Syria bans Kurdistani Workers Party activities, Turkish ambassador: No regional dispute
Syria-Turkey, Politics, 10/15/1998

Syria has pledged to Turkey, through Cairo that it will not allow any activity by members of the Kurdistani Workers Party in the Syrian territories, the correspondent of the BBC in Ankara quoted Turkish diplomatic sources as saying on Wednesday.

The sources added that Syria started vast arrest campaigns targeting members and cadres of the said parties existing in Syria or in the Lebanese Bekaa plain.

The correspondent also quoted Turkish intelligence sources as saying that the leader of the Kurdistani Workers Party, Abdullah Oclan, had left Damascus and is now in Russia. The correspondent added that the Turkish intelligence received this information from the Israeli Mossad, which gave Turkey in the past full information about the moves and activities of the party's leaders and members in Syria, the Bekaa plain, Iran and Northern Iraq.

The correspondent said that the Turkish forces are preparing to carry out land and air maneuvers at the borders with Syria. The maneuvers are expected to be carried out in mid November and in light of developments of the Syrian-Turkish dialogue on the security framework.

Meanwhile, The Turkish ambassador in Kuwait, Ahmad Artai, said there are no regional disputes between Turkey and Syria.

In a message to Kuwaiti daily al-Seyasah on Wednesday, commenting about Turkish threats against Syria the ambassador said that the "question between Turkey and Syria is because of Syria's strong support to acts targeting Turkey and resulted in killing thousands, sheltering and ensuring facilities and material support."

The Turkish ambassador added that Turkey had submitted these facts through the past years and appealed to Syria to halt support for terrorism.

"But our efforts were in vain," he claimed. He added that files containing evidence of such a Syrian involvement were submitted to all leaders in the region, including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and the Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi.

Previous Stories:
  Ankara admits: Damascus closed Kurdistani camps   (10/14/1998)
  Armenia denies news of having Abdulla Oclan on its territories   (10/14/1998)
  Syrian Mufti calls for an Islamic summit   (10/12/1998)

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