FEARING ESCALATION, IRAN ADOPTS CAUTIOUS STAND WITH ANKARA

By Nina Kamran, IPS Special Diplomatic Correspondent

PARIS 21 May (IPS) After days of hesitation and silence, the Islamic Republic of Iran summoned Sunday the ambassador of the secularist Turkey Mr. Turan Moraly to express its "strong dissatisfaction" with the growing anti-Iranian propaganda waged by the Turkish media.

Quoting an unidentified source at Iranian Foreign Ministry, the official news agency IRNA said that Iran had also "warned" the Turkish ambassador against the Turkish media allegations that Iranian diplomat were involved in the murder of prominent Turkish writers.

According to IRNA, the mysterious Iranian sources has, during the meeting with Mr. Moraly, pointed out to "the intention and efforts of the Zionist regime in imposing political propaganda pressure due to the trial of 13 spy Jews in Shiraz and Turkey's siding with this trend" and asked Ankara "not to attribute its domestic problems" to others and avoid the policy of accusing other countries in an attempt to suppress its domestic opposition.

However, Iranian analysts were surprised at the "moderate" tune adopted by the usually vehement Iranian officials when accused of terrorism and assassination.

Hamid Reza Asefi, the senior Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman has ruled out any downgrading in Iran Turkey's relations as demanded by hard line Iranian press and made no mention of Turkish officials, including both the Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and Foreign Minister Isma'il Cem accusing the Islamic Republic of sheltering the Turkish outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and supporting Turkish Islamist organisations.

Speaking to journalists, Mr. Ecevit last week complained that Iran was not "co-operating fully" with Turkey and promised that he will decide on the attitude to adopt towards the Islamic Republic according to the finding of the ongoing Police investigations of several Turkish islamist "terrorist" groups.

Quoting investigation sources, Turkish press accused the Iranian notorious "Al Qods" (Jerusalem) Special Unit that is under the direct control of Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i, the leader of the Islamic regime and some Iranian diplomats and journalists for their direct participation in the assassination of prominent Turkish secularist scholar Ms. Bahrye Ucok in 11990, the journalist Ughur Mumcu in 1993 and Ahmet Taner Kislali, a journalist and minister in 1999.

Two of the main suspects in the killing of Mumcu implicated three Iranians in the murder during a police reconstruction of the crime, the press said.

According to IRNA, Mumcu was the only journalist who disclosed the Mossad's 50 US millions dollars aid to (Iraqi Kurdish leader Mas'oud) Barzani "but in an attempt to appreciate Mossad for the arrest of the leader of the Turkish opposition Kurds Abdullah Ocalan, Turkey's security organization has waged a smear propaganda campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran concurrent with the trial in Iran of 13 Jews accused of spying for the Zionist regime", IRNA alleged. ENDS IRAN TURKEY 21500