From: senel@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (Hakan)
Subject: News/haber   (forwarding)
Originator: senel@irlsp
Organization: Takanumi University of Technology, Tokyo, Japan
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 15:14:57 GMT


 Subject:      STATESMAN WHO MADE TURKEY A CRUCIAL PLAYER (April 1991)

STATESMAN WHO MADE TURKEY A CRUCIAL PLAYER

Jonathan Eyal

Almost  single-handedly, and  despite several  critisim from  his
parliamentary  opposition, Turkey's  President, Turgut  Ozal, has
manoeuvred his country into a position of crucial importance, not
only  in the  Middle East  and the  Balkans but  also within  the
broader framework of East-West relationships.

Located between the Middle East  and Europe, bordering the Soviet
Union,  controlling  approaches to  the Black Sea  and possessing
the  second largest  standing  army in  Nato,  Turkey was  always
regarded as a strategic asset of the first order.

Trade  with  Arabs states  flourished,  but  support for  Western
policies  in  the  Middle  East  ensured  American  support.  And
Turkey's participation  in the Korean war  guaranteed the country
membership in Nato.

Within  a  short  time,  Mr  Ozal  overturned  most  of  Turkey's
traditional policies. He forged a  new political party and pushed
the  army  back  to  the barracks.  He  swiftly  transformed  the
presidency into  Turkey's real power base.  Crucially, he decided
that the INTERNAL  DEBATE on whether his country  belonged to the
East or the West was outdated. Turkey belonged to both.

Mr Ozal's support  for the war against Iraq  was heavily disputed
at home.  The President  lost ministers, one  chief of  staff and
countless supporters. Yet he  persevered by lessening restriction
on Turkey's five million Kurds  and by involving his country even
more deeply in the region.

Mr Ozal's personal triumph can hardly be doubted: his cooperation
is still crucial  in alleviating the plight of  Iraq's Kurds, and
it was his proposal for a  Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq which
was ultimately adopted  by the European Community.  He has become
Washington's  favourite, but  has also  refashioned relationships
with the Soviet Union.

When Mr Ozal  visited Moscow in 1986, Mr Gorbachew  found no time
to  meet him.  Yet, when  the  Turkish President  went to  Moscow
recently,  the Kremlin  rolled  out the  red  carpet and  eagerly
discussed  new   co=operation  accords.  Soviet   Turkish  trade,
currently  worth  650 million  pounds,  is  scheduled to  rise  5
billion by the end of the decade.

Mr Ozal  has offered  economic assistance to  other Turks-related
nations of Soviet union and is busily promoting the creation of a
Black Sea co-operation zone, which  could draw in not only Soviet
Republics, but  also Romania  and Bulgaria. Most  Western States,
eager  to  create  any  security structure  which  could  prevent
violence  in  the Balkans,  openly  expresss  admiration for  his
initiatives.

!> THE GUARDIAN, 10 APRIL 1991 <!

                                 -

OZAL NOBELE ADAY GOSTERILDI

Ankara (UBA)

Cumhurbaskani  Turgut  Ozal,  1992   Nobel  Baris  Odulu'ne  aday
gosterildi.  Cumhurbaskani  Danismani  Can  Pulak,  "Nobel  Vakfi
Sekreteri, Cumhurbaskani Turgut  Ozal'in Birlesmis Milletler eski
Genel  Sekreteri  Perez  de Cuellar  tarafindan  Amerika'da  aday
gosterildigini  acikladi"  dedi.  Pulak,  Ozal'in   cevreye  olan
duyarliligi ve  katkilari nedeniyle aday  gosterildigini soyledi.
Ozal, ilk  kez bir yil  icinde yaslari 6-14 arasinda  degisen 2.5
milyon  cocugu   cevre  izcisi  yapmasi,   Turkiye'nin  yarisinin
yesillenmesine yol acacak bir proje hazirlatmasi ve bir yilda 170
bin  agacin dikilmesine  onculuk etmesi  gibi nedenlerden,  Nobel
Baris Odulu'ne aday gosterildi.

!> Hurriyet, 3 Agustos 1992 <!
            _
|-| /-\ |_ |_| |< (- Der Spiegel reporter  : Why do you think that Turkey
                                             is not accepted into the EC?
                   - President Turgut Ozal : I think it is because you
                                             (Europe) are Christian and
                                             we (Turks) are Muslim.)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.turkish