drug terrorism'

'If Italy refuses to cooperate with us in the Abdullah Ocalan case, how will we cooperate with Italy's

liaison officer here in Ankara? So, the end of a cooperation between Ankara and Rome will also cause

a boom in drug smuggling and human kidnapping,'

Ankara - Turkish Daily News 18 nov 1998

A boom in drug terrorism may be seen if cooperation between Turkey and Europe fails, a senior police

official told the Turkish Daily News on Tuesday. Turkey is a country that seizes 60 percent of drugs being

smuggled to Europe, the official continued.

"If Italy refuses to cooperate with us in the Abdullah Ocalan case, how will we cooperate with Italy's liaison

officer here in Ankara? So, the end of cooperation between Ankara and Rome will also cause a boom in drug

smuggling and human kidnapping," he said. However, he also seemed sure that in the end Ocalan will be

extradited to Turkey. "We received a message from our counterparts in Europe that there is nothing to

prevent the extradition of Ocalan to us."

Despite the Schengen regulations, Germany does not want to take Ocalan, which would mean the beginning

of demonstrations in that country," the official continued, adding that the United States was the key factor in

this issue.

"This is in fact a struggle between Europe and the United States. This is the effort of Europe to increase its

role in the Middle East, which will certainly be faced with a U.S. barrier," he commented.

Demirel: 'No Kurdish question'

In a related development, when asked whether the Kurdish question could be solved

through military means, President Suleyman Demirel said that Turkey did not have a

Kurdish problem, but it had a terrorism problem. Demirel, who is on an official visit in

Austria, said that Turkish citizens who consider themselves Kurds have equal rights.

"Five thousand victims of the bloody terror committed by the PKK in Turkey are

Kurdish-speaking citizens. As long as the world combines bloody terrorism with the Kurdish problem, and as

long as Europe creates a problem named the 'Kurdish problem,' they will understand nothing," the president

said.

"Terrorism is condemned by everyone. But when it comes to terrorism against Turkey, the fact that the

victims of this terror are also human beings is being forgotten. The rights of the killers are being defended.

Turkey is a democratic state and it is a state of law," he said.

Nationwide protests

The Italian government's persistent stance in favor of Ocalan is intensifying the waves of protests all around

the country. Turkey's most influential nongovernmental organizations and associations have united against

Rome, threatening to reduce mutual trade links and boycott Italian goods. A great number pf petition

campaigns and other demonstrations were inaugurated by different groups all over Turkey.

The most powerful business and economic organizations -- the Union of Turkish Chambers and Commodity

Exchanges (TOBB), the Economic Development Foundation (IKV), the Council of Foreign Economic

Relations (DEIK) and the International Trade Chamber (MTO) -- issued a joint press statement condemning

Italy.

"As the highest-level representatives of the Turkish private sector, we want to express our determination that

if Italy does not extradite Ocalan to Turkey, we will reconsider our economic and commercial relations with

Italy and will implement a boycott on Italian-made goods," the statement said.

TOBB chairman Fuat Miras sent a letter to his Italian counterpart Danilo Longhi, urging him to put pressure

on the Italian government. A similar letter was sent by the Confederation of Turkish Employers' Unions

(TISK) to their Italian counterparts.

Ismail Demirkol, the chairman of the Trade and Industry Chamber of Sanliurfa, Ocalan's home city and one

with a predominantly Kurdish population, announced that they gave full support to the protests campaigns.

Business organizations from all over the country expressed strong backing as well.

In Ankara, members of the True Path Party (DYP) and the Republican People's Party (CHP) staged

separate demonstrations in front of the Italian Embassy. Black wreaths were laid in front of the embassy

building. "Those who welcome the murderer of 30,000 people will be called to account before history one

day," "Italy, don't make mistakes, don't test our patience," the protesters shouted. Later in the day, a group of

citizens, led by Kecioren Mayor Turgut Altinok, staged another protest in front of the embassy. The crowd

tore apart an Italian flag and burnt PKK banners. Altinok, a member of the Nationalist Movement Party

(MHP), delivered a speech of condemnation.

The anger against Italian authorities, who watched while PKK demonstrators were attacking Turkish

journalists in Rome last Saturday, did not slow down either. An array of associations and professional

organizations issued condemnations, and politicians joined the wave of protests. A delegation of

parliamentarians with journalistic backgrounds, led by Deputy Parliament Speaker Uluc Gurkan, will pay a

visit to Italian Ambassador Massimiliano Bandini on Wednesday and convey a verbal condemnation.

Meanwhile, an Italian detainee who had been taken as hostage by nationalist prisoners in Istanbul's Metris

prison as retaliation for Italy's reluctance to extradite Ocalan was released late on Monday evening, his

lawyer said. Mauro Calascibetta can now be sent to Switzerland, where he is wanted for attempted murder,

the lawyer said.