistance quoted Rajavi as saying.