19 April 2001

1. "Turkey's radicals wait for death", nearly a dozen prisoners have already died.

2. "Berlin concerned over hunger-strike deaths in Turkey", Germany is in regular contact with Turkey and non-govermental organisations in an effort to prevent further deaths among the hunger-strikers in Turkish prisons, a German government source said Thursday.

3. "US officials discussed Turkey", it has been learned that the economic situation in Turkey and possible means of assistance were discussed in a meeting of the United States National Security Council. The Jewish lobby in the US has begun calling for assistance for Turkey.

4. "Turkey, syria expolore Military cooperation", in a move regarded as incredible only a year ago, Syria and Turkey are exploring the prospect of military cooperation.

5. "Ankara denies KDP supports Kurdish terrorist group", the KDP, the police and the Foreign Ministry deny the presence of a terrorist group, the PSK, in northern Iraq.

6. "Work on Turkey's EU membership continues", Yilmaz says Turkey must change its constitution for EU membership.

1. - BBC - "Turkey's radicals wait for death":

Nearly a dozen prisoners have already died

ISTANBUL

In a small shanty on the edge of Istanbul, Zehra Kulaksiz lies in bed waiting to die. With a red bandana wrapped around her head, she is on hunger strike in solidarity with hundreds of left wing prisoners who are refusing food in protest against prison conditions.

Two women have died in this house in the last few days. One of them was Zehra's sister, Canan, a 19-year-old university student. The other was a 38-year-old mother of two children.

Since late last month, 12 prisoners have also starved themselves to death as part of a countrywide protest, and doctors say dozens of others are in a critical medical condition.
The latest died on Wednesday in an Ankara hospital.

"Our prisoners are isolated and tortured," Zehra says, her voice barely rising above a whisper.
"Do we have to die for this? In our country, we do. For people to realise what's happening, and for democracy, we have to die."

Most Turks struggle to understand those motives, but more than 750 inmates are still taking part in the hunger strike.

They are members of extreme left-wing groups which want to overthrow the state. They say they are vulnerable to abuse in new jails where many of them are held in isolation.

In December, the security forces stormed prisons across Turkey to enforce the transfer of inmates from dormitory wards into small cells. Thirty-two people - including two soldiers - were killed, but the hunger strike went on.

Now the most seriously ill have been taken to hospital. They are under heavy guard, and handcuffed to their beds.

For months they have been taking sugared water and vitamins to prolong their lives, but they have become too weak to survive much longer.

Even if the hunger strike were to end today, many inmates would have suffered permanent medical damage.

Groups which have been trying to mediate an end to the dispute have been frustrated by a lack of progress, but Turkey's much-criticised Minister of Justice, Hikmet Sami Turk, has said he hopes a solution can be found soon.

"We are monitoring the situation with care and sensitivity", he said.

The government has been promising for some time to implement legal reform which would bring the regime of isolation to an end, but so far nothing has been done.

The new prisons have been criticised by pressure groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

Mr Sami Turk says the government should not be blamed for the hunger strike, but it is coming under some pressure to address the issue more urgently.

A delegation from the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture has arrived in Turkey to discuss ways to end the hunger strike before more people die.

Cemeteries

No matter who is responsible, Turkey's human rights image will take another battering as long as it continues.

If there is no breakthrough in the next few days, the tragedy will certainly intensify.

Newspaper articles have described Turkish prisons as cemeteries, and warn that the death toll could reach 100.

"I have no sympathy for their ideology," said political commentator Mehmet Ali Birand, "but we cannot simply sit back and watch people die."

2. - AFP - "Berlin concerned over hunger-strike deaths in Turkey":

BERLIN

Germany is in regular contact with Turkey and non-govermental organisations in an effort to prevent further deaths among the hunger-strikers in Turkish prisons, a German government source said Thursday.

Stressing the German government's concern over the situation, the source who requested anonymity said the German ambassador to Turkey has been meeting daily with members of the Turkish government and NGO representatives over the matter.

However, the source observed, the change in the Turkish prison regime which has led the prisoners to go on hunger strike is in line with recommendations by the Council of Europe.
The reforms provide for prisoners to be housed one, two or three to a cell rather than in large dormitories as previously.

Fourteen people have died since March 21 in the hunger strike by 300-400 prisoners. The German authorities have an interest in the situation in Turkey. Some two million people of Turkish origin live in Germany, making it by far the country's largest foreign community, and political events in Turkey can easily spill over to German soil. The hunger strike has already been the cause of protest demonstrations in Germany in recent days.

3. - Kurdish Observer - "US officials discussed Turkey":

It has been learned that the economic situation in Turkey and possible means of assistance were discussed in a meeting of the United States National Security Council. The Jewish lobby in the US has begun calling for assistance for Turkey.

WASHINGTON

It has been learned that the United States National Security Council held a special meeting last Thursday to discuss the economic situation in Turkey and possible ways to assist Ankara. The meeting was attended by number two officials from the US State Department, Defense Department, Treasury, intelligence agencies and other concerned institutions.

It has been learned that there will be a second similar meeting convening especially to discuss the situation in Turkey in the days ahead.

Sources say that while there was no special decision reached at the meeting , diplomatic observers consider the fact that the meeting was held as a sign of the desire of the Bush administration to assist Turkey. Bush administration officials had previously stressed that Turkey needed to fulfill its responsibilities in order to be able to overcome the economic crisis.

Jewish lobby working for Turkey

The Jewish lobby in the US has sent President George W. Bush a letter asking for the American administration to support Turkey's efforts to overcome this crisis and support its relations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The letter, which was signed by Bruce Ramer, chairman of the American Jewish Committee, and the committee's director Shula Bahat, said that they wanted to add their voices those of friends supporting Turkey during this time of economic difficulties.

The letter also relayed the committee's pleasure that President Bush had personally expressed his support and friendship for Turkey, and stressed the importance of Turkey's political and economic modernization plans to the US's strategic, political, and economic interests.

The American Jewish Committee said that during their visits to Turkey and meetings with the government and with citizens, they had seen that Turkey was developing modern democratic and financial institutions in its aim to become a part of the European Union. The letter noted that as the US's economic partner and its most stable ally, Turkey was a country that deserved the US's support.

The letter said that the committee wanted the Bush administration to continue to support Ankara's effort to establish a new relationship of cooperation with the IMF. It noted that the committee would be meeting with Turkish officials in the days ahead and that they gave great importance both to US-Turkey partnership and to the continuing vital relationship between Turkey and Israel. The letter concluded by saying that the committee fully supported the efforts of the Turkish government to achieve economic stability and to its intent of full membership in the European Union.

4. - Middle East Newsline - "Turkey, syria expolore Military cooperation":

ANKARA

In a move regarded as incredible only a year ago, Syria and Turkey are exploring the prospect of military cooperation.

The two nations are discussing military cooperation during the current visit of a Turkish military delegation to Damascus. The delegation, led by Turkish military planning chief Gen. Resat Turgut, has met Syrian Defense Minister Mustafa Tlas and Syrian Chief of Staff Gen. Ali Aslan.
The Damascus-based Syrian News Agency, SANA, said the talks concerned "means of developing cooperation between the two armies."

Turkish Foreign Ministry officials said Ankara and Damascus are discussing a framework for military cooperation that would include mutual visits by commanders, joint training and invitations to exercises. They said the issue was first explored during a visit by a Syrian military delegation to Ankara in January.

"The military field is one of the most important areas being worked upon," a senior Turkish official told the Ankara-based Turkish Daily News on Wednesday. "Technical cooperation, invitations to the each sides for monitoring the war games and military training will be the basis of military cooperation between two countries."

Officials said Turkey has even proposed to Syria projects to jointly develop defensive systems that would increase border surveillance. They said the Foreign Ministry in Ankara has taken the lead in a Turkish effort to improve relations with the Arab world, including Iraq and Syria.

5. - Turkish Daily News - "Ankara denies KDP supports Kurdish terrorist group":

The KDP, the police and the Foreign Ministry deny the presence of a terrorist group, the PSK, in northern Iraq

The Turkish Foreign Ministry vehemently denied the report which claimed that the Massoud Barzani-led Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) provided shelter for a terrorist organization, the Kurdistan Revolution Party (PSK) in northern Iraq.

Moreover, the presence of such an organization was refuted by terrorism experts. A police intelligence official speaking to the TDN said they had never heard of such an organization.
Safeen Dizayee, the Ankara representative of the KDP, denied the report accusing the KDP of supporting the terrorists.

"Not a single element of the report is true. An organization named the Kurdistan Revolution Party has never even existed in northern Iraq. The only PSK is the Kurdistan Socialist Party, which is based in Europe," Dizayee said.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said there is no evidence for the support of any terrorist element by northern Iraq.

These allegations came about after police on Tuesday apparently uncovered the new armed Kurdish group and detained 26 of its members, which the Anatolia news agency reported. Police found dynamite, six guns and many of the previously unknown group's documents in Diyarbakir, the reports said.

Massoud Barzani, the leader of the KDP, will visit Ankara soon to discuss the cooperation between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurdish group against terrorism in northern Iraq, as well as the border trade along the Habour border gate.

6. - Anadolu Agency - "Work on Turkey's EU membership continues":

Yilmaz says Turkey must change its constitution for EU membership

Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said Turkey would have to change several articles of its constitution for EU membership, particularly the articles regarding sovereignty.

Stressing that the necessary legal arrangements envisaged in the National Program can be approved in Parliament, Yilmaz said all amendments and issues with regard to membership should be carried out with transparency.

Meanwhile, Turkey's Civil Aviation General Directorate was accepted as an official member of the Union of European Aviation Authorities after the signing ceremony in Brussels.

In related news, the EU Commission granted 13 million euros to Turkey. For this, a small ceremony was held in the Undersecretary of the Treasury yesterday. EU Commission Turkey Representative Karen Fogg said in the ceremony that the European Union was continuing to evaluate Turkey's economic program, which was announced last weekend by State Minister Kemal Dervis. Fogg also said she was hopeful that the EU would welcome the program.