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

REVUE DE PRESSE~PRESS REVIEW~BERHEVOKAÇAPÊ~RNISTA STAMPA~DENTRO DE LA PRENSA~BASiN OZETi
40
But he. made no secret of the fact that
By Semih D. Idiz Washington's attention would be increasingly
Turkish daily News focussed on human rights and democracy issue in
ANKARA- Senior Western officials are pre- Turkey for a number of reasons, not the least of
diclÎng-inc.rea::.illg isolation for Turkey if which is the growing interest in these issues by the
Ankara's inability to institute reforms in the U.S. Congress. Sources on the U.S. side say that
human rights area - especially on Kurdish the pending trials of deputies from the Prorights
- is not speedily overcome. Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP), which was
Aware of the multidimensional onslaught recently banned by the Constitutional court, is a
against Turkey from Western fora on this score cause for anger among U.S. Congressmen because
Ankara seems 10 be preparing a "preemptive included in the charges brought against these
strategy" aimed at reinforcing its image as a deputies are addresses they delIvered to the U.S.
country attempting to overcome its human legislature. Shattuck alsô mentioned this when
rights shortcomings. Diplomats and. analysts' talking to reporters on Tuesday morning. .
are, however. questioning whether the contra- "There is widespread concern in the United.
States, especially in our Congress, about their freedictory
positions of government members and dom of speech, their freedom of expression and
politicians, as well as extraneous factors such the pOSSibility that they have been jailed for
as a growi r ~ isolationi~~l ~i.\1ongthe Turkish speeches that they made in the United States when.
public vis il'vis the WÇ'~t,'may not ma~e this they were visiting our Congress," he said referring
search for a new strate-.' to the DEP deputies. This attention by the United
gy "too little, too late." .States follows developments to Turkey's disad-
The United States, a vantage on the same subjects in the parliamentary
key ally of Turkey's in assemblies of the Council of Europe and the
military matters, now appears to be taking the . Conference on Security and Cooperation.
lead in giving Ankara a clear message concern- There is also said to be widespread anger in the
ing democracy and human rights, with special European Parliament against the Turkisn governemphasis
on the questions of the ill treatment . ment for the same reasons as the anger in the
of prisoners in detention and the freedom of Congress.
speech and conscience. John Shattuck, U.S. Reports from Brussels in recent days have sugassistant
secretary of state for democracy. gested that Euro-parliamentarians are livid that
. d I b h '.1 . statements by pro-Kurdish deputies to the
human nghts an a our, w 0 arnveu In European ParlIament couldbe used against these
Ankara on Sunday for two days of oii"ial deputies as reasons for convicting them for treatalks,
was reported by sources tu have giv\n son. Western diplomatic sources indicate that there
. prominence to these
points
talks: Meeting
during
a small
his
. .. group of journalists
over breakfast on Tuesday Shattuck - who.
while in Ankara also met with pro-Kurdish
deputies who have been stripped of their parliamentary
immunity and thrown into prison -
said they considered Turkey's combatting terrorism
hy the outlawed Kurdistan Workers'
is a growing feeling in the European Parliament to
suspen
d th
e ac
t'
lVIles
ï f h J' P r
0 e omt ar lamentarx
Commission with Turkey indefiniteIr" "untIl
human rights abuses inTurkey are halted. '
All of this is said to be prompting the govern-
ment and the highest echelons of the State to try
a~d work out a,st~ategy that will.h~l! th~ rapid ero-
sIOnof Ankara s Image and credIbIlity m tile West'
fro~ which Turkey appears to be drifting away..
DIplomats and anarysts are assessing the Sum-
Party (PKK) as legitimate.
He also conceded that the implementation of
human rights could run into difficulties in the
midst of such an effort. But Shattuckneverthe~
less made his government's point clear and
said, in categoric terms, that thefight against
terrorism could not be accepted as a reason fot
the suspension ofhuman rights. ..
Shattuck added that during his talks he had
expressed the U.S. administration's "deep concern"
about increasing reports of human rights
abuses in Turkey. .
m,it neid by President Demirel on Sunday with
high level government officials and members of
Parliament, as well as the meetings with party
leaders that he started on Monday, in this context.
President Demirel, who has himself been accused
of blocking the path to reform on the Kurdish
issue _ for blocking Kurdish TV and Kurdish lan-
guage education, for example - is said to have
become increasingly concerned by Turkey's growing
isolation from the West. .
One highly placed Turkish official, who wished
to remain anonymous, told the Turkish Daily
News that even this interest by the President was a
"The reports have grown more serious recently, sign that the growing pressures for human rights is
particularly in the areas of alleged restrictions on hitting the mark iri Ankara and forcing political
freedom of expression, allegatlonson the use of leaders to take note and seek means of a