27 April 2001

1. "Turkey 'to win $10bn rescue package'", Kemal Dervis: announced controversial economic reforms.

2. "Chechnya fuels Russian-Turkish tension", a series of incidents have heightened the cold war rivalry between Moscow and Ankara, reports Ian Traynor.

3. "Turkey's Military suspends U.S. copter deal", Turkey's military has suspended a major helicopter deal with the United States.

4. "Barzani: Kurds will not kill Kurds", KDP leader Massoud Barzani, calling to the public during a time when provocative actions continue in South [Iraqi] Kurdistan, sent the message that the days when Kurds were used to kill Kurds now remained in the past.

5. "A new parliament is essential", there is a mentality which has become like a corpse in Turkey. It must be buried. A founding parliament like the one of 1920-1923 is essential. The focus with the Iraqi National Congress and change in the Middle East is on Iraq.'

6. "German Parliamentarians criticize Turkey for slow response to EU membership reforms", Verheugen to visit Turkey.

7. "For families of hunger striking Turkish prisoners, death is a duty", in the Kucukarmutlu neighborhood, in the north of Istanbul, a small house lives and breathes the odor of death.

8. "Turkey hopes for $10 billion rescue", Turkey is set to secure an additional $10 billion rescue package to shore up its economy in return for a finance shake-up.


1. - BBC - "Turkey 'to win $10bn rescue package'":

Kemal Dervis: announced controversial economic reforms

Turkey's progress in reforming its ailing economy is to be rewarded with $10bn in outside support, reports said.

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank are poised to announce the award of new loans to Turkey, sources say, following talks with the country's economic minister Kemal Dervis earlier this week.

The package has been built on the ashes of a previous $11.5bn loans deal which was derailed in February when the country's second financial crisis in four months prompted the government to float the Turkish lira.

The currency has since lost almost half its value.

And the new loans follow the announcement by Mr Dervis last week of controversial measures, including banking reforms, a 10% cut in public spending and an acceleration of the government's privatisation programme, to shore up the Turkish economy.

While popular with industry leaders, the proposals have been bitterly opposed by unions, which are seeking a more immediate solution to rising inflation and high unemployment.

Extra cash

While the new package has yet to be passed by heads at the IMF, which has yet to hammer out final details with the World Bank, approval is viewed as a formality, an IMF source told a news agency.

The $10bn will be given in addition to the $6.25bn left over from the last IMF loan, the source said.

The news follows comments on Wednesday by Stanley Fischer, first deputy managing director at the IMF, who said that Turkey "deserves the support of the international community, and it will get it".

Mr Fischer said that negotiations over a new IMF/World Bank package for Turkey were "virtually complete, and only final details of the economic programme and the financing remain to be determined".

Recession

The IMF also on Thursday revealed that, thanks to the financial crisis, it expects the Turkish economy to contract by 2.6% this year.

"The situation remains difficult," the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook report.
But the IMF said the country's economy would return to growth, of 4.9%, next year.

Inflation, which hit 54.9% last year, will come in at 48.4% this year, and 28.4% in 2002.

2. . - The Guardian - "Chechnya fuels Russian-Turkish tension":

A series of incidents have heightened the cold war rivalry between Moscow and Ankara, reports Ian Traynor

The age-old rivalry between Russia and Turkey over influence in the strategic near-east regions of the Caucasus, the Black sea, and the Caspian basin is feeding increasingly into the bloody Chechnya conflict, deepening mistrust on both sides of the Bosphorus.

The Turkish foreign minister, Ismail Cem, arrived in Russia today for a four-day visit during which his hosts are certain to give him an earful about perceived Turkish support for pro-Chechen ''terrorists'' and ''extremists'' following this week's hostage drama at a posh Istanbul hotel.

When 13 pro-Chechen gunmen took over the Swissotel and held 120 guests and staff hostage for 12 hours, it was the second major act of anti-Russian violence in Istanbul in two months.

Last month Chechen gunmen hijacked a Russian aircraft from Istanbul to Saudi Arabia. Three people were killed when Saudi special forces eventually stormed the plane in Medina and freed the hostages.

Mohammed Tokcan, a Turk of ethnic Chechen origin who was the ringleader of this week's hostage-taking, was also involved in the 1996 hijacking of a Russian passenger ferry from the Turkish port of Trabzon to the Russian Black sea resort of Sochi.

Of the nine men involved in the ship hijack, four, including Tokcan, quickly escaped from jail after being sentenced. After being re-arrested, Tokcan was then amnestied last December.
To Russian eyes, such events smack not just of leniency towards convicted hijackers or turning a blind eye to their operations, but of outright complicity with ''terrorists'' in the interests of the Turkish state.

In the clash between big Russian nationalism and Chechen separatism, the Turks are broadly sympathetic to their co-religionist Muslim Chechens, whose language is also Turkic.

Chechen refugees are welcome in Turkey, where there are estimated to be some 5m people of Chechen origin.

That diaspora, Moscow protests, has long been a breeding ground for Chechen guerrillas. The separatists, it is claimed, also undergo training and obtain or purchase weapons in Turkey.

Ankara and Moscow have been sparring for centuries for control of the mineral-rich Caspian and Black sea regions. The Kremlin contends that the end of the Soviet Union and the weakening of Russia have boosted Turkish ambitions in the region and that Ankara is now engaged in a frantic cloak-and-dagger campaign to destabilise southern Russia.

Russia and Turkey are on opposing sides of the contest to control the gas and oil deposits of the Caspian. As Nato's key south-eastern flank and window into the Middle East, Turkey is also viewed suspiciously in Moscow as a lynchpin of an expanding western alliance bent on encircling Russia.

The Kremlin lines up behind Greece and the Greek side of partitioned Cyprus in the Aegean contest and the Kremlin sees Turkey as a troublesome proxy for America following a policy aimed at keeping Russia down.

''The interests of Turkish intelligence are quite clear,'' Vladimir Lutsenko, an ex-KGB officer, told a Moscow newspaper this week. ''They are expanding their influence in the Caucasus and working with the Americans who are extremely keen on weakening Russia. Turkish intelligence is more dependent on the CIA than on its own national leadership.''

According to official leaks to the Moscow press, the Turkish intelligence service, the MIT, has become highly active in southern Russia since the end of the cold war.

If the bazaars of Istanbul exert a magnetic pull on hundreds of Russian traders migrating daily across the Bosphorus, the building sites of Moscow and southern Russia are fertile territory for Turkish workers and construction firms.

The two-way traffic provides ample scope for espionage. The Moscow investigative reporter, Alexander Khinshteyn, disclosed this week that six Turkish agents were quietly arrested last year alone, most of them in the Stavropol region of southern Russia.

Russian officials claim that the alleged Turkish agents operate largely without the knowledge of the civilian government in Ankara, but under the auspices of the Turkish military and secret service, with a remit to promote ''pan-Turkism'' among the millions of Turkic-speaking peoples of southern Russia.

''The MIT and the CIA are not only partners, but close allies,'' a former KGB resident in Ankara told Mr Khinshteyn. ''They have always been closely linked and their interests in the Caucasus are identical.''

3. - Middle East Newsline - "Turkey's Military suspends U.S. copter deal":

ANKARA

Turkey's military has suspended a major helicopter deal with the United States.

Military sources said the deal is for the procurement of CH-53 heavy-lift helicopters from the U.S. firm Sikorsky. The value of the deal was estimated at $350 million.

Earlier this month, Turkey's military announced the suspension of 32 procurement projects that total $19.5 billion. But the military refused to specify.

The Sikorsky deal, however, marks the first Turkish military project with the United States that is being suspended. The sources said that a far more lucrative deal -- the estimated $4.5 billion coproduction of the King Cobra helicopter by Bell Textron -- remains shrouded in uncertainty.
Military sources said Turkey has been trying to maintain major defense projects with U.S.

contractors. Washington is regarded as a major supporter of Turkey's efforts to raise up to $15 billion in loans from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

4. - Kurdish Observer - "Barzani: Kurds will not kill Kurds":

KDP leader Massoud Barzani, calling to the public during a time when provocative actions continue in South [Iraqi] Kurdistan, sent the message that the days when Kurds were used to kill Kurds now remained in the past.

Barzani gave the opening speech at a recent university conference in the city of Hewler (Arbil) to which Kurdish academicians living abroad were also invited. Barzani noted that progress had been made in talks between his Kurdistan Democrat Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and, praising Kurdish scientists, made the following statement: "If there had been developed working conditions, they would have created miracles by now."

Barzani invited Kurdish academicians from abroad to make a contribution to raising the educational level in Kurdistan. Barzani said that this was necessary in order to create a society with broad horizons, and called on Kurdish people of learning to give support from the outside even if they could not return to the country. The conference in question was realized with the participation of three universities in South Kurdistan, and a great number of academicians attended. Barzani stressed that they were determined to achieve stability in South Kurdistan, continuing to say: "The days when Kurds are used to kill Kurds now remain in the past."

Ankara uneasy with peace

Meanwhile, it has been learned that Barzani, who will be traveling to Ankara at the end of the month, will be warned there not to form an alliance with the PUK. Ankara, unable to hide its uneasiness with the joint contacts of the KDP and PUK delegations in Washington recently, later made allegations of the existence of a new armed separatist group, the PSK, asserting that it had been trained by the KDP. Although the Foreign Ministry later denied this news, both the Foreign Ministry and the Turkish press have shown their discomfort over KDP-PUK peace talks.

Bomb assault

On the other hand, actions targeting the KDP continue in South Kurdistan. It has been learned that there was a bombing assault at a gas station in central Arbil on April 24. Although one gas pump was blown into the air, by luck, no people were injured. The explosion scattered debris from the gas station as far as one thousand meters. The fire department, intervening immediately, was able to put out the flames after an hour's struggle. No one has claimed responsibility for the assault. KDP sources say they suspect Islamic circles or Iraq, but the chance that Turkish intelligence could be behind the incident is not being ignored either. Top KDP official Franso Hariri lost his life in the same city earlier this year as the result of an armed assault. The Islamic group Al-Tawhid claimed responsibility for the attack. The Hewler Security Department is continuing its investigation into the incident.

The two institutions are meeting in Washington to discuss the Turkish loan request. State Economic Minister Kemal Dervis is lobbying the institutions to approve the loans.

5. - Ozgur Politika - "A new parliament is essential":

There is a mentality which has become like a corpse in Turkey. It must be buried. A founding parliament like the one of 1920-1923 is essential. The focus with the Iraqi National Congress and change in the Middle East is on Iraq.'

PKK Council of Leaders member Duran Kalkan evaluated Turkey's reality, the importance of restructuring with a parliament such as that which existed between 1920 and 1923, and the democratization that TUSIAD and similar organizations wish to develop, the death fasts which have been continuing for months, South Kurdistan, the Iraqi National Congress, and the bogus Partiya Soresa Kurdistan (Kurdistan Revolutionary Party, PSK).

Kalkan, stating with care that the arrival of "a new mentality established upon a democratic culture" in the entire Middle East in general and especially in Turkey would eradicate all the characteristics left over from the 20th century, underlined the following points: "Democratic transformation will not be delayed until tomorrow; it is a problem that needs to be solved immediately." Kalkan said that the structural mentality in Turkey, which made almost every problem it encountered unsolvable, resembled a "corpse," adding, "It is necessary to take it away and bury it."

Here are PKK Council of Leaders member Duran Kalkan's answers to our questions:
There is the economic program presented by Turkey's Economy Minister Kemal Dervis and economic and political solution programs presented by nongovernmental organizations like TUSIAD (Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association). The PKK also had suggestions for various solutions in order to be rescued from this collapse. What are your views on the ways to solve this crisis?

Dervis said about his program that, "This is will not remain with just changing economic structure, but is a program which will lead to change in the political structure also." This is significant. Turkey has structural problems. There have been great struggles towards solving these problems that are at the economic, political, national, military, etc, every level. It is necessary to never ignore the 15-year war that was lastly carried out in Kurdistan. What they are calling a crisis is the disintegration of the economic and political system that is burdened with problems. Turkey will find the chance to solve its structural problems.

We thought, debate, and tired our minds on these subjects. The PKK reality and the guerrilla were an enlightenment movement for Turkey. It uncovered the suppressed, the masked, the covered over, and turned-inside-out truths, brought them to where they could be clearly seen. Essentially, the guerrilla became the driving force to uncover the truths of Turkey, it fulfilled such a great function. This has now reached success.

Seeing that there are so many problems and Turkey's realities have been enlightened in this way, then how will these problems be solved?

As a party, we are now concentrating on this point. In this framework, we are saying this very clearly: The link at which all problems come together and are knotted up is the link of democratic transformation. Without a democratic solution to the Kurdish problem, Turkey cannot reach the reality of the 21st century.

The democratization problem, the realization of democratization in political structure, is the place where everything comes, rests on, focuses on, the key to solving all problems.We are first making the determination that such a basic key is the key to solution.

For example, a number of circles presented projects on the basis of our debates along this line. A number of institutions and boards prioritized a political solution. They showed the necessity of transformation in the political structure as the basic method for overcoming the crisis. The Diyarbakir Democracy Platform did that. TUSIAD published a program. So did the IHD (Human Rights Association) and CHD (Contemporary Jurists' Association). Undoubtedly the Labor Platform, even if it stays narrow and behind, will develop such a program.

What steps to solve problems on the political field will be developed and realized?

We presented a project on this matter bringing first of all the democracy forces together and for them to be the driving force of transformation. We called this the "Democracy Conference." The Democracy Conference will, one, develop a democracy transformation manifesto, program. Two, it will establish coordination, in other words, organization. In short, it will make the democracy forces the driving force for political transformation, democratic transformation; it will remove the deficiencies of programless, disorganized, undirected, and split up forces and achieve a program and organization. We foresaw this first of all. If this is accomplished, a development which can include other segments of society and can direct transformation can easily come about.

For example, a democratic election will come onto the agenda. Therefore, an election to produce a founding parliament which will secure restructuring on the basis of a democratic republic could come onto the agenda. Such a parliament is undoubtedly necessary. There is a need for a new constitution and a parliament which will implement legal reform and create a democratic system. The current parliament cannot do this; its composition is not suitable for this. This is not its duty; when it was elected, it was not elected on this basis. Therefore, for example, amending the constitution was debated a lot, but the state somehow just can't get it on the agenda; it in any case cannot do so under the current circumstances. Only if a parliament appropriate for this is elected can a thing be taken onto the agenda.

Like the first parliament in Turkey?

Everyone accepts that the problems exist and that only by solving these problems can that what is necessary for the 21st century be achieved. It is necessary to bring about a parliament which can realize such a restructuring and democratic foundation. We can call this a "parliament for the founding of democracy" or a "democracy parliament." The republic founded the existing parliament. Sufficient or insufficient, for good or bad, the 80-year Republic of Turkey came out with this parliament. This is basically an important characteristic of the republic and at the same time a basic source of strength. If one asks what the greatest source of strength of the republic in Turkey is, the most correct answer would be that it came about relying on a parliament. The parliament might be insufficient, it might not have sufficient representative power, it might be directed. These are separate matters. But it was a suitable approach for a republic that business was taken up by the working of a parliament from the very beginning. The most sound side of the Republic of Turkey, the most basic quality which has kept it on its feet amidst this much turmoil is its dependence on such parliamentary strength.

This parliament was later narrowed, weakened, actually. It was abolished twice in '60 and '80. It was removed from being the place where basic problems were solved and there were attempts to solve the problems in other places. Military coups came onto the agenda. All of these meant that parliament was weakened. This came about because parliament was not developed appropriately to its foundational aims. If parliament had been strengthened, if problems had been solved there, there would not have been such a crisis, such conflicts would not have arisen.

Everyone talking in parliament today is speaking of democratization of the republic. They are saying 'We need democracy.' Following this much difficulty, the point arrived at is good. So, we have a need for a parliament which will establish a democratic system. Of course, a constitution is needed for a democratic system. A parliament that makes a constitution is a founding parliament. There is a need for a parliamentary effort which will reform the legal system appropriately for a democratic constitution and will reform all the laws. Parliament opened on April 23, 1920, and the republic was declared on October 29, 1923. Parliament worked for a period of over three years, and it could only achieve the declaration of the republican regime. So, now it is necessary to begin work with a parliament that will create and shape a democratic system and achieve a democratic system with such a parliament working for a few years.

The state is still not taking any serious steps on solving the death fasts. Why?

They cannot take [steps] because they are not democratic. Why aren't they taking steps? The Prime Minister, Justice Minister are saying, "We won't meet with anyone, we won't accept anyone; no one can insist on us." They are meeting with hundreds every day in Europe and America, but when the turn comes for them to meet with their own people, they say, "We won't meet." They are saying, "We won't accept [public] will, we are not ready to debate with anyone to solve the problems." That means this: "We are not democratic." For prisons to come to this state, for two or three bodies to come out every day, is the same thing as the economy hitting the bottom and politics not working. The source of all of them is lack of democracy.

This political approach brought prisons to this state and cannot produce a solution. It brought people to the point of death. So, basically, this mentality is a mentality with no solutions that creates death. It is difficult to find a solution with this mentality. There is no humanity. A mentality that is not democratic does not give value to life. A mentality that does not value life cannot find solutions to these types of matters. One or two words it says will be valuable to itself, valuable to those of its own position, a whole mess of very young people will go, and it won't even see what it has lost. However, Turkey is losing a great value here, but because it is not democratic, it cannot see what it is losing. There must be an initiative, activity, sensitivity against this now, everyone must see his responsibility. It is necessary to overcome and remove a mentality, structure, political existence that has become this irresponsible and so lacking in solutions. Basically, this is a corpse. It is necessary to take it away and bury it. An initiative that will bury it must arise. Such an initiative, thus, can be created with a democracy conference. Such an initiative can be created, must be created, by everyone who says "I am a democrat" coming out onto the streets. A solution will only happen with the development of such an initiative and such a change of mentality. Every person, institution, and organization must show the initiative to create the future in a democratic framework on the basis of humanity, being democratic, and the responsibility of creating the future.

The settling of the Iraqi Opposition in South Kurdistan [Iraqi Kurdistan] is on the agenda. How do you evaluate developments in the region?

The Middle East, the cradle of civilization, is a field where slavery and feudalism have much developed. From the aspect of the recent period of the region, it is a reality that it has not been at a level that is advanced, strong, suitable to history, and representative of the accumulation of its peoples and communities. In this sense, the Middle East is living one of the most backward periods in its history. Those who are living in the Middle East, those who have problems with life in the Middle East in our days must know this, see this, and feel the deep responsibility of this.

We have received information that the Iraqi National Congress [INC] had meetings in Jordan, Syria, and Iran, and has entered the process of establishing representative, bureaus. The information we have received from some trustworthy sources is that an organization under the name of the "Iraqi National Congress" and parallel with this political activity, renewed organization in centers such as Germany, Damascus, and Tehran, where it did not hold much in the past, and the process of setting up offices has begun and there are political relationships in this area.

It is being said that the Iraqi National Congress, in other words, the organization of the Iraqi opposition, will not remain limited to the Iraq framework but will be moved to South Kurdistan. It is understood that the Iraqi National Congress will use South Kurdistan as a base in the struggle against the Baghdad administration. This result comes out of this: the process of transformation will first focus itself on Iraq.

What will be the stance of the Kurdish organizations or parties on this focusing on Iraq?

Developments in Iraq will undoubtedly affect Kurdistan and its South part. The intelligence of all states of the region, especially US and Europe, are, if the saying is appropriate, running loose in the South. Quite disparate forces are trying to position themselves and hold a place. There is the Turkish army, Iraq's positioning, the positioning of the US's Steel Hammer [Operation Northern Watch], and a military positioning by Iran, according to its own self. There are the peshmerga forces of the KDP and PUK. We, as the guerrillas, have a strategic position. And such an influential position that no one who wants to fight will ever be able to ignore it. In this sense, the South is maintaining its characteristic as a field for military positioning. It is always open to conflict.

What kind of conflict could break out?

If the political struggle concentrates on Iraq, it can be assumed that the basic field of this will be South Kurdistan and that this struggle will develop between intelligence forces, or could even turn into military conflict. This is possible. The situation in the South and Iraq is suitable for this. Turkey could intervene in the South with an even larger military force, especially if action, a military clash grows between Iraqi administration and international forces. Political activity could turn into a military conflict if the need is felt.

What is the PKK's approach on this?

I can say this much: we are making the call for a peace conference among all the Kurdish organizations in order to produce a Kurdish initiative, policy that can meet these types of political and military developments. We presented the "National Peace and Democracy Project" that would be the basis for such a conference and we developed this as a way of understanding. Kurds must develop national peace and democracy among themselves if Kurdistan is not to be used against Kurds in the struggles carried out in the region by international and regional powers. Let the Kurdish people arise from those struggles benefited.

Therefore, I would like to renew our party's call to all Kurdish organizations, especially the KDP and PUK. We can say this to all the forces, especially the PUK and KDP: One must not get stuck on and limited to one point of simple interests. Above all, such careless policies as "We will exclude the PKK; international powers have an aim like liquidating the PKK, we'll take advantage of that" must never be entertained. If they want such a structure, in other words, if they say, "We'll con the PKK, we'll make an alliance amongst ourselves and form good relationships, alliances with international powers and bring about a regime for ourselves," this will be a great error, it cannot be realized.

Well, aren't there developments along these lines?

Undoubtedly, there are some developments and steps. We at least stopped clashes for the time being by leaning towards such a policy and taking on a sound position by developing our calls. From that day until now, the PUK and KDP have held a series of meetings between themselves. Their relations with each other had broken off before. Our policies opened the path to relations and dialogue between them. Now, we are in favor of developing this even more. We are in favor of this not remaining limited and for it to become a relationship and alliance with the other Kurdish organizations, foremost the PKK.

We aren't saying, "Let everything be because we want it." No, let them be more active. For example, let the KDP and PUK be more in the fore in political solutions in the South, but let them have relationships and alliances with us and the other Kurdish organizations. They will thereby have a say in the development of solutions in Iraq and the region.

The aim is to squeeze Barzani

Allegations that an organization named the PSK, formed of those who had left old Kurdish organizations and the PKK and established with the support of the KDP, were reflected in the press. What are they trying to do?

Let me say before anything else that we have not seen such an organization in practice. It is being said, "They are filling in the areas vacated by the guerrillas." We don't think that there is such a vacuum in Kurdistan; there is no vacated area. There is a very great possibility that the event in South Kurdistan, again in the framework of Kurdistan, is tied to developments in Iraq, because this news was reflected in the press together with the news that KDP leader Massoud Barzani would be going to Turkey at the end of the month and that he would be having meetings with Turkish officials. If they are read and taken up together, they could express a meaning. The Turkish press emphasized this organization's relations with the KDP more than the organization itself. It was said, "The KDP is supporting and organizing this, having it attack Turkey."

This means this: With such news, the Turkish officials are going to warn the KDP administration against not taking them into consideration or against initiatives for actions that are contrary [to Turkey's desires]. They will try to put a certain pressure on the KDP.

Based on this, is is understood that the KDP will be warned much more to avoid dangerous initiatives that do not watch Turkey or take it into consideration and to form relations and alliances with Turkey in mind. The KDP is being warned on who to have relations with; of course, that can be debated and evaluated. They could be saying, "Don't form relations with the PKK; don't enter into such a relationship."

6. - Turkish Daily News - "German Parliamentarians criticize Turkey for slow response to EU membership reforms":

Verheugen to visit Turkey

European Union Commissioner responsible for enlargement Gunter Verheugen will come to Turkey at the end of this month to attend a seminar entitled "Turkish-EU relations" organized by Mercedes Benz Turk.

Verheugen is not scheduled to come Ankara but it is expected that Foreign Minister Ismail Cem will met with him in Istanbul.

The visit will be Verheugen's first since the announcement of Turkey's National Program.
Meanwhile, Germany's Social Democrat Party's (SDP) Deputy Group Chairman Gernot Erler and Human Rights Spokesman Rudolf Binding criticized Turkey over lagging behind in completing reforms needed for EU membership.

They held a joint press conference in Berlin on Wednesday and claimed that Turkey was far away from meeting expectations of the EU. They also asked the EU to put political conditions on financial aids to Turkey claiming that Turkey does not deserve financial aids since it has not provided improvements in fulfilling reforms particularly in the area of human rights.

7. - AFP - "For families of hunger striking Turkish prisoners, death is a duty":

ISTANBUL / by Jerome Bastion

In the Kucukarmutlu neighborhood, in the north of Istanbul, a small house lives and breathes the odor of death. Fasting in solidarity with imprisonned relatives, three young women have starved themselves to death in this house since April 9, and four others are still on a total hunger strike.
Over 800 Turkish prisoners are on a hunger strike to protest new type F prisons with smaller cells, which inmates claim will make them more vulnerable to mistreatment.

Two more people died Wednesday, bringing the total death toll to 19 -- 15 prisoners and 4 relatives of inmates. The house, which has become an emblem for solidarity with the prisoners, was the home of Senay Hanoglu, who died on Sunday. It is a modest building with stone walls bearing the letters DHKC (revolutionary front for the people's liberation). Portraits of the deceased hang in the hallway, above the many bouquets brought by visitors, who form a steady procession through the small house, which smells strongly of perfume. The smell is necessary to help the hunger strikers overcome nausea, but also to cover the stench when they inevitably vomit.

Hanoglu died on the 160th day of her hunger strike in support of her husband Yucel, who is detained in a type F prison in the west of Turkey. She had two young children, who will be raised by her sister-in-law. Next to Hanoglu's old bed, Zehra Kulaksiz, 22, is in the 156th day of her fast. On her bedside table is a photo of Che Guevara. "It is not necessary to have a political reason to refuse isolation in type F prisons. It's a humanitarian duty," she said with a deep breath. "We will not abandon our fast as long as the demands of the prisoners are not met and until they themselves have stopped the movement," Kulaksiz said, slowly sipping water through a straw. Kulaksiz's father sits next to her, holding her hand. "It's horrible, undescribable, to see your children die like this, slowly, for three-and-a-half months," he said. "But I respect their choice. It's not suicide that they have chosen, its a form of resistance," he said.

"I respect that, but I did not encourage them," he said, adding that "unfortunately", hunger strikes may be the weapon that could open the way to democracy. Sleeping in a nearby bed is Hulya Simsek, 39, in the 157th day of her fast for her brother. In the next room, Fatma Sener, 22, rests in privacy, the weakest of the hunger strikers after 163 days. The only man in the house, Resit Sari, 42, has been fasting for 133 days. He was released from prison in December and now is fasting for his friends in prison.

8. - CNN - "Turkey hopes for $10 billion rescue":

ANKARA

Turkey is set to secure an additional $10 billion rescue package to shore up its economy in return for a finance shake-up.

The offer has taken Turkey's Economic Minister Kemal Dervis weeks to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank following the collapse of the country's currency, the lira, by 40 percent in February.

The IMF is expected to confirm its $8.5 billion offer soon, with the rest coming from the World Bank.

The deal will go before the IMF's decision-making board this week but Dervis told reporters during a trip to Washington for the IMF's spring meeting on Thursday that he expected the deal to be sealed in the next couple of weeks.

IMF spokeswoman Conny Lotze said: "We can confirm we are close to an agreement on the programme with Turkey and a few details need to be worked out."

The money will be in addition to the $6.25 billion still left under an earlier IMF loan and $5 billion left under a previous World Bank loan.

One IMF decision-maker told Reuters: "We were all impressed by the strength of the Turkish programme and agreed that they deserve all of the support of the international community, but we did not discuss the numbers today."

Loan proposals are not brought before the board unless shareholders have agreed to back them in advance.

Turkey's media on Friday welcomed signs of the agreement with the IMF as a triumph for Dervis.

"Dervis gets what he wants!" proclaimed Milliyet newspaper. "The good news Turkey has been waiting for has finally arrived."

"Dervis sends good news from the United States," read a Hurriyet newspaper headline. The reports from Washington reached Turkey too late for any extensive newspaper comment.

Corruption allegations

If the $10 billion is confirmed it will be at the lower end of Dervis' call for between $10 billion and $12 billion and will not include bilateral support.

But Turkey's markets, which have been battered since the financial crisis, rose by about 7.6 percent in expectation of a deal.

They were also boosted by the prospect of the country's energy minister Cumhur Ersumer resigning, which would avoid any parliamentary investigation into corruption allegations.
Turkey will have to agree to a letter of intent to secure the structured loans.

It will have to deliver on its promises of reform before it can touch the money including a cut in government spending, the establishment of an independent central bank, a properly maintained floating exchange rate and an increase in its privatisation programme.

Turkey's latest round of problems began last year when a crisis hit its troubled banking sector. The IMF was forced to almost triple its lending to $11.5 billion.

But that programme, tied to curbing inflation, collapsed in February after markets became alarmed by a public argument between the country's prime minister and president over accusations the political investigations into alleged corruption were moving too slowly.

The IMF, in its World Economic Outlook report, said the Turkish economy would contract by 2.6 percent this year but would rebound with a solid 4.9 percent expansion in 2002.