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.RwISTA STAMPA.DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASlN ÖZETi<br />
Turkish ProbeOctober 26, 1993 15<br />
S'We<strong>de</strong>n Wants to COlne.<br />
Closer to Turkey<br />
Swe<strong>de</strong>n's F.oreign Minister Margr<strong>et</strong>ha af Ugglas<br />
has been the firstSwedish foreign minister<br />
paying an official visit to Turkey, with her visit<br />
on October 20-21.<br />
The visit of Baroness M. af Ugglas was an indication<br />
of Stockholm's <strong>de</strong>cision and will to come closer<br />
to Ankéil~a.,'Sh~, believes Swe<strong>de</strong>n has beÈm "!'l bit,<br />
I.ate" inest~blishing an Qffièial contactto normalize<br />
the relätions', bùtnot "too late" to convince the Turkish<br />
government for cooperation in its region.<br />
.' The state of human. rights and <strong>de</strong>mocracy since<br />
the 1980 military coup in Turkey has been the major<br />
obstacle to Swe<strong>de</strong>n's relations with Turkey. Swe<strong>de</strong>n<br />
was a safe shelter for the members of Turkish fringe<br />
left and secessionist Kurdish groups for their activities<br />
against Turkey until mid-1980s.<br />
By that time the activity of Turkish<br />
left groups there became negligible.<br />
while secessionist Kurdistan<br />
Workers Party (PKK) activity was<br />
on the rise. The PKK was disturbing<br />
enough for the socialist-led government<br />
of Olof Palme to <strong>de</strong>nounce<br />
the activities of the organization as<br />
"terrorism". Palme's <strong>de</strong>cision was<br />
disturbing enough for the PKK to<br />
put him on their <strong>de</strong>ath list.<br />
Palme was killed in February<br />
1986 and a mentally ill person was<br />
charged with the assassination, but<br />
there are still claims about a possible<br />
PKK involvement in the mur<strong>de</strong>r.<br />
The PKK is still active in Swe<strong>de</strong>n.<br />
Its members are successfully rais- Swe<strong>de</strong>n's FM Margrelha af Ugglas<br />
ing funds to contribute to the organization's<br />
armed campaign against Turkey -- allegedly<br />
including through drug smuggling. They also run big<br />
restaurants and companies. Stockholm must be<br />
aware of that. The Swedish government does not<br />
want the PKK to carry its campaign in Turkey to<br />
Swe<strong>de</strong>n. That's why they are now extremely careful<br />
in, for example not naming the PKK as a "terrorist"<br />
organization, as<br />
Baroness af Ugglas refrained from doing in her<br />
joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister<br />
Hikm<strong>et</strong> Ç<strong>et</strong>in last Thursday.<br />
Perhaps that was the reason why Ç<strong>et</strong>in has called<br />
on af Ugglas not to be taken in by the PI
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