TRKNWS-L Turkish Daily News (March 1, 1996)

From: TRKNWS-L <[email protected]>

Turkish News Directory

CONTENTS

TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 1 March 1996

[01] Provide Comfort problems ironed out, sources say

Turkish Daily News

ANKARA- Problems between Ankara and Washington over the military modalities of "Operation Provide Comfort," the Turkey-based allied force for protecting the Kurds and other minorities in northern Iraq against the wrath of Baghdad, have been ironed out, well placed sources have informed the Turkish Daily News.

The remaining problem, however, is how to convince Turkish deputies to renew the mandate of this operation when it comes up for voting in Parliament towards the end of March, these sources said.

Contacts to be held in Washington in the coming days by Gen. Cevik Bir, the deputy chief of the Turkish Armed Forces, and the undersecretary for the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Onur Oymen, with U.S. officials are expected to concentrate on this problem.

The matter was also reportedly taken up between the sides during the contacts held in Ankara earlier this week by Gwenneth Todd, head of the Turkish desk at the State Department.

What is said to be worrying officials on both sides is the composition of the Turkish Parliament following the Dec. 24 general election.

The pro-Islamist Welfare Party (RP), which produced the single largest block in Parliament with 158 deputies, has been strongly opposed to this operation from the very start.

The Democratic Left Party, lead by Bulent Ecevit, which has also opposed the operation, also increased the number of its deputies in Parliament after the last election.

Both parties see Provide Comfort as being tantamount to an invading force with the secret aim of establishing an independent Kurdish State in northern Iraq.

Many deputies from the Motherland Party (ANAP), on the other hand, voted for an extension of the Provide Comfort mandate before it expired on Dec. 31, 1995, on the understanding that the government was asking Parliament for such a vote for the last time.

The fact that the National Security Council (NSC) had recommended a three-month extension as opposed to the previous six months, had also convinced these deputies to vote for the extension.

While many ANAP deputies had voted for the extension, along with deputies from the senior and junior coalitions partners the True Path Party (DYP) and the Republican People's Party (CHP), a significant number of ANAP deputies also chose to abstain.

The recommendation by the NSC for a reduction in the duration of the mandate from six to three months was interpreted as a tangible sign of dissatisfaction on the side of the Turkish military about many aspects of Provide Comfort.

The main grievance on the Turkish side concerned the fact that it did not have a sufficient share of control over the operation, especially at a time when it is combatting separatist Kurdish terrorism in Turkey.

The aim of the operation -- mostly made up of fighter aircraft today -- is to keep Iraqi forces loyal to Saddam Hussein outside the area in Iraq north of the 36th parallel.

The operation comprises forces from Great Britain, France, as well as Turkey, but the main driving force of the operation is the U.S. military presence.

Ankara in fact called for this operation to start off with when it was faced with hundreds of thousands of Kurdish refugees fleeing Iraqi forces at the end of the Gulf War and trying to enter Turkey.

Turkey has, however, been complaining since then that while Saddam's forces have been kept out of the region, the local Kurds have failed to fill in the authority vacuum there.

This, Turkish officials say, has been used to great advantage by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is outlawed in Turkey where it is waging a separatist war.

The differences between Turkish and U.S. military are now said to have been ironed out to the satisfaction of both sides with the increase in Turkey's military and political control.

Ambassador Onur Oymen is expected to argue in Washington when he visits the U.S. capital with Gen. Bir in the coming days that one way of convincing Turkish deputies to vote for an extension of the mandate of the operation beyond March 31 would be if northern Iraqi Kurdish groups cracked down on the PKK presence in the region.

He is expected to ask Washington to apply pressure on the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) lead by Massoud Barzani, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), lead by Jalal Talabani, to this end.

Ankara has not only been unhappy about the bloody internecine fighting between these two groups that has assisted the PKK, but also about the fact that Talabani has been seen to be openly lenient to the PKK in trying to use it against his rival the KDP.

The fact that Turkey does not have the capability to ward off the prospect of another exodus of refugees from northern Iraq, however, poses a serious dilemma, despite the deep historic animosity among Turks to the notion of foreign troops based on Turkish soil.

What is compounding Ankara's dilemma now is the fact that unconfirmed reports have been surfacing of late of clashes in northern Iraq between the Iraqi army and opposition forces, something which, if corroborated, could increase the overall instability in the area and deepen the already existing authority vacuum.

[02] Greece determined to block customs union with Turkey despite EU defeat

Turkish Daily News

ANKARA- Despite failing to get the European Union to take a stance against Turkey earlier this week, Greece expressed determination to go on trying to block the customs union with Turkey, reports from Athens said.

Greece will block European Union funds for Turkey "as long as Turkish aggressiveness persists," Prime Minister Costas Simitis said on Thursday.

"It would be foolish for Greece to go along as if nothing were happening while Turkey threatens war," he told a news conference.

Greece, angering its EU partners, has already expressed determination to block a 375 million Ecus ($490 million) aid package to help Turkey adjust to a customs union that came into effect with the EU in January.

Athens cannot stop the customs union now, but Simitis said Greece would oppose its implementation and aid packages which went along with it.

"Greece will not cooperate in the customs union agreement as long as Turkish aggressiveness persists," he said. "This is what we told our partners, and this is going to be our policy over the coming months." Simitis argues that Turkey has broken a clause in the customs pact that commits it to amicable relations with its neighbors.

"The customs union agreement says that Turkey must have friendly ties with EU countries and Turkey is not following this agreement," said Simitis.

The prime minister and Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos visited several EU capitals last week to press their case for greater solidarity against Turkey in the dispute but received a cool reception.

After returning from Brussels, Bonn and Paris, Pangalos told reporters this week: "The decisions for Turkey's funding by the EU must be unanimous and they must have our own approval." But this is only part of the financial cooperation the European Union is giving Turkey. The rest comes from European Development Bank and the Mediterranean fund.

Ankara argues that the funds Greece is seeking to block have already been pledged by the Union, through the customs union package which has already passed through the European Parliament.

"The withholding of aid would be a violation of the customs union accord," acting Prime Minister Tansu Ciller said earlier this week, before she went to Italy, which holds the EU's rotating presidency.

"The customs union is a contractual agreement which has already been approved by the European Union and the European Parliament," a senior diplomat told the TDN in response to Simitis' remarks. "Moreover, it has already started." The Turkish diplomat also brushed aside the Greek claims that Turkey was "acting aggressively" toward Greece.

"Turkey is not pursuing an aggressive policy. We have displayed our good intentions by calling for dialogue with our Aegean neighbor. Greece is trying to draw attention away from its own aggressive policies and its reluctance to launch peaceful dialogue with Turkey," he said.

US still plans Turkey-Greece initiative

A U.S. initiative to help resolve disputes between Greece and Turkey over the Aegean Sea and Cyprus will begin after an appropriate "cooling-off period," a senior U.S. official told Reuters in Paris.

The U.S. official, who declined to be identified, said that after the recent crisis between the two countries, the situation had been too unsettled in both Turkey and Greece to make progress.

However, Washington had not abandoned its efforts to promote solutions, he said.

"There has been no government in Turkey and the 'rock' incident caused immense turmoil in Athens ... The aftermath was that in Athens our efforts weren't appreciated. So there was a need for a cooling-off period," the U.S. official said.

"Lots of preparation is necessary," he said.

[03] Ciller hints Motherpath needs center-left backing

ANKARA- True Path Party (DYP) Chairwoman and Prime Minister Tansu Ciller said Thursday that the coalition government to be set up between her DYP and the Motherland Party (ANAP) would not be a simple two-way pact but that it would either be a minority government or a tripartite coalition.

Ciller implied that the Democratic Left Party (DSP) could back the DYP-ANAP government or the Republican People's Party (CHP) could become a third partner.

Addressing the DYP parliamentary group, Ciller said that DYP-ANAP cooperation was healthy. She said she had left her first meeting with ANAP leader Mesut Yilmaz with good impressions.

Ciller said she and Yilmaz had adopted a five-year rotational premiership model and were continuing their talks. During the coming negotiations, she said, the priority issue would be the determination of a legislative program, an subject that had already begun to be discussed. She said that the government program would be clear within one or two days.

Ciller said that the program would include issues ranging from the economy to judicial reforms and restructuring of the state and the struggle against corruption. She said she had given a program which the DYP had prepared to Yilmaz.

Pointing out that she and Yilmaz would continue to talk about the shaping of the government today, Ciller said, "I believe that the DYP-ANAP cooperation will be the most auspicious government model which could have emerged from the current Parliament." However, she continued, all the difficulties had not yet been surmounted. She completed her speech by saying that she had no ambition to keep her seat as PM.

[04] Support problem early headache for Motherpath

ANKARA- Just after their agreement to form the center-right "Motherpath" coalition, the identity of the supporting third party has caused an early rift between caretaker Prime Minister Tansu Ciller and Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Mesut Yilmaz.

While ANAP prefers the support of Bulent Ecevit's Democratic Left Party (DSP), Ciller has set her eyes on the Republican People's Party, its government-partner for the past four years now led by Foreign Minister Deniz Baykal.

In their meeting today to discuss the details of the partnership, Ciller and Yilmaz are expected to reach a consensus on which party to rely on in the 550-member legislature to ensure survival. They will also take up such other key issues as the length of their respective terms in the rotating premiership, the allocation of Cabinet seats and the coalition protocol.

A commission made up of experts from both parties has already started working on the division of the Cabinet seats, the protocol and the government program.

The Motherpath needs a third partner since Ciller's True Path Party (DYP) has 135 seats and ANAP is now left with 125 after seven Islamist deputies quit on Wednesday to return to their former Grand Unity Party (BBP) banner.

The combined strength of the two parties, at 261, is uncomfortably below the minimum 276 needed for a majority.

Ecevit on Thursday told a news conference that his party's indirect support had been sought by both partners of the center-right alliance.

Ecevit said his party would finalize its position on Saturday after the debate of the issue by its executives and legislators.

The DSP leader said his personal inclination to abstain in the confidence vote.

Ecevit said Yilmaz had told him of Ciller's request for guarantees that his party's support would continue when she takes over as the prime minister next year. The veteran leftist refused to furnish the sought guarantee, "since no one can say what happens a year from now." Under the principle agreement reached between the DYP and ANAP, Yilmaz will take the first turn at rotating premiership for a year, then Ciller will govern for two years, and Yilmaz will take back the post on the fourth and a third person will be given the seat in the fifth and final year.

On each shift, the government will have to seek a new confidence vote.

At the press conference Ecevit said Ciller's call for guarantees looked to be an attempt to prepare the way in advance for recruiting Baykal's CHP as the third partner. He said that by suggesting that the DSP should enter the government, the CHP leader had revealed his own ambitions to join the partnership.

There is no need for such devious tactics, they can do it in a forthright manner, Ecevit said adding that in the event that the CHP joins the government, then there will be no need for the DSP's support.

Ekrem Pakdemirli, an ANAP deputy chairman, told a press conference that they preferred the DSP and did not want the CHP.

"We insist that this government should be supported from the outside" Pakdemirli said.

"If the CHP joins the government then it will appear that ANAP supported the DYP-CHP government, and we would not want this," he added.

DYP officials, however, maintain that it would be wrong to embark on a government with limited support from the DSP and indicated that the cooperation of the CHP should be secured.

Pointing out that the DSP had opposing views on foreign policy, privatization and the economy, these officials say that a minority Motherpath government will face difficulties in Parliament.

They indicated that they had serious concerns about Ecevit supporting the coalition when Tansu Ciller takes on the Prime Ministry.

Ecevit, for his part, indicated that his party's preference for the Motherpath was designed to overcome the government crisis and to ensure that a coalition with the RP does not come to power.

"Who the prime minister will be and the program of the government does not concern us. But we will have to take into account the conditions of the day," he said.

Talking to the Turkish Daily News, Yalim Erez, the deputy head of the DYP's parliamentary group, said on Thursday that they were keeping an equal distance from both the DSP and the CHP.

He said the support of the third party could be from the outside or from the inside.

"At any rate I do not believe this will pose a problem for the vote of confidence," Erez said.

He added that he did not believe there would be a problem with the vote of confidence when Ciller takes on the Prime Ministry because the DSP would be left in the position of having to decide on whether it wants a coalition with the DYP in it or the RP.

Ali Topuz, a deputy chairman of the CHP, in a press conference he addressed on Thursday indicated that a government with questionable support from the outside could not hope to solve the problems facing the country.

Topuz said that because of this the DSP had to take its place in the government.

Adding that the various organs of his party as well as its grass roots were against the CHP joining the government, Topuz said that they could debate the issue within the party in the event of a "new situation arising."

[05] Ethnic Turks of Greece sound education woes

ANKARA- A high-level delegation of ethnic Turks of Greece rapped Greece on Monday for violating Turks' rights and forcing an "archaic education" on the Turkish community.

"The books Turkey has sent (to be used at the schools in Western Thrace, where ethnic Turks live) are not accepted by Greece. Education in Western Thracian schools is archaic with books which date back to from 20 to 25 years ago," Serafettin Serif, the head of the Western Thrace Teachers' Association, complained to Turkish Education Minister Turhan Tayan.

Two years ago, Turkey sent new books for the Turkish community in Greece, as it is entitled to do under the Treaty of Lausanne, but Greeks, who are empowered to examine the books first, have not distributed the books. A Greek attempt to urge the schools to use books written by a Greek national was boycotted by teachers and was declared "a violation of the Lausanne Treaty" by Turkey.

Yet another problem is the new Greek policy of insistence that music and physical education should be taught by teachers who graduated from the state Gymnasium, rather than by local ethnic Turkish teachers.

"Turkish teachers are prevented from doing their jobs on small pretexts," Serif said.

The Greek policy toward the education of ethnic Turks was firmly criticized by Education Minister Tayan, who comes from Salonica in Greece.

"Turkey has the right to reciprocate, but despite all our positive attitude regarding the Greek schools in Istanbul, Greeks continue their unconstructive attitude," he said.

Tayan also promised that Turkey would bring up the Greek attitude of preventing Western Thracian Turks getting a modern education on "all international platforms." "This policy is like a wolf in sheep's clothing, it appears to advocate human rights but in fact violates the rights of the Turkish community," Tayan said, accusing Greece of trying to assimilate the ethnic Turks.

The delegation which includes politicians, activists and religious officials of the ethnic Turkish community also went to the Presidential Palace to meet Suleyman Demirel.

"We want the ethnic Turks to be a bridge of friendship between Turkey and neighboring Greece," Demirel said, maintaining that the rights of the Turkish community were firmly established in the Lausanne Treaty.

But Ismail Rodoplu, a member of the delegation, said Athens was far from abiding by the treaty. "The Turks are forced to leave the country and abandon their property," he said. "But no one can change our national identity."

[06] Turkey closely watches Greek clergy tourists

ANKARA- Turkish Foreign Ministry is probing into the case of six Greek nationals who have arrived in Turkey as tourists but work in the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Fener, Istanbul.

"We have noted the news of their presence and we are assessing their position," Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Nurettin Nurkan told the Turkish Daily News. "We have brought the matter to the attention of the Istanbul Governor's office." He indicated that a course of action would be taken up in line with Turkey's domestic laws and regulations.

The six Greek nationals, as well as three Americans who are believed to be of ethnic Greek origin, have entered Turkey as tourists, but "worked" in the Patriarchate.

For example, Greek deacon Konstantinos Christiantis has been in Turkey for two years and kept the same position by leaving Turkey for a few days every three months or so.

In the late 1980s, Turkey unilaterally lifted the visa requirement for Greeks.

The issue has been brought to the attention of the Governor's office of Istanbul, But no action has been taken against the clergy-tourists.

When Turkey wanted to send a group of mufti (Islamic clergy) to Western Thrace -- where ethnic Turks live -- during Ramadan, Greece objected, as it has been doing for the last four years.

Greek diplomatic sources say that they had chosen seven muftis to invite for the last Ramadan, but they objected to the ones Turkey wanted to send.