TRKNWS-L Turkish Daily News (February 15, 1996)

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

Turkish News Directory

CONTENTS

TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 15 February 1996

[01] Erbakan, Yilmaz hold last-gasp meeting

Pessimistic: ANAP executives not hopeful that RP can agree to Yilmaz's proposals

By Ayla Ganioglu
TDN Parliament Bureau

Both leaders agreed to meet again on the grounds that they could not complete negotiations during their gathering on Wednesday.

During that meeting, Yilmaz reportedly proposed a rotating premiership provided he take the first turn and also a rotating minority government also on the condition that his party go first.

Pointing out that it was out of the question for their party to give way on Yilmaz's offers and that accepting Erbakan's premiership was impossible, ANAP officials said that the second round of the meeting would be held at Erbakan's insistence. ANAP parliamentary group Deputy Chairman Ulku Guney said Yilmaz's stance at the meeting had been firm. Guney told the TDN that if the two leaders had reached an agreement, they would have made an announcement after the meeting.

"However, the facts that it was a long meeting and that both leaders have decided to meet again make one think that they may have found common ground which they would like to discuss with their respective parties," Guney told the TDN.

Bulent Akarcali from ANAP told the TDN that Erbakan had not said 'No' during the meeting and that he wanted to meet his colleagues before saying 'Yes.' Akarcali said if Erbakan accepted Yilmaz's offers, a positive result could be obtained.

It was the last chance for the RP to come to power, he said. He added that his party could not accept the RP's request to take the first turn at premiership.

ANAP's Kamran Inan told the TDN said he did not expect the two leaders to reach an agreement and predicted that the government would be set up by the president in the end. Oltan Sungurlu, also from ANAP, said that he had had no hope before the first meeting but that the renewed meeting gave him cause for a little optimism.

Following the meeting, Erbakan met with his party's executive.

RP administrators refrained from making a statement about the meeting although Ankara's RP Mayor Melih Gokcek said he was hopeful about the RP-ANAP coalition.

RP Deputy Chairman Recai Kutan said that the fact that the meeting had been put off until today showed that things were on a positive track.

Halil Ibrahim Celik from the RP said there was no other alternative to an ANAP-RP pact and that the leaders would reach agreement. Celik said that he was cautiously optimistic.

On the other hand, one RP deputy who requested anonymity, said Erbakan had seemed nervous during his joint statement with Yilmaz. He said that both Erbakan's appearance and the postponement of the meeting until today indicated that the RP-ANAP coalition would not come into existence.

An RP executive said it was out of the question for Erbakan to concede on his premiership and so a positive result seemed a weak possibility.

The meeting between Yilmaz and Erbakan lasted for more than three hours on Wednesday.

Following the meeting, both leaders made a joint statement although they refused to answer any questions on the content of the meeting.

Pointing out that the people were awaiting the formation of a government and that formation of a government required very good preparation, Erbakan said that the negotiations concerning government formation aimed at reaching an agreement to form a government which would meet the needs of the people.

Erbakan thanked to the ANAP parliamentary group for its decision to negotiate for a coalition with his party.

ANAP parliamentary group Deputy Chairman Guney said in a statement after his party's group meeting on Tuesday that True Path Party (DYP) Chairwoman Tansu Ciller had rejected all alternatives excluding her premiership. Guney said the only solution which seemed possible in the current Parliament could be an RP-ANAP partnership. He said the ANAP group had therefore decided that talks for formation of a government should be commenced if Yilmaz and Erbakan reached an agreement in principle during Wednesday's meeting.

Yilmaz met twice with Erbakan when the Islamist leader was trying to form the new government. At the time, Yilmaz said he was not prepared to commit ANAP to a coalition with the RP, and that he would first seek a joint government with the DYP.

Later, Erbakan failed to find partners and had to give up his attempts to form a government. Eventually, President Demirel asked Yilmaz to try. Yilmaz and the DYP's Tansu Ciller rebuffed each other and failed to form a partnership. Yilmaz has met all leaders except Erbakan in his bid to form some kind of a center-right and left-wing coalition.

[02] Erbakan's turn to ponder

Rift: Yilmaz and the RP leader could not impose their views regarding premiership at the new round of coalition talks. The leaders agreed to meet again today after consulting with their aides

Kemal Balci
Turkish Daily News

But instead of breaking the talks, the two leaders agreed to have a final round today after consulting with their top aides.

After the three-hour tete-a-tete, the Welfare Party (RP) camp appeared concerned while optimism reigned among the ANAP politicians.

In the crucial meeting which followed failed talks between Yilmaz and True Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu Ciller for a center-right coalition, Yilmaz reportedly proposed to take the first six-month turn at the head of the projected coalition, arguing that time was needed to allay the fears of the domestic and Western public about the Islamist RP.

But it was learned that Erbakan remained averse to agreeing to a subordinate position in the partnership -- despite his party's 158-to-133 advantage in the 550-seat Parliament -- and tried to talk Yilmaz into dropping the term with a lengthy discourse that exceeded two hours. The two leaders agreed not to divulge the details of the meeting to the press. But according to the ANAP lawmakers, Yilmaz focused on possible reaction from the military (to the Islamist predominance in government). He reportedly pointed to the annual August meeting of the Supreme Military Council deciding on promotion and retirement of senior officers, saying it would be better for ANAP to be in the seat for a term that would incorporate the event.

[03] Turkey will not bow to threats on water

No Link: Turkey denies link between water to Syria and Mideast peace

Turkish Daily News

"Trying to take other countries behind you, or trying to pull the water question onto the international agenda to provide a smokescreen for other issues will serve no interest," Nurkan said.

His statement followed a meeting between Syrian and Iraqi officials in Damascus at which the two countries urged Turkey to stop the construction of the Birecik and Kargamis dams on the Euphrates or the two downstrean nations "would be faced with the necessity to take action." Both projects are regulation dams which must be built in line with Turkey's Ataturk Dam, the backbone of its Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP), designed to bring prosperity to the troubled Southeast.

Nurkan's remarks indicated that Turkey largely blamed Syria for the meeting and recent statements by the Arab League.

"The Syrian claims that Turkey is not giving enough water are completely baseless. Turkey has given Syria more than five hundred cubic meters of water per second for the last year," Nurkan said.

He added that Syria's insistence on the water question was an effort to divert international attention from its involvement in terrorism.

"The first issue on the agenda between Turkey and Syria is Syrian support of terrorism. The fact that the head of the terrorist organization the Kurdistan Workers' Party continues to reside in Syria, although Damascus continues to deny it.

"The Syrian support for the PKK... has done irreparable damage to bilateral ties," Nurkan said.

Ankara also firmly denied that the water question between Turkey and Syria was in any way linked to Middle East peace, saying "no contribution to mideast peace can be made at the expense of Turkey." Ankara's severe rejection came after press reports quoting Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres as saying the problem of water had to be solved for peace to be achieved with Syria.

"Without a solution to the water problem we will not have any agreement. The solution could be theoretically that Syria would get water from Turkey and we would keep all the water sources that are under our authority today," Peres said in remarks to students, carried on Israeli radio stations.

"The Turkish stance on the matter is clear," Foreign Ministry spokesman Nurettin Nurkan said. "There can be no link between the waters of the Euphrates (which flows from Turkey to Syria) and the Israeli-Syrian peace process." Nurkan, noting that he had only seen the remarks of Peres in news reports, said, "If they are represented accurately, the link drawn by Peres does not reflect the situation accurately.

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," he said.

More than four years of peace talks between the arch-enemies have snagged over the scope, timing and security arrangements of an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.

The sides resume talks near Washington on Feb. 26.

The Golan, a plateau overlooking northern Israel, is a key water-gathering region in the parched Middle East. It is the site of the headwaters of the Jordan River.

Israel has said tributaries flowing from the Golan to the Sea of Galilee, Israel's largest reservoir, provide 30 percent of its needs and cannot be given up.

Even before holding the Golan, Israel used, and fought for, its water. Arab states in 1964 made an attempt to divert the Jordan's headwaters, but in 1965 Israel moved against the preliminary Syrian works, ending the attempted diversion.

[04] Gold exchange key to Turkey's reform plan

Reuters

The gold sector reform followed the country's financial liberation agenda which legalized gold imports by institutions other than the central bank in 1989. The exchange was part of an integrated gold policy and in 140 trading days since it opened in July 1995, it has traded 91 metric tons of gold valued at more than $1 billion.

"Trading was mainly in Turkish lira-priced gold initially but now 70 percent of the transactions are in U.S. dollars (following a rule change in November)," he said.

Currently, the exchange deals only in spot gold but gold futures and options contracts are planned as soon as the government gives its go ahead. A major problem for the jewelery sector was finance to improve technology, marketing and to provide working capital. "The sector needs gold derivatives notably forwards, futures and options as derivatives would greatly help to reduce the gold price fluctuations risk in gold jewelery exports anbd domestic trade," Aytogu said.

Turkey's privately held gold hoard totalled about 6,000 tons mainly in the form of individual savings. "Gold backed financial instruments and derivatives will help to mobilize a proportion of the (public's) gold hoard and provide provide development finance for the jewelery sector," Aytogu said.

The liberalisation reforms of March 1993 allowed the banks to devlop financial instruments based on gold, he said. These instruments will be aimed at savers and will feature deposit accounts in gold, deposit accounts indexed to gold and gold accumulation plans.

Turkey has "great potential" for golds savings and borrowing, he said. A recent survey in Istanbul showed 71 percent of respondents have gold in their portfolio and for eight percent of them, gold represented more than half their wealth.

A total of 39 percent would consider opening bank accounts based on gold. A separate nationwide survey showed 31 percent of Turkish households are able to save and 25 percent saved through gold. Turkey began its financial liberalisation program in 1980 aimed at integrating its economy with the rest of the world.

Aytogu also said that Turkey is forecast to import 190 tons of gold this year compared with 115 tons in 1995. In 1993, the first year after full liberalisation of gold, Turkey imported 163 tons of gold.

[05] Textile businessmen meet to strengthen position in UK markets

By Orya Sultan Halisdemir
Turkish Daily News

Arat, speaking to around 50 textile businessmen said 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 the IAF chairman Nov. 10 last year, said Turkish textiles were among the most successful in the world and added that opportunities to be gained by the customs union would increase this industry's success.

"Turkey's entire exports to the UK in 1994 were around 888 million pounds. This includes $175.5 million worth of textiles and 277.9 million pounds of ready-to-wear clothing. On the other hand, the UK's exports to Turkey in 1994 amounted to $1.16 billion, of which $28.2 million were textiles and 1.51 million pounds ready-to-wear clothing," Arat said.

He commented that the Turkish textile industry has not been very successful regarding the UK market. He called upon the Turkish textile businessmen to compete for the UK's market, which he said was one of the biggest in the world.

"This can only be achieved by getting organized," he pointed out.

Arat said that after the customs union agreement, there had been expectations that Turkey's textile exports to Europe would increase dramatically. "This is very much our expectation as well. We are hoping that our textile exports to Europe, which amount to 9.3 billion pounds at present," will increase in five years' time to 25 billion-30 billion pounds a year." Haluk Olga, the chairman of the Istanbul Textile Manufacturers Organization's representation in Brussels, said that EU reports indicated that the most successful boom which would result from the customs union was expected to occur in the textile sector in Turkey. He too expressed that the UK was one of the biggest markets in the world and that Turkish textiles should become established as a reliable and efficient sector there.

This point, however, started a debate among the participants who argued that the UK was different from Germany and that it was very difficult for them to compete with the store chains which have cornered the markets.

Ozdem Sanberk, Turkey's ambassador in London, responding to a demand from small-scale textile manufacturers that the Turkish state help them to improve their activities in the UK, said that although the state was always supportive, private business should try to achieve more without expecting too much from it.

[06] Greece, Turkey & US sing different tunes on international tribunal

Burns says US expectation to take the Kardak issue to the Hague has been 'inspired' by Greece

Turkish Daily News

The storm broke out after President Bill Clinton told a Greek American gathering that the United States was "trying to reduce tensions further and to settle the ownership question through an international tribunal as the Greek government has proposed."

Forced to clarify the remarks, U.S. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said on Tuesday that he "would expect" Turkey and Greece to go to the International Court of Justice in The Hague to solve their problems peacefully.

Up until now, the administration officials always maintained that the idea was no more than a "suggestion." The Turkish Embassy, in a press statement released on Monday, stressed the fact that the State Department spokesman "elucidated that it was only a suggestion to take the Kardak crisis to the Hague International Court or any other consensual body."

But Burns' remarks Tuesday left little doubt that the "tribunal" meant the International Court of Justice. "We felt that it was a good idea to bring the issue to the International Court of Justice," Burns said.

"Our expectation is this is a good venue," Burns told TDN.

"It makes sense to use this venue. We hope very much that they'll consider it seriously and end up there."

When asked to comment on President Clinton's remarks at the AHEPA banquet on Monday evening that the dispute could be solved peacefully "through an international tribunal as the Greek government has proposed," Burns made clear two things:

1) By "international tribunal," Clinton really meant none other than "International Court of Justice" at the Hague.

2) The idea was indeed "inspired" by Greece if not exactly "proposed" by it. "We have been aware for some time that the Greek government had an interest in using the mediation of the International Court of Justice as a way to resolve specific problems in the Aegean," Burns said and added that the idea "seemed to us to have been inspired by Greece. And that, I think, is -- that's the way we see it."

But reliable sources told TDN that the Greek Foreign Ministry did not quite see it that way. On the contrary, one source claimed that Greek Foreign Minister Pangalos was "extremely unhappy," to say the least, when he heard that President Clinton attributed the idea of going to The Hague to the Greek government.

Press reports from Athens indicate that Prime Minister Costas Simitis denied the idea of taking the matter to The Hague and said he had never suggested it. Finally, ex-Premier Andreas Papandreou's son, George, claimed that it was his idea, although it was not clear how it was communicated to Washington.

A majority of the Greek scholars and commentators who gathered at the Greek-American grassroots organization AHEPA's recent biannual conference made it clear that Greece did not need to go to The Hague since it owned the Kardak islet, period.

Going to an international court for mediation or arbitration would be tantamount to an admission of doubt on the ownership of the islet in question, most Greek panelists argued.

"Why should one negotiate over the ownership of one's bedroom?" is how one Greek professor put it.

According to diplomatic observers in Ankara, the Greek reluctance comes from the fact that even taking the matter to The Hague -- and even Washington says it should be a decision Greece and Turkey made together -- would require consultations between the two countries to prepare an application to the court. The vulnerable Simitis government fears that sitting at the table with Turkey will create a strong reaction from the opposition and even within his own party, PASOK.

Ankara, meanwhile, carefully refrained from responding directly to Clinton's remarks. Nurettin Nurkan, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman, said on Wednesday that the Turkish position was to have "direct and meaningful dialogue" with Greece over the Aegean issues.

"This had been started in 1976 and then was shelved by the Papandreou government," he said, referring to the premiership of Papandreou in the 1980s.

However, Turkish diplomats admit that a "cooling off" period should be observed in the relations, during which both sides should refrain from provocative action, such as opening the islets to habitation.

[07] Turkish Cypriots condemn Greek Cypriot parliament declaration

President Denktas and Prime Minister Atun say the resolution of the Greek Cypriot legislature removes the basis for peace on the island

Turkish Daily News

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, Turkish Cypriot leaders said the Greek Cypriot rejection of a federal settlement could bring about grave consequences.

Denktas said that the resolution unanimously adopted by the Greek Cypriot House of Representatives in connection with the Cyprus issue closely concerns the Turkish Cypriot people and Turkey, and it will be properly and speedily assessed. He said that after the resolution was assessed, he hoped that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Republican Assembly would agree on a document regarding certain minimum conditions.

The Turkish Cypriot president 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 European Union, 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."

Denktas said that the first article of the Greek Cypriot resolution, which addresses human rights and freedoms, aims at eliminating basic rights and principles. He went on to say that the Greek Cypriots, who ignored bizonality and the borders, both of which would constitute a basis for peace, believed that they owned all of Cyprus and wanted to go on this way.

Denktas pointed out that the resolution said, "The solution to be reached in Cyprus must not legitimize situations that run counter to European law and principles; it must abide by these principles" and stressed that the meaning of this should be well understood. "When they say that situations that run counter to European law and principles will not be legitimized, the Greek Cypriots mean that they want a solution that will not grant founding rights to the Turkish Cypriots, will cancel the guarantee agreement and will eliminate bizonality and the borders," he explained.

The president recalled that Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides announced that this was the reason why he wanted to join the EU. Therefore, Denktas said, when membership in the EU is mentioned, Turkish Cypriots are "extremely careful and do all we can, resist as much as we can, in order not to fall into this Greek Cypriot trap." Denktas stated that in the third article, the resolution said that the Greek Cypriot parliament would make efforts in Europe to promote the existing close relations between Greece and the Greek Cypriot republic. He emphasized that everyone should note that this article did not mention Turkey, the federation or the guarantees, as if the island were a Greek island. He said because the Turkish Cypriots view Cyprus as a whole, they say they want to retain the guarantee agreements and the guarantees by the motherlands of the two communities; however, he said, the Greek Cypriots view the island as a Greek Cypriot island.

The sixth article of the resolution, which spoke of the need for a communication mobilization, really meant attacking all those who listened to the Turkish Cypriots and preventing them from being heard, Denktas said.

In a written statement, Turkish Cypriot 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 United Nations resolutions which all underline that a settlement on Cyprus would be based on the pillars of bizonality, bi-communality and federal administration.