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
helpmg thèrti to talk with whomever
they want, is ~tipu!ated ,in the !,,?rking
plan. Inthis vem, Pn'11e MInister
Tansu Çiller, in Paris and Moscow
on Monday and Tuesday, will speak
with global leaders to explain
Turkey's commitment to democratization
and its Western orientation.
Similarly, Turkish Foreign
.Minister Erdallnönü will also travel
to various European capitals to
explain Turkey's
Ankara will
case abroad.
also invite various
influential Euro-MPs to Turkey,
.starting with Pauline Greene, the
head 'of the socialist wing in the
European Parliament, and former
.Council of Europe Secretary-General
,Catherine Lalumiere. The visits are
expected to take place between May
23-26 ..
Ankara has also just hosted a parliamentary
delegation from the
Organization of Conference and
Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OS CE) which had the opportunity to
speak to many people, mcluding ~e
former Democracy Party deputies
apd the prime minister. . '
The let-them-come-and-see-
Turkeyattitude adopted by the meet-
,ing of diplomats
change from the'
marks a major
.
cio se- au r-borders -10-0 b servers
approach
Mlllister
adopted by former Foreign
Mümtaz . Say saI. The
Foreign Ministry now favors a more
transparent attitude toward
Westerners whowant to see Turkey.
"Our, long-term policy is to
improve our image," a dir.lomat who
attended the talks said. 'There is a
group of prejudiced people who is
beyond our reach. But there is also a.
larger group who can be persuaded
to distinguish between human rights
and fight against terrorism."
. But despite' the acute differences
between FM hawks and doves, both
sides believe that "persuasion" is
only possible if coupled with the
swift ratification of democratization'
package, '.'We have been saying the
same thing to the Europeans for the
past three years, Now they want to
see results," another ambassador.
said. Foreign Millister Erd~llnö~ü,
who co-chaired the, meetmg WIth
Deputy Prime Minister Hikmet
Cetm, reaffmned Turkey's desire for
further democratization.
"We have supported
.
human rights
from the very beginning. ~u~ we are
surprised the way the pnnclples of
human rights, which we have supported
from the very be&inning, have.
been turned against us, , lnönü said
as he opened the conference. While
there is consensus on the need to
finalize the democratization package,
hawks
whether
and doves
this would
still disagree.
be enough to ,.',
counter the critics of TurkeY: Those
ambassadors stationed in European
capitals that had allowed ERNK
officesstressedan increasing tendency
in some European circles to see in
Kurdish separatists "a new Palestine
Liberation Organization."
Those ambassadors noted that the
number of ERNK offices is increasing
rapidly. ERNK has just opened
one in Copenhagen and plan to open
.olhers in Oslo, Stockholm and
.Helsinki soon. 'J!1ey ~Is~ r~.p0rted the
argument of vanous allies' that they
could not prevent the meeting of the
Kurdish 'parliament-in-exile" in
their territory so long as it was "nonviolent."
"Turkey's unitarian nature is one
of our key concep.ts," a senior diplomat
said. "We wlll continue to stress
it, but also reaffrrm our government's
plan for more human and political
President Süleyman Demirel: Under fire for
'faulty border' remark
Baghdad blasts
Demirel over
border remarks
Reuter
BAGHDAD- Iraq lashed ou.t at Turkish
President Süleyman Demirel on Sunday as
relations between the two neighbors soured
over border
rebels. -
issues and ties withKurdish
. For the third day state-owned newseapers
carried editorials and commentanes
lambasting Turkey andstressin~ that
Baghdad would do everything possible to
thwart. any bid by Ankara to establish a
foothold in northern Iràq..
Al- Thawra newspaper of the rulIng
. rights.'"
The difference between hawks and
doves about. the degree to which
Turkey might get "tough" was also
an important topic.while one side
wanted shang measures against
countries that allowed the Kurdish
parliament-in-exile, the other side
said there was no point in putting all
the European countries on the "redlist"
thereby increasing Turkey's isolationism
- and playing into the
hands of Kurdish seraratisls. .
"The nuances 0 the policies of
various states toward Kurdish separatism
should be duly noted in our
diplomatic contacts. We have made
that clear in our working plan," a
diplomat said. The draft plan also
called for "cooperation" between the
Foreign Ministry and others, from
human rights groups to business circles,
to improve Turkey's image.
Baath party was critical of Demirel,
accusing him of attempts to revive
Turkish imperial dreams,
Thawra, in the harshest attack on
Demirel so far, branded him as "the
sick janissary", a reference to the
'Turkish sultans'
the 14th century.
guard established in'
It said Demirel was trying to play
the role of former Turkish sultans,
.harbouring gr~edy intentions on Iraq.
"Beware, ..Demirel salivates over...
B~ghdad ... Basra; .. and ...Mosul,"
s~d. '. .
it
"Beware, the Pasha (Demirel)
would like to return to Amadiya,
Arbil and Kirkuk, ..It is an old wound
and past vengeance," Thawra added,
The Turks wefe' Iraq's rulers for
about four centuries until British
forces drove their armies out, leading
t9 establishment of the new Iraqi
state in the aftermath of World War
One. Iraq has reacted angrily to
statements attributed to Demirel
dèmanding a redrawing of their joint
border to stop' infiltra~ion by rebels
of the separal1st Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK).
. Turkey' s foreign ministry last
Monday denied the reports, also carried
by Turkish newspapers, that.
Demirel wanted to redrawthe border.
. Iraq also views a recent rapprochement
between Ankara and
Iraqi Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq
as a violation of Iraq's sovereignty
and demands that Arikara halt such
contacts: Turkey last week ended a
six-week incursion into northern Iraq
. in pursuit of PKK rebels who use
bases there to mount attacks inside
Turkey. Turkey is now seeking
cooperation of Iraqi Kurds in secur-
. illg the border.
'S
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