Turkish Press Review 2 Nov.

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

US HITS BACK AT PKK MEETING IN MOSCOW

US State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns on Tuesday said the
Clinton  Administration  had relayed its concerns to the Russian
government  over  the  meeting   of   the   so-called   "Kurdish
parliament-  in-exile"  at  the  Russian  Parliament building in
Moscow.  Burns said the "Kurdish parliament" was financed by the
PKK.   The  Russian  Foreign Ministry the same day denounced the
meeting and denied any part.  But, despite strong protests  from
Ankara,  it  did  not  intervene in the meeting, which continued
yesterday.  Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Omer  Akbel  said
yesterday  that  the  Russian  explanations  had  not  satisfied
Ankara, arguing that, despite Moscow's  statement,  nothing  had
been done to prevent the meeting.  "It falls on the Russian side
to rapidly heal the wound caused to  Turkish-Russian  relations,
otherwise,   Turkey   will   negatively   draw   the   necessary
conclusions" Akbel told a press briefing yesterday.

In Washington,  Burns  said:   "As  we  have  acted  with  other
European    countries   in   the   past,   when   the   "Kurdish
parliament-in-exile" (KPIE) was held in those countries,  as  in
the  case  of  the Netherlands a couple of months ago, we shared
our  concerns  about  this   organization   with   the   Russian
government.   This is an organization which is financed directly
by the  PKK,  Kurdistan  Workers'  Party.   That  is  a  vicious
terrorist  organization  that attacks Turkey and Western Europe,
threatens the lives of Americans, as well  as  Turks  and  other
nationals.  We repeatedly made it clear that neither the PKK nor
the KPIE should acquire or receive any legitimacy, any  support,
any hospitality from civilized countries".  Burns added that the
Russian Foreign Ministry had issued a statement saying they were
opposed  to  the  meeting  in Moscow.  Burns noted that it was a
very  encouraging  statement  from  his  collegue,  the  Russian
Foreign Ministry Spokesman.

On Tuesday, Ambassador Nuzhet Kandemir sent a letter to  the  21
members  of  the US Congress who had previously sent a letter to
President Bill Clinton on October 6 urging  recognition  of  the
KPIE.  "As you must very well know, the idea for the creation of
such  an  organization  was  inspired  by  the   PKK   terrorist
organization"   Kandemir   said.    After  recalling  the  State
Department's  view  that  the  PKK  was   a   brutal   terrorist
organization,  Kandemir said:  "In the light of the above, it is
equally disturbing to  note  that  you  and  your  distinguished
colleagues  would  even  think of choosing to support the KPIE".
/Hurriyet-Milliyet-Cumhuriyet/

ISRAELI NAVAL COMMANDER IN TURKEY

Adm.Ami Ayalon, the commander of Israel's Naval Forces,  arrived
in  Turkey on Tuesday as the official guest of Adm.Guven Erkaya,
commander of the Turkish Naval Forces.  Adm.Ayalon visited  Gen.
Ismail  Hakki  Karadayi, chief of the general staff, and Defence
Minister  Vefa  Tanir  yesterday.   Tanir  said  that  relations
between  the  two  countries  had  deep historical roots.  Today
Ayalon will visit Adm.Salim Dervisoglu, commander of  the  Navy,
and  Adm.   Alper  Tezeren,  commander  of  the  Naval  Academy.
Adm.Ayalon will leave Turkey tomorrow.


17 SEPARATISTS KILLED, THIRTEEN CAPTURED

Nine militants of the PKK  terrorist  organization  were  killed
during  clashes and 13 militants were captured in the southeast.
A spokesman for the Diyarbakir-based emergency rule region  said
that  three  militants  were killed in Batman's Gercus district,
three in Tunceli's Hozat  district,  two  in  Hakkari's  Cukurca
district, and one in Mardin's Kiziltepe district.  A total of 13
militants were captured during military  operations  in  Bitlis,
Bingol,  Siirt  and  Tunceli,  and  a  militant  surrendered  in
Batman's Kozluk district.

Meanwhile, eight PKK militants and  five  soldiers  were  killed
during  military operations on Mount Ararat.  Military officials
said that weapons were confiscated and military operations  were
still continuing in the region.  /Sabah/

TURKEY AND US COOPERATE ON BORDER SECURITY

Dr.Lynn Davis, US  Undersecretary  for  Weapons  Inspection  and
International  Security,  and  an  accompanying  delegation have
arrived in Ankara to discuss  security  issues,  and  especially
Turco-Iraqi  border  security.   In a press conference after the
meetings, Davis said that the aim of the contacts was to improve
Turkish   defences   against  terrorist  activities  and  border
infiltrations.    With   NATO   being   a   high-level   defence
organization,  Turkish  border  security  issues  concerned also
Turkey's NATO allies, US  officials  noted.   US  Ambassador  to
Ankara, Marc Grossman, said that US-Turkey discussions on border
observation systems were continuing and added that  an  eventual
agreement  would  be discussed in bilateral meetings planned for
December.  /Cumhuriyet/

SWISS CONFERENCE ON TURKEY

A "Look at the Liberalization Process" conference  was  held  in
the  Turkish  Embassy in Bern yesterday.  In his opening speech,
Ambassador Riza Turmen discussed the reasons for the differences
in  Turkish  and  European  outlooks  on  statehood.  Prof.Bakir
Caglar, who also participated in the conference, said that  with
recent  the  amendments in Article 8 of the Constitution, Turkey
had  acquired  Anti-Terrorism  Law  at   the   European   level.
/Hurriyet/

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