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TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (October 25, 1995)
Subject: TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (October 25, 1995)
CONTENTS
[01] TURKEY, BOSNIA, CROATIA FORM JOINT POLICE FORCE
[02] DEMIREL: "TURKEY HAS PROVEN ITS POWER IN THE REGION"
[03] DEFENCE MINISTER IN BUDAPEST
[04] TWELVE PKK MILITANTS KILLED, FIVE CAPTURED
[05] HOUSTON DEPUTY CHIEF OF SECURITY IN TURKEY
[06] CUSTOMS UNION
[07] HEAVY LOSSES INFLICTED ON THE PKK
[08] LAKE: "TURKEY SHOULD CONTINUE ITS SUCCESS"
[09] TECHNICAL VISA TO THE CUSTOMS UNION
[10] IRAQI DELEGATION IN ANKARA
WITH THE COMPLIMENT OF
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION
TURKISH PRESS REVIEW
OCTOBER 25, 1995
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press
this morning.
[01] TURKEY, BOSNIA, CROATIA FORM JOINT POLICE FORCE
Turkish President Suleyman Demirel, Croatian President Franjo
Tudjman and Bosnia-Herzegovina President Aliya Izzetbegovic,
meeting at the Turkish House in New York City on Monday,
ratified an agreement to form a joint police force "to provide
physical and symbolic comfort" for Bosnian refugees returning
from Croatia. Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic and Bosnian
Foreign Minister Muhammed Sakirbey and Turkish Foreign Ministry
Undersecretary Onur Oymen signed the agreement.
The force will serve for a period of six months but its term of
mission could be extended. The details of the agreement -such
as how the policemen will be selected, how much they will be
paid, where they will be deployed etc. -will be hammered out by
technical teams in the days ahead. Turkey and Croatia will each
contribute 50 police officers to the 200-strong joint force.
Bosnia-Herzegovina will provide the remaining 100. The force's
main mission will be to monitor the "safe return" of Bosnian
rebel commander Fikret Abdic and his 15,000 men back to the
cities of Velica Kladuca and Kasin in Bosnia from their present
refuge in Croatia -according to Bosnian Foreign Minister
Muhammed Sakirbey. /Cumhuriyet-Milliyet/
[02] DEMIREL: "TURKEY HAS PROVEN ITS POWER IN THE REGION"
President Suleyman Demirel stated that Turkey pursued a
multilateral foreign policy for the preservation of peace in the
region and the world and was a country to be reckoned with.
Recalling that Turkey exerted great efforts for a solution to
the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and conflicts between Azerbaijan
and Armenia, Demirel said: "Turkey has proven its power in the
region". President Demirel, Turkish Parliament Speaker Ismet
Sezgin, Prime Minister Tansu Ciller and Foreign Minister Coskun
Kirca noted in their statements for the 24 October UN Day that
the UN had many successes in its 50-year history. Pointing out
that the UN also had some failures in preserving international
peace and security, Demirel added: "These have harmed the
credibility of the UN". Sezgin, in a message, said that the UN
had to be re-structured. Ciller stressed that obstacles before
peace should be fully overcome. Kirca stated that the countries
of the world should prepare the UN for the next century.
One meeting Demirel had at the Turkish House was that with Dick
Cheney, the former US Secretary of Defence during the Gulf War
and executive board member of Brown & Root -company with a
lively interest in Istanbul's drinking water and Azeri main
pipeline projects. The focus of the Demirel-Cheney meeting was
Brown & Root's interest in the Baku-Ceyhan main oil export
pipeline. It is reported that Cheney wanted an exclusive
guarantee from Demirel to protect Brown & Root against a similar
interest shown in the construction of the pipeline by Roger
Tamraz - a US citizen and oil businessman.
/Cumhuriyet-Milliyet/
[03] DEFENCE MINISTER IN BUDAPEST
Defence Minister Vefa Tanir left for Budapest yesterday as the
official guest of Gyorgy Keleti, his Hungarian counterpart.
"There are no problems whatsoever between Hungary and Turkey"
the Turkish minister said. "They just share the same problems.
These concern problematic neighbours" he added. A Military
Education and Defence Agreement and an agreement on Cooperation
and Development in the Defence Industry are expected to be
signed during the visit. /All papers/
[04] TWELVE PKK MILITANTS KILLED, FIVE CAPTURED
Twelve militants of the PKK terrorist organization were killed
and five captured -two of them injured- during clashes in the
Southeast. Officials from the Diyarbakir-based emergency rule
region said that eight militants were killed in Batman's Kozluk
district, three in Sirnak's Silopi district and one in the rural
area of Bimgol's Adakli district. Five militants were captured
in Sirnak's Silopi district and Elazig's Kovancilar district.
Four young people who were giving supplies to the PKK were
captured in Mardin's Kiziltepe district.
[05] HOUSTON DEPUTY CHIEF OF SECURITY IN TURKEY
US Deputy Chief of Security from Houston, H.A.Contreras paid a
visit to Istanbul Acting Chief of Security Mehmet Caglar.
During the visit by a delegation headed by Contreras, Caglar
noted that during the contacts between the delegations of the
two countries, views were exchanged on the struggle against
international crimes. Contreras noted that cooperation should
be developed to struggle against crimes and said: "We are very
pleased with our cooperation both from the standpoint of
technology and training and we thank you for your hospitality".
Caglar then presented Contreras with a shield. /Sabah/
[06] CUSTOMS UNION
Hans Van Den Broek, European Union Commissioner in charge of
foreign relations and security matters, said he was closely
following the political developments in Turkey that would effect
the country's acceptance to the Custom Union. Submission of the
democratization package, that is highly valued by the European
Parliament, and even its acceptance by the Turkish Assembly,
would positively influence the process, Broek noted. /Hurriyet/
[07] HEAVY LOSSES INFLICTED ON THE PKK
As a result of a military operation undertaken by the Iraqi
Kurdistan Democratic Party in the border region of Turkey, Iran
and Iraq, 12 PKK terrorists were killed and the Hakurk terrorist
camp was destroyed. On the other hand, Hizbullah groups active
in Northern Iraq have also attacked PKK terrorists and have
forced them out of the Koulkan region. 12 other terrorists were
killed in skirmishes with the security forces in southeastern
Anatolia. /Sabah/
[08] LAKE: "TURKEY SHOULD CONTINUE ITS SUCCESS"
Ambassador Michael Lake, the European Union representative to
Turkey, said that Turkey has overcome its economic difficulties
of last year and regained international trust. Lake, who made a
speech at the "Fourth International Trade and Investment
Conference" in Istanbul yesterday, said that Turkey should
continue its success and added that if the customs union was
realized in January, Turkey's economic status would change.
Lake said: "After 22 years Turkey is now in a situation to be
one of the ten big trade partners of the European Union (EU).
Turkey has a $ 20 billion trade volume and most of the
investments are from EU countries which means a kind of
integration. With the customs union, foreign investments,
productivity and employment will increase and Turkey will be in
reach of a $430 billion market." /Sabah-Milliyet/
[09] TECHNICAL VISA TO THE CUSTOMS UNION
Turkey-European Union Joint Commission decided to relay a
positive view to the Joint Council, which is to reach a decision
on the whether Customs Union is "technically" valid or not on 30
October.
The Joint Commission conceded that Ankara had met the neccessary
"technical conditions" related to the Costums Union which is to
go into force on 1 January, 1996. /Milliyet/
[10] IRAQI DELEGATION IN ANKARA
The visit of the Iraqi delegation headed by Iraqi Deputy Foreign
Minister Abdul Mecit El-Faissal which had been postponed since
March due to the operations undertaken by the Turkish Armed
Forces in Northern Iraq has now been realized.
Iraq is against the extension of the term of duty of the Provide
Comfort in Turkey, and also wishes to normalise relations with
Turkey in spite of the embargo imposed by the United Nations.
Ankara, on the other hand, also desires continuous dialogue with
Iraq bearing in mind the trade losses incurred by the embargo.
Ankara also issued a call to Iraq to come to an understanding
with the Kurdish groups. /Cumhuriyet/
END
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