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

REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEW-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ-RWISTA STAMPA.DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASIN ÖZETi
turkish daily news, January 18, 1994
Ankara pleased but waiting for results
Turkish Daily News
ANKARA- Turkish diplomatic sources said
they were pleased with the results of the summit
between US President Bill Clinton
his Syrian counterpart Hafez al-Assad,
and
but
added that "concrete results were yet to be seen."
Turkish diplomatic sources were particularly
pleased with the factthat Clinton mentioned
the illegal Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK) in his meeting with Assad.
They said this was a sign that Washington
"acknowledged the danger posed by Kurdish
terrorism. "
Prime Minister Tansu Çiller had mentioned
the issue to Clinton personally during the two
leaders' meeting in Brussels in last week's
NATOsummit.
"The meeting is an important development,"
Foreign Minister Hikmet Çetin sal(\
last night.
"It is noteworthy that the issue of the PKK
has also been discussed among terrorist groups,
rarticularly in a meeting at presidential
level Çetin, who was in Geneva for a Bosnian
contact group meeting, said.
"We have to watch the developments following
the meeting, to see whether they are
implemented," a Foreign Ministry official said.
Demirel urges end to sanctions on Iraq
'I'm interested in the result. I don't mind which way is right'
By Alistair Lyon
Reuters
ANKARA- Turkish President Süleyman
Demirel called on Monday for the lifting
of U.N. sanctions against Iraq, saying the
Iraqi people had suffered enough.
"In 'my opinion, sanctions are to be lifted,"
he told Reuters in an interview on the
third anniversary of the outbreak of the
GulfWar.
"The people on the street in Iraq suffered
too much from the sanctions. Turkey
also suffered a lot from the sanctions, (losin&)
millions of dollars," he said.
'Iraq should do something to (be) part
of the International community again under
the request of the United Nations."
Demirel said he was not concerned about
whether Iraq fulfilled all U.N. resolutions
before sanctions were lifted. "I'm interested
in the result. I don't mind which way is
right," he said. Iraq's return to the world
community would be in the interests of
Turkey and "many people in the Middle
East". Turkey joined the coalition formed
against Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
It cyt the vital Iraqi oil artery and later
let W'estêm warplanes bomb1raqfrom
Turkish'bases: Demifel acknowledged that
theWèstem allies, particularly,the United
States, remained reluctantto lift sanctions.
Ankara, he said, had made no progress in
persuading the United Nations to anow the
cleansing of Iraqi oil export pipelines
President Süleyman Demirel
across Turkish territory, idle since August
1990. Earlier this month Turkish and Iraqi
officials held what Hayrellin Uzun, head
of Turkey's pipeline company Bota~, described
on Monday as very constructive
talks on the issue. He told a news conference
that7.5 million of the 12 million barrels
of crude inside the pipeline were in
Turkish terr.ï,tory. Turkey bad already paid
for 3.5 million barrels of it. Turkeywants
to pump out the oil and refill the 986-km
(616-mlle) 'long twin pipelines, running
from Iraq's Kirkuk oil fields to terminals
on Turkey's Mediterranean coast. "The
most important point here is whether the
'U.N. would see this as a violation of the
embargo or not," Uzan said. The pipelines
can carry 1.2 million barrels per day, more
than half of Iraq's oil exports before the
Gulf crisis. Uzan said Bota~ had lost $1.2
billion as a result of the closure of the
pipelines.
"An investment of over $2 billion is
now idle," he said. "Turkey participated in
the Gulf War actively on the side of the allies.
But Ithink the embargo has also been
imposed on us." The U.N. Security Council
has offered to let Iraq sell up to $1.6
billion worth of oil over SIX months to pay
for approved imports of food and medical
items and make war reparations. Iraq has
refused, saying the offer violates its sovereignty.
Demirel said the foreign ministers
of Turkey, Iran and Syria would reiterate
concern for Iraq's territorial integrity when
ther, meet in Istanbul on February 8.
'Our interest is in keeping Iraq intact.
The territorial integrity of Iraq is verr important.
If it is broken down there Will be
great problems in this part of the world,"
he said. The three foreign ministers have
held two earlier meetings on Iraq, ignoring
o~jections from Baghdad and from Kurds
in northern Iraqthat they are interfering in
Iraqi affairs.lran, Syria and turkey, which
each have large Kurdish minorities of their
own, are determined to prevent the emergence
of an independent Kurdish state in
northern Iraq.
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