TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (June 23, 1995)

CONTENTS

  • [01] HOLBROOKE AND HAAS DEFEND TURKEY VIGOROUSLY

  • [02] DUTCH MINISTER REPORTS PROGRESS IN TIES WITH TURKEY

  • [03] GREEK SPOKESMAN SAYS GOVERNMENT NOT AWARE OF MPS MEETING OCALAN IN LEBANON

  • [04] RUSSIAN TOURISTS CHOOSE TURKEY FOR VACATIONS

  • [05] ELEVEN PKK MILITANTS KILLED, FOUR CAPTURED IN SOUTHEAST

  • [06] ENVIRONMENTALIST REPORTERS TO VISIT TURKEY

  • [07] FOREIGN CURRENCY RESERVES PEAK AT $13 BILLION

  • [08] TURKEY TELLS UN ITS WORRIES ABOUT GREEK AEGEAN PLANS

  • [09] GHALI READY TO MEDIATE IN TURKISH-GREEK DISPUTES

  • [10] EUROPEANS DIVIDED OVER TURKEY

  • [11] TURKEY APPLYING PETROL PIPE PRESSURE

  • [12] TURKISH PARLIAMENTARIAN GETS GERMAN AWARD

  • [13] FEARS OF A CYPRUS SHOWDOWN

  • [14] CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES GOING SLOWLY

  • [15] TURKEY'S DIPLOMATIC SUCCESS

  • [16] ANKARA REJECTS THE CUCO REPORT

    •

    THE COMPLIMENT OF

    DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION

    TURKISH PRESS REVIEW

    JUNE 23, 1995

    Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish

    press this morning.

    [01] HOLBROOKE AND HAAS DEFEND TURKEY VIGOROUSLY

    A Western European Union (WEU) seminar on "European Security" organized by the Atlantic Council in Turkey on Wednesday, displayed once again the contrasting perspectives that the US and some European allies have adopted in their approaches to Turkey's EU membership. Joergen Kosmo, Defence Minister of Norway, said during the panel discussion that Turkey has "many political, economic and cultural problems" and that it would not be proper for Turkey "to bring such problems to the EU". "It is my belief that EU membership will be open for Turkey in the future" Kosmo said, "if Turkey is growing in the right direction" that is, if she solves such problems first. He emphasized that they expected Turkey to solve those problems because "Turkey is a European country". Speaking after Kosmo, Richard Haas of the Council of Foreign Relations and Carnegie Endowment launched a strong defence of Turkey and attacked the EU's reluctance to admit Turkey as a full member with words like "shame" and "strategic shortsightedness". He said the EU was ignoring many areas in which Turkey has contributed to allied causes such as in the Gulf War, or Turkey's positon vis-a-vis Russia. "Obstracizing Turkey won't help" Haas said. He criticized the "unfortunate double standards" the EU was employing in stalling Turkey's application. "In the long run it is bad for the EU, it is bad for Turkey" he said. Richard Holbrooke, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs, followed Haas with his characteristic support for Turkey as a "front-line state" which "replaced Germany". "Turkey is a part of Europe" he emphasized. He repeated his well-known views that Turkey is situated in a very rough neighbourhood, surrounded by tough adversaries. He recalled that "since Ataturk, Turkey has been a secular Western-oriented democracy". Reiterating the importance of Greece's withdrawal of its objection to Turkey's customs union membership, "the customs union must be approved by the European Parliament in Strasbourg" he said. He said that Turkey's customs union membership would constitute a "good step for the next terrian" that is, Cyprus' EU membership. He said a "federated Cyprus" with "both communities" should be a member of the EU. Turkey's joining the customs union will help solve the Cyprus issue too" he said. /Milliyet/

    [02] DUTCH MINISTER REPORTS PROGRESS IN TIES WITH TURKEY

    Dutch Defence Minister Joris Voorhoeve said on Wednesday that ties between Turkey and the Netherlands were recovering after a deterioration in April over a dispute regarding the Kurdish issue. Voorhoeve told the Anatolia news agency in Washington that his country acknowledges Turkey's legitimate fight against separatist terrorism.

    [03] GREEK SPOKESMAN SAYS GOVERNMENT NOT AWARE OF MPS MEETING OCALAN IN LEBANON

    Evangelos Venizelos, spokesman for the Greek government, claimed yesterday that the government was not aware of six Greek deputies' meeting with the leader of the PKK terrorist organization in Lebanon. In a press conference in Athens, Venizelos said that such acitivies on the part of the deputies were outside the government's authority. After their return from Lebanon, the deputies issued a statement in Athens, saying they had acted on behalf of the Hellenism and Orthodox Committee of the Greek Parliament. Meanwhile, the Greek Embassy Counsellor in Ankara was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry yesterday as the Greek Ambassador to Ankara was in Athens. The Ministry stated that this behaviour of Greece, a NATO member, could not be acceptable within the alliance. /Hurriyet/

    [04] RUSSIAN TOURISTS CHOOSE TURKEY FOR VACATIONS

    Albert Chernishev, Russian Deputy Interior Minister, told a visiting delegation from the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges that Turkey was the Russians' preferred holiday destination. Speaking at a reception in Moscow, the deputy minister said that about 300,000 Russians visit Antalya every year, stay in the most expensive hotels and spend many thousands of dollars. He added that two million Russians go to Istanbul and the Black Sea region of Turkey for suitcase trading.

    [05] ELEVEN PKK MILITANTS KILLED, FOUR CAPTURED IN SOUTHEAST

    Eleven militants of the PKK terrorist organization were killed, four were captured and three surrendered during military operations in the Southeast, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. Military officials said seven militants were killed by troops in a clash in the Savur district of Mardin province and their weapons were confiscated. Three armed militants surrendered in the same region. Four militants were killed in the region between Tekman district in Erzurum and Varto district in Mus province. Four PKK militants were captured in Bursa.

    [06] ENVIRONMENTALIST REPORTERS TO VISIT TURKEY

    Environmentalist reporters from France, the US, Denmark, Russia, Germany, England and Azerbaijan will visit Turkey as the guests of the Environment Ministry from June 24 to 30, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. The ministry aims to show them the natural and historical beauties of Turkey.

    [07] FOREIGN CURRENCY RESERVES PEAK AT $13 BILLION

    The Central Bank's (CB) foreign exchange reserves have reached $13.1 billion, the highest level ever, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. According to Bank figures, the reserves stood at $11.94 billion at the end of May. The international reserves of the country total $22.3 billion, of which $1.3 billion is in gold reserves, $12.3 billion in CB currency reserves and $8.7 billion are currency reserves held by commercial banks.

    [08] TURKEY TELLS UN ITS WORRIES ABOUT GREEK AEGEAN PLANS

    Turkey has told the UN about its concerns about Greek intentions regarding the Aegean and its determination not to allow the expansion of Greek territorial water limits. The points were made in a letter sent to UN Secretary-General Boutros Ghali by Inal Batu, the Turkish Ambassador to the UN. The letter, seemingly sent in reply to an earlier publicized note sent by the Athens government, also noted Ankara's "sincere hopes that Greece will refrain from an adventurist policy". In its letter, Athens reportedly accused Turkey of resorting to threats of war to dissuade it from exercising its right to double the Greek territorial water limits to 12 miles. Disputing Greek arguments that the Law of the Sea Agreement gave it the right to expand its territorial waters, Batu told Ghali that Turkey had not signed the agreement and held the view that the agreement was not applicable to "semi-closed" seas such as the Aegean "whose status had been set forth by the 1923 Lausanne treaty". The ambassador stressed that Greece already had control over 43.5 % of the Aegean even with the present 6-mile limits compared to the 7.5 % under Turkish sovereignty and that any increase would further turn the sea into a Greek lake. He further disputed Athens' thesis that 12-mile limits merely concerned navigational rights, pointing out that most of the Aegean seabed resources and airspace would come under Greek sovereignty. /Hurriyet/

    [09] GHALI READY TO MEDIATE IN TURKISH-GREEK DISPUTES

    UN Secretary-General Boutros Ghali is ready to mediate in longstanding Turkish-Greek disputes, the Anatolia news agency reported. Talking to Turkish reporters in New York ahead of his planned official visit to Turkey on July 16-20, Ghali reportedly said the lack of enthusiasm on the part of even one of the sides would doom such a mission to failure and he would not take it on his shoulders. Ghali also ruled out any immediate settlement of the Cyprus dispute, admitting that the "secret talks" held in London between the representatives of the two sides had ended in failure. But he said, "Like the doctors who never say a case is hopeless, we have to press on for a solution". Meanwhile, Inal Batu, the Turkish Ambassador to the UN, criticized Ghali's recent report to the UN Security Council on Cyprus in which he called for the extension of the UN Peacekeeping Force (UNFICYP) until the end of the year. The ambassador particularly objected to the fact that there was little mention of the massive Greek Cypriot arms buildup and phases which almost seemed to justify the buildup "to counter the Turkish threat". /Cumhuriyet/

    [10] EUROPEANS DIVIDED OVER TURKEY

    Reports this morning note that although Turkey has made notable progress in certain areas in connection with deepening ties with Europe, organs in the European Union (EU) are divided over what course to take.

    Some parliamentary groups have agreed to suggestions that Turkey's full membership is an issue that could be delayed for some time yet. Other important bodies want to see Turkey brought into the European fold, with Turkey being involved more in EU procedures. Moves to exclude Turkey in some areas have attracted little attention, while on the other hand, efforts to promote Turkey's advantages to Europeans have met with more support. /Milliyet/

    [11] TURKEY APPLYING PETROL PIPE PRESSURE

    In new moves to get its proposals for an overland Georgia-Turkey petrol pipeline accepted, Turkey's Ambassador to Washington, Nuzhet Kandemir has been having talks about the matter with top US Foreign Department official Richard Holbrooke.

    Turkey wants to get its hands on the distribution and marketing of Azeri petrol reserves, and approval of a pipeline through Georgia would clinch the deal for Turkey. Russia is proposing a pipeline outlet of its own, but with US support, Turkey could likely swing the decison in its own favour. With the US on its side, Turkey will then work to convince regional centres that Turkey's pipeline proposal would be in the best interests of everyone. /Milliyet/

    [12] TURKISH PARLIAMENTARIAN GETS GERMAN AWARD

    Motherland (ANAP) Party member Bulent Akarcali, was presented with an honorary German award yesterday by the German ambassador to Ankara, Dr. Hans-Joachim Vergau.

    Akarcali was given the award in recognition of his services to Turkey and Germany as the head of the Turkish Democracy Foundation. The German Federal Republic Star and Cross Order of Merit presentation ceremony was attended by ANAP party chairman Mesut Yilmaz and other officials. /Hurriyet/

    [13] FEARS OF A CYPRUS SHOWDOWN

    President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Rauf Denktas, has lambasted a military cooperation accord signed by Greece and Syria as "the greatest expression of ill-intentions". Denktas has warned that the Greek community on the island could be planning some sort of military attack against the TRNC.

    Claiming that the Greek community was speeding up the acquisition of arms for that very purpose, Denktas said in talks with Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader Bulent Ecevit that fears were growing in the TRNC that the Greeks would catch them unawares.

    Ecevit, for his part, said that if the TRNC was unprepared, then the UN would step in with a cease-fire agreement that Turkey and the TRNC would have to observe. Ecevit pointed to reports in the Greek Cypriot press that the Greek-Syrian military cooperation agreement signed in the past days between the defence ministers of the two countries was aimed at enabling Greek jets to use Syrian air bases to hit at northern Cyprus.

    In support of his claims, Denktas noted that the Greek forces were carrying out night exercises, and that accumulation of weapons had been speeded up. There are reports going around too that the Greek side will be buying Russian tanks. /Hurriyet/

    [14] CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES GOING SLOWLY

    For over a week now, parliament has been agonizing over a number of vital constitutional changes that are part of the process that Turkey has to accept as the cost of moving into customs union with the European Union countries. So far only seven articles have been reviewed. Of these, only four have been accepted, three have been rejected.

    Even the simplist amendments are having a rough passage through parliament. The easiest change of all, reducing the voting age to eighteen only got a passing vote of 280 votes after a long uphill struggle. According to the experts, this alone indicates that the amendments package will fail to cross the threshold of 300 votes without a referendum. /Milliyet/

    [15] TURKEY'S DIPLOMATIC SUCCESS

    An "ultimatum" decision by the European Council Parliamentarians Assembly (ECPA) calling for a suspension in the Turkey-EU membership process in case democratic reforms are not realized by 26 June, as handed down by the European Council Ministers Committee has been disputed. Giving an answer to the ECPA, a committee representing the Foreign Ministers of 34 countries, stressed the importance of Turkey in the European Council by sending "friendly" messages, and stating that the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) was fully able to make its own decisions, sent a message to the ECPA requesting that the ECPA should avoid interfering in the work of other assemblies. An amendment proposal from Greece and Greek Cypriots in the response text of the Committee asking that the text be re-written in a more severe manner was rejected by the other countries. In the response text sentences have been carefully prepared in order not to offend the Ankara government. Turkey's indivisible national integrity was stressed and PKK terrorism in and outside of the country was condemned. Recalling that the TGNA was still working to make constitutional amendments, it was also stated that the results of these efforts could be expected soon. This text, supported by French initiatives especially, has been described as a "diplomatic success" for Turkey by the European Council. /Hurriyet/

    [16] ANKARA REJECTS THE CUCO REPORT

    The Turkish Foreign Ministry has stated that the report of Spanish Deputy Alfonse Cuco, approved by the Western European Union Parliamentarians Assembly yesterday included statements which could be construed as interference in Turkey's domestic policies. Statements by the Greek deputies in the WEU Parliamentarians Assembly were described as "crocodile tears". Omer Akbel, Foreign Ministry Spokesman said yesterday that the Turkey section of the Cuco report was "prejudiced" and "contained factual errors". Akbel stressed that Turkey gave no consideration to this report and rejected it as an example of an "unreasonable excess of zeal". /Hurriyet/

    END

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