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
Tehran's envoy in Ankara until his departure from
this country last month in a cloud of controversy
and a replication of Mottaki's departure.
. The turbulence appèat-ed to have been over~
.come for the time being as a new ambaSsador
.meant a new beginning and these ties were complimented
by efforts aimed at increasing bilatera,l
cooperation in areas such as commerce and energy.
Of course the perennial problem of border security,
with Turkish accusations ofIranian assistance
for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK);
continued .to be a thorn in the side of bilateral ties
during Ambassador Bagheri's tenure which ended
in February.
Countless security commission meetings over
these past seven years, countless promises at the
highest levels for security cooperation, invitations
by Iran to Turkey to send security officials so they
can point to alleged PKK camps in that country,
and even the occasional extradition of PKK militants
by Teheran to Turkey, have not succeeded in
settling this problem which still remains today.
But one can argue that this matter of border
security is not the principal destabilizer in Turkish-.
Iranian ties. This is especially so if one takes the
example of Turkey's relations with Syria, which
over these past ten years have never come to the
~int where ambassadors are recalled even though
It is common knowledge that the head of the PKK
lives in Damascus and enjoys official protection.
The basic secular-Shariah divide was and
remains the main stabilizer today. Therefore it was
inevitable, given this division, that the "traditional"
bones of contention between the two sides should
emerge eventually. .
Thus for example the Turkish Interior Minister
at the time, Ismet Sezgin, did not hold back in
February 1993 from saying that an Islamic fundamentalist
murder ring with Iranian links had carried
out political killings in Turkey.
Despite denials by Tehran this matter was
brought up once again by the Turkish Foreign
Minister Hikmet çetin on meeting with his Iranian
counterpart Ali Akbar Velayati in Quette,
Pakistan, shortly after Sez~m 's remarks.
With a visible increase m support for the pro-
Islamic Welfare Party in Turkey, things agam
appeared set on a collision course, as the Iranian
side did not refrain from displaying its pleasure
over this development.
. One example was provided when Ambassador
Bagheri, accompanied by his consul general in the
city, visited Erzurum's newly elected RP Mayor
Ersan Gemalmaz in March 1994 as a sign of solidarity.
. . .
Then in December 1995 Iran's state-run radio
welcomed the success of the Welfare Party in
,Turkey's.general election, saying it was likely to
s~tt secu1aî' "AlïRäiâtowäi'd äpro-Islamic starid.' '
, The fact that Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan
chose Iran as his frrst major trip abroad in August
1996, shortly after coming to power, appeared to
embolden Iran. Tehran.took particular delight in
the fact that Erbakan insisted on visiting Iran at a
time of clear opposition both in Washington and
,among secular elements in Turkey to this visit.
The four-day visit by Iranian President
Rafsanjani to Turkey in December 1996, on the
other hand, appeared to indicate to secular ele-
JUNE
8- The Iranian Embassy in
Ankara denies involvement in
the msappearance of a member
of the Iranian People's
Mujabideen group in Turkey.
SEPTEMBER
1- Iran protests to Turkey
,over the reported violation of
its airspace by Turkish helicopters
chasing separatist
rebel Kurds across the border.
.
11- Turkey's Interior
Minister tsmet Sezgin, on a
visit to Tehran, vows to rein
in Iranian dissidents operating
in Turkey and to release
the Cape Meleas. '
29- The Istanbul State
Security Court endorses an
appeals court order for the
release of the Cape Meleas
thus taking the last legal step
necessary for the cargo to
continue its way to Iran.
oaOBER
27- Turkish Prime
Minister Süleyman Demirel,
on a visit to Tehran, meets
Iranian President Akbar
lIashemi Rafsanjani. TIie two
leaders çall fol"cl~rcoopet~
ation between theircountries
.and say it is better to cooperate
in central Asia than to
.compete for influence.
!Ba
. JANUARY
9- Prime Minister Demirel,
during an address to the True
Path Party (DYP) parliamentary
group, says he sent a personal
message to Iranian'
President Rafsanjani asking
Tehran to assist Ankara's
efforts to Uncover lranianlinked
terrorist activities.
FEBRUARY
4- Interior Minister tsmet
Sezgin says an Islamic fundamentalist
murder ring with
Iranian linkscarried out tt... -.ee
key .political killings in
Turkey.
5- Iran denies Turkish allegations
that it was linked to
political murders in Turkey.
6- Turkish Foreign .
Minister Hikmet çetin says in
Quette Pakistan, after meeting
All Akbar Velayati on the
sidelines of an ECO meeting
that he bad, handed the
resorts of investigations into
political killings in Turkey to
his Iranian counterpart.
10-PresidentAkbar
Hashemi Rafsanjani, in words
taken to be aimed at Turkey,
denies Muslim radicals
trained in Iran carried out
political murders in other
countries.
NOVEMBER
30- Turkish and Iranian
security officials ~an talks
in Ankara on secunng their
border against drugs, arms
smugglers and Kurdish separatists.
DECEMBER
2- Turkey and Iran finish
s~urity talks in Ankara by
concluding a.memorandum of
.understanding laying down
the guidelines for cooperation
. against terrorism by both
countries •.
21- Turkey's Deputy Prime
Minister Murat Karayalçm
refuses to meet visiting
Iranian First Vice-President
Hassan Habibi because he did
not pay his respects to Kemal
Atatürk. But Prime Minister
Tansu Çiller and Habibi .,
reportedly make progress in
their talks on economic and
security cooperation.
ments ID Turkey that lran was gloating over the
rise of the Islamists in this country. .
Anger rose among the secularists when even
President Rafsanjani's daughter started referring
during this visit to the "auspicious" developments
in Turkey, namely the rise oflslamism.
Things came to a head when Ambassador
Bagheri on January 31 addressed a "Jerusalem
~ight" c~remony in Ankara's Sincan district organIZed
by Its fundamentalist mayor from the
Welfare Party.
Bagheri' s laudatory remarks in praise of ~nda-
28