TRKNWS-L Turkish Daily News (April 10, 1996)

From: TRKNWS-L <[email protected]>

Turkish News Directory

CONTENTS

TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 10 April 1996

[01] Turkey, Greece to start talks despite acid Pangalos remark

Turkish Daily News

ANKARA/WASHINGTON- Turkish Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay on Tuesday announced he would meet with his Greek counterpart Theodoros Pangalos later this month although the latter dampened hopes for an early breakthrough for the settlement of Aegean disputes by describing Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz's call for dialogue as "rubbish." Gonensay said he had responded positively to Pangalos' call for a meeting on the wings of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) summit in Bucharest on April 27.

The minister's announcement followed a visit by Greek Ambassador Dimitrios Nezeritis. Gonensay said his meeting with Pangalos would not have a preset agenda.

He said he discussed with Nezeritis the reported remarks of Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis during his current visit to Washington. Simitis told the National Press Club in Washington that Turkey had to take the Kardak issue to the International Court of Justice to pave the way for a dialogue.

But Foreign Minister Pangalos, accompanying Simitis on his trip, spoke contemptuously of Yilmaz's initiative, telling the Turkish dailies TDN and Sabah that a general call for dialogue was "rubbish" and Turkey was now making territorial claims against Greece after alleged airspace and territorial water violations.

[02] Pangalos: Yilmaz's call for dialogue is 'rubbish'

By Ugur Akinci

Turkish Daily News

WASHINGTON- Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos, in an exclusive interview he gave to Turkish dailies TDN and Sabah, did not disappoint those who portray him as an unusually blunt politician who doesn't mince his words. When asked about his reaction to Prime Minister Yilmaz's offer for a dialogue "anytime, any where, through any methods," Pangalos had one word: "Rubbish!" "Call for dialogue, in general, is rubbish!" he said.

"Dialogue for what?" he shot back. "For the Aegean issues," TDN offered. "There are international laws. We won't discuss the Aegean issues" with Turkey, he said.

"You have a territorial claim on Dodecanese islands," he said, referring to the dispute between Greece and Turkey on the ownership of Kardak islet over which the two NATO allies almost came to blows.

Pangalos' generalization of the Kardak dispute as a Turkish claim directed at the whole Dodecanese island chain strikes some Turkish observers as a "typical Pangalos move" which tries to capitalize on over-dramatization of the dispute in question.

"You raised the issue. We don't ask you to say you were at mistake. We ask you to say you will settle it in the right and civilized way," he said.

"You can't get away," Pangalos emphasized. "You will NOT get away with your claim on Kardak."

The Greek foreign minister pointed out that, despite earlier Turkish claims on air space and territorial waters, this was the first time Turkey had laid a claim on land borders of Greece.

"This is a new claim, territorial claim. It is much more serious than previous claims on water and air," he said.

Two issues for negotiation

After repeating that Greece would never negotiate over Dodecanese islands, Pangalos said that if Turkey withdrew its sovereignty claim to Kardak, Greece would negotiate on the following two issues: 1. The continental shelf; and 2. "Overall cooperation."

Third parties

When the TDN reminded Pangalos that the Turkish offer regarded the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as just one of the many possible third parties that could mediate between Greece and Turkey depending on the issue at hand, Pangalos asked: "What's wrong with the International Court of Justice? Denmark has gone to the ICJ for four islands. You have to drop the claim on Dodecanese islands." "You made the last move. You presented the claim on the Dodecanese. If you are sure that you are right, then you can go to the court. Otherwise it is not serious. Mrs. Ciller made some threats. Now, Mr. Yilmaz is a very nice man. But it's the same topic."

Milliyet story

Pangalos, like his Prime Minister Costas Simitis, has consistently maintained that 1932 agreements between Turkey and Italy ceded Kardak to Italy. Italy, in turn, ceded the very same islands to Greece by the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty, Pangalos claims. As support for his contention, he referred to a recent story that appeared in Turkish daily Milliyet to the effect that a classified diplomatic cable from the Turkish Embassy in Rome was held back from Turkish leaders since it allegedly contained information that supported the Greek thesis on Kardak. The Turkish Foreign Ministry denied that any such sandbagging occurred.

Friendship?

Turkey wants to sign a treaty of friendship and non-aggression with Greece, the TDN told Pangalos. His answer was swift: "'Friendship' is a word we should not use," he said. "'Normal relations' is enough for me. I am a very moderate man."

Non-aggression?

As to a "non-aggression pact," he said that such was not possible with a country "that has a territorial claim against us. Be serious. You have to be more serious."

Carnegie Endowment

During another presentation at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, which was mediated by Ambassador Morton Abramowitz, president of Carnegie, Mr. Pangalos ridiculed Ciller's contention that there were 3,700 islands in the Aegean which could raise similar problems as Kardak since their exact status was not defined by international law. "That's 1,200 more islands than we have," Pangalos said and added that some additional islands would have to be found in Europe to give credence to Ciller's statement. He implied that it did not square with Turkey's reputation as a serious country.

'Finlandization'

Bringing up several times Ciller's warning of "casus belli" if Greece extended its territorial waters up to 12 miles, Pangalos said "Finlandization of Greece is not accepted. We will defend ourselves." He was referring, in particular, to the way the former Soviet Union "persuaded" Finland to be "neutral" on every issue through a constant threat of force, and, in a general sense, to the process of "persuading or intimidating a neighboring nation into adopting a foreign and defense policy of accommodation," as defined by political pundit William Safire.

Step-by-step approach

After paying lip service to his desire to see a stable, progressive, economically growing Turkey, Pangalos defined the approach he preferred in Greek-Turkish relations: "We don't believe in general declarations of goodwill and intentions," he said. "I prefer a pragmatic step-by-step approach."

Cyprus

"Cyprus is not a Turkish or Greek problem, although it influences them both. It is a problem of the international community," Pangalos said. He suggested that the existing approaches of the U.N. secretary-general, the EU and the U.S. must all be coordinated.

"Ankara influences the Turkish-Cypriots the wrong way. Turkey will never be able to get away with the Cyprus issue as created in 1974," he said.

He said he had no doubt that Cyprus and Malta would join the EU much earlier than Turkey since the former two satisfy every economic criteria in the Maastricht document. He praised the "2 percent inflation ... no debt and no deficit" of Cyprus. "With Cyprus, there's nothing to negotiate" to become an EU member, he said.

Customs union gesture

Just like Prime Minister Simitis, Pangalos also underlined the "important Greek gesture," i.e. the way Greece, on March 6, 1995, agreed to approve Turkey's full membership of the European customs union without however referring to any deals made regarding Greek-Cyprus EU membership in return. "Every time Greece moves forward, Turkey comes back with a claim," he said during the TDN-Sabah interview.

Burden of defense

The current defense budget is a burden on Greece, Pangalos admitted. "We want both Greece and Turkey to cut down defense budgets" so that the funds can be channeled to more productive investments, he said. In the same breath he said "training the Bosnian army is not contributing to the peace process" in the Balkans. "We don't believe rearming anybody in Bosnia," he said.

PKK support

When asked about alleged Greek support for the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK, Pangalos erupted in characteristic resentment: "That's pure slander!" he said. "There is simply no proof of that." He said he found it "absurd" that Greece was being attacked for the political demonstrations staged by "Kurdish refugees" in Athens. "Anyone with legal status is free to protest and demonstrate." The questioner followed up to find out if Pangalos thought the PKK was a terrorist organization. "The PKK has been described as a 'terrorist group' by EU decisions that Greece has signed," he offered diplomatically. "I hope I won't end up in a Turkish jail for failing to condemn the PKK," he shot back at his questioner, with a dark reference to the anti-Turkish movie Midnight Express. He invited the Turks, on the other hand, to do something about the "massive murder of Kurds" in Turkey.

Militarization of islands

When he was asked why Greece continues to militarize the Aegean islands in violation of the Lausanne Treaty, Pangalos said "if we don't, then Turkey will."

"When there are no Greek soldiers, Turkey embarks her own soldiers, like in Imia (Kardak). Then you put your own army," he said. "Didn't you in Imia?" he asked. Thus Greek foreign minister inadvertently admitted that Greece did indeed militarize the islands in contravention of international laws to which Pangalos himself constantly referred to.

Insolence

"Insolence" is how Pangalos described Turkey's objection to the agreement Greece signed with Syria recently. He, however, denied that Greece had any military agreement at all with Syria.

When Turkey signs an agreement of cooperation with Albania, Greece does not interpret this as Turks arming the Albanians against Greece, he reminded.

Azeri oil

Touching on the Russian-Greek-Bulgarian deal to construct a pipeline from Burgaz to Alexandropolis to carry Azeri oil to Aegean, Pangalos said the biggest obstacle was the Bulgarian insistence on injecting public funds into the process. Greece, through the tycoon Lasis, was ready to pump private funds to build the pipeline. But Bulgaria blocked progress by refusing private funding despite the fact that as a government they cannot come up with the 25 percent of their share either, Pangalos said. He added that the U.S. oil company Texaco was also interested in financing the Bulgarian-Greek pipeline.

[03] Ministers have open agenda

ANKARA- Turkey responded positively on Tuesday to a Greek offer for a meeting between the foreign ministers of two countries during a Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) meeting in two weeks.

Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay, who met with Greece's Ambassador to Ankara Dimitrios Nezeritis, announced that he would meet with his Greek counterpart Theodoras Pangalos in Bucharest on April 27.

"I have just conveyed to the ambassador that I would be happy to meet Minister Pangalos," Gonensay announced after seeing Nezeritis for 20 minutes.

He said that his meeting with Ambassador Nezeritis had been "hope-inspiring" and he hoped that this atmosphere would prevail in his meeting with Pangalos.

Gonensay said that the two ministers would meet with an open agenda during the BSEC meeting, where Romania hands the young organization's presidency to Russia.

"We are trying to keep up the momentum following the offer of Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz for comprehensive and unconditional dialogue," a Turkish diplomat who attended the talks said. "This will be the first time the two ministers both new in their jobs came together." During the meeting, no reference was made at all to the remarks of Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, who said that if Turkey thought it had claims on islands in the Aegean, it should go to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Still, he urged de-escalation of tensions with Turkey and mediation by the International Court.

Ankara was stupefied by conflicting remarks by various members of the ruling party, PASOK, before a crucial convention that would determine the new balances in the party after veteran socialist leader Andreas Papandreou. Turks have been patiently waiting for a "comprehensive answer," to its offer of dialogue, from Simitis. It has duly refused to take negative remarks by Greek government spokesman or other ministers as "the official answer." "There is complete cacophony in Athens for domestic reasons, which leads us to believe that any comprehensive dialogue will have to wait until after the convention," a senior diplomat said.

The upcoming "open agenda talks during a multilateral meeting" seems to be the only acceptable formula for the two countries who cannot agree on what goes on the agenda.

While in the United States, President Suleyman Demirel said that Turkey was ready to talk to Greece "at any time, anywhere, and through any method." After that, U.S. President Bill Clinton sent a message to Simitis to express Washington's support to dialogue between Turkey and Greece.

[04] Ankara shrugs off reactions to deal with Israel

By Nazlan Ertan

Turkish Daily News

ANKARA- Turkey, attacked angrily by the Arab world for its military cooperation accord with Israel, described the reaction as "a tempest in a teapot" but swiftly assured that this was "a routine accord which targeted no country." Various Muslim countries from Iran to Egypt have expressed their objections to a military cooperation accord between Turkey and Israel, which Defense Minister Oltan Sungurlu originally said would give extensive rights to Israeli jets to use Turkish airspace for training purposes. Sungurlu later said he had made a mistake on the context of the accord, but by then reactions from the Arab world had already started pouring in.

Arriving in Tehran amid condemning media reports regarding the Turkish-Israeli accord, Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Ali Tuygan assured his counterparts that the accord did not involve opening Turkish bases and airspace to the Israeli air force. According to diplomatic circles, similar assurances may be given to other Muslim countries who have voiced their objections to the accord.

A spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry indicated that Ankara was "surprised" by the reaction. "We have told the Arab countries that this is a ordinary, routine military cooperation framework agreement," the spokesman said. "It does not target any country." He said that Turkey might reaffirm this point in a declaration, or give a briefing to "interested countries" on what the Turco-Israeli accord entailed.

But the spokesman brushed aside Syria's claim that Turkey was acting against the resolutions of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) by making "an agreement of military cooperation in security and strategy fields" with the Jewish state.

"(The friendly Turkish people) know very well that the resolutions of the OIC, adopted with Turkish support, demand that all OIC members abstain from any form of political, military, economic or other cooperation with Israel as long as Israel continues her occupation of Arab land and her denial of Arab rights," a statement from the Syrian Embassy said.

But the Turkish spokesman maintained that Egypt and Jordan had both political and economic accords with Israel. "Syria seems to have forgotten that," he said.

The military accord with Israel is also expected to be raised during the talks between Turkey and Iran, which are expected to end today. Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Ali Tuygan, who is in Tehran for political consultations, arrived in the Iranian capital amid media comments that condemned Turkey.

"Turkey, by signing this agreement, has stood against the whole Arab and Islamic world," the daily Iran said.

Cumhuri Islami, another newspaper, accused the Iranian Foreign Ministry of remaining silent on this grave development.

But a day before he started talks with Ambassador Tuygan, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati told journalists that Iran would ask for an "explanation" from Turkey.

"If such an agreement is signed, it is very saddening. How can an important Muslim country provide such a facility to the greatest enemy?" he asked, although he added that "some fictitious speculations on the content of the agreement" were denied by Defense Minister Sungurlu.

"Although the Turkish Defense Ministry has denied certain parts of the news published on the agreement, Iran is concerned over providing any facility to the Zionist regime on the grounds that such concessions are against the vital interests of the Islamic world and the region," the Iranian news agency quoted Velayati as saying.

But no statement was made after the first day of Tuygan's talks in the Iranian Foreign Ministry. The agenda also includes recent claims that some Iranian diplomats were involved with various terrorists seized in Turkey.

Still another reaction came from the Cairo-based Arab League.

The league's deputy secretary-general, Muvaffak al-Allaf, said that the agreement was "a direct threat to Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and other Arab countries." "This is a sign that Turkey and Israel both have joint ill-intentions toward the Arab world," al-Allaf was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying.

[05] UN secretary-general to visit Turkey

ANKARA- U.N. Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali will participate in the opening of the Habitat II Human Settlements conference, which will be held June 3-14 in Istanbul, the Anatolia news agency reported.

A New York Times article said that following the discussion of environmental problems at the Rio summit in 1992, Habitat II would focus attention on the problems of urbanization.

The article noted that within the next 20 years the population of Tokyo would reach 29 million, that of Bombay 27 million, and that of Lagos 25 million. A main goal of Habitat II was to encourage local administrations, rather than national governments, to find solutions to the problems, according to the Times article.

The article also noted that the most important problem facing the world in the 21st century would be a shortage of water which could only be prevented by developing and sharing new technologies. The Istanbul conference is also intended to forge links among officials concerned with these issues.