Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro
de la Prensa-Baszn Özeti
u.s. relèase
of 11Turks
ends dispute
,By Dexter FilIdns
ISTANBUL: Eleven Turkish soldiers
returned Monday to their base in northern
Iraq after being released by U.S.soldi~,
ending a diplomatic quarrel that a
senior Turkish military leader said had
pushed relations to an all-time low.
The Turks, èaptured in an American
raid on Friday in northern Iraq, were
flown by helicopter to Sulaimaniya from
Baghdad, where they had been detained.
They were accompanied by 13Iraqi staff
members who had also been held.
The release of the Turkish soldiers
ended an unusual standoff between the
, NATO allies, whose relations have deteriorated
over America's invasion of
Iraq. American officials said they had
, acted on intelligence that suggested the
Turks, operating in the region independently,
were involved in a plot to assassinate
an American-backed Iraqi officiaL
Turkey's leaders denied those accusations.
The incident angered the Turkish
public, deepening the resentment
felt by many here for what they con~
sider to be America's heavy-handed
tactics toward an old friend. "
The recriminations continued Monday,
with the chief of the Turkish gener-
, al staff, Hilmi Ozkok, saying that rela-
AndrewMedlchlnilThe A~soclated~e~;
A U.S.Marine patrolling a street inAsh Shatra, in southern Iraq, on Mondày.
tions between the armed forces of the
two countries, once allies in the cold
war, had never been worse. ,
"This incident has unfortunately led
to the biggest crisis of confidence ever
between the U.S. and Turkish armed
forces," Ozkok said after a meeting with
the American ambassador, Robert Pearson.
Ozkok suggested that the United
States had a vendetta against the Turks,
perhaps out of anger for the Turks' re- ,
fusaI to allow the Americans to invade
Iraq from their territory.
"I don't think this is U.S. armed forces
policy, but I have great difficulty in se~'
ing it as a local event," Ozkok,said. "
The Turkish soldiers were released'
following a telephone' conversation ori:
Sunday between Turkey's prime minis"
ter, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Vice
President Dick Cheney. Hurriyet. a leading
Turkish newspaper, printed what it
said were excerpts of the conversation.
The paper quoted Erdogan as telling
Cheney that the United States was
"about to lose a very valuable ally."
The New York TImes '
'
Iraqi economy faces key changes
New currency and an independent central bank are planned
, ..By Richard A.OPpel Jr.
, ,
BAGHDAD: In a sweeping overhaul of
,thestruggling Iraqi economy, U.S. officials
on Monday announced the replacement
of the Iraqi currency and
what they described as a newly autono-
_mous ceQtral bank.
'
- The ofticials said the actions were bitended
to eliminate a panic-ridden currency
and remove' the central bank
from its 1()I!.S-standingsubservience to
political l~ers, a role that created
spiraling and crippling inflJtjon during
the past dozen years.,
Beginning Oct. 15,Iraqis will be able
to exchange their currency for new bills "
,that do not bear the likeness of their'
'ousted but still uncaptured dictator,
-Sâd~ Hussein. The new bills will be
exclwiged !o,r existing bills in a range'
of sinall to large denominations, which
officials $aid should-eliminate the panic
that has overcome lraqis'unable to exchangetbdr
lO,OOO-dinarÎiötes,for
smaller CUirenèy. The 'Iraqi dinar is ÎtciaÏ in Iraq,I.. Paul Breiner 3rd, said
currently exchanged at about 1,400 for that 350billion dinars would be spent on
every dollar. ' security and justice, 440 billion dinars
Since the end of the war, most mer- would be spent on improving the nachants
have refused to value the 10,000- tion's slipshod and heavily looted elecdinar
note at more than 7,500 dinars. tricity system, .PQ",dinarnotes lion dinars would be spent on improveor
who lack the 250-dinar notes needed ments to the phone system and other
to buy basic necessities. In recent telecommunications infrastructure.
weeks"a new ritual for many Iraqis has' OfficialshopethattheactionsMonday
been to stand in line to exchange their will help salve Inlqis who are increail-
.,,;nk 10,OOO-dinarnotes for a thick stack ingly angry, with ,Americans over the '
ofblue 250-dinar notes.
breakdown of law and order as well as
The U.S. officials also announced basic services like electricity and water.
that the budget for the rest of 2003 will Yet the Americans made the move just
~ about 9 trillion lra9.i..~.iIl_~~_~ ,~- weeks before the expected appointment
'tween $6 billion ana $7 billion.~Slightly of a new "governing' council" of Iraqi
, more than half of that amount, or $3.5 leaders that will serve as the first postbillion,
will come from oil revenues, war interim government ofIlaq - a tim-
, and the rest from sources including ing that may bring fresh criticismthat
amounts stolen by sons of Saddam and U.S. occupying forces, are not doing
from frozen Iraqi assets.
enough to bring' Iraqi officials into dis-
In a television address to the Iraqi eussions to determine the course of their
peopl~ Monday, the top ciyilian U.S. of- cO\lntry's government and economy.
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