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

Revue de Press.e':'PressReview-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Basm Özeti
year led to the arrest of hundreds of its members. Scores of bodies of presumed victims of the group were found in
dungeons throughout the country.
There are also allegations that the group was originany linked' to state seèurityforces,- who were fignfIDg again.St
Kurdish rebels. Paradoxically, many of Hizbollah's victims were perceived as enemies of the state themselves.
Diyarbakir was previously at the centre of a conflict with Kurdish separatist rebels. But the rebels say they have abandoned
their armed struggle for self-iule and since 1999 fighting there has dwindled.
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AFP - 24 January 2001
Reza Pahlavi -urges end to support for moderates
WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (AFP) - Reza Pahlavi, son and heir of the late Shah of Iran, on Wednesday urged the international
community, particularly the United States, to abandon efforts to improve ties with the current Iranian regi- .
me. Pahlavi said the Islamic republic's current government, led by President Mohammad Khatami who is seen by
many as moderate, had failed to live up to promises to institute wide-ranging reforms.
"The train of reform has left the station and the honeymoon Khatami enjoyed is over," said Pahlavi, the son of Iran's
last monarch, Mohammad Reza-Pahlavi who was forced from power by the Islamic revolution in 1979.
Speaking to reporters at the National Press Club here, Pahlavi complained of "continued repression and failures of
president Khatami to fulfill his campaign promises of freedom and prosperity." "Today, the regime ponders whether
and how to 'sell Khatami' tothe public for a second term," he said, referring to Iran's next presidential election scheduled
for June.
Pahlavi compared the situation Khatami faces, who is struggling against conservatives in the country's theocratic
hierarchy, to that encountered by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev as he attempted reforms.
"He is like a Gorbachev stuck in the old politburo," Pahlavi said of Khatami, urging the United States and others
to give up attempts at rapprochement. "The United States cannot afford to invest its diplomatic and political energies
on finding moderates in the clerical regime," he said.
"I urge the new administration to invest in the people of Iran and their rightful struggle for a non-violent transition
to democracy and secularism," said the 40-year-old Pahlavi, who has lived in exile here since his father was
toppled. Pahlavi, noting rising discontent especially among the young, also appealed for the upcoming polls to be
"free and fair" and called for a referendum to establish a new "democratic and secular" regime.
Asked about his own ambitions, Pahlavi said he wanted be a "catalyst" for change in Iran and declared himself
"ready to serve" by taking the throne in a constitutional monarchy or in another position in a: republic.
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Turkey increases water flow to- Syria
• A small but important step was taken in water issue as Turkey starts to increase water flow to
Syria. Analysts say that this step may continue to accelerate the good ties between the two
countries
In 1998 Turkey accused Syria of backing terrorist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)and threatened to attack
Syria if it did not stop helping the terrorists. Syria backed down and expelled outlawed PKK leader
Abdullah Ocalan. Since that deal in late 1998 relations between the two neighbors has improved but are
still plagued by disputes over using the waters of the Euphrates river, which rises in Iurkey.
Although the two countries have taken a significant step in some previously controversial issues such as
security so far, there are several subjects that remain to be solved, likè the water dispute.
It has been reported that a small but important step was taken in the water issue as Turkey started to
increase water flow to Syria.
A long-running Syrian-Turkish water dispute may be beginning to ease with Turkey releasing more of
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