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
Islamists and this has produced positive
results." All the academicians agree however,
that the real test is now in Turkey, the only
real functioning parliamentary democracy in
the Muslim world.
They feel the inclusion of the pro-Islamic
Refah ln the democratic process has been
unique and offers to become a model. They
say Refah has already moved to the center
after being accepted as a major player in the
political scene and this proves the success of
the model.
Academicians also say their studies show
that Islamic movements have nothing to do
with religion but they have more to do with
social justice.
They also agree that there is a sharp change
of mood in Turkey that coups are not a solution
for the problems of the country and say
"the country has left the period of coups
behind."
The academicians agree that Turkey has
deep differences from the Arab world. ''Turks
have established political values and traditions.
In Turkey everybody knows that their
votes count. This is not the case in the Arab
world. People are aware that elections are a
mere formality and that their vote will not
make much difference on who governs the
country," a leading foreign relations expert at
Boston University told the Turkish Daily
News.
Observers say the U.S. administration is
try~ng to .m~e up ,its mind about the "process
of mclUSlOn. While the academicians urge
the government to look warmly to the issue,
the strong American Jewish lobby is staunchly
against it and is trying to influence the
administration not to take a positive stand on
the issue.
The observers say the new U.S. Assistant
Secretary of State Martin Indyk for Near
Eastern and Asian Affairs and a former
ambassador in Israel, feels Islamists should
not be ~owed in the political process. They
say he IS close to President Bill Clinton and
may well be influential.
However, there are others like former U.S.
Assistant Secretary of State Robert Pelletreau
who is still influential in Washington who '
feels the Islamists should be given a chance.
So experts say the battle lines are being drawn
up in the United States as the "process of
inclusion" debate heats up. Meanwhile the
TON learnt the U.S. administration has
ordered an extensive study of American policy
on the Muslim world.
Turkish Dally News Monday. March 31. 1997
Pauline Green: 'I am raising these
issues to improve Turkey's EU chances'
We are totally opposed
to terrorism and we are
absolutely against the
activities of rhe PKK, but the
Turkish government must do
more on the civil rights of the
people of the Kurdish areas
Turkey has every right to
join the EU. The fact that it
has already applied and the
application was considered
shows that Turkey has a
right to apply for membership
The European Parliament.
does have great concerns
about four areas in particular,
that is democratization, the
respect of human rights, the
Kurdish problem and the around o~ce eve~ nine ~on~hs. A
" week after her VISit- with time for
C ypnot questIOn her to reflect her findings, Anthony
Pearce interviewed Pauline Green
You would not believe
the hatemail I receive
from Turks and Turkish
Cypriots, and so much
of it is particularly
offensive to me as a woman
ANTHONY PEARCE (*)
London. Turkish Daily News
• Pauline Green, the leader of the
Socialists in the European
Parliament, was in Turkey recently
with three other Members of the
European Parliament Socialist Group
for an intensive round of talks with
leading politicians and ministers. A
Surveillance Group was set up by the
European Parliament, when it
approved the customs union agreement,
and as a result Pauline Green
has been i!:lT~rkey on official visits
for the Turkish Daily News in her
North London constituency office.
TDN- You travelled to Turkey at a time
when the local political atmosphere was
highly charged, not the least as a result of
the "coup" allegedly staged by the National
Security Council. Did you find this affected
the discussions you had with ministers and
omcia1s?
GREEN: It did. Suddenly people
were talking about the relationship
between the Government and the
military. Now I know that the military
has a role as the guardian of the
secular state and it is for that reason
that on every one of my previous visits
to Turkey, we have asked to see
the military, and permission has
always been refused. But on this
occasion it was granted and th~
deputy head of the chiefs of staff,
General Çevik Bir kept his diary
open for us for a whole 24 hours. We
had a long discussion with General
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