Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

REVUE DE PRESSE~PRESS REVIEW.BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ.RWISTA STAMPA~DENTRO DE LA PRENSA~BASIN ÖZETi
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week that it would suspend arms sales to
Turkey. It gave no reason for the decision.
The South African Embassy, in response
to an inquiry from Turkish Datly News, said
that South Africa was suspending the delivery
of certain arms to Turkey "m line with
similar measures taken by several other
states."
"We consider this an outrageous decision
and attribute it to tbe past finks with the
African National Congress (ANC)," a
Turkish diplomat, who requested anonymity,
said. .
This comment on a past link with the ANC
is a thinly-veiled reference to Turkey's belief
that the ANC, particularly in its days as a
resistance gI'(>up,had ties with the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). When
Nelson Mandela, prior to the all~ce elections
that installed birn as president, declined
to accept the Atatürk Award offered to him
by Turkey in 1992, some Turkish' circles
attributed this to the influence of the PKK on
the' ANC. Although South Africa has assured
Turkey at every opportunity that it considers
the PKK a "terronst orgarnzation," the decision
to sus~nd arms to Turkey, along with
rumors that Kurdish activists were increasiRg
their presence in South Africa, has made
Ankara remember old wounds.
"We consider th~ South African decision
an incomprehensible one at a time when we.
are !I)'ing to enhance our relations," another
Turkish diplomat told the Turkish Daily
News. The two countries, which restored full
diplomatic ties in 1992, concluded a number
of economic accords last year to promote
trade and tourism."
Turkish officials,' bowever, maintain that
they will not apply economic. nor diplomatic
sanctions to Soutli Africa. A note of protest
from Turkey is also ruled out by the same
circles. SilD11arly,the South African Embassy
ruled out that they had initiated a total
embar~o on Turkey. "Nor do (we) intend to
do so, the embassy statement said.
Öcalan pushes
all 01 us to
make a choice
There are about 14 million citizens of
Kurdish origin in Turkey while are
there more than 50 million Turks living
on this soil. Most of our citizens of
Kurdish ethnic origin live in Western
Turkey mingled with all of us. Only about
three million are located in southeastern
Turkey where the PKK terrorist organization
is waging a separatist campaign ...
In an interview with Reuters on
Tuesday, PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan
says he is prepared to lay down his arms
and end his terrorist campaign provided
that Ankara starts talking about a political
solution for the Kurdish issue.
What does this "political solution" mean?
All we can,under-
Language problem limits
health care in Southeast
'Physicians mostly believe that
they cannot be effective enough as
most of the patients do not mow
Turkish, they know only Kurdish'
Turkish Daily News
ANKARA- Turkish-speaking health personnel face difficulties
providing health services in the Southeast, the Turkish
Medical Association (TMA) reported.
In a report pllblished at the begillning of the month, the
TMA saId language problems limit health services in
Southeast, a predommantly Kurdish area ofTurkey.
The report emphasized the importance of language in ren
dering services.
J
"Answers to a survey given on this matter by the physicians,
midwives and nurses working at the health centers in the
provincial center of Diyarbakir are interesting," the report said.
"Physicians mostly believe that they cannot be effective
enough as most of the patients do not know Turkish, they know
only Kurdish." "
The survey said that midwives and nurses faced difficulties
with vaccinations, family planning, matemàl and child health
care and in health education because of the language problem.
Therefore they could not be effective enough ..
The report also said that midwives anâ nurses who knew
Kurdish said that they were more successful in rendering services.
The TMA said that more than half of the physIcians
needed a third person to communicate with patients and more
than half of the physicians believe that they cannot be helpful
enough to their patients because of the communication problem.
As a result of the survey, the TMA suggested that pbysicians
working in the region should know a socioeconomic conditions
and learn the patient's language so that they could communicate.
According to the TMA, third persons also should be
employed for communication with the patients in the region.
. stand from this is
that Öcalan
wants to a create ed,;to1"'ial
a separate state '" "
for the Kurds on
this soil and
divide our country.
So what he
could not do
through terrorism
he wants to
achieve through
political means.
Öcalan is not a
man of peace. If
he were then he
would never have
ordered the
killing of innocent
women and
children for what
he calls a "cause."
He says, "if Ankara continues its campaign
against the Kurdish people, the
Kurdish people will fight." Turkey is riot
involved in any campaign against its
Kurdish population and out of the huge
millions of people of J(urdish~rigin' in
Turkey we see that onlya'handful o(mili-
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