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

REVUE DE PRESSE~PRESS REVIEW~BERHEVOKAÇAPÊ~RIVISTA STAMPA~DENTRO DE LA PRENSA~BASlN ÖZETÎ
MPs have been charged with a concrete
crime, The prosecution of the
DEP and the closure of the party
were not the result of crimes accepted
by Western democracies but
crimes of opinion, in the shape of
(WO speeches made by a former
chainnan and a statement issued by
. the party last year. On S~tu!day,
newspapers reported the begmrnng of
tensIOn between Cindoruk and
Demiral with the fanner saying the
deputies could not be touched until
the detailed verdict came out, and the
latter challenging him by saying:
'That is his personal opinion."
The same day, Cindoruk appeared
on television and publicly warned
Demiral that if he failed to respect
the Padiament speaker and the country's
electedbody of representatives,
he would take steps for legal action
againstth1! proseéùtor.! Oh5liri'day;
Cindoruk went even further and, in a
statement to the mass ~irculation .
daily Hürriyet, ,compiained that
Turkey was always the object of criticism
because of remarks made by
Demiral. .
. "It is always Demiral's remarks
which are put before us," Cindoruk
said. "In the talks we have and in
bilateral talks ... these remarks are
always being quoted .. In his indictments,
he demands the death sen-
. tence ... There are claims that he is
prejudiced. We talk about the independence
of the judiciary but. we
have problems in explaining all this."
Cindoruk also noted that because
of Demiral's behaviour, he receives
letters from all over the world, to
which he had to reply. "But when we
come face to face, I have problems in
explaining," he said.
Demiral is the chief republican
prosecutor of the Ankara State
Security Court (DGM) and has a
record of filing cases against journal-
By UgurÀklncl
Turkish Daily Ne»'s
WASHINGTON- When Prime Minister Tansu
ÇiIler visited Washington last year she blew into town
likea celebrity. After all, she was the first female
prime minister Turkey ever had. She was young,
beautiful, had fluent English and could communicate
Turkey's stand with an ease and flair that won over
audiences wherever she went.
But when she left the United States Çiller was not
. in good mood. It wasn't the Washin~ton weather. It
wasn't her talks with Washington's high and mighty.
It was the fact that she received zero coverage from
the U.S. media. Even wining and dining the heavyweights
of U.S. press and TV at the.prestigious Blair
House ap~arently did not help an !ota. R~liable
sautees claIm that was the day when Çiller decIded to
strap Turkey's all existing public relations account in
Washington and start anew. Out went the old boys. In
came the new boys. Fleishman and Hillard is one of
them.
Fleishman and Hillard (FH)'s Washington office is
one of 14 in North America. It is housed in a decidedly
inconspicuous, but centrally located, eight-floor
building in downtown Washington, perfectly reflecting
the company's low-profile but focused approach
to the business at hand.
: Tom Buckmaster, the affable senior vice president
- and partner - of the corporation, heads the public
affairs department which is responsible for the
Turkish account. A world-travelled man and an archeology
buff who says he fell head over heels for
Istanbul, Buckmaster comes aCrOSSas a seasoned profession-al
who would rather steer away from the
treacherous rapids of short-tenn tactics and sail for
the sound waters of general strategy.
His enthusiasm and belief in his lang-tenn strategic
vision comes across loud and strong. "Turkey is a
critical pillar of democracy and economic development
in the region in this new multipolar world," he
says. "Turkey's crucial role as a dependable partner
of the U.S. and a secular democracy must be recognjzed
by all Americans most of whom know very little
about Turkey," he continues. "Turkey's sacrifices
after the Gulf War in such a tough neighborhood still
continue,"
ists,writers and publishers -'- äJwâys
demanding the maximum punishment.
.
. Last year, in one speech he made,'
the prosecutor implied he possessep
.infannation relatmg to' top Turkish
officials, and referred to "all of those
files in my hands." He has been the .
DGM prosecutor since the courts
were flfSt established to look into
"crimes éoiriiÎÏitted agaiiist th'1state.;'"
- There is general belief in Turkey
and among civil rights groups mornl~ring,
th~ det~riorating human ri~hts
SItuatIon In this country that DeIDIral
enjoys the support of the military
and that this is the reason why it he
cannot be transferred from hIS current
post.
Most of the cases launched by
Demiral over the pasttwo years have
led to international critIcism and
appear to have harmed Turkey' s
overalliong-tenn interests and credibility
abroad.
But in way everybody pays lip service these days to
"Turkish democracy," "Turkey's crucial role in the
. region" etc. Those generalities in themselves do not
of courseexplain why Turkey has .chosen FH over
other competItors to handle its media relations, When
I ask Buckmaster the reason why they've won the
account, he flashes his wann smile and pauses for a
beat before answering. He boils it down to four factors:
"I think we won the Turkish account because of
I) Our energy
2) Our intellectual engagement,
3) Our commitment to maintaining focus on advocacy,and
4) Our very strong emphasis on client service."
Having the WIde breadth of talent profile that the 50
year old company can tap into from among its 800
employees of course does not hurt either.
"We have human rights specialists, fonner State
Department experts, writers, data base specialist$;
New York media specialists, financial experts ... you
name it, working for us. Currently we have 10 staff
members working exclusively on the Turkish account
here in Washington and in New York," Buckmaster
says,
At $525,000 a, quarter - all fees and expenses
including - Turkey seems to have chosen the right
top-rated agency for image building and spin control.
That kind of concentration on client service and
aggressive advocacy has apparently served FH's
Washington office well when they started out in 1985
with a staff of 4 and ballooned.in nine years to its present
size of 105 staff and annual billing of over $11
.million.
. The industry magazine Inside PR , describes the
Washington office as "the office other PR finns do
not want to complete with the most."
Currently, the St. Louis, Missouri headquartered
.company is the largest nonpublic company of its kind
in the world, consistently earning highest ranking
from its peers (see the SIdebar). Anheuser Busch,
Mastercard, Caterpillar, Honda, Novell and American
Plastics Council are among the other clients represented
by FH. Past governmental accounts include
Spain, Puerto Rico, China and Mexico. Turkey is the