Turkey's New Head of Military Declares The Treaty Of Sevres A " DEAD ISSUE "

Since his appointment as Chief of Staff of Turkey's armed forces, many Western observers have been trying to decipher the political and cultural orientation of General Yasar Buyukanit. Many have looked to the General's inaugural speeches for clues as to where he stands on a variety of issues, both domestic and international.

On August 28th, the Geneva-based Center for Security Studies published a report on Turkey that concluded,

"Chief of Staff General Buyukanit's political and cultural orientation is not exactly as pro-European and pro-Western as that of his predecessors. More importantly, some fear that the new Chief of Staff will promote a tougher policy towards Kurdish activists and will be less likely to make concessions to the European Union on the Cyprus issue"

In one of his inaugural speeches, General Buyukanit made reference to the 1920 Treaty of Sevres. He is quoted to have said,

"Within the context of security, I would like to bring to your attention a very important issue. Although it is with good faith, some argue that the Turkish Republic will have to confront the Treaty of Sevres. I would like to clearly state that although some circles may have such an endeavor and others may have such expectations, I do not think there is any power to force Turkey to confront the Treaty of Sevres once again."