Turkish Daily News, 96-05-17

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From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>

TURKISH DAILY NEWS
17 May 1996

CONTENTS

[01] Chevron talks straits, pipeline with Turkey

[02] Southern Cyprus becomes 'rest and recreation' center for PKK

[03] King Hussein, Demirel discuss Mideast, Iraq

[04] PM Yilmaz leaves for Germany

[01] Chevron talks straits, pipeline with Turkey

Reuters

ANKARA- U.S. oil giant Chevron Corp met Turkish officials on Thursday to discuss oil shipment via Turkish straits and an alternative pipeline from the Caspian Sea to Turkey's southern coast, foreign ministry officials said.

"The Chevron delegation and (Foreign) Minister (Emre Gonensay) met this morning," one official told Reuters.

The delegation was already in Turkey for an international conference in Istanbul on oil and gas pipelines from Central Asia, which ended on Wednesday night.

Foreign ministry officials said Chevron had discussed with Gonensay future oil passages through the congested Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, where a total oil cargo of up to 32 million tons a year is shipped through.

They said Chevron had also had talks on an alternative crude oil pipeline from Baku to Turkey's Mediterranean oil terminal of Ceyhan, which has been idle since the 1990 U.N. trade embargo on Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait.

Chevron produced about 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 1995 -- half what it had originally planned for last year -- from Kazakhstan's Tengiz oilfields.

It had to cut its 1995 Tengiz output target after it became clear that it would not be able to pump more crude on the existing Russian pipeline network.

Chevron officials who participated in the Istanbul pipeline conference said their company could contribute to a pipeline, a 1,650-km (1,030-mile) route masterminded by Turkey in 1993 to pump out first Caspian and later Kazakh oil.

They said they would discuss all options with Turkey to export Kazakh oil, which will eventually reach 700,000 bpd, to the Western markets, including those that would by-pass the straits to heed environmentalist concerns.

Turkey wants to revive the Baku-Ceyhan proposal after its conditions for another pipeline from Baku to the Georgian Black Sea port of Supsa were rejected by an international consortium set up to develop Caspian oilfields in an $8-billion project.

Turkey says further congestion of its two straits, and especially the Bosphorus, could pose a danger to 12 million people living in Istanbul.

Ankara promotes the pipeline, which will have a capacity of 45 million tons and cost about $2 billion, as the only feasible outlet for the Caspian and Tengiz oil outputs.

Chevron officials told the Istanbul conference that the company's full stream Tengiz output could add on one tanker with a capacity of up to 150,000 tons on the Bosphorus' oil traffic every day.

Energy Minister Husnu Dogan said earlier the amount of annual oil passage through the Bosphorus could be raised only by an additional 20 percent to a maximum 37 million tons.

But Dogan's assertion at the conference was not accepted by Viktor Mashinsky, deputy chairman of Economy Committee of the Russian Duma, who told the conference using large-tonnage oil tankers could stop congestion in the straits.

Ahmet Banguoglu, a Turkish foreign ministry expert on maritime navigation, said shipping 36.5 million tons of oil annually through the Bosphorus would mean closing the strait to two-way sea traffic "for eight hours almost every day".

[02] Southern Cyprus becomes 'rest and recreation' center for PKK

ANKARA- Known for its barely concealed sympathies for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is waging the separatist war in Turkey, the Greek Cypriot administration is now reported to have opened its borders to PKK militants for "rest and recreation" purposes.

Quoting INAF, a Nicosia-based international affairs research center, the Anatolia news agency said on Thursday that PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan had sent 140 top-ranking militants to southern Cyprus to rest and boost their morale following successive blows by the Turkish security forces.

According to Beirut-based sources, the militants were brought to Limassol in southern Cyprus by a ship sent by the Greek Cypriot administration.

These militants were subsequently divided into groups, "in order not to attract attention" and sent to official guest houses in Limassol, Baf and Larnaca.

Anatolia reported that Greek Cypriot police had turned a blind eye to the rowdy behaviour of drunk PKK militants, especially in Limassol Bars.

These militants were reported to have molested women and to have shouted out anti-Turkish slogans in their drunken stupor.

They were also quoted as shouting out that they were "brothers" with Greek Cypriots and that they had been sent to the island by Abdullah Ocalan as a reward.

INAF was also quoted by Anatolia as maintaining that Greek Cypriot Archbishop Hrisostomos, had, through his private secretary, given gifts of special allowances to the PKK militants.

Anatolia said that the PKK militants in southern Cyprus would most probably be sent by plane to Greece next week.

[03] King Hussein, Demirel discuss Mideast, Iraq

ANKARA- King Hussein of Jordan made a quick visit to Ankara on Thursday to discuss with Turkish President Suleyman Demirel the Middle East peace process and the developments regarding Iraq.

President Demirel, who received King Hussein, said that the excellent relations between the two countries would contribute to peace and stability in the region.

Praising the role of Jordan in the Middle East peace process, Demirel said that the two countries were in "full agreement" on the need to fight terrorism.

The two leaders had bilateral talks then moved on for talks with accompanying delegations which included military officials as well as senior diplomats.

The make-up of the delegations indicate that the security issues will be taken up in detail and Turkey will give information to Jordan on the recent Turco-Israeli defense cooperation.

Diplomats said that the two leaders were scheduled to take up the situation in Iraq, including the future of Operation Provide Comfort, an allied force stationed in Turkey to protect Iraqi Kurds from Saddam Hussein.

No statement was made after the talks between the two leaders.

[04] PM Yilmaz leaves for Germany

ANKARA- Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz left for Germany on Thursday to express Turkey's concerns over the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the bottlenecks in the customs union.

Yilmaz, accompanied by state ministers Imren Aykut and Ersin Taranoglu, left in a private plane for his two-day visit, during which he will be received by President Roman Herzog.

"Germany is a country where 2 million of our citizens live. Our relations with this country should be transparent and realistic," Yilmaz said, adding that "certain ups and downs" in ties would not harm the friendship between the two countries.

Yilmaz said that he would explain to the German side the extent of Turkey's disturbance at the PKK's activities abroad, although the PKK is banned in Germany.

"We will discuss what we can do to overcome the difficulties on the customs union," Yilmaz said, referring to the Greek blockade on EU financial aid to Turkey. Earlier this week, Greece temporarily withdrew its veto from the European Union's Mediterranean funds, part of which will benefit Turkey.

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