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Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs
News Summary from Directorate General of Press and Information
TURKISH PRESS REVIEW
FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 1997

Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning

FEARS OF CONFLICT IN CYPRUS

As the war of words in Cyprus takes on more serious overtones, so the fear that a hot conflict might totally disrupt relations between Turkey and Greece grow. Officials on both sides have intimated that there could be a clash between the two communities on the island.

Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Dervish Eroglu, said yesterday that the Greek Cypriot agreement with Russia to buy S-300 missile systems was primarily for attack purposes, and not for purely defensive purposes as claimed.

Ankara has again approached Moscow with the suggestion that it would be wiser not to sell the S-300 system to the Greek Cypriots. Ankara government officials have stressed that the system can be used both for defence and assault purposes, and that Moscow would do better not to hand the equipment over.

In the meantime diplomatic efforts to cool the explosive situation hasten along at full speed. US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright noted yesterday that the US government was prepared to expend more time and effort to find a solution to the problems besetting the island.

Although fears have been expressed that there could be conflict on Cyprus again, spokesman for the Greek Cypriot community on Cyprus, Yannakis Kasulides declared yesterday that "we are not stupid enough to take on a country like Turkey with a population of 65 million. Our population is only somewhere between 600-700 thousand." Kasulides again stressed that the weapons being purchased by the Greek Cypriots were only for defensive purposes.

He did add, however, that an attack from another direction would drastically change the situation.

The UN too has begun initiatives to once again try and pull the leaders of the two sides together. UN special representative for Cyprus, Gustav Feissel said in an interview with the Turkish Cumhuriyet newspaper that the UN was looking for a Dayton-style formula that would restore peace and stability on Cyprus. Feissel stressed however, that nothing could be done before leaders agreed to meet around the negotiation table. /All papers/

TURKEY TO BUY 72 US-MADE ARMY TACTICAL MISSILES

Turkey will buy 72 surface-to-surface missiles called Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) under a $50 million agreement signed last year with leading US missile producer, the Loral-Vought Company. Military sources said that Turkey will pay around $700,000 per missile to the American company.

The missiles are still in production in the United States and will be delivered in May or June 1998.