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

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Basm Özeti
US press opts for civilian rule in Turkey
Turkish military portrayed
as "oppressor" of Kurds
Ankara- Turkish
Dally News
~s if trying to preempt a possible
coup in making, two major
American dailies have published
strongly-worded editonals in su~
port of the continuation of the cIvil-
Ian rule in Turkey. The Washington
fast and New York Times editorials
containing serious accusations
directed at the Turkish military, criticized
the center-right parties for
their constant bickering and failure
to present an alternative to the rule
of the current RP-DYP coalition
government led by the Islamist
Welfare Party (RP) and its leader,
prime minister Necmettin Erbakan.
The Washington Post editorial
titled ''Turkey's Overblown 'Islamic
Threat,''' penned by John Tirman,
director of Wilson Foundation for
Inetrnational Peace, said the real
struggle in Turkey was not between
Islamists and the secular front but
between democrats and militaristic
thinking.
Accusing the Turkish armed
forces with "occupying" the
Southeast, Tirman said the military
embarrassed the government in the
eyes of the public opinion. Turkish
National Security Council (MGK)
has issued an 18-article warning to
the government on February 28 in
defense of the secular regime as
instituted by Ataturk over seven
decades ago. Turkish military
always regarded itself as the guarantor
of secular republican regime in
Turkey and have staged three coups
since 1960 to prevent destabilization
of the republic.
Referring to State Department
spokesman Nicholas Bums' repeated
support for the secular democracy
in Turkey, Tirman said the real
defender of the secular regime was
not the Turkish army, but Necmettin
Erbakan who was elected prime
minister via due democratic procedures.
Confusion
Tirman said such a confusion gives
rise to three misconceptions: 1)
The threat of Islamic politics is
overblown. 2) The role of the
Turkish army is misunderstood. 3)
Such discussion centering on secularism
diverts the attention from real
problem which stems from the conflict
between the Turkish military
and the Turkish Kurds, Tirman said.
NYT
The New York Times editorial titled
"Civilian Rule for Turkey" was
equally harsh in condemning the
Turkish army for its "militantly
nationalistic" outlook.
"Superficially reassuring"
NYT said while a military intervention
may look "superficially reassuring
to Washington, it would in many
ways make matters worse" since the
military is "prone to whole sale
human rights abuses [and] is itself a
major obstacle to closer Turkish
integration with Europe." German
Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel, who
just visited Turkey, was clear in his
belief that Turkey did not belong to
European Union. According to
unconfirmed reports Kinkel' s
attempt to visit Turkish General
Staff headquarters in Ankara could
not be realized for unknown reasons.
Accusing the leaders of the
Turkish Army with "brutal suppression
of the Kurds," NYT editorial
said "Army leaders have resisted
compromise with Greece over
Turkey's 20-year occupation of
northern Cyprus." Turkish Chief of
General Staff Gen. !smail Hakkt
KaradaYI has signalled a new and
softer approach to the Turkish-
Greek disputes by paying a historically
unprecedented visit to the celebration
of Greek National Day in
Ankara on March 25. Turkey is
fighting the PKK terrorism in the
Southeast since 1984, with increasing
success acknowledged by such
internationally respected authorities
in the subject as Jane's Defense
Weekly.
"While the generals' defense of
secularism appeals to many
Americans, the United States should
recognize that another peri04 of military
rule in Turkey would do more
harm than good," NYT said. It is
now a well-known fact that the
growth of Islamist organizations in
Turkey was actively supported by
the generals who staged the 1980
coup with hopes of counterbalancing
the communists. Washington is not .
remembered by Turkish intellectuals
for putting up any resistance to the
1980 coup. Concerning an earlier
coup, Dewey Clarridge, CIA's
Istanbul station chief aild Ankara
deputy chief of the time, has admitted
in his recently published autobiography
that he had known in
advance about the 1971 intervention.
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