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

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REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEW-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ-RIVISTA STAMPA-DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASIN ÖZETi
turkish daily news / September 23,1993
Çiller compares Turks in Germany to Kurds in Turkey
. Tu~kish Daily News .
BERLlN- Prime Minister Tansu Çiller
compared the situation of the Turks in Ger- .
many with the situation of the Kurds in Turkeyon
Wednesday; the last day of .her
three-day visit to Germany, and said the
Kurds of Turkey had far more right~ than
Turks living in Germany.
. Before leaving Berlin, PM Çiller told:
journalists there were no minorities and.
there was no dis.crimination in Turkey. "I
wish our Turkish citizens living in Germany
had one-tenth the human rights the Kurdish
citizens living in Turkey have," she said at a
news conference. '
. "I wish our Turkish people couid vote in
Germany," she added. "Kurds (in Turkey)
can start a business and get into Parliament.
I wish our .Turkish people could do that
here." ..
On the subject of German journalist Stefan
Walberg s detention in Turkey, Çiller
said, "Turks in Germany have been burned
down. Where are the criminals? We have
independent courts in Turkey. T~e person.
'you have talked about has been Judged. by
these independent courts. We respe.ct the
decision of the court." As for a questIOnon
the subject of Cy~rus,.ç iller sai~ there
would be free electIOns III the TurkIsh Repubhc
_QfNorthern Cyprus (TRNC) soon,
adding that the TRNC wiII fiild a solution to
its problems after the elections.
Commenting on her talks in Germany,
ç iller said they took place in asincere at~
mosphere. Both German Chancellor Helmut
Kohl and Foreign 'Minister Klaus Kinkel
supported Ankara's desire for a ban' on
Kurdish groups in Germany linked to the
Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), Çiller
said. Also, commissions. will be set up between
Turkey and Germany to solve many
problems, including that one.. .
ç iller and Kohl agreed on Monday to set
up four different commissions to boost
cooperation between the countries. One 'of
these commissions will be established
to limit the activities of terrorist organic
zations in Germany workin~ against.
Turkey. Çiller's three-day viSIt focused
heavily on the plight of Turks living in
Germany amid a wave of neo-Nazi violence
that has claimed at least 28 lives
in two years. Eight Turks have been
burned to death by neo-Nazis since November,
Officials said ç iller emphasized in
her talks that Turkey wanted Getmany
to end its tolerant policy toward Kurdish
militants. Hundreds of Kurds demonstrated
agllil)st ç iller in Bonn and
plastered walls with handbills saying
"Hunt Down the Fascist Çiller." About
400,000 Kurds live in Germany..
The liberal Frankfurter Rundschau'
. was one of.several newspapers that Criticised
ç iller for her comments on human
rights, which she repeated on sev-
'eral occasions. "Not 'only Kurds will
consider this the peak of cynicism.
Where does the army threaten martial
law, in Kurdistan or in Kreuzberg?" it
asked, referring to a Berlin neighborhood
where many Turks live. ç iller
•flew to Berlin later on Tuesday fortalks
with Birgit Breuel, head of the Treuhand
agency, which was set up by Bonn
to privatize state enterprises in what
.used to be Communist EastGermany.
Hundreds of Turks living in Berlin
~reeted ç ilIerat the Brandenburg Gate.
Long live Turkey, National Prime
Minister," they chanted.
The visit, and meetings with bankers
and business leaders, focused on
ç iller's efforts to boost bilateral trade
and German interest in her plan to privatize
Turkey's huge and aihng state industrial
sector.
ç iller was due to leave Berlin 1at~r
for Monte Carlo where she will press
Istanbul's bid tothe International Olympic
Committee to host 'the.2000 Olympics.
The IOC màkes its decision on
Thursday.
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DEP deputies resisting demands to leave Parliament
TDN Parliamen't BUreau
ANKARA- Turkey's pro-Kurdish
Democracy Party (DEP) is under pressure
by its grassro?ts and other left-wing moyements
to wIthdraw from the Turkish
Parliament and force the country to hold
early by-elections in the next three months.
This Sunday, DEP executives will gather
in Ankara where they will make their final
decision. '. .
There are 17 DEP deputies in Parliament,
excluding Mehmet Sincar, who was murdered
on Sept. 4, and their withdrawal
would mean a 5 percent vacancy in the 450seat
body which will be aconstItutional reason
to hold elections. .
According to the related article, if 5 percent
of the seats in Parliament - or 23 seats
- are vacated, by-elections have to be held
in three months. There are currently six
vacant seats in Parliament.
On Wednesday, Workers Party (IP)
Chairman Dogu Perinçek, whose electoral
interests actually conflict with those of
DEP, repeated his appeal for the Kurdishbasedparty
to withâraw from Parliament
168
• Kurdish deputies say withdrawal
.may harm cause, not serve'it
• Grassroots, PKK flank press for
protest, take hardened stance
saying this was a historical chance to block
the government's alleged plan to scare the
people before the March mayoral elections:
.Perinçek's party argues that this way .
elections will remain on the agenda for at
least five months' and this will prevent
Prime Minister Tansu Çiller and the country's
military commanders from pu~ing i~to
force their master plan to launch a masSIVe
military crackdown in the troubled
Southeast.
. "This way," argued Perincek, "the parliamentary
regime will be tripping state terrorism.':
'The DEP is at a crossroads. It will either
surrender to state terror or set aflame an era
which will spoil state terror." Radical quarte.rs
within tbe DEP argued earljer that if
elections have to be held again in the East
and Southeast region, this would be in the
form of a referendum showing once again
the political preference of the Kùrds living
there,
The DEP deputies were elected to
Parliament in October 1991 having to run
under the Social Democrat Peoples' Party.
(SHP) ticket. They later resigned and joined
HEP, which was closed downon court order
this year and succeeded by the DEP.
Currently, the party's parliamentary ~roup
is inclined to stay in this body and, 10 the.
words of Mardin Deput;.' and fonner HEP
Chairman Ahmet Türk, 'will do everything .
to stayand use the legal platforin.". . .
Turk said on Wednesday that there
should be an atmosphere of dialogue and