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TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (January 17, 1996)From: TRKNWS-L <trh@aimnet.com>Turkish News DirectoryCONTENTS[01] CHECHEN FIGHTERS HOLD FERRY BOAT HOSTAGE[02] ERBAKAN DEFERS HOPES TO SECOND ROUND[03] PKK MILITANTS MASSACRE 11 CIVILIANS[04] TURKEY PROTESTS US OFFICIALS' COMMENTS ON KURDS[05] CILLER PRESSING FOR THE PIPELINE DEAL[06] EU ENVOY SAYS CU IS ESSENTIAL TO STRENGTHENING ALLIANCE[07] EU REPRESENTATIVE ABOU ARRIVING TOMORROW[08] GREEK TEXTILE PRODUCERS IN ISTANBUL[09] TURKEY-UZBEKISTAN MEETINGS[10] GERMANS WILL PROMOTE GAP PROJECT[11] TURKEY- A GULF WAR VICTIM[12] UN ENVIRONMENT DAY CELEBRATIONS IN TURKEY[13] TURKISH AGENCY CONTRIBUTES TO DEVELOPMENT OF TURKMENISTAN[14] US COMMANDER GEN.SALOMON IN TURKEY[15] THREE VEHICLES WITH AMMUNITION SEIZEDTURKISH PRESS REVIEWWEDNESDAY JANUARY 17, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] CHECHEN FIGHTERS HOLD FERRY BOAT HOSTAGEA group of six Chechen fighters yesterday boarded a Black Sea ferry boat in the Turkish port city of Trabzon, and at once held the 120 passengers and 45 crew members hostage. Led by a man who calls himself Muhammed, the group held off Turkish security officials by saying that they would kill one of the Russian passengers every ten minutes if anyone tried to intervene.Later Turkish port officials allowed the ferry boat to leave the port, but it was closely followed by Turkish coast guard vessels. The Chechens speak good Turkish and it is understood that they are from one of the small ethnic groups from the region that have Turkish origins. The ferry boat is in radio contact with the shore and the leader has said that the ferry will be taken to Istanbul where it will be blown-up with everyone on board if their demands are not met. Leader Muhammed said that they demanded freedom for Northern Caucasia. Port officials involved in initial confrontations with the Chechens say that they are merciless and determined to go ahead with their plan to force a Russian capitulation at the cost of their own and their hostages lives. The Chechens deny that they are terrorists, but are instead fighting for the freedom of their own country, in line with fellow rebels holding off Russian forces in a Chechnya border town. It is thought that the ferry boat must be low on fuel and likely be unable to reach Istanbul. Officials are ready for a request from the Chechens to refuel in Samsun-about half way along the route to Istanbul. Nothing has been said so far about what Turkey or Russia will do about the situation, but first estimates suggest that it will be unlikely that Turkey will allow the Russians to take action while the vessel is in Turkish waters. /Hurriyet-Milliyet/ [02] ERBAKAN DEFERS HOPES TO SECOND ROUNDWelfare Party (RP) Chairman and Prime Minister-designate Necmettin Erbakan yesterday wrapped up the first round of talks with other party leaders without eliciting any firm commitment for partnership in the coalition he hopes to lead. But the second round he intends to start shortly already promises to be more fruitful with Motherland Party (ANAP) Chairman Mesut Yilmaz saying he could give his final reply to Erbakan's call for coalition partnership on Thursday.Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Deniz Baykal, the last leader Erbakan met in the first round, turned down the Islamist leader's call either to join the coalition or support it without taking part. Erbakan said he would meet with party aides on Wednesday to evaluate the results of the first round and then declare his intentions about the second round. Both Erbakan and Baykal announced their opposition to a new election advocated by Ciller to break the deadlock. They also objected to her insistence on keeping the premiership as barring the way out of the impasse. /Milliyet/ [03] PKK MILITANTS MASSACRE 11 CIVILIANSTurkish security officials said yesterday separatist Kurdish militants killed 11 civilians at a roadblock in southeast Turkey. Militants of the PKK terrorist organization stopped a minibus in Sirnak province on Monday evening and shot the passengers after checking their identity cards, the regional governor's office for the provinces under emergency rule said. The militants then burned the bus and fled, the governor's office said. The regional governor's office said four of the dead were Kurdish village guards, paid and armed by the state to fight the PKK. The PKK often targets village guards and their families. The incident was the first report of a PKK attack since the group announced a unilateral ceasefire in December to press Turkey to open negotiations with the rebels fighting for self-rule in the southeast. Turkey has said it will not negotiate with the PKK, which it terms a terrorist organization. Meanwhile, 19 PKK militants were killed, and two surrendered during operations in Sivas, central Turkey, over the past two weeks. /Hurriyet/[04] TURKEY PROTESTS US OFFICIALS' COMMENTS ON KURDSAnkara yesterday asked for clarification of US policy on Turkey after US diplomats commented on Turkey's treatment of its Kurdish minority in a programme broadcast on a major television network. Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Onur Oymen told reporters Ankara would also take legal action against the CBS television network, which broadcast their remarks alongside an interview with PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. "US Embassy's deputy chief of mission, Frank Riccardone, has been called to the foreign ministry and asked for a clarification about views expressed by assistant secretary of state for human rights, John Shattuck, and deputy assistant secretary of state, John Kornblum, during the prime-time news-magazine programme "60 minutes", which were completely contrary to known US policy" Oymen said. "The US should clarify either that its policy is what it has officially announced or the one these officials announced in the programme on CBS TV" he said. "We will take legal action against press institutions delibarately smearing Turkey. One of these examples was on American CBS TV. That was an example of bad journalism" Oymen said yesterday. Oymen noted that his own remarks in the same programme had been harshly edited and therefore, used out of context. Oymen said: "I was told that the programme was solely to be an interview with me" and noted that the interview took place in September. "From this interview, 15 pages long, three sentences were used in a programme that included PKK leader Ocalan. This use of the interview in this context was done without my permission and knowledge" he added.Turkey was determined to take action against any attempt to defame the country, Oymen pledged, and the government was considering taking legal action or bringing the issue to the attention of international press organizations. "This campaign in some of the media -which repeat unproven or previously denied claims, ignore the Turkish side and make use of the information given by circles which aim to alienate Turkey from Western Europe-goes parallel with attacks against Turkish premises abroad" Oymen said. "There is no way that we can regard these as pure coincidence". /Milliyet-Cumhuriyet/ [05] CILLER PRESSING FOR THE PIPELINE DEALPrime Minister Tansu Ciller has sent a letter to Azeri President Haydar Aliyev and Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze calling for an agreement that will give Turkey the right to construct a new petrol pipeline through Georgia and Azerbaijan.This would be an important step in the realisation of proposed Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline project. Provided that Turkey is given the right, the question of who will construct the pipeline will be finally resolved. Should Georgia and Azerbaijan agree to Ciller's demand for the right to have the pipeline pass through these countries, Turkey will have the guaranteed authority to construct the pipeline even if the international consortium, set-up to extract and market oil and natural gas resourses in the region, comes in opposition to the plan. /Milliyet/ [06] EU ENVOY SAYS CU IS ESSENTIAL TO STRENGTHENING ALLIANCEThe Customs Union (CU) agreement between Ankara and Brussels, which took effect on January 1, was essential to forming a stronger political and economic alliance, said Ambassador Michael Lake, EU representative. Speaking during a conference at the Ankara Chamber of Industry (ASO), Lake said that he was rather disappointed about the criticism put forward at the same gathering by ASO Chairman Zafer Caglayan, who voiced the complaint that the EU's financial assistance to Turkey would fall short of the actual need. Lake said that Turkey had made substantial progress in complying with EU regulations, and had fulfilled all the technical requirements by the end of November 1995. He noted that foreign investment in Turkey had doubled in 1995, reaching $3 billion, compared with $1.5 billion in 1994. Of this total, $1 billion was invested in December 1995 alone. He pointed out that small and medium size Turkish companies would particularly benefit from the CU. Lake said that the CU would be an evolving process that would affect all levels of Turkish society positively.Zafer Caglayan, speaking before Lake, said that Turkey was one of the few countries which had accepted CU before full membership. He criticized the EU for forcing Turkey to pay the cost of CU alone. He noted that Greece had received a total of $50 billion aid in direct grants and credit, while Ireland had received $40 billion and Portugal $30 billion. Turkey has received ECU 827 million so far, of which ECU 125 million was direct grants and ECU 702 was credit, and will receive about ECU 1.525 billion in the next five years. /All papers/ [07] EU REPRESENTATIVE ABOU ARRIVING TOMORROWGovernment officials in Ankara said yesterday that European Union (EU) official responsible for ties with Turkey, Serge Abou, will in fact arrive in Ankara tomorrow. His arrival underscores the growing involvement of the EU in Turkey-Cyprus affairs. The EU is competing with the US in a search to find a solution to the problems plaguing the island. The EU has already suggested the appointment of a neutral coordinator to draw the sides together, but so far this idea has met with little response in Cyprus.While in Ankara Abou will spend most of his time talking about Turkey-EU ties in the wake of the customs union agreement, and the Cyprus issue. /Cumhuriyet/ [08] GREEK TEXTILE PRODUCERS IN ISTANBULRepresentatives of the Union of Turkish and German Textile and Ready-Wear Producers (TUDET) are meeting with their Greek counterparts in Istanbul today. Greek members of SEPVE will have a third meeting in Istanbul to discuss the textile market and developments in the sector. /Sabah/[09] TURKEY-UZBEKISTAN MEETINGSA meeting between political advisors began yesterday in Ankara as representatives from Turkey and Uzbekistan met to discuss ways of getting to know each other better. Turkey and Uzbekistan want to develop their ties, politically and economically and are taking initial steps towards that end. /Cumhuriyet/[10] GERMANS WILL PROMOTE GAP PROJECTThe German International Development Foundation will hold courses in Munich on January 24-28 about agricultural and rural development. Much of the course will deal in detail with what has been achieved by the huge Anatolian water and hydrelectric project (GAP). The course will examine performance, development, potential and organization in the GAP and other regions. /Sabah/[11] TURKEY- A GULF WAR VICTIMFive years have passed since the Gulf War ended, but Turkey is still fighting its negative impacts. As a result of the UN embargo imposed against Iraq after the war, Turkey has lost so far $4 billion from closing down the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik pipeline, and approximately $16 billion from the interruption in its intensive trade with Iraq. Furthermore, when the UN agreed to protect the Iraqi Kurds from the attacks of Saddam Hussein, thus creating an authority gap in northern Iraq, Kurdish groups benefiting from the situation intensified their efforts for the establishment of an independent Kurdish state, have held "elections" independently from the government in Baghdad, and established a "parliament" and a "government" in exile. The authority gap in northern Iraq also facilitated the spread of the terrorist PKK organization in the region. Moreover, the deployment of the Provide Comfort forces in Turkey, again within the framework of protective measures for the Iraqi Kurds, has put Turkey in the position of a country digging its own grave. /Milliyet/[12] UN ENVIRONMENT DAY CELEBRATIONS IN TURKEYEnvironment Day celebrations, organized every year on a different continent within the framework of the UN Environment Program, will be held this year in Turkey on June 9. Environment-related seminars, working meetings, exhibitions and shows on a national level are planned for the celebrations. /Cumhuriyet/[13] TURKISH AGENCY CONTRIBUTES TO DEVELOPMENT OF TURKMENISTANThe Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) has achieved its targets in the projects it ran in 1995 in Turkmenistan in the fields of agriculture, banking, statistics, highways, health and education. Oguz Yayan, TIKA's Turkmenistan representative, said that they had organized a project to increase agricultural production. Yayan also said that the "Health Masterplan for Turkmenistan" had been prepared by TIKA and the World Health Organization, and added that $395,000 of the $745,000 budget would be met by TIKA. The agency also gave a printing-office, valued at $160,000, as a present to the Turkmen Education Ministry to assist the change from the Turkmen alphabet to the Latin one. /All papers/[14] US COMMANDER GEN.SALOMON IN TURKEYThe US commander in charge of ground forces' materiel, Gen.Leon Salomon, is meeting with Turkish military and national defence ministry officials in Ankara to increase Turkish-US military cooperation. US Embassy officials in Ankara said that Gen.Salomon would discuss all aspects of military issues and especially an increase in support for countries buying US military equipment. Officials said that the reorganization of the Turkish Ground Forces' Logistics Command would be on the agenda during the US commander's visit. /All papers/[15] THREE VEHICLES WITH AMMUNITION SEIZEDThree TIR trucks loaded with ammunition have been stopped at the Cilvegozu border point. It has been reported that the route of the trucks was from Iran to Lebanon via Syria to transport the ammunition for illegal terrorist organizations. Hidden in sections of the trucks, thousands of bullets for "Kanas" guns used for assassination attacks and automatic weapons, plastic explosives, mines and rockets were seized.Initial investigation suggests that the ammunition was on the way to the PKK camps in Lebanon. Utku Acun, Governor of Hatay province, in a statement said that had the necessary information for the ammunition been given in accord with international agreements then, likely the trucks would got through without monitoring controls. Governor Acun said that because the details had been falsified, it was assumed ammunition was being transported for illegal organizations. /Hurriyet/ |
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