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
Tehran assures Ankara onfight against PKK terror
Turkish
Daily News
ANKARA- Concerned. about escalatin&
attacks by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) frpm Iranian territory, Turkey
has launched a series of diplomatic initiatives
aimed at Tehran and has received a positive
response.
. Iran has assured Turkey that it has the political
will to fight against PKK terrorist activities,
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman .
Omer Akbel said on Wednesday.
Akbel told reporters that Mohammed Reza
Bagheri, Iranian ambassador in Ankara, was
summoned to the Foreign Ministry and met
with Foreign Minister Erdällnönü on June 17,
one day after'two terrorist attacks hit Turkish
troops on the Iran-Turkey border. .
Inonu asked for more effective cooperation
against terrorism.
"On June 19 President Süleyman Demirel
sent a message to his Iranian counterpart
Hashemi Rafsanjani and reiterated this
re~uest," Akbel said ..
'But even before Demirel's message
reached Rafsanjani, the Iranian president sent
a message with his. Deputy Foreign Minister
Alaaddin Brujerdi to Demirel. .
Foreign Ministry spokesman Ömer Akbel
I
, . "Rafsanjam stressed Tehran's ~olitical will
to improve bilateral relations in his message," the security of both Turkey and Iran. Brujerdi
he added.
noted that Tehran was fighting against the
Brujerdi said his country considered the PKK and was determined toactively support
PKK as a terrorist organization threatening Turkey's struggle as well."We understand
THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 1995
us: We don't support independent.
Kurdistan in northern Iraq
us tells Greek Cyprus to
enforce sanctions on Serbs
By Ugur Alanel
Turkish Daily Newss
WASHINGTON- Responding to recent statements
made to TDN by Eric Rouleau, the former
'French ambassador to Turkey, to the effect that
Operatiori Provide Comfort may be helping the
establishment of an independent Kurdistan in
northern Iraq, a State Department spokesmim
today confirmed the administration's opposition
to such an eventuality. "I am not aware that there
~e any Western countries who favor an independent
state - at least none of our major allies -
of Kurdistan, and that' s certainly not the direction
in which our own policy is leading us,"
spokesman Nicholas Burns said.
Burns said, "There is no change in our policy
towards Iraq or that portion of Iraq which
includes northern Iraq." He said the United
States s~ppûrt'l' the territorial integrity of Iraq but
Saddam Hussein shouldbe held accountable "for.
the welfare of the people in northern Iraq." "
"That's why we have consistently suppoqed
Operation Provide Comfort," Burns continued.
"We were very pleased to see the Turkish government
decide last week that it would extend
Operation Provide Comfort. That remains OUI
core. interest in northern Iraq, to provide protec~
tion for the Kurdish populations of northern Iraq,
and that will remalO the basis of the Uniteil
State's policy."" ,
On another matter, Burns said that the administration
has co~tacted the Greek ~yprio~ g~ve~-
. ment concetnlOg the commercIal actlvltles In'
Cyprus of certam individuals of Russian and
Serbian background that ended up violating the
U.N. sanctions on Serbia.
"We're not pinninß any blame here on the government
of Cyprus,' Burns was careful to point
out, "it's rather directed at individuals in Cyprus
who may, we think, have been involved in transp'ressions
against the sanctions that are in place."
"And we're .concerned about that and we're
plrrsuing it with the gover~l!lef\t of Cyprus
because we expect, of course, that the govem~
ment of Cyprus can bring SOmeauthority to bear
on these particular individuals." he condudM
Turkey's sensitivity on the issue of border
security. We are ready to improve our cooperation
andtake necessary measures on our
part," the Iranian official told reporters after
his official talks on Tuesday. .
Meanwhile, as part of cooperation on security
issues between Iran and Turkey, Gulam
Hussein Bulandian, Iran's deputy interior
minister, visited Ankara last weck to attend a
high security cominission meeting, a mechan~sm
set up in ,1992,.between the two countries.
:
Bulandian told his Turkish counterpart
Bekir Aksoy that Tehran was ready for fuither
.cooperation to combat terrorism. It was
announced after the commission meçting ,.that
Turkey and Iran would launch coordinated
operations against PKK militants. But no
details were gIven.
Iran showed that it would not allow the
issue to turn into a subject of tension with
Turkey, diplomatic sources told the Turkish
Daily News on Wednesday.
"Iran has quickly made effective moves to
prevent a possible crisis with Turkey. The last
thing Tehran'wants the~e days is a crisis with
Ankara.
, Iran gave a strong message to Ankara, saying
that relations With Turkeyare very important
for Tehran and that it is handling the
PKK issue with determination," the sources
noted. .
_ Turkish Daily News
PKK chief thanks
Kadhafi for support
Agence France Presse
TRIPOLI
- The leader of Turkey's
outlawed separatist Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) has thanked
Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi for his
support, the official.news agency
JANA reported Wednesday.
. "We are proud of your principled
stand toward the cause of our people.
This stand will be engr~.ved in our
minds," said Abdullah Ocalan in a
written message to Kadhafi.
Colonel Kadhafibacked the PKK's
campaign to set up an independent
Kurdisli state, after a Turkish anny
.offensive in March and April against
separatist guerrilla bases 10 northern
Iraq.
'The Turkish operation in northern
Iraq was part of a plot hatched by
Western countries against the Kurds
and theArab world aImed at dominatipg
the peoples of the, region," wrote
Ocalan." ..- .;,'
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