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TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (August 15, 1995)From: hristu@arcadia.harvard.edu (Dimitrios Hristu)CONTENTS[01] CILLER TRYING FOR PETROL AND GAS AGREEMENTS[02] PARLIAMENT MEETS TO DISCUSS BOSNIA[03] TWO MORE TURKS BEHEADED IN SAUDI ARABIA FOR "DRUGS"[04] PKK MILITANTS KIDNAP TWO SHEPHERDS IN HATAY[05] NEW GENDARMERIE COMMANDER STARTS WORK[06] COMMEMORATIVE CEREMONIES START IN TRNC[07] PKK RAKES IN MILLIONS IN GERMANY SAYS DER SPIEGEL[08] CHEMISTRY CONGRESS STARTED[09] OCTOBER PRIVATIZATION CONFERENCE IN BRUSSELS[10] MENTESE BLAMES GREECE ON TERRORISM[11] SOUTHERN CYPRUS COOPERATING WITH THE PKK[12] SADDAM RESPONSIBLE FOR UNREST IN THE MIDDLE EAST[13] TURKEY AND US TALK ABOUT IRAQ
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWTUESDAY AUGUST 15, 1995Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish pressthis morning[01] CILLER TRYING FOR PETROL AND GAS AGREEMENTSDuring her five day tour of central Asian countries which began yesterday, Prime Minister Ciller will try to close some deals on petrol and natural gas that will greatly benefit Turkey.Ciller will be visiting Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan, hoping to fix agreements whereby the natural gas and petrol reserves in those countries will be transported to world markets through Turkey. Just prior to her departure from Esenboga airport, Ciller said that relations between Turkey and the central Asian countries were developing on every front, but that this in itself was not enough. Ciller added that her purpose in making visits to these countries was to reinforce and build on an already firm foundation. /Cumhuriyet-Milliyet/
[02] PARLIAMENT MEETS TO DISCUSS BOSNIAAlthough parliament has actually closed for the summer recess, there are extraordinary sessions being held to debate the situation in Bosnia. During the sessions, state minister Algan Hacaloglu said that it was a basic right for Bosnia to be able to defend itself.Noting that the Croats were not angels, chairman of the DSP party, Bulent Ecevit cautioned that placing too much trust in Croat forces was not altogether wise. Other party members, including chairman of the ANAP (Motherland) opposition party, Mesut Yilmaz, also expresed fears that current initiatives were not sufficient. In the meantime, Turkey has sent four messages about Bosnia to Washington. Government officials said yesterday that Turkey was pressing for the total independence of Bosnia. Officials add that so far Turkey has accepted new formulas for peace in the region, despite the misgivings of some party leaders. "Turkey has made its demands in this area clearly known from the beginning. Ankara shares the same US viewpoint in connection with preserving Bosnian sovereignty, protecting the civilians there and keeping the territorial integrity of the region intact" noted the same officials. /Cumhuriyet/
[03] TWO MORE TURKS BEHEADED IN SAUDI ARABIA FOR "DRUGS"Another two Turks convicted of drug trafficking were beheaded in Saudi Arabia yesterday, bringing the number of Turks executed in the country within the last three days to four. The two Turks had been found guilty of bringing "hallucinogenic pills" into Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement published by the Saudi Press Agency. The two were executed in the northern city of Al-Jawf. In a related development in southern Turkey yesterday, angry demonstrators burned a picture of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia while attending a prayer meeting for two Turkish nationals who were beheaded in Saudi Arabia on Friday for alleged drug smuggling. Families of the two Turks have demanded that their bodies be returned for a proper funeral. The Foreign Ministry denounced Friday's beheadings in a statement on Saturday.
[04] PKK MILITANTS KIDNAP TWO SHEPHERDS IN HATAYTwo shepherds were kidnapped by militants of the PKK terrorist organization yesterday in Hatay's Hassa district. The two brothers were kidnapped yesterday morning. Military operations are continuing to find the kidnappers and their captives.
[05] NEW GENDARMERIE COMMANDER STARTS WORKA ceremony was held in the commander's office of the gendarmerie security forces to appoint the new commanders in Diyarbakir yesterday. Gen.Altay Tokat is the new commander of gendarmerie security forces in Diyarbakir. Gen.Hasan Kundakci, the former commander in Diyarbakir, has been appointed commander of Peace Forces in Cyprus. Speaking at the ceremony, Unal Erkan, governor of the emergency rule region, said that the PKK was weakened by factionalism and that it would soon be defeated. Gen.Kundakci said that he had been working in Diyarbakir for two years and a great part of the PKK had been rendered ineffective in that time. Gen.Tokat said that the PKK had no chance against the Turkish government. /Sabah/
[06] COMMEMORATIVE CEREMONIES START IN TRNCCelebrations for the anniversary of the second phase of the Turkish Armed Forces' intervention in Cyprus on August 14, 1974, started in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). TRNC President Rauf Denktas addressed the public yesterday night during ceremonies at several mass graves. TRNC Prime Minister Hakki Atun said in a message published for the anniversary that the Greek Cypriots have still not apologized for the massacres they carried out. He continued that people of the TRNC feel secure because Turkey was acting as a guarantor. Ayhan Halit Acarkan, the TRNC Parliament Speaker, said in a message that the massacres by the Greek Cypriots would never be forgotten. He continued that the Cyprus Turks, fighting for freedom, independence and solidarity, will do everything to prevent the death of even one more citizen. /Cumhuriyet/
[07] PKK RAKES IN MILLIONS IN GERMANY SAYS DER SPIEGELTurkey's separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rakes in 30 million marks (21 million dollars) a year in Germany, according to a security service report cited by the latest edition of Der Spiegel out on Monday. The PKK cash floods in from the sale of publications and donations -voluntary or forced- from Kurds living in Germany, said a report by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, cited by the weekly magazine. As well as Iran, Iraq and Syria, the office suspects Greece and the countries of the former Soviet Union of helping "financially or at least logistically" the PKK, which is banned as a terrorist organization in Germany. Moreover, the German security service suspect PKK sympathizers of passing on identity papers reported as lost so injured fighters or other PKK contacts can use them. Of the 50 or so leaders of the PKK in Germany, 26 have still not been identified by the German authorities, the report said. The German authorities estimate the PKK has 7,500 members and more than 50,000 sympathizers in Germany, which itself is home to 1.85 million Turks, 400,000 of whom are Kurds. /Hurriyet-Cumhuriyet/
[08] CHEMISTRY CONGRESS STARTEDThe 35th International Basic and Applied Chemistry Congress, organized by the Chemistry Association of Turkey (TKD), started yesterday in Istanbul at the Ataturk Cultural Centre. TKD President Ali Riza Berkem made the opening remarks of the convention which welcomed scientists from 100 countries including five Nobel Prize winners. Erdem said that the congress provided an opportunity for Turkish scientists to exchange ideas with the world's leading chemists. He added that the Nobel Prize- winning scientists would also present papers during the congress. Prof.Bahattin Baysal, president of the Science Committee of the Congress, said that about 1,400 papers on nutrition, health, energy, the environment and humanity would be presented by over 2,000 scientists, including Nobel laureates Rudolphe A.Marcus, Richard Ernst and Richard E.Smalley. /Hurriyet/
[09] OCTOBER PRIVATIZATION CONFERENCE IN BRUSSELSIt has been decided that a privatization conference, which aims to promote privatization activities in Turkey to investors in the European Union, will be held in Brussels on 3-4 October. It is expected that Chief Adviser to the Prime Ministry, Emre Gonensay and Treasury Undersecretary Ayfer Yilmaz will be in the Turkish delegation headed by Prime Minister Tansu Ciller. High-ranking representatives from the State Economic Enterprises (SEEs) will attend the conference of which the opening speeches will be made by Hans Van den Broeck, Chief of the Turkish Desk in the European Commission and Ciller. Chairman of the Privatization Administration, Ufuk Soylemez, Chairman of the Central Bank, Yaman Toruner and Chairman of the Foreign Capital Association, Yavuz Canevi are also expected to participate in the conference. /Cumhuriyet/
[10] MENTESE BLAMES GREECE ON TERRORISMInterior Minister Nahit Mentese said that members of the PKK terrorist organization, who want to carry out terrorist activities in holiday resorts, were trained in Greece and then entered Turkey from the Aegean islands. Mentese stated that Germany desired to extradite some two thousand Turkish citizens for whom the PKK had obtained refugee status in return of money. Replying to questions of the journalists at Ankara-Esenboga Airport yesterday, Mentese noted that the PKK received DM 6,000 from Turkish citizens who wanted to take refuge in European countries especially in Germany. Mentese said: "We have begun many initiatives to prevent this. Many European countries know this trick of the PKK. We are continuing to work on this issue". Mentese indicated that the connection between the PKK and Greece became certain with the confessions of members of the terrorist organization. /Cumhuriyet/
[11] SOUTHERN CYPRUS COOPERATING WITH THE PKKThe Kurdistan National Liberation Front, the military wing of the PKK terrorist organization, said it was fighting for the liberation of both Kurdistan and Cyprus. A group of Kurdish terrorists, coming to Southern Cyprus, visited the grave of Theofilos Georgiades, Chairman of the Committee for Solidarity with Kurdistan, killed last year. Wreaths were also placed at the graves of members of the Greek EOKA terrorist organization and those of Greek soldiers. In a speech at the grave of Geogiades, Kurdistan Representative in Cyprus, Roshaz Laser, said that Kurdistan and Cyprus had very much in common in their struggles for liberation. A bulletin published by the Committee for Solidarity with Kurdistan noted that the liberation of Cyprus led through the mountains of Kurdistan. /Hurriyet/
[12] SADDAM RESPONSIBLE FOR UNREST IN THE MIDDLE EASTRepublican People's Party (CHP) Chairman and Deputy Prime Minister Hikmet Cetin said that the Iraqi government carried the primary responsibility for spreading domestic unrest in Iraq throughout the region. He stressed that because of the embargo imposed against Iraq by the UN after the Gulf War, the country was estranged from the world, which opened the way to a gradually increasing domestic unrest. One way of overcoming the problems was strict obedience to UN decisions -this would open the way for Iraqi integration with the world, Cetin noted. /Cumhuriyet/
[13] TURKEY AND US TALK ABOUT IRAQTop level Turkish and US officials have been in touch to talk about recent developments in Iraq involving Iraqi leader Saddam Huseyin and his family. National Security Adviser to the Clinton government, Anthony Lake and high level Turkish officials have assessed the implications, but still wonder about just what will happen in Iraq now that the leadership appears to be collapsing. /Hurriyet/END |