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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2 Turkish Prohe October 19, 1993<br />
...and Washington backs Tansu Çil1er<br />
IInur Çevik<br />
Prime<br />
Minister Tansu Çiller's trip to Washington<br />
has been marked by a series of <strong>de</strong>clarations<br />
by the Clinton administration supporting<br />
her "as the new generation of lea<strong>de</strong>r who is capable<br />
of finding solutions to the problems of Turkey."<br />
Presi<strong>de</strong>nt Bill Clinton was quite open about his<br />
support for Çiller on the eve of the True Path Party<br />
(DYP) convention when he <strong>de</strong>clared in a statement<br />
from the White House: "The prime minister (Çiller)<br />
represents a new generation of lea<strong>de</strong>rship in Turkish<br />
politics at a time when the world needs new<br />
lea<strong>de</strong>rship for a new era. At a point when our relationship<br />
with Turkey is evolving into a new enhanced<br />
partnership, it is reassuring to me to know<br />
that someone is at the helm in Turkey who un<strong>de</strong>rstands<br />
the needs of the ordinary citizens of that<br />
country -- their hopes, their aspirations -- and is pursuing<br />
policies that will give them a chance to fulfill<br />
their dreams."<br />
These remarks seemed to signal to people in Ankara<br />
that the White House believes "Çiller is our<br />
man (or woman)" and that the U.S. will back her "all<br />
the way." Both Clinton and Vice Presi<strong>de</strong>nt AI Gore<br />
were apparently very impressed with Çiller's performance<br />
at the White House -- so much so that U.S.<br />
Secr<strong>et</strong>ary of State Warren Christopher, while addressing<br />
a me<strong>et</strong>ing over the weekend on Middle<br />
Eastern issues, publicly praised Çiller "as a very impressive<br />
person" and said the U.S. believes "we will<br />
hear muchof her in the international arena in the<br />
years to come." Çiller was accor<strong>de</strong>d a similar warm<br />
welcome on Capitol Hill where several leading congressmen<br />
and senators turned out to me<strong>et</strong> her, and<br />
most of those who in the past were rather outspoken<br />
about Turkey seemed to go out of their way to be<br />
kind to her.<br />
Lee Hamilton, the powerful Foreign Relations<br />
Committee chairman of the House of Representatives,<br />
who last week presented a motion to the Clinton<br />
administration asking wh<strong>et</strong>her Turkey was using<br />
American-supplied arms against Kurds in southeastern<br />
Anatolia. seemed to forg<strong>et</strong> his concerns as<br />
he welcomed Çiller. Other congressmen and senators<br />
also followed suit, none of them posing any critical<br />
questions, especially on Turkey's human rights<br />
record and the Kurdish issue. The prominent guests<br />
of the White House usually stay at Blair House, the<br />
guest house, for two nights and then <strong>de</strong>part. Çiller<br />
was scheduled to leave Blair House and move to<br />
the nearby Willard Hotel after the official portion of<br />
her visit to Washington was compl<strong>et</strong>ed on Friday;<br />
however, in an unprece<strong>de</strong>nted gesture, Clinton<br />
asked her to stay on at the Blair House until she left<br />
the capital.<br />
So it seems there was a concerted effort in the<br />
American capital to make Çiller feel at home and<br />
send a message back to Ankara about the political<br />
preferences of the U.S. in Turkey. Wh<strong>et</strong>her the True<br />
Path Party convention in November agrees with<br />
Washington or not remains to be seen.<br />
THE IRA QI ISSUE- More than a month ago when<br />
Prime Minister Çiller publicly said she wanted the international<br />
economic sanctions lifted on Iraq, she<br />
had everyone in the West up in arms with charges<br />
that she was disrupting the international coalition<br />
forged against Saddam Hussein. The Americans<br />
were clearly extremely unhappy.<br />
At that point there were even claims that Çiller<br />
called Foreign Minister Hikm<strong>et</strong> Ç<strong>et</strong>in to her office<br />
and said she would test his success as minister on<br />
the basis of his ability to convince the Americans to<br />
scrap the embargo.<br />
Then Çiller visited Moscow and surprised everyone,<br />
including her own Foreign Ministry crowd,<br />
when she <strong>de</strong>clared at a press conference that she<br />
had agreed with Presi<strong>de</strong>nt Boris Veltsin to work tog<strong>et</strong>her<br />
to convince the Americans to lift the sanctions.<br />
So Ankara was buzzing with speculation that<br />
Çiller was now trying to make amends with Saddam.<br />
The Americans apparently asked Ankara for clarification<br />
on Çiller's statements. Then when Çiller was<br />
flying to Washington, she finally <strong>de</strong>ci<strong>de</strong>d to correct<br />
herself, saying she did not really mean the sanctions<br />
should be lifted but that Turkey had suffered<br />
and was still suffering heavy losses because of the<br />
sanctions on Iraq and wants to be properly compensated.<br />
Just as Çiller was flying to the U.S., one<br />
mass-circulation newspaper said that Turkey's losses<br />
up till now because of the sanctions were to the<br />
tune of $16 billion. Even Turkish experts said this<br />
was a clear exaggeration.<br />
However, it was true that Turkey was stfll losing<br />
several hundred millions of dollars because it could<br />
not receive transit fees from the twin pipeline pumping<br />
Iraqi cru<strong>de</strong> to the Mediterranean, and that the<br />
economy of southeastern Turkey that was heavily<br />
<strong>de</strong>pen<strong>de</strong>nt on tra<strong>de</strong> with Iraq was also still suffering<br />
badly.<br />
Clinton, in his White House address, acknowledged<br />
this as he <strong>de</strong>clared: "Turkey was a steadfast<br />
member of the worldwi<strong>de</strong> coalition that drove Saddam<br />
Hussein from Kuwait and instituted international<br />
sanctions against Iraq. And for that, the United<br />
States remains grateful. We've all had to paya price<br />
for enforcing the will of the international community,<br />
and Turkey in that regard has certainly done more<br />
than its share. And we are grateful for its contribution."<br />
When asked what the U.S. would do to compensate<br />
Turkey for its losses because of the continuing<br />
sanctions on Iraq, Clinton replied: "I guess I should<br />
say for the benefit of the American press som<strong>et</strong>hing<br />
81