Turkish Daily News, 96-05-14

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

TURKISH DAILY NEWS
14 May 1996

CONTENTS

[01] Gonensay hints at new measures for oil and other cargo vessels

[02] Iran - Central Asia rail link opened

[01] Gonensay hints at new measures for oil and other cargo vessels

By Yusuf Kanli
Turkish Daily News

ASKHABAT- Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay said Turkey does not aim to restrict free navigation through the strategic Turkish Straits but cannot ignore the security aspect either.

In an exclusive interview with the TDN, the foreign minister stressed that the 1994 Straits Regulation measures, which was approved by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), was regulating traffic through the straits, but Turkey's experiences showed that additional security measures were required in order to cope with the increased traffic and the increased risk for Istanbul, the largest city in the country.

Hinting that the new measures Turkey is planning to introduce for passage through the straits would not be restricted to additional traffic regulations, Gonensay said that "besides regulating traffic through the straits, there is the issue of the type and design of the vessels as well. Our prime concern is to increase security in the straits."

Without making direct reference to the "free navigation" stipulation of the Montreux convention, which restored Turkish sovereignty over the straits, the minister said, "Our prime concern is to decrease the risk of accidents in the straits and thus decrease the risk for Istanbul and its 12 million people."

Summarizing the new straits policy of Turkey as "to take adequate measures to decrease the risk of collisions or accidents and to decrease the impact of accidents," the minister said the new regulations "may ask for certain standards for oil and other cargo vessels."

Gonensay said that with the new measures Turkey will also aim to increase the capacity of straits as much as possible.But he said he was not optimistic that the capacity of the straits could be increased by very much.

He underlined that the new measures Turkey would take would definitely conform with international maritime agreements and treaties, particularly with the IMO.

He also stressed that Turkey was obliged to urgently complete the straits signalization project for which a tender had not yet been invited.

Turkish and Greek FMs to meet in Toronto, Berlin

Gonensay also disclosed that he will come together with his Greek counterpart, Theodoros Pangalos, at the Bilderberg meetings in Toronto between May 30 and June 2. He said that the organizers of the Bilderberg meetings invited himself and the Greek foreign minister with the intention of bringing them together. He said that although no meeting was planned officially, it was natural that he would come together with Pangalos at the meetings, as well as at social events, where they would be able to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries.

The minister said he would then go on to Berlin for a meeting of the NATO Ministerial Council. He said that Pangalos would also be at the Berlin meeting and that they would be able to meet there as well.

Diplomats to meet after May 25

The minister also disclosed that technical level talks between the two countries on the demilitarization of the Aegean islands, territorial waters and the Aegean islets and rocky outcrops will start in Geneva after May 25.

Gonensay said two diplomats from the each country would attend the Geneva meetings. He said that the task of the diplomats would be to define the "gray area" in the Aegean and that they would try to reach an accord satisfactory to both countries.

When asked to explain the "gray area," Gonensay said he used that expression regarding the islets and rocky outcrops in the Aegean which were not mentioned in any international agreement and therefore not certain as to which country they belong to. However, he said that he had learned with regret that his remark was exploited by Greek President Costis Stefanopoulos, who claimed in contacts with American leaders that the Turkish foreign minister was demanding territory from Greece.

Gonensay said that if Turkey and Greece go to arbitration or to the European Court of Justice in The Hague over the Aegean islets, Greece should either provide guarantees to Turkey, regarding demilitarization of the Aegean islands and the six-mile territorial waters in the Aegean, or agree to take those two issues to the court as well. He said that Turkey would not accept anything less than that.

Underlining that Turkey did not expect any major move from Greece for better relations with Turkey before the forthcoming congress of the ruling Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), Gonensay said that Greek Foreign Minister Pangalos was under pressure from the Parliament, the hawks in PASOK and the European Union. He said that while the Greek Parliament and the hawks in PASOK were accusing Pangalos of treason, because he unconditionally met with the Turkish foreign minister in Bucharest last month, EU ministers were pressuring Greece to lift its veto of funds for Turkey.

Gonensay said that European countries are telling Greece that since Turkey is willing to discuss all outstanding problems with Athens, the Greek veto was unjustifiable and should be lifted. "I have spoken with many of the European foreign ministers. They are all saying that since Turkey is declaring its readiness to talk with Greece, the Greek acceptance of taking only one outstanding issue with Ankara and with only one method to the court, is not sufficient grounds to build a veto on. I wrote to the EU term president, the Italian foreign minister, some 15-20 days ago and explained our position regarding these issues." Gonensay said seeing that it does not have a sufficient reason to continue its veto. Greece is trying to exaggerate issues with Turkey in order to provide legitimacy to its position.

Regarding the proposal to declare the islets and rocky outcrops as "free areas," Gonensay said no-one can decide on that unilaterally.

Won't agree to accession of Cyprus before settlement

The foreign minister explained that Ankara would never accept Cyprus becoming a member of the European Union before a bi-zonal and bi-communal federation of the two communities was established on the island. However, he said that after the settlement, Turkey would handle its rights derived from the 1959-1969 London and Zurich accords with a positive and constructive approach."

The London and Zurich accords bar Cyprus from becoming a member of any economic, military or political organization in which both Greece and Turkey are not already members.

Gonensay said that if and when a Cyprus solution was reached, Turkey would look at the circumstances of its bid to become a full member of the EU and would then make a decision regarding the island's membership.

Responding to a question about a possible new U.S. initiative on Cyprus, the minister said there was much anticipation but that Turkey does not have any details about a new plan. He said, however, that the new initiative may only begin after the May parliamentary elections in Greek Cyprus.

Gonensay said that Turkish Cyprus President Rauf Denktas accepted up to 95 percent of the "Set of Ideas" that United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali had proposed. He hinted that Ankara believed the United States should now concentrate their efforts and persuasion abilities on the Greek Cypriots and on Athens to bring about a settlement.

He said that the United States wanted to see a settlement on the island this year, but the minister was not that optimistic.

Visit to the United States

Gonensay said his visit to the United States, scheduled for May 19, is primarily aimed at explaining the Turkish position regarding problems in bilateral ties with Greece. Gonensay said that since President Suleyman Demirel's visit to the United States, the Greek prime minister and the president had both made separate visits to Washington to explain the Greek viewpoint. Thus he considered now to be an appropriate time to travel to Washington and explain once again the Turkish position.

He said he will be meeting with Defense Secretary William Perry, as well as Secretary of State Warren Christopher and National Security Advisor Anthony Lake at the White House.

He said that besides Turkish-Greek problems, several other issues will be on the talk's agenda, in particular, Operation Provide Comfort and Cyprus.

MIT undersecretary to stay

Answering a question about the new ambassadors decree, Gonensay said the list was prepared in consultation with President Suleyman Demirel, Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and True Path Party leader Tansu Ciller, and it is now with Yilmaz for approval. He said that Yilmaz will talk with Ciller once again and then the approved list will be sent to the Foreign Ministry.

Although refusing to disclose the names on the list, Gonensay said, "In order to end some controversies, I can tell you that the Foreign Ministry undersecretary is not changing. Nor are we changing the undersecretary of MIT (the national intelligence organization). Their names are not on the list."

The TDN has learned that an ambassadorial decree that would appoint twenty ambassadors to various posts has been prepared and is waiting for the approval by the prime minister. However, ambassadorial posts to France, the United States and NATO will remain untouched, according to ministry rumors.

(TDN, 14.05.1996, page 1)

[02] Iran - Central Asia rail link opened

Turkish Daily News

TEHRAN- Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani on Monday inaugurated a new rail link between Iran and Central Asia which he said revived the old Silk Road as a symbol of East-West relations.

The Iranian president and 11 heads of state later flew to Sarakhs, on the border with Turkmenistan. Other dignitaries and officials boarded the train, dubbed "Pride," making its first journey from Mashhad to Sarakhs.

"The Silk Road railway ... shortens the great distance between Chinese ports and the Persian Gulf, is the bridge for the region and the world and is a clear example of Iran's priority on regional cooperation," Rafsanjani said in a ceremony in Sarakhs, broadcast live on Iranian television.

Turkish President Suleyman Demirel, who attended the meeting, was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying that the route would be tied to Turkey.

"This will eventually be tied to Turkey, thus linking Turkey with Central Asia," Demirel said after his meeting with Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze.

But the Turkish president fervently praised the project, saying: "An historic legend comes to life, the Silk Road was not only about a route but was about the coming together of various nations."

"It is not only a railway being inaugurated today, but continents and peoples of various continents are being connected," Demirel said.

The heads of state were to go later to Tedzhen in Turkmenistan.

The Mashhad-Sarakhs-Tedzhen railway opens up new trade routes between regions which under Soviet communism were hermetically sealed, joining Iran's Gulf ports to the former Soviet hinterland.

Iran and Turkmenistan agreed in 1991 to tie their rail networks. Iran self-financed the $171 million, 165 kilometer (100 mile) Mashhad-Sarakhs stretch, which it completed in 42 months.

Turkmenistan's Sarakhs-Tedzhen link, running for 130 kilometers (80 miles), was finished late last year at a cost of $45 million.

Transport capacity initially will be 500,000 passengers a year and 2 million metric tons of goods, rising eventually to 1 million passengers and 8 million tons.

Iran, subject to a U.S. economic embargo, is hailing the railway as the first concrete achievement in a strategy to build its role as a regional economic power.

It has shrugged off the sanctions and is seeking to build its role as a regional player through the Economic Cooperation Organization -- known as ECO.

ECO was founded by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey and later expanded in 1992 to include the five former Soviet Central Asian states -- Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan -- plus Azerbaijan and Afghanistan.

Heads of state will hold ECO's fourth summit on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Turkmen capital Ashkabad and are expected to agree to a redrafting of the ECO founding treaty already hammered out by foreign ministers. At the same meeting, Turkey will take over for four years the permanent secretariat of the organization.

ECO foreign ministers said on Saturday the group was not yet fit to compete with Asian, American and European blocs. Iran called for tariffs to be scrapped outright.

(TDN, 14.05.1996, page 1)

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