Turkish Press Review

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

                 THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 1995
                 ---------------------------

Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish
press this morning

SUPPORT FROM GERMAN MINISTER ON CUSTOMS UNION

German Economic Minister Gunter Rexdort said that Germany was
on the side of Turkey's moves for  customs union with the
European Union (EU). Rexdort, who made contacts with the Turkish
Businessmens and Industrialists Association in Europe, stated
that Turkey's access to the customs union would be beneficial
for both Turkey and the EU. German Foreign Minister Klaus
Kinkel, in his speech at the Federal Assembly last week, said:
"Turkey has proven its goodwill by amendments in the
Constitution, therefore its entrance in the customs union must
be realised." /Milliyet/

DUBLIN MEETING BEGINS WITH DEMILITARIZATION TALKS

The second round of the Dublin meeting has begun with
discussions on the demilitarization of the northern Iraqi city
of Irbil, the Anatolia news agency reported. The US-sponsored
talks between the rival northern Iraqi Kurdish groups, the
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK), is aimed at establishing peace in the region.

The talks focused on the details of a peace accord and
control mechanisms. If the meeting is succesful, it will be
followed by the signing of a peace agreement in Washington.
During the talks, Turkey is expected to stress to the leaders
of KDP and PUK, Mesud Barzani and Celal Talabani, that they
must accept responsibility for preventing the PKK terrorist
organization from filling the power vacuum in northern Iraq.
Turkey is also expected to underline the importance of
preserving Iraq's territorial integrity and sovereignty. At the
first peace talks in Ireland, a draft agreement was drawn up
which calls for the demilitarization of the city of Irbil. This
will be overseen by a neutral commission formed under the
auspices of the Iraqi National Congress.

US STATE DEPT SUPPORTS TURKEY

Reports say that the US State Department has taken the side
of Turkey against claims put forward by representative for
Indiana Lee Hamilton, who says that US supplied weapons are
being used by Turkey against the Kurdistan Workers Party or
PKK.

Hamilton is an influential member of the House International
Relations Committee and has often been critical of Turkey's
human rights record. Despite Hamilton's pressures to get the
US government to accept that Turkey is abusing human rights
in its struggle against PKK terrorism, the State Department
has refused to go along with Hamilton's claims. Assistant
Secretary of State Wendy Sherman has written a very clear
letter in reply to Hamilton's claims, stating that Turkey
is in fact, cleaning up its human rights record. /All papers/


FIRST STEPS TOWARDS HABITAT CONFERENCE

Turkey's ambassador to Washington, Nuzhet Kandemir, has
already taken a first step towards the conference on
human settlements (Habitat II) that will be held in
Istanbul next year.

The news from Washington is that Kandemir has already welcomed
future participants in the conference at a pre-conference meeting
in Washington that was followed by a reception at the Turkish
Embassy. Habitat II will take place in Istanbul during June
next year, and will be just about the biggest function that
the city has ever hosted. The conference will deal with housing
and population problems. /All papers/

BIG ANKARA DEFENCE FAIR

Wednesday September 20, will see the opening of a major defence
fair in Ankara. IDEF-95 is the second international fair showing
the latest in defence industry and civil aviation products. The
fair, seen as one of the world's top fairs in these sectors, will
attract military experts, high level government representatives
and civilian companies from all over the world, said the Anatolia
news agency.


MORE STRIKES AGAINST THE PKK

Fourteen members of the PKK terrorist organization, including
two women, have been caught in Adana. According to the Anatolia
news agancy, the PKK members are responsible for at least five
murders in the region.

Over in the southeast of the country, security forces have been
conducting operations to find PKK terrorists responsible for
killing five villagers. During the operations twenty terrorists
were captured or killed in areas around Siirt, Diyarbakir, Batman
and Hakkari.

During a series of raids in Istanbul, police and security forces
nabbed a group of eleven bomb-makers. During the raid the police
took away 146 bombs and PKK documents.


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