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

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Baszn Özeti
not put this down to Germany's ?aving ,
recently discovered that Turkey IS a Mushm
country, or to the policies which the Welfare
party (RP) is pur~uing for these don't aftect
Germany. What does interest Germany IS
not Turkey's move towards an increasingly
pro-Islaml,st position but i~s move towards
an increasmgly pro-Amencan stance.
ln many areas of the world, Germany h!l8
been offering A:meric.a some. k~n competItion
which has mtenslfied With tlme, and
today,just as in the past, it has exte?sive,.
deeply rooted and multilateral relations WIth
Islamlc countries. So, for this reason for
example, Germany and oth~r Europe~
countries under its leadership have shi~lded
countries a¥ainst the appeal by .the Uß1te~
States to bnng an embargo agalOst countnes
with radical Islamist governments, such as
Libya and Iran. In this context, Erbakan's
attempts, after the formation of ~e Re~ahyol
government, to imp:ove TU!k~y s ~latlons
with Islamic countnes, begmnmg With Iran,
have been evaluated by Germany as n~rmal,
despite fierce criticism from the Ame~cans,
and something which Turkey has the nght
todecide on.
To be more precise, ~erm~y .has b,een
concerned with Turkey s falling lOto line
with the U.S.-Israeli position in the Middle
East ever since the formation of the
Refahyol coalition. What should be pursued
is why Chancellor Kohl tenses his face
every time Çiller's name is mentioned. and
wh)' he showed great sympathy for Mesut
Yllmaz during the latter's visit to Germany
as prinie minister d~g the Anayal cö~tion.
It should be realized that Germany IS
now a superpower, and is growing stro~ger
every day. It is seeking a greater share ln the
markets ln the Caucasus, the Balkans, the
Middle East and eastern Europe and its
competition with the United States is
expected to grow s?arper in all t?ese •
regions. Germany IS unhappy With :rurke.y s
coming in completely 0!l the Amen~an Side
since the country occup~es an und~mably
strategic position and Will play an lffiportant
role.lt is particularly angry at T.urkey's
belief that it can be transported lOto the EU,
of which it is the patron on the tow rope of
the good ship U.S. Hence, Germany has
raised its VOlce against Turkey ~cently,
bringing speaking of some realities harshly
and frequently.
As time passes, the U.S.-German contest
grows sharper and Turkey is being drawn
rapidly towards a parting of ways. Of
course, this can't possibly be seen by those
who have declared Tansu Ciller the decisive
warrior in Turkey's struggfe for full EU
membership.
It is immc that the militarr. members of
the National Security Councll (MGK), which
has no counterpart in any of the EU countries,
have shown signs 10 recent days of recognizing
this reality. For example, it is
meaningful that General Chief of Staff
Ismail Hakk1 KaradaY1 attended the Greek
national day reception
passed along messages
in Ankara where he
of peace and fraternity.
Also, in the declaration issued after the.
"historical meeting" of the MGK a month
ago, wasn't it stated that "Turkey would CODtinue
to pursue as a target of priority inclusion
in the list of countries which were candidates
for full membership in the EU in
1997 and that all official and civil institutions
must contribute to this process?" Or
would you say that this desire was unimportant
compared with eight years of compulsory
education?
Hasn't Çiller also rolled up her sleeves on
this subject, stating "Torture should and wil.i
be eliminated?" Has she not listed how and
with what instruments torture has been carried
out in Turkey and said that these would
be terminated? Didn't she, despite the fact
that she is the foreign minister, raid an
Ankara police StatiODin which DOthing was
found to suggest that torture had been carried
out on the premises? Or do you see this as
another one of the "Çiller Shows,!' produced
to send a message to the EU countnes?
Okay, okay you're right, but one may
speak the truth even if you are Tansu Çiller.
Didn't she $peak the truth by saying torture
existed in Turkey, whether or not torture will
be eliminated in Turkey? One shouldn't forget
that even a stopped clock shows the true
time twice a day. What Çiller said is, in
itself, enough to block Turkey's becoming a
full member of the EU. But even in this situation,
Turkey has not exhausted its chances
for an EU visa. Çiller, who has been declared
a person "whose word is not to be trusted,"
by EU country officials and priIriarily .
Germany, is taken seriously when she admits
to the existence oftorture in Turkey!..
Isn't that a great piece of luck?
Note: Cartoons By Erdo(}an Karayel
Bülent Ecevit: Government's Turkisb Daily News WEDNESDAY.APRlL2.1m
Southeast policy positive but late
Ankara- Turkish Dally News
• Prominent center-left politician
Bülent Ecevit said economic, social
and cultural development had to be
given priority in the drive to resolve
the Kurdish question and added that
the government had been late in
adopting this approach, the Anatolia
news agency reported:
At a press conference on Tuesday,
Ecevit said the feudal structure in
southeastern Turkev needed to be
eradicated in order for a solution on
the issue and rejected the idea that
there were ethmc factors involved.
The Democratic Left Party chairman
said he did not know the contents
of the "Southeast Report" discussed
at the National Security
Council meeting but noted there had
been certain changes in the govern-
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