ANKARA, February 13 (Itar-Tass) - Visiting Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo
denied Tuesday the information that Kurdish rebels operate their camps in Russia.

Speaking at a news conference after the talks with his Turkish counterpart, Rushailo said
"indeed, a Kurdish international organization purchased structures of a children's recreation
center near Yaroslavl in 1996."

"From the point of view of compliance with law, this international organization fulfilled all
legal norms effective in the Russian Federation," he said.

"We have no information that this camp trains militants. This camp is under strict control,
and there are no militants in it," Rushailo emphasized.

For his part, Turkish Interior Minister Sadettin Tantan stated at the new conference that
Turkey will not become a transit road for Chechen rebels.

In the future, the countries will work jointly to ensure that Chechen militants are unable to
freely move across the Turkish territory, Tantan said.

Turkey has never supported and will never support terrorists, he added.

When asked if Chechen militants have bases or undergo medical treatment in Turkey, the
minister said that Turkish police have no such information.

There are Chechens in Turkey, but these are elderly people who arrive here to visit their
relatives or receive medical treatment, he noted.

Rushailo and Tantan also discussed on Tuesday the problem of ensuring security for
Russian business people in Turkey.

"We were talking about how to protect the Russian business people working in Turkey and
the Turkish nationals doing business in Russia," Rushailo said. Other cooperation issues
were considered as well, he noted.

According to Rushailo, the priority directions in the interaction between the two ministries
were the struggle against terrorism, organized crime, drug-trafficking, illegal migration and
money laundering.

He emphasized that proposals had been submitted to streamline information exchange as
regards the persons watched by Russian and Turkish police.

"All these provisions will be reflected in the protocol of interaction for 2001-2002," he said.

Sadettin Tantan said the Turkish government is interested in strengthening interaction with
Russia, and that the Turkish Interior Ministry is making all efforts to ensure security for
Russian and Turkish citizens.

Tantan noted that Ankara had never permitted the activities of extremist Islamic
organizations and that it does not intend to do so in the future.

Turkey calls for settling the Chechen problem through a peaceful and humanitarian way,
Tantan said. He said he has no reliable information about the whereabouts of Chechen
militants in Turkey.
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The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com