HIrgUr MUstemleke; Sanki Fiyasko Ha

[newsdesk_aps_nl at apsf.aps.nl]

From: newsdesk_aps_nl at apsf.aps.nl (newsdesk at aps.nl)
Subject: HIrgUr MUstemleke; Sanki Fiyasko Haberler, 13/2/95, 08:00 TSI


(1) Turkey's Ciller urges EU to save trade accord

ANKARA, Feb 12 (Reuter) - Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller on Sunday urged
the European Union to salvage a planned customs union with Turkey which is
threatened by a Greek veto, Anatolian news agency said.

"Europe can't commit a historic error like keeping Turkey out of the customs
union. If it does, history will judge it as a great mistake," Ciller told a
news conference in Istanbul. "Europe can't do without Turkey," she was quoted
by Anatolian as saying.

Athens last week rejected a French-inspired proposal to formalise the customs
union next month in exchange for Greece's close ally Cyprus being given a
timetable for EU membership talks. The customs union, which foresees sharp
two-way reductions in trade barriers by 1996, would give Turkey some of the
closest links to the EU of a non-member country.

Greece has threatened to veto approval of the customs union at a joint
EU-Turkish meeting in Brussels set for March 6. It wants the EU to give
definite dates for Cypriot membership negotiations and clarification of
financial issues in the trade pact.

Ciller said Turkey's population of 60 million made it an attractive market for
EU goods, Anatolian said. She also stressed Turkey's role as a gateway to the
Turkic republics of Central Asia, it said. Greece, in dispute with Turkey over
Cyprus, has often blocked Turkish attempts to get closer to the EU.

(2) Turkey to seek Nordic support for EU deal

ANKARA, Feb 10 (Reuter) - Turkish Foreign Minister Murat Karayalcin will visit
the three Nordic members of the European Union next week to drum up support
for
an EU-Turkey customs union deal threatened by a Greek veto. He will hold talks
in Denmark, Sweden and Finland from February 13 to 15, the ministry said.

Turkey hopes EU countries can overcome the veto of Greece by a deadline on
March 6 when Ankara and the EU must formally pledge themselves to a customs
union. The deal has to be cleared by all EU member governments.

Greece on Thursday rejected a provisional agreement on the EU-Turkey customs
union, saying it wanted improvements in the lucrative deal to bring its
eastern
neighbour closer to Europe.

EU foreign ministers agreed in principle on Monday to go ahead with a customs
union with Turkey in return for setting a date to start talks with Cyprus on
joining the EU. The agreement seemed to remove years of Greek objections to
closer EU-Turkey ties. Closer EU-Turkey links have been blocked by the row
between Athens and Ankara over Cyprus, divided since a 1974 Turkish invasion.

(3) Greece seeks EU solidarity on Turkey customs deal

By Costas Paris

ATHENS, Feb 10 (Reuter) - Greece called for European Union solidarity on
Friday
over its decision to reject an agreement in principle on forging an EU customs
union with arch-rival Turkey.

"We want to believe that all EU countries, especially the big ones that can
influence EU policy, will move in a spirit of EU solidarity," government
spokesman Evangelos Venizelos told reporters.

EU foreign ministers, including Greek European Affairs minister George
Mangakis, agreed in principle on Monday to go ahead with a customs union with
Turkey in return for Brussels setting a date to start talks with Cyprus on
joining the EU. But a Greek cabinet meeting on Wednesday, chaired by Prime
Minister Andreas Papandreou, decided to reject the deal saying several points
needed to be improved before Athens could give its approval.

There was no clear reason why Greece decided to pour cold water on what had
appeared to be a done deal. But many Athens radio stations and newspapers
blasted the government early in the week, accusing it of selling out to
Turkey.

Relations with Turkey are a highly emotive issue and Greece is in a volatile
pre-election mood. The ruling socialists need 10 more votes in parliament to
elect a Greek president in April. Intense wheeling-and-dealing is taking place
daily among the rival parties and failure to elect a new Greek president would
force immediate national elections.

Venizelos explained the rejection by saying Greece wants more specific details
on EU membership for Cyprus, less money offered to Ankara to cope with the
customs union and more aid to Greece's textile industry. "The EU is a
continuous negotiating field. Nothing is final and everything can be discussed
if you know what you want and if you have certain positions where you stand
firm," he said. He said Papandreou sent letters to his EU counterparts on
Friday explaining Greece's objections. Athens shift of position prompted
angry reactions from some of Greece's EU partners.

German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel expressed "regret and incomprehension"
over Greek insistance to keep blocking the EU customs union with Turkey,
saying
EU members had already made big concessions to Athens. "Any change of
individual elements will endanger the package as a whole," Kinkel said in a
statement on Thursday. "The partners in the EU have already gone a long way to
meet Greek interests. Germany played a decisive role in reaching a compromise
by setting aside its own positions," he said.

France, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, said it remained hopeful the
customs union could be agreed by March 6. "The necessary initiatives will be
taken to achieve this goal," Foreign Ministry spokesman Richard Duque told a
news briefing. He said an EU committee of permanent representatives would meet
on Friday in Brussels to discuss Athens' objections. However, EU sources later
said the meeting never took place. The sources said it was cancelled after
committee members concluded there was nothing of substance to discuss.

Both Ankara and Nicosia had welcomed news of the agreement, which was expected
to give a boost to Turkey's ailing economy and help to speed up a solution to
the Cyprus problem.

(4) U.S. backs Turkey on EU customs union

WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (Reuter) - The United States on Friday backed Turkey's bid
to forge a customs union with the European Union.

"Our general position is that we believe that a customs union between Turkey
and the EU would be mutually beneficial," State Department spokeswoman
Christine Shelly told reporters. "We hope Greece and the rest of the EU will
be able to resolve their differences on this issue," she added.

Greece earlier called for EU solidarity over its decision to reject an
agreement in principle forging an EU customs union with arch-rival Turkey.
EU foreign ministers, including Greek European Affairs minister George
Mangakis, agreed in principle on Monday to go ahead with the customs union in
return for Brussels setting a date to start talks with Cyprus on joining the
EU. But a Greek cabinet meeting Wednesday decided to reject the deal, saying
several points needed to be improved before Athens could give its approval.

(7) Turkey expels German reporter for "harmful" acts

ANKARA, Feb 10 (Reuter) - Turkish police have expelled a German reporter for
"harmful activity" supporting Kurdish separatists, officials said on Friday.

Corinna Guttstedt, a reporter for the German publication "Junge Welt," was
detained in Izmir on Wednesday and flown to Istanbul the same day. She was
deported on a flight to Frankfurt on Thursday, an Interior Ministry official
said, adding that she would not be allowed to re-enter Turkey. "From now on
she
is covered by an entry-exit ban."

"The woman journalist has been deported on grounds of harmful activity," Izmir
police chief Kemal Yazicioglu told the Anatolian news agency but did not
elaborate. Izmir has a large Kurdish migrant community which security
officials
believe is a fertile ground for new recruits for the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers
Party (PKK).

Guttstedt had travelled extensively in southeast Turkey where the PKK,
outlawed
for its secessionist war, has been fighting for a separate state since 1984,
the ministry official said. More than 14,000 people have been killed in the
insurgency.