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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On Saturday night, Erkan m<strong>et</strong> with the news representati.<br />
ves in DiyarbakIr, at the same association where the PKK<br />
fighters had come, and told them the state was in control of<br />
<strong>de</strong>velopments<br />
He offered to give the journalists bodyguards and gun Ii.<br />
cences to protect themselves.<br />
in such a region, one cannot<br />
"But we explained<br />
work with guards<br />
to him thai<br />
anyway," a<br />
senior journalist at the me<strong>et</strong>ing said.<br />
He ad<strong>de</strong>d that Erkan was disappointed he was not infor.<br />
med of the me<strong>et</strong>ing<br />
Interior Minister<br />
beforehand.<br />
Mehm<strong>et</strong> Gazioglu said, meanwhile, thai<br />
the journalists "had accepted the invitation of a terrorist orgamzation"<br />
and should have told the police instead. Gazioglu<br />
said necessary security measures were to be taken and<br />
promised to protect the journalists who would continue te<br />
work.<br />
Prime Minister Tansu Çiller, in America; repeated thatthe<br />
state was strong and terrorism would be crushed, saying she<br />
was constantly being informed of the <strong>de</strong>velopments related<br />
to the PKK threat. "These happen from time to time and it i~<br />
unfortunate ... The state will always be several steps ahead of<br />
terrorism," Çiller said.<br />
The strongest reaction to the PKK came on Sunday from<br />
the Contemporary Journalists Association (CGD) headquarters<br />
in Ankara.<br />
CGD chairman Mustafa Ekmekçi said in a written state.<br />
ment that the freedom of the press could not be prevented<br />
and warned all parties that they could reach no ends by thre.<br />
atening the press. Ekmekçi said the PKK ban had ad<strong>de</strong>d a<br />
new <strong>de</strong>velopment to the pressures on the journalists' rightte<br />
collect news, He recalled, however, that a number of journa.<br />
lists had been killed in the region over the past 18 month~<br />
and that five newspaper distributors had also been assassinated.<br />
Noting that the assassins had still not been caught Ekmekçi<br />
said this was opening the way for attacks o~ the<br />
press.<br />
Turkish interior minister is<br />
in Iran for security talks<br />
• Iranian Presi<strong>de</strong>nt<br />
Rafsancani asks Turkish<br />
and Iranian interior<br />
ministers to talk on<br />
political matters as well<br />
Turki,h<br />
Daily News<br />
ANKARA- Turkish Interior<br />
Minister Mehm<strong>et</strong> Gazioglu started<br />
three-Gay official visit to Iran<br />
his<br />
on<br />
Sunday. following an invitation from<br />
his Iranian counterpart Ali<br />
Mohammed Besar<strong>et</strong>i. On the first day<br />
of his visit, Gazioglu was received by<br />
the Iranian Presi<strong>de</strong>nt Ali Akbar<br />
Hashemi Rafsancani, who asked the<br />
two ministers not to limit their talks to<br />
"only security matters or bilateral relations",<br />
as reported by Anatolia news<br />
agency. Rafsancani asked Gazioglu<br />
and Besar<strong>et</strong>i<br />
and regional<br />
to talk on international<br />
<strong>de</strong>velopments and bilat-<br />
'eral economic and commercial relations<br />
and also asked them to find a<br />
solution to the problem b<strong>et</strong>ween the<br />
two countries over transit land transportation.<br />
Iran had asked its tra<strong>de</strong> partners not<br />
to use Turkish ports and imposed limitations<br />
on Turkish lorries carrying<br />
goods to other countries in Asia<br />
throu~h Iran.<br />
This was followed by a dispute last<br />
year over a Cypriot ship carrying<br />
un<strong>de</strong>clared cargo to Iran which was<br />
withheld in Istanbul port for som<strong>et</strong>ime,<br />
before being released by a court<br />
ruling in 1993.<br />
Rafsancani reportedly invited<br />
Turkish<br />
to Iran.<br />
Presi<strong>de</strong>nt Süleyman Demirel<br />
Gazioglu told Anatolia that he had<br />
received a very warm welcome from<br />
Rafsancani and this indicated to him<br />
that his visitto Tehran would bring<br />
Interior Minister Mehm<strong>et</strong> GazioQlu<br />
positive and important results.<br />
Gazioglu ad<strong>de</strong>d that ~ecurity mailers<br />
would dominate his visit to Tehran.<br />
He said that in the first round of talks<br />
held on Sunday', the two countries reiterated<br />
their Will not to permit subversive<br />
and terrorist activities against<br />
each other from their own territories.<br />
Turkish official sources frequently<br />
complain that secessionist Kurdistan<br />
Workers' Party (PKK) militants use<br />
their military bases in Iran to carry out<br />
attacks againsttheir targ<strong>et</strong>s in Turkey.<br />
Another matter of complaint concerns<br />
the alleged support given by Iranians<br />
to Islamic fundamentalist n<strong>et</strong>works in<br />
Turkey, which have been held responsible<br />
of a number of assassinatIOns<br />
and bombings.<br />
, Iran on the other hand complains<br />
that Turkey permits the members of<br />
People's Mujahe<strong>de</strong>en - an armed<br />
organization aiming to overthrow the<br />
Islamic Government of Iran- to use<br />
Turkey as a bridge b<strong>et</strong>ween their n<strong>et</strong>works<br />
in Iran and Europe.<br />
Westerners<br />
become pawns<br />
in Turkey.s<br />
<strong>et</strong>hnic war<br />
By Ra~it Gürdilek<br />
Açsociated Press Writer<br />
ANKARA- Kurd~sh militants fighting government<br />
forc~s for self-rule In eastern Turkeyare Increasingly<br />
turnIng to a new targ<strong>et</strong>: foreigners who travel off the<br />
beaten track. The area bor<strong>de</strong>nng Iran, Iraq and Syria<br />
has a rugged beauty. Some of the mountains hold relics<br />
of ancient civilizations. Mount Ararat on the Iranian<br />
bor<strong>de</strong>r<br />
Ark.<br />
attracts seekers of the mythical Noah's<br />
But it is also potentially dangerous. Clashes b<strong>et</strong>ween<br />
the gove~ment and KurdIstan Workers' Party<br />
(PKK) have claimed about 8,000 lives since 1984<br />
and the fighting has recently intensified. The rebels<br />
have warned foreigners to stay away from the region<br />
and have abducted some who have not hee<strong>de</strong>d the<br />
..yamîngs: The latest'captives are a U.S. citizen, Patnck<br />
~Connor, and ~rnice Dougar, a New Zealan<strong>de</strong>r,<br />
whom the rebels saId had been picked at a roadblock<br />
on Oct. 9.<br />
Befor~ them, rebels had abducted 13 other Westerners<br />
SInce summer. All were released after several<br />
weeks.<br />
'f!1~<strong>de</strong>man<strong>de</strong>d ransom is not money, but tacit recogmtlOn<br />
by foreign governments who appeal for the<br />
release of their citizens. The rebels <strong>de</strong>mand that governme~t<br />
representatives come to eastern Turkey to<br />
superylse the releases.<br />
grudgIngly.<br />
Turkey allows<br />
,<br />
such contacts<br />
L~st month, a Turkish governor charged that abductIOns<br />
were staged and hostages<br />
propagandists for the guerrillas.<br />
were couriers or<br />
Th.e abd.uction. ~f the American coinci<strong>de</strong>d with<br />
!urkish Pnme MInI~ter Tan~u Çiller's visit to Wash-<br />
Ingto~. She and Presi<strong>de</strong>nt Clinton were to discuss the<br />
KurdIsh question.<br />
73