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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Revue <strong>de</strong> Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê:..Rivista Stampa-Dentro <strong>de</strong> la Prensa-Basm Öz<strong>et</strong>i<br />
recent legal changes in human rights.<br />
"We will not pay attention to what Çiller wrote<br />
and signed - from now on we will only look at<br />
. the implementation of thes<strong>et</strong>hings," Green said,<br />
emphasizing her ~int by allowing il piece of<br />
paper she was holding to drop to the ground:<br />
IHD Chairman Akm Birdal said the European<br />
Parliament had lost all confi<strong>de</strong>nce in Deputy<br />
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tansu Çil1er<br />
who, in intense lobbying efforts prior to the customs<br />
union, had asked the European Parliament's<br />
socialist wing to I>ackher during the process,<br />
. rer.ortedly threatening that "the fumlamcntalists<br />
Will take over'! otherwise.<br />
European Parliament feels b<strong>et</strong>rayed and has lost .<br />
trust in Çil1er, reports from Green's Friday visit<br />
with Turkey's foreign minister implied.<br />
Constantly pressured OI) the human rightsissue,<br />
Turkish government announced human rights<br />
legal reform, the <strong>de</strong>puty prime minister stating<br />
speci~cally that "torture suc::has 'Palestine<br />
Hangmg'" was out of question, now and forever.<br />
. Green said she interpr<strong>et</strong>ed these words, which<br />
. indicated explicit knowledge of such torture techniques,<br />
"as a confession" and was very sI>ecific<br />
. abuut the rukof the military. reportedly emphasizing<br />
the importance of civil conscience over any<br />
organization, including the military.. .<br />
Also mentioned by Green and her colleagues<br />
were the handicaps created from la<strong>de</strong> of a <strong>de</strong>moc- .<br />
ratic resolution to the Kurdish issue. In this vein<br />
the Socialist Group lea<strong>de</strong>r reiterated, "We will '<br />
force the implementation of human rights."<br />
Birdal reportedly stressed in the me<strong>et</strong>ing that<br />
lawsregardlDg this implementation should be<br />
p.asse.drelated to the recent government human<br />
nghts reforms. Green was pleased that ties with<br />
t~e.T~rkish mili~ were strengthened during her<br />
VISitID Ankara with Deputy Chief of General<br />
Sta.ff qen. Çevik Bir. ~he importance of civil<br />
actJ~n ID problcm~solvl!lg, as ~pposed to ~ilitary<br />
force, was tabled ID thelnrte<strong>et</strong>lng: Accordmg'to<br />
reports, however, when Green said, ''The military<br />
is not above the civil initiative," Gen. Bir countered<br />
wi~hhis ,:iew ~hat ~GOs overexaggerate<br />
human nghts VIOlationsID Turkey. .<br />
During her talk with Gen. Bir, Green also<br />
'rep?~edly affirmed certain Turkish government .<br />
pohcles, such as the preservation of secularism<br />
:and efforts against the outlawed Kurdistan<br />
Workers' Party (PKK), and urged that Turkey<br />
"not distance itself from the principles of <strong>de</strong>mocracy."<br />
. . .<br />
ln. . . 1~.T..<br />
liltra ;.:~'~[><br />
.G.<br />
. .-.... ~<br />
ER.N~.TIo:;~D:;CH26.m<br />
rt nut<br />
... PUBLlS~~J)~n"f)THE NEW Y()RKTIMF_~ AND THE WASHINGTON POST<br />
.. Civilian Rule for Turkev .<br />
. . .stâged three coups since 1960, the<br />
The Turkish general. staff m rece~t threat of military rule JOust be taken<br />
wee~ has all but put the co~try s seriously. Those concerned with <strong>de</strong>-<br />
IsI~c.-Ied g~ve~enton n~uce that fending secularism ought to consi<strong>de</strong>r<br />
the ~litary wl~l seize power.lfTurkey the contribution that those coups have<br />
cOI~~ues to ~ft away !r0mlts secul~ :ma<strong>de</strong> to shaping the unappealing politpohtlCal<br />
tradiuons: Whlle the generals ical choices Turkey now confronts.<br />
<strong>de</strong>fen~e of seculans~ appeals to many The secular parties favored by the mil-<br />
Amen~ans, the UOlted. S~tes shou.ld itary have failed to establish <strong>de</strong>ep pop-<br />
~ogmze ~at anoth~r penod of mll- ular roots. They are increasingly perltary<br />
rule m Turkey wo~ld do more' ceived as aloof from the problems of<br />
harm ~an Egood. \yashington .n~s ordinary Turks and consumed by per-<br />
,to make clear that It (avors ~lvlhan sonal ven<strong>de</strong>ttas and corruption. Incong~vern~ce<br />
and would ~ ~bhged to trast, Mr. Erbakan 's Welfare Party has<br />
~stance l~elf from any mlhtary-dom- increased its base ()fsupport by providma~<br />
reg1ffi~.. . ing relatively cleàn an<strong>de</strong>ffe<strong>et</strong>ive mu-<br />
~me MiOlster Necme~ Erba- nicipal government in many of Tur~<br />
:kan s Welfare Party, representmg one- key's largest cities;<br />
fifth of the ~l~ctorate, hasrashly chal- The Welfare Party now rules in colenged<br />
the ngIdly secular ground rules alition with thé True Path Party, led by<br />
<strong>de</strong>creed by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk,: Tansu Ciller, a former prime minister<br />
the foun<strong>de</strong>r of mo<strong>de</strong>rn Tur~~~ s~ven; who represents some of the least at<strong>de</strong>ca<strong>de</strong>s<br />
ago .. The. p~.s mluauve~. tractive features of the old secular<br />
s':lch as. relaxm.g res~ctlons on reh- political or<strong>de</strong>r. After worrisome early<br />
gIous displays m pubhc places. have overtures toward Iran and Libya, the<br />
,ma<strong>de</strong> man~ .secular Turks ~easy. coalition has pursued pragmatic for-<br />
These pohCl~S. have. particular~y eign policies, including close military<br />
al~ed ~e mihtary, w~ch Turkey s cooperation with Israel and the United<br />
constltuUon entrusts With <strong>de</strong>fendmg States. But internally it has been a tense<br />
the ~ecular system: In response, Tur- alliance, with each si<strong>de</strong> looking for<br />
key s general~ have warned .the gov- chances to shove the other asi<strong>de</strong>.<br />
enunent that It mu.st ag~esslvely en- A .military intervention would preforce<br />
secular la~s, lOcludlOgsome that .sumably evict Welfare from power in<br />
have long been Ignored..<br />
favor of True Path or its secular rival<br />
Ina country where the generals have the Motherland Party. While this might<br />
__ o.<br />
. . . .-<br />
look superficially reassuring to Washington.<br />
it would inmany ways make<br />
malters worse. .<br />
Washington' s goal is to keep Turkey<br />
oriented to the West, including NATO;<br />
to which it belongs, and the European<br />
Uruon, which it has long hoped to join.<br />
But the powerful army, militantly nationalisuc<br />
and prone to wholesale human.<br />
rights abuses, is itself a major<br />
.o~stacle to closer Turkis~.\Dtegration<br />
With Europe. Army leadèts have resisted<br />
compromise with oleece over<br />
Turkey's 20-year occupation of northern<br />
Cyprus and have managed Tur-.<br />
key' s brutal suppression of the Kurds.<br />
. Pushing asi<strong>de</strong> Islamic politicians<br />
-like Mr. Erbakan who. are willing to.<br />
play by <strong>de</strong>mocratic rules would prob-<br />
~~ly radicalize Turkish Islamic pollUCS.It<br />
would also send the wrong<br />
message to the secular parties, which.<br />
. need to overcome theirp<strong>et</strong>ty rivalries<br />
.and rebuild popular support.<br />
Turkey's location atthe crossroads<br />
:of Europe, the Mi<strong>de</strong>ast and Central<br />
•Asia - and its puge army, the largest.<br />
among NATO's European members'<br />
- make it a piv.otal factor iD American .<br />
foreign policy. Washington would. un<strong>de</strong>rstandably<br />
prefer a solidly secularist<br />
government. But for practical as well<br />
as principled reasons, theUnited States<br />
should support <strong>de</strong>mocratic solutions to<br />
Turkey' s problems rather than those<br />
imposed by force.. .<br />
- THE NEW YORK TIMES.<br />
86