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

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Bastn Özeti
briefing. Lt. Gen. Cetin Do~an, ~hechairman
of the General Staff Operations
Department, replied t~ the questions.
Journalists noted that 10 the past the
Turkish side had said that Greece.'s e~tending
its territorial waters beyond SIX miles
would be considered as a cause for war.
'But the Turkish side now was saying merely
that this would be "unacceptable." They
asked whether this indicated a change of
stance. Lt. Gen. Dogan replied as follows:
"Today. we believe the people in uniform
must use the word 'war' less. There is no
chanoé in Turkey's policy. Since we give
importance to a peaceful image, we have
not expressed this political stance.
Otherwise it is obvious that we shall not
remain sil~nt in the face of a fait accompli
which would entirely blockTurkey's path
in the West."
Noting that the package of confidence
building measures had come on the agenda
during the meeting between Chief of
General Staff Gen. Ismail Karadayi and
Greek Chief of General Staff in Brussels,
Lt. Gen. Dogan said the following:
"Before the political solution of the
problem. a climate of 'talkability' must be
created. Hence the significance .of the .
chiefs of staff of the two countnes havmg a
meeting. The confidence-building measures
package contains many elements. And we
support the entire package incl~ding the
establishment of a red phone (dlfect telephone
link) between the chiefs of staff of
the two countries."
Lieutenant General Çetin Dogan said, in
reply to questions on the fight ~gai~st the
PKK. that a social and economIC drive was
needed in the region. He said. "We have
said this all along. Despite that. the military
has been seen as the hawks. It is only natural
that an armed rebellion against the
state will be responded to with arms. But
we believe that the regional problems
which lie at the basis of this too must be
liquidated. We are aware that the fight
against terrorism cannot be won without
people' s support," He said that for this reason
they sought reports from the commanders
in the region about the needs of their
specific regions. These have been unified
and relayed to the government. He said,
"To be able to get the people of the region
on the side of the state we are even cooperating
with the United Nations High
Commissariat for Refugees. Weare training
officers to be sent to the region. We are
preparing brochures to serve as a guide for
relations with the people of t~e reg~on an~
on human rights. None of us IS saymg he IS
perfect. But we are trying to achieve perfection."
.
Stating that a total of 32,000 ter:0I1;sts
had been neutralized since the begmmng of
the struggle against the PK~, an.d ~hat the
PKK had become a "Terronst Limited
Partnership", which had degenerated and
therefore had become separated from the
state, Lieutenant Genera~ Do~an s.aid, ~'But
the external support behmd them IS qUite
significant. "
He said "All the countries which support
the PKK, suppo~ at the .~ame time radical
Islamists. In reality, the Jihad. or holy
war calls of radical Islamists do not exactly
~eet with approval in Turkish society.
Therefore the radical Islamists do not have
an armed potential comparable to that of
the PKK in size. But it IS a fact ~hat the .
powers behind them are supportll~g ceryam
Islamist organizations in Turkey 10 a highly
professional manner. It has been fou.nd that
in Turkey murders have been commItted
with Iran' s support. Therefore we have to .
be very alert. very careful in the face of thiS
threat."
Asked whether the Turkish chief of staff
would meet with bis Iranian counterpart as
he has met with his Greek counterpart,
Lieutenant General Dogan said, "Our relations
with Greece are quite different than
our relations with Iran. This is because
with Iran we are on different platforms. In
the visible future it is out of the question
for the chiefs of staff of the two countries
to come together. We can say the same
thing about the Syrian chief of staff too. In
fact, the head of the PKK stays in a military
barracks in Damascus. Okay, Greece
too is providing support to the PKK. But it
does not do this by way of the state establishments,
out in the open, making a point
of doing this in the open. On the contrary,
it makes a special effort not to project such
an image."
Lieutenant General Dogan went to say,
"All these problems will come to an end
when Turkey enters the European Union.
Other problems will become marginal. For
.this reason, we, as the Armed Forces, give
utmost importance to Turkey's integration
with Europe." Lt. Gen. Dogan pointed out
that the press had fulfilled an important
duty particularly on the issue of fundamentalist
activities. "The press has been a
sourc~ of pride on this issue. We meet this
with appreciation."
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