17 September 2001, Copyright © Turkish Daily News

Prime minister says there is no demand for
use of bases in Turkey

Ecevit fears nuclear war threat

A nuclear war will be a catastrophe for all humanity, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said when asked whether he was concerned that military action against terrorists involved in last Tuesday's attacks in New York and Washington could lead to a nuclear conflict.

"God spare the whole world from a nuclear war, since a nuclear war will be a catastrophe for humanity. I don't think that anybody is planning something like this. Of course, sick persons might appear and reach the secrets," Ecevit told reporters, stating that people should be aware of such threats.

The prime minister made the statement prior to his departure for Istanbul, where he was scheduled to meet with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.

Responding to a question on whether Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) had warned the United States that Osama bin Laden had chemical weapons in his possession, the prime minister said he did not know such details.

"However, MIT has a close relationship with the CIA. Not only with the CIA, but also with many countries, MIT has useful contacts. But, we don't have the details of these contacts," Ecevit said.

The Turkish press reported on the weekend that Senkal Atasagun, the undersecretary of MIT, had contacts with his counterparts in countries closely allied to Turkey in the region.

'No demand from Turkey'

When asked whether the United States had raised any demands from Turkey, Ecevit said no concrete demands were made to date by the United States regarding the use of Malatya and Diyarbakir bases in southeastern Turkey.

The prime minister refused to elaborate on the reported U.S. demand concerning the use of bases, stating that he would not comment on assumptions.

The reports, claiming that the United States had requested the use of bases in Malatya and Diyarbakir, were also denied by Huseyin Dirioz, the spokesman of the Foreign Ministry.

Asked by the Turkish Daily News about the reports that the bases will be open for U.S. military operations, Dirioz said he did not have any information on such a development.

Ecevit concerned about attacks against Muslims

The prime minister declared concern for the escalation of tensions in the United States, which targeted the Muslim community in the country.

"It is harmful to provoke such divisions as the world gets closer to unification. Of course, now there are people, who are sensitive and nervous, the acts of whom can result in troublesome consequences. But I expect that the U.S. administration and particularly President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair will react against such movements," Ecevit said.

Powell calls Cem

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell praised the Turkish support for the struggle launched against terrorism. During a telephone conversation with Foreign Minister Ismail Cem late on Saturday, the U.S. Secretary of State thanked Turkey for its support in the fight against terrorism.

Turkish citizens in the US

After the terrorist attacks in the United States, most Turkish citizens living in that country were contacted, the Foreign Ministry disclosed.

The number of Turkish citizens who were contacted stood at 326, while the total enquiries about missing Turks stood at 457, according to information from the Foreign Ministry.

Afghan Ambassador in Ankara: 'Our people are not terrorists'

Elmurad Argun, the Ambassador of Afghanistan in Ankara stated that bin Laden was behind the attacks and claimed that Pakistan was behind bin Laden.

Holding a press conference in the embassy, Argun expressed the condolences of the Afghans to the U.S. people.

"The Afghan people are not terrorists. What is the crime of our people? Taliban means Pakistan and Pakistan means Taliban," said the ambassador, stating that bin Laden was not an Afghan citizen and had the support of Pakistan behind him.

Argun told reporters that bin Laden provided billions in money and weapons. He also charged that Afghanistan had become the center of international terrorism.

For years, Afghanistan has been represented in Ankara by the Uzbeks.

Ankara-Turkish Daily News

A senior EU diplomat in Ankara says the unprecedented terrorist attack against the United States would definitely force the EU to redesign its anti-terror policy, which will limit the hospitality given to foreign dissidents in European countries

Terrorist attack against US to prompt EU to revise its anti-terror policy

The way the European Union treats Turkish terrorist organizations, such as the DHKP-C as well as the PKK, will be less tolerated, says the same diplomat, drawing attention also to the possible serious effects of the terrorist attack against the United States to Turkey's already fragile economy

Lale Sariibrahimoglu

The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York City and the Pentagon outside Washington on Sept. 11, which prompted the United States to prepare retaliatory action at various points in the world has also brought to the forefront a debate over an effective fight against acts of international terrorism and terrorists. For the first time in its history NATO decided to activate Article 5 of the alliance in the wake of the unprecedented terrorist attacks staged against U.S. interests.

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, in his first reaction to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 12, expressed his desire that some of Turkey's allies, that is the European allies, change the way they treat terrorists such as the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) who were responsible for the suicide bombing on Sept. 10 September in Istanbul as well as Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) activists in European countries.

The radical leftist DHKP/C has re-emerged in the past two years as another Turkish internal threat.

Many analysts agree that when activating Article 5, under which an attack to an alliance member will be regarded as an attack staged against all members, becomes a reality, the European allies will think twice about trying to get the United States to prove that the enemy is the one that the United States is currently pointing at, that is Saudi dissident terrorist Osama bin Laden residing in Afghanistan as a prime suspect.

The same European allies -- members of the European Union -- are expected to definitely change their anti-terrorism policy, which is based, in the words of a senior EU diplomat, on the tolerance of dissidents residing in many European countries escaping mainly from their undemocratic countries.

A senior EU diplomat in Ankara, speaking to the Turkish Daily News, said that one element of the terrorist attack against the United States should teach them to begin to learn why it's world is different from the rest of the world. The European countries went through enormous damage during the past wars. Thus, unlike the United States, the European vision is not based on using force immediately against others and also differs on addressing the problems of security.

The other element, as outlined by the same EU diplomat in Ankara, is that the terrorist attack against the United States will definitely force the EU to redesign its anti-terrorism policy to limit the hospitality given to foreign dissidents.

"It cannot be ruled out that such a change in the EU's anti terror policy will have an impact on Turkey's terror organizations such as the DHKP-C or the PKK as well as some extreme radical Islamist groups," said another EU diplomat.

It is a known fact that most of the rich countries of the world are full of political refugees, some of them being prominent figures such as the Chinese and the Ukrainians.

There is also a kind of tolerance in European countries, even to those who are not very peaceful political dissidents, because they come from undemocratic countries.

"If you are coming from an undemocratic regime the EU does not check the credentials of those nasty dissidents. Some in Europe also think that Turkish refugees are accepted because Turkey is not democratic," said an EU diplomat.

'This may change now'

Agreeing with Ecevit's statement that Turkey's European allies may learn their lessons from the latest terrorist attack against the United States and refrain from tolerating terrorist organizations, the senior EU diplomat said eyes in Europe may not be closed now to those refugees making demonstrations peacefully and who obey the laws of the countries that they are living in.

European countries are also tolerant of those coming from other European countries. For example, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) that Britain has been seeking reconciliation with, has an office in France. Thus European countries being rather protective of human rights may also be tolerant of organizations like the IRA and not only to the PKK or the DHKP-C, said one EU diplomat.

Europe may now scrutinize the EU anti-terrorism policy realizing that a clean political refugee in, for example, Britain might turn into a potential terrorist in another country, said the same diplomat.

Danger of anti-Islamic racism

As the attackers against U.S. interests have been identified as Muslim, and added to that the already existing perception in Europe and in the United States that the main terrorist acts are linked with Islam, this paints a grim picture in the West of the Muslim faith.

Thus any visa emigration to be made by Muslim dissidents is set to become more difficult and the EU may start seeing a new form of racism, which will be anti-Islamic racism, warned EU diplomats.

The senior EU diplomat stressed that a firm response should come from moderate Muslims against the terrorist attacks.

The Islamic agenda has been set for years by Islamic extremists and this has succeeded because those Islamic countries were not democratic enough to allow democratic debate for reconciliation, said a senior EU diplomat.

The main question that Turkey should address now is how to preserve security through democracy, as many analysts fear that the terrorist attack against the United States could trigger a more security-first policy to dominate Turkish policy considerations.

The EU diplomats recalled that Turkey has terrorists but measures taken by the state are counterproductive if they do not prevent but breed the terrorists. One EU diplomat argued that Turkey's repentance law was not reconciliation but rather reconciliation with PKK informers.

The senior EU diplomat also warned of the repercussions of the terrorist attack on the United States which could threaten the already fragile Turkish economy due to the general recession that has already emerged in the world.

The United States is faced with billions of dollars of damage as a result of last Tuesday's terrorist bombing.

Loglu@superonline.com

Ankara - Turkish Daily News

U.S. Ambassador to Yerevan Lemmon:
Instead of complaining about the darkness, light a candle

Unofficial dialogue between Turkey and Armenia creates excitement among U.S. officials

SAADET ORUC

The recent unofficial chain of meetings between Turkey and Armenia are an important process and are being encouraged by the United States, said American Ambassador to Armenia Michael Lemmon, who has been playing a key role in the formation of business ties between Yerevan and Ankara.

Lemmon, who has taken Armenian businessmen to Istanbul many times, spoke to Turkish journalists visiting Armenia between Sept. 7-11 for the Turkish-Armenian-Azerbaijani Journalists Meeting, entitled "The Role of the Media in Overcoming Regional Conflicts and Eliminating the Enemy Image."

Asked whether he defined his role between Turkey and Armenia as a key one, Ambassador Lemmon kept silent.

"Silence means confirmation," said a Turkish journalist, drawing attention to the silence of the American ambassador after the question.

And Lemmon expressed a very well known phrase to define his role: "Instead of complaining about the darkness, light a candle!"

Speaking at the Paris Consultative Group Meeting in July, Lemmon defined the formation of the Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Committee as an important step towards the normalization of relations between Turkey and Armenia, which he commented to be a bold, courageous and needed effort.

Spending three years as U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, Lemmon has witnessed the most critical developments in the region.

And with the experience of the last three years, Lemmon told Turkish journalists, including the Turkish Daily News, that nothing should be off the table for the unofficial gatherings between Turkey and Armenia.

The thing that was really important was a positive debate and dialogue atmosphere between the average Armenian and Turkish people, he added.

"Through this dialogue a mutual understanding, reconciliation and forgiveness can be reached, which are not political but spiritual activities," Ambassador Lemmon said.

"I have been sincerely telling not only Armenia but also the diaspora that I don't agree with the spending of a lot of time for the approval of parliamentary resolutions on genocide. It is possible to form a dialogue between the people but this can be achieved through the efforts of the two sides. An outsider can only encourage or support this. But this is something to be achieved by the Turkish and the Armenian people," the Ambassador said.

Asked to comment on the negative attitude in Armenia regarding the Reconciliation Committee between Turkey and Armenia, Ambassador Lemmon said that they (the U.S. administration) have been supporting the work of the reconciliation committee meeting. "The Armenians think that the representation in the committee for their side was not sufficient," Lemmon expressed.

"We are lucky that there is not only one road, but there is a multiplicity of dialogue," Lemmon said, stating that the dialogue should continue through various channels.

When reminded that all contacts between unofficial groups were being locked on the so-called genocide issue, Lemmon said that this issue should be handled by serious people, without taking the issue to the public attention, silently.

Lemmon speech at ANI Conference

Ambassador Lemmon, in addition, speaking at the ANI Conference "Armenian genocide: Ambassador Henry Morgenthau, 1914-1923" organized on April 22, 1999, made the following statement:

"... Allow me to speak bluntly, but, I hope, constructively. Turkey's democratic evolution will not be complete until Turkey's scholars, politicians and even ordinary citizens understand and accept as illegitimate the events that turned the multiethnic Ottoman Empire, home of the so-called 'Loyal Millet' into the ostensibly mono-ethnic state we see today. But such understanding is difficult and simply not possible without dialogue in good faith among scholars of good faith. ..."

The continuation of the Lemmon speech was a proposal that matched the current unofficial contacts between Turkey and Armenia, between business circles, press and academicians plus the Reconciliation Committee:

"Here is where I would differ with many who put so much time and effort into the adoption of statements by politicians and parliaments. The process that I have described will not, it seems to me, be best advanced by the issuing of public declarations and attempting to try contemporary Turks before the court of public opinion for the actions of their forefathers. Reconciliation cannot come about if one of the parties does not recognize that there is anything to feel responsibility for, much less remorse, and the other insists a priori on condemnation. What is needed is a dialogue of civilizations, of peoples, perhaps best undertaken by scholars, that takes us on not just an historic, fact-finding journey, but also on a spiritual, transcendental path that allows us to comprehend, accept and proceed in an effort to build a future where such events never occur again."

As a surprising coincidence, Lemmon met with Turkish reporters on plane on his way back from Istanbul to Yerevan, along with six Armenian businessmen from a fair organized in Istanbul

Lemmon was showing the Sept. 7 edition of the Turkish Daily News, which had an article on the meeting of the journalists in Yerevan, to the businessmen accompanying him and noted that it was a very important development.

Lemmon invited the Turkish journalists to the American Embassy in Yerevan after the end of the meeting of the Turkish-Azeri-Armenian journalists and made a broad evaluation of the recent situation of the Turkish-Armenian journalists.

Yerevan - Turkish Daily News

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