TRKNWS-L Turkish Daily News (February 1, 1996)

From: TRKNWS-L <trh@aimnet.com>

Turkish News Directory

CONTENTS

TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 1 February 1996

[01] Crisis diffused, Ankara urges Athens to negotiatie

By Nazlan Ertan
Turkish Daily News

ANKARA- The military crisis between Turkey and Greece over the Kardak twin rocks dissolved early Wednesday, giving way to expectations for diplomatic negotiations on the legal rights to the numerous islets and rocks in the Aegean sea.

After Foreign Minister Deniz Baykal and his Greek counterpart Theodoros Pangalos announced that their countries were withdrawing their forces from the island, the focus shifted back to the diplomatic front.

According to diplomatic circles in Ankara, the ball is now on the Greek side because Turkey has already offered to negotiate with Greece with a view to determining the possession of the small islands, islets and rocks in the Aegean.

After such negotiations, the issue of the delimitation of the territorial waters could also be discussed and finalized, according to the Turkish views.

The offer of negotiations was renewed by Ambassador Inal Batu, Turkey's deputy undersecretary responsible for relations with Cyprus and Greece, in a statement to the Greek radio station Paratiritis.

Batu said that the negotiations could be carried out at the foreign minister or undersecretary level.

"We must act with more restraint and take up everything in a large-scale dialogue," Batu said, adding his happiness that the crisis ended with the prevalence of common sense on both sides.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Omer Akbel, marking the end of the crisis Wednesday morning after a sleepless night during which Turkey first stationed troops on the rocks then removed them after the Greek withdrawal, said Turkey hoped Greece would accept the Turkish offer of dialogue.

"But we have received no direct reply from Greece so far," Akbel said. Turkey has given Greece a note which included a call for talks on Monday. Greece has not yet replied.

Despite the absence of an official reply, the indications from the Greek side have not been encouraging. Theodoros Pangalos, Greece's hard-line foreign minister, indicated on Monday that Greece will not yield to Turkish attempts to force Athens to the negotiation table.

A day later, Athens reaffirmed that its position that Greece had nothing to discuss with Turkey except the issue of the Aegean continental shelf has not changed.

"There will never be negotiations over our territory and our sovereign rights. The Greek flag will not come down," Foreign Minister Pangalos said on Tuesday.

Akbel said that Turkey said from the beginning that the issue was not merely the ownership of Kardak rocks, which Turkey claims as its own under international law.

There are hundreds of little islands, islets and rocks in the Aegean and their status remains unclear due to the absence of a comprehensive bilateral agreement between the two countries. The issue is further complicated by the two Aegean neighbors' sensitivity on the length of territorial waters and longstanding debate on the continental shelf.

Turkey has already started a legal study on the status of those bodies in the Aegean and concluded that there was only one valid agreement on the issue, which was the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty. Article 14.1 of the treaty said, "Italy hereby cedes to Greece in full sovereignty the Dodecanese Islands indicated hereafter ... as well as the adjacent islets." Ankara argues that the Kardak twin rocks, located 5.5 nautical miles from the nearest Greek island can neither be defined as "adjacent" nor could they be termed "islets." Therefore, argues Ankara, the Greek challenge to the Turkish sovereignty on rocks that lay 3.8 nautical miles off the Turkish coast is unfounded.

"Direct, bilateral negotiations"

According to Akbel, the Turkish position is to tackle the matter with "direct and bilateral negotiations" with Greece, but the diplomatic traffic during the last 24 hours of the crisis displays that various Western allies and international organizations have taken a close interest in the matter. It remains to be seen whether these countries will continue to exert pressure on Turkey and Greece to go to the negotiation table to solve the sensitive problem.

Foreign Minister Deniz Baykal has held talks with his British counterpart Malcolm Rifkind, NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana and U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher. President Bill Clinton called Prime Minister Tansu Ciller, President Suleyman Demirel and Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis.

"We appreciate the efforts made by the United States for calming of tensions in the Aegean," spokesman Akbel said.

A senior Turkish diplomat said that Clinton, worried by the tensions between two NATO allies, might actually revive the confidence-building measures in the Aegean.

"It is clear that all our allies want the dissolution of tensions in the Aegean," he said. "But it is unclear what can be done, since Greece has not replied to the offer of negotiations." Simitis told Parliament on Tuesday that Greece would not negotiate any part of its territory, including the islet Imia, nor would it accept international intervention.

In 1993, with the suggestion of the United States, Turkey made a goodwill gesture to Greece by disarming its jets flying over the Aegean Sea. But Turkey abandoned the practice after Greece proved reluctant to reciprocate.

Asked if Holbrooke is expected to take up the question of confidence-building measures with Ankara and Athens during his upcoming visit, Akbel replied: "The focus of Holbrooke's visit is the Cyprus question. We have had no indication that this has changed. However, when allies come together, any issue might be discussed." The refocus on the diplomatic front comes after a tense night Tuesday when the two countries came close to battle. The crisis reached its peak when Turkish Foreign Minister Deniz Baykal announced at 3 o'clock Wednesday morning that Turkish soldiers landed at 1:40 a.m. on part of the Kardak rocks, which Greece calls Imia, in the Aegean Sea.

By then, both countries' warships and combat aircraft were near the island, heightening the tension around the little rocks which only show in naval maps.

"Tonight underwater commandos went to the adjacent outcrop where there are no Greek soldiers and put up the flag," Turkish Foreign Minister Deniz Baykal said in a live broadcast on the private Kanal D television.

But he promised that Turkey would withdraw its soldiers after Greece removed its troops and flag from neighboring rocks.

The Greeks, reluctant to escalate tensions and, like Turkey, pressured by United States to move their forces from near the island, backed down three hours later.

"We reached an agreement of gradual withdrawal of military units which started at 6 (0400 GMT) this morning and is under way. The biggest units have already disengaged," Pangalos told reporters after a marathon Cabinet meeting, chaired by Premier Costas Simitis, Reuters reported from Athens.

Pangalos said the withdrawal would be completed within a few hours and would be monitored by the United States.

Baykal then made a second announcement, expressing pleasure with the withdrawal and confirming Turkey would also pull back.

"We have said from the beginning that the Greek troops have to go and the Greek flag had to be removed. We have shown our determination from the very beginning," said Prime Minister Tansu Ciller.

There are no troops and no flags on the island, despite earlier claims by Turkey that it had hung its flag. But both sides maintain the claim that the island is theirs.

The only casualty in the tense night was the crash of a Greek navy helicopter during the mutual withdrawal. The Greek Defense Ministry said three crew were missing. Turkey has expressed its regret over the incident but denied any responsibility in the crash.

[02] Turkey, TRNC remain opposed to an EU role in Cyprus talks

Turkish Daily News

ANKARA- Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus decried Wednesday the appointment of Italian veteran diplomat Fredrico Di Roberta by the European Union foreign ministers as "EU term presidency envoy for Cyprus" as a development that will not make positive contributions to efforts aimed at settling the 32-year-old Cyprus problem.

Statements issued by the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot foreign ministries underlined that Greece is a member of the Union, while Turkey is not and stressed that a possible role in the Cyprus process could be played by the Union only if the political and legal full equality of the Turkish Cypriot people was recognized. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said the Turkish Cypriot political and legal equality in Cyprus with the Greek Cypriot people were taken under guarantee with the 1959-1960 London and Zurich accords and urged the Union to respect those treaties and recognize the Turkish Cypriot right to a say in the setting up of the island's future.

Recalling that it was only natural for the European Union to be interested in the Cyprus problem, besides other international issues, the Turkish Foreign Ministry statement stressed that Ankara believed the United Nations platform still constituted the best means for efforts aimed at settling the Cyprus problem.

The Turkish Cypriot statement, on the other hand, said if the European Union wanted to contribute to the Cyprus negotiations process, it should first refrain from lending support to Greek Cypriot unilateral initiatives and respect the legal and political equality of the two peoples of the island.

The statement further recalled stipulations in 1960 treaties that prohibit membership of Cyprus in part or whole in any economic, political or military international organization in which both Greece and Turkey are members.

Both statements underlined that in the Dec. 28 statement of the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot presidents, it was reiterated that membership of Cyprus in the European Union would be considered at the intercommunal talks and if progress could be achieved between the two sides on sovereignty and equality, talks could be opened on that subject as well.

Appointment won't contribute to Cyprus talks

The two statements underlined the conviction in Ankara and Northern Cyprus that appointment of a "term presidency special envoy" for Cyprus by the Union won't contribute to the Cyprus negotiations process.

However, unlike the outright rejection of contacts with former European Union special coordinator for Cyprus, Serge Abou, the statements did not clarify whether Turkey and the TRNC would meet with the new EU envoy for the island. Turkish Foreign Ministry officials, meanwhile, told the TDN that Turkey would talk with Fredrico Di Roberta, but maintain its position that the EU cannot play a role in Cyprus as long as Turkey is not a member of the Union as well and until the Union starts treating the two peoples of the island on the basis of equality.

The Greek Cypriot side, on the other hand, expressed "reserved pleasure" Wednesday with the appointment of the EU term presidency envoy for Cyprus. A statement from the Greek Cypriot Foreign Ministry said the Glafcos Clerides administration "expected more" from the Union.

[03] Turkey to buy six GE engines for F-16D jets

WASHINGTON- Turkey has ordered six General Electric engines for the F-16D jets in its Air Force inventory. The Pentagon is awarding the General Electric Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a contract for $23,689,242 to manufacture the six F110-GE-129 engines to be used on F-16D aircraft, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. The contract is expected to be completed June 1997. The engines will be delivered to Turkey as a part of the "foreign military sales" program. The F-16D is the two-seat advanced trainer version of the one-seat single-engine Lockheed Martin fighter.

The U.S. Air Force has 206 F-16Ds. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies of London, the Turkish Air Force has a total of 24 F-16Ds deployed in nine fighter squadrons.