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

REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEW-BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ-RwISTA STAMPA-DENTRO DE LA PRENSA-BASlN ÖZETÎ
Çiller: DEP leader
Diele is a 'traitor'
PM.' PKK won't be granted
shelter in Parliament
Turkish Daily News
ANKARA- Prime Minister Tansu Çiller on Tuesday
lashed out at pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP) leader
Hatip Dicle and, succumbing to demands from her party,
branded him as a traitor. In an unusually strong attack on
the DEP, Çiller said during the True Path Party's (DYP)
parliamentary group meeting that the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK) would not be allowed to take shelter
in Parliament.
When Çiller began her response to Diele's recent controversial
statements by referring to him as "Mister Diele,"
DYP deputies chanted in unison "Not mister, traitor." She
then turned to the group and said, "That is correct, he is
exactly that," as the hall broke into applause.
Referring to Dicle's statement following the bombing
incident at the Tuzla (Istanbul) train station on Feb. 12,
Çiller said that his remarks were in violation the oath he
had made when he became a member of Parliament, concerning
the indivisible inte~rity of the country. She said that
Diele had openly gone agamst his parliamentarian oath and
that he was tryin~ to discredit the state by taking shelter
behind his legislalive immunity.
Çi1ler continued, saying that the state would punish anyone
who carried out actions designed to threaten the indivisible
integrity of the country. She noted that all relevant
offices had begun preparations to respond to such actions
effectively. "The time has now come to remove the PKK's
existence from under the roof of Parliament," Çiller said.
Pointing out that she regretted the recent bombing of the
DEP headquarters, Çiller said that terrorism was never a
solution. She urged everyone to act with calmness and commonsense
and warned the people not to let themselves be
tricked. Emphasizing that Turks and Kurds were brothers
and that the Turkish state was everyone's state, Çiller said:
''There is nothing that we cannot share. The purpose of terrorism
is to create conflict among us. Do not let it trap you.
We have to respond with commonsense against those who
covet this solidarity."
Çiller mentioned that before she attended the DYP parlian~entary
group meeting, she had met with Council of
Europe Secretary- General Catherine Lalumiere and that
they had discussed Turkey's struggle against terrorism.
In response to Lalumiere's question as to whether Turkey
could adopt alternative methods to combat terrorism, the
prime minister said that she had asked Lalumiere whether
she would allow an organization like the PKK to exist in
her own country. Çi1ler pointed out to the visiting official
that the PKK was an organization that did not allow the
state to make investments, that wanted all political parties
to be elosed down and that explicitly advocated the dIvision
of the country.
She said she had also told Lalurniere that the coalition
governmentwas exerting all efforts to make democracy and
human rights a priority throughout the country, not for any
one region in particular. Çi1ler said further that the government
was promoting these principles, not as a way of grant-
turkish daily news - February 23, 1994
ing concessions to terrorIsts, but with the knowledge that
such policies will ultimately be in the best interest of the
whole country. She em~hasized that there was no cause that
justified the killing of Innocent people and said the state's
current struggle against terrorism would continue in the
southeast region.
Çiller's branding of Diele as a "traitor" and her remarks
indicating that his parliamentary immunity should be lifted,
received loud ap~lause from the DYP deputies.
Meanwhile, In reaction to Çiller's address, Social
Democrat People's Party (SHP) Chairman and Deputy
Prime Minister Murat KarayalçIn said he and his colleagues
were opposed to the removal of any deputy's immunity for
political reasons. Responding to reporters' questions about
Çiller's statement, Karayalçm said there would be no SHP
parliamentary group decision regarding the lifting of immunity
and that the party's deputies would make their own
decisions, individually, concerning that issue. However, he
said in principle, he and his colleagues were opposed to the
removal of legislative immunity for political reasons.
The SHP leader added that he worried about the future of
democracy in the country, mentioning that the frequency of
certain undemocratic incidents made him wonder if they
were part of a plan to inteffi)pt democracy in Turkey.
Karayalçm also met with Lalumiere for more than an
hour. He said he and Lalumiere spoke about democratization
and the situation in the country's east and southeast. He
said the DEP issue had not been brought up during the
talks.
DEP meets today to
debate localelections
and Hoop Diele
Turkish Daily News
ANKARA-The pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP)
is to hold "acrucial meeting today to decide wliether or
not to boycott the upcoming local elections. It will also
hear criticism of its chairman, Hatip Dide.
Party sources expect tensions to rise during the
meeting, attended by parliamentarians ..an.d all members
of the party assembly. .•...•. .<
Apart from decidmg whether toboycon the March
27 elections or not, the DEP wiUdebate whether, if it
participates, the results of theelections will truly
reflect t~e vi~ws of the people. • •...••. . ....
The highhght of Wednesday s meetm!!, however, is
the attitude party executives will tàke to Diele.
Recently, Diele has been criticized for makinl1 radical
statements which alienatethe Turkish people from the
DEP. There is intra-party opposition to Diele and an
effort to remove him from power before the local elections.
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