DATE=10/13/98
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-41583
TITLE=TURKEY/SYRIA
BYLINE=AMBERIN ZAMAN
DATELINE=ANTAKYA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: TENSIONS BETWEEN TURKEY AND SYRIA HAVE ESCALATED IN
RECENT WEEKS. ANKARA HAS THREATENED TO USE FORCE UNLESS SYRIA
ENDS ITS SUPPORT FOR SEPARATIST KURDISH REBELS WHO ARE FIGHTING
FOR SELF-RULE IN SOUTHEASTERN TURKEY. MANY PEOPLE IN TURKEY'S
PREDOMINANTLY ARAB-POPULATED HATAY PROVINCE ALONG THE SYRIAN
BORDER SAY THEY BELIEVE THEY WILL BE AT THE FRONTLINE OF ANY WAR.
AMBERIN ZAMAN REPORTS FROM ANTAKYA, CAPITAL OF HATAY PROVINCE.
TEXT: IN A DARK SMOKE-OBSCURED TEA HOUSE ONLY METERS AWAY FROM
THE SYRIAN BORDER, ALL EYES ARE TURNED TO THE HOURLY NEWS PROGRAM
ON TURKISH TELEVSION.
/// MESUT YILMAZ ACT - IN TURKISH - FADE UNDER ///
TURKISH PRIME MINISTER MESUT YILMAZ REPEATS WARNINGS TO SYRIA TO
RESPOND TO TURKEY'S DEMANDS CONCERNING REBELS OF THE SEPARATIST
KURDISTAN WORKERS PARTY -- THE P-K-K. TURKEY WANTS SYRIA TO SHUT
ALL P-K-K CAMPS ON ITS TERRITORTY AND HAND OVER P-K-K LEADER
ABDULLAH OCALAN WHO LIVES IN DAMASCUS. TURKEY ALSO DEMANDS THAT
SYRIA DROP ITS TERRITORIAL CLAIMS FOR HATAY.
LOCAL PEOPLE SAY THEIR FERTILE COTTON-GROWING PROVINCE IS AT THE
CORE OF SYRIA'S ENMITY AGAINST TURKEY.
HATAY WAS PART OF SYRIA DURING THE TIME OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.
SYRIA CAME UNDER FRENCH RULE WHEN THE OTTOMANS WERE DEFEATED AT
THE END OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR. FRANCE KEPT CONTROL OF HATAY
WHEN IT GRANTED SYRIA INDEPENDENCE IN 1936, BUT THEN GAVE THE
PROVINCE TO THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED TURKISH REPUBLIC IN 1939.
SYRIA NEVER RECOGNIZED THE MOVE AND CONTINUES TO SHOW THE
PROVINCE ON ITS OFFICIAL MAPS.
BUT HATAY'S POPULATION STRONGLY ENDORSED THE TRANSFER TO TURKEY,
DESPITE THEIR PREDOMINANTLY ARAB ROOTS. THEY ORGANIZED A
REFERENDUM THE SAME YEAR THE PROVINCE WAS CEDED BY FRANCE AND
VOTED OVERHWHELMINGLY IN FAVOR OF BECOMING PART OF TURKEY.
A RETIRED GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE, HIKMET MUSAOGLU, SAYS HE WAS ONLY
14 YEARS OLD WHEN THE REFERENDUM TOOK PLACE. HE SAYS THAT AT THE
TIME, THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE DEMONSTRATED TO SHOW THEY WANTED TO BE
PART OF TURKEY.
/// MUSAOGLU ACT - IN TURKISH - FADE UNDER ///
MR. MUSAOGLU SAYS THAT NO MATTER WHAT THE SYRIANS SAY, HATAY IS
TURKISH AND WILL REMAIN SO.
LIKE MANY HERE, MR. MUSAOGLU SAYS TURKEY SHOULD, IN HIS WORDS,
TEACH SYRIA A LESSON FOR ITS CONTINUED HOSTILITY AGAINST TURKEY.
AHMET ALTUNER, WHO RUNS THE TEA SHOP, SAYS THERE IS NO NEED FOR
AN ALL OUT WAR, HOWEVER, BECAUSE SYRIA IS NO MATCH MILITARILY
FOR HIS COUNTRY.
/// ALTUNER ACT - IN TURKISH - FADE UNDER ///
MR. ALTUNER SAYS HE BELIEVES ALL TURKEY NEEDS TO DO IS TO CARRY
OUT AIR STRIKES AGAINST P-K-K CAMPS IN THE SYRIAN-CONTROLLED
BEKAA VALLEY IN LEBANON.
A TRUCK DRIVER, NURI, SAYS ECONOMIC SANCTIONS WOULD, IN HIS
WORDS, BRING SYRIA TO ITS KNEES.
/// NURI ACT - IN TURKISH - FADE UNDER ///
NURI SAYS TURKEY COULD EITHER HALT ITS BORDER TRADE WITH SYRIA OR
EVEN CUT THE FLOW OF THE EUPHRATES RIVER ON WHICH SYRIAN FARMERS
HEAVILY DEPEND.
THE STATUS OF THE EUPHRATES IS ANOTHER SOURCE OF TENSION BETWEEN
THE TWO COUNTRIES. TURKISH OFFICIALS SAY SYRIA IS SUPPORTING THE
P-K-K IN ORDER TO PRESS ITS CLAIMS OVER HATAY AND TO GET TURKEY
TO SIGN AN AGREEMENT TO SHARE THE WATERS OF THE RIVER.
THE TURKISH MILITARY HAS SPENT NEARLY 100-MILLION DOLLARS ON ITS
14-YEAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE P-K-K. THE CONFLICT HAS CLAIMED
NEARLY 40-THOUSAND LIVES.
SHOULD THERE BE A WAR BETWEEN TURKEY AND SYRIA, TEA SHOP OWNER
AHMET ALTUNER SAYS ORDINARY CITIZENS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BORDER
WILL, IN HIS WORDS, CRY FOR EACH OTHER.
/// ALTUNER ACT - IN TURKISH - FADE UNDER ///
HE SAYS MANY PEOPLE HERE HAVE RELATIVES WHO LIVE ACROSS THE
BORDER AND DO NOT WANT THEM TO GET HURT. (SIGNED)
NEB/AZ/JWH/KL
13-Oct-98 9:07 AM EDT (1307 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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