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

REVUE DE PRESSE-PRÊSS REVIEW-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ-RMSTA STAMPA-DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASIN ÖZETi
''Even without this oath, is it not a duty for everyone who
is eating the bread, drinking the water and breathing the air
of this country (to protect it)? I am calling on everyone to do
their duty," Demirel said.
In the interview, Demirel focused chiefly on Western
attempts to impose a political solution, and saId that as they
did WIththe Sevres, the Western states now seemed to want
"east of the river Euphrates" for a Kurdish homeland.
He pointed at the unrestricted activities of the ERNK (the
PKK's pliticalwing) across Europe, the Netherlands' permission
for a Kurdish "parliament-m-exile", the British-su~
plied license and the French-provided channel for a Kurdish
TV as the evidencé of the European sUPlX?rto the PKK.
These, Demirel said, were tireaches of Western commitments
as the members of the Euro~ Union, as members
of NATO and other democratic Institutions, "to support
those fightingwith terrorism and not the terrorists themselves."
"There is no need for us to feel ~ilty. On the matter of
terrorism we are totally right," he saId.
Demirel said Turkey and Europe needed each other, but it
should not be forgotten that "reserving a seat for Turkey
among European nations cannot be tied to conditions that
create insurmountable problems Turkey has to cope with."
He warned that, "the Turkish people had a developed
common sense and while normally soft-spoken and easygoing,
theJ could become very tough if certain limits were
exceeded. Demirel asked for understanding from Turkey's
European friends about the difficulties it has encountered in
its democratic experience, and said Turkey still had some
distance to cover to perfect its democracy.
For that, he said the "nation's pulse should be taken"
whenever there is a need for imJX>rtantdecisions.
Secondly, he called for the direct popular election of presidents.
He said presidents should also be able"to schedule new
elections - by dissolving the parliament.
The state should be subjected to thorough-going reform
and there should be more frequent recourse to the institution
of referendum, Demirel said.
Imprisoned Kurd
lashes out at his
British jailers
Turldsh Daily N~s
ANKARA- Kani YIlmaz, a spokesman
for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) in detention and standing
trial in London, has accused Britain of
imprisoning him to gain favor with
Tuitey. .
"The decision of the Home Office ...
suppo~ the powers in Turkey' who are
~etermmed to turn our country mto a livmg
hell on earth," Yùmaz said in a statement
released by the Brussels-based
Kurdistan Committee on Saturday.
''The treatment that I have been subjected
to can only be construed as a move
~ainst"the. Kurdish people's stf!Iggle for
liberty, SaId YIlmai, who, onhiS way to
meet British parliamentarians, was
detained last October and charged with
illegal entry.
yIlmaz, who is also bein~ sought by
Germany, dismissed Bonn s move to
have hini extradited as an attempt to placate
Turkey and said there was no evidence
l.i.nkfughim to the alleged actions
of ~onspiracy to commit arson of which
he ISaccused.
Yllmaz, who has refugee status in
Germany, had entered Britain four times
~viously.
Deportation proceedings were" halted
when Germany requested his extradition.
Although the PKK is banned in
Germany, It is not banned in Britain.
US delegation to visit Ankara
'Turkey and Arme~ia are two
neighbors who will have to
live in the same region. We
hope that they will open their
borders to each other and
normalize relations.'
Turkish Daily N~s
ANKARA- A hi~h-Ievel delegation from the
United States will arrive in Turkey at the end of the
month to take up a number of issues including the
future of an allied force stationed in Turkey,
according to a rep()rt on Sunday by the Anatoha
news agency from Washington.
The agency reported that the delegation would
be headed by Mark Parris, Near East Adviser to the
National Security Council. Members of the State
Department will also be in the delegation. The visit
taICes placefollowing a suggestion by Prime
Minister, Tansu Çil1er, to US President, Bill
Clinton, that the shape of Operation Poised
Hammer - the popular name for an allied coalition
force based In Turkey to maintain the no-fly
zone over northern Iraq - must be changed.
Although Washington has said they would assess
any proposaI from Turkey, diplomatic sources say
Ankara has ma4e no concrete proposal yet. The
extension of the mandate of the foree - reviewed
every six months" - has to be approved by the
Turkish Parliament at the end of June.
Extending the mandate poses a problem each
time because many Turks believe that the foree is
instrumental in de facto partitioning of Iraq and
establishing a Kurdish region in the north.
Moreover, the stationing of the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) mNorthern Iraq also makes
Turks distrust the foree.
In a related development, an unnamed US
source, quoted by Anatolia, said that Washington
hoped Turkey would also allow the use of its terrilOry
for transfer of aid to Armenia. Reversing a
two-year blockade, Ankara has just opened its airspace
to planes to and from Armema, making it
pos~ible for aid via air to this country, which is
Involved in conflict with Azerbaijan over the
enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. .
"Turkey and Armenia are two neighbors, who
will have to live in the same region. We hope that
they will open their borders to each other and normze
relations," the source said.
81