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TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review
TRKNWS-L ([email protected])
Thu, 17 Aug 95 05:52:28 PDT
TURKISH PRESS REVIEW
----------------------
*THURSDAY AUGUST 17, 1995
------------------------
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press
this morning
[with a few non-related items snipped -- see URL for full report]
TURKEY PROTESTS BEHEADINGS IN SAUDI ARABIA
Nearly 40 Turkish nationals, convicted on or charged with drug
offenses, are facing possible execution in Saudi prisons. Saudi
Ambassador in Ankara, Naci al-Mufti said his country would
continue to carry out executions in accordance with Islamic
law despite protests from Turkey about the beheading of four
Turks. He told the official Saudi Press Agency late on Tuesday
that "Saudi Arabia will not submit to any pressures aimed at
changing a religious sentence because of the wishes of some
parties". "The protests of some parties against the execution
by Saudi authorities of some of these countries' nationals
because of drug trafficking will not affect the continued
implementation of the religious sentence applied in Saudi
Arabi" he added. Replying to a question regarding the executions,
Prime Minister Tansu Ciller said: "These will harm the friendly
relations between the two countries. Our president is concerned
about this issue. I will phone King Fahd and try to prevent
these executions. I call upon Saudi officials to intercede".
Turkish Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Nurettin Nurkan, when
asked at his weekly press briefing if Turkey would react to the
Saudi Ambassador's remarks, said Ankara was basically waiting
for King Fahd's reply to a note from President Demirel before
expressing further reaction. "But in the meantime" Nurkan said:
"We hope the ambassador will behave in a way that doesn't
obstruct improvement of relations between Turkey and Saudi
Arabia". Nurkan said at this time Turkey was not considering
calling back its ambassador in Riyadh in protest over the
executions. He said Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu, currently
attending a tour of three Central Asian countries with Prime
Minister Tansu Ciller, had a telephone conversation with his
Saudi counterpart late on Tuesday. Meanwhile, public reaction
over the beheadings continued to intensify on Wednesday. Deputy
Prime Minister Hikmet Cetin, State Minister responsible for
Human Rights Algan Hacaloglu, and representatives from several
political parties and social organizations denounced the
beheadings in Saudi Arabia. The Ankara branch of the Republican
People's Party (CHP) yesterday laid a "black wreath" in front of
the Saudi Embassy in Ankara. /Cumhuriyet-Milliyet-Hurriyet/
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL APPEALING AGAINST EXECUTIONS
Amnesty International, criticized by the Turkish press for its
non-interference in the capital punishment issue in Saudi
Arabia, has released a statement noting that the organization
has been appealing for banning capital punishment since April,
1995, and noted that the text of the judgment against the Turks
now executed was also added to the appeal. According to
Amnesty International, in this year alone there have been 145
executions in Saudi Arabia and that 70 percent of those charged
were foreigners. /Hurriyet/
"EXECUTIONS OUTRAGE FOR TURKEY AND ISLAM"
Dr.Huseyin Bagci from the METU Department for International
Relations, said that the beheadings in Saudi Arabia were an
outrage for Turkey and for the Islam. He added that such
executions could not be explained by any religious or moral
arguments. All Turkish citizens, including the president, and
all civil organizations should voice their reactions against
this barbarity, and diplomatic steps should be undertaken for
stopping the unbelievable cruelty, Bagci said. He noted that
in the 1980s, Germany has succeeded in stopping the execution
of a German citizen charged with drug smuggling in
Malaysia and stressed that Turkey also could bring an end to
further cruelty in Saudi Arabia. "Is the life of a Mehmet any
the less valuable than the life of a Hans?" Bagci asked.
On the other hand, Prof.Sulhi Donmezler said that every country
had the sovereign right to determine its laws and punishments
and noted that the beheading, even though described as a
"barbarity" abroad, was a legal punishment in Saudi Arabia. He
added that people visiting a foreign country were assumed to
know its laws, and were subject to the legal regulations there
even if they were not aware of the laws. "Whatever our attitude
toward capital punishments is, the laws in Saudi Arabia allow
for it" Donmezler said. /Sabah/
GERMANY: "CAPTAGON IS A LEGAL MEDICINE"
Representatives of the Asta medical company, producer of the
Captagon hallucinogen have expressed their astonishment over the
recent executions in Saudi Arabia. Captagon is produced in
Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and Venezuela and it is sold in 15
EU member countries, company officials said. Since counterfeit
Captagon contains some dangerous components, the company has had
to fight medicine counterfeiters and has succeeded in some
measure to block the illegal production of the hallucinogenic
medicine. Asta representatives have evaluated the attitude of
the Saudi Arabian officials as "barbaric". /Sabah/
DEMIREL WARNS EUROPEAN UNION
Speaking to a visiting group of European Union (EU)
parliamentarians, President Demirel warned that Turkey
had to be included in the customs union as a prelude
to full membership in the EU.
Threatening that refusing Turkey "could lead to serious
consequences", Demirel told Austrian Liberal Party member
Dr. Hans-Gert Pottering that it was vital that Turkey was
included in customs union agreements with the EU. Demirel
stressed that not only would Turkey-Germany ties be
damaged, but so would ties with the EU as a whole.
Noting that "Turkey was not a third class country, but
a bridge to Central Asia and the Middle East", Pottering
added that nevertheless there were areas that Turkey
still had to work on. /Hurriyet/
US MAKES BOSNIA GESTURE
Following initiatives from Turkey, the US has changed
certain aspects of its "Bosnia Plan" in favour of the
moslems. Washington and Turkey see eye-to-eye on a
number of important issues in connection with Bosnia,
and the US has now made a gesture in this regard
by saying that certain areas now in the hands of the
Bosnians will not now have to be returned to the Serbs.
/Milliyet/
TURKEY SILENT ON IRAQ 'SON-IN-LAW CRISIS'
Turkey said yesterday that it would not comment on the crisis
which erupted in Iraq last week as one of President Saddam
Huseyin's closest aides defected to Jordan. Lt.Gen.Huseyin
Kamel Hassan and his brother Saddam Kamel Hassan, both married
to the Iraqi president's daughters, fled Iraq earlier this month,
seeking political asylum in Jordan. "This is an internal affair
of Iraq" Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Nurettin Nurkan told
journalists in a weekly press briefing. "The Iraqi people will
decide on the future of the current regime and at this point
Turkey can't comment on an internal affair of Iraq" he said.
TURKEY SAYS KURD ACCORD MEETS ITS REQUIREMENTS
Turkey said yesterday that it was satisfied with an accord
reached by two rival Iraqi Kurdish groups at a meeting in
Ireland last week, held in an effort to put an end to fighting
in northern Iraq. "The accord meets two Turkish requirements,
that Iraq's territorial integrity be respected and that
Turkey's security concerns be taken into account" Foreign
Ministry Deputy Spokesman Nurettin Nurkan told a weekly
press briefing. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) reached a preliminary
reconciliation accord at the meeting, also attended by a Turkish
official. "The point is that we want to prevent a void that the
PKK could exploit" Nurkan said. /Cumhuriyet/
____________________________________________
Reprinted for educational purposes only.
http://www.b-info.com/places/Turkey/...5-08/aug17.tpr
TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review
TRKNWS-L ([email protected])
Thu, 17 Aug 95 05:52:28 PDT
TURKISH PRESS REVIEW
----------------------
*THURSDAY AUGUST 17, 1995
------------------------
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press
this morning
[with a few non-related items snipped -- see URL for full report]
TURKEY PROTESTS BEHEADINGS IN SAUDI ARABIA
Nearly 40 Turkish nationals, convicted on or charged with drug
offenses, are facing possible execution in Saudi prisons. Saudi
Ambassador in Ankara, Naci al-Mufti said his country would
continue to carry out executions in accordance with Islamic
law despite protests from Turkey about the beheading of four
Turks. He told the official Saudi Press Agency late on Tuesday
that "Saudi Arabia will not submit to any pressures aimed at
changing a religious sentence because of the wishes of some
parties". "The protests of some parties against the execution
by Saudi authorities of some of these countries' nationals
because of drug trafficking will not affect the continued
implementation of the religious sentence applied in Saudi
Arabi" he added. Replying to a question regarding the executions,
Prime Minister Tansu Ciller said: "These will harm the friendly
relations between the two countries. Our president is concerned
about this issue. I will phone King Fahd and try to prevent
these executions. I call upon Saudi officials to intercede".
Turkish Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Nurettin Nurkan, when
asked at his weekly press briefing if Turkey would react to the
Saudi Ambassador's remarks, said Ankara was basically waiting
for King Fahd's reply to a note from President Demirel before
expressing further reaction. "But in the meantime" Nurkan said:
"We hope the ambassador will behave in a way that doesn't
obstruct improvement of relations between Turkey and Saudi
Arabia". Nurkan said at this time Turkey was not considering
calling back its ambassador in Riyadh in protest over the
executions. He said Foreign Minister Erdal Inonu, currently
attending a tour of three Central Asian countries with Prime
Minister Tansu Ciller, had a telephone conversation with his
Saudi counterpart late on Tuesday. Meanwhile, public reaction
over the beheadings continued to intensify on Wednesday. Deputy
Prime Minister Hikmet Cetin, State Minister responsible for
Human Rights Algan Hacaloglu, and representatives from several
political parties and social organizations denounced the
beheadings in Saudi Arabia. The Ankara branch of the Republican
People's Party (CHP) yesterday laid a "black wreath" in front of
the Saudi Embassy in Ankara. /Cumhuriyet-Milliyet-Hurriyet/
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL APPEALING AGAINST EXECUTIONS
Amnesty International, criticized by the Turkish press for its
non-interference in the capital punishment issue in Saudi
Arabia, has released a statement noting that the organization
has been appealing for banning capital punishment since April,
1995, and noted that the text of the judgment against the Turks
now executed was also added to the appeal. According to
Amnesty International, in this year alone there have been 145
executions in Saudi Arabia and that 70 percent of those charged
were foreigners. /Hurriyet/
"EXECUTIONS OUTRAGE FOR TURKEY AND ISLAM"
Dr.Huseyin Bagci from the METU Department for International
Relations, said that the beheadings in Saudi Arabia were an
outrage for Turkey and for the Islam. He added that such
executions could not be explained by any religious or moral
arguments. All Turkish citizens, including the president, and
all civil organizations should voice their reactions against
this barbarity, and diplomatic steps should be undertaken for
stopping the unbelievable cruelty, Bagci said. He noted that
in the 1980s, Germany has succeeded in stopping the execution
of a German citizen charged with drug smuggling in
Malaysia and stressed that Turkey also could bring an end to
further cruelty in Saudi Arabia. "Is the life of a Mehmet any
the less valuable than the life of a Hans?" Bagci asked.
On the other hand, Prof.Sulhi Donmezler said that every country
had the sovereign right to determine its laws and punishments
and noted that the beheading, even though described as a
"barbarity" abroad, was a legal punishment in Saudi Arabia. He
added that people visiting a foreign country were assumed to
know its laws, and were subject to the legal regulations there
even if they were not aware of the laws. "Whatever our attitude
toward capital punishments is, the laws in Saudi Arabia allow
for it" Donmezler said. /Sabah/
GERMANY: "CAPTAGON IS A LEGAL MEDICINE"
Representatives of the Asta medical company, producer of the
Captagon hallucinogen have expressed their astonishment over the
recent executions in Saudi Arabia. Captagon is produced in
Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and Venezuela and it is sold in 15
EU member countries, company officials said. Since counterfeit
Captagon contains some dangerous components, the company has had
to fight medicine counterfeiters and has succeeded in some
measure to block the illegal production of the hallucinogenic
medicine. Asta representatives have evaluated the attitude of
the Saudi Arabian officials as "barbaric". /Sabah/
DEMIREL WARNS EUROPEAN UNION
Speaking to a visiting group of European Union (EU)
parliamentarians, President Demirel warned that Turkey
had to be included in the customs union as a prelude
to full membership in the EU.
Threatening that refusing Turkey "could lead to serious
consequences", Demirel told Austrian Liberal Party member
Dr. Hans-Gert Pottering that it was vital that Turkey was
included in customs union agreements with the EU. Demirel
stressed that not only would Turkey-Germany ties be
damaged, but so would ties with the EU as a whole.
Noting that "Turkey was not a third class country, but
a bridge to Central Asia and the Middle East", Pottering
added that nevertheless there were areas that Turkey
still had to work on. /Hurriyet/
US MAKES BOSNIA GESTURE
Following initiatives from Turkey, the US has changed
certain aspects of its "Bosnia Plan" in favour of the
moslems. Washington and Turkey see eye-to-eye on a
number of important issues in connection with Bosnia,
and the US has now made a gesture in this regard
by saying that certain areas now in the hands of the
Bosnians will not now have to be returned to the Serbs.
/Milliyet/
TURKEY SILENT ON IRAQ 'SON-IN-LAW CRISIS'
Turkey said yesterday that it would not comment on the crisis
which erupted in Iraq last week as one of President Saddam
Huseyin's closest aides defected to Jordan. Lt.Gen.Huseyin
Kamel Hassan and his brother Saddam Kamel Hassan, both married
to the Iraqi president's daughters, fled Iraq earlier this month,
seeking political asylum in Jordan. "This is an internal affair
of Iraq" Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Nurettin Nurkan told
journalists in a weekly press briefing. "The Iraqi people will
decide on the future of the current regime and at this point
Turkey can't comment on an internal affair of Iraq" he said.
TURKEY SAYS KURD ACCORD MEETS ITS REQUIREMENTS
Turkey said yesterday that it was satisfied with an accord
reached by two rival Iraqi Kurdish groups at a meeting in
Ireland last week, held in an effort to put an end to fighting
in northern Iraq. "The accord meets two Turkish requirements,
that Iraq's territorial integrity be respected and that
Turkey's security concerns be taken into account" Foreign
Ministry Deputy Spokesman Nurettin Nurkan told a weekly
press briefing. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) reached a preliminary
reconciliation accord at the meeting, also attended by a Turkish
official. "The point is that we want to prevent a void that the
PKK could exploit" Nurkan said. /Cumhuriyet/
____________________________________________
Reprinted for educational purposes only.
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