26
th March 2001
2. "Turkish FM to go to Brussels
to hand in EU reform programme", Turkish Foreign Minister
Ismail Cem will travel to Brussels this weekend to formally submit to
the European Union Ankara's program of reforms to gain its long-sought
EU membership, the foreign ministry said Friday.
3. "Greek doctrine asserts end
of Turkish threat", Greece's new defense doctrine asserts
the end of a military threat from neighboring Turkey.
The Greek assessment will mean a reduction of the military in Athens.
4. "No aperions on Ataturk",
Turks reject Armenians' genocide claims.
5. "Let Ankara understand the message correctly",
Cevat Soysal, who was abducted from Moldova as the result of an international
conspiracy and is being tried on charges calling for the death penalty
in Turkey, called attention to the necessity of Ankara correctly understanding
the message sent on Newroz.
6. "Mystery surrounds incident in Corum, as well
as perpetrators", is the purported assassination attempt
against Full General Bekir Ugurlu in Corum part of a "game"?
7. "F-type regulations to be completed when hunger
strikes end", Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said on
Sunday that regulations on newly built high security F-type prisons
will be completed only after inmates end hunger strikes.
8. "Batu: Ecevit lost EU train in 1978",
CHP Deputy Chairman Inal Batu blames Prime Minister Ecevit for missing
the EU train in 1978 by refusing the EU's offer to start accession talks
simultaneously with Greece.
1. - Washington Post - "IMF Rebuffs Plea By Turkey
for Aid":
Reform Plans Fail to Impress EU Members
ISTANBUL
For a week, Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit has been asking allies
and neighbors for $25 billion to help rescue his country from its crippling
financial crisis. Today he got an answer from one of the biggest potential
donors, the International Monetary Fund: no, at least not until Turkey
has done more to help itself.
"There's no question that external assistance would help Turkey,"
said Michael Deppler, director of the IMF's European department, after
concluding two days of talks with Turkish financial officials. "But
ultimately what is going to matter is good policies to keep the thing
going well."
The IMF joins a growing number of Western nations and lending institutions
offering little more than enthusiastic moral support to a country that
the United States considers a critical NATO ally, a secular buffer in
a region of expanding Islamic fundamentalism and an important developing
market in the global economy.
On the same day that the Turkish government grappled over plans for
righting its teetering economy -- the value of the currency has dropped
more than 30 percent in the past three weeks -- the government released
plans for economic, political and judicial reforms required for candidacy
in the European Union. European diplomats in Ankara assessed Turkey's
blueprint for reforms as vague at best and "a mess" at worst.
Turkey's economic crisis -- ignited by political uncertainty, a corrupt
and mismanaged banking system and the slow pace of financial reform
-- underscores many of the concerns of the European Union in admitting
Turkey to its ranks. Even though Turkish officials said today they were
several weeks away from finalizing an economic stability plan, Ecevit
chastised U.S. and European officials for doing nothing to help Turkey.
"The United States says no voice is heard from Europe, and Europe
for its part says there is no word from the United States," Ecevit
said this weekend in the Turkish daily newspaper Radikal. "They
have to take action without awaiting each other. Time is important."
It was a caustic argument between Ecevit and President Ahmet Necdet
Sezer over government corruption last month that sent the economy into
a tailspin within hours of the fight at a National Security Council
meeting.
"Turkey is quite capable of taking steps necessary to move beyond
the current situation," U.S. Ambassador Robert Pearson said today
in a speech to a Turkish science and technology group. "The U.S.
stands ready to help Turkey meet these challenges." Pearson did
not elaborate on what that help might entail.
IMF officials met with Turkish financial authorities through the weekend
in an effort to reach agreement on ways to salvage the crippled banking
system and financial programs; in the past 54 years, the IMF has participated
in 17 failed financial rescue programs in Turkey. "We're trying
to establish a program not so prone to crisis as the one before,"
Deppler said today at a news conference carried live on national radio
and television.
Deppler said the discussions with Turkish officials included no offers
of additional money. The IMF has already committed $11.4 billion in
loans to Turkey -- most of it proffered after a financial crisis last
November. Deppler said today that the IMF would work "within the
parameters" of the $6.25 billion of that loan package that Turkey
has not yet used, but he also said the fund would consider speeding
delivery of the money to Turkey and changing the restrictions on how
it may be used.
Monetary and banking reforms have been a major component of the criteria
Turkey must satisfy to be considered for EU membership, along with improvements
in human rights and resolving the lingering conflict over Cyprus. The
strategy Turkey released today for reaching those objectives appeared
to fall short of EU expectations in many areas.
For instance, the plan is largely silent on the demand that Turkey expand
language rights for its 12 million Kurdish citizens, saying those rights
exist already. Instead of abolishing the death penalty, the document
says the issue "will be taken up by parliament, in terms of its
shape and scope." And rather than promising to guarantee freedom
of expression, the plan proposes to "review" the matter.
"The program is a milestone in the history of Turkey's efforts
to join the EU, but it is a gravestone for their ambition of rapid accession,"
said a European diplomat in Ankara who asked not to be identified. The
diplomat called the plan "weak," "noncommittal"
and "a mess."
Another European diplomat, who also asked not to be identified, was
less negative, saying the document lacked specificity, perhaps because
it is a compromise by the three political parties in Turkey's weak governing
coalition.
"The ultimate test is not what they say, it's what they do, and
how they go about progressing is largely up to them," he said.
"The door is open, and if they meet the requirements, they'll get
it. But we can't do it for them."
Seyfi Tashan, president of the Foreign Policy Institute, a think tank
in Ankara, said the plan reflects political disagreements in the coalition
government but takes huge strides forward.
"They have accepted to change hundreds of laws, and that is a positive
reply," he said, adding that the plan demonstrates Turkey's commitment
to reform.
"Turkey is an emerging market with very high potential, and helping
it will create job opportunities and business for the world," Tashan
said. "Nobody wants Turkey to go down the drain, and assistance
will be a good investment. It's not free money. It will be repaid."
2. - AFP - "Turkish FM to go to Brussels to hand
in EU reform programme":
ANKARA
Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem will travel to Brussels this weekend
to formally submit to the European Union Ankara's program of reforms
to gain its long-sought EU membership, the foreign ministry said Friday.
Cem will arrive in Brussels Saturday and during a three-day stay meet
with the EU enlargement commissioner, Guenter Verheugen, the ministry
said.
The Turkish goverment adopted on Monday the reform programme, in which
it pledged several steps to haul itself up to European norms, such as
improving freedom of thought and expression, eliminating torture and
improving prison conditions.
But the programme failed to address some key EU demands on granting
cultural rights to Turkey's Kurdish minority, abolishing the death penalty
and curbing the military's role in politics.
Turkey was declared a candidate for EU membership in December 1999 at
the union's Helsinki summit after two years of frosty ties between Brussels
and Ankara over a previous EU rejection of its membership bid.
Relations were soured again in November when Turkey reacted angrily
to European Commission demands that Ankara saw as an attempt to tie
its membership bid to the resolution of disputes with EU member state
Greece over Cyprus and the Aegean.
Turkey threatened to "revise" relations with Brussels if the
bloc insisted on tying its membership process to these issues.
In early December, EU foreign ministers modified the wording of the
original text to satisfy both Ankara and Athens.
3. - Middle East Newsline - "Greek doctrine asserts
end of Turkish threat":
ATHENS
Greece's new defense doctrine asserts the end of a military threat
from neighboring Turkey.
The Greek assessment will mean a reduction of the military in Athens.
Officials said the doctrine now being drafted will be valid for the
next two years.
Greek Defense Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos said the military would remove
mines along border regions in an attempt to reduce tension. He said
Greece and Turkey are cooperating in the security field.
"Now, conditions between Turkey and Greece are much better,"
Tsohatzopoulos said. "I believe the meetings to be held under much
better conditions will give much better results than the past. We have
decreased the tensions and begun cooperating in the security field.
Soldiers on both sides of the border have proven they can live together
as good neighbors."
4. - Frankfurter Rundschau - "No aperions on
Ataturk":
Turks reject Armenians' genocide claims
FRANKFURT / by Birgit Buchner
Turks in Germany are as shocked as their compatriots at home that France's
National Assembly has branded as genocide the forced expulsion of Armenians
from Anatolia in 1915.
The Ataturk Association in Germany's Hesse state decided to hire expert
assistance in having their view that "the Armenian genocide is
a myth" confirmed. The Austrian documentary film-maker Erich Feigl
agreed to speak on their behalf.
"The Armenians are stinking rich, the Armenians are rolling in
money, the Armenians, as clever as they were, were pulling Werfel's
leg," said Feigl in a speech in Frankfurt am Main. How treacherous
words can be! Feigl used his speech to try to stamp out the "myth"
that Turks committed an "Armenian Genocide." According to
Feigl, all the material on and accounts of the "genocide"
collected by Werfel in 1930 during his travels in what is today the
border area between Turkey and Syria and later published as The Forty
Days of Musa Dagh, consist of nothing but lies and slander.
Werfel described the deportation of the Armenians by foot from Anataloia
to Syria. For most of the people it was a caravan of death.
If Feigl is to be believed, however, it is a lie to suggest that Muslim
Young Turks deliberately targeted Christian Armenians for extermination
in 1915 in what was then the Ottoman Empire. He doesn't deny that Armenians
were deported, but says that far from 1.5 million deaths, "600,000
maximum" was the case. In any event, he adds, "there weren't
1.5 million Armenians at that date in all of Anatolia." Feigl,
playing the part of honest man in the quintessential manner in which
he is free to heap praise and scorn on world history, is currently touring
Germany on behalf the Association for the Promotion of Ataturk's Ideology,
with stops in Stuttgart, Mannheim, Frankfurt and Cologne.
Born in 1931 in Vienna, Feigl has written books about and produced films
in Turkey and is regarded as an expert on the country. Now he wants
to help the Turks develop their national pride. It has taken a battering
recently, first at the hands of the EU Parliament in Strasbourg, and
then in the National Assembly in Paris, when both declared that the
anti-Armenian action was genocide. Since then, Turkish shops have refused
to stock French goods.
Based on the official Turkish version of history, the deportation was
a legitimate measure in wartime, with the country allied at the time
with Germany and Austria-Hungary against Russia. "The United States
also interned all Japanese after Pearl Harbour," says Feigl.
Who do these people think they are who believe they can point figures
at the Turks, he asks, while "young Turks in Germany suffer feelings
of inferiority because they apparently murdered 1.5 million Armenians
and persecuted the Kurds." In Frankfurt Feigl earned enthusiastic
applause for his speech.
The Ataturk Society of Hesse and its 300 members wants to prevent the
slightest aspersion from clouding the memory of the Turkish Republic's
founding father, who built the new Turkey on the ruins of the Ottoman
Empire in 1923 and turned its gaze to the West.
It was not all Feigl didn't enjoy completely smooth sailing, however.
The Green German-Turkish MEP Ozan Ceyhun was critical: "What you
have said is not conducive to peace and bringing peoples together."
Ceyhun voted against the censure motion terming the deportation a genocide
in the European Parliament, because he doesn't think making those sorts
of decisions fall within a parliament's mandate. His view is that a
panel of Turkish and Armenian historians should be appointed to find
out what really happened in 1915.
5. - Kurdish Observer - "Let Ankara understand
the message correctly":
Cevat Soysal, who was abducted from Moldova as the result of an international
conspiracy and is being tried on charges calling for the death penalty
in Turkey, called attention to the necessity of Ankara correctly understanding
the message sent on Newroz.
ANKARA
The trial of Cevat Soysal in the Ankara No. 1 State Security Court
(DGM) continued on Thursday. Soysal and his attorney Levent Kanat attended
the court session, while Osman Ozcelik and Ali Kandemir who are being
tried in the same case but have been released pending a verdict in the
trial, were not present. Presiding judge Orhan Karadeniz said that there
was no expert at Ankara Radio available to make a voice analysis for
the research requested by the court. He said that they had asked the
prosecutor's office to find another expert but that no response had
yet been received. Atty. Levent Kanat renewed his request that had been
previously rejected by the court for there to be an investigation into
whether or not the taped recordings had been legally obtained, asking
for his request to be reconsidered and for Soysal to be released.
Cevat Soysal, speaking after his attorney, said that he
shared the enthusiasm that the people had shown in celebrating Newroz
and drew attention to this enthusiasm as the guarantee of democracy.
Soysal said that it was necessary for Ankara to correctly understand
the message sent on Newroz, and stressed that his abduction from Moldova
had been the result of a conspiracy carried out outside of Turkey's
will. "I was made into an actor in this conspiracy," Soysal
said, continuing, "If the court team goes after this conspiracy,
it will uncover its dimensions. The issue is not my execution or conviction."
The court decided to wait for certain procedures to be
completed and recessed the trial until April 26.
6. - Kurdish Observer - "Mystery surrounds incident
in Corum, as well as perpetrators":
Is the purported assassination attempt against Full General Bekir
Ugurlu in Corum part of a "game"? In addition to the fact
that the event happened in broad daylight, the fact that the military
convoy was fired upon from only 150 meters away and that attempts to
capture the perpetrators, whom they say numbered only two, makes various
scenarios come to mind.
CORUM
A cloud of mystery continues to hang over the asserted
"assassination attempt" in Corum the other day on the life
of Ankara Regional Gendarmerie Commander, Full General Bekir Ugurlu,
who is also part of the team of General Osman Ozbek, in charge of the
White Energy Operation,
Ugurlu is personally in charge of the operation which
is being carried out from headquarters established at Sungurlu District
Gendarmerie Command with special units sent from Ankara and tied to
the Corum Gendarmerie Battalion Command.
In the operations which are being carried out jointly
by police and military forces, searches are being carried out on five
separate check points set up on the Corum-Ankara highway. Searches are
also continuing in the various settled regions in the area.
Many questions
The military convoy which was assaulted in mid-day while
traveling through Ugurlu the other day consisted of those serving in
the Gendarmerie General Command's Department for the Struggle Against
Smuggling and Organized Crime headed by Ozbek. It has been asserted
that the convoy was fired upon by two people near the side of the road
from a distance of only 150 meters, and that 31 empty shells from a
Kalashnikof rifle were found at the scene.
One bullet hit an escort vehicle in the convoy and other
a truck that was passing by in the incident, which happened in broad
daylight at about 3:30 in the afternoon at the 38th kilometer of the
Corum-Ankara highway near the village of Karadona. No explanation has
been made as to a possible motive in the incident, despite all the investigations
and searches, while it is as if the two alleged perpetrators have been
swallowed up by the earth, a fact on which no officials have made comment.
He has an interesting past
Ugurlu served for two years (1997-98) as top commander
in Van, the most central point along the border with Iran and through
which the greatest amount of narcotics enters Turkey. There is no evidence
that Ugurlu prevented drug trafficking and no information available
concerning even one operation under his command. After serving two years
at the 21st Border Gendarmerie Division, Ugurlu was transferred as second
in command of the Gendarmerie Public Order Command. He was transferred
to Ankara in 1999.
7. - Turkish Daily News - "F-type regulations
to be completed when hunger strikes end":
ANKARA
Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said on Sunday that regulations on
newly built high security F-type prisons will be completed only after
inmates end hunger strikes.
Answering Virtue Party (FP) deputy Mehmet Bekaroglu's official question
about the unrest in Turkey's prisons and the structure of F-type prisons,
Turk said the regulations will include international standardization
of F-type prisons and talks with the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission
and nongovernmental organizations.
A number of inmates have been carrying out death fasts in efforts to
protest the F-type prisons. Last week, an inmate died and human rights
associations say others are in critical conditions.
Turk said the majority of the problems in prisons have been solved.
Turkey has experienced numerous problems in prisons recently, which
cannot be defined solely in terms of uprisings and human rights violations.
The government has been working on trying to solve the shortcomings
of the present situation by constructing a new type of prison called
the F-type prison.
But the government's solution -- F-type prisons consisting of one- or
three-inmate cells instead of dormitories -- is turning into a problem
itself.
The government's claim is that small prison cells are crucial to ending
riots, hostage-takings and hunger strikes by inmates who are currently
housed in dormitories of up to 100 individuals. As a result Turkey is
engaged in a program to build this type of facility. Prisoners loyal
to Kurdish and Islamist groups often run their own dormitories like
recruiting and initiation centers.
On the other side of the dispute, inmates and families of inmates are
taking every opportunity to protest the government's decision to construct
this new type of prison. Inmates' families fear that the new prisons
carry the potential risk of violating human rights and are harmful to
the prisoners' physical and psychological well-being.
Meanwhile human rights groups also maintain that torture is common in
Turkish prisons and that leftist and Kurdish prisoners are sometimes
singled out for abuse. Critics of the new, more segregated system say
prisoners will be more vulnerable in smaller cells.
8. - Turkish Daily News - "Batu: Ecevit lost EU
train in 1978":
CHP Deputy Chairman Inal Batu blames Prime Minister Ecevit for missing
the EU train in 1978 by refusing the EU's offer to start accession talks
simultaneously with Greece
ANKARA
Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy chairman and former ambassador
Inal Batu believes Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit missed the EU train
in 1978 by rejecting offers to start accession negotiations simultaneously
with Greece.
Amid discussions over the National Program of Action, veteran diplomat
Batu both stormed the foreign policy of the government and outlined
the CHP's priorities in conducting Turkey's foreign policy.
In an exclusive interview to the Turkish Daily News, Batu indicated
that Ecevit made a historical mistake by rejecting European Union's
offer in 1978 to start accession talks together with Greece. If Turkey
had started negotiations in that year, he argued, Turkey could well
have been an EU member in 1980 at the same time Greece was granted membership.
Inal underlined the international circumstances that favored Turkey
at that time.
"First of all, Turkey was a loyal NATO ally in its Southeast wing
at the heyday of the Cold War. It was a sort of guarantee against the
Soviet Union. Secondly, our economy was good and almost equal in terms
of production to the economies of Greece, Portugal or Ireland. Thirdly,
the Kurdish issue was not on the agenda and it wasn't heard at every
international platform. The fourth is that the Cyprus dispute was not
as big an issue as it is today, and the Greek Cypriots had not started
accession talks with EU that time. Had Ecevit accepted discussion on
membership with the EU in 1978, we could have been a member as early
as 1980." Asked why Ecevit rejected the offer, Inal recalled the
famous motto: They are the partners, we are the market.
"The EU has always treated Turkey and Greece equally. At the time
of its membership, Greece was not superior in any way to Turkey. I recommend
that you read the memoirs of Tevfik Saracoglu, who was Turkey's ambassador
to the European Community at the time, he was literally screaming and
begging the authorities not to miss the opportunity. What I remember
as a diplomat in those days is that the whole Foreign Ministry bureaucracy
was frustrated when the offer was rejected," said Batu.
'I tell them to see Ecevit'
Batu says each morning many party members visit him and complain about
the treatment they receive when applying for visas at Western embassies.
"They say they are insulted when applying for visas and have to
wait for many hours in queues. I simply tell them to go to Ecevit and
convey their complaints, as he is responsible for the current situation
in terms of relations with EU," argued Batu.
Commenting on the Program that was announced last Monday, Batu remarks
that its contents have created a hidden pleasure in Europe, as the Program
has definitely not come up with any real solution to Turkey's problems
blocking its membership to EU. "The government should be proud
because they made Europe happy with their Program," said Batu.
"The Program came out after a long delay. Last year was totally
wasted. When we did not do anything, the EU responded by delaying the
declaration of the Accession Partnership Document. We were to deliver
the Program in December, then discussions on the framework regulation
agreement started. Worst of all was the National Security Council (MGK)
meeting, which was
totally shameful and deferred discussions on the Program once more,"
said Batu.
Calling the Program an 'inadequate' document, Batu indicated that there
are no surprises in the Program, and none of the country's real issues
have been dealt with seriously in it. "There is no progress at
all on the 3 major issues -- Kurdish broadcasting and education, the
death penalty and the Cyprus dispute. In the Lausanne Treaty we had
already accepted the right of every Turkish citizen to have publications
in their native language, but they could not come up with a solution
to Kurdish broadcasting. They could not even declare a moratorium on
the death penalty. These issues will complicate Turkey's discussions
with EU in the coming months," Batu indicated.
Despite all of his negative remarks, Batu nevertheless said it is positive
that a government which has had so many problems within itself has at
last prepared the Program. "The EU will compare the Program and
the Accession Partnership Document in order to see what Turkey was asked
to do and how Turkey responded to it. At the end of the year the Europeans
will see, by the Progress Report, Turkey has achieved the reforms it
was asked to," stated Batu.
'Situation will worsen after 2002 in Europe'
Stressing that the government should use the political atmosphere in
Europe, which is currently dominated by social democratic parties who
favour Turkey's candidacy and eventual membership, Batu said that with
elections in pivotal EU member countries like Germany, Britain and France,
the social democratic parties might be replaced by christian democrats
that are generally against Turkey's candidacy, let alone its eventual
membership. Batu very much doubted that the government could make 183
new laws until 2002.
Asked about the argument that Turkey has peculiar conditions and that
is why the Program might have some shortcomings, Batu said one can not
play basketball with the rules of football: "They tell you that
you will wear these uniforms, play in a field with dimensions of 70
meters by 30 meters, and clearly remind you of the rules that you have
to abide by during the game. You can not tell them that I do not want
to play football but I will play basketball."
Referring to deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz's statement that Turkey
can start accession negotiations in 5 years, Batu said Greek Cyprus
would be an EU member possibly in 2002. Then by 2004 Turkey will have
to go to the International Court of Justice for the disputes against
Greek Cyprus. Thus, he stressed that the 5 year period will definitely
work against Turkey, and Ankara should urgently hasten the process of
reforms.
'Asked about Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's statements in the wake of
the Helsinki Summit that Turkey could be a member in 2003, Batu said:
"When Ecevit spoke those words, the Europeans smiled and now, after
the Program has been made public, they burst into laughter."
Batu also criticised government's foreign policy. Commenting on the
current Macedonian crisis, Batu said Ankara could not be as active as
Greece, a state which does not recognize either the name of Macedonia
or its flag. On the Iraq policy, Batu said the new U.S. Secretary of
State Colin Powell, who toured the whole Middle East, did not visit
Turkey in a bid to underline that Turkey has once more turned into itself.
"I do not want to say that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not
successful, there are so many capable diplomats in the Ministry. However,
it is not possible because to remain competent because there have been
so many consecutive crises in such a short period of time," said
Batu.
On the Armenian genocide allegations, Batu said the CHP was doing its
best to prevent such resolutions being accepted by Western parliaments.
"We had talks with our counterparts in Germany. The German Social
Democrats assured us that there won't be any such resolution in the
German Parliament. They have reached an agreement with the Christian
Democrats not to support such a bill if it comes to the floor of Parliament,"
Batu said, adding that he was worried that the so-called Armenian genocide
could be a part of Turkey's EU membership negotiations.
Criticising government's policy on the French Parliament's decision
on the so-called Armenian genocide, Batu said what Turkey did was extremely
inadequate. " There are only two Armenian experts in 80 universities,
it really is a shame. Turks in France and other European countries could
have been much better organized. Ankara should have done its utmost
in the French Parliament to convince at least several French deputies
to vote against the bill. There was not even one single vote against
the bill," said Batu.
On Turco-Greek relations, Batu said the two countries have not yet dealt
with any serious issues. Batu indicated that Greece has two objectives
in its bilateral relations with Turkey: "The first is to make the
Cyprus dispute a problem for Turkey and the EU. The second is to avoid
solving any serious bilateral problems until 2004, the date which the
two countries have agreed to take their problems to the International
Court of Justice if they can not sort it out by that date." Batu
stressed that he did not neglect developments between the two countries
but underlined that real issues have not been tackled yet.