SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN THREE-DAY VISIT TO TURKEY, MEETS WITH PRESIDENT DEMIREL
Press Release
SG/T/2055
SECRETARY-GENERAL, IN THREE-DAY VISIT TO TURKEY, MEETS WITH PRESIDENT DEMIREL
19960530 (Received from the spokesman for the Secretary-General.)ANKARA, 30 May 1996 -- Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali said today he hoped the "oil-for-food" agreement signed between the United Nations and Iraq last week would help overcome the crisis of confidence between Iraq and members of the Security Council. He raised the matter in wide-ranging talks with the President Suleyman Demirel in Ankara this evening, at the start of a three-day official visit to Turkey. The Secretary-General will open the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) next week.
President Demirel said that his country was urging Iraq to implement the other relevant Security Council resolutions so that it might rejoin the international community. He said that the oil-for-food deal was a step in the right direction. It aimed to alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people.
They discussed the elections in Israel and expressed the hope that the Middle East peace process would continue.
President Demirel and the Secretary-General agreed that it was important to maintain a multinational presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina when the NATO Implementation Force (IFOR) mandate expired at the end of this year.
They also discussed problems in the Caucasus and Central Asia including Nagorny Karabakh, Georgia and Tajikistan. They reviewed the situation in Afghanistan and the Secretary-General informed President Demirel that he would soon appoint a new Special Envoy to Afghanistan, following the resignation of Mahmoud Mistiri for health reasons.
The President noted the appointment of a new representative for the Secretary-General for Cyprus and said he was confident that the Secretary- General would "push the peace effort in Cyprus" forward. The Secretary- General shared the hope that a new phase would soon begin in the search for a solution to the island's problems and confirmed he would be meeting with the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, Rauf Denktash, in Istanbul on 5 June, and with the President of Cyprus, Glafkos Clerides, in Geneva on 11 June.
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The Secretary-General briefed President Demirel on the financial crisis of the United Nations and its effect on the Organization's peace-keeping and humanitarian work. He thanked the President and the Government and people of Turkey for their long-standing support of United Nations activities, not least of which are its many contributions to peace-keeping operations, over the years, including Korea, Somalia and the former Yugoslavia. He expressed his gratitude to Turkey for hosting Habitat II.
President Demirel said he wholeheartedly concurred with the opinion expressed by world leaders at the special meeting of the General Assembly in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations in New York last year, that it was imperative to strengthen the United Nations. Turkey was a founding member of the United Nations; it remained committed to its principles and ideals, and would continue to offer its support to the Organization in all its endeavours.
President and Mrs. Demirel then hosted a dinner in honour of the Secretary-General and Mrs. Boutros-Ghali.
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