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REVUE DE PRESSE~PRESS REVIEW~BERHEVOKAÇAPÊ~RMSTA STAMPA~DENTRO DE LA PRENSA~BASIN OZETi
çetin says Syria assured Turkey on PKK
Faruk aI-Shara offers increased security cooperation to Ankara
Observers say Zaleh operation has delivered 'intended message'
Turkish Daily News
ANKARA- Syrian Foreign Minister Faruk
al-Shara this weekend assured Ankara that
his country has clamped down on the activities
ofTurkey's Kurdish separatists and will
not allow any terrorist leaders to shelter in
its territories, his Turkish counterpart
Hikmet Çetin said on Sunday.
Çetin told the Turkish Daily News that
the Syrian Foreign Minister also indicated
that Damascus was in touch with Lebanon
on this issue.
"Minister AI-Shara unequivocally said
that they are not supporting the PKK
(Kurdistan Workers'Party)," Çetin said.
"He added that they would never allow their
territories to be used by the separatists."
The Turkish Foreign Minister said his
Syrian counterpart had even proposed to
increase cooperation between the security
organizations of both countries and organize
more frequent meetings.
Developments in neighboring Iraq,
Kurdish activities and regional waters were
the highlights of a tripartIte summit held in
Istanbul on Saturday between the foreign
ministers ofTurkey, Syria and Iran.
The meeting resulted in a declaration of
support for the continuation of Iraqi sovereignty.
a mutual condemnation of terrorism,
and a Turkish rejection of Syrian efforts for
a water-use agreement for the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers. Syria said a formal agreement
on the rivers, which al-Shara described
as "international waters," was needed to
avoid escalating the dispute.
"But I explained how sensitive Turkish
'public opinion was with regard to terrorist
activities, and the impressions that are
imbedded in Turkish f.UbliC opinion about
Syria in this context," etin said.
In his talks with a -Shara, the Turkish
Foreign Minister suggested that doing away
with this impression was one of the conditions
for a better dialogue between the two
countries, including on the subject of
"rc.l)ional waters."
. t;etin and Shara met for talks on Friday
when the Syrian foreign minster arrived in
Turkey. They alsomet immediately after
Saturday's three-way talks.
The assurances Shara gave çetin in bilateral
talks were in line with remarks he made
during a press conference on Saturday. He
said Syria did not surrnrt ":ln\' ~llt' whieh
violated the sovereignty of Turkey," and
strongly denied, allegations that Damascus
was supporting PKK terrorism.
Diplomatic sources noted that al-Shara
appeared to be sincere in his remarks related
148
to Ocalan, the PKK and terrorism, and that
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayeti
and his delegation had also approached
Turkey in friendly fashion, çetin said he had
observed "an atmosphere ofunderstanding"
on the Iranian side and repeated that Turkey
would cooperate to "heal the wounds" that
had arisen frôm the adverse affects of a recent
Turkish air operation in northern Iraq during
which nine Iranians were killed.
The tripartite summit and the chanae in
atmosphere observed in Istanbul, said one
oftïcial, who asked not to be identified, indicated
a chanae in attitude by both countries,
and implied t'hat there could be better cooperation
between the three capitals in the future
on the subject of combatting the PKK.
Turkish officials believe al-Shara's "guarantee"
to Ankara is highly significant, but added
that this indicates that a change in tactics and
alliances by the PKK should also be expected.
Equally important is the noteworthy attitude
oflran over the Jan. 28 air raid by Turkey on
a major PKK training base in northern Iraq,
they say. .
Although nine Iranians were killed and a
further 19 were wounded in the air raids -
reportedly due to shrapnel from a bomb
which exploded in mid-air - the official
Iranian reaction was next to nothing.
Turkey now expects both countries to give
more concrete assurances to Ankara, and
wants promises made concerning the fight
against terrorism to be kept.
There is also awareness among Turkish
oftïcials that the recent air raid on the PKK's
Zaleh camp, involvina a reach of 550 kilometers
and 50 aircraft ffying for 110 kilometers
over "hostile territory," has delivered hidden
messages throughout the region.
Alth(lll~h the main aim (lf the strike was to
destroy' PKK logistics positions and prevent
the rrulitants from using this camp again, its
, value as a deterrent was of equalllTIportance,
analysts say. '
Military sources have told the Turkish
Daily News that this "deep penetration"
strike, the first of its kind by Turkey, has
shown to all countries in the region that
Ankara is determined to fight terrorism and to
hit terrorist bases wherever they are. "Shop
talk" in military corridors these days has It
that if anyone doubts what Turkey can do,
they should put one end of the compass at the
Diyarbakir airbase and the other on Zaleh,
and drawa circle, and draw circles of the
same radius with their centers at other
Turkish air force bases.
Analysts say Turkish officials are increasingly
aware that previously accepted concepts
Hikmet
Çetin
are changin$ in the "new international ordér,'
and that toaay's concepts include "cross border
strikes," and "retaliation" for the sake of
the universally accepted purpose of selfdefence.
. .
Since the Zaleh raid, more 'and more officials
have started to recall the 1982 Israeli air
strike on a nuclear power plant near Baghdad,
as well as the 1986 Amencan air raid on targets
in Tripoli and Benghazi in Libya. A single
bombattack on a West Berlin discotheque
had prompted this "retaliation" by th~ United
States. There has been a noticeable Increase
iri Syria and Iran's willingness to cooperate
against the PKK following Turkey' s recent
operation, observers now note. "Almost as if
the operation has thrown the three countries
closer together," they add.
But desp'ite the promises it has received,
Ankara'still wants to see how sincere this
"warming up of relations" with these countries
will prove to be. . '.
The word is that only time wIll show their
sincerity. Either the three countries will draw
even closer and find more common around,
or Turkish F-16's will have to take off much'
more frequently, analysts conjecture.