Turkish Daily News, 96-06-25

Turkish News Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

TURKISH DAILY NEWS
25 June 1996

CONTENTS

[01] Foreign minister to represent Turkey at Papandreou funeral

[02] Ciller tries to find a way out

[03] Turkey sees Arab summit result balanced and reasonable

[04] Turkey and Russia fail to agree on gas barter

[01] Foreign minister to represent Turkey at Papandreou funeral

ANKARA- Turkey will probably be represented at Wednesday's funeral of former Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou by Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay, the Anatolia news agency reported. President Suleyman Demirel, caretaker Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay sent their condolences to their Greek counterparts on Sunday, shortly after hearing of the death of the former Socialist prime minister.

[02] Ciller tries to find a way out

'A DYP-ANAP coalition possible only under leadership of a third person. No coalition with RP unless Ciller is first to serve as PM'

ANAP's Ersumer: 'It is not our mission to save Ciller'

By Ayla Ganioglu

TDN Parliament Bureau

ANKARA- Caught between the need to survive corruption probes threatening her future and the need to patch up her eroding credibility, True Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu Ciller on Monday fought for time before committing herself to a coalition with the Islamists she has been abusing until recently.

Ciller, who met twice with pro-Islamic Welfare party (RP) leader Necmettin Erbakan on terms of a coalition to replace her collapsed partnership with Motherland Party (ANAP) of outgoing prime minister Mesut Yilmaz, has reserved her formal reply for today.

In their second meeting last Friday, Ciller said she had to confer first with Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader Bulent Ecevit about the chances for a right-left coalition before burning her boats. Both ANAP and the Republican People's Party (CHP) had distanced themselves to another power-sharing experience with Ciller.

But as the nation waited in suspense, Ciller's meeting with Ecevit failed to clarify the situation with both leaders seemingly advocating their respective models for a coalition between the mainstream parties that would exclude the Islamist RP.

Speaking after the 45-minute meeting, Ciller said it was clear that the three-party or four-party models she had been proposing under a neutral prime minister would not materialize.

But she said "the coming days will be open to new developments," hinting that she might not give the straight answer Erbakan was expecting today.

Ecevit, meanwhile, reported Ciller to be determined against reviving her ill-starred partnership with ANAP -- which she terminated after Yilmaz backed corruption probes against her.

Sources close to both leaders said as a last ditch formula, Ciller proposed alternating minority governments by the DYP and ANAP.

They said the DYP leader was trying to push back her reply to Erbakan as far as possible, fearing that an immediate commitment would cause further defections from her party's ranks. So far, six deputies have resigned from the DYP in protest of her flirting with the Islamists, in stark contrast to her earlier vows never to do business with them. Five have joined ANAP, making Yilmaz next in line to try a new government if Erbakan throws in the towel.

Ciller is in a tight spot, trying to find a way out of this situation. She finds it difficult to overcome the adverse reactions the possibility of a coalition with the Welfare Party (RP) has drawn from the ranks of her own party. On the other hand, there has been no progress towards a fresh coalition between her DYP and the ANAP, its partner in the coalition which collapsed early this month after remaining in office for nearly three months.

If Ciller's third meeting with Erbakan today does not prove fruitful she can be expected to make a fresh bid to bring about a DYP-ANAP coalition with a "third person" other than Ciller or Yilmaz serving as prime minister.

DYP Deputy Chairman Hasan Ekinci told the TDN that if the RP displayed at the Tuesday meeting a more favorable attitude on the issue of who should be prime minister, DYP-RP talks would continue. He said, "If we find out during the meeting that the RP has retained the position it held in the wake of the Dec.24 election, that is, the position they had agreed upon in the course of the RP-ANAP talks at that time, then an agreement will be possible. But if they say they will not accept rotating premiership then they will have closed the door."

Following the election Erbakan had held coalition talks with the ANAP and agreed, in the course of the bargaining process, to introduce the rotating premiership system and to give ANAP leader Mesut Yilmaz to chance to serve as the prime minister first. Ekinci's words indicate that the DYP is now demanding the same concession from the RP.

Since Ciller started coalition talks with the Erbakan's Islamist RP, the DYP has lost six deputies. Reminding the RP of this fact, Ciller is now giving that party a message along the lines of, "A RP-DYP coalition may find it difficult to win a vote of confidence if I do not serve as prime minister first." Ekinci expressed the conviction that the wave of defections from the DYP would come to a halt if, during the talks with the RP, a coalition formula under which Ciller would be the first one to serve as prime minister, is put on the agenda. Implying that the DYP deputies would drop their opposition to the DYP-RP formula if the leader of their party became prime minister. Ekinci said, "(DYP deputy and former chief of staff) Dogan Gures too is saying the same thing. That would be the soundest formula for the country, for all of us."

Ekinci said that if the RP-DYP coalition did not materialize, rather than waiting for the expiry of the 45-day period when President Suleyman Demirel may invoke his constitutional power to dissolve the parliament and stage an early election, they would put on the agenda the possibility of a three-party coalition which would include, along with the DYP and the ANAP, either the Democratic Left Party (DSP) or the Republican People's Party (CHP). He stressed that since Yilmaz had "proven that he has malintentions" the DYP would not accept his being prime minister in a future coalition. He said, "Such a government can be formed only with a third person assuming the post of prime minister."

Meanwhile, as the DYP-RP continue, contacts between the DYP and the ANAP have led to a series of mutual accusations and denials. The ANAP has claimed that the DYP had offered to form a coalition with the ANAP provided that the ANAP promises to save Ciller from the parliamentary probes which can cause her to appear before the Supreme Court to answer to corruption charges. The DYP has categorically rejected that allegation.

Ekinci said that it was ANAP leader Yilmaz who had contacted him with such a proposal. He said, "Yilmaz is lying. We did not send him any such proposal along the lines of, 'Save Ciller.' The coalition issue and the parliamentary probes are two separate issues. All Yilmaz is concerned with is how to prevent the DYP from forming a coalition with the RP. Meanwhile, he has been sending via some of his friends messages along the lines of, 'Let us revive the ANAP-DYP coalition."

Mehmet Gozlukaya, acting chairman of the DYP group in the parliament, told the TDN, "The ANAP does not want us to be in the government. By issuing such statements they try to undermine our talks with the RP." recalling that DYP Deputy Chairman Necmettin Cevheri had said that he had only a brief talk with the ANAP Deputy Chairman Ilker Tuncay. He stressed that the DYP had sent the ANAP no message asking the latter to help kill the parliamentary probes against Ciller.

Meanwhile, commenting on this controversy, ANAP sources said that the issue had come up during the recent rounds of talks the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) leader Alparslan Turkes held separately with Ciller and Yilmaz, acting as a go-between. According to their version, Turkes suggested to Yilmaz that the relevant laws could be amended to ensure that the three parliamentary probes started into Ciller's activities during her prime ministry are tackled by the judicial authorities rather than parliamentary committees, and to limit the deputies' legislative immunity to their activities in the parliament.

ANAP Deputy Chairman Cumhur Ersumer told the TDN that the talks between the "lower echelons" of the ANAP and the DYP had been taking place but that these had proved futile. He said it would be out of the question for them to accept any proposal aimed "saving Ciller". He said, "It is not our mission to save Ciller. There are other parties which undertake that mission. if we had accepted certain things, acted like an obedient partner, we would not be looking for a (new) government today."

[03] Turkey sees Arab summit result balanced and reasonable

Turkey welcomes to Arab wishes to develop relations with Ankara, as expressed in Arab summit

Turkish Daily News

ANKARA- Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Omer Akbel said that the results of Arab summit were balanced and reasonable and that the most important point for Turkey was that all the participators in the summit had reaffirmed their attachment to the peace process.

Akbel, in the weekly press conference on Monday, said that Arab countries had stated that a just and lasting peace was the most valid security assurance for the region. Turkey shares this view and believes that Israel will also stick to the peace process, the spokesman said.

"The second point that concerns Turkey directly for the decisions of Arab summit is the fact that in the Cairo decisions Arab countries have expressed their wish to further develop the already existing traditional ties and common interest between Turkey and Arab countries. We welcome this point," Akbel said.

Akbel also mentioned the Arab call for the review of the Turco-Israeli military accord which was signed in February and met with a fury of protest from Arab countries. "For the reference made in the summit declaration concerning the Turco-Israeli military accord I would rather to interpret this reference as a general wish which aims to maintain the preservation of the balances in the Middle East rather than a serious concern. This agreement is not aim at any other third party. Also, Turkey does not consider positively any new grouping in the region," he said.

He pointed out as long the Arab solidarity serves the interests the stability of all the countries in the region, Turkey has nothing against the further strengthen of Arab solidarity.

"Participating states in that connection have undertaken once again to develop relations on the basis of certain universal principles such as independence, territorial integrity, regional security and non-interference in domestic affairs. They also condemn terrorism. We would expect that the same principles would apply not only in intra-Arab relations but also in bilateral relations between Arab countries and non-Arab neighbors. In this context we will carefully follow how Syria, which has up to now been supporting PKK terrorism, will follow its obligations under this undertaking," Akbel said.

[04] Turkey and Russia fail to agree on gas barter

ANKARA- Turkey and the Russian Federation have failed to conclude negotiations on a deal whereby the latter would supply natural gas in return for consumer goods, the semi-official Anatolia news agency quoted Turkish officials as saying.

The agency said the talks last month in Moscow to reach agreement failed after Russia insisted on removal of barter basis from the proposed gas deal.

The Turkish mission in the Russian capital, as reported by Anatolia, sought agreement on export commodity lists (subject to barter trade) for 1995 and 1996 "before everything else." The delegation said it would agree to negotiate whether the barter basis should be removed from the gas agreement but this could happen only after accord on the 1995 and 1996 lists.

The negotiators from both sides failed to move on to details because of disagreement on the essentials, Anatolia said, the Russian elections were another reason for failure during the Moscow round of talks.

An agreement signed between Turkey and the then-Soviet Union, in 1984, which went into effect in 1987, allowed Turkey to pay part of its gas imports from Russia with commodity exports and partly with contracting services. The meetings to determine the list of export commodities subject to barter were delayed in recent years and could not be held at all last year.

According to the agreement, Russia has to spend 70 percent of its earnings from the natural gas exports to Turkey on commodity imports from Turkey. Of the 70 percent of the natural gas earnings, 50 percent is used in the commodity imports and 20 percent in the contracting services payments.

Foreign trade officials also said that the trade volume on free currency flow between the two countries has reached an important level and added: "The agreement that was signed in 1984 for improving the trade volume between the two countries has reached its goal. The exports worth $150-200 million in return for the Russian natural gas are no longer important. The business volume of the Turkish contracting firms in Russia is approximately $5 billion and there is no problem with their payments."

The officials also said that the agreement set Turkey's proposed gas imports at six billion cubic meters per annum, and no additional agreement has been made to cover the settings in case the amount of natural gas increases to 10 billion-12 billion cubic meters.

Turkey purchased five billion cubic meters of natural gas, worth $374 million, from Russia in 1994, but Russia did not use its allowance of $265 million for commodity imports in return.

Turkish News Directory - Previous Article - Next Article