Mainstream news

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

From: tabe at newsdesk.aps.nl
Subject: Mainstream news
Reply-To: kurdeng at aps.nl


Kurdish Television From Britain Penetrates Turkey
      By Aliza Marcus

    ISTANBUL (Reuter) - It's showtime in Turkey and the latest television
programme to hit the crowded airwaves favours documentaries about village
life and children's game shows.

    But despite the ponderous -- some would say boring -- nature of the
broadcasts, British-based MED-TV has its intensely loyal viewers, and all
because the language of choice is Kurdish.

    ``Every night from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. you can find me right here, in front
of the television,'' said a Kurdish businessman, chuckling as children draped
in the red, yellow and red colors of Kurdish nationalism danced across the
screen.

    ``Imagine, for the first time in history, we have our own television,
which is being broadcast to Kurds all over the world,'' he said.

    Turkish officials are less than pleased about the British- licensed
MED-TV, which uses satellite technology to beam from London into Turkey
and evade Turkish laws forbidding broadcasts in Kurdish.
    Turkey, worried MED-TV is being used by the Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) guerrilla group to promote demands for Kurdish autonomy or
independence in Turkey, has asked Britain's licensing agency to monitor
broadcasts.
    ``I think this goes against the European conventions on television and
human rights, because it stirs up racial hatred and is against the
territorial integrity of Turkey,'' said an official with Turkey's Radio
and Television High Commission.
    Whether it is linked to the PKK or not -- MED-TV officials say a wide
variety of groups and businessmen are financially backing the channel --
the broadcast certainly gives the guerrillas another route to spread their
message.
    PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, based in Syria or Lebanon, recently joined
a debate by telephone with other Kurdish groups on MED-TV. He said he was
fighting for Kurdish rights but not a separate Kurdish state.
    More than 15,000 people have died in the rebels' 11-year-old battle in
Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.
    But the television tension is more than a spat over programming.
    It reflects both the problems Turkey has in suppressing Kurdish
identity in the age of technology and open borders, as well as the growing
role of the usually wealthier and better educated Kurdish diaspora in
Europe.
    Kurds in Europe, made up of many who say they fled repression in
Turkey, are becoming a powerful lobby against Ankara's attempts to deny
Kurdish cultural rights at home.
    Kurds set up a 65-seat parliament-in-exile in The Hague in April which
includes members of the PKK and the non-violent Democracy Party (DEP)
banned in Turkey last year.
    Ankara recalled its ambassador from the Netherlands and embargoed the
import of new Dutch military sales in a row over the assembly which Turkey
says is an undemocratic PKK front.
    ``Turkey has been getting very upset with Europe, but instead of
lashing out they should be trying to foster a positive environment,'' said
a Western diplomat.
    The Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly voted on April 26 to
suspend Turkey if Ankara did not clean up its human rights record while
Bonn stopped military aid when Turkish troops moved into northern Iraq in
March to wipe out PKK bases.
    Turkey's long-hoped for customs deal with the European Union could be
blocked by Euro-MPs if Ankara does not address human rights concerns,
including the jailing of six Kurdish MPs.
    By promoting Kurdish culture, Kurdish language and by association
Kurdish nationalism, MED-TV runs counter to Turkey's attempts to suppress
Kurdish identity.
    Kurdish-language education is not allowed in Turkey and books about
Kurdish history are often banned under the charge of disseminating
separatist propaganda.
    MED-TV officials acknowledge the broadcasts are aimed to develop a
sense of identity among Kurds and say it's about time Kurds had their own
TV show.
    Western historians estimate there are about 20 million Kurds in Turkey
and neighbouring countries.
    ``This television will be a different voice, and with shows also in
Turkish we can reach Turks as well so they can learn about Kurdish
people,'' said Ahmet Akkaya, a Turk who is the Belgium-based spokesman for
MED-TV.
    ``Why shouldn't Kurds have their own television?'' he told Reuters by
telephone.
    MED-TV officials stress the international approach of the broadcasts,
designed to appeal to Kurds not just in Turkey, but also in Iraq, Iran,
Syria and throughout Europe.
    ``This will be one step in helping Kurds develop a common cultural
identity after being forced apart by the borders of the 20th century,''
said Akkaya.  Reuter/Variety

NATO Secretary General On Way to Greece and Turkey
      By Jonathan Clayton

    BRUSSELS, May 14 (Reuter) - NATO Secretary-General Willy Claes flies this
week to Greece and Turkey to mediate in a dispute between the two alliance
members and regional rivals that threatens sensitive military operations.

    The latest row has led to Ankara blocking NATO's entire military budget
and forced the grouping to freeze all military projects just as it is in the
process of finalising plans for a possible pull-out of U.N. peacekeeping
forces from Bosnia.

    ``Turkey's action is out of proportion. It is hitting at the entire
alliance not just Greece,'' one senior NATO diplomat said.

    He added that, if the dispute was still unresolved by the end of this
month, the alliance would have to shift to some form of emergency financing
for previously approved military projects that are worth several hundred
million dollars.

    Greek diplomats said they believed Claes would carry with him various
proposals for a compromise solution, but said they were not encouraged by
recent Turkish actions despite Ankara's need to win support after its recent
military thrust against Kurdish rebels in Iraq.

    Disputes between Greece and Turkey have often blocked alliance activity
in the eastern Mediterranean, but this time Turkey has chosen to widen the
dispute which centres on the financing of NATO facilities in Turkey.

    Greece had previously vetoed the funding of alliance facilities in the
port of Izmir, pushing the case for a new NATO command centre to also be set
up on its territory.

    The embattled Claes, who has been dragged recently into a murky Belgian
defence contract corruption scandal dating from his time as Belgium's
economics minister, heads first for Athens on Tuesday and then goes to Ankara
on the following day.

    Claes said on Saturday he had no intention of quitting as NATO
secretary-general and proclaimed his innocence after being questioned for 12
hours on Friday about the so-called Agusta affair by investigators at
Belgium's highest court.

    ``I am supported by all the ministers in the NATO Council. None of them
is asking for my resignation,'' Claes was quoted as saying in by the German
weekly paper Bild am Sonntag.

    The visit is formally part of a tour that Claes, who only took office
last October, is making of capitals of member states. But it has taken on
greater significance since the tension heightened between Athens and Ankara.

    ``This is now a very important visit,'' a NATO source said.

    Apart from his personal problems, Claes has faced an array of crises in
the alliance since taking over, from transatlantic squabbling over air
strikes in support of U.N. actions in Bosnia to a row with Moscow over NATO
enlargement plans.

    Diplomats fear failure to resolve the Greece-Turkey row soon could
further dent NATO's credibility at a time when its relevance in a post-Cold
War world is increasingly questioned.

    The NATO row coincides with Turkish efforts to encourage European
parliamentarians to vote later this year in favour of a lucrative European
Union-Turkey customs union.

    Independent analysts say Turkey's drive against Kurdish separatists in
northern Iraq has cost it much support in Europe and the dispute within NATO
has further angered its allies.

    ``Turkey just seems to keep doing things which do not help its case,''
one political analyst said.  REUTER


Texas Firm Wins Turkish Air Force Contract
    ARLINGTON, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 15, 1995--Hughes Training  has
been awarded a nearly $5.2 million contract from the U.S. Air  Force's
Aeronautical Systems Center to update F-16C maintenance  trainers for foreign
military sale to Turkey.

   The trainers will be retrofitted at Hughes Training's Arlington
 operation.

   Under this engineering change proposal, four Turkish Air Force  F-16C
maintenance trainers will be updated to an F-16C Block 30B/E  configuration.
 These trainers will simulate aircraft subsystems  including armament, fire
control, flight control and communications/  navigation/electronic
countermeasures.

   This suite of trainers will enable Turkish Air Force maintenance
 personnel to perform system operational checkouts and trouble-shoot  and
isolate faults down to the lowest line replaceable unit or  wiring defect.

   Approximately 35 percent of the students' total instruction will  be spent
on the trainers, which will feature interactive video  integration and
automated simulation software generation.

   Combined, the four F-16C Block 30B/E trainers will enable  maintenance
personnel to perform 80 tasks and isolate up to 200  malfunctions on the
aircraft's subsystems.

   Each F-16C Block 30B/E maintenance trainer will consist of a
 high-fidelity cockpit; a flat panel with two- and three-dimensional
 physical simulations; and an interactive video station for student  or
instructor interface.

   In addition, each trainer will come equipped with simulated test  sets
normally used in flight-line maintenance that will connect to  the simulation
panel and cockpit via trainer-unique cables.

   The physical and functional fidelity characteristics of any  control,
display, instrument or indicator will vary according to  each trainer's
simulation requirements.

   The F-16C Block 30B/E maintenance trainers are scheduled to be  installed
and tested at a Turkish Air Force training site in the  latter part of 1996.

   The award to retrofit the Turkish Air Force F-16C maintenance  trainers
follows the recent announcement that Hughes Training has  received a contract
to design and build a suite of F-16A Block 20  maintenance trainers for the
Taiwan Air Force.  In addition, last  year Hughes Training completed
installation of a suite of F-16A  maintenance trainers at Indonesia's
Iswahyudi Air Base.

   Hughes Training is an established global supplier of simulation  systems
for defense, industry, railroad and entertainment markets.   The company is a
unit of Hughes Aircraft Co., which is a unit of  Hughes Electronics Corp.

CONTACT:  Hughes Training, Arlington   Rick Oyler, 817/695-3536

Netherlands and Turkey Try to Improve Relations
      AMSTERDAM, May 15 (Reuter) - The Netherlands and Turkey held informal
talks on Monday aimed at improving relations damaged by a row over the
setting up of a Kurdish parliament-in-exile in The Hague, Dutch television
reported.

    Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van Mierlo discussed bilateral relations with
his Turkish counterpart Erdal Inonu at a meeting of the Western European
Union (WEU) in Lisbon.

    Van Mierlo and Inonu told Dutch television the two countries had decided
to hold further talks to iron out their problems.

    ``There is clearly a diplomatic problem, but there are also two ministers
who both want to solve it,'' Van Mierlo said.

    Inonu said the talks were frank and useful. ``We are hopeful that the
result (of further talks) will be positive,'' he said.

    Turkey reacted angrily to the setting up of the Kurdish
parliament-in-exile on April 12, condemning it as a propaganda tool of the
banned PKK, which is fighting a separatist war.

    It recalled its ambassador from The Hague and halted the purchase of
Dutch military goods.

    The Netherlands said at the time it was unable to prevent the meeting as
this would have breached the rights of free speech and assembly protected by
the Dutch constitution.

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 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)