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Turkish Daily News, 96-06-15

Turkish News Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>

TURKISH DAILY NEWS
15 June 1996


CONTENTS

  • [01] The United Nations after Habitat
  • [02] State Dept: Clinton expressed only 'ongoing concern' for Turkish-Greek tensions
  • [03] Congressional chairman: 'We made a mistake' in aid to Turkey

  • [01] The United Nations after Habitat

    By Yasemin Dobra-Manco

    Turkish Daily News

    ISTANBUL- TDN interviewed Richard Roth, the well known CNN United Nations correspondent, who for over three years has had the tough job of bringing the pressing issues of the UN before a global audience.

    Roth is host of a weekly CNN program called "Diplomatic License" and does daily and live reports on developments at the UN. On assignment for Habitat II, he is covering his fourth global UN conference in two years.

    TDN discussed the increasingly shaky image of the UN, its plans for reform, its financial problems, and the Habitat conference with Roth. When asked what questions Roth will be examining when he gets back to UN headquarters in New York, Roth replied that he has been assigned to a lengthy CNN report on the United States debt to the UN, which is nearly $2 billion, and adds "We have done several stories on this already."

    Furthermore "As we speak there is a standoff on Iraq and UN weapons inspectors again," and if that is going on Roth will be following the developments. There is also a vote on Haiti on what the peacekeeper mandate should be. Sanctions against Sudan for the incident related to the attempted assassination of Egyptian President Mubarak will also be discussed at the UN. Furthermore, the Security Council will consider a report by the International Civil Aviation Organization on their investigation of the shooting down of civilian US planes by Cuba.

    A big issue coming up this fall will be whether UN Secretary- General Boutros Boutros-Ghali will run for reelection and win.

    Yet, another issue, perhaps the most important in terms of the UN, is how to handle the financial crisis. The Secretary-General might be calling a special session before the General Assembly meets this fall.

    A shaky image and no money

    Roth says that the most important crisis facing the organization currently is money and an image problem. In addition to this some people believe the UN is losing credibility due to its reluctance to get involved in certain issues, such as Chechnya.

    The correspondent took the United States as an example where the value and effective role of the UN in world affairs is highly questioned and in some areas considered a joke. "Diplomatic License" has already done a program on individuals in the US who are "conservative, highly paranoid extremists, distrustful of government," and who have formed groups who believe the UN is using military force to slowly infiltrate US towns and control the world in a world federal government of some kind. Of course they are a minority, but many Americans feel the UN is useless after its failure to stop the war in Bosnia, Roth explains.

    "The average citizen in the street who saw two years of the Bosnian civil war go on and somehow was told, or believed, that the UN was supposed to go in and militarily stop the fighting," was disillusioned. Roth adds that the UN was not given the amount of soldiers it requested from countries on the Security Council. Now taxpayers are wondering whether their hard earned money should go into the UN.

    Roth agreed that the fact that the US is not paying its debt to the UN is fueling the public's loss of confidence. But the US wants to see financial reforms before it pays. On the other hand, the UN is asking for funds first, because it can not even function with its regular programs.

    On the issue of new members joining the Security Council, the US would like to see new members such as Germany and Japan, Roth said, but it is worried that too many new members would dilute the Council and make it similar to the General Assembly, with a large amount of people speaking and debating with no clear action. Yet, others argue that such important nations must join, and more money might then be available, and other parts of the world would take on more responsibility as well as a leadership role rather than just committing to more humanitarian aid.

    Meanwhile, Italy is pushing for membership, while others wonder why Britain and France have a permanent role, as their stage presence has changed in 50 years. Yet others say the system has worked, as there is no world war, so why reform.

    Referring to the need for conflict resolution, Ross said, "The fact is that there have been 100-200 smaller wars...and the real trend, sort of like the Vietnam syndrome, is that nobody wants to spill any human blood of their own citizens."

    But the problem remains: if the UN continues to be unpopular, who and what will replace it? Regional groups? Perhaps the UN will transform into a place where people and leaders can meet and present their views. The bottom line is that many countries believe that if they must act, they will act unilaterally.

    Presently, the UN is not actively involved in talks on the Middle East nor Northern Ireland. Roth believes that the UN may be active and more effective in hot spots where there is no government and no one wants to go. But "there is no role for the UN that's been spelled out. There's talk of a stand-by army, but many countries oppose it." Another problem with the UN is that a lot of its resolutions are not legally binding.

    Other unpredictable areas haunting the UN is "crisis fatigue." This is in addition to the "donor fatigue" problem. People have simply stopped caring.

    People want more action

    Turning to Habitat, Roth stated that this particular conference is suffering from "conference fatigue" because this is the seventh conference in four years. Thus, "too many conferences with too many overlapping themes" and "too many of the same players appearing." Many conference attendees believe that participants came to see the sights Turkey had to offer. A thought is that some talks could have been held at UN headquarters in New York. Roth asks "If the conference had been held in an uglier city, I wonder how many would have come?" and concludes, "This should have been a one week conference."

    Because governments felt they had over-stressed themselves, the turnout was lower. Roth states that also the issues were to broad. "Although there are benefits down the road," he feels that if people come here to be more specific, such as to agree upon a global decision to build 100,000 homes in each city, the conference could see quicker results.

    Before, in the 1950s and 1960s the public was impressed to hear leaders were gathering at the UN to hold talks, he says. "The UN has notable goals...but people want more action" whereas the UN is busy debating and speech making, rather than seeking tighter goals. He points out that the UN agenda is 100 pages.

    Roth also commented that UN diplomats and conference planners are so far removed [excluding Wally N'Dow] from the perception of their work, that they do not pay attention to how they present their work. So much is behind closed doors, that public awareness is left in the dark, he pointed, out while stressing that dialogue must come alive. "The big two day mayor's conference started and ended before the summit. It should have been held during the conference and should have been widely publicized." This would have attracted greater media attention.

    Turkey benefitted

    The CNN UN correspondent believes that Turkey benefitted from the conference. "It put Turkey on the map -- not because of an argument over an island or a coalition." Roth says that it will definitely open the door for Turkey for future conferences. Any political leaders who may want to have a meeting, he says "I can see them saying we must have it in Istanbul." Discussing his own impressions, and those of others, he believes that "People will go home and say what a stunning city Istanbul is. What pleasant people. How economically affordable it is. Such great sights and sounds. And it is a player in the Middle East and in the neighborhood. It is a country that must definitely be dealt with."

    The lower than expected turnout, Roth explains, was not the fault of Turkey. "The conference was well run, it just happened to be the last UN conference." The Copenhagen conference on social development drew 113 world leaders, he says, but if the Habitat conference had been held in Istanbul, before the Copenhagen conference was held, Roth believes "113 leaders would have been here in Istanbul." Unfortunately, it appears that the UN conference in China last year wore everyone out. "People were totally fatigued, from guards to UN officials. I saw it. People were exhausted," especially due to the Chinese security.

    After his first time in Turkey Roth feels it is definitely "a showcase." He adds, "We put out more video on Turkey and Istanbul than I'm sure has been broadcast in the 16 year history of CNN. While a lot of it may be of the conference area, in some of the other videos you can see the country come alive. All the good and the bad came out, such as the NGO arrests."

    [02] State Dept: Clinton expressed only 'ongoing concern' for Turkish-Greek tensions

    State Dept. closes interpretation gap between itself and White House

    By Ugur Akinci
    Turkish Daily News

    WASHINGTON- In an attempt to explain away what came across as a difference of emphasis between the State Department and the White House on the issue of rising tensions between Turkey and Greece, department spokesman Nicholas Burns told the press on Thursday that President Clinton's concern for the tensions was not anything new, but an "ongoing concern."

    President Clinton told the press on Wednesday that he was "very concerned" about the tensions between the two NATO allies. A few hours earlier, the State Department spokesman, had down played the issue and said, "I don't think there is a heightened prospect of any altercation or confrontation between Greece and Turkey."

    Twenty-four hours later, talking to a group of Turkish and Greek journalists, Burns said, "I went back and reread the President's statements and we very much agree with them."

    Burns said the problems between Turkey and Greece were "ongoing and long-lasting" and they can only be solved if Turkey and Greece "sit down at a table" for peaceful talks. Greece maintains it has nothing to negotiate with Turkey concerning the sovereign status of the Aegean islands and islets. After the famous Kardak/Imia crisis, recent comments by a Turkish officer on the status of Gavdos island, off Crete, again set off a chain reaction in Greece that ended with the Greek Parliament arming Defense Minster Gerassimos Arsenis with "war powers" to be used in a future altercation.

    No danger

    Burns emphasized in no uncertain terms that "we do not believe that there is any reason for the two (countries) to have a military, armed conflict. We believe that both of them are intelligent, sophisticated governments and that they will do what they must to stop that from happening, to stop a confrontation." He said that although "there is ongoing disagreement and tension" between the two countries, "I don't think there is a serious danger of war."

    Spark

    Yet, TDN sources close to the White House say that the president's national security staff is indeed "very concerned" that an unrelated incident may provide the inadvertent "spark" to ignite a larger confrontation between the heavily armed neighbors. The State Department acknowledged that much on Thursday when Burns admitted that "it's hard to predict incidents like that. I am not willing to make a statement that that won't happen because anything can happen in that kind of situation."

    Burns immediately added that "this situation is not heading to a war."He said his judgement was based on "a very careful assessment of the Aegean."

    Turkish political instability

    Despite the homage he paid to the "intelligence" of both governments, Burns also noted the instability that reigned supreme in Turkish domestic politics.He noted that the situation was "hampered" by "the fact that right now there isn't stability in the Turkish political system because they are in a transitional period. There has to be a new government. It's been a turbulent period politically for both countries, and we hope after the Turkish government is formed it will provide a chance for Greece and Turkey to discuss their problems in a more balanced, stable environment."

    Greek concerns

    Informed Greek sources that TDN talked to also similarly discounted prospects of Greece initiating any hostile action against Turkey.

    One such source in Washington said Greece could not afford to be humiliated by backing down before a new Turkish challenge in the Aegean. During the Kardak/Imia crisis, Athens first said the Greek flag would never go down on Imia but later on had to lower it in order to avoid a hot clash. If Turkey stages another showdown over Gavdos, this time Greece would have no choice but to go to war, the source claimed.

    Other developments

    Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos reiterated yesterday that Turkey would under no circumstances receive European Union funding as long as the issues of Imia and Gavdos remained outstanding, the Athens News Agency (ANA) reported.

    Turkish Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay issued a written statement saying that the Gavdos issue was a "military-technical" matter, and not a political one.

    Greece and Israel?

    Greek and French wire services reported on Thursday that Greece and Israel will conduct joint naval exercises "to allay concern created in Athens in the wake of a military co-operation agreement signed by Israel and Turkey." "Israeli radio," was referred to as the source of this news item. The radio report did not mention the time or the place where the exercises will be held.

    Israel and Turkey signed an agreement on Feb. 23 according to which each started to utilize the other's airspace for training purposes. Israeli and Turkish ships are expected to pay "port calls" to each other. Turkish officials insist such visits by no means constitute a "naval exercise."

    [03] Congressional chairman: 'We made a mistake' in aid to Turkey

    Amb. Kandemir praises Callahan and Wilson

    By Ugur Akinci
    Turkish Daily News

    WASHINGTON- A senior leader of the U.S. House of Representatives admitted that the U.S. Congress had made a mistake in including anti-Turkish language into the text of the FY'97 foreign assistance appropriations bill.

    The House attached two amendments on June 5 to the bill asking Turkey to lift its embargo on Armenia and to recognize the "Armenian Genocide" if it wants to get $25 million in Economic Support Funds (ESF). The Turkish government immediately rejected the ESF with these conditions attached.

    Sonny Callahan, Republican from Alabama and chairman of the House Appropriations Foreign Operations subcommittee, said: "Last week the House sent a strong message to Turkey about something that took place decades ago and yet we do not chastise or demand certain apologies from other countries who have committed atrocities, even in later years." The amendment proposed by Dan Burton (Republican, Indiana) to limit aid to India at its current levels due to Indian atrocities in Kashmir was rejected by the House.

    "I think that the Congress made a mistake in the language that we inserted in the bill," Callahan admitted. "I hope that it will not cause any injury to the fact that Turkey is a tremendous ally of ours in any NATO endeavor," he added.

    Charlie Wilson (Democrat, Texas), a member of the House International Relations Committee who is retiring this Fall, seconded Callahan. He said "unwise action" of Congress had "grave consequences" for Turkish-U.S. relations, despite continuing Turkish support for U.S. policies in the Middle East.

    He noted that "if the Turks wanted to today, they could open the spigot on the Iraqi pipeline and bust the embargo, just as an example."

    Kandemir

    In a letter sent to the U.S. House members who spoke on behalf of Turkey during the floor debates on June 5, Amb. Kandemir thanked Wilson and Callahan for their support. "The basis of our friendship with the United States has never been foreign aid, even in years past when the amounts were much greater," Kandemir observed. "Rather, our friendship has been based on shared interests, interests which are gravely jeopardized by yesterday's [i.e. June 5] developments."


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