Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
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Revue <strong>de</strong> Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro <strong>de</strong> la Prensa-Basm Öz<strong>et</strong>i<br />
Could' situation on Iraqi oil exports turn against<br />
Turkey?<br />
• Deputy Un<strong>de</strong>rsecr<strong>et</strong>ary Aykut C<strong>et</strong>irge opens discussion on wh<strong>et</strong>her a period of reconciliation is about<br />
to emerge with longtime foe and neighbor Syria<br />
• Both Turkey and Iraq <strong>de</strong>sire full lifting of economic sanctions, but Ankara un<strong>de</strong>rlines that this can<br />
only occur 'after Iraq has complied with UN resolutions'<br />
ELIF SEMIHA KUFLU<br />
Frankfurt - Turkish Daily News<br />
Now that it seems almost certain that most of Iraq's oil exports will be transported via Turkey, diplomatic<br />
observers are warning that Turkey's share in the tra<strong>de</strong> may <strong>de</strong>crease slightly.<br />
Turkey, a favored route for transferring Iraqi oil to world mark<strong>et</strong>s, also supplies Iraq with the food and<br />
medicines that countryhungers for. Turkey, which suffered greatly from the economic impact of the U;N.<br />
sanctions imposed on Iraq after the Gulf War in 1991,is expected to transport up to 70 percent of Iraq's oil,<br />
with the remaining percentage transferred via Gulf countries. But now, an Iraqi official told the Turkish<br />
Daily News (TDN) on Monday, Syria also wants to handle a portion of the recently increased Iraqi oil<br />
exports. According to this same Iraqi official, who asked not to be named, "Syria, which dosed its pipeline to<br />
Iraq a few years ago, now says it is ready to reopen it and export some of the increased oil output, like<br />
Turkey." .<br />
On the diplomatic front, a recent visit to Damascus by Foreign Ministry Deputy Un<strong>de</strong>rsecr<strong>et</strong>ary Aykut<br />
C<strong>et</strong>irge prompted a discussion on wh<strong>et</strong>her or not'a period of reconciliation is about to emerge with<br />
longtime foe and neighbor Syria. Turkey and Syria are at odds over water-related disputes and Damascus'<br />
support of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). None of the outstanding disputes seem near<br />
resolution.<br />
. .<br />
In evaluating the recent U.S.-Iraqi crisis, the Iraqi official commented, "The worst thing about it was that it<br />
only served to strengthen [Iraqi Presi<strong>de</strong>nt] Saddam Hussein." Another diplomatic observer told the TDN,<br />
"The people in northern Iraq, perhaps ironically, have a b<strong>et</strong>ter chance of g<strong>et</strong>ting food from the food-far-oil<br />
<strong>de</strong>al, but that is not a sure thing for the rest of the country.'~<br />
Un<strong>de</strong>r a U.N. resolution passed after the latest U.N.-Iraqi standoff, Iraq's oil exports have increased by more<br />
tha~ $5 ~~lliona year, strictly for use within the oil-far-food <strong>de</strong>al. Turkey, during a recent visit by high-level<br />
IraqI offiCiaIsto Ankara, took advantage of the opportunity to lobby for all the Iraqi oil it can g<strong>et</strong>, as well as<br />
improved import conditions,<br />
~eanwhile, diplomatic observers point out that smuggling, including that of diesel oil through Turkey, has<br />
Increased. These observers warn that the countries with influence in the region, who are aware of this illicit<br />
tra<strong>de</strong> and so far have not taken measures against it, might stop turning a blind eye to the issue soon.<br />
Both Turkey's and its southern neighbor's economies took a nose-dive caused in part by the halt in<br />
cross-bor<strong>de</strong>r tra<strong>de</strong> following the Gulf War, when Turkey chose .to support the United States and the rest of<br />
the allied forces and opened its territory to air strikes on Iraq prompted by Saddam's invasion of Kuwait.<br />
Both Turkey and Iraq <strong>de</strong>sire a full lifting of the economic sanctions, but Ankara continues to un<strong>de</strong>rline that<br />
this can only occur "after Iraq has fully complied with all U.N. resolutions."<br />
1 April 1998,Copyright @ Turkish DailyNews<br />
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