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: We work with Demirel and Çiller
'We work with Erbakan whenever
we can' says State Department'
spokesman Nicholas Burns
Çiller safe from federal
inv~stigation in USA
UGURAKINCI
Washington - Turkish Daily News
• Some lieutenants of the senior coalition
partner Welfare Party (RP) may repeat all
they want that all is fine between Prime
Minister Necmettin Erbakan and the
Clinton Administration. But it is clear that
some senior members of the
Administration prefer to deal directly with
president Süleyman Demirel or Foreign
Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tansu
Çiller.
"When we can"
State Department spokesman Nicholas
Bums saId "when we can, we work with
[Erbakan]," implying that there are,
those occasions when Washin~ton can
Qot work with Turkey's Islanust prime
minister. Bums described Demirel and
Çiller as "good allies.';
, "We continue to work closely with
President Demirel and Deputy Prime
Minister and Foreign Mimster Çi1ler," he
said.
As to Erbakan, "w.hen we can meet him,
and we do meet him that hasn't happened
many times over the course of the last eight
or nine months of coursè, we work with
Prime Minister Erbakan," Bums said.
Iran
PM Erbakan's sympathy towards Iran was
another factor that made contacts with
Çiller more attractive for Washington.
"Mr. Erbakan is not someone with whom
we've met very often," Bums told a group
of Turkish journalists on Monday. "But
when we do meet with him we do appreciate
that opportunity.
Butwe mainly meet with Mrs. Çi1ler
because she is the direct counterpart of
Secretary Albright."
"Because we do value our relationship
with people who support Turkey's
secular democracy and who support '
NATO, and who do not support an undue
Turkish relationships with governments
like Iran."
Why Çiller?
New York Times just published an extensive
front-page story on corrupti~n charges leveled
at Mrs. Ç1l1er. Answenng a question on
those cormpnon charges. Burnss,aid "I'm
Turkish Daily NewsWednesday. Aprll9. 1997
not aware that anybody in the United States
Government is investigating anybody in the '
Turkish Government, nor should we." Bums
explained Washington's reliance on Çiller as
follows: "I mentioned Deputy Prime
Minister and Foreign Mimster Çiller because
she has tended to take the lead on relations
with the United Stat~. She and Secretary
Albright saw each other at NATO just a
month or so ago. 1know she's in contact
with our Embassy. Of course, President
Demirel is the head of state. Of course, we'll
work with Prime Minister Erbakan."
Second reason
But there was a second and perhaps more
important reason why Washington continued
to deal with Çiller rather than Erbakan
despite the cloud of corruption allegations
surrounding Çiller - and that reason is
secularism. '
, ",'~Ofcourse, it's important, obviously,
that the United States work from a foundation.
The foundation that we have is that
Turkey is a secular democracy and that ,
those secular traditions are very important.
to continue. There are a big part of the relationship
with the United States," Burns
said.
Turkish matter
Çiller' s business corruption allegations'that
made it all the way to the front page of the
New York Times was Turkey's domestic
matter, Bums said. Çiller admits she and
her husband transferred one million dollars
to the United States in order to purchasè a'
hotel in New Hampshire. Her critics claii1l
she could not give a satisfactory explanation
of the origin of the million dollars in
question. ,
"Therê have been many allegations made
against Mrs. Çiller in Turkey by Turkish
politicians; mainly, the opposition party ..:
We're going to leave this to the Turkish
political system to sort out," Bums said ..
"I see no reason why the United States
should initiate any kind of investigation
whatsoever because we're not aware that
anything untoward has occurred in our own
country."
Çiller is safe
State Department spokesman said, as far as
the Clinton Administration is concerned, '
there would be no investigation of any kind
into the alleged activities and business
deals of Çiller within the United States.
"There is no inclination on the part of
anybody in our government to look into the.
activities of Mrs. Çiller or her family here'
in the United States. That kind of thing is
generally left up to local authorities here in '
the United States, when it does occur, and
.there is no reason for us to get into that
:right now."
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