Dutch minister to visit Turkey to b

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

Subject: Dutch minister to visit Turkey to boost cooperation againsK

r 2.20)
           id VT22476; Tue, 10 Oct 1995 12:07:45 -0800

  _________________________________________________________________

 Dutch minister to visit Turkey to boost cooperation against PKK

Business: The Netherlands wants to join Turkey's major military
modernization projects like manufacture of frigates,

acquisition of naval patrol aircraft

Turkish Daily News
  _________________________________________________________________



ANKARA- Dutch Interior Minister Hans Dijkstal is due to arrive in
Ankara on Sunday for a visit aimed at cementing cooperation with
Turkey against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, fighting
for an independent Kurdish state in Turkey's Southeast, sources said
on Friday.

Relations between the two NATO allies deteriorated in April when a
self-styled "Kurdish parliament-in-exile" held its opening meeting in
The Hague despite Turkey's calls urging the Dutch government to cancel
the session. Dutch authorities said at the time they could not
intervene unless circles related to the exiles' parliament violated
the country's laws.

Turkey retaliated by recalling its ambassador from The Hague and
excluding the Netherlands from Ankara's future military equipment
purchases.

Unwilling to hurt its traditionally good ties and business connections
with Turkey, the Netherlands later stepped down and signalled that it
would no longer tolerate subversive acts by PKK-related organizations
on its territory.

A visit by Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van Mierlo to Ankara last month
became a concrete step in mending ties between the two countries,
diplomatic sources said.

They said that during Dijkstal's visit talks between delegations,
which would include intelligence officials from both sides, would
concentrate on close cooperation against terrorism, including common
measures against the PKK. Dijkstal will be the official guest of
Interior Minister Nahit Mentese.

Business sources say that the Dutch defense industry, which is
increasingly interested in taking part in Turkey's military
modernization projects, played an important role in persuading the
Netherlands to take steps toward normalizing ties with Ankara.

Dutch military exports to Turkey have so far been negligible compared
to sales of some other Western countries, but The Hague now hopes to
garner Turkish defense modernization deals in at least two fields.

A major Dutch naval industry company is due to enter competition with
several other Western firms to co-produce in Turkey six frigates for
the Turkish Navy in a deal worth $2.5 billion, business sources told
the TDN.

Also the Dutch-German aircraft manufacturers Fokker plans to sell nine
naval patrol aircraft to Turkey at around $300 million.

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