TDN 19 Nov.US: Terrorist organizati

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

Subject: TDN 19 Nov.US: Terrorist organizations have no place in 'international life'

0)
           id VT27290; Wed, 22 Nov 1995 12:39:31 -0800


US: Terrorist organizations have no place in 'international life'

Burns hasn't seen the HRW letter to Apo

By Ugur Akinci

Turkish Daily News

WASHINGTON- U.S. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns on Thursday
said that he had not seen the letter Human Rights Watch\Helsinki (HRW)
sent to Abdullah (Apo) Ocalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK).

Burns also said terrorist organizations like the PKK should have no
place in such international treaties like the Geneva Convention. The
HRW letter in question invited Ocalan to abide by the rules of that
convention as though the PKK was a bona fide "state." "I'm just not
aware of the specific letter that you are referring to," Burns told
the Turkish journalist who asked the question. When asked if he
thought a terrorist organization could be a party to the Geneva
Convention, Burns said: "We don't deal with terrorist organizations.
We don't talk to them. We don't believe they should be part of
international life. We don't believe the country should allow these
organizations or their so-called parliaments-in-exile to meet
anywhere. We made that clear. We are just not going to have anything
to do with these people."

Turkish Embassy responds

In a statement released on Thursday, the Turkish Embassy in Washington
said the letter reveals "a seriously impaired and prejudicial approach
on the part of the human rights organization that carries with it
grave implications regarding the status of the PKK, an internationally
recognized terrorist organization.

"It is paradoxical and deplorable that the HRW would even address a
letter to the PKK's head," the embassy statement said.

"This, in itself, is a controversial point, suggesting that Human
Rights Watch/Helsinki recognizes the PKK and its terrorist leader and
willingly engages in official correspondence, be it in the form of
direct letters or open statements, with members of this terrorist
organization."

The HRW "does not ever condemn -- or even criticize -- the vile
terrorist acts of the PKK; it only cites them as proof of how the PKK
is violating the Geneva Conventions," the statement said.

"Calling on the PKK to abide by the Geneva Conventions is...tantamount
to appropriating legitimacy to the PKK... Ironically, this is
precisely what the PKK seeks.

Without question, the HRW's approach, in this instance, may very well
be construed as a contribution to the agenda of the PKK to this end,
under the guise of objectivity," the embassy concluded.
[end]


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