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 10, 1994
Çiller criticizes Belgian govt for 'PKK sympathy'
PM says a country pretending to be the capital of Europe has to be exemplary in combatting terrorism
Turkish Daily News
ANKARA- Prime Minister Tansu Çiller has characterized the understandino
of the Belgian
"saddening,,, and maintains
government for supporters of the PKK as
that the stance adopted by Brussels amounts
to support for terrorism.
In an interview with the Belgian Flemish daily "De Standard," Çiller
said there was a need for international cooperation against terrorism,
and added, "I fail to understand why Brussels does not see the need for
such cooperation."
She was referring to the recent tension between the two countries
following the rioting of Turkish immigrants after Belgian authoriti~s
allowed PKK supporters from Germany to demonstrate In a predomlnantlv
Turkish district of Brussels. Çiller called on the Belgian government'to
follow the lead of Germany and France, and to ban the activities
of the PKK and all its branch organizations in Belgium.
She added that a country pretending to be the capItal of Europe had
to be exemplary in the fight against terrorism. ArguIng that Turkey was
a democratJc country sharing the basic principles of Europe, supporting
human rights and the figh.t against terrorism, Çiller said t~at. ev~ryone
in Turkey enjoyed equal nghts and that there was no dlscnmInatlOn on
the basis of ethnicity.
"I was in the Southeast on New Year's Eve. While there I talked to
the man on the street, to the citizens. What I heard on the streets, from
houses and balconies was the same as what people in other parts of
Turkeyare saying. The people in the Southeast arc afraid of the PKK,"
Çiller said.
She added that what people in the Southeast wanted from the government
was security to be provided and jobs to be created for them.
"Because of this we will continue with our heightened investments in
the region. For every Turkish Lira that is invested in other parts of Turkey,
we will invest Il in the Southeast," Çiller added.
Responding to a question on whether !t is possible. to start a dialog~e
with the PKK, or to make some concessIOns to alleViate the problem In
the Southeast, Çiller said her government supported the furth~r democratization
of the region. "We do not see t~IS as a concessIOn to the
PKK. The reason why we are doing this is because it will be useful for
the region.
A SIgnificant amount of progress has been madt' in this respect. Some
of the members of my cabinet are of Kurdish origin.
They attend very secret meetings and study the most secret files. Be-
Prime Minister Tansu Çiller
sides, they are in key positions.
"When people are taken on for a job no one looks at their ethnic origin.
The important thing is the country's unity, its security, and for democracy
to operate in every part of the country. I want my citizens to
enjoy the same rights and to receive the same protection," yiller added.
Çiller indicated that Turkey had been fightIng against not only PKK
violence but also its narcotics and arms smuggling activities. She said,
"How fortunate it is that many countries in the world have now begun
to see the truth."
Turkey and Iraq discussion on crude oil continues
Turkish Daily News
ANKARA- Turkey and Iraq continued
talks on Sunday regarding the future of the
9.5 million tons of crude oil in the
Yumurtahk- Kirkuk pipeline which has
been closed since 1990 because of the Gulf
èrisis.
The talks were chaired by Iraqi Foreign
Ministry Undersecretary RIyadh AI-Qaysi
and his Turkish counterpart Ozdem Sanberk.
AI-Quasy arrived in Ankara on Friday
and the talks started on the following
day"
'Turkey attaches great importance to the
future of the Kirkuk- Yumurtahk pipeline
which is an important investment undertaking
for the two countries," Sanberk said in
his announcement to the press after the first
round of talks. Sanberk stressed that Turkey
had been trying to find a solution to the
problem of drawing oil from the pipeline
while remaining within the framework of
the U.N. Security Council resolutions.
"Oil has started to damage the pipeline.
We have to empty the pipeline at once,"
Sanberk cautioned. ..
Sanberk, also characterized the first round
of talks with the Iraqi officials as "fruitful."
"During the talks, we discussed bilateral
relations and common issues and problems,"
AI-Qaysi said for his part.
Iraqi and Turkish technical committees
continued talks on Sunday.
Foreign Minister Hikmet Çetin said earlier
that he thought an accord should be
reached on the emptying of the pipeline at
once. "Primarily, the issue is what is to be
done with Iraq's share of crude oil after the
pipeline is emptied," he said.
Ankara is free to use its share of the
trapped oil, but the U.N. sanctions committee
would have to approve the disposal of
any Iraqi-owned crude.
Ankara suggests that half of the Iraqi oil
in the pipeline would cover Iraq's debts to
Turkey, and the other half should be allocated
to Turkey in return for exports of Turkish
goods and services to Iraq.
Ankara urges Iraq to comply with U.N.
demands to scrap its weapons of mass destruction
so that the oil and trade embargo
on Baghdad can be lifted.
U.N. Secretary General Boutros-Ghali is
urging Iraq to acceft a U.N. offer to sell
$1.6 \Jillion worth 0 oil under supervision,
a proposal Iraq rejects as infringement upon
its sovereignty.
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