TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 16 OCTOBER 199

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

Subject: TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 16 OCTOBER 1995


Syria 'encouraged' not to support PKK. Undersecretary says N. Iraq is
not exclusively Kurdish, warns against humiliating

conditions for customs union

By Ugur Akinci

Turkish Daily News
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WASHINGTON- Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Onur Oymen,
wrapping up a visit to the United States, said relations between
Ankara and Washington needed a new direction for steady growth.

Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
to a group of Turkish and U.S. officials, think-tank specialists and
journalists, Oymen said, "We spent too much time in the past by
trouble shooting" and trying to avoid problems in Turkish-U.S.
relations. "We need to build-up the relations" in order "not to return
to square one," he said.

The undersecretary emphasized the importance of the expanded role that
could be played by Turkish-Americans. Referring to intensive Turkish
efforts in the past to avoid certain anti-Turkish amendments in the
U.S. Congress, Oymen recalled that it would be a mistake to approach
the Congress as though every legislator was anti-Turkish by default.
"Our aim is to have more direct contact with all U.S. congressmen.

We will invite more of them to Turkey. The more we explain our
realities, the more friends we'll have. All congressmen are either a
friend of Turkey or a potential friend of Turkey," he said. On Friday,
Oymen visited U.S Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Jean Lodal;
Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights John Shattuck;
Washington Post senior editor Stephen Rosenfeld; Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Commerce Jeff Houser; National Security Council Deputy
Director Sandy Berger. Oymen also had lunch with Assistant Secretary
Richard Holbrooke -- who is said to be a close friend of his from the
time when they both served as ambassadors of their respective
countries in Germany.

Concerning his talks with Shattuck on human rights, Oymen said, they
had a "frank discussion" which is the diplomatic way of saying that
the two sides criticized each other's approach to the problem.

Replying to TDN's question on the aid and comfort Syria is reportedly
giving to the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party), and the way the U.S.
effort to establish peace between Israel and Syria impinges on that
issue, Ambassador Oymen said nobody was asking the United States to
put "pressure" on Syria to quit helping the PKK.

Rather, Turkey was "encouraging" Syria not to support the terrorists,
he said.

Northern Iraq

On the question of northern Iraq, Oymen pointed out that the reason
why Turkey was referring to a "regional administration" instead of a
"Kurdish regional government" is because northern Iraq is not
exclusively a Kurdish region.

"There are 2.3 million Turkmens living in the region -- 800,000 to the
north of the 36th parallel. There are Arabs and Christians as well,"
he said.

Concerning Operation Provide Comfort, he said it was originally
established to protect the area from "external" threats but today
there were many "internal" threats like the tension between the
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
(PUK), and the attacks by Turkey's separatist PKK terrorists, he said.


The fact that the PKK is attacking Kurds in N. Iraq and killing women
and children as well shows that PKK attacks have nothing to do with
the alleged oppression Kurds supposedly suffer in Turkey, he said. "So
Provide Comfort is not the only issue in northern Iraq," he said.

Customs union

Touching upon another current topic, Oymen said there should be no
conditions upon Turkey's entry into the European customs union. "Such
conditions should not give the impression of unwillingly humiliating
Turks, who are a proud people like the Americans." We do what we do
for the benefit of the Turkish people, not to satisfy the West, he
said.

The Turkish Parliament cannot work while being targeted with
"ultimatums from outside." "Can the German, French or English
parliaments operate like that?" he asked.

Iran

Oymen also sent a message to Iran saying that although the two
countries had shared the same peaceful border for centuries and there
were no visa requirements between the two neighbors ("that's the
positive news"), nobody should try to export their regime to another's
country and should respect another's regime as it is. During the
shah's time, there were projects to build pipelines across the two
countries. But nothing happened. Why? "Ask Iran. Perhaps they have
better answers," he said.

CFE

Concerning Russia's intentions not to abide by the treaty to limit
Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE), Oymen said "we'll stick to our
NATO position." NATO recently made an offer to Russia to relax
sub-limits on troop deployments on the flanks, of which the Caucasus
is one. Such flexibility also raises the security risks Turkey is
faced with.

Alexander Vershbow of the National Security Council, in a recent
briefing, claimed that the possible increase in Russian deployment in
the Caucasus represented an "acceptable risk" for Turkey. Oymen
pointed out that everything has its cost and thus "our allies should
increase their compensation for such increased risks" due to the new
NATO gesture toward Russia.

Azeri pipeline

In a previous press briefing he held at the National Press Club, Oymen
answered a question on whether the agreement signed by AIOC on Azeri
early oil was a permanent one, "(Azeri President Haydar) Aliyev has
signed it. So it is definitive," he said.

He recalled that the Russian oil company Lukoil was also part of the
AIOC consortium. Hence Russia's alleged discomfort with the agreement
is not an issue at all.

106 villages

When the representative of an Armenian-American organization asked
about the fate of those who were evacuated from their villages in
Turkey, Oymen said "village evacuations were done for their own safety
(since) the PKK terrorists kill women and children as well."

But now there is a new security situation on the ground and the
inhabitants of 106 villagers are already back in their previous homes,
he said. "Another 106 are returning shortly. We are very satisfied"
with the process, Oymen said.
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 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)