Posted on 03/02/2003 7:26:50 AM PST by syriacus
US army offers jobs to Turkish guides
The U.S. army, which is preparing for a war against neighboring Iraq, is seeking English-speaking guides to help its troops to be deployed in Turkey, Anatolia news agency reported yesterday.
The Turkish Guides Association (TUR-EB) officials said that they were still discussing the U.S. job offer but added a group of guides already accepted the offer and went to Iskenderun and Silopi to work with the U.S. personnel.
TUR-EB officials stated that those accepting the job offer would work at Iskenderun, Adana-Incirlik, Afyon, Corlu and Sabiha Gokcen airports and southeastern provinces of Malatya, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, Mardin, Batman, Sirnak, Silopi and Hakkari.
"However, the monthly wage offer amounting to $1,000-1,250 is very low. The daily wage should be at least TL 147 million," same officials added.
Professional tourist guide Ali Karapinar told Anatolia that there were some 10,000 guides in Turkey, adding that he did not accept the U.S. offer because of low pay.
----------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Negotiations between US and Turkey incongruous
Serdar Alyamac
Twenty-eight lawyers released a written statement claiming that the deal between strategic allies the United States and Turkey breaches the Turkish Constitution. The jurists stressed that they would make a legal application on this incongruous deal between the U.S. and Turkey to deploy troops on Turkish soil to launch a northern front in a looming U.S.-led attack to Iraq.
Jurists called on President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Republican Peoples' Party (CHP) and parliamentarians to stop this illegal negotiation with the U.S. and not to send any decree to Parliament for a vote to allow the U.S. to deploy its troops on Turkish soil. Jurists also stressed in the statement that Parliament should cancel decision numbered 759 made on February 6 permitting the U.S. to inspect Turkish airports and ports.
Due to the United Nations agreement, every kind of war, but self-defence, is prohibited. And according to Articles 2 and 4 of the U.N. agreement, all members of the U.N. should avoid threat and use of force against the unity of any country and political independence. In order to solve international disagreements, the United Nations Security Council was authorized. The jurists said, "Despite this, the U.S. president has announced that they would attack Iraq without U.N. backing. It means the U.S. has violated the Legitimacy Principle of the U.N. agreement."
"The president, the main opposition party CHP and parliamentarians can apply to the Constitutional Court for cancellation of the decision taken by Parliament," added the jurists.
According to the Article 92 of the Turkish Constitution, in any situation that was accepted as legitimate in International Law, the authority of permitting deployment of Turkish soldiers abroad and foreign soldiers in Turkey belongs to the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
In the written statement of the jurists, it is stressed that the "legitimacy principle" in International Law was based on the United Nations agreement signed in San Francisco in 1945. Turkey signed the U.N. agreement on August 15, 1945. Article 90 of the Constitution enforces international agreements signed by Turkey.
"According to the current situation, every kind of deal or negotiation Turkish authorities have been holding with the U.S. on deployment of troops on Turkish soil is illegal due to the Turkish Constitution and United Nations agreement."
The jurists also claimed that the government and members of parliament who voted "yes" for the decree had infringed the Constitution. The jurists also gave examples of the 1991 Gulf War in the statement. "The Constitutional Court has rejected the appeal on cancellation of decisions numbered 107 and 108, restricting the deployment of soldiers abroad. In that Constitutional Court, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who was also a member of the court in that period, also voted to refuse the appeal."
Izmir - Turkish Daily News
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.