TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 19 OCTOBER 199

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

Subject: TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 19 OCTOBER 1995



 Ankara cool toward King Hussein's idea for Iraq



Turkish officials question if this idea is acceptable to Iraq's
majority Shiites and to other countries and groups in the region

By Semih D. Idiz

Turkish Daily News
  _________________________________________________________________



ANKARA- A suggestion floated by Jordan's King Hussein concerning a
federative Iraq comprising separate Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish
components within a unified country has been received coolly in
official circles in Ankara.

Sharing King Hussein's view that great perils await the region if Iraq
is allowed to split up into entities totally independent of one
another, a senior Turkish official nevertheless questioned the
viability of a federative solution to the "problem of Iraq."

King Hussein made his suggestion in an interview appearing in the
Financial Times on Tuesday and warned that the disintegration of Iraq
in factional fighting could spell a "regional disaster."

He said such a disaster might be averted by transforming Iraq into a
federation of Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities. "A federated Iraq
might be the answer," he said in his interview, excerpts of which were
carried by Agence France Presse on Tuesday.

"I have the conviction that what we need in Iraq is for us to get
credible representatives of the three major components of Iraq's
people," Hussein said.

"Somewhere to sit down and work out a national reconciliation between
themselves and to remove this spectre of a bloodbath all Iraqis are
afraid of."

"Officially our view is that the territorial integrity and the unity
of Iraq is sacrosanct and that the constitutional shape this country
will eventually take will, in the final analysis, be decided by its
own people, and not dictated from the outside," the senior official
commenting to the Turkish Daily News on King Hussein's suggestion
said.

He added that King Hussein's suggestion floundered on a number of
objective factors, the most notable of which had to do with the
demographic distribution of Iraq in terms of ethnicity and religion.

In Iraq, Arabs make up 75-80 percent of a population of just over 19
million -- according to July 1993 estimates. The Kurds make up 15-20
percent while the rest are Turkoman, Assyrian and some marginal
minorities.

Of the 97 percent Muslims 60-65 percent are Shiite and 32-37 percent
Sunni.

The first problem to arise according to the official talking to the
TDN is embodied in the question why the Shiites should want to opt for
such a federative arrangement in the first place when they are
effectively the majority in the country. "Under normal circumstances
it is highly unlikely that the Shiite community would want to be
compartmentalized in a country where they are potentially the
principle force," he said. This official went on to point out that a
federative division of Iraq along the lines suggested by King Hussein
would in effect amount to a two way split with the Shiites on the one
side and "the rest" on the other.

"It is also questionable whether the other components foreseen by the
king's suggestion -- especially the Sunnis -- would settle for such an
arrangement" he added.

Analysts questioned on this point, however, suggested the Kurds of
northern Iraq would not, in fact, be averse to a federative
arrangement, given that historic precedence has done little to bolster
their confidence in the central authority in the country.

These analysts pointed out that Ankara's real concern over King
Hussein's suggestion has to do with the fact that this could pave the
way to a largely autonomous Kurdish entity in northern Iraq.

Such a prospect has been Ankara's perennial concern given the
potential political ramifications in terms of its own Kurdish problem
if an independent or semi-independent Kurdish entity emerges on
Turkey's doorsteps.

Despite the fact that they have never refrained from using the
"Kurdish card" against each other, as well as against Turkey, analysts
say it is also highly unlikely that Iran and Syria would be
comfortable with such a Kurdish entity emerging on their own
doorsteps.

Iran already has a restive Kurdish population while Syria has its own
minority Kurds who have been involved in "independence activities,"
albeit mostly in Turkey.

Analysts also indicate that according to Kurdish nationalists,
"greater Kurdistan" takes in parts of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, a
point which is certainly not overlooked by these countries today.

The largest Kurdish community, however, exists in Turkey followed by
Iraq and this is what is believed to be fueling Turkish concerns over
the prospects of an independent or autonomous Kurdish entity in the
region, according to analysts. There are also other factors apart from
the ones already named, according to Turkish officials, which make
King Hussein's suggestion difficult and not viable.

The most important of these is whether a country such as the United
States would be comfortable in the long run with the emergence of
another Shiite political entity in the region which is second in size
to Iran.

"The Shiites of Iraq are potentially just as radical as their
counterparts in Iran," according to a Turkish official who indicates
that "this fact alone is enough to send shivers up Western spines once
the true implications of this whole matter are thought out fully."

There is also Kuwait on Iraq's immediate border, and with its 30
percent of Shiites, that has to be taken into account in putting
forward such a suggestion, according to these officials.

The indicate that it is highly unlikely that Kuwait's ruling
establishment, which is predominantly Sunni, would be pleased with the
emergence of an independent or semi-independent Shiite political
entity in the region.

One official also questioned whether King Hussein could convince his
own people, 95 percent of who are orthodox Sunni Muslims, of the need
to pave the way for another Shiite state of sorts in the region.
  _________________________________________________________________

 Ambassador Kandemir rebukes NYT editorial

By Ugur Akinci

Turkish Daily News
  _________________________________________________________________



WASHINGTON- Nuzhet Kandemir, Turkish Ambassador to Washington, sent
a stiff letter to the New York Times Tuesday, rebuking the points made
in the NYT editorial entitled "America Arms Turkey's Repression" and
published on Oct. 17.

A commentator of Turkish American affairs said the editorial, rapping
Turkey's usage of U.S. arms against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
terrorists, was timed to coincide with President Suleyman Demirel's
visit to the United States -- who was originally expected to be in
Washington on Oct. 17. The Washington leg of Demirel's visit is
scrapped altogether and his trip to New York City is postponed to Oct.
21, due to the recent Cabinet difficulties.

The editorial suggested that "any further [U.S.] aid [to Turkey]
should carry human rights conditions that would promote a political
solution to a war that has undermined Turkish democracy, boosted the
power of the military, drained the economy, and divided Turkey from
its European allies. Placing such conditions on assistance would also
reduce America's complicity in Turkey's repressive internal war."

Ambassador Kandemir, in his reply to the NYT, said there was no "war"
as such, and the $320 million in Foreign Military Financing given to
Turkey in financial year '96 "is not a handout, but rather a loan
issued at current market rates which Turkey will repay in full with
interest." Kandemir told the NYT that the PKK was not a
"romantic-sounding 'Kurdish guerrilla group' -- but rather [a] vicious
and ruthless Marxist-Leninist ... terror organization." He said the
Turkish fight was aimed against the PKK but never "our citizens of
Kurdish origin," as the NYT alleged.

He said allegations of "thousands of civilian casualties" were also
false. "In fact, Turkey was praised for its restraint in its most
recent military action.

Kandemir emphasized Turkey's participation in many regional peace
missions such as Operation Provide Comfort and Minsk group
negotiations in Nagorno-Karabakh. Concerning Provide Comfort, "The
United States could not go it alone in this endeavor as the editorial
implies," the Turkish ambassador said.

"It is quite sad that this particular editorial chooses to ignore this
accurate portrait of Turkey; and it is equally difficult to understand
how such a well-respected and distinguished newspaper could be used as
a forum to convey such misconstrued information," Kandemir continued.
"I continue to fully hope that the dictates of professionalism and
fairness will motivate The New York Times to speak the truth about
Turkey in the future," he concluded.
  _________________________________________________________________

 Baykal seeks support for Turkey's customs union deal

Turkish Daily News
  _________________________________________________________________

ANKARA- Deniz Baykal, leader of the Republican People's Party, (CHP)
which is expected to take part in the new Turkish government, on
Wednesday urged the socialist group in the European Parliament to back
Ankara's planned custom union with the EU.

"We are expecting to see the socialist group's backing for Turkey's
customs union deal and I hope we will get this support," Baykal told a
news conference in Brussels where he held talks with European Union
and European Parliament officials.

"We understand very well the importance the socialist group attaches
to improvements in Turkey's human rights situation, and we are a
social democrat party working hard for the same purpose," Baykal said,
according to the Anatolia news agency. Turkey and the EU signed a
protocol in March for Ankara's customs union to take effect in 1996.
But the European Parliament, the EU's legislative body, must first
ratify the deal in a scheduled December meeting. The European
Parliament has been urging Turkey to improve its human rights
situation, particularly insisting on the need to change an article in
an anti-terrorism law which limits freedom of expression. Pauline
Green, leader of the socialist group in the European Parliament,
addressing the news conference with Baykal, said the European
Parliament was aware that the customs union was of vital importance
for Turkey, but she declined to specify whether or not her group would
support the deal.

Catherine Lalumiere, leader of the radical group in the European
Parliament, said later after a meeting with Baykal that she hoped
efforts by Prime Minister Tansu Ciller to set up a new coalition
government with the CHP would be successful. "We want the European
Parliament to ratify the customs union, but first we must see concrete
signs and a will for (democratic) reforms ... Unless these reforms are
realized, the European Parliament will block the customs union,"
Lalumiere said. Claudia Roth, leader of the Greens' group in the
European Parliament, also meeting with Baykal, said she believed the
customs union would strengthen democracy in Turkey. Like the other
group leaders, Roth urged Turkey to take concrete steps toward more
democratization, adding, "once these are done, the customs union will
be a first and important step toward Turkey's full membership in the
EU."

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