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

REvuE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEW-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ-RIVISTA STAMPA-DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASIN ÖZETi
Turkish Probe June 2,1995
5
Buro-Parliament's Amazons
Take On Ankara
Nazlan Ertan
"
'They are here to see developments in
democratization,' a senior Turkish diplomat
said. MButwhat will we show them?'
The diplomat's reference was to the visit of a
three-women delegation from the European
Parliament, which has more muscle since the
Maastricht Treaty, before it votes on. a landmark
customs union accord with Turkey. The Mladiesof
the parliament' - or the Euro-Amazons, as they
were dubbed by the media - control a total of 250
plus votes between them in their positions as chairwomen
of the three key left-wing groups in the
Euro-Parliament.
Two of the deputies, Catherine Lalumiere of
European Radical Alliance, and Claudia Roth of
GrElens, were no strangers to Turkey. Lalumiere
started her job as Council of Europe secretary-general
with a critical attitude towards Turkey, but
ended, after a lot of cooperation from Hikmet Çetin
- the foreign minister at that time - with a favorable
attitude. rn fact, while she was in a contest with
Daniel Tarchys for a second term, Çetin said his
support went to Lalumiere, although this view was
not shared by the Turkish deputies in the Council of
Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, which elects the
secretary-general. "This is a fascinating counlry, full
of conflicts,' Lalumiere said at the end of talks.
"There is a young, dynamic population, but on the
other hand... there is terrorism, the concem for the
integrity of the country which takes, time to time,
priority over the Kurdish problem."
Claudia Roth, a German deputy, has also taken a
close interest in Turkey for a long time. Roth,
according to those who have followed her contacts
in Turkey, has also mellowed considerably in her
outlook towards Turkey. She has also become
increasingly familiar with Turkey, from its legal system
to the country's soccer obsession. MIknow the
Turkish Penal Code so well that I can now start a
law school in Turkey,.
Roth quipped .• We want
Turkey to integrate with the European institutions,.
Roth said in the press conference after her talks.
.~ut certain conditions should be right.. Roth is a
'vocal supporter of wtlat she calls the necessary
Turkish recognition of the "Kurdish reality.•
. .A;> far ~ Turks were concerned, the "tough cook-
Ie In the flfl'UP was the head of the delegation -
Pauline Gre&n, a British deputy who headed the
majority Socialist Group in the European
Parliament. Coming from a Greek Cypriot-dense
constituency, Pauline Green's rhetoric on the
Cyprus questiontended to raise eyebrows even in
her own Euro-parliament group. The fact that one of
her top advisers is a Greek has led one Turkish
politician, who talked to her during the visit, to
remark: "All in all, she is an explosive combination."
But at the press conference marking the end of
CA~HERI~E LALUMIEJ:lE: The h.ead of the European
Radical Alhance, Cathenne Laiurniere, says she is surprised
by the conflicting aspects of Turkey. "We hope to
have good news in the coming weeks," she said.
their Ankara outing, the MAmazons" refrained from
sounding pessimistic, although they did not hide the
fact that the fate of the imprisoned deputies of the
pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP) would be decisive.
~Wedo not want to see democratically elected
deputies in jail," Roth said.
"The European deputies see the imprisonment of
the deputies not only as an extension of the Kurdish
problem but a matter of solidarity with fellow
deputies,' Uluç Özülker, the Turkish ambassador to
the European Union, said. "The Democracy Party
deputies, on the other hand, have told the Euro-
MPs that Turkish integration with the European
Union will be better for them, because it would
enable the Union to exert more pressure to the
Turkish side." .
Ozülker appears to be correct regarding this message
given by the DEP deputies. When the jailed
deputies and the European Parliament delegation
came together for a long meeting, the DEP
deputies said that they want closer ties between
Turkey and the European Union, provided that
Turkey took a first step toward democratization.
Pauline Green indicated that they wanted to know
'what would happen to the deputies before the
European Parliament voted on the customs union.
MWe have no intention of postponing the vote
unless there is a concrete reason,' Green said. But
she added that she had heard that the appeal of the
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