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

REVUE DE PRESSE~PRESS REVIEW~BERHEVOKAÇAPÊ-RlVISTA STAMPA~DENTRO DE LA PRENSA~BASIN ÖZETi
link to Central Asia over
its own territory.
Central Asia should reach the sea. It will have
access to the sea either via Pakistan, Iran or Turkey.
The Pakistan route is inevitable.
But the opening of the other route (over Iran) might
block the Turkish route to the sea or vastly reduce Its
significance. And Iran is already engage~ in a b.ig
effort to provide the sea link to Central ASia over ItS
own territory. ..
That' s why the resolution of the AzerbalJan-
Armenia conflict is so important ~or Turkey. If the
conflict is resolved, Turkey can easily reach out from
its eastern boundary to Baku, and from there to
Krasnovodsk. .
And then it will be easier for the Central ASian
countries to take their D'oods to the Black Sea ~nd
Mediterranean ports ofTurkey rathe.r than takmg
them to the Indian Ocean through Pakistan or to the
.Persian Gulf through Iran.
• ,]The Chechnya
HM affair and Turkey's
relations with the
Central Asian republics
should not cause a
chill in the relations
with Russia. The
attempts to settle the
Chechnya problem with
repression, with force,
with bloodshed
are utterly wrong. In'
Russia, people should
support the friendship
between their country
and Turkey.
And, in fact, this Silk Road will reemerge, extending
from Peking to London. Turkey should complete
the missing stretch of railroad around Lake Van. .
But Turkef s policies towards these Central Asian
states are not motivated by calculations of material
benefits. What it seeks is the ability of these sta.tes to
stand on their own feet, to develop therr econortues.
Turkey, Iran and the West.. .
:'Turkey has suffered heavily from the stance the .
Western powers have adopted against Iraq, and .
it continues to suffer. And it will suffer again if
the Western powers enter a confrontation willi Iran.
So, when adopting a stance towards the countries
around us, they should know how far they harm
Turkey. And after a certain point, Turkeycannot bear
these losses.
Now look, what the Gulf crisis has caused (for
Turkey). They cannot praise Turkey enough. We
cooperated like this ... We cooperated like that.
Very well, but the 100 million tons of oil (flowing
through the Kirkuk- Yumurtalik pipeline) is no longer
there. .
The pipeline is abandoned to rot. It is a great pity.
Despite all the efforts, it has not been possible to
reactivate the pi~line. There are 26 million barrels
of oil trapped inside. If it is flushed, the oil inside
will be wortli $500-600 million. What will happen to
this money?
I want to say this here: Turkey should help
Azerbaijan and Armenia to reach a settlement. After a
settlement over Karabakh, Armenia will withdraw
from other Azerbaijani territory it has occupied.
There will be a softening and a settlement will be definitely
reached. .
When this comes about, Turkey will take increased
amounts of relief supplies to Azerbaijan. Everyone
will.
But what is more important is a route from Turkey
to Central Asia. I see this as vital for Turkey, vital for
them (the Central Asian states).
There is a.surprising flow of goods from Turkey to
these countries by road. ' .
But the road between (the eastern Turkish city of)
Erzurum and Gürbulak (the customs point on the
Iranian border) is clogged (because of slow Iranian
procedures) and they cannot pass through. And of
course, there is this matter ofsea accessto Central
Asia.
This will create a lot of investment opportunities in
Central Asia: So, Turkey will continue Its interest in
getting,to this region. .
Iransays it does not want to create any obstacles,
and is not barring the way. But, on the other hand, the
trucks cannot pass through. Still, we cannot afford to
hurt Iran. Our strategy calls for good relations with
Iran.
IIAs for potential
:::~;:;:;:::-..;:,
Western pressures on
Turkey to join the
West in its confrontation
with Iran as speculated,
Turkey cannot lift
such a load.
As for potential Western pressures on Turkey to
join the West in its confrontation with Iran as speculated,
Turkey cannot lift such a load. Now, who guarantees
that these (Western powers)will not go to Iraq .
(for reconciliation.).
'
These countries are OUf neighbors and Turkey ,
should avoid as far as possible any hostility with its
neighbor sunder this influence or that. They provoke .
you in that direction, and it may so happen that
tomorrow you see them becoming friends with your
new-won enemy. So, here, Turkey should play its
.own political game. . .
In these matters there is an excellent dialogue
between myself and the foreign ministry..
And I am particularly interested in Turkey's forei[l}
relations.
Therefore I am saying this with full emphasis:
Turkey should take a stronger position in this ECO. .
And it should come to a stronger position in the
Black Sea Economic Cooperation organization. Wé
should be a bit more energetic. .
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