mainstream news on costum union/KPE

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

Subject: mainstream news on costum union/KPE-meeting in Russia


By Jonathan Clayton

LUXEMBOURG, Oct 30 (Reuter) - The European Union and Turkey finalised details
of their customs union on Monday and called on the European Parliament to
approve an accord which will shore up western Europe's fragile southern flank.

Spanish Foreign Minister Javier Solana said agreement on three outstanding
aspects of a lucrative customs union with Ankara was a "step in the
consolidation of relations between the European Union and Turkey." He said
accords on textiles and car exports had removed the final technical obstacles
to the entry into force on January 1 next year of the customs union which was
of immense "strategic, political, and economic importance."

The accord must now receive the backing of the European Parliament, which has
been deeply critical of Turkey's human rights record and demanded the freeing
of six Kurdish MPs jailed for alleged involvement with terrorist activities.

Last week, Ankara released two but four remain behind bars.

Solana, seated alongside Turkish Foreign Minister Coskun Kirca, said recent
attempts by the government to adjust its human rights record and particularly
reforms of Article 8 of the Constitution showed Turkey was now on the right
road. "It is up to the European Parliament to do its duty. We sincerely hope
the vote will be a positive one," he told a press conference.

Kirca said there were no remaining obstacles in the way of adopting the customs
union, which would give Turkey better access to EU markets than any other
non-member, and appealed to the parliament not to make unacceptable demands.
"The parliament should not try to impose further conditions, impose
unacceptable conditions. I believe the parliament will act in its historic
role," he said.

The parliament is due to vote in December but may come under pressure to
postpone a decision until next year.

Critics, including the leader of the parliament's socialist group Pauline
Green, say the changes to the catch-all anti-terrorist Article 8 are cosmetic
and want to see all jailed Kurdish MPs released before the accord comes into
force.

In Turkey Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's coalition government, which made the
pact one of its key foreign policy goals, is hanging on by a shoestring and
faces elections in December. Ciller's minority government lost a vote of
confidence on October 15 and now holds power on a caretaker basis, making it
difficult to resist pressure from conservative hawks in her True Path Party
who argue against relaxing Turkish anti-terror laws because of European
pressure.

External Affairs Commissioner Hans Van Den Broek told reporters a rejection
of the customs union by parliament could result in a "severe backlash in
Turkey" where only Moslem fundamentalists are against closer ties with western
Europe. "There is now every reason for the European Parliament to approve this
accord," he said.

The customs union with Turkey is part of a broader EU strategy to build up its
southern flank. EU ministers will also debate a far-reaching economic accord
with Morocco, which they would like to adopt before a major meeting in
Barcelona next month, on how to spread security and stability in the volatile
Mediterranean region.

The customs union with Turkey also envisages giving financial aid of some 375
million European Currency Units (ECUs) ($488 million) spread over five years
starting in 1996 and access to loans from the European Investment Bank of a
further 300 million ($390 million) to 400 million ECUs ($520 million). From
1996, the EU is also planning to make available supplementary soft loans which
could total as much as 750 million ECUs ($975 million).

(5)

By Servet Yildirim

ANKARA, Oct 30 (Reuter) - Turkish businessmen expect a landmark customs union
with Europe in 1996 to go ahead, despite concerns that Turkey's poor human
rights record may yet block its bid for the deal to be completed this year.

"The European Union shouldn't reject the customs union and I think they will
not, because European firms and economies will benefit from the union," said
Hakan Oker, head of a construction company Izoteksan which represents four EU
firms.

EU and Turkish foreign ministers were to meet on Monday to complete technical
work on the trade pact. Ali Tigrel, Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's chief adviser
for the EU, said political issues were not on the agenda at the meeting.
"Turkey is ready for the customs union. All preparations have been more or less
completed," he told weekly Intermedya Ekonomi.

Turkey last week softened an anti-terror law in a move to appease rights
critics in the European Parliament, reducing jail terms and paving the way for
the release of scores of people jailed under the country's restraints on
freedom of expression. But political analysts say the move may fail to satisfy
some Euro MPs, still seeking broader changes. The European Parliament is
expected to vote on the customs union in December.

Turkey has put into force many of the legislative and technical provisions
needed for customs union. It must still establish customs and intellectual and
industrial property rights, create competition council and reduce import duties
by end-1995.

Turkish officials pledge to complete them on time. The Turkish parliament is
expected to vote on Monday on a draft which imposes jail terms and fines on
those infringing the laws of intellectual and industrial property rights.

Sakip Sabanci, chairman of leading Sabanci Holding, said he expected "a
positive response" from the EU. "Obstacles before the customs union have been
removed," he said in a statement.

Turkish businessmen say Ankara needs a financial aid package from the EU to
offset the losses Turkey will incur in lost revenues. Officials estimate the EU
loans and assistance over the next five years at up to 2.5 billion ECUs, saying
that the abolition of tariffs and duties will cost Turkey up to $3 billion a
year.

Turkey's economy has long been coping with high inflation and budget and trade
deficits.

Manufacturers, borrowing at a cost of up to 150 percent a year, fear that some
technology-intensive sectors, which enjoyed high tariffs and quotas for decades
-- such as iron and steel, petrochemicals, processed food and automobiles --
may fail to compete with European rivals after shields are removed.

Some other sectors -- textiles, glass and ceramics -- see the customs union as
an opportunity for more exports. Sector officials say textiles exports,
currently at around $5 billion a year, may double when they enter European
markets freely.

Moreover, Turkish producers, seeking fresh funds to expand business in the
newly emerging Central Asian, Caucasian, East European and Middle Eastern
countries, say joint investments with European partners will ease their access
to these markets.

Turkey hopes the customs union may spark a wave of direct foreign investment
both from EU and non-EU countries. Japanese and South Korean car makers,
including Toyota, Honda and Hyundai, have already invested in the country.

Economy officials say the accord may ease inflation -- now at around 80 percent
-- by allowing free entry of cheaper European goods, increasing competition and
reducing the cost of imported inputs. The customs union will force local
producers, who have been protected by customs shields since the Turkish
republic was founded in 1923, to produce higher quality goods to European
markets.

(6)

By Andrei Khalip

MOSCOW, Oct 30 (Reuter) - The Kurdish separatist parliament- in-exile met in
Moscow on Monday for a three-day session organised by a Russian parliament
committee, its third session since its inauguration earlier this year.

"We are guests of the Russian parliament," Darwich Hasso, a member of the
group, said. A committee of the State Duma (Russian lower house) had organised
the session at their request.

Hasso said it was too early to speak of any decisions by the gathering. "We
discussed the political situation in Kurdistan, the international situation
and position of some of our members who want to stay away from the struggle
for independence."

The Kurds inaugurated their "parliament-in-exile" in The Hague in April,
sparking a diplomatic incident between the Netherlands and Ankara. Turkey
suspended Dutch military purchases and recalled its ambassador. "We are here in
Russia because of the democracy -- no one can exercise pressure on us here. In
addition, Russians and Kurds have historically been very close," Hasso said.
He said it was the third session of the Kurdish assembly. The parliament last
met for a four-day session in the Austrian capital in August.

The elected 65-seat assembly draws its members from all exiled Kurds, including
members of Turkey's outlawed pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP) and the PKK,
whose rebels are fighting a separatist war in southeast Turkey.

The Kurdish group wants Turkey to start talks with the Kurdistan's Workers'
Party (PKK) to end the rebels' 11-year-old campaign for independence. More than
17,500 people have died in the insurgency since 1984.

Turkey says the parliament-in-exile is controlled by armed Kurdish extremists.
In March, Turkey launched an offensive against PKK guerrillas in northern Iraq,
arguing that Kurds were using the region as a springboard in their fight.

(7)

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Oct 30 (Reuter) - Two primary school teachers working in
southeast Turkey, where separatist Kurdish rebels are battling the army, were
found dead on Monday after being kidnapped from their homes, security officials
said.

The regional emergency rule governors' office in Diyarbakir said Gurkan Ariturk
and Okkes Kaya were killed by rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK),
which has murdered scores of teachers in the region to protest against what it
calls the forced assimilation of Kurds into Turkish society.

(8)

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Oct 30 (Reuter) - Two Kurdish village guards and a
shopkeeper were killed on Monday after the two members of the state-armed
militia opened fire in a jewellery store in Diyarbakir, police said.

Another village guard and four other people were seriously wounded in the melee
when the shopkeeper returned fire, police said.

In a separate incident, two primary school teachers were found dead after being
kidnapped from their homes in nearby Mardin, security officials said. The
government blamed separatist Kurdish rebels.

The 60,000 village guards in the the region, beset by an 11-year war with
Kurdish guerrillas for autonomy or independence, are supposed to help defend
their villages from attacks by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Police said the attack by guards from the village of Gulecoba was part of a
long-running feud with a rival family that owned the store. The incident
underlined human rights complaints that some village guards use the
government-supplied guns for their own purposes. Local human rights monitors
accuse some village guards of extorting money or other items from innocent
Kurds.

Monitors also say the Turkish security forces often threaten to forcibly
evacuate villages if the people do not agree to become village guards. Village
guards are paid about $140 a month.

Security officials in Diyarbakir, the administrative centre of the largely
Kurdish southeast, said teachers Gurkan Ariturk and Okkes Kaya were killed by
PKK rebels, which has murdered scores of teachers in the region to protest
against what it calls the forced assimilation of Kurds into Turkish society.

(9)

BONN, Oct 30 (Reuter) - Unknown attackers threw a petrol bomb into a Turkish
advice bureau in the German town of Heilbronn early on Monday but the fire was
discovered and the residents of the tenement above were unhurt, police said.

Germany's Turkish community has been the target of a wave of similar attacks in
the last three years. Some of the bloodiest have been the work of right-wing
extremists. But authorities attribute most of the recent attacks to militants
campaigning for a Kurdish homeland in Turkey.


DYP-CHP COALITION: 52ND GOVERNMENT

Prime Minister: Tansu Ciller, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign
Minister: Deniz Baykal, State Ministers: Necmettin Cevheri, Cavit
Caglar, Aykon Dogan, Abdulkadir Ates, Ali Dincer, Ayvaz Gokdemir,
Munif Islamoglu, Omer Barutcu, Ali Ekmen, Mehmet Sevigen, Coskun
Kirca, Isilay Saygin, Mehmet Alp, Salim Ensarioglu, Defence
Minister: Vefa Tanir, Finance: Ismet Attila, Education: Turhan
Tayan, Public Works and Housing: Adnan Keskin, Health: Dogan
Baran, Agriculture: Nafiz Kurt, Labour: Mustafa Kul, Industry:
Fuat Cay, Energy: Sinasi Altiner, Culture: Fikri Saglar, Tourism:
Irfan Gurpinar, Forestry: Hasan Ekinci, Environment: Hamdi
Ucpinarlar

The 52nd government was approved by President Suleyman Demirel.

RUSSIA WELCOMES PKK

Moscow, which has assured Turkey that Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK) meetings would not be allowed in Russia, has opened its
doors to a meeting of the so-called Kurdish Parliament-in-exile.
The PKK held its first two meetings in the Netherlands and
Austria and yesterday held its third meeting in an official
building in Moscow. Holding the "3rd General Council Meeting of
the Parliament-in-exile" in a Moscow building belonging to the
Russian Parliament, the PKK wants to send a message to Turkey
that Russia continues to support their activities.

Russian Parliamentarian Valeri Ustinov gave a speech at the
meeting and called for a change in the Lausanne Treaty
preparatory to a new agreement to protect Kurdish rights.
Chairman of the Russian-Greek Culture Association, Georgi
Trapeznikov, said that Kurdish, Armenian and Greek societies were
victims of Turkey's ultra-nationalist policies. Ankara has sent a
protest to the Russian Federation through Turkey's Ambassador to
Moscow, Bilgin Unal, who will convey the protest orally to the
Russian Foreign Ministry. /Milliyet-Hurriyet/

ONLY THE POLITICAL HURDLE LEFT

In connection with Turkey's customs union with the European Union
(EU), positive signals are coming from the Europeans. Problems at
the technical level are resolved and only the political hurdle
remains to be crossed.

Now the ball is in the European's court. The EU member countries
are left with the decisive vote. Turkey has done all that the EU
member countries requested as preconditions to customs union.
Despite some misgivings in some areas, the general feeling is
that the Europeans are much more positive about Turkey joining
them in the vital customs union lead up to full membership.
Leading EU figures, including EU Commissioner in charge of
foreign relations, Hans Van Den Broek, have all sent out signals
suggesting that Turkey is on the way to full membership in the
EU.

Turkey's success in meeting the conditions for customs union is
already being described as a "victory" for Turkey. Prime Minister
Ciller said yesterday that within three years she would take
Turkey into the EU as a full member. In the meantime, contacts
between Turkey and the EU remain intense as the final steps are
taken to complete years of preparation. /All papers/


TURKS IN GERMANY FOUND A POLITICAL PARTY

The German Democratic Party, founded by German citizens of
Turkish origin, has held its first meeting. Sedat Sezgin, one of
the founding members was elected party chairman. The party was
established in reaction to the increasing xenophobia in Germany,
and aims to assist foreigners, and especially people of Turkish
origin, with their problems encountered in Germany. /Milliyet/

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