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

REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEW-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ- RNISTA ST AMPA- DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASIN ÖZETi
Thursday, October 28, 1993
turkish daily news
Demirel to public: Don1t panic
.1
• President says no one should
even consider the idea of
dialogue with PKK
• Signals that there will be
no .privileges Il for Kurds of
Turkey, especially under
terrorism
Turki.~hDaily News
ANKARA- President Süleyman Demirel said
on Wednesday that terrorism is the biggest problem
facing the country. He added, however. that'
Turkey had the power to overcome ihis problem.
and called on the public "not 'to get gripped with
the fear of terrorism."
"No one should even considerthe idea of sitting
down to negotiate with bandits" he said. signalling
that there is no way that a dialogue of any
sorts will be initiated with the outlawed Kurdistan
Worker's party (PKK). '
Demirel also signalled that there would be no
"privileges" granted to the Kurds of Turkey, especially
under the current conditions of terrorism.
"If the impression is given that some circles are
receiving certain privileges under pressure, then
,we will have great difficulties in keeping the peace
in the country and maintaining public order,"
Demirel said. .
, He nevertheless tried to emphasize that no one
shouldtbink that this problein can not be solved.
within democracy. Reading out a prerared text
prior to answering questions, Demire said that
for the 10 years of separatist terrorism 2270 security
officersand 3144 citizens had been listed as
killed as of 20 October 1993.
"The state is under attack and as any state that.
is under attack it is its duty to counter this. make
it ineffective and restore peace and stability" Demirel
said.
He said that the fact that 4517 terrorists had
been killed and (barring the ones that had been
killed in cross border operations) and that 2811
of them had been placed under arrest testified
that the state was dOing its duty. .
Demirel emphasized that the state remain,ed
wilhin the bounds of its laws in doing so and expended
the utmost care not to hurt its citizens.
, "The state remains on its job with all its institutions.
Now the responsibility of the Turkish citizen
is nol to panic. to retain acoldblooded stance
in the face of what is happening ... and to continue
supporting the forces of the state" Demirel
said.
Demirel said it should not even be considered
that the Turkish Republic is incapable of overcoming
this problem.
"The aim of those who are instigating and carry,ing
out this bloody terror. The minute you ask
how many ways are there to overcome this' then
the state will be enfeebled" Demirel said. President
Demirel said there was only one way to
overcQme this problem and that is 'to incapacita-
, te this gang of killers that are trying to lift
the sovereignty of the state."
"No solution which willlead to the splitting
up of the nation shtlUld be considered a
solution. That would be surrender" Demirel
said.
Demirel said that they would also not al-
Iowa certain group of people to use democracy
as a shield in order to divide the country.
"Democracy is not in the service of dividing
the country. To the contrary it is the solution
to unifying the country," Demirel ad- ,
ded.
'
Demirel called on the public, parliament,
the press and all other organizations to continue
tohelp the state in order for its struggle
against terrorism to take on the appearance
of an ail out struggle.
Demirel answered questions put to him after
ending his prepared address.
Reminded that shortly after coming to power
as Prime Minister in 1991 he had told
reporter.s while visiti.ng Diy.arb,alm that he
"recogmzed the KurdIsh realIty,' and asked
what he understood from this statement, Demirel
said "there are people who are of Kilr- .
dish origin in Turkey." ,
"In Turkey there are people who say 'I am
a Kurd.' As opposed to thIS there is no grounds
for saying 'No you are not a Kurd;"~
Demirel said. '
He added thàt the important thing is for
the Kurd to know that he is a citizen of this
republic and that he has equal rights with'
, those who say they are not Kurds.
, "To those who say 'I am a Kurd' we say of
course you are a Kurd. This is what I am saying.
If I wanted to say any more than this I
would have done so. Since that day (in DiyarbaIar)
this is all I said (about the Kurdish
reality). I did not say anything else. No one
will get a cominent from me which willlead
to the division of Turkey. Not a word" Demirel
said. Asked what he meant when he .
said that Brigadier General Bahtiyar Aydm,
who was shot dead in the township of Lice
in the Southeast recently, had been killed by
an accidental bullet Demirel said his statement
was based on information he had received
from the military. '
"After the incident I went to the Chief of
Staffs office. What was said to me in connection
with the incident was that this was
not a bullet that had been shot as a result of
~om~one having taken an aim. This bull;t is
defined as a stray or an accidental bullet.
Indicating that this incident was a matter
of coincidence Demirel said it was clearly
riot plànned.
"There is 'no way for anyone to have
known the General was going to be t~ereor
climbing the stairs that he was clIinbing
when he was shot" Demirel said.
The military had said that General Aydm,
who was the commander of the Gendarmerie
forces in DiyarbakIr had been assassinated,
during clashes between security forces and
PKK militants in Lice.
Demirel's statement to the effect that Aydm
had died as a result of an accidental bullet
had led to confusion and speculation in
the media as to the real cause of the general's
death.
Demirel was then asked if the presence of
the socalIed multinational "Hammer Force"
in Southeast Turkey had enabled PKK militants
to use Northern Iraq for striking Turkey.
Hammer force is the name by which
"Operation Provide Comfort" is known in
Turkey, This operation is a leftover from the
time of the Gulf War and was first set up to
protect northern Iraqi Kurds against Iraqi
forces.
Demirel.denied such speèulation and poin-
. ted out that it was Turkey which had first asked
for the allies to come to Turkey and embark
on this operation. .
"In northern Iraq there are 2.5-3 million
Kurds, Turcomans, and people of Arab origin.
These people have relatIOnship ties with
the people on our side