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

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro
de la Prensa-Bastn Ozeti
"It's black and white between the Kurdish areas and Iraq," says Alan Makovsky of the Washington Institute for
Near East policy. The aid creates problems, however. So much free U.N. food is pouring into the Kurdish area that
many farmers no longer bother to plant wheat in the valleys that once formed part of the breadbasket of Iraq.
The problem is becoming so serious that the local government is urging the United Nations to start buying food
locally. Currently, all the aid for the food program is imported so no money benefits Saddam's government.
"They need to give farmers an incentive to grow," says Safiq Qazzaz, the Kurdish official in charge of humanitarian
aid. Politically, the Kurds have also taken only small steps toward creating a viable state.
The region is partitioned between Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party and Jalal Talabani's Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan, which are antagonistic largely due to clan splits and a personality clash between their leaders.
The two militias face off across a fortified line that splits the enclave, with slightly over half of the enclave's
3.5 million people living in Barzani's area.
The two sides signed a cease-fire in Washington in 1998, but officials admit they have done little since to unite the
feuding fiefdoms. Many Kurds are pinning their hopes for stability on Washington, especially now that the son of
the U.S. president who defeated Saddam in the Gulf War is headed for the White House.
But few have forgotten that George W. Bush's father did not intervene in the north until after the Kurdish upri.,
sing was defeated. "Bush has the name, but it is not always complimentary," Qazzaz says.
Some people, like Ali el-Ekiabi, a political science professor at Irbil's university, keep ready to flee on a moment's
notice. "I don't think Saddam Hussein will be back tomorrow morning," el-Ekiabi says - but he keeps his passport
in his jacket pocket and his wife carries a small bag filled with dollars at all times.
"In five minutes I can be ready to go anywhere,"
he says.
Foreign Ministry: No change in Turkey's policy
towards Armenia
• Turkey says it will not set up diplomatic relations with Armenia until it ends its enemy
campaigns to have the so-called Armenian genocide recognized, and withdraws its soldiers from
Nogamo-Karabakh, the occupied Azerbaijani territory
Ankara - Turkish Daily News
Turkish Foreign Ministry's Deputy Spokesman Huseyin Dirioz stated that Turkey's policy towards
Armenia was well known and there was no change in.these policies in recent months.
Turkey says it will not set up diplomatic relations with Armenia until it ends its enemy campaigns to
have the so-called Armenian genocide recognized, and withdraws its soldiers from Nogamo-Karabakh,
the occupied Azerbaijani territory.
Last week a senior diplomat from the Turkish Foreign Ministry stated that the government has reached a
conclusion to handle the issue of the so-called Armenian genocide directly with Yerevan. Stressing that
resolutions from different European countries have recently increased dramatically, the same diplomat
said they have presented an extensive plan to the government to stop the anti-Turkish initiatives that
have turned into a worldwide campaign. The plan is a road map on how to normalize relations with
Armenia and then how to place discussion of the so-called genocide into its proper venue, which have
been two major goals, indicated the diplomat.
After these statements there were some comments and news on the Turkish media that implied
Turkey's policy towards Armenia will be changing. And it was also reported that referring to these
statements Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan claimed that Turkey understood that it will
nor reach any solution by denying the so-called Armenian genocide.
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