From: Guven.Guzeldere%STANFORD.BitNet@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU (hq.ggg)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.turkish
Subject: News/Haber
Date: 17 Nov 1992 01:56:26 -0600
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
Reply-To: Turkish Cultural Program List <TRKNWS-L%USCVM.BitNet@pucc.PRINCETON.EDU>
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu

SYRIA, IRAN AND TURKEY MEET TO DISCUSS KURDS AND SECURITY

ISTANBUL (NOV. 15) IPS - The Kurdish question and matters of
security are expected to be high on the agenda of a regional
foreign ministers meeting in Ankara this weekend.
   Significantly, Iraq has not been invited to attend the
two-day three-nation summit involving high-ranking officials
from Iran, Syria and Turkey. Saudi Arabia had been invited,
but subsequently declined for reasons that have not been
made public.
   The snubbing of Baghdad has raised consternation across
borders although the Iraqi ambassador in Ankara has tried to
play down the issue. Last week Raffi el Tigriti formally
asked the Turkish foreign ministry for an explanation on the
issue, and apparently got a satisfactory answer.
   "We have no doubts concerning the goodwill of Turkey,"
the Iraqi ambassador subsequently said. "Moreover they have
reassured us that they will keep us informed about the
developments."
   But the Iraqi daily Babel -- published by the family of
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was not as charitable: "The
sick men of the crippled Americans --Turkey, Iran and Syria
-- are trying to act out the American conspiracy against
Iraq. Baghdad will be able to defeat the attempts to violate
its integrity."
   Retired Turkish diplomat, Mahmut Dikerdem, is also
disappointed that Iraq was not invited. "Now Iraq is
completely justified in its reactions. Perhaps she was
excluded, because the issue involves, even if indirectly,
"Poised Hammer."
   Indeed "Poised Hammer" -- an allied force operation based
in southeastern Turkey -- as well as the Kurdish situation,
will be the key topics of discussion on Nov. 14 and 15.
   Last month's declaration of a Kurdish state in northern
Iraq and the subsequent civil war between Iraqi Kurds and
Turkish Kurds of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrilla
group, have raised international concerns about the future
of the minority Kurdish population in the region.
   The Turkish government -- itself anxious to get rid of
the PKK once and for all -- took the side of the Iraqi Kurds
in the war, and is continuing its crackdown even now in
northern Iraq and in the southeastern regions of Turkey.
   For the most part, the West has looked on impassively
although the rapid deployment forces going by the name of
"Poised Hammer" have from time made clear their presence
with reconnaissance flights over the disputed region.
   Made up of troops withdrawn from Iraq after the Gulf war,
the operation was set up in July 1991, following several air
attacks by the Saddam Hussein regime on the besieged Kurds.
   The 2,000 strong operation includes U.S., French, British
and Turkish fighter planes based in Adana; as well as a 62-
member Central Coordination Council in Pirincilik,
Diyarbakir. In all, "Poised Hammer" has 48 foreign and eight
Turkish fighter planes at its disposal, as well as 20
support aircraft and 10 helicopters.
   The allied forces were initially scheduled to leave the
region in July, however, the Turkish government agreed to
allow the operation to remain until Dec. 31.
   The Kurds have made it clear that they favor the presence
of the military forces in the region, however, Ankara is
becoming increasingly worried that the presence of the
allied forces will allow for more autonomy for the Kurds of
the region.
   Chief of General Staff Dogan Gures was also unhappy with
the reconnaissance flights by the Allied forces during the
army's crackdown on the PKK guerrillas.
   Similarly, Gen. Oktay Karasoy who is a member of the
general staff voiced his concerns this week about the
growing possibility of an independent state with the
prolonged stay of the allied forces.
   At the same time he and others note that it would be
against Turkey's interest -- relations-wise -- to ask the
allied forces to leave. Dikerdem, the Turkish diplomat
observed: "Poised Hammer does more good than harm to the
government. It is quite closely linked with sustaining good
relations with the United States."
   And speaking along similar lines, former U.S. ambassador
to Turkey, Morton Abramowitz, was quoted this week in the
Turkish daily Sabah as saying: "This is more of an
ideological issue. The stay of the Poised Hammer represents
Turkey's links to the Western world. Therefore the removal
of Poised Hammer will be perceived as a choice...against the
West."
   Nevertheless, Asim Karaomerlioglu, a political historian
from Bogazici University stressed that Turkey will not allow
itself to be viewed as a pawn of the West. "In spite of
close ties with the West a relatively independent Turkish
attitude must not be underestimated when national interests
are at stake. The intervention in Cyprus is an example."
   Karaomerlioglu adds: "The security of its eastern borders
have always been an issue of maximum priority for Turkey
since the establishment of the republic in 1923. And with
its 10 million Kurds longing for self-determination, an
independent Kurdish state neighboring Turkey on the east
might be the last thing a Turkish statesman would want to
hear about."

PRESSURE MOUNTS IN GERMANY TO HALT MILITARY AID TO TURKEY

BONN (NOV. 15) IPS - Germany is coming under strong pressure
from human rights campaigners to halt all police and
military aid to Turkey. Next to the United States, Germany
is Turkey's single largest supplier of weapons.
   During the Gulf War, triggered by Iraq's invasion of
Kuwait, Ankara obtained 200 prestigious Leopard tanks from
Bonn. According to official figures, during the 1980s,
Germany provided Turkey with police and military aid worth
about 1.4 billion dollars.
   Spearheading the campaign are the opposition Social
Democratic Party (SPD) and the eastern German grouping
Alliance 90/The Greens in the federal parliament
(Bundestag). They have now obtained support from the human
rights group Amnesty International.
   Secretary-General Volkmar Deile says the evidence is
clear. "We have gathered ample eyewitness reports which say
tanks and other military hardware from Germany are regularly
deployed in police, para-military and military action
against the Kurdish people, including civilians," he said.
   In a report on Turkey published on Wednesday, Amnesty
International said political killings had increased, the
government was using its security forces to torture people
and that Bonn shared responsibility for human rights
violations.
   "There is nothing conclusive in eyewitness reports which
speak of a regular and systematic use of German military
equipment," said a government spokesperson, who did not wish
to be identified. "Although we know very well that the
Turkish government does not take human rights seriously."
   "Is the German government blind and deaf or is it simply
lying?" said SPD member of parliament Hans Wallow.
   Alliance 90/The Greens spokesperson Heinz Suhr said the
Amnesty report should suffice to remove even the slightest
doubts and called for an "immediate cancellation" of Bonn's
aid.
   However, according to letters exchanged between the
Turkish Foreign Minister Hikmet Cetin and his German
counterpart Klaus Kinkel there is disagreement over what
"misuse" actually means.
   In a letter of Jun 2 to Cetin, Kinkel expressed the hope
that "the Turkish armed forces will make use of the arms
supplies by Germany only for purposes that are in conformity
with the NATO treaty."
   Cetin responded that when putting the weapons to use,
Turkey will abide by the new strategic concept of NATO.
   What Kinkel was apparently referring to was Article 5 of
the 1949 NATO Treaty which limits deployment of arms for
securing the national borders.
   But Cetin had in mind paragraph 13 of the 1991 NATO
concept agreed in Rome, according to which the security of a
country can also be jeopardised by "acts of terror and
sabotage." This, he implied, is what action by the Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) is tantamount to.
   Bonn is aware of this difference in interpretation, but
prefers not to make much noise. Already, there is a public
row between Bonn and Ankara stemming from the showing last
March of television pictures with armoured vehicles from the
stocks of the eastern German 'National People's Army'.
   Military aid was subsequently suspended, the then German
defence minister Gerhard Stoltenberg resigned and was
succeeded by Volker Ruehe. Soon after, with Turkey promising
to abide by the NATO Treaty, aid started flowing again.
   "We cannot throw agreements overboard overnight," said a
government official. "But Ruehe left no doubt during his
Nov. 2-3 visit to Ankara that Bonn will not tolerate the
misuse of German weapons supplied within the framework of
the NATO."
   The German media then quoted Ruehe saying "Turkey has the
right to fight back against PKK terrorism by lawful means --
but certainly not with German weapons."
   But even Ruehe's handling of the matter is contradictory,
said Charima Reinhardt, an analyst at the 'Frankfurter
Rundschau' daily newspaper.
   "If it was up to the defence minister, Turkey would not
get any military aid from 1995 onwards, only advanced
training for army officers and economic aid --the idea being
to encourage democracy," she said.
   "The idea of cultivating Turkey as an ally, even when
human rights are not taken seriously there, is not only to
do with military strategy. There are solid political reasons
behind it."
   Indeed, in recent statements, both Kinkel and Ruehe have
emphasised that Turkey is "an important connecting link to
the Islamic world."

KURDISH GUERRILLAS KILL NINE IN TURKEY

ANKARA (NOV. 15) DPA - At least four people were killed and
10 injured Sunday night when guerrillas of the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) attacked a tea house in the east Turkish
village of Asagi Alican, the Anadolu news agency reported.
   Near Kulp, the body of the mayor of Agacli village, in
the southeastern province Diyarbakir, was found Sunday with
a bullet wound in the head, officials said. The mayor had
been kidnapped by PKK fighters a week ago.
   On Saturday night near Savur in the southeastern province
Mardin, PKK guerrillas ambushed a vehicle carrying village
watchmen, killing four of them, security officials said
Sunday.