Turkish Daily News, 96-06-18

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From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>

TURKISH DAILY NEWS
18 June 1996

CONTENTS

[01] Tudjman says Croatia not a Balkan country

[02] Interview with Croatian President Franjo Tudjman

[03] Demirel on Bosnia visit

[04] Yilmaz, Gonensay to attend Florence meeting

[05] Regional politics go into overtime

[06] There is no military built up from the Turkish side at the Turkish-Syrian border.

[01] Tudjman says Croatia not a Balkan country

ZAGREB- President Franjo Tudjman of Croatia said his country historically belonged to Central Europe and was a Central European state.

In an exclusive interview with the Turkish Daily News, Tudjman said some international groups in Europe and in the world would like to link Croatia to the Balkans, the Balkan regional approach and Balkan institutions, even southeastern Europe in the wider concept. However, he said, "While Turkey is naturally in that area, Croatia, with its creation as an independent state, is absolutely in the right place to be part of Central Europe. Croatia is Mediterranean and Central European and that is the region with which Croatia is trying to integrate."

Tudjman said implementation of the Dayton peace accord was not expected to be a painless one but that the accord had to be implemented because there was no other solution available to the sides of the conflict in the territory of former Yugoslavia.

He said fears that the elections called for by the Dayton accord might not be held were unnecessary, and stressed, "We are going to have elections. I think we have to do everything to perform the elections."

[02] Interview with Croatian President Franjo Tudjman

'We have to do everything to perform the elections'

By Yusuf Kanli
Turkish Daily News

ZAGREB- Croatian President Franjo Tudjman said his country is a Central European state.

In an exclusive interview with the Turkish Daily News before his scheduled visit to Turkey, which starts Wednesday, the Croatian president said implementation of the Dayton peace accord was not expected to be painless one but has to be implemented because there was no other solution available to the conflict on the former Yugoslavia territory.

He said fears that the elections called for by the Dayton accord might not be held were unnecessary and stressed: "We are going to have elections. I think we have to do everything possible to hold the elections."

However, the Croatian president underlined that "the election itself is not going to change the situation we are in right now" but will create a legal basis for the end of the war and will create preconditions for the new world order in the region.

Accusing opponents of the elections of being against implementation of the Dayton agreements, "That is the essence. We have to face that problem if we want Dayton to end the war and create peace," Tudjman said.

He said the importance of peace becomes even more evident when the other crisis areas in the world are considered. "Similar agreements have been reached in the Middle East between the Israelis and the Palestinians and, in a way, in Europe as far as Northern Ireland is concerned. Because of that, all those who were actually involved in it, especially the United States and other members of the international community who led us to the Dayton peace agreement, must reassure and force some of the players to participate in the election," he underlined.

Tudjman said the Yugoslavia crisis showed that, but for the American involvement, the international community was incapable of dealing with a major crisis. He said that at the beginning of the crisis in the former Yugoslavia, the European Union and the international community wanted to find a solution which would enable the preservation of Yugoslavia. That was not possible, he said, because "it was unnatural."

He complained that "in terms of finding a peaceful solution to the crisis, the international community was on the side of those who wanted to preserve Yugoslavia, even through using force."

The Croatian president said his country attached great importance on relations with Turkey.

"Turkey is important for two reasons. First, politically the position of Turkey is, though not directly Balkan, actually linked with the history of the Balkans and related with the Balkans," he said. "Beside that political linkage, Turkey has special cultural links with the Balkans as could be observed in Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania and Bulgaria. And it is discernible, whichever way you point, that we have Islamic elements here...."

"Turkish policy has a great role here. And it was shown in relations with Bosnia that it is very important. When we are talking about relations with Croatia and Turkey, we have close, if not identical, views on the situation in Bosnia. It is also clear that Europe is not willing to help us. Turkey is a country which is linked to the Middle East as well as to central Asia, which are parts of the former Soviet Union. Because Croatia was in the former Yugoslavia and because of Bosnia, Croatia is interested and linked to those problems," the Croatian president said.

Responding to a question about regional cooperation, Tudjman said his country supported regional cooperation but did not consider itself a Balkan country. "When we are talking about regional problems, Croatia wants to go back to the area where it was historically and geopolitically based: Central Europe. That was where Croatia was until the end of World War I. Some international groups in Europe and in the world would like to link Croatia to the Balkans, the Balkan regional approach and Balkan institutions, even southeast Europe in the wider concept. Turkey is naturally in that area -- Balkan eastern Europe -- and Croatia, with its creation as an independent state, is absolutely in the right place to be part of Central Europe. Croatia is Mediterranean and Central European and that is the region with which Croatia is trying to integrate," he stressed.

Tudjman said that the regional approach could serve the purpose of integration but "I have already said that Croatia is interested in good relations with all the countries of the Balkan region and southeast Europe but Croatia, regionally, is a part of Central Europe."

"Regional integration is regional cooperation on the basis of geographic and historic links. Especially in the example of former Yugoslavia, integration of the areas which are part of Eastern Europe with the Balkans. Maybe with the dissolution of Yugoslavia, with the creation of such states as emerged after WW I and WW II, then nowadays, the dissolution of Yugoslavia may be earning some recognition for a new and stable order in this part of the world," he said.

Talking about bilateral relations between Turkey and Croatia, Tudjman said the two countries enjoyed extremely good political ties, but economic relations did not so far match political ties. Yet, he said, with the restoration of peace and stability in the region, he was confident that economic relations between Turkey and Croatia would prosper.

"We can say that trade is not on the same level as political relations. There were successful political and military contacts to solve the (Bosnia) crisis and I think that there are good opportunities to develop economic relations with the ending of the crisis and the normalization of relations between all of the states in this area," Tudjman said.

Stressing that his country was in favor of the free market economy, Tudjman said there was a need for initiatives for increased economic transactions between the two countries.

Responding to a question about a military training agreement he is to sign during the forthcoming visit to Turkey, Tudjman said "I think that there is a necessity for such a military agreement."

The Croatian president said he believed the Turks are similar to Croatians and added "They also went through war. I expect that Turkey will continue on the path set by Kemal Ataturk, Ismet Inonu and the others, with President Ozal and President Demirel, and will play a positive role as a bridge between Islam and the Western world. Turks have a role to cement the links between civilizations. With such a role we can prevent the conflict which some extremists would like to see, a conflict which would be catastrophic."

[03] Demirel on Bosnia visit

SARAJEVO- President Suleyman Demirel on Monday foresaw a "new era" in the Balkans as he started a two-day state visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina to assert Turkey's role in the troubled peninsula.

Arriving just weeks after another official visit by Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, Demirel said his talks with Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic would focus on the future of the Balkan republic -- which has emerged from a long and painful ethnic conflict -- and its security after the possible withdrawal of the NATO force.

"There should not be another war in Bosnia; old wounds should not bleed again," Demirel told reporters on his way to Sarajevo.

He said that Turkey was averse to the withdrawal of the IFOR (the international peace implementation force) at the end of this year, and that he had conveyed his views to U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

Demirel said he had also discussed the developments with the Bulgarian and Romanian heads of state, who visited Turkey, and would have similar talks with Croat leader Franjo Tudjman, arriving in Ankara this week.

"It is essential that the peace continues and the current process of reconstruction goes on," Demirel said.

But he discounted any unilateral Turkish involvement in peacekeeping, stressing that "Turkey is there within the framework of IFOR," although Chief of General Staff Ismail Hakki Karadayi is accompanying him on the visit as well as Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay and other senior officials.

Turkey has sent 1,500 troops and about 100 policemen to Bosnia for peacekeeping duties, and a squadron of Turkish F-16 jets to participate in NATO missions conducted from Italy.

Having close cultural and religious links with Bosnian Muslims, it has also undertaken to provide training for the Bosnian army.

But Turkey, the dominant power in the ethnically diverse Balkans until the 19th century, has taken an active stance against permanent divisions in the peninsula.

While mediating in the frequent frictions between the Bosnian Muslims and Croats and backing their federation, Ankara has also refrained from severing ties with Serbia and looks forward to normal ties with Belgrade within a wider Balkan cooperation after the wounds of bitter ethnic conflict are healed.

After a private meeting between themselves, Demirel and Izetbegovic attended official talks between the delegations.

Demirel met later on Monday with Bosnian-Croat Federation President Kresimir Zubak and Vice President Eyub Ganjic.

Demirel was also to visit the Turkish brigade stationed in Zenica to award a standard.

On Tuesday the president is to visit the picturesque town of Mostar, where Turkey has offered to rebuild a historic bridge destroyed during the war.

The current visit is the third the Turkish president has made to the war-ravaged country in two years, the first being in 1994 when he was not allowed into Sarajevo, then under siege by the Serbs.

Beside the symbolic value of paying an official visit to the Bosnian capital, the trip had two other symbolic messages, one senior Foreign Ministry official said.

One was the scheduled trip to Mostar, highlighting Turkey's interest in clinching the alliance between Bosnian Muslims and the Croats. He said elections in the province at the end of the month would show whether the federation was firm or had begun to show cracks.

The final message, through the visit to the Turkish brigade in Zenica, was intended to show Turkey's deep interest in Bosnia's security, and highlight its efforts to speed up the "equip and train" scheme under which Bosnian troops are to receive heavy Western weapons and be trained in their use.

[04] Yilmaz, Gonensay to attend Florence meeting

ANKARA- Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay will participate in the Florence meeting with the European Union's troika -- the past, present and future presidents of the EU.

Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Nurettin Nurkan, speaking at the ministry's weekly press conference, said that Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay would participate in the Florence summit within the framework of structural dialogue with the EU.

"At the Florence meeting there will be a meeting with the troika plus, which means that an invitation was sent by the Italian Presidency to the member countries to participate in the meeting with our Prime Minister in Florence. We are foreseeing to develop the structural dialogue between Turkey and the EU. Within this framework the meeting in Florence will constitute a step forward in our structural dialogue," Nurkan said.

[05] Regional politics go into overtime

By Ugur Akinci
Turkish Daily News

WASHINGTON- As these lines were written on Sunday night, Americans were certainly aware of the electoral combat between Boris Yeltsin and Zyuganov in Russia but their hearts and minds were glued on something else: Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.On the same night the first results of the Russian presidential election started to filter in to Washington, the Bulls grabbed their fourth NBA championship in Chicago against the Seattle Supersonics.

Just like Michael Jordan came back from 18 months of absence from basketball courts and won another "big-one" for the fans, those few analysts who weren't watching the championship game were wondering if Yeltsin also has what it takes to win another one for the Russian democrats. A run-off election between Yeltsin and Zyuganov seems likely within a few weeks. Like the unending end-game between pro-Islamic Welfare Party and its secular adversaries in Turkey, the Cyprus issue, or the stretched-out gambit between Israel and Syria, the Yeltsin-Zyuganov duel also seems to be headed for the overtime.

Henry Kissinger, Nixon's national security adviser and secretary of state, was one of the pundits wondering aloud on Sunday TV about the repercussions of the Russian finals. The U.S. administration is too much enamored of Yeltsin, just like Washington once also enamored of Gorbachev -- who lost. Banking on one superstar is not the way to serve U.S. national interests, Kissinger said on ABC TV. If he were Bulls' coach, Kissinger probably would have dropped Jordan from his starting lineup.

Kissinger's words carry a different weight in the aftermath of Netanyahu's victory in Israel over Peres -- another politician Clinton banked on. Russian troops are in Georgia, and pressing on Azerbaijan. Moscow's effort to control the Caucasus and the crucial central Asian and Caspian oil pipelines could spell big trouble for the West, especially when the energy needs of countries like China are about to explode, Kissinger reminded.One could almost hear Emre Gonensay talking -- not in public, but in private of course.

Strobe Talbott, U.S. deputy secretary of state, was well aware how his fans would boo if Yeltsin lost despite all the generous support and 10 billion IMF dollars Yeltsin was given -- over the 30,000 dead Chechen bodies. In order not to be caught supporting another loser, Talbott said on the same ABC Sunday show that the United States supported the "process" of eventual democratization in Russia and not any one particular presidential candidate. A romantic admirer of Russian culture and history, Talbott nevertheless sounded like a spectator ready to switch sides in case Zyuganov wins.

In the world-according-to-NBA, Syria's Hafez al-Assad seems to have received the two-minute-warning with Netanyahu's election.That must be why more bloody elbows are now flying under the peace-basket. Faisal Husseini, a Palestinian leader only second to Arafat in prominence and whose ancestors fought against the Turks during World War I, promised another intifada while he visited Washington, even before the new Israeli government is formed. The rising number of Israeli dead in the occupied southern Lebanon makes Israel itself certainly sound like harbingers of Husseini's promise. Hizbollah's spiritual leader, Sheik Nabil Kaouk, told the "Washington Post" that they will continue hitting Israel until the Israelis "have wept as our people have wept." But all this could only make it harder for Assad, as some observers note.

Peres was willing to look the other way while Assad sent Hizbollah fighters down south and Kurdistan Workers' Party guerrillas up north -- all for the sake of Assad's elusive signature under a land-for-peace document. Secretary of State Warren Christopher was equally evasive. As the "New York Times" noted, in Christopher's Washington Institute for Near East Policy speech he attacked Iran, Hizbollah and Hamas for terrorism but skipped Syria. Each time Amb. Dennis Ross, Christopher's special peace process envoy, visited Assad he "raised the issue of terrorism" -- and then there was the same deafening silence. Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East Robert Pelletreau committed the same curious omission during recent Congressional testimony. President Clinton told the visiting King Hussein of Jordan that he was well advised to keep his relations with Damascus at an optimal best. Syrian terrorism was not mentioned aloud in the polite Democrat circles of Washington unless it was brought up bluntly by a Republican iconoclast like Daniel Pipes.

But Assad has accumulated too many personal fouls in this fourth quarter and he has stayed fixed for so long in the same stance that he may soon be whistled for a three-second violation under the basket. the "New York Times" carried a front-page story on Assad's lethal duplicity of employing terror groups for his own purposes. The fact that such a pro-Democrat daily ran the story and did so on the front-page, in itself could be considered bad news for Assad.

While Christopher was talking to Assad at the Syrian Presidential Palace, to end fighting between Israel and Hizbollah, "a few miles away at Damascus International Airport an Iran Air 747 unloaded Katyusha rockets and other military equipment for delivery via Syrian military trucks for those guerrillas," the Times wrote. Besides providing a base for Palestinian raids, Assad turned a blind eye on drug processing and dollar counterfeiting, and supported the PKK as a counter to Turkey's water card, the Times said. "Even now, [PKK leader] Mr. Ocalan lives in Damascus and gives interviews from time to time. Hundreds of his fighters train in Palestinian-controlled camps in the Bekaa," according to American intelligence officers, the Times reported.

On top of that, enter the Israeli-Turkish military agreement, which places Syria smack in the middle of a fast break lane -- and Netanyahu could be at the foul line with the Turks, throwing one free throw after another. Observers doubt if the Arab Summit in Cairo will be able to change that. And since 1996 is a presidential election year in the United States, the Clinton administration cannot continue its turn-the-head-the-other-way policy and risk looking soft on Syria anymore. To become a "free agent" in the next season is not what an incumbent president looks forward to.

With so many playoff games being played at the same time in the Middle East, it is no wonder that rumors of game-fixing is in the air. Thomas L. Friedman, a Middle East expert, of the Times, sees Turkey at the hub of the plot that thickens around the match with Syria. In his Sunday column, he said that the "speculation in Istanbul" is that the $6 million missing from former Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's discretionary fund might have been spent for bombings in Damascus, among other nefarious projects. In any case, Turkish-Israeli alignment is well underway, Friedman said.

The alignment created sonic booms in many Arab and other capitals -- with the exception of Amman. When Turkish President Suleyman Demirel visited Askabad, Turkmenistan in May after visiting Israel, Iranian President Rafsanjani met with Demirel and Rafsanjani "went bananas" over the Turkish-Israeli pact, according to Friedman. Two days later, a pro-Islamic fanatic tried to assassinate Demirel in Izmit for allowing the pact to be signed. All these events remind us of the cool shadow that the Welfare Party (RP) throws on the politics of the region.

Like a player who sat for too long on the bench, the RP is very eager to come out and play, if only the referee allowed it to do so. Nobody forgets that the Turkish referee is patient but when he blows up he turns into Bobby Knight -- the chair-throwing coach of the Indiana University.Three times in the past, the Turkish referee ejected all the players from the court for intentional fouls.

Two recent stories in the Times and the "Christian Science Monitor" dwelled on different aspects of the RP's predicament. As the doubts about the RP's "real intentions" continue, even its worst critics grudgingly accept two facts:

- The RP have done better than expected in the municipalities that it controls, like Istanbul.

- If the anti-RP establishment can not form a stable government despite the full blessings of the almost 80 percent of the voters who did not vote for the RP in the December 1995 general election, then the RP must be given a chance to form a coalition.

Even business mogul Sakip Sabanci went on record wishing so. The danger is that the more it is denied of power, more votes RP can get at the next elections.

The Times quoted Fehmi Koru of daily Zaman: "(President Turgut Ozal) said that Turkey in 10 years would be one of the 15 major countries in the world. Now if anyone heard that argument, they would just laugh. People have lost that confidence in themselves." That's what happened to Michael Jordan when he left basketball for baseball following his father's murder.Chicago Bulls' fourth NBA championship proved that comebacks are possible. Those in the State Department as well as Washington think-tanks are waiting for a similar comeback from Turkey. What is not clear at this point is if Turkey could enter the equivalent of lightning-fast NBA playoffs with a team that is proud of its traditional wrestling skills.

Cyprus is another game that has dragged into overtime for quite a while. As you read these lines, Greek-Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides will be in Washington for an official visit with one thing in mind -- to convince the Clinton administration to apply pressure on Ankara for a solution. Talks for the sake of talks are out. Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Nicosia Richard Boucher said that "the talks should not only involve discussions, but rather are prepared and designed to reach agreement." That's as natural as a team coming out to the court not only to warm up, but also to play and win. But Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas' special emphasis on the sovereignty and equal-representation issue remains to be addressed. Unless the TRNC players are allowed to wear their own uniforms, they won't play.

Confidential TDN sources close to the TRNC and Greek-Cypriot administrations confide in private that they thought the issue was finally solved when back in 1992 Denktas and Clerides, during a private dinner in U.N. Special Representative Gustave Faisal's home, reportedly reached an understanding both on the sovereignty issue and Cyprus' accession to the European Union.Now, in trying to circumvent the Denktas-factor once again by using Washington to pressure Ankara, Clerides is shooting another air-ball, Turkish observers claim.

As so many summer games go into overtime, the Yeltsin-Zyuganov face-off will probably be the first contest to conclude shortly with a slam-dunk. Others will extend into colder months with one missed technical free-throw after another.

[06] There is no military built up from the Turkish side at the Turkish-Syrian border.

Turkish Daily News

ANKARA- Ankara said that there is no military built-up from Turkish side at the Syrian-Turkish Border.

Turkish Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Nurettin Nurkan in the weekly press briefing to foreign journalists said that He was not able to confirm the reports claiming that at the Syrian side of the border there is military movements.

In responding a question about the words of the deputy General Secretary of the Arab league Muvaffak Al Allaf who said that it would be serious development if Turkey rid incursion to Syria, Nurkan said that Turkey was not a constitute a threat to its neighbors.

"We would like to have good relations with Syria.There is a specific condition for improving our relations with Syria. They have to stop to support to the terrorism. Turkey is not constitute a threat to its neighbors." Nurkan said.

Addressing to questions Nurkan said that there is no hot pursuit plan towards Syria and withmilitary officials they are studying the developments.

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