PULSE of TURKEY No 37...............WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5^th 1998

Foreign Minister Ismail Cem could not understand what the Palestinian rulers were talking about when they expressed their disenchantment to him, “Our Pashas come here all the way from Turkey and don’t visit us.” He was pleased to hear that they were referring to the Turkish generals when they said “our pashas” and that they were talking of General Karadayı’s, General Kıvrıkoğlu’s, General Çevik Bir’s and other Turkish commanders’ visits to Israel.

Cem called at Palestine on July 8^th during his official visit to Israel between July 6^th-9^th and was extended a warm welcome in both countries. What interested him the most was an observation he had been making in his contacts in the Balkans recently. These peoples of the old Ottoman times bear either bitter hostilities towards the Turks as the Greeks and Armenians do, or cherish very warm memories and relationships extended to this day with the Turks. Among the 26 independent countries that emerged out of the relics of the Ottoman Empire, the Greeks and Armenians are a minority. Most of the others are proud of their common heritage with the Turks and the Palestinians were considering the Turkish generals their own pashas, according to Foreign Minister Cem’s observations.

Hardly a month passed after İsmail Cem’s visit to Israel and Palestine that the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, was in Ankara for a State visit on July 31^st and August 1^st. He was given a cordial welcome by President Demirel, stayed at the presidential guest house in Çankaya and attended the Friday prayers together with his host, Demirel, at Kocatepe Mosque. The Palestinian leader received separately PM Mesut Yılmaz and Deputy PM Bülent Ecevit and the Ankara talks revolved around the Middle East peace process. Turkish aid to Palestine was also on the agenda. On August 6^th the Council of Ministers met in Ankara and took a number a decisions about arrangements with the Palestinian delegation .

Turkey backs up the Middle East peace process actively

The State visit took place at a time when the Washington Post reported that the United States had abandoned its effort to mediate in the Middle East peace process. President Clinton denied the press report, but the Palestinian Government was also of the same opinion. The Palestinian Government spokesman, Dr Anis Al-Qaq, told a Turkish journalist, “The peace process is almost dead. We want Turkey to put pressure on Israel for the perpetuation of this process.”

As a victim of the American embargo in the 70s over Cyprus and the sufferer of the current world embargo on the TRNC (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus), Turkey is probably the best country to know what adverse effects emerge from “putting pressure” on a country. Besides, there is nothing much Ankara can do on this issue.

In the diplomatic field Turkey is already supporting Palestine and opposing Israel’s expanding the boundaries of Jerusalem. The MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) announced on July 2^nd, on the occasion of the Palestinian Minister for Jerusalem Affairs, Faisal Husseini’s visit to Ankara, “Turkey, which has always supported the Palestinians’ righteous cause, aims at improving relations with the Palestinian Administration in every field.”

President Demirel said during Arafat’s visit that the peace process in the Middle East had been greatly harmed. "Instrumental is Israel's policies on Jerusalem and the West Bank, of which we never approve.” He said at the ceremony in Çankaya to welcome Arafat,

“My dear brother Arafat
It is a fact agreed upon by all that the Palestinian question rests at the core of the Middle East question, and that a lasting, comprehensive and just peace can never be secured in our region unless this matter is solved in the direction of the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people.” He said Turkey and the Turkish people always supported “their Palestinian brethren’s rights” and would continue to do so.

Palestinian leader Arafat said that he had just been to the OIC’s (Organisation of the Islamic Conference’s) Palestine Committee meeting in Casablanca and that they had taken a number of important resolutions to forestall the efforts to destroy the holy sites for the Muslims and Christians in Jerusalem. Among these resolutions, explained Arafat, were the establishment of several social, cultural and historic centres in Jerusalem by various Islamic countries. He stressed the importance of Turkey’s participation in these activities, underlining that Turkey is a great power in the region. “Turkey will be affected by the developments in the region. Everyone will be adversely affected by the failure of the peace process.”

President Demirel said after the talks with Arafat, “Mr Arafat has voiced his complaints about the hampering of the Middle East peace process by Israel. This peace process is a golden opportunity for all. We share Mr. Arafat’s anxieties. We will continue with our approaches to Europe, the United States and Israel on this issue. Turkey’s support to the Palestinian cause is all-out. This support will continue. We are always beside my brother Arafat’s peace-loving efforts.”

At the Çankaya talks Arafat regretted the assasination of PM Yitzak Rabin and complained of PM Netanyahu as the cause of these hard-line developments on the part of Israel. Palestine had accepted the American initiatives, but Israel was rejecting them. He urged Turkey to use its influence on Israel for the acceptance of the American initiatives.

Promising cooperation with Israel in the light of Middle East deadlock

It is easier to understand President Demirel’s answers to Arafat’s requests last week when one examines the course of the Middle East peace process.

Between March 11^th-13^th, 1996 President Demirel paid a State visit to Israel to return President Ezer Weizman’s State visit to Turkey 15 months earlier, between January 24^th-27^th, 1994. This return visit would have taken place between November 12^th-14^th, 1995, but at Israel’s request it was postponed upon PM Rabin’s assassination, a week before Demirel’s scheduled visit.

When it eventually took place in March 1996, two important events concerning the Middle East unrolled during Demirel’s State visit. One was that from Israel he proceeded to Gaza to have talks with Arafat on March 14^th.

He said before this visit, “I will confirm Turkey’s support of the Middle East peace process as well as help our Palestinian brethren, and exchange views concerning Turkey’s contributions to this process.”

So in a way, Arafat found in Ankara last week a Turkish President who had already committed himself to “actively support” the Palestinians and the Middle East peace process and it was plain sailing for him to get the confirmation of this support.

Turkey and Israel actively cooperate against terrorism 

The second and more important event during the State visit was Demirel’s complying with President Clinton’s and President Mubarek’s invitations to attend the anti-terrorist summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on March 13^th, a day before his meeting with Arafat in Gaza. At the Sharm El Sheikh summit it was decided not to allow terrorist actions to undermine the Middle East peace process and to ensure this a work group, of which Turkey took an active role, was set up.

During these talks Demirel’s message was, “It is of great importance for all countries supporting the peace process to act jointly against terrorism.” And he did use his influence on Tehran, with considerable success, especially on today’s moderate administration under President Khatami, for withdrawing its support from Hizbullah, Hamas and other terrorist organisations in the Middle East. Islamic Jihad is now inactive and Washington is not so sure of Iran’s sponsorship of Hizbullah in Lebanon today. Certainly, the success of Demirel’s healthy influence and Iran’s return to the western world will be determined after the current power struggle between President Khatami and the religious fundamentalists led by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khomenei. Meanwhile, Turkey is doing its best to prevent Iran from exporting religious revolution into the region.

Israel has recently denounced the PKK as a terrorist organisation, after having refrained from doing so for a long time, at least in public, with the fear that it could draw the PKK’s hostilities.

The then Under-Secretary of the MFA, Ambassador Onur Öymen, told a press conference in Ankara on January 16^th, 1996 about claims of a peace treaty between Israel and Syria that Israel had told Turkey that they would make no peace treaty with any country which used terrorrism as a weapon in foreign policy. “There is a close cooperation against terrorism between Turkey and Israel,” he affirmed.

Female caprice spoils a promising cooperation at the outset

The Turkish-Israeli cooperation against terrorism, however, had a very unfortunate start. The first official visit to Israel by a Turkish Prime Minister was made by Tansu Çiller between November 3^rd and 5^th, 1994. High on the agenda was the fight against terrorism and intelligence cooperation to that end between the two countries whose diplomatic relations were really warming up after having been reduced to second secretary level during the 1980 military rule in Turkey, in an attemp to win over the Arabs and the Islamic world.

Far from getting any support from the Arabs, Ankara was shocked to see in this period that the Palestinians were giving advice to the Greek Cypriots to do against the so-called “Turkish occupation forces in Cyprus” what they were doing to Israeli forces, “intifadaat”, and Syria is still the headquarters of the PKK even today.

As a milleniums old great power of the world, Turkey did not want to bear a grudge against the Palestinians and Arabs, but the time had come to revise Turkey’s relations with Israel who was ready for a sincere cooperation in every field and whose cooperation would be mutually beneficial.

In this atmosphere of matured conditions for a sincere cooperation, PM Çiller paid an official visit to Israel in November 1994. Among other contacts she called at Mossad along with the MIT (The National Intelligence Organisation) Chief, Ambassador Sönmez Köksal, and the Police Chief, Mehmet Ağar. The high powered Turkish delegation and diplomats, however, were all ill at ease because, according to diplomatic traditions, such contacts should have been made at technical level first. A prime minister should never sit at the negotiation table with a foreign intelligence service before the ground is paved for an agreement.

That was not all. A shock was in store for the MIT Chief and his assistant, Mehmet Eymür, during the talks. At one point Çiller turned round to the MIT chiefs and said, “Could you leave us alone for a while?” They were horrified, but showed the necessary patience by complying.

The “Susurluk Report” by Kutlu Savaş, a former Chief Inspector of the Prime Minister’s Office, testifies that it concerned Çiller’s dream of scoring a resounding victory before the December 1995 general elections by arresting or killing the PKK Chief, Abdullah Öcalan, in Syria and that she allotted $40-50 million for that purpose. It is now common knowledge what mess the cronies Çiller and Ağar made of such a serious State affair.

After all the competent and authorised institutions of the Turkish Republic were left out of the circuit, a few adventurers led by Mehmet Ağar held training drills on Beydağları (a mountainous area) of Antalya with crates of arms secretly arriving from Israel through a UK-based Turkish Cypriot company, Hospro Ltd, as from November 15^th, 1994, only 12 days after Çiller’s capricious and unauthorised arrangements in Israel. Foreign tutors and observers from Israel attended these drillings led by Korkut Eken, a former Lieutenant Colonel who is now being prosecuted.

Most of these expensive, sophisticated assassination weapons later disappeared or were involved in mysterious murders and provocative actions which increased in Turkey as from the end of 1994

In December 1994 the offices of the newspaper “Özgür Ülke” were blown up. In March 1995 Hasan Ocak was killed. In March 1995 the Gaziosmanpaşa riots took place with provocations. In April 1995 a bomb exploded outside Sultanahmet Mosque where people were leaving after the Friday prayers. The list goes on. All these provocations perpetrated in the name of protecting Turkey’s sublime interests are now being accounted for as much as possible. Of the 33 investigation files of the Çiller cronies’ misdeeds within the Susurluk investigation, 31 have been completed. The remaining two concern the whereabouts of the long list of arms and equipment received from Israel.

Mehmet Ağar’s parliamentary immunity has already been lifted. Çiller is still holding on with the heroic (!) defence of her fellow party members at the committees, but the corruption side of the investigations by the judiciary are advancing rapidly. Leaving aside Çiller’s fate and political career, it was a pity that Turkish-Israeli cooperation against terrorism underwent such an unwarranted adventure. However, cooperation can be mutually beneficial and it may eventually be based on sounder grounds in future. President Demirel has already taken steps in that direction in Sharm El Sheikh. There may be differences of interpretation about the details between Turkey and the Israeli American side, but time and practice are bound to iron out these differences.

For instance, the Israeli side speaks of a “strategic alliance with Turkey”, but Ankara prefers to meticulously refrain from using the word “alliance”. In January 1996 the MFA issued an official clarification about press reports on a “Strategic alliance by Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and the United States”. It was announced therein that Turkey would not be in such alliances which would result in polarizations in the region and in undermining the Middle East peace process.

Turkish diplomacy has already been through the Baghdad Pact and CENTO experiences in the cold war period. They can never be revived in any other form today, but this does not mean that bilateral intelligence sharing will not continue with Israel.   uras@ada.net.tr, August 5^th, 1998

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