TRKNWS-L Turkish Radio Hour News

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From: newsdesk_aps_nl at apsf.aps.nl (newsdesk at aps.nl)
Subject: TRKNWS-L Turkish Radio Hour News


SULEYMAN DEMIREL REPROACHES GREECE REGARDING ISKECE MUFTI:
"I AM DISAPPOINTED"
    01/29/95, CUMHURIYET--In a message sent to Greek
President Constantine Karamanlis, [Turkish] President
Suleyman Demirel stressed his "disappointment" due to the
imprisonment of Iskece mufti [religious leader] Mehmet Emin
Aga for "fulfilling his religious responsibilities."
    Demirel wanted Aga to be set free. According to the
written explaination that was issued yesterday by the Office
of the President, in the message that was sent to Karamanlis
Demirel noted that the prevention of the muftis that are
chosen by the Turks in western Thrace, from fulfilling their
religious duties  was in violation of international
agreements.

CILLER:  "THE WEST SHOULD NOT MAKE A HISTORICAL MISTAKE"
    01/29/95, CUMHURIYET--The main subjects of the meetings
of [Turkish] Prime Minister Tansu Ciller, who is in Davos
[Switzerland] to participate in a summit organized by the
World Economic Forum, are the Customs Union agreement which
will be made between Turkey and the EU along with the petrol
pipeline.
    At a working breakfast held yesterday in the Seehof
Hotel in Davos for certain presidents and ministers from
European Union (EU) countries, Ciller, mentioning the
meetings  of the partnership commission  regarding the
subject of the Customs Union that will take place in
Brussels on March 6 and 7, stressed that she "hoped that the
west would not make a historical mistake."
    Ciller, who made clear that human rights and the Cyprus
issue were not connected to the Customs Union, said, "the
Customs Union is a technical subject.  Human rights and the
Kurdish issue have nothing to do with this."
    Prime Minister Ciller, who met with Uzbekistan President
Islam Karimov for a while during lunch, later agreed to meet
with Isreali Foreign Minister Simon Perez.
    It was announced that during the meeting,  issues of the
relations between the two countries and and peace in the
Middle East were addressed.
    It was announced that in the near future a "European
Summit" similar to the World Economic Forum in Davos, might
be held.

TURKEY EXPRESSES DISPLEASURE TO FRANCE
    01/30/94, CUMHURIYET--Turkey expressed it displeasure to
France for the release of the Revolutianary Left leader
Dursun Karatas who had been under arrest for the past 4.5
months.
    [Revolutionary Left is an underground organization
accused of masterminding many terrorist activities in
Turkey.]
    Dursun Karatas, who had been arrested for entering
France with a counterfeit passport, was released by the
French authorities after appearing at court. Upon this the
Turkish embassy in Paris contacted the French officials.
    It was learned that the officials [at the Turkish
Embassy] drew attention to the problems of releasing
Karatas, expressed the displeasure and the worry of the
Turkish government, and said that "a government [French]
which is very sensitive to terrorism should behave with the
drawbacks of this [type of release of an alleged terrorist]
in mind".

NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL'S WARNING FOR PKK
    01/26/95, TRH--Daily Hurriyet reports that during its
meeting the National Security Council yesterday declared
that the Kurdish Workers Party is preparing for plots to
assasinate some of the celebrities. It was also said that
KWP is benefiting from the clashes between Barzani's and
Talabani's forces, and trying to regroup.

ANKARA: "KWP CANNOT BE CONSIDERED A PARTY TO THE GENEVA
CONVENTION"
     01/26/95, TRH-- Daily Cumhuriyet reports that the
spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Ferhat
Ataman told the reporters during his regular weekly press
conference that technically the Kurdish Workers Party]
cannot be represented in meetings as called for in the 1949
Geneva convention.
    The KWP claims that they are a national liberation
movement and should be included in the Geneva convention
governing the treatment of prisoners and civilians during a
war. The Turkish government thinks that this is only a
propaganda of a terrorist organization.

GERMAN MINISTER: KURDS ARE NOT OPPRESSED
    01/26/95, TRH--The Interior Minister for Baviera, Mr.
Gunther Beckstein, told daily Hurriyet that Kurds are not
under pressure in Turkey. He added that Germany will
continue to deport Kurdish criminals starting from March.

    01/27/95, TRH--The Anatolian News Agency informs that
Mr. Ozdem Sanberk, the undersecretary for the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, told reporters that Turkey does not need to
take any further steps regarding Cyprus in order to remove
Greece's veto for the European Customs Union membership.
    He believes that the European Community is aware of the
problems between Greece and Turkey and its possible
complications. If the talks for the membership of Cyprus
starts, as a consequence, talks for the integration of
Turkey and the Northern Cyprus would also start.

TURKEY IS ON EUROPE'S AGENDA
    01/30/95, TRH--As described in the Turkish daily news
Aksam,  The European Parliament will discuss their upcoming
one week long meetings.  The Parliament will discuss the
Cyprus issue and the current situation with Turkish
representatives.
    General Secretary of the European Parliament Daniel
Trhys, who has visited Turkey, will present his report about
Turkey at the meetings which start today in Strasbourg.  In
the meetings, the Cyprus issue, human rights issues and
topics dealing with democracy will be discussed. In
addition, the issue of temporarily suspending Turkey's
membership in the European Parliament, which has 12
representatives, will be discussed.  It has been stated that
Trhys's report would convince the opposition of Turkey to
support the Turkish representatives.

BRAVO KOYLUOGLU
    01/31/95, TRH---Claude Roth, European Parliament Greens
Commission President, visited state minister Azimet
Koyluoglu, who is responsible for human rights on Prime
Minister Ciller's cabinet, and obtained information
concerning human rights.
    As described in the newspaper Turkiye,  Koyluoglu, who
said that there was no problem concerning human rights in
Turkey before September 12th 1980, stated: "Now the Turkish
Armed Forces commanders are in favor of more democracy."
    He further stated that there was a genuine respect for
human rights in Turkey but the West was applying a double-
standard on human rights issues. He lectured Claude Roth,
"Don't we see this double-standard on human rights issue?
We are not myopic like the West."

EUROPEAN COUNCIL: ENOUGH
    01/31/95, TRH--As reported in Milliyet, the European
Council has had a big conflict over Turkey.  European
Council president Martinez and other members of the Council
claimed "eliminating Turkey is not a solution" while
socialist groups said "enough" and wanted to temporarily
suspend the membership of Turkey.
    Moderation Call: Martinez asserted that the council
should continue to play the "pushing power" role in aiding
Turkey in developing more democratic principles.  Meanwhile
Berg defined that Islamic fundamentalism is a threat in
addition to the Kurdish workers Party and a stoppage in
dialog with Turkey would harm both Turkey and Europe.  He
said, "we should give Turkey a new opportunity".
    The head of the Turkish representatives in the European
council Kemal Mimaroglu stated that improvements  in Turkey
are not enough, but there is good faith and determination.

TURKEY SHOULD BE A NEGOTIATOR
    01/31/95, TRH---As described in Hurriyet, Jalal
Talabani, the head of Kurdistan Patriotic Front, demanded
that Turkey should be a negotiator to stop the severe
fighting between the two biggest Kurdish groups in Northern
Iraq.
    The spokesman for Barzani, the opposition Kurdish
leader, Sami Abdurrahman, however, says that Talabani wants
to draw the Kurdish workers Party into the conflict.

BIG BOSSES WARN PUBLIC ABOUT A SOCIAL OUTBURST
 Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen Association: "We can
not take it anymore"
    01/31/95, TRH---In a TIBA (Turkish Industrialists and
Businessmen Association) the conjecture report, which
appeared in Cumhuriyet, which evaluated the economy of 1995,
it has been stated that there was a decrease in the buying
power of salaries and layoffs prevented bankruptcies.
    The report further stated that this year immunity of
people against new shocks in economy had been weakened and
social problems would grow.
    TIBA suggested that the government should bring down the
inflation rate by decreasing the growth rate in the economy.