19 July 2001

1. "Turkish virginity tests anger nurses, women's groups", Turkey's health minister says high school girls studying to be nurses must be virgins and the virginity tests he is authorizing will protect the nation's youth from prostitution and underage sex.

2. "EU/Turkey: Row Over NATO Asset-Sharing Turning Sour", the European Union and Turkey are involved in a sharp dispute over whether the EU's projected Rapid Reaction Force will have automatic access to NATO military planning facilities and other alliance assets.

3. "F-Type Prisons at full speed", Justice Minister H. Sami Turk stated that new F-Type Prisons continue to be constructed, claiming his statement "There will be no more new F-Type Prisons" was misunderstood.

4. "Minister's fall drives Turkish rebound", Turk Telekom and the military share the same network.

5. "EU term president Belgium accelerates efforts to solve deadlock over ESDP issue", Belgian Ambassador: Turkey's insistence on ESDP may negatively affect relations with EU

6. "Foreigners find calls for technocrat government as dangerous", calls for a technocrat government or an interim regime to be established in Turkey as a final solution to save the country from deep economic crisis have found little support within the country.

1. - AP - "Turkish virginity tests anger nurses, women's groups":

ISTANBUL

Turkey's health minister says high school girls studying to be nurses must be virgins and the virginity tests he is authorizing will protect the nation's youth from prostitution and underage sex.

Outraged women's groups and nurses are vowing to fight, and a teachers' union is asking the government to fire the minister.

The regulations introduced this week by Health Minister Osman Durmus allow principals in state schools that train nurses, midwives and other health workers to expel girls for "having had sex or engaging in prostitution." Girls who are suspected of having sex could be subjected to a gynecological test to determine if they are virgins.

Virginity is highly valued in mainly Muslim Turkey. Forced virginity tests on girls suspected of having had premarital sex were common until the practice was banned in 1999 after five girls took rat poison rather than submit to the test.

Durmus said he was trying promote moral behavior in the nursing schools.

"Should our schools become places for prostitution?" he was quoted as saying by Akit newspaper.

In a tense meeting Tuesday, Buyan Dogan, the head of the Association of Turkish nurses, pleaded with Durmus to reconsider. The minister interrupted her frequently, at times accusing the nurses of defending underage sex.

"We will fight this to the end," an angry Dogan said before leaving Durmus' office.

The controversy, which is also being debated in the country's newspapers, reflects deep divisions between the large part of Turkey that is deeply religious and the Western-oriented elite who regard themselves as European.

The Islamic-oriented newspaper Akit devoted its front page to Durmus' attacks on the nurses who oppose virginity tests.

"A lesson for the immoral evil person," the newspaper said in its headline, referring to Dogan. It accused her of defending prostitution and sexual relationships.

The liberal press, meanwhile, ridiculed Durmus in sarcastic headlines. Columnist Can Dundar of the Milliyet newspaper asked how Durmus was going to check the virginity of male nursing students.

The Turkish Union of Science and Culture Workers, which represents teachers, called for the minister's dismissal.

"Durmus should work to solve the country's health problems - he should not concern himself with issues concerning the waist down," said Alaadin Dincer, head of the union.

In Turkey, girls who attend nursing high schools are generally from poor, traditional backgrounds. The conservative countryside is a traditional power base for Durmus' far-right Nationalist Action Party.

The 1999 ban on virginity tests allows them only for gathering evidence for court cases, such as rape trials. It requires a court order before women can be forced to take the test.

Durmus said nursing students suspecting of having sex would not be subjected to virginity tests without a court order.

Before the ban, school principals could force the test on girls suspected of engaging in premarital sex.

The change came after five teen-age girls from an orphanage attempted suicide by taking rat poison and throwing themselves in a water tank rather than submitting to the test after returning late to their orphanage. The girls were later forced to take the test in their hospital beds.

Concern over virginity sometimes even extends to visitors to Turkey: In more conservative parts of the country, unmarried foreign tourists have been dragged out of their hotel rooms for staying with male companions.

2. - Radio Free Europe - "EU/Turkey: Row Over NATO Asset-Sharing Turning Sour":

By Breffni O'Rourke

The European Union and Turkey are involved in a sharp dispute over whether the EU's projected Rapid Reaction Force will have automatic access to NATO military planning facilities and other alliance assets. NATO member Turkey is refusing to allow such access unless it is granted what amounts to co-decision rights with EU members on the conduct of operations involving the new force. The Union is unwilling to grant Turkey that status, as it is not yet an EU member. The row is now reaching a decisive point, because the EU may soon have to develop its own military planning capability -- thereby antagonizing its NATO allies. RFE/RL correspondent Breffni O'Rourke looks at developments so far.

PRAGUE

The dispute between the European Union and Turkey over the development of the EU's autonomous Rapid Reaction Force has dragged on for many months now, and EU ministers are beginning to openly express frustration at the lack of a solution.

Turkey, a NATO member, says it wants rights alongside EU member states to decide on the conduct of missions assigned to the new force. Turkey says it is entitled to such co-decision rights in part because of its proximity to potential European trouble spots like the Balkans.

Brussels, however, is unwilling to give Ankara such a large say because Turkey is not yet an EU member. It has offered instead wide-ranging consultations. But the Turks are not satisfied, and have blocked access by the new force to NATO's military planning facilities and other assets. Automatic access to such facilities was agreed in advance with NATO.

The issue is a sensitive one. The United States and some other NATO allies -- notably, Britain and Canada -- are keen for the new EU force to complement NATO, not duplicate it with independent structures such as its own operational planning staff.

A spokesman for the EU Military Committee in Brussels, Commander Andreas Jedlicka, told our correspondent that efforts are still concentrated on the negotiations with Ankara.

"We are not planning our own structures [at the moment]. We are still placing our full efforts into finding a solution [with Turkey], and it is [a] sensitive [issue]. It's on its way now, and I cannot give more comments about that."

But time is beginning to press. Planning facilities for the new EU force must be in place by the start of 2003, and military officials say privately that they don't expect a quick solution with Turkey. Jedlicka says exercises by the EU force will be starting as early as next May. They will not involve troops on the ground, but will deal with decision-making processes among political and military leaders. He says:

"These will be so-called command-post exercises, which means training in the interplay between the political and military decision-making structures here in Brussels and in field headquarters, operational headquarters, and, if necessary, in the capitals of the member states."

With these developments underway, EU officials in Brussels are beginning to say that the new force cannot be held hostage indefinitely by Turkey. EU foreign ministers, who met in Brussels on 16 July, publicly criticized Ankara. French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine said the general feeling had been that Turkey "should not try to slow down the establishment of a European defense policy."

Vedrine added, pointedly, that Turkey "should use more European methods to defend its position." The implications of that comment should be viewed in the context of Turkey's bid to become a member of the EU.

That same day Louis Michel, foreign minister of Belgium, which holds the current EU presidency, also said Turkey cannot stop the EU from developing its common security and defense policy. Michel added that by the end of its presidency in December, Belgium plans to announce that the new force has "limited operationability." That would imply the existence of some sort of operational planning capability.

EU Military Committee spokesman Jedlicka gave some details of the expected December announcement, to be made at the EU's summit at Laaken, Belgium. He said:

"You can expect to have a statement in Laaken. But it will be not only purely on military forces, or military capabilities, but more on the ability of the Union to react in the field of [humanitarian] crisis response, and conflict prevention, where only one element is the military forces."

As Turkey sees the issue, the EU is being inflexible, particularly in view of the prospect that Turkey will eventually become an EU member. The first secretary of Turkey's mission to NATO, Mehmet Poroy, tells RFE/RL:

"We want a resolution, but it depends also on the attitude of the EU. I mean, as far as I know, the negotiations are going on in the capitals, and we want also some flexibility from the EU side to solve this issue."

Poroy emphasizes that Turkey is not seeking a veto right over the deployment of the new force. But he says: "What we want is equal and full rights in the planning, preparation, and conduct of EU-led operations in which we contribute troops."

The two sides are apparently still far from an accord. And analysts say it's becoming increasingly obvious that the EU will go its own way if the dispute with Turkey is not somehow resolved soon.

3. - Kurdish Observer - "F-Type Prisons at full speed":

Justice Minister H. Sami Turk stated that new F-Type Prisons continue to be constructed, claiming his statement "There will be no more new F-Type Prisons" was misunderstood.

ANKARA

Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk claimed that he did not said the statement "There will be no more new F-Type Prisons in any part of Turkey" which he was reported to say during his visit to Tekirdag F-Type Prison. Turk asserted that they do not think of a new F-Type Prison in Thrace. The Minister said that there are 2 F-Type Prisons in Edirne and Tekirdag and now a new prison is being constructed in Takirdag, adding that there are a total of 4 F-Type Prisons in Turkey, in Buca and Izmir new prisons are decided to be constructed and 5 of them are now being constructed.

"172 activists are on death fast"

Turk stated that at present in 17 prisons there are death fast and hunger strike and 17 illegal organizations support the action. Setting forth that the numbers of detainees and convicts in hunger strike and death fast are respectively 10 and 172, the Justice Minister asserted that 65 death fast activists are in hospitals and 25 out of them accepted treatment whereas 40 strikers did not. Turk reminded that sentences of 83 convicts were adjourned for 6 months due to their health condition.

542 prisons

Referring the activists who continue their death fast action in Kucukarmutlu, Istanbul, after being released from prison, the Minister said "They should be surrendered to their families". Claiming that detainees and convicts sentenced under "Anti-Terror Law" do not participate in the common activities with their own will, Turk pointed out that there are 542 prisons over all Turkey.

4. - BBC - "Minister's fall drives Turkish rebound":

Turk Telekom and the military share the same network

The Turkish lira rebounded strongly and the stock market recovered 7% on Wednesday after a government minister opposed to economic restructuring quit.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has demanded the restructuring of Turkey's economy, had baulked at releasing $3.2bn in loans while communications minister Enis Oksuz remained in his post.

As communications minister, Mr Oksuz had reluctantly implemented the IMF-sponsored privatisation of Turk Telekom over fears it could compromise national security.

But for foreign investors and lenders, he became a symbol of nationalist scepticism directed toward the IMF's economic plans. r Oksuz quit on Tuesday night.

IMF plans

The IMF has demanded the speedy privatisation of state-owned industries, including Turk Telekom, in return for loans to prop up Turkey's economy.

The IMF and World Bank delayed for 10 days some $3.2bn in aid when Telekom appointed a board that included military chiefs but no-one with private sector experience.

The financial markets greeted Mr Oksuz's departure positively.

The lira strengthened against the dollar at 1,395,000, up from Tuesday's lows of 1,500,000.

The stock market, which was 4% down on Tuesday, rose 7.2% on Wednesday morning.

Investors have punished both the lira, which has lost half its value since February, and the stock market because the Turkish government has not implemented the IMF's restructuring quickly enough.

Mr Oksuz has been at the centre of several other disputes over IMF plans and has criticised economy minister Kemal Dervis who organised the loans.

This is not the first IMF-related resignation. In May, Turkey's privatisation minister, Yuksel Yalova, quit after raising doubts over other IMF-sponsored plans.

Military concerns

For the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF), the privatisation has failed to address concerns about national security.

Turkey's military and civil communications networks are heavily interdependent to provide national coverage, and TAF does not want to cede control of the landlines and satellite systems to international bankers.

Turk Telekom makes use of the massive fibre-optic network established by the military, at a cost of about $1bn, while the military also utilises the much smaller network built by Turk Telekom.

In May, Mr Oksuz was instrumental in halting the planned sale of over 45% of Turk Telekom and agreed to retain a 1% "golden" share of the landline monopoly to help ease some of those fears.

5. - The Financial Times - "EU term president Belgium accelerates efforts to solve deadlock over ESDP issue":

Belgian Ambassador: Turkey's insistence on ESDP may negatively affect relations with EU

EU's current President and Belgium's Ambassador to Turkey Jan Matthysen said on Wednesday that Turkey's continued insistence over the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) issue may only decelerate the process, but may affect Turkish-EU relations negatively.

Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Matthysen said they would prefer to reach a solution with a compromise between the European Union and Turkey, but warned that a continuation of Turkey's insistence on its current position will create new problems.

"Turkey's behavior will only decelerate the ESDP process. The EU is determined to make the ESDP operative before the EU Laeken summit, to be held in December. If Turkey continues to be insistent on its position, I can not deny that Turkish-EU relations will be affected negatively," he said.

Stating that Turkey is part of NATO and plays an important role in securing peace and stability in Europe, and having the greatest army in Europe, Matthysen said the ball was in Turkey's court now and they were waiting for Turkey to accept the EU's proposals made after the Nice summit.

On Turkish-EU relations, the Belgian ambassador said that his country would follow "fair and objective" policies in the upcoming days. Claiming that there was no concrete proposals concerning cultural rights and the lifting of bans over political parties in Turkey's national program, Matthysen said that they followed the economic crisis closely and believed that Turkey had sufficient power to overcome the crisis, but added that the coalition parties should end interim disagreement.

Belgian Chief of Staff in Ankara to persuade Turkey

Meanwhile, Belgian Chief of Staff Gen. Willy Herteleer met with Turkish Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu yesterday. They reportedly discussed the ESDP issue during the meeting. Belgium, as term president of the EU, tried to persuade Turkey to accept the EU's proposals on the ESDP issue.

The Belgian media also wrote that Gen. Willy Herteleer is in Turkey to convince Ankara over the ESDP issue. Belgian news agency Belga reported that Herteleer will offer Ankara "an intense consultation method," but added that EU will never give veto power to Turkey.

In addition to Herteleer's visit Belgian, Liberal Party Chairman and member of the Council of Europe Daniel Ducarme arrived in Turkey for an official visit yesterday. Speaking to reporters before his departure to Ankara at the airport in Istanbul he said that he came to Turkey to hold meetings with Turkish officials, and to visit the Emirdag town of Turkey's western Anatolian city of Afyon.

Stating that most of 200,000 Turks living in Belgium are from Emirdag, Ducarme said it would not be wrong to say that he learned of Turkey by means of people coming from Emirdag to Belgium. "I believe that those people who integrated into our society will be helpful in Turkey's integration with the EU," he said, adding that they supported Turkey's EU membership issue.

6. - Turkish Daily News - "Foreigners find calls for technocrat government as dangerous":

Calls for a technocrat government or an interim regime to be established in Turkey as a final solution to save the country from deep economic crisis have found little support within the country. Nor does it from foreigners who say this would eventually mean a military involvement and would further reduce investor confidence. The Turkish military is also said to not favor any solution to get directly involved in the governance of the country

Lale Sariibrahimoglu

The current tri-party coalition government's inability to save the country from the almost sunk economy with the value of Turkish lira losing almost 90 or more percent of its value against the dollar, has prompted calls for a technocrat government or an interim regime to be formed. But these calls within the country have so far found little support among the business groups, columnists and the nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit himself has described a possible technocrat government replacing the current government that he has been heading as a development that will shake democracy.

The advocates of a technocrat government, however, have ruled out that they wish a possible military involvement in such a government. They argued that such a government could be established through a compromise to be reached among all the parties represented in Parliament, including the pro-Islamists prepared to establish their new parties following the closure of the Virtue Party (FP) last month by a Constitutional Court decision.

However, Western diplomats in Ankara and the antitechnocrat government camp in the country alike perceive that a technocrat government would mean a military involvement in the governance of the country. This has been the case in 1970 when the then government was toppled through a memorandum issued by the Turkish General Staff.

US opposes interim regime

According to one government source, the United States, for example, is totally against the establishment of a technocrat government. The same source quoted U.S. officials that he had meet with recently as saying that such a government that would mean military involvement would further reduce confidence among the investors in the Turkish market.

"How will a technocrat government be established?. Will that be through a coup by memorandum? This is not what reliable countries do. This government should support the IMF program. This is a program decided by the government," commented a senior Western diplomat speaking to the Turkish Daily News.

The same government also prepared a national program to join the European Union, recalled the same diplomat, adding that, thus there has been no difference between the IMF program and the EU program since both have government backing.

The United States has been the main actor behind the economic rescue package struck between the IMF and the government under which over $12 billion credit is pledged to be given Turkey in tranches.

According to another diplomat, it was true that the government did not want to give up power and that has been the reason for the high interest rates. "The tri-party coalition represents different political views -- i.e. nationalism, democratic left and center right -- thus we know that not much leadership has been coming from the government. Due to the differing political views this government has a lowest common denominator," said the same diplomat.

There is no article in the Constitution that has given the president a right to pave the way for an interim regime unless the military intervenes. However, under Article 119 the president has the right to convene the Cabinet in the case of a natural disaster or in the case of a deep economic crisis. Then the Cabinet could decide to declare a state of emergency in certain areas of the country or as a whole that would not last more than six months.

The state of emergency would mean some of the powers of the governance going into the hands of the military prompting any sensible government to resign.

The Turkish military, which has staged three military coups and a post modern coup in 1997, paving the way for the resignation of the then pro-Islamist dominated coalition government, is said to be not enthusiastic in getting directly involved in the governance of the country.

But as many Turks the military is also known to be watching closely and with deep concern the worsening economic situation.

The military-dominated National Security Council (MGK) meeting held in late May, in fact, criticized talks of interim government (technocrat government) saying that this has harmed Turkey's image as it presented its national program to the EU. The same meeting had also stressed concerns for the possibility of a social explosion as more and more people with university degrees have found themselves jobless.

But the things have gotten worse since the last MGK meeting and two days ago the dollar pushed the lira to new record lows, reaching to 1.6 million before leveling off at about 1.3 million, as a strong indication that confidence in the government has faded away.