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TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (February 15, 1996)From: TRKNWS-L <trh@aimnet.com>Turkish Press Review DirectoryCONTENTS[01] DEMIREL TALKS WITH ALIYEV[02] YILMAZ AND ERBAKAN TO MEET AGAIN[03] TURKEY URGES SYRIA TO HAND OVER PKK LEADER[04] ATHENS SHOULD KEEP TO ITS WORD[05] US UNEASY ABOUT AEGEAN DEVELOPMENTS[06] EU MUST KEEP ITS WORD[07] TURKISH CYPRIOTS CONDEMN GREEK CYPRIOT PARLIAMENT DECLARATION[08] PROTEST OVER ANNULLED ELECTION IN BULGARIA[09] FOUR PKK MILITANTS KILLED IN SOUTHEAST[10] TEXTILE BUSINESSMEN MEET TO DO MORE IN UK[11] AGREEMENT WITH TAJIKISTANTURKISH PRESS REVIEWTHURSDAY FEBRUARY 15, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] DEMIREL TALKS WITH ALIYEVPresident Suleyman Demirel had a phone conversation with Azeri President Haydar Aliyev the day before yesterday. It is reported that they talked about recent developments in the transfer of Azeri early oil through the Baku-Supsa pipeline. A written statement from the Presidential Office yesterday said that the two presidents exchanged views on Turkish-Azeri bilateral relations and on regional issues which closely concern the two countries. /Cumhuriyet/[02] YILMAZ AND ERBAKAN TO MEET AGAINPrime minister-designate Mesut Yilmaz and Welfare Party (RP) leader Necmettin Erbakan yesterday adjourned talks on forming an alliance after more than three hours. "We did not fit in all we had to negotiate in three hours, so we will meet again tomorrow" Erbakan told a news conference yesterday. "We know that our people want a new government to be formed as soon as possible" he added. "But it is necessary to prepare very thoroughly to form a government". /All papers/[03] TURKEY URGES SYRIA TO HAND OVER PKK LEADERTurkey yesterday urged Damascus to capture and hand over leader of the PKK terrorist organization, Abdullah Ocalan if it wanted friendly ties and talks on Turkey's control of the flow of water to downstream Syria. "If Syria wants good neighbourly relations with Turkey it should capture and return the leader and other senior members of the PKK" Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nurettin Nurkan told a news briefing in a clear reference to Ocalan. "The first article on the agenda of relations is Syria's support for terrorism. The fact, is the head of the PKK terrorist organization continues to reside in Syria, although Damascus continues to deny it. Syrian support for the PKK has done irreparable damage to bilateral ties" Nurkan said. He noted that Syria was trying to draw attention away from its support of the PKK by using the water issue. "To get the support of other countries, to try to draw the water issue into the international arena and use it for other political purposes will not be helpful. Turkey is not a country to be threatened" he added.Nurkan stated that Turkey was determined to go ahead with dams and other projects designed to improve life for its people. "These projects in line with international law will provide a better flow of water to Iraq and Syria as well" he said. Pointing out that in 1995 more than 500 cubic metres of water per second flowed into Syria, Nurkan concluded: "This shows how Syria's complaints are baseless and unjust". "There can be no link between the waters of the Euphrates and the Israeli-Syrian peace process. The waters of the Euphrates are not an issue of bargaining (in the peace process). No contribution to the mideast peace can be made at the expense of Turkey" Nurkan said. /Hurriyet-Cumhuriyet/ [04] ATHENS SHOULD KEEP TO ITS WORDForeign Ministry Undersecretary Onur Oymen said yesterday that Greece should stick to its promises in connection with maintaining the status quo in the Aegean Sea regions.In response to questions from journalists, Oymen said that Turkey had kept its promises to the US that it would abide by decisions to try and maintain stability in the Aegean, but the very attitude of Greece was in direct opposition to what the Athens government had said to the US-forced to intervene as a peacemaker following recent confrontations between Greece and Turkey in the Aegean. Oymen added that Turkey wanted to see Greece keep its word and contribute to the efforts being made by Turkey to resolve the situation in the Aegean peacefully. He noted that the US had seriously spoken to both Turkey and Greece about avoiding doing anything that could upset the balance in the region- this especially so after the events involving the Kardak rocks in the Aegean Sea. In line with US government policy, Britain too has proposed that dialogue is the only way to solve the problem. Britain has thus shown that its preferences lie with Turkey in this particular matter. Following talks with Foreign Minister Deniz Baykal in London yesterday, top British government officials, including Foreign Minister Malcolm Rifkind, agreed that the Aegean was a special area, and now that the heat was off, the time had come for talks. Both sides agreed that now a suitable environment had to be created in which to begin a new dialogue. /All papers/ [05] US UNEASY ABOUT AEGEAN DEVELOPMENTSDespite its warnings about maintaining the status quo in Aegean and its efforts to help Turkey and Greece avoid any confrontation that could wreck the fragile stability in the region, the US is still uneasy about what could happen.US government officials have noted that Greek plans to populate some of the presently uninhabited little islands in the Aegean Sea could lead to trouble. By sending people to live on some of the small islands under a Greek flag, Greece wants to stress that it is sovereign in the Aegean Sea. Both Turkey and the US are watching these developments very closely. Back in Europe, the European Parliament (EP) is also becoming more involved in the issue. Greece has informed the EP that it intends to relocate people to some of the islands. According to reports, 2500 Greek people have volunteered to move to some of the desolate islands and thus extend Greek influence in the Aegean Sea. The EP so far has done nothing to resolve the issue. European Union Term President Italy has recommended that the matter should be taken to independent arbitration and suggested the international Court of the Hague. The Greeks have called the relocation program the "Robinson Project" after Robinson Crusoe who was cast away on a desert island for many years. Greek government officials said yesterday that they hoped the project would get started in Spring. /Cumhuriyet-Sabah/ [06] EU MUST KEEP ITS WORDTurkey wants the EU to abide by its obligations and carry out the requirements of the financial cooperation which is the most important element of the customs union. In a press conference yesterday, Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Ambassador Nurettin Nurkan said: "During the realization of the customs union between Turkey and the EU, commitments were made on the financial cooperation issue. We expect the EU to carry out these obligations. Turkey requests the EU to keep its word". With the document signed on 2 March, 1995, at the association council between Turkey and the EU, it was decided that $2 billion in financial aid would be given to Turkey in five years' time. /Cumhuriyet/[07] TURKISH CYPRIOTS CONDEMN GREEK CYPRIOT PARLIAMENT DECLARATIONPresident Rauf Denktas and Prime Minister Hakki Atun of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) have decried a recent resolution unanimously adopted by the Greek Cypriot House of Representatives as an action that has removed the basis for intercommunal negotations that aim to find a bi-communal and bi-zonal federal settlement to the 32-year old Cyprus problem. After it became clear that the Greek Cypriot legislature had rejected insertion of an article reaffirming commitment to seek a federal settlement to the Cyprus problem in discussing the controversial declaration,the Turkish Cypriot president and prime minister said the Greek Cypriot rejection of a federal settlement could bring about grave consequences.Denktas said that the resolution closely concerned the Turkish Cypriot people and Turkey, and it would be properly and speedily assessed. He noted that after the resolution was assessed, he hoped that the TRNC Assembly would agree on a document regarding certain minimum conditions. He said: "In this way, the entire world will clearly see what the issue here in Cyprus is. The Cyprus problem was created by an armed attack which was launched in order to turn the Cyprus partnership state into a Greek Cypriot republic. After the Greek Cypriot side got the green light from the EU, it began to believe that it had deceived the whole world, had pushed aside everything we had worked on for years in order to create a basis for a balanced and permanent agreement, and showed its true face". In a written statement, Prime Minister Hakki Atun, on the other hand, underlined that the resolution of the Greek Cypriot House of Representatives contradicted with the 1977 and 1979 summit agreements between the two sides on the island as well as with all UN resolutions which all underline that a settlement on Cyprus would be based on the pillars of bizonality, bi-communality and federal administration. /All papers/ [08] PROTEST OVER ANNULLED ELECTION IN BULGARIAThe Movement for Rights and Freedom (MRF), a Bulgarian political party consisting mainly of ethnic Turks, has decided to remove Yasar Saban, acting mayor of Kircaali, in protest against the annulment of the results of the town's local election. Angel Naydenov, Bulgarian ultranationalist governor of the Haskoy region, who played an important role in the cancellation of the election, appointed Yasar Saban acting mayor until a new election could be held. Officials from the Haskoy governor's office said that Milan Milanov, a deputy would be appointed acting mayor of Kircaali. /All papers/[09] FOUR PKK MILITANTS KILLED IN SOUTHEASTSecurity forces are continuing operations in the southeast. Officials of the Diyarbakir-based southeastern emergency rule region said yesterday that four PKK militants had been killed in open country near Kulluce village in the Guroymak district of Bitlis and that one militant had been captured in the Bismil district of Diyarbakir. Officials added that 34 rifles, 41 rockets, five mortars and ammunition had been confiscated during operations in the rural areas of the southeastern provinces of Mardin, Siirt, Sirnak and Van. Nine people were taken into custody. /Cumhuriyet/[10] TEXTILE BUSINESSMEN MEET TO DO MORE IN UKHasan Arat, Chairman of the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (IAF), said on Tuesday evening during a meeting organized to gather together Turkish textile businessmen in London that there was an urgent need for them to organize and unite so they could achieve more in Britain. Arat, speaking to around 50 textile businessmen said that Turkish textile businessmen in Germany had organized and that had proven to be very beneficial, both for their becoming well known in German markets and for the Turkish textile sector to be successful in Europe. Arat, who became IAF chairman on November 10 last year, said that Turkish textiles were among the most successsful in the world and added that opportunities to be gained by the customs union would increase this industry's success. /All papers/[11] AGREEMENT WITH TAJIKISTANThe Environmental Cooperation Agreement signed between Turkey and Tajikistan in Dushanbe in September, 1995, has been ratified by the Council of Ministers. According to the agreement promulgated in the Official Gazette yesterday, Turkey and Tajikistan will cooperate in the protection of the atmosphere, in the removal of waste products produced as the result of industrial, agricultural and infrastructural activities and the preservation of water resources. /Cumhuriyet/ |
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