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-RwISTA<br />
STAMPA-DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASIN ÖZETi<br />
10., .' Turkish Probe June 16,1995<br />
The Saga of Ministerial Name-Calling<br />
Nazlan Ertan<br />
. nkara's best known line vis-a-vis the<br />
~ European Parliament is that this body,<br />
~ own as the "conscience. of the European<br />
Union, should not link ratification of a customs<br />
union with Turkey to "other issues:<br />
, "Turkey is fulfilling its obligations (on technical<br />
harmonization and <strong>de</strong>mocratization). Bringing up<br />
other issues would not benefit either of the si<strong>de</strong>s,.<br />
the Foreign Ministry's new spokesman Omer Akbel<br />
said after a European Parliament resolution linking<br />
the Euro-Parliament ratification of the lucrative<br />
tra<strong>de</strong> <strong>de</strong>al with the release of jailed Kurdish<br />
<strong>de</strong>puties.<br />
But for the past week, the ties b<strong>et</strong>ween Turkey<br />
and the European Parliament have been strained<br />
due to the strangest "other issue. ever. Turkey's<br />
tentative image was tarnished consi<strong>de</strong>rably when<br />
State Minister Ayvaz Gôk<strong>de</strong>mir was quoted as calling<br />
three female European <strong>de</strong>puties "prostitutes: "If<br />
someone wanted to mastermind a way to create<br />
antagonism b<strong>et</strong>ween Turkey and the European<br />
Parliament, they could not have come up with a<br />
b<strong>et</strong>ter plan,. a Turkish diplomat said a day after<br />
headlines splashed across Turkish newspapers<br />
voiced the outrage of three Euro-MPs against State<br />
Minister Ayvaz Gôk<strong>de</strong>mir. Theever-blun<strong>de</strong>ring<br />
Gôk<strong>de</strong>mir had reportedly called three key figures in<br />
the European Parliament, who had visited Turkey<br />
last month, "European prostitutes of dubious<br />
intent.. .<br />
"We willnot release jailedinfi<strong>de</strong>ls (of the<br />
Democracy Party) because European prostitutes of<br />
dubious intEmtwant us to do so. May God save us,<br />
and the nation, from the coalition partner we have'.'<br />
Gôk<strong>de</strong>mir told a True Path me<strong>et</strong>ing in Kilis a day<br />
before the elections.<br />
According to journalists on the scene, he used<br />
the word "slur rather than prostitute, but the newspaper<br />
reports toned down his vulgarity.<br />
~His words were echoed in Brussels and the<br />
storm broke four days later, prior to a dinner<br />
Foreign Minister Erdal Inônü planned to host in<br />
Brussels. The three Euro-MPs, Catherine<br />
Lalumiere of France, Claudia Roth of Germany and<br />
Pauline Green of Britain, protested at the remarks<br />
by not attending the dinner party.<br />
In a l<strong>et</strong>ter to Prime Minister Tansu Çiller, Turkey's<br />
first female prime minister who is not exactly known<br />
for her sensitivity on women's issues, they requested<br />
her to "distance herself from the remarks of<br />
Gôk<strong>de</strong>mir" and asked for a personal apology from<br />
the minister.<br />
Çiller did write a l<strong>et</strong>ter of apology, saying that she<br />
could not imagine how "one of her ministers. could<br />
make such a remark. "If he has said this,. said<br />
Çiller's l<strong>et</strong>ter addressed to the MPs and the head of<br />
the European Parliament, "his remarks do ,not<br />
reflect the view of myself nor my government. I<br />
<strong>de</strong>tach myself from them: Çiller ad<strong>de</strong>d that she<br />
regr<strong>et</strong>ted the <strong>de</strong>velopments, but, perhaps due to<br />
her awareness of Gôk<strong>de</strong>mir's political weight, carefully<br />
refrained from con<strong>de</strong>mning the remark.<br />
Gôk<strong>de</strong>mir, for his part, ma<strong>de</strong> one conflicting remark<br />
after another: He told conservative daily Türkiye's<br />
Sabahattin Onkibar that he had "never ma<strong>de</strong> those<br />
remarks. and the claim that he had would "only<br />
serve the interests of the PKK and Greek lobbies:<br />
"If they tell me I have said it, I am not someone to<br />
disclaim that,. he told Hürriy<strong>et</strong>. He ad<strong>de</strong>d, in<br />
remarks quoted in various newspapers, "This is not<br />
a serious insult. It is just a statement that reflects<br />
the.sensitivity of the people who do not want to see<br />
their country divi<strong>de</strong>d:<br />
Then, he ad<strong>de</strong>d as a finishing touch: "I do not<br />
know wh<strong>et</strong>her they are prostitutes or not. I am not<br />
keeping track of who is... playing around with whom<br />
in European circles:<br />
Finally, he ma<strong>de</strong> a halfheartedapology to the<br />
female <strong>de</strong>puties: "I have learned withregr<strong>et</strong> that<br />
some of the newspaper accounts of the remarks I<br />
have ma<strong>de</strong> in response to a citizen's question in<br />
Kilis have created some touchiness,. he said. "If it<br />
will make up for their taking offense due to this<br />
misun<strong>de</strong>rstanding, I apologize:<br />
The apology, such as it was, failed to end the<br />
controversy. German Green Claudia Roth said she<br />
inten<strong>de</strong>d to sue the minister, and Pauline Green,<br />
the chairman of the largest group in the European<br />
Parliament, complained that no action had been<br />
taken against Gôk<strong>de</strong>mir by Çiller.<br />
"I must stress that this man is a minister in government<br />
in Turkey,. Green told a separate news<br />
conference.<br />
"This <strong>de</strong>monstrates ...the distance that Turkey<br />
has to travel to the same <strong>de</strong>mocratic conditions and<br />
values as in the European Union...That's why we in<br />
the European Parliament are cautious until they<br />
<strong>de</strong>monstrate the same <strong>de</strong>mocratic conditions and<br />
values as we do,. she said.<br />
"From a point of view of g<strong>et</strong>ting votes it's not useful<br />
if three party lea<strong>de</strong>rs are <strong>de</strong>scribed in this way,.<br />
Claudia Roth told a news conference.<br />
Despite the initial outrage expressed in the media<br />
toward the minister, the sensitivity appears to have<br />
died down. Reliable sources say that Gôk<strong>de</strong>mir will<br />
not maintain his post in a Cabin<strong>et</strong> reshuffle (and in<br />
a few months, Ayvaz, pronounced "I was. will<br />
become a "he was:)<br />
However, there are politicians and journalists<br />
who support him, on the grounds that he either did<br />
not make the remark or he was right to make the<br />
remark.<br />
Sabahattin Onkibar, a columnist of Turkiye,<br />
<strong>de</strong>scribed the minister as a "symbol of honor" and<br />
'/,<br />
158