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TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (September 6, 1995)From: hristu@arcadia.harvard.edu (Dimitrios Hristu)Turkish News DirectoryCONTENTS[01] TRI-PARTITE MEETING IN ANKARA[02] CILLER: "TURKEY IS A SHIELD BETWEEN EUROPE AND FUNDAMENTALISM"[03] BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER IN TURKEY[04] ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN ANKARA[05] DUTCH FOREIGN MINISTER TO VISIT TURKEY[06] TURKISH HOME BURNS: ONE DEAD, 15 INJURED[07] EUROPEAN COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE TO VISIT TURKEY[08] USUBOV: "PKK IS NOT ACTIVE IN AZERBAIJAN"[09] FIVE MILITANTS KILLED, 12 CAPTURED IN THE SOUTHEAST[10] S.KOREAN COMMANDER VISITS ANKARA'S KOREA PARK[11] INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT CLIMBS 4.8 % IN FIRST SEVEN MONTHS[12] SEMINAR ON WATER BASINS STARTS[13] CALL FOR CALM[14] CRITICAL TEHRAN MEETING[15] BARZANI STRIKES PKK HARD[16] TURKISH SECURITY CALLED FOR IN BIHAC[17] NEW SUPPORT FOR AZERI PIPELINE PROJECT[18] GREECE AGAINST TURKISH INVOLVEMENT IN BOSNIA[19] ANGLO-TURKISH COOPERATION GROUP TO MEET IN LONDONTURKISH PRESS REVIEWWEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 6, 1995Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] TRI-PARTITE MEETING IN ANKARAVisiting Bosnian President Aliya Izzetbegovic, US envoy to Bosnia Richard Holbrooke, and Prime Minister Tansu Ciller yesterday morning held a tri-partite meeting to discuss the Bosnia peace process. Addressing a joint news conference with Bosnian Foreign Minister Muhammed Sacirbey, Holbrooke said that Turkey was a key country in finding a solution to the Bosnia crisis. He pointed at the expected presence of Turkish ground troops within a new kind of peacekeeping force to be established in Bosnia once peace is brought to the region. Sacirbey said Bosnia would take part in talks in Geneva later this week on the US-sponsored peace initiative for former Yugoslavia, reversing a statement by Izzetbegovic on Monday. Sacirbey told the news conference that he was now convinced that NATO would stick to its recent tough line against the Bosnian Serbs. His words came only two hours before NATO recommended air raids against Serb military positions around Sarajevo. Main points that emerged in the tripartite talks between Turkey, Bosnia and the US included: -NATO and the UN should continue their tough stance against the Serbs. - -Bosnia should remain as an independent and sovereign state with its internationally recgonized borders, and procedural obstacles regarding this principle should be eliminated. - -Sarajevo must remain undivided. The US and Turkey gave full support for the "indivisibility" of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo. -Turkey is to send ground troops to Bosnia as peacekeepers after peace is reached. -Ciller proposed the merger of two funds for Bosnia's restoration, one formed within the Organization of Islamic Conference and the second to be set up by the US. Holbrooke backed the Turkish premier's proposal. /Hurriyet-Milliyet-Cumhuriyet/
[02] CILLER: "TURKEY IS A SHIELD BETWEEN EUROPE AND FUNDAMENTALISM"Speaking to the French daily newspaper Le Figaro, Prime Minister Tansu Ciller said that if Turkey is excluded from Europe, fundamentalism will become one of that continent's biggest problems. Ciller stated that Turkey was the only democratic country among the 52 Muslim countries and that there was a direct link between terrorism and fundamentalism. Ciller said that Turkey was both a Muslim and secular country, adding that women's and human rights were applied effectively in Turkey. Ciller pointed out that she was the first woman prime minister of her country, something that has not happened in most European countries. /Cumhuriyet-Sabah/
[03] BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER IN TURKEYForeign Minister Malcolm Rifkind arrived in Ankara last night on an official visit to explain British policy on the Bosnia issue. Recent developments in northern Iraq, the second Dublinsummit - expected to be held next week, and bilateral relations are issues on the agenda. It is expected that the Turkish side will ask Rifkind to have closed MED TV is down supported by the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) and has been given a licence by the British Broadcasting Institution. Today, Rifkind will be received by President Suleyman Demirel and Prime Minister Tansu Ciller. Rifkind will also give a speech at the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK). /Hurriyet/
[04] ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER IN ANKARATurkey and Romania, two Balkan countries, expressed their pleasure yesterday over a planned New York meeting of foreign ministers from Macedonia and Greece, regional archrivals, to improve ties. "I am very happy to see the developments come to this point and I hope the initiative (of the US) will yield positive results" Turkish Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu said in a joint press conference with his Romanian counterpart Theodor Melescanu. "We consider this an important step in the right direction for the establishment of peace in the Balkans. We have long urged Macedonia to take its place as an internationally recognized sovereign state at peace with its neighbours" he said. While Melescanu stressed his agreement with Inonu, he was careful to refer to Macedonia as "the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" - a name preferred by Greece, which claims that the name "Macedonia" implies territorial designs on its own territory. Athens slapped an economic embargo on Skopje in February 1994, while UN-brokered talks have been deadlocked for two years. "We think that the rapprochement between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is not lnly important in terms of peace and stability in the region, but it is also a significant development in the future architecture of the Balkans" Melescanu said. Expressing the importance of the signing of a free trade agreement between Turkey and Romania, Inonu said that trade volume between the two countries had surpassed $500 million and that they aimed at $1 billion. Inonu added that they had held very useful meetings with the Romanian delegation. /Cumhuriyet/
[05] DUTCH FOREIGN MINISTER TO VISIT TURKEYDutch Foreign Minister Hans Van Mierlo will pay a two-day official visit to Turkey beginning September 13. The Dutch news agency, ANP, said that the trip was part of an effort by the government of the Netherlands to further develop relations with Turkey. Ties between the Turkish government and the Netherlands soured over the meeting of a Kurdish "Parliament in-exile" in the Hague, but since then the two countries have resumed full diplomatic ties.
[06] TURKISH HOME BURNS: ONE DEAD, 15 INJUREDFire struck a building, occupied by Turks, in the northern German city of Luebeck early on Tuesday morning, killing a Turkish woman and injuring fifteeen others. Local police said that an investigation into the blaze had been launched. /Sabah/
[07] EUROPEAN COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE TO VISIT TURKEYAndreas Barsony, a Hungarian Socialist deputy and a member of the political commission of the European Council Assembly of Parliamentarians, will visit Turkey at the beginning of October to prepare a report on constitutional amendments and the Southeastern Turkey problem. In April, the European Council Assembly of Parliamentarians demanded the suspension of Turkey's membership if it failed to change certain sections of its constitution. Barsony's Turkey Report will be discussed at the European Council Assembly of Parliamentarian meeting, planned for January, 1996. /Cumhuriyet/
[08] USUBOV: "PKK IS NOT ACTIVE IN AZERBAIJAN"Ramil Usubov, Azeri Interior Minister, said that his government does not allow the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to be active in Azeri territory. Usubov added that terrorism was a common world problem and that could only be solved through cooperation. Usubov said that the Azeri Interior and Defence Ministers are working to combat the operations of all illegal organizations. /Cumhuriyet/
[09] FIVE MILITANTS KILLED, 12 CAPTURED IN THE SOUTHEASTFifteen militants of the PKK terrorist organization have been killed during military operations in the Southeast. Officials from the emergency rule region said that six PKK militants had been killed in Diyarbakir's Hani district, five in the Mus- Haskoy district, three in the Bitlis-Baykan Bogazi district and one in the Hakkari-Karanlik mountains during military operations. Meanwhile, 12 PKK militants were arrested during recent operations in Bingol, Bitlis, Mus, Siirt and Tunceli. /Cumhuriyet/
[10] S.KOREAN COMMANDER VISITS ANKARA'S KOREA PARKSouth Korean Ground Forces Commander Gen.Yoon Yong Nam, who has been on an official visit to Ankara since September 3 as the guest of Turkish Ground Forces Commander Gen.Hikmet Bayar, paid a visit to Korea Park in Ankara, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. Gen.Nam, who was awarded the Veterans' Associations' medal, will leave Turkey today after a brief trip to Istanbul, the agency reported.
[11] INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT CLIMBS 4.8 % IN FIRST SEVEN MONTHSThe State Institute of Statistics (DIE) said that industrial output soared 4.8 % in real terms in the January-June period of this year, compared with a 6.3 % plunge in the corresponding period of last year. The DIE also said that total industrial production in July rose 17.9 % (in real terms) over the same month last year and the paper and printing industry, a sub-sector of the manufacturing industry, grew a sharp 36.4 % in the first seven months of the year. The metals industry grew 12.1 %, the chemicals industry 7.8 % and the earthenware products industry 5.5 %. These increases sent the manufacturing industry's average growth rate up 4.3 % in January-June. The energy sector, which includes electricity, gas and water, reported a 10.2 % output growth in the same period. /Hurriyet/
[12] SEMINAR ON WATER BASINS STARTSA seminar on "River Basin Administration" opened in Ankara on Monday. With water resources a major point of contention among Turkey and its neighbours Iraq and Syria, the argument that water will be even scarcer in the next century means more priority will increasingly be given to the issue. Against this backdrop, the seminar, organized by the Turkish and French environment ministers, will discuss water management. "Altough it is believed that Turkey's water resources are abundant, once one compares it to other countries and takes into account annual rainfall and regional differences, it is seen that its resources are actually very limited" Environment Minister Riza Akcali said in his opening speech. Thus, a management plan must be devised to best utilize the existing resources, he said, adding that such a plan was necessary for the continuation of industrial activity, agricultural abundance, and energy production. "We must take advantage of new technologies for the better usage of water resources" Akcali concluded. Referring to "water politics" in France, officials of the French environment ministry said at the seminar that the application of EU laws to the administration of river basins has been beneficial for France.
[13] CALL FOR CALMTurkish ambassador to Bonn, Volkan Vural, has called for Turkish people living and working in Germany to stay calm in the face of continuing PKK terrorist attacks.Following the most recent incident involving Turks in the town of Neumunster in Holstein province, Ambassador Vural has advised calm and trust in security arrangements for the protection of the Turkish community. Vural has also called on the German authorities to do more to protect innocent Turkish targets of PKK violence. /Hurriyet/
[14] CRITICAL TEHRAN MEETINGReports say that the meeting between Turkey, Iran and Syria later this week in Tehran will be tense to say the least. Main topics for what will certainly be heated discussion include the future of Iraqi leader Saddam Huseyin, ties between the three countries and regional issues.Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu will represent Turkey, and during the summit meeting will bring up the matter of developments in northern Iraq involving the continuing clashes between PKK terrorist forces and those of Kurdish leader Barzani. There are reports that in the meantime, Syrian Deputy Head of State, Abdul Halim Haddam has sent a secret message to Iranian leader Rafsancani. /Hurriyet/
[15] BARZANI STRIKES PKK HARDWhile plans go ahead for the Tehran meeting, back in northern Iraq, the PKK has reportedly taken a beating at the hands of Kurdish groups led by Mesut Barzani. News from the region claims that the PKK has lost forty of its members in current clashes with Barzani forces. Another seventeen have been taken captive.Other sources in the region also claim that people in the Dohuk valley want Turkish troops to come in and protect them from the fighting, especially as some reports say that civilian casualties are increasing. /Sabah/
[16] TURKISH SECURITY CALLED FOR IN BIHACAs conditions change in the Bosnia region of Bihac, there has been a call for Turkish civilian police forces to be stationed in the area to deal with individuals known to be war criminals. Local authorities say that units of Turkish police could deal with the situation far better than other security forces even though appointed by the UN, and especially so in a moslem community. /Sabah/
[17] NEW SUPPORT FOR AZERI PIPELINE PROJECTThe US has shown renewed support for the Turkish overland pipeline proposals for transporting Azeri early petrol. The US has noted that not only is the Turkish proposed route likely to be the best, but that it will also bring peace to countries through which the pipeline will pass. Some of the countries along the pipeline route put forward by Turkey are still very cool in their dealings with each other, if not actively involved in clashes.Bosnian leader Izzetbegovic has also recorded his support for the Turkish pipeline proposal, saying that the the plan "was very important for us." Further, US Ambassador to Ankara, Marc Grossman has sided with top US Foreign Department representative Richard Holbrooke by saying that the pipeline would be a "peace" pipeline. /All papers/
[18] GREECE AGAINST TURKISH INVOLVEMENT IN BOSNIAOne of the reasons why Greece has opposed the passage of eight more Turkish fighter planes to Bosnia is that Athens is against duties of any kind being given to Turkey-especially where Bosnia is concerned.Greek government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said yesterday that Greece was against Turkish participation in UNPROFOR rapid deployment forces. He added that Greece had blocked the route of the Turkish fighters primarily for that reason. /Milliyet/
[19] ANGLO-TURKISH COOPERATION GROUP TO MEET IN LONDONThe Turkish-English Business Council, a branch of DEIK (the Foreign Economic Relations Board), will hold its 7th Common Meeting on September 11END |
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