TRKNWS-L NEWS from Vic McDonald

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From: newsdesk_aps_nl at apsf.aps.nl (newsdesk at aps.nl)
Subject: TRKNWS-L NEWS from Vic McDonald


PKK Plans Diversion Attacks Inside of Turkey
      By Ferit Demir

    TUNCELI, Turkey, March 25 (Reuter) - Turkish military officials said on
Saturday Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan has ordered his forces in
Turkey to launch diversionary attacks to undermine Ankara's incursion into
northern Iraq.

    ``You must continuously carry out actions to distract the Turkish
soldiers (in north Iraq),'' one official quoted Ocalan as saying in a radio
message intercepted by the Turkish army.

    Ocalan told his regional commanders in southeast Turkey to exploit the
operation, which has taken 35,000 soldiers away from their posts in Turkey's
Kurdish region.

    A statement from the Kurdish Information Centre in London appeared to
support this, quoting Ocalan as saying Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters
would resist Turkey ``primarily in the north'' -- meaning Kurdish areas
inside Turkey.

    Turkish troops have deployed across the border in a land and air
operation against an estimated 2,500 PKK fighters who use northern Iraq to
strike into Turkey.

    Turkish officials said guerrillas have carried out an increased number of
hit-and-run attacks near Tunceli, about 570 km (350 miles) east of the
capital Ankara, in recent days.

    They said Ocalan, speaking on Wednesday, gave most of the responsibilty
for the diversionary tactics to Semdin Sakik, a well-known Kurdish commander
operating out of Tunceli.

    The PKK ambushed an army truck convoy on a remote road in Tunceli the
same night, killing three soldiers. Twelve rebels died when soldiers fired
back, the military said. Ocalan was believed to be speaking from a base in
Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.

    Sakik, known as ``Fingerless Zeki'' after losing a thumb while firing a
rocket in northern Iraq, leads a group of about 1,000 rebels based in
Tunceli's almost impenetrable Alibogaz ravine.

    In the Kurdish statement faxed to Reuters, Ocalan accused Ankara of
launching the campaign to divert attention from domestic economic and
political problems.

    ``The army had its way, the so-called civilian government of (Prime
Minister) Tansu Ciller was obliging in every sense... It is not that they
want to crush the PKK bases; the crisis facing the republic has forced them
to undertake this military operation to cover their mismanagement,'' said the
statement.

    ``Our resistance is primarily in the north. In Southern Kurdistan there
are (other) revolutionary forces'' it added. The PKK refers to Kurdish areas
in Turkey as the north, and in Iraq as ``Southern Kurdistan.''

    A 200-strong group of guerrillas, with Sakik at their head, killed 18
soldiers last weekend in a well-planned ambush which cast doubts on Turkey's
frequent assurances that the rebels were as good as defeated inside its
borders.

    Turkish military sources say there are about 200,000 troops in the
mainly-Kurdish southeast fighting an estimated 5,000-10,000 rebels.

    The military says it has killed nine guerrillas in a series of clashes in
Tunceli in the recent days.

    But soldiers acknowledged they had been hindered from pressing home
attacks by a lack of helicopters, most of which have been sent to northern
Iraq, they said.

    Military spokesman Colonel Dogu Silahcioglu said on Friday Ankara's
troops inside Iraq had killed 161 rebels against 14 soldiers dead, revising
down earlier Turkish estimates of 200 dead guerrillas.

    But a PKK official in Brussels said 13 PKK guerrillas and 178 Turks had
been killed since the offensive began last Monday and the Kurdish Information
Centre statement, received on Friday, said only 11 guerrillas have been
killed.
 REUTER        Transmitted: 95-03-25 20:51:30 EST

German Labor Minister: Turks Treat Kurds Worse Than Animals

    BONN, March 25 (Reuter) - German Labour Minister Norbert Bluem accused
Turks on Saturday of treating minority Kurds worse than animals and said NATO
could not stand idly by while Kurds' human rights were trampled.

    In a guest column for the Bild am Sonntag weekly, Bluem said his positive
image of Turkey was shattered in April 1991 when he visited Kurdish refugee
camps on the Turkish-Iraqi border and saw children and old people suffering.

    ``These were not all terrorists, but people who had fled to save their
lives,'' the Christian Democrat wrote, referring to Kurds' flight from Iraqi
dictator Saddam Hussein's forces.

    ``The Turkish army barred them from entering the life-saving valley,
hard-heartedly and coolly as you please leaving them to hit bottom in their
camps. Since then I have known that one cannot treat even animals the way
Turks treat Kurds.''

    His column was released ahead of Sunday publication as Ankara pressed on
with a military offensive against separatist Kurdish guerrillas from the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) operating from northern Iraq.

    Bluem said Turks' treatment of Kurds did not justify Kurdish attacks
against Turkish targets. German officials have blamed the outlawed PKK for a
rash of recent firebomb attacks on Turkish properties in Germany.

    But Bluem added: ``NATO would lose its respect and justification if it
stood idly by and looked on as human rights were trampled in Turkey.'' He did
not elaborate.

    A few hundred Kurds demonstrated in Berlin on Saturday against Turkey's
military campaign in northern Iraq. Witnesses reported some scuffles between
demonstrators and police.

    In the southwestern city of Stuttgart, several thousand Kurds publicly
celebrated the Kurdish new year. Organisers said several PKK supporters took
part in the peaceful gathering.

    In Mainz, around 500 Kurds demonstrated for a free Kurdistan homeland on
Saturday. Police did not intervene even though some participants displayed
flags of a banned Kurdish group.

    German Interior Minister Manfred Kanther this month ended a moratorium on
deporting Kurdish refugees to Turkey, dismissing human rights groups'
warnings that some repatriated Kurds faced torture or death.

    Some regional states governed by the opposition Social Democrats have
refused for the time being to resume deportations.
REUTER      Transmitted: 95-03-25 13:13:14 EST

Incursion May Increase Ire of West
      By Aliza Marcus

    DERGELE, Iraq, March 25 (Reuter) - Turkey's armed thrust into Iraq
entered a sixth day on Friday with allegations of air strikes on remote
Kurdish villages threatening to intensify Western criticism of the
anti-guerrilla operation.

    The United States, worried about civilians and Kurdish refugees, said it
would monitor the Turkish operation daily to ensure Ankara kept promises to
respect human rights.

    Six houses in the village of Dergele, 100 km (60 miles) east of the Iraqi
border town of Zakho, were badly damaged and residents said on Friday that
one person had been injured in air strikes earlier in the week.

    U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher said the United States would
scrutinise the behaviour of the Turkish military.

    ``We're going to be following that situation very closely. I expect to be
in touch with my counterparts in the Turkish government over the next few
days,'' Christopher said on Friday.

    ``I think that we have an opportunity to assess the situation on a
day-to-day basis,'' he told reporters in Washington.

    His comment suggested a hardening of the U.S. line on its NATO ally's
move against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

    President Bill Clinton had earlier expressed his tacit approval of the
thrust into northern Iraq in a telephone call with Turkish Prime Minister
Tansu Ciller, who assured him civilian life and property would be
safeguarded.

    European Union countries France, Britain and Germany have demanded a
swift end to the land and air operation which could jeopardise Ankara's
long-held ambition to enter a customs union with the EU.

    Colonel Dogu Silahcioglu, spokesman for the Turkish General Staff, denied
any air raids on Dergele. ``There is definitely nothing like that,'' he told
Reuters. Turkish officials say there have been no civilian casualties at all.


    An Iraqi Kurdish group has reported that one girl died and four other
civilians were injured in a bungled Turkish air raid near Iraq's border with
Iran on Monday, the operation's opening day.

    About 35,000 Turkish troops have deployed in northern Iraq to hunt for
PKK fighters based there who often strike across the border in their fight
for a Kurdish state in Turkey.

    Turkey has often been criticised by the West for heavy-handed tactics
while fighting the PKK inside its own borders.

    On Friday, Ciller called for an international solution to prevent the
rebels from exploiting lawlessness in northern Iraq left behind by the Gulf
War in 1991.

    ``This is not our making. If we do not want the Turkish soldiers to be
there to protect our innocent people, then we have to come up with an
international solution to the problem,'' Ciller told BBC radio. ``The
European Union has to help us to provide that security to the borders,'' she
said.

    Military spokesman Silahcioglu told a news conference in Diyarbakir,
nerve centre of the anti-PKK drive, that the army had killed 161 rebels
against 14 soldiers dead.

    However, a PKK official in Brussels said 13 PKK guerrillas and 178 Turks
had been killed since the offensive began.
 REUTER                       Transmitted: 95-03-25 07:00:56 EST

Istanbul Stock Market Keeps Booming
Knight-Ridder

    Istanbul--Mar 24--A bull-run on the Istanbul stock exchange  continued
this week as investors moved out of the domestic credit  market in pursuit of
higher returns, analysts said.

At the close of the exchange's second session today, the  composite ISE index
stood at 36,693 points, up from 33,802 a week  ago.

Brokers and dealers expected the index to continue rising over  the next week
or so to around 38,000, where it might settle on profit  taking. The
long-term trend, however, is upwards, they said.

During the week, investors continued to turn to the exchange for  lack of
better yields from other short-term investment instruments,  analysts said.

High foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank are also  lending
support to stocks by deterring excessive arbitrage against  the Turkish lira
on foreign exchange markets.

An average of around 10 billion Turkish lira is entering the  bourse daily,
analysts said.

Neither reports of sectarian religious violence here, nor the  security
forces attack against the Kurds in northern Iraq have had a  sobering impact
on stock market activity, they added.

Instead, traders said Turkey's political outlook actually  stabilized with an
agreement on Mar 23 renewing the present coalition  government between Prime
Minister Tansu Ciller's conservative True  Path Party, and the left-wing
Republican Peoples Party.

The average price/earnings (P/E) ratio on the exchange dropped  yesterday to
around 14/6 from 18/2 in the previous week, mainly due  to good audited
results emanating from many of the exchange's 183  listed and traded
companies.

Interest was high in stocks of state-run companies slated for  full
privatization, including the Eregli Iron and Steelworks and the  Turkish
Petroleum Refineries Corp.     By Jim Bodgener, Knight-Ridder Financial News
  Transmitted: 95-03-24 17:15:48 EST

Ocalan Blasts USA for Helping Turks
      LONDON, March 24 (Reuter) - A Kurdish separatist leader on Friday
accused the United States of secretly helping Turkey in its military push
against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.

    ``We emphasise the clandestine support given by the U.S. to this
operation and the massacres,'' said Abdullah Ocalan, general secretary of the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

    ``We want the United States government to withdraw its support from this
dirty war and provide opportunities for political solution,'' Ocalan said in
a statement released by the Kurdistan Information Centre in London.

    Turkey launched its military campaign into northern Iraq five days ago in
an attempt to root out PKK guerrillas, who use bases there to attack targets
inside Turkish territory.

    ``We call on progressive, democratic, international public opinion to
oppose these massacres and this occupation of south Kurdistan,'' Ocalan said
in his statement.

    Turkish officials on Friday denied Kurdish reports of air raids on the
village of Dergele. Earlier they had insisted there had been no civilian
casualties during the week's campaign.

    U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher said this week that Washington
had urged Ankara to limit its incursion and to respect human rights and
international law.

    But President Bill Clinton has also expressed ``understanding for
Turkey's need to deal decisively'' with the rebels, angering the PKK
leadership.

 REUTER      Transmitted: 95-03-24 14:16:32 EST

US Unveils Plan for Iraqi Oil Sales Through Turkey
      By Anthony Goodman

    UNITED NATIONS, March 24 (Reuter) - A U.S. official detailed a revised
scheme Friday that would allow Iraq to sell $2 billion in oil to buy food and
medicine.

    The proposal to permit Iraq to export and sell limited quantities of the
oil over six months requires most oil to flow through a pipeline to Turkey
but some could be exported from Iraq's Gulf terminal of Mina al-Bakr, the
official said.

    Iraq has been under stringent U.N. sanctions, including a ban on oil
exports, since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

    The new scheme would replace one drafted by the Security Council in 1991
allowing export of $1.6 billion of oil over six months but which Iraq has
repeatedly rejected as leaving it with too little money and violating its
sovereignty.

    This is because both the oil deals and the distribution of supplies
bought with part of the proceeds were to be closely monitored by the United
Nations to ensure the goods reached all sectors of the Iraqi population, not
just those favoured by the Baghdad government.

    The new resolution would ease monitoring provisions so that instead of
tracking the actual distribution of humanitarian goods, the U.N. would
conduct so-called ``impact monitoring'' by checking later that they went
where needed.

    Under the new resolution, $2 billion worth of oil could be sold in the
first 180 days instead of $1.6 billion, and the scheme could be renewed for
another 180 days if all went well.

    For each $1 billion in oil sold, $300 million would be earmarked for a
U.N. Gulf war reparations fund and another $200 million for U.N. agencies
providing relief to Kurds and others in northern Iraq. The deal would leave
Baghdad with $1 billion over the six months for humanitarian purchases.

    Under the 1991 scheme, some $900 million of the $1.6 billion in oil sales
proceeds would have been available to Iraq, with the rest going for
reparations and other costs.

    Another inducement to Iraq is that while much of the oil would still have
to flow through a pipeline to Turkey which has lain rusting since sanctions
were imposed, the rest could be sent through Mina al-Bakr, as preferred by
Baghdad.

    The resolution is being submitted to the Security Council by Argentina,
also on behalf of the United States and Britain. But it is not yet known when
it might come to a vote nor is there any immediate indication whether Iraq
would find the new scheme more palatable.  REUTER              Transmitted:
95-03-24 21:04:58 EST

Cyprus Displays Exocet Missles
      By Annie Charalambous

    NICOSIA, March 25 (Reuter) - Cyprus displayed six French-made Exocet
shore-to-sea missiles at a military parade in Nicosia on Saturday, hoping to
put the lid on a French magazine report that alleged it had secretly shipped
them to Iran.

    Hundreds of Greek Cypriots cheered when the six MM 40 missiles appeared
at the military parade to mark Greece's anniversary of independence from
Turkish rule.

    Officials said they hoped the presence of the missiles would end this
week's allegations in L'Express which reported French Interior Minister
Charles Pasqua arranged the export of missiles to Tehran via Algeria and
Cyprus last year.

    According to the weekly magazine, this was to appease Iran's rulers
before the Paris trial of the killers of the shah's last prime minister,
Shapour Bakhtiar.

    France, Cyprus, Algeria and Iran all denied the report.

    Officials say Cyprus has a total of 24 Exocet missiles, the first six
bought last October.

    ``We categorically deny the allegations. All of our military equipment is
bought for the occupied island's own defence. Whoever doubts that all 24
French missiles we've got are not here, he is free to come and inspect
them,'' spokesman Yiannakis Cassoulides said.

    Saturday's parade in the divided capital of Nicosia coincided with an
official visit to the island of Greek Defence Minister Yerasimos Arsenis.

    Arenis presence was behind the reason army units, including men from the
some 200-strong Greek contingent stationed on Cyprus, took part in the
traditional students' parade to mark the Greek anniversary.

    Cyprus has been divided since 1974 after a Turkish invasion sparked by a
short-lived coup in Nicosia engineered by a military junta then ruling
Greece.

    Arsenis, who leaves the island on Sunday, told journalists after the
two-hour parade, that Greek airforce planes will be coming to Cyprus often
within the framework of joint military exercises.

    ``The timing will be decided in cooperation with the Cyprus government,''
he added.

    Also on show on Saturday were the French-made AMX 30B2 tanks, advanced
Milan and Hot-2 anti-tank rockets,  Aspide surface-to-air launchers, the
Brazilian Cascavel armoured vehicles, the French VAP and Greek Leonidas troop
carriers.
REUTER               Transmitted: 95-03-25 10:06:40 EST

Russia: Captured Gold Was For Arms for Chechnya
      MOSCOW, March 25 (Reuter) - Russian federal agents seized 79 kg (2,875
ounces) of gold in Siber