HIrgUr MUstemleke; Sanki Fiyasko Ha

[APS. at apsf.aps.nl]

From: APS. at apsf.aps.nl(Newsdesk) (APS (Newsdesk))
Subject: HIrgUr MUstemleke; Sanki Fiyasko Haberler, 24/1/95, 08:00 TSI


(1) Kurd MP urges EU against customs union with Turkey

ANKARA, Jan 23 (Reuter) - A self-exiled Kurdish MP, whose party was banned by
a
Turkish high court, urged the European Union on Monday not to enter a customs
union with Turkey.

"Taking Turkey, which continues annihilation policies on our people, into
customs union, means providing resources for bombs and bullets that kill our
people," Remzi Kartal, told Reuters by telephone from Brussels. Kartal said
his
statement was on behalf of the committee of preparation for a Kurdistan
parliament in exile.

He was a deputy for the Kurd-based Democracy Party (DEP) which was banned by a
Turkish high court last June, causing all 13 DEP deputies to lose their
parliament seats. Six fled to Europe on the same day.

"This is a crime against humanity. The EU council of ministers should use
sanctions under international law and conventions against Turkey," Kartal
said.
He did not elaborate.

Seven other DEP MPs and one independent Kurd deputy were sentenced in December
to jail terms of up to 15 years for links with the rebel Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK), fighting for a separate state in southeast Turkey. The verdict,
preceding a EU decision on customs union, was a primary reason for the EU
postponing the decision until March. Ankara hopes the union will sealed then.

Kartal said a Kurdish parliament in exile was planned to be declared in March
after delegates were elected. He did not say where it would be based. He has
earlier said the PKK would be represented. Turkey has reacted sharply to plans
for a separatist parliament and asked its European allies, the United States
and Russia not to allow its activities on their territory. Washington has said
the parliament would not be legitimate.

"The parliament is not a cause for dividing Turkey," Kartal said. "It will
promote the unity of the Turkish and Kurdish peoples on the basis of
equality."
More than 14,000 people have died in Turkey since 1984 when the PKK launched
its battle for independence.

(3) Turkey plans wage hikes for civil servants

ANKARA, Jan 23 (Reuter) - Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's government is planning
to grant extra pay increases to its some 1.5 million civil servants - a move
some economists suggest signals an early election in the second half of this
year.

A senior economy official said the rise which will cost about 30 trillion lira
($735 million) in 1995 was not expected to dent the government austerity
programme launched in April. "We have to do that. Civil servants' salaries
depreciated sharply last year. Social benefits we will get from the rise will
be higher than financial cost," the official told Reuters.

Public wages declined about 40 percent in real terms in 1994 because of the
stabilisation measures which brought tight curbs on public spending including
wages. Inflation hit a record high of 150 percent last year, against a 54
percent rise in the salaries of civil servants. But some economists accuse
Ciller of diluting the economic programme through higher-than-budgeted rises
to restore its shaken popularity ahead of possible early elections later this
year. The next secheduled polls take place in October, 1996.

Ciller has ruled out an early poll, but Parliamentary Spokesman Husamettin
Cindoruk, former leader and an influential member of Ciller's conservative
True
Path Party, said early elections were necessary to avoid social unrest.

The pay plan proposes nearly 100 percent rises in low-level salaries, running
around $97 at present exchange rates. Higher levels would get gradually
declining increases. The government will also give generous pay rises to
several thousand high-ranking bureaucrats to prevent a flight from state posts
to the private sector.

Ciller's pay plan appeared shortly after a wave of street protests by
thousands
of employees in the big Turkish cities.