20 April 2001

1. "Deal rejected in Turkey hunger strike", fourteen people have starved themselves to death.

2. "Turkish Hunger Strikers Dying", after months of surviving on sugared or salted water, Zehra Kulaksiz lies on a cot in a makeshift house in the poor outskirts of Istanbul with barely the strength to talk.

3. "US waiting for action", the US State Department said that it was waiting for Turkey to implement the economic measures it had announced.

4. "Turkey shelves tank upgrade amid fiscial crisis", Turkey has shelved plans to upgrade Leopard-1 tanks amid the nation's fiscal crisis.

5. "Ankara: No step back with policy on Iraq", as Ed Walker is expected to arrive in Ankara on Friday amid wide expectations for foreign financial support, Turkish officials say Turkey should not be expected to take steps backward. They say, 'Foreign policy is a give and take business'

6. "Czech FM denounces Turkey's tough talk on Cyprus joining EU", the Czech Republic on Thursday warned Turkey not to underestimate the European Union's resolve to accept fellow candidate Cyprus as a member, no matter whether or not the island is reunified.

1. BBC - "Deal rejected in Turkey hunger strike":

Fourteen people have starved themselves to death

A senior Turkish Government minister has suggested easing prison isolation rules in a bid to end the prison hunger strike which has claimed the lives of 12 inmates and two supporters.

Hundreds of jailed left-wing militants have joined the death fast over plans to move them from dormitory-style accommodation to cells, where they fear they will be at greater risk of abuse from prison officials.

Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk now says that - although he still wants to move the prisoners to cells - he is putting forward a bill to enable them to meet for educational, social, cultural and sports activities.

But the offer has been rejected as inadequate by a leading human rights activist.

"It is not progress, but a more sophisticated and refined regime of isolation," Yucel Sayman, the head of the Istanbul Bar Association, told the French news agency AFP.

Prisoners jailed under terrorism charges are currently kept in their cells and not allowed to mix together, and the government had hoped that ending the isolation might provide a breakthrough in the deadlock.

The government insists that its central plan - to move away from dormitory-style systems - is not negotiable.

It blames the dormitory system for the high levels of hostage-taking and rioting in Turkey's prisons.

But inmates claim that the new cells, housing a maximum of three people, will put them at much greater risk of torture and beating.

Mr Turk has also pledged to improve prison "transparency".

He is putting forward two other bills to improve prison complaints procedures.

"With these draft bills, we will establish transparency in prisons," he said.

And he renewed his appeal for the hunger strike to be called off.

"I appeal to the prisoners, their families and civic groups once again. The deaths must stop. The protest must end before it is too late."

Turkish security forces attempted to break the protest by storming prisons last December, but the hunger strike has continued.

2. - AP - "Turkish Hunger Strikers Dying":

ISTANBUL

After months of surviving on sugared or salted water, Zehra Kulaksiz lies on a cot in a makeshift house in the poor outskirts of Istanbul with barely the strength to talk.

On the wall above her head is a picture of her 19-year-old sister, Canan, who died of starvation Sunday to protest the treatment of leftist inmates in Turkey's prisons. The prisoners have been transferred to new cells where they are isolated and, according to their families, beaten daily.
``We want to show the outside world how people die in the cells,'' said Kulaksiz, a pale 22-year-old economics student who now weighs only 86 pounds.

Despite the deaths of 14 hunger strikers, Turks and most in the West are largely ignoring the plight of Kulaksiz and 230 other fasters, including 222 prisoners loyal to left-wing groups.
Turks instead are focusing on a crippling domestic economic crisis and have little sympathy for radical leftist militants suspected of organizing the hunger strikes to give prominence to their cause. And there has been little reaction in Europe, possibly because the leftist militants are not popular there.

International human rights groups, however, have urged Turkey to end its policy of isolating prisoners, which they say harms mental and physical health.

``The state will not bow its head under pressure from those who force their own friends to die,'' a defiant Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said Thursday.

The strikers, however, are convinced that their plight - and if necessary their death - will make a difference.

In 1996, 12 inmates starved themselves to death before the government abandoned plans to transfer prisoners to remote jails where they faced solitary confinement.

``If people don't die, nothing changes in this country,'' said Resit Sari, who has been fasting since December. He lives in a small house along with Kulaksiz and three other strikers.

Hunger strikers like Kulaksiz and Sari suffer from severe weakness, insomnia and muscle and stomach pains. Although they prolong their lives by drinking water with salt, sugar and lemon, protein drinks and sometimes eating a little food, they eventually go blind and later die.

Most of the hunger-striking prisoners are convicted members of the outlawed Revolutionary People's Liberation Army-Front or similar armed Marxist organizations that have claimed responsibility for scores of attacks and assassinations over the past decade.

``The public has not looked upon this phenomenon with sympathy. They think it is a project of terror groups,'' said Ilter Turan, political scientist and dean of Istanbul's Bilgi University.

In the old prisons, leftist inmates lived a communal life in large dormitory-style wards. Each political group controlled its own ward, where inmates were given physical and political training. When soldiers raided 20 prisons throughout the country in December, inmates resisted for four days with guns, makeshift flame-throwers and fire-bombs. The clashes left 30 inmates and two soldiers dead.

Turkey's media have concentrated on an economic crisis that has seen thousands of bankruptcies and more than a half-million layoffs. Coverage is also sparse because a court in December banned the broadcast or publication of statements from outlawed leftist groups.

Some analysts say that the determination of leftist organizations to resist the transfers may also stem from the fact that the prisons had become their main power base since more members were inside jail than outside. There are only a few thousand members of armed leftist groups in Turkey.

``Through the transfer, they lose that power base within the prison system and their manipulative power over the members,'' said Dogu Ergil, political science professor at Ankara University.

On Thursday, Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said that the government was drafting laws that would allow prisoners in small cells - one to three people - to participate in communal activities and would permit civilian inspections of prisons. The leftist prisoners want to return to the ward system, but Turk and Ecevit have ruled that out.

With the standoff continuing and hunger-striking prisoners dying - the last death was Wednesday - human rights groups are expressing hope that a compromise can be reached.
Fatma Sener, a 22-year-old student, says she'll only give up her 156-day fast if the prisoners announce the ``victory of the inmates.''

3. - Kurdish Observer - "US waiting for action":

The US State Department said that it was waiting for Turkey to implement the economic measures it had announced. The US State Department said that it greeted the announcement of the main pillars of Turkey's new economic program with pleasure and the it was waiting for Turkey to implement these measures.

WASHINGTON

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the following concerning Turkey's economic situation during a press conference he gave: "The basic elements of a strong new economic reform plan were announced on Saturday. This program contains important steps for Turkey's economy to achieve stability and for institution of sustainable public finance. The US government, Treasury, and International Monetary Fund [IMF] announced that they support this program. Now, we are waiting for these measures and other necessary measures to be implemented. We know that the Turkish government is also working on a new legal package including reforms. We are assisting Turkey. This year we secured USD 2.8 million for Turkey for international and military education. We announced that we support the program."

'Let Turkey quit looking for foreign enemies'

Mark Parris, the former US Ambassador to Turkey, said that if Parliament does not pass the economic package prepared by Kemal Dervis and implement the laws, it would pay a greater price. "If the parliament and government take the necessary steps, Turkey will return to a strong economy again in the coming months," Parris said.

Response to MHP

By giving open support to Dervis, Parris virtually answered back to Nationalist Action Party (MHP) deputy Mehmet Gul's unbecoming comments about Dervis, to the effect that, "He's a Mason. His mother is an infidel. He's about as dishonorable as you can get." Parris stressed that it was very wrong to hold the IMF or imaginary foreign enemies responsible for the latest economic crisis. "Playing the nationalism card might secure profit for partisans in the short term," Parris said, adding: "But for Turkey to improve economically, it is necessary to implement Dervis's program as quickly as possible." Gul had made insulting comments about Dervis on Kanal 7, when he thought the cameras were off. A number of circles interpreted Gul's comments as the MHP's view of Dervis.

Parris spoke at the Washington Institute, which is located in the US capital, the other day at a special conference arranged in memory of Turkey's eighth president, the late Turgut Ozal. "It's not just the merchant class," Parris said, continuing, "the people of Turkey are clearly angry. They will become even angrier as long as they do not see decisive action."

Parris said that foreign credits would keep a new crisis from arising in Turkey "at least for a little while," adding, "But it doesn't have to be this way. If the Turkish parliament and government take the necessary steps in the days ahead to establish trust and transparency in national economic institutions, it means it will have every reason to expect enthusiastic support from international financial institutions and friendly governments."

Parris said that, thus far, the Bush administration's approach to Turkey's economic difficulties had been good, and that it was out of the question for the US to place political reform as a precondition for assisting Turkey.

4. - Middle East Newsline - "Turkey shelves tank upgrade amid fiscial crisis":

ANKARA

Turkey has shelved plans to upgrade Leopard-1 tanks amid the nation's fiscal crisis.

Officials said the Leopard-1 tank upgrade is one of 32 projects being delayed by the military because of a sharp devaluation in the Turkish lira. The fall of the lira has led to a reduction by one-third of the value of the defense budget.

Earlier, Turkey's military announced plans to shelve projects worth $19.5 billion. The military statement did not list the projects, described as including medium- and long-term procurement.
Turkey has 307 Leopard-1 tanks built in Germany. The lion's share of the tanks are regarded as operational.

Officials did not specify the value of the Leopard-1 modernization project or how many tanks were included. The tank force has been based near the Greek border and the military decided that decreasing tensions with Athens justifies a delay in the upgrade project.

5. - Turkish Daily News - "Ankara: No step back with policy on Iraq":

As Ed Walker is expected to arrive in Ankara on Friday amid wide expectations for foreign financial support, Turkish officials say Turkey should not be expected to take steps backward. They say, 'Foreign policy is a give and take business'

ANKARA

Ankara is preparing to welcome U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Edward Walker on Friday to have another round of discussions on Turkey's Iraq policy. Official sources emphasize that Turkey will not change its main policy priorities on Iraq.

Despite wide expectations that the United States will demand Turkey to get closer to Washington's approach on Iraq, especially at a time Turkey is in urgent need of U.S. support as a result of ongoing economic turmoil, Turkish officials say Ankara does not feel the necessity to take a step back on its policy on Iraq.

"First of all, the U.S. administration is not in a position to show us a single new approach regarding its policy on Iraq. While the U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld seems to follow a hawkish policy on Iraq, the U.S. State Department talks about 'smart sanctions' for Iraq. Washington does not voice one single policy for Iraq," commented officials.

Ankara will listen to Walker first and will repeat its well known position on Iraq again:
The extraordinary situation in Iraq which has been going on for more than ten years should end.
Iraq should become a country with peaceful relations, not only with its neighbors, but should also have peaceful relations within itself.

"It is not clear exactly what the United States wants for Iraq," the officials said.

However, they did not hesitate to reiterate the basic rule of foreign policy, which is that foreign policy is a give and take business...

Turkey has had three successive meetings with the United States on the subject of Iraq to date.
Following an earlier visit by Edward Walker to Ankara, Foreign Minister Ismail Cem meet with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in Brussels.

Cem also paid a visit to Washington which became the scene for a broad debate on Iraq. Washington administration had rolled sleeves for "smart sanctions," which are planned for the softening of the embargo on Iraq.

The details of the "smart sanctions" will be debated in Ankara on Friday during the Turkish-American talks to be co-headed by deputy undersecretary Ugur Ziyal and Walker.

6. - AFP - "Czech FM denounces Turkey's tough talk on Cyprus joining EU":

NICOSIA

The Czech Republic on Thursday warned Turkey not to underestimate the European Union's resolve to accept fellow candidate Cyprus as a member, no matter whether or not the island is reunified.

Visiting Czech foreign minister Jan Kavan was responding to threats made by his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem during a trip to the Turkish-held north of the Cyprus on Wednesday. Cem told a news conference there that Turkey's reaction would know "no limits" if the Greek Cypriot south were allowed to join the EU without a political settlement.

No one should play with fire on Cyprus," Cem said then. The Greek Cypriot administration, which has started accession talks with the EU on the behalf of the entire island, is in the so-called first wave of aspirants.

Turkey, on the other hand, was declared a candidate in December 1999 and has to carry out far-reaching reforms to begin accession talks. Under the landmark 1999 Helsinki agreement a sovereignty settlement for Cyprus, divided since 1974 between Greek and Turkish sectors, was not a precondition for EU accession.

"I'm sure Turkey understands the importance of this step and I would be surprised if it takes steps that would endanger the validity and continuation of this (Helsinki)," Kavan told reporters in Nicosia. Kavan said he did not perceive Cem's statements as "a real threat".

"I'm convinced the EU made clear it will stick to its principle," he said.

Cyprus and the Czech Republic are frontrunners among the first wave of countries expecting EU accession by 2004. One third of the island is under the control of Turkey, which alone recognises the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.