Turkish and US teams confer on Dubl

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

Subject: Turkish and US teams confer on Dublin talks


           id VT18287; Sun, 17 Sep 1995 15:57:46 -0800


Briefing: PUK leader Talabani informed Syrian officials on first Dublin
meeting, PUK sources say

Turkish Daily News
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ANKARA- The Turkish and U.S. delegations met at the U.S. Embassy in Dublin,
prior to the second round of talks with the rival northern Iraqi Kurdish
groups, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK), in an effort to establish peace in the region.

Ecvet Tezcan, chief of the Turkish Foreign Ministry intelligence and
research department chief and Robert Deutsch, a top U.S. State Department
official attended the meeting. It has been learned that the Turkish and U.S.
officials exchanged views and expressed their government's positions
regarding the Dublin talks.

It has also been reported that the Turkish delegation initially raised an
objection to British participation as an observer at the second Dublin
meeting but later withdrew their opposition at the request of the Americans.

The first Dublin meeting was attended by the rival Kurdish groups, Iraqi
National Congress, Turkey as an observer and the United States as sponsor.

The second series of talks is expected to focus on details of the peace
accord and control mechanisms. If the meeting is successful it will be
followed by the signing of a peace agreement in Washington.

It is reported that Turkey is expected to stress to the leaders of the KDP
and the PUK, Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani, that they accept their
responsibility for preventing the PKK (outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party)
from filling the power vacuum in northern Iraq.

Turkey is also expected to underline the importance of the preserving Iraq's
territorial integrity and sovereignty. At the first peace talks in Ireland a
draft agreement was drawn up which calls for the city of Irbil to be
demilitarized. This will be overseen by a neutral commission formed under
the auspices of the Iraqi National Congress (INC) -- an umbrella opposition
group -- which will also control the division of revenues from the
cross-border oil trade. This was the main cause of the 15 months feud
between the Iraqi Kurdish groups. The draft says that these arrangements
will respect the territorial integrity of Iraq and will also take into
consideration the legitimate security concerns of Turkey. In a separate but
related development, Talabani informed the Syrian officials in Damascus
about the first Irish meeting, Anatolia reported on Tuesday.

The PUK sources said that Talabani assured Damascus that sole aim of the
meeting was to bring peace to the region. It is reported that Talabani will
go to Jordan after Syria to meet Jordan Crown Prince Hassan.

PUK sources noted that Talabani might have an opportunity to see Saddam
Hussein's son in law General Huseyin Kamil Hasan Al Macid, who is living in
Amman after his defection, but they indicated that there was no scheduled
meeting with Al Macid.
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 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)