TRKNWS-L Turkish Daily News excerpts (January 4, 1996)

From: "Demetrios E. Paneras" <dep@bu.edu>

Turkish News Directory

CONTENTS

TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 4 January 1996

[01] Final results hasten quest for government

ANKARA- Political party leaders have accelerated their efforts to form a coalition government following the announcement of the final official results of the Dec. 24 election on Wednesday.

On the same day, True Path Party (DYP) Chairwomen Tansu Ciller met with Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal and Alparslan Turkes of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

Ciller and Baykal who met at the prime ministry, reportedly assessed the recent situation in the economy and the efforts concerning the formation of a new government. Following the two-and-a-half hour meeting, referring to the recent economic developments, both leaders said there was no need to panic.

Ciller said that Turkey was not at a point of crisis but does need stability. She said that the democratic process regarding the formation of a new government should operate. She said the existence of a chaotic period is out of the question in Turkey.

However, she stressed that that did not mean that Turkey had patience when it came to uncertainty.

Noting that she had talked to Yilmaz over the phone, Ciller said that the process regarding the formation of the new government would be started by President Suleyman Demirel. She urged everyone to refrain from making reciprocal accusations, and wanted everyone to be patient on this issue. Ciller said she had also evaluated the various government scenarios with Baykal.

Ciller pointed out that a tripartite coalition formula would come onto the agenda. In reply to a question whether the CHP might enter such a coalition government or not, Ciller said everyone was aware of their responsibility.

In reply to a question, Ciller said she had found it too early to talk about an fresh elections.

Baykal also said there was no need to panic from the point of view of basic economic indicators and that the Council of Ministers would meet in the coming days. He noted that he and Ciller had also made an assessment about the economic situation of Cyprus.

About a question regarding coalition models, Baykal said he and his colleagues were neither for, nor against any political party.

Also on Wednesday, Ciller held talks over the telephone with Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Mesut Yilmaz in her continuing efforts to form a government without the Islamist Welfare Party (RP).

ANAP Deputy Chairman Imren Aykut said Ciller and Yilmaz would meet in the coming days to discuss the issues concerning the formation of a new government and to discuss economic issues.

Yilmaz met with Muhsin Yazicioglu, former leader of the Grand Unity Party (BBP), who set up an election alliance with ANAP before the election and was as such elected to Parliament on the ANAP ticket.

After the meeting, Yazicioglu said the parties should immediately form a government through conciliation and by making sacrifices on the issues. He said that he and Yilmaz had exchanged views about the election results and the possible developments in Turkey. He said he did not thing a new election would bring stability to the country.

Yazicioglu emphasized that none of the parties, including the RP, should be rejected in advance during efforts in forming the government. He said ANAP's cooperation with MHP would not affect he and his colleagues' cooperation with ANAP.

MHP leader Alparslan Turkes, whose party failed to surpass the 10 percent threshold, met with True Path Party (DYP) Chairwomen Tansu Ciller on Wednesday.

Following the meeting, which lasted for 50 minutes, Turkes made a statement to journalists and said he had met with Ciller upon her invitation, and that the prime minister had expressed her views about how a government could be formed. He pointed out that the prime minister had told him that she would follow a moderate and conciliatory policy towards all other political parties.

Turkes said that the issues of an election alliance or an early election had not come up during his meeting with Ciller.

Regarding the question about the proposed MotherPath (Anayol) formula, Turkes said both Ciller and Mesut Yilmaz were very moderate and seemed to be conciliatory. He continued:

"Neither of them has prejudice against any political party and both of them have respected the election results. They are trying to ensure that the country has a government which has obtained a vote of confidence from the Parliament." Asked if he was acting as a intermediary, Turkes said there was no such a thing. "They are all political parties which the people have cast their votes for. They are all inseparable elements of the democracy. They will certainly reach a consensus among themselves." About a question as to which one of the government formulas was the best, Turkes said it would be difficult to say that today. He said one of the parties could set up a coalition with the Welfare Party (RP) or the other parties could set up a coalition without the RP. However, he said that the RP (which has won the majority of seats in Parliament) should be given the assignment of trying to form a government first.

On the other hand, RP Deputy Chairman Riza Ulucak who referred to Ankara Mayor Melih Gokcek's alleged threat against the DYP in regard to the government formation, said Gokcek could not act on behalf of the RP and that Gokcek had made that statement on his own account.

Meanwhile, Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader Bulent Ecevit made a written statement on Wednesday and responded to DYP Deputy Chairman Ibrahim Yasar Dedelek's recent criticisms against him. Ecevit said he had never chanted Kurdish slogans before or after 1980.

"I have showed open reaction against Kurdish or Turkish separatist slogans where-ever they were chanted," Ecevit said.

[02] Holbrooke holds strategy meeting on Cyprus on eve of his shuttle mission

By Ugur Akinci

Turkish Daily News

WASHINGTON DC- Richard Holbrooke, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs, today held a meeting at the State Department to determine a strategy for the months ahead to bring Turkish and Greek sides to the table to solve the thirty-three-year-old Cyprus problem.

In an interview he gave to The Washington Post, Holbrooke, who will retire from the State Department at the end of February, announced 1996 as the year of the "big push" in Cyprus.

Also attending the meeting at the State Department were C. Lopez, the director of the Cyprus Desk; James Williams, the State Department's Special Coordinator for Cyprus; Richard Beattie, President Clinton's Special Envoy for Cyprus; Thomas Niles, U.S. ambassador to Athens, and Richard Boucher, U.S. ambassador to Nicosia.

U.S. ambassador to Ankara Marc Grossman was also invited to the meeting but has reportedly preferred to stay in Ankara at a time when Turkish leaders are continuing their coalition deliberations. Rumors that Andreas Jacovides and Loukas Tsilas, the ambassadors to Washington of Greek Cyprus and Greece respectively, have also attended the meeting at the State Department could not be verified by independent sources .

An informed TDN source said that Holbrooke will basically propose a "Bosnian Model" as the solution in Cyprus. "Just the way the Republic of Srpska is implicitly recognized in Dayton although the U.S. could not officially talk to Karadzic, in a similar manner, the U.S. is getting ready to convince the Greek Cypriots to implicitly recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus without a de juro recognition on the part of the U.S. or anybody else," the source declared.

The question of the recognition of TRNC's sovereignty by the Greek Cypriot government has always been a sticking point in the negotiations. "They are planning to pass over that delicate question and press on with diplomacy," the TDN source said. "The goal is a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation which should better be named a confederation," the TDN source said.

Holbrooke will be leaving Washington on Jan. 22 to visit Athens, Ankara and Nicosia. But before he leaves, he will attend a large gathering of Greek-Americans on Jan. 10, when he is expected to deliver an address that will touch upon the Cyprus issue as well. The largest Greek-American grassroots organization, AHEPA, the American Hellenic Institution, the Greek-American lobby firm Manatos & Manatos, as well as prominent Greek-American leaders are expected to attend the event. .

[03] Turkey moves to counter Syrian propaganda

ANKARA- Uneasy with Syria's attempts to lobby against Turkey's water policy, Ankara declared on Wednesday that it is going to brief Arabic and Western envoys on the question of water.

The briefings will take place this week and any interested diplomat can participate, Foreign Ministry spokesman Omer Akbel said.

The initiative comes after massive Syrian attempts vis-a-vis Arab countries and organizations, some of which have called on Turkey to sign a "just water accord with Syria" and not deprive Syria of its rights.

The Turkish declaration comes after Egypt and six Gulf Arab states sided with Syria last week in its water dispute with Turkey, urging Ankara to sign a just agreement with Damascus on sharing the Euphrates' waters.

Foreign ministers of the seven countries, ending their meeting in Damascus with their Syrian counterpart, criticized Ankara for building dams on the river without consulting with other states through which it flows -- Syria and Iraq.

Syria has strongly criticized Turkey's multi-billion-dollar plan for the construction of a series of dams on the Euphrates, saying this has led to a sharp decline in the flow of water to Syria, which uses it for drinking and irrigation.

It has called for a permanent water-sharing agreement to replace a provisional accord under which Ankara allows the flow of only 500 cubic meters of water per second to Syria.

Ankara, in turn, criticized Syria for its "untruthful accusations," saying that there was no case of pollution or deprivation of water.

Last week, Foreign Minister Deniz Baykal accused "some Syrian circles" of wanting more water to "wash the blood of terrorism from their hands" -- a thinly veiled reference to Syria's support of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), whose leader Abdullah Ocalan resides in Damascus.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry also denied the existence of a ministry report which blamed Israel for Syria's increased demands for water. A news item in a Turkish language daily said on Wednesday that the Turkish Foreign Ministry attributed the toughening Syrian stance to Israeli support.

"We are reading such news from the media, but they do not reflect the truth. There is no link between the Middle East peace process and the waters of the Euphrates," Foreign Ministry spokesman Omer Akbel said on Wednesday.

[04] Turkey-US to start N. Iraq talks

ANKARA- Turkish and American officials will meet in Washington next week for talks concerning -- Kurdish-held-- northern Iraq, foreign ministry spokesman Omer Akbel disclosed on Wednesday.

Akbel told the weekly press briefing that Deputy Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ali Tuygan will head the Turkish delegation in the talks scheduled for Jan. 8-9.

The sides will basically exchange views regarding the issues connected with the Western-protected Kurdish enclave, the spokesman said.

Beside the proposals for a new format for the Operation Provide Comfort -- under which a U.S.-British-French air force based in southern Turkey patrols an air-exclusion zone north of the 36th Parallel to deter an Iraqi attack on Kurds -- the possible re-vitalization of a Turkey-Iraq oil pipeline is expected to be taken upin the talks.

Among the proposals to be debated is a Turkish-U.S. force operating out of Incirlik air base, leaving out the British and French components.

Turkey shut down the 1,000-kilometer twin pipelines linking Iraq's Kirkuk oilfields with the Turkish Mediterranean terminal of Yumurtalik, in keeping with U.N. sanctions against Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait in 1990, thus losing royalty revenues as well as a cheap and convenient source for its energy imports.

Ankara has estimated the cost of its support to the Western coalition in the Gulf War to be in excess of $3billion.

[05] Final election results declared

ANKARA- The Supreme Election Board (YSK) on Wednesday announced the official results of the Dec. 24 general election for the 550-seat Turkish parliament.

- 29.1 million citizens voted out of a total of 34.1 million registered voters, a turnout of 85.2 percent.

Name of Party                     No. of votes  Percentage
True Path Party (DYP)                5,396,009       19.18
Rebirth Party (YDP)                     95,484        0,34
Motherland Party (ANAP)              5,527,288       19.65
Nation Party (MP)                      127,630        0,45
Labor Party (IP)                        61,428        0,22
People's Democracy Party (HADEP)     1,171,623        4.17
Democratic Left Party (DSP)          4,118,025       14.64
New Democracy Movement (YDH)           133,889        0,48
Welfare Party (RP)                   6,012,450       21.38
Republican People's Party (CHP)      3,011,076       10.71
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP)     2,301,343        8.18
New Party (YP)                          36,853        0,13
Independents                           133,895        0,48

No. of seats
RP...... 158
ANAP.... 132
DYP..... 135
DSP...... 76
CHP...... 49

[06] 'Information Society and Internet' conference to be held in Ankara

Turkish Daily News

ANKARA- The information age is upon us and without a doubt the Internet is at the center of knowledge transfer. A conference entitled "Information Society and Internet," organized by the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) and the University and Research Librarians' Association (UNAK), will be held Jan. 8-9 at TUBITAK's Feza Gursey Hall, Ataturk Blvd. Ankara.

The conference will include talks such as "National Networks and Network Policy in Turkey;" "European Academic and Industrial Research Network (EURO-Cairn); "Media and the Internet" and "Information Services and Internet in Turkey: Basic Problems and Implementation." TšB˜TAK said two American professors, Dr. Mary Cronin of Boston College and Professor Paul Randolph of Texas Technical University, will take part. Besides them, Dr. Bob Cooper of Super Janet, the British Academic Computer Network; Finnish Telecom Limited's general-secretary, Mauri K. Elovaini; and Uta Kamiski of German Libraries Institute, are among the seminar's speakers.

Some of the talks will be in Turkish and simultaneous English translation services will be provided.

Another aspect of the seminar will be the commercial presentations. These are: Microsoft, Bilkom-Apple Computers, ITS (Silver platter, OCLC), VIS, Bilmel, Armada, and Biltam.

The program begins on Monday, Jan. 8, with registration at 9 a.m. and finishes the following evening. Registration prior to the conference is essential.

The entrance fee is TL 500,000 and TL 250,000 for students.

For detailed information on this seminar, please call Aytac Yildizeli from TUBITAK. Tel No: 4685300/2507 The seminar is being held in cooperation with USIS, the British Council, German Goethe Institute and the Embassy of Finland's Commercial Section.

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