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~RIVISTA STAMPA~DENTRO DE LA PRENSA~BASIN ÖZETi<br />
Turkish Daily News<br />
WEDNESDAY.MAY 10.1995<br />
Demirel says Turkey faces<br />
'conspiracy' from West<br />
. Plan afoot:' 'Am I supposed to applaud those who<br />
.say, "the state ofhuman rights has reached such a<br />
'level in Turkey that it should not be allowed to<br />
conclu<strong>de</strong> a customs union"? These are just efforts to<br />
prevent Turkey from emtering the customs union.'<br />
Turkish Daily News .<br />
ANKARA- Presi<strong>de</strong>nt Sijleyman<br />
Demirel said on Monday evening that<br />
Turkey,is faced with a Western conspiracy<br />
to prevent the country from entenng a<br />
customs union with Europe.<br />
Demirel ad<strong>de</strong>d that keeping Turkey<br />
away from the European Umon and trying<br />
to suspendjts membership in the Council<br />
o(Europe;as recent <strong>de</strong>velopments suggest;<br />
are part of this conspiracy. "I am not<br />
sayingwe should tear Turkey away from<br />
Europe. But Tu~key does not owe its existence<br />
to Europee~ther .... I say this for,a<br />
fact. We are not a hunch on anyone s<br />
back. My coun!ry is not in<strong>de</strong>xed to the<br />
Westeither. ... My citizenshould know<br />
that my s~ate is' staJ:lding}lpright because<br />
of my nation," DeIlllrel said.<br />
Presi<strong>de</strong>nt Demirel ma<strong>de</strong> these remarks<br />
on Iivé television while being interviewed<br />
, ~12~e Qai~~I~r current~affai~s progra~<br />
DemIrel said that the Turkish state IS<br />
responsible for protecting its flag, its<br />
nation, and that there were efforts un<strong>de</strong>rway.to<br />
tear away part of these lands and<br />
to raise a new flag there.' ,<br />
"Some people are lookingupon<br />
Turkey's efforts combatting those people<br />
trying to raise a new flag as if it were a<br />
case of oppression by the Turkish<br />
Republic against' some people and as if<br />
some other people had taken up arms on<br />
behalf of these oppressed people,"<br />
Demirel said.<br />
"Am I supposed to applaud those who<br />
say, 'the state of h~man rights h~s<br />
reached such a level ln Turkey that It<br />
should not'be allowed to conclu<strong>de</strong> a customs<br />
union' These are just efforts to pre- '<br />
vent Turkey from entering the customs<br />
. union," Demirel ad<strong>de</strong>d. About the socalled<br />
"Sevres <strong>de</strong>bate" started by remarks<br />
, he ma<strong>de</strong> in last week's intèrvlews with<br />
the press, Demirel said that there were<br />
"certain signs" emerging today, sugg~sting<br />
that this is what had lead him to bnng<br />
up the wh~le issu~. . .<br />
Sevres IS the dlstnct near Pans where<br />
an agreement was drafted by the allies 'at<br />
the end of World War One which divi<strong>de</strong>d<br />
Turkey and rores'aw the establishment of<br />
a Kurdish and an 'Arm~nïan state In<br />
Anatolia. '<br />
The Treaty of Sevres, as i,t,came to be<br />
known, ~ecame a <strong>de</strong>àd l<strong>et</strong>ter, following<br />
the Turkish War of In<strong>de</strong>pen<strong>de</strong>nce and the<br />
&tatusand bor<strong>de</strong>rs of moàern Turkey were<br />
<strong>de</strong>termined later un<strong>de</strong>r the Lausanne<br />
Treaty. ,.<br />
Referring to the <strong>de</strong>bate over, his com-<br />
, ments, Demirel said, "Rather than use this<br />
, topic, those running t.he country should<br />
recogriize that certain things are happen-<br />
, ing before they' become oyen threats and<br />
, take the necesslllYprecautIOns."<br />
'~Turkey has many enemies but is<br />
standing firm <strong>de</strong>spite these enemies. I am<br />
,not the one creating these enemies,"<br />
, Demirel said. Maintaming that the West<br />
had started i<strong>de</strong>ntifying Turkey' s fight<br />
against.terrorism with the Klirdlsh issue,<br />
Demirel said that un<strong>de</strong>r the Lausanne<br />
Treaty Kurds were consi<strong>de</strong>red equal citizens<br />
of Turkey, having, fought si<strong>de</strong> by<br />
si<strong>de</strong> with the Turks.to liDerateAnatolia.<br />
He said that he was telling Turkey's,<br />
critics in the West that tostart givin,gpeople<br />
of another origin the status.of Illlnority<br />
now, '''would i~eearably ups<strong>et</strong> the present<br />
stability and VitalityofTurlœy." ,<br />
"We are telling them (the West) that<br />
, these people (the Kurds) are the owners of<br />
, the whol~ of thi,s co.untry. Why should<br />
they be given mmonty nghts and mà<strong>de</strong><br />
..' second-class? Anyway, this would lead<br />
matters in another direction, to a fe<strong>de</strong>ration,to<br />
Turkey's division," Demirel said.<br />
Touching on another <strong>de</strong>bate his<br />
remarks started last week, Demirel repeated<br />
his view that the manner in which the<br />
Turkey-Iraq bor<strong>de</strong>r wasdrawn up at the<br />
time was wrong. "This bor<strong>de</strong>~ i~ v.;rong. .<br />
L<strong>et</strong> someone come up and say It ISnght. l',<br />
am saying this bor<strong>de</strong>r is wrong, correct it.<br />
" But not unilaterally. Not by ùsing force.<br />
Do it with the state concerned. You could<br />
. do it this year, you could do it 10years<br />
, from now. This can be done perfectly<br />
well by peaceful means and in a reason~<br />
able ,manner. Iwill continue telling my<br />
'<br />
peopie what is ri~h,t,"Demirel said.<br />
But, he said, 'this is not a matter for<br />
today, but wàs a matter for yesterday. It is<br />
a political matter.The time will come and<br />
what has to be done can be done through<br />
peaceful means," Demirel ad<strong>de</strong>d.<br />
Asked wh<strong>et</strong>her "the matter had been<br />
s<strong>et</strong>tled" with Turkey's cross-bor<strong>de</strong>r operation<br />
in northern Iraq against separatist<br />
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) mili-<br />
.tants camped in the region, Demirel conce<strong>de</strong>d<br />
that it had not been.<br />
"No, it has not finished, Five hundred<br />
and eighty-eight people (PKK militants)<br />
have been found <strong>de</strong>ad, but 2,000 of them<br />
have gone elsewhere," he said.<br />
. Responding to a question on efforts to<br />
abolish Article 8 of the Law on<br />
Combatting Terrorism, thus broa<strong>de</strong>ning<br />
the scope of freedom of expression,<br />
Demire[ said that during an address to<br />
Parliamenton September l, 1994, he said<br />
that "while everything must be said in<br />
Turker, the limits for this must also be<br />
found, ' "I found (the limit). The U.S. has<br />
a Supreme Court. Following certain inci-<br />
. <strong>de</strong>nts, certain people, especially those<br />
engaged in disseminating communist propaganda,<br />
were punished .... This is what<br />
you call freedom of expression: There is<br />
nothing to prevent free thought. The issue<br />
is dissemination. Pr.ovocation, g<strong>et</strong>ting<br />
people, masses to fl*ht each other .:...:.<br />
these must not happen, Demirel said.<br />
He ad<strong>de</strong>d that first terrorism must end,<br />
"And then what had to be done must be<br />
done." ,<br />
'<br />
"I would oppose anything that will<br />
obstruct the fight against terronsm or anyth!ng<br />
tha~,will ~eillœn, those conducting<br />
this fight, he Said, .. ,<br />
. Asked if he could saythat "Turkey was<br />
in agood state today," Demirel said if he<br />
answers in the affirmative the opposition<br />
would oppose him, and if he answered<br />
that the country was in good hands, others<br />
would emerge to criticize him.<br />
"But am I afraid. Am I afraid to say<br />
that it is in good hands? How can you as~<br />
me to comment on 150 percent inflation? .<br />
Minus 6 percent growth...? This is another.<br />
matter. But how can I say that it is in a<br />
good state? In a countrywhere people are<br />
confronted with acost of living ,problem,<br />
when there are people crushed un<strong>de</strong>r the<br />
cost of living... is there,anyone who can<br />
say it is good? When I say this I express a<br />
truth. I cannot say, 'if you canno/eat<br />
bread then eat cake, ", Demirel said.<br />
Asked if there was the need for a new<br />
election Demirel preferred to give an indirect<br />
answer.<br />
"I. am not saying 'the country is being<br />
administered badly, I am saying it could<br />
be run b<strong>et</strong>ter," he said adding that "he was<br />
not stickin~ a pin into anyone."<br />
"Turkey s courts must be run b<strong>et</strong>ter, its<br />
hospitals must be run b<strong>et</strong>ter. How can we<br />
say that everything is perfect?"<br />
60