TRKNWS-L Turkish Daily News (March 9, 1996)

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

Turkish News Directory

CONTENTS

TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 9 March 1996

[01] Turkey and Iraq agree to 'make pipeline ready'

ANKARA- Turkey and Iraq agreed late Friday to get the Yumurtalik-Kirkuk pipeline ready for use as soon as the U.N. and Iraq finalized the oil-for-food deal.

Iraqi Oil Minister Amir Mohammed Rasheed and Turkey's new Energy Minister Husnu Dogan signed two memorandums of understanding, one of which said that the sides would "carry out all technical preparations" for the opening of the twin pipeline that will carry Iraqi oil to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

The same memorandum says that the Turkish market will have priority for the supply of foodstuff for the Iraqi people.

The other memorandum focuses on energy cooperation after the embargo against Iraq is lifted. It envisages the building of a natural gas pipeline that would carry Iraqi gas to Turkey, and cooperation in the electricity sector and oil sector.

The accords, which were signed after two days of talks between Turkey and Iraq, come before Iraq starts its second round of talks with the United Nations on March 9 on Resolution 986.

[02] Turkey plans tea exports to Russia

ANKARA- Turkey will issue a government decree soon to export 35,000 tons of tea to the Russian Federation from its stocks and earn about $30 million, the semi-official Anatolia news agency said on Thursday.

It quoted Dursun Naiboglu, general manager of state-run tea producer Caykur, as saying that the exports would be made from the company's stocks of 85,000 tons.

Naiboglu said the company planned further exports but did not give details.

[03] Bosnians to have tank and artillery training in Turkey

By Ugur Akinci

Turkish Daily News

WASHINGTON- Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Jim Pardew, who is also the director of the U.S. inter-agency task force on Bosnia, explained on Thursday the crucial role Turkey will play in the arming and training of Bosnian troops.

Speaking at a panel held at the 1996 Annual Conference of the American-Turkish Council, Pardew said his contacts with Turkish officials and the Turkish General Staff convinced him that "Turkey has a lot to offer" to the Bosnian-Croatian Federation troops, including training at Turkish artillery and tank schools. "Some training will be done in Turkey," Pardew said.

Pardew was a part of the former Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke's negotiating team at Dayton, Ohio.

He said the United States was already pledging $1 billion dollars in equipment, ranging from communications gear to heavy weapons. The Turkish government will be providing some equipment as well. "Turkey is a vital partner in this project," he said.

Pardew said a "Pledging Conference," to be held in Ankara on March 15 with the participation of forty two countries, should help the financing of the mission to arm and equip the Bosnians in accordance with the Dayton Accord.

Pointing at a unique feature of his "military mission," Pardew said the international implementation force (IFOR) was mandated to be impartial whereas he, by definition, was on the side of the Bosnian-Croat Federation. In order not to cause any problems for IFOR, "we are building a fire wall" around them, he said. The arms control provisions of the Dayton Accord "will reduce but not eliminate arms in Bosnia. Our job is to create a military balance" between Serbs and Bosnians, and help Bosnians exercise their legitimate right to self-defense, he explained.

The "civilian mission" in Bosnia is coordinated at the U.S. State Department by Amb. Bob Galucci and his principle deputy Jim Holmes who worked at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara between 1992-1995 as DCM (deputy chief of mission) to Amb. Richard Barkley.

[04] Ron Brown: 'We have confidence in Turkey's future'

By Ugur Akinci

Turkish Daily News

WASHINGTON- U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown told an audience of Turkish and American businessmen on Thursday that his department's designation of Turkey as one of the ten "Big Emerging Markets" (BEM) in the world means, "We have confidence in Turkey's future." Brown made his comments during a keynote address he delivered in Washington at the 1996 annual conference of the American-Turkish Council/American Friends of Turkey.

In another speech at the conference by a senior U.S. government official, the deputy secretary of defense, William White, said that Turkey's role as a steadfast supporter of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and an anchor of regional stability has made that strategic nation a key friend and ally of the United States.

Brown emphasized Turkey's crucial geostrategic position as a country at the "crossroads of trade" and "crossroads of many diplomatic issues that influence the region." He then underlined the expected positive impact on Turkey of the customs union agreement with the European Union: The customs union "will help cement Turkey to the West," he said; "we strongly endorse it." Since customs duties on U.S. products will fall from an average of 11 percent to 4 percent, the customs union will stimulate Turkish-American trade as well, Brown noted.

However, some American investors have been waiting more than a decade for "timely decisions" on investments, he reminded his listeners. In that regard, "we are looking forward to cooperate with the new Turkish government," he said.

The commerce secretary said he will visit Turkey in June. A visit scheduled for January was postponed because of the U.S. budget deficit crisis.

Brown said he was happy that at long last the treaty to avoid double taxation was completed and would soon be signed. He said he expected U.S. investors to take advantage of the "tremendous commercial opportunities in Turkey," especially in the power-generation and telecommunications sectors. He mentioned Enron's $540 million power generation plant signed as a "BOT" (build-operate-transfer) project as an example of such opportunities.

Despite some short-term problems, "the underlying momentum of the Turkish economy is truly impressive," Brown said. Investing in Turkey makes "good business sense," he summed up.

Deputy Defense Secretary White commented that the United States is "grateful for the long and successful relationship we have had with Turkey." He traced the military ties between the two nations back to the Korean War. White also cited the positive role which Turkey is playing in the Bosnian crisis. Turkish troops, which are now stationed in the American sector of the Bosnian Federation, are doing "a magnificent job," despite the numerous difficulties which face NATO's Implementation Force there, he noted.

White pointed to next week's conference on Bosnian assistance, which will be held in Ankara, as a further example of Turkey's leadership in that critical area.

The United States supports Turkey's right to defend itself against internal terrorism, White stated, although he said that Washington did not expect the solution to the problems posed by the PKK could be solved by purely military means.

White praised Turkey for having been a "resolute supporter" of Operation Desert Storm, despite the considerable economic costs the Gulf War imposed. The United States and Turkey must continue to pressure Saddam Hussein, while protecting the Kurds in northern Iraq, he added.

"We continue to look with optimism and enthusiasm" to maintaining close cooperative ties with Turkey and the Turkish people, he concluded.

[05] Oymen: We have consensus with the US on all issues

By Ugur Akinci

Turkish Daily News

WASHINGTON- Visiting Washington for a series of meetings with administration officials, Turkish Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs Onur Oymen told Turkish journalists "I am happy to report to you that we have a consensus with the United States on all issues." Oymen had met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, Undersecretary for Political Affairs Peter Tarnoff, Assistant Secretary for European Affairs John Kornblum, Deputy Secretary of Defense Jan Lodall, and others.

"For example, we have the same views on terrorism. We both think that the Middle East peace process cannot be accomplished if terror continues," Oymen said, with an oblique reference to Syria's support for such terrorist groups as the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK. "All parties must quit regarding terrorism as a political tool in the Middle East. The U.S.officials had consensus with Turkey on that point," he said.

Provide Comfort

Oymen also said he discussed "various aspects" of Operation Provide Comfort with U.S. administration officials. "We are reviewing military and technical aspects. Our discussions were a continuation of a similar meeting held in Ankara last month between American, French, British and Turkish officials," he said.

"My deputy Ali Tuggan is also in Washington to discuss such technical details. The technical problems must be solved. We will submit the results of our discussions to the government and the Turkish Parliament for approval," Oymen said.

The Turkish Parliament will decide at the end of March whether to extend the mandate of the operation which enforces a no-fly zone to the north of 36th parallel in order to protect Kurds of Northern Iraq from the forces of Saddam Hussein.

Oymen said Provide Comfort created a vacuum of authority in northern Iraq, which was exploited by the terrorists. "The operation must not work against the interests of Turkey," he said.

Rules of Engagement

Among the "technical problems" of Provide Comfort was a re-evaluation of "rules of engagement" (ROE), explained Oymen.

Oymen said he wanted an agreement on ROE to be reached before the next meeting of the National Security Council, which will recommend to the Council of Ministers whether to extend the operation.

The undersecretary explained that the Dublin/Drogeda process between the Kurdish factions of northern Iraq was supported by Turkey as well, but did not work as planned.

Dublin process

Among the provisions of the Dublin process was demilitarization of the city of Erbil (controlled by Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) forces) and equitable sharing of the border transit fees (controlled by Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party or KDP), he explained. Since no progress had been registered in these two issues, the task of taking measures to eliminate the authority vacuum which benefited the PKK was also neglected. "Then at least let's apply the consensus reached on the PKK issue, we said. The U.S. officials received our proposal positively," Oymen said.

The problems of the Turkmen of Kerkuk were also addressed during his meetings.

Greek crisis

The recent crisis with Greece over the Aegean was also addressed during his meetings with U.S. officials, Oymen said.

"We are very pleased with the positive role played by America's impartial attitude," he said. "They received our views to ameliorate the Turkish-Greek relations positively."

ATC speech

In an address he delivered on Thursday at the 1996 Annual Conference of American-Turkish Council, Oymen said that Turkey was ready for dialogue with Greece "any time, any place, at any level ... The word 'dialogue' comes form the Greek word 'dialogos.' We are offering Greece what they offered to the world centuries ago," he said. He complained that Greece had responded to the Kardak crisis by trying to block the European Union funds already committed to Turkey. "Only dialogue and negotiations can solve this dispute. We hope their actions will be in a positive direction," he said. "We both have so much to gain from harmonious relations and so much to lose if things deteriorate further."

Water

Touching also on the water issue during his ATC address, Oymen said, just like Turkey, Israel was also not planning to establish any link between peace and water. He said Israel was interested in buying Turkish water from Manavgat Falls. "The amount the Manavgat will provide is more than what Israel can get from the Golan Heights," he said.

He also added that currently Turkey was releasing more than the 500 cubic meters per second promised by treaty to Syria.

Thus there was no shortage of water and Syria did not have any right to complain, he added.