Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
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REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEW-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ-RNISTA STAMPA-DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASIN ÖZETi<br />
Financial Times: Çiller' s record<br />
leaves little room for optimism<br />
'A surfeit of ina<strong>de</strong>quate lea<strong>de</strong>rs is perhaps Turkey's greatest handicap'<br />
Turlcish Daily News<br />
WASHINGTON-<br />
In an eight-page special survey of<br />
Turkey, the Financial Times (FT) conclu<strong>de</strong>d that the<br />
oountry was faced with a choice b<strong>et</strong>ween "a high road of<br />
growth and stability" and "a lowroad it has chosen to<br />
follow in recent years of instability and hardship." Th~<br />
lead essay penned by John Barham conclu<strong>de</strong>s that "Mrs.<br />
Çiller's record as prime minister.leaves little room for<br />
optimism."<br />
"A surfeit of ina<strong>de</strong>quate lea<strong>de</strong>rs hie is perhaps<br />
Turkey's greatest handicap," Barham said. 'Critics claIm<br />
that Mrs. Çiller is an .insecure and in<strong>de</strong>cisive politician<br />
who lacks the vi~joll ànd <strong>de</strong>termination of the late<br />
Presi<strong>de</strong>nt Turgut Ozal \vIIO, for aU his faults, rapidly<br />
mo<strong>de</strong>rnized Turkey in the' .<br />
1980s." The FT <strong>de</strong>scribed<br />
main oJlposition lea<strong>de</strong>r<br />
Mesut Ydinaz' performance<br />
as "lea<strong>de</strong>n."<br />
The survey', which studies<br />
in <strong>de</strong>taIl the current<br />
political and economic<br />
panorama of Turkey" presented<br />
Kurds and Shiites as<br />
"minorities." Gillian TeU,<br />
writing about "confusion of<br />
issues" in Turkey, came<br />
across as rather confused<br />
herself when she referred to<br />
"religious minorities, such<br />
as the Shia Muslims," since<br />
in accordance with the<br />
Lausanne Treaty of 1923,<br />
only three non-Muslim<br />
groups are recognized as<br />
minorities in Turkey, i.e.<br />
the Jews, Armenians and<br />
the Greeks. T<strong>et</strong>t also<br />
seemed to be much more<br />
unforgiving of the human<br />
rights abuses committed by<br />
the Turkish state compared<br />
to the similar ones committed<br />
by the outlawed<br />
Kurdistan Workers' Party<br />
(PKK.) While referring to the violations of the former as<br />
"brutal suppression of the PKK," TeU <strong>de</strong>scribed the<br />
PKK offenses as "human ri~ts abuses." The survey also<br />
minimized the aspirations 01the PKK for an in<strong>de</strong>pen<strong>de</strong>nt<br />
state, or at least political autonomy, and presented the<br />
conflict as one over 4'cultural rights." "Many Turkish<br />
politicians fear that recognizing Kurdish cultural rights<br />
would threaten the state," a (>icture caption read.<br />
"However, an overwhelming majority, of .Turks believe<br />
thatgranting Kurdish autonomYtwouldlmean,C3Y.Ïng, into<br />
terrorism. Moreoverl.autonomy ,is,equated with!separatism<br />
and treason," Barham noted.<br />
FundanientaIism is winning over those "crammed into<br />
~lums, lacking basic amenities," the survey said and<br />
mtroduced the Refah Party as "the militant Islamic<br />
party." "...the specter of Islamic fundamentalism is perhaps<br />
the most warming <strong>de</strong>velopment .... Nightmare scenarios<br />
of :another.Algeria' or "another ~' proliferate,"<br />
the ~ SaId. Presld~nt ~Uleyman DemIrel also received<br />
c~nsl<strong>de</strong>~ble ~Uention 1~ the surver,. His recent broad-<br />
'sI<strong>de</strong>s agaInst Western mterference' and his claim that<br />
the, West is trying to revive the Sevres Treaty of 1930<br />
"have left many Western diplomats b4fflea." the FT<br />
said. Demirel is quoted as saying "if the West does not<br />
un<strong>de</strong>rstand Turkey then Turkey will break off from the<br />
West anyway."<br />
Although "Mr: ~l' s coID!ßents may en<strong>de</strong>ar him<br />
to many Turks, It ,does little to Improve un<strong>de</strong>rstanding<br />
b<strong>et</strong>ween Turkey and Europe," the FT said. Demirel's<br />
anti-W~tern co~ments "may simply ,-eprcsent the views<br />
of an agmg patriarch, but they may also reflect a canny<br />
perception of a new p'0litical wmd blowing through<br />
Turkey," Teu said. 'For, as the last 30 years have<br />
shown, the one quality that Mr. Demirel undoubtedly has<br />
is that of a political survivor."<br />
The economic panorama<br />
Among many succinct observations the authors ma<strong>de</strong>,<br />
the FT sl!l"'ey stressed the following points concerning<br />
the. Turkish economy,: l) PrivatizatIon is 8.0ing at a<br />
snaIl s.p~ce. Out of this y~'s targ<strong>et</strong> of $5 bIllion, only<br />
$70 nnllion has been realIzed from "a few small-tick<strong>et</strong><br />
, . operations."<br />
2) Political ineptitu<strong>de</strong>,<br />
corruption and 'favoritism<br />
handicaps economic recovery<br />
as weIL<br />
3) "Recklessly mismanaged<br />
state banks" do not<br />
serve the best interests of<br />
Turkey. The banking business<br />
is not healthy. Medium<br />
'and small private Turkish<br />
banks are 6ad news. Most<br />
are technically bankrupt,<br />
according to one London<br />
banker.<br />
4) Turkey will be hit by<br />
energy blackouts next year.<br />
The mfrastructure is not a<strong>de</strong>quate<br />
<strong>de</strong>spite the fact that<br />
<strong>de</strong>mand for energy grows<br />
steadily. There are many<br />
projects started and left<br />
Incompl<strong>et</strong>e. "A diplomat<br />
says there are 4,000 unfinished<br />
infrastructure projects<br />
in Turkey... The government<br />
147