Turkish official suggests crisis with Syria fabricated

The deputy chairman of the True Path Party (DYP) in Turkey, Hassan Akinji, has alleged that the Turkish government created the current crisis with Syria in order to cover scandals committed by gangs and to remove these scandals from the government's work agenda.

In statements to reporters, Akinji added that the crisis with Syria cannot save Prime Minister Mesout Yilmaz from the plight in which he placed himself and will not enable him to avoid problems pertaining to gangs. When the gangs started to shake the government, the latter started to prepare for war, Akinji said.

He said the current crisis will not take the place of an apology to the parties over postponing elections scheduled for April 1999.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Daily News on Tuesday accused some Turkish politicians of using the crisis with Syria in order to achieve personal objectives.

The paper noted that the Turkish army and Foreign Ministry realize that the calls for war promoted by certain politicians through the Turkish mass media are not positive in regard to the higher interests of Turkey.

The paper criticized the way the Turkish dailies escalated the crisis with Syria, adding that the thrilling used in highlighting the tension with Syria reached unacceptable stages through drawing up war plans which were supposed to be military secrets that should not be legally disclosed.

The paper expressed its belief that these positions, boosted by some Turkish officials trying to achieve personal interests, do not serve Turkish international interests. "One can see how these wrong stances pushed the Arabs to unify their stances to condemn Turkey and side behind Syria," the paper concluded.