10 May 2001

1. "Kurds ready to go to Dortmund", Kurds living in Europe are preparing for a splendid march that will be held in the German city of Dortmund on May 12.

2. "Turkey wants to have a say in EU future", President Ahmet Necdet Sezer hosted a lunch for ambassadors of European Union members and candidate countries in Ankara yesterday on the occasion of European Day. Sezer said relations with the EU had come to a point where all citizens were deeply interested.

3. "Despite crisis, Turkey still wants arow", despite its fiscal crisis, Turkey still wants to buy an anti-missile defense system developed by Israel and the United States.

4. "European rights court to rule on Cyprus-Turkey dispute", the European Court of Human Rights is to rule on Thursday on whether Turkey has committed multiple human rights violations during its 27-year-old occupation of northern Cyprus.

5. "Turks occupy German Amnesty office in prisons protest", a group of Turks protesting against prison conditions in their home country occupied a German office of Amnesty International and said they had begun a hunger strike, police said Wednesday.

6. "Cuts Urged In Patrols Over Iraq: Risk of Allied Pilot Being Downed Cited", the two U.S. military commanders overseeing the "no-fly" zones in Iraq have recommended that the Bush administration sharply reduce the number of patrols conducted by American and British pilots, mainly because of the mounting danger that an allied plane could be shot down, a Pentagon official said yesterday.


1. - Kurdish Observer - "Kurds ready to go to Dortmund":

Kurds living in Europe are preparing for a splendid march that will be held in the German city of Dortmund on May 12.

In just days, the Germany city of Dortmund will the the site of a great meeting of tens of thousands of Kurds coming from across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark, Holland, France, and the Scandinavian countries. The planning committee, which has organized the meeting under the motto "Peace for Kurdistan; Dialogue Now," announced that all preparations for the march had been completed.

Kurdistanis will call for a peaceful and democratic solution to the Kurdish question, freedom for Ocalan, democratization in Turkey, and an end to the massacres in prison as they march, and are hoping that participation will be greater in this march than in any previous one. Preparation continues busily in all the cities in which Kurds live, and busses are being reserved for the trip to Dortmund.

The planning committee has made calls for all Kurdistanis to attend the march, while associations tied to YEK-KOM in the cities of Dortmund, Bochum, Essen, Hagen, and others have announced that their preparations for the march have been completed. The associations have assigned 100 persons for duties along the route, assisting in parking, and similar tasks.

The march will take place in two sections, with the "Red wing" departing from West Park and the "Green wing" from Westfalen Park.

Meanwhile, pointing out that they had had to pay large fines following former marches because of garbage left behind, the planning committee has called on participants to use care in this matter. It also said that there will be two minibuses and dozens of people assigned to follow each of the two wings to collect trash. The planning committee also warned for no one to be carrying sharp or pointed objects or flammable materials in the march. 24 refreshment stands will be set up in the march area. It is also expected that, in addition to Kurdistani units, both Turkish and Kurdish revolutionary organizations will be setting up information stands.

News has been received from the Kurds in numerous cities in northern Germany, with expected participation of about 15,000 a total of 162 busses reserved. Sait Bilgin from the Med Culture Center in Bremen, meanwhile, said that they had reserved 17 busses so far, and aimed at sending 20. Bilgin said they expected 2,500 Kurdistanis from Bremen to participate in the march. Participation of 15,000 is also expected from the state of Baden Wurttemberg.

Kurdistanis in Saarland, Copenhagen, Strasbourg, and Basel have also announced that they have completed preparations to participate in the march.


2. - Turkish Daily News - "Turkey wants to have a say in EU future":

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer hosted a lunch for ambassadors of European Union members and candidate countries in Ankara yesterday on the occasion of European Day. Sezer said relations with the EU had come to a point where all citizens were deeply interested.
Besides the ambassadors, Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Faruk Logoglu, Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Akin Alptuna and Secretary-General of EU Affairs Volkan Vural also attended the lunch.
Speaking at the lunch, Sezer stressed that the integration efforts for entry into the EU have been accelerated with the conclusions from the Helsinki summit in which Turkey was finally declared a candidate.

Stressing that he firmly believed that Turkey would be successful in its bid for EU membership, Sezer said that there was no room for delays or suspicions anymore. Sezer indicated that Turks started to attain the universal standards in its economic, political, social and legal systems long before the proclamation of the republic, but added that Ataturk gave fundamental content to these reforms.

He said that Turkey contributed at different levels to all international organizations of the Western world in the wake of World War II, and underlined Turkey's contributions to Western security during the Cold War. Sezer referred to the speedy changes all over the world after the Cold War and said new values and common goals have emerged.

Swedish Ambassador Henrik Liljegren, whose country is holding the rotating presidency of the EU, stated that if Turkey was to become a part of the EU, it must conform with the expected values of human rights, democracy and freedom of expression.


3. - Middle East Newsline - "Despite crisis, Turkey still wants arow":

ANKARA

Despite its fiscal crisis, Turkey still wants to buy an anti-missile defense system developed by Israel and the United States.

Turkish officials said that Ankara and Jerusalem are discussing the procurement of the Arrow missile defense system. They said the two countries launched talks over the last few months in what was termed as the initial stage of negotiations.

The contacts include an Israeli Defense Ministry visit to Ankara to discuss the Arrow purchase and a Turkish military delegation tour of the Arrow missile base south of Tel Aviv.


4. - AFP - "European rights court to rule on Cyprus-Turkey dispute":

STRASBOURG

The European Court of Human Rights is to rule on Thursday on whether Turkey has committed multiple human rights violations during its 27-year-old occupation of northern Cyprus.

The judges are to respond to a 1994 petition filed by Nicosia accusing Turkey of violating almost all the articles of the European convention on human rights since its invasion of northern Cyprus.

The petition charges Ankara is responsible for the disappearance of 1,500 Cypriot Greeks and the forced migration of 211,000 others, and the seizure of assets and the imposition of restrictions on Greek Cypriots who remain in northern Cyprus.

It is the fourth such "Cyprus versus Turkey" case filed with the court by Nicosia, the three earlier petitions being handled by the Council of Europe, the continent's human rights watchdog.

Cyprus, including the capital Nicosia, has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied the northern third in response to a coup engineered by the then military junta in Athens aimed at uniting the Greek-majority island with Greece.

The self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is recognised only by Ankara. Ankara has made it known it not concerned by Nicosia's accusation, saying TRNC authorities are responsible for the region.

Since 1999, Turkey and Greece have sought a rapprochement, encouraged by Washington. Thousands of Greek Cypriots are also hoping for rulings on individual cases they have filed with the European Court of Human Rights.


5. - AFP - "Turks occupy German Amnesty office in prisons protest":

DUSSELDORF

A group of Turks protesting against prison conditions in their home country occupied a German office of Amnesty International and said they had begun a hunger strike, police said Wednesday. A spokesman said the action in Dusseldorf is being allowed by the human rights organisation.

The group of 10, which calls itself "Right to Life", says it opposes what it called the Turkish state's "policy of annihilation" against Turkish prisoners, 22 of whom have died on a hunger strike protest since March 21. Klaus Walter, a spokesman for Amnesty International, said that relatives of fasting prisoners in Turkey currently in a coma were amongst the group occupying the Dusseldorf offices.

"We understand the concerns of this group. We don't know how long this action will last," he added. Hundreds of mainly left wing inmates began hunger strikes across Turkey in October to protest at the controversial introduction of new prisons with smaller cells. In December, thousands of paramilitary troops raided jails across Turkey in a bid to break the action. The four-day operation, which saw security forces bulldozing prison walls, left 30 prisoners and two soldiers dead.


6. - Washington Post - "Cuts Urged In Patrols Over Iraq: Risk of Allied Pilot Being Downed Cited":

The two U.S. military commanders overseeing the "no-fly" zones in Iraq have recommended that the Bush administration sharply reduce the number of patrols conducted by American and British pilots, mainly because of the mounting danger that an allied plane could be shot down, a Pentagon official said yesterday.

Army Gen. Tommy R. Franks, head of the U.S. Central Command, and Air Force Gen. Joseph W. Ralston, the top U.S. military officer in Europe, have recommended "major changes in the way we do the patrols" to enforce a U.S. ban on all Iraqi flights over large swaths of northern and southern Iraq, the official said.

Administration officials said yesterday that the United States remains committed to maintaining the no-fly zones, and neither Franks nor Ralston is recommending that Iraqi planes be allowed to resume flying. But the generals, concerned about an intensified Iraqi campaign to shoot down an American plane, are pressing the administration to change the way they are enforced.

Franks's Central Command enforces the ban on flights over southern Iraq, which was imposed by the United States with allied support in 1992 to protect the restive Shiite population in the south from a crackdown by President Saddam Hussein's military, as well as to prevent his forces from massing near the Kuwaiti and Saudi borders. Ralston is in charge of the American forces based in Turkey that patrol the northern no-fly zone, which was declared in 1991 to protect rebellious Iraqi Kurds from air attack.

Franks has recommended reducing the patrols in the south but maintaining a minimum number of allied flights to keep a closeeye on Iraqi troops who could approach the Saudi and Kuwaiti borders, a second Pentagon official said.

Ralston has indicated that he would prefer a halt to the flights in the north, this official said. But, he added, Ralston would like to keep warplanes at the ready in Turkey and declare that the United States reserved the right to launch retaliatory strikes if Iraq flew warplanes in the zones to harass the Kurds or other minority groups.

Reducing the number of patrols would decrease the need for frequent U.S. bombing of Iraqi air defenses. This could mark an end to the undeclared war that has pitted American and British pilots against Iraqi gunners since 1998. It also could ease the concerns of American allies in Europe and the Middle East who have urged the United States to adopt a less aggressive posture.

Last year, U.S. aircraft dropped bombs or fired missiles on Iraq 98 times, according to congressional testimony by Franks and Ralston in late March. The Iraqi government estimates that U.S. airstrikes have killed 300 people, mostly civilians, since 1998.

The military recommendations come as the administration is conducting an overall review of Iraq policy that officials hope will be completed by summer. In addition to examining the no-fly zones, Bush officials are trying to build international support for a new system of "smart sanctions" targeting Saddam Hussein's military capability, and they are reviewing what support to provide Iraqi opposition groups seeking to overthrow the Baghdad regime.

One top commander stressed to the administration that the risk of losing a U.S. pilot has grown so great in recent weeks that continuing the operation may no longer be justifiable, a person familiar with the administration's policy discussions said.

The danger to the U.S. and British pilots who fly in the two zones has skyrocketed as Iraq's military has made an unusually determined effort to shoot down a pilot, this person said. Almost every flight has been fired on by Iraqi antiaircraft guns, and well over 100 surface-to-air missiles have been launched since the last large-scale U.S. and British air raids in mid-February, he added.

In addition, he said, the Iraqis are rarely turning on their air-defense radars, making them harder to target and so lessening the military benefit of flying in the zones. Without radar to guide their missiles, the Iraqis are firing almost blindly, but in such great numbers that U.S. commanders fear that eventually they will get a lucky hit. Worried U.S. pilots call this getting hit by a "golden BB."
Administration officials, including Secretary of State Colin L. Powell in congressional testimony last week, have repeatedly said they intend to maintain the no-fly zones.

A senior State Department official said yesterday the administration continues to view them as necessary on two counts: preventing Saddam Hussein from using Iraqi air power against Kurds and Shiites, and precluding him from building up military forces where they could threaten neighboring countries, namely Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

"The issue under review is what is the best way to implement the no-fly zones, not whether there should be no-fly zones," the State Department official said.

Administration officials involved in reviewing various elements of U.S. policy toward Baghdad say they have made the most progress in developing a new approach toward the United Nations sanctions imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

In recent weeks, U.S. diplomats have repeatedly visited European and Middle Eastern capitals to build support for a policy of lifting most economic sanctions while tightening the restrictions on imports and revenue that Hussein could use to develop weapons of mass destruction and to strengthen his army. The administration plans to finalize its sanctions proposal before a U.N. review in June of the current oil-for-food program.

At the same time, Bush officials have been debating how much financial, military and covert backing should be provided to the Iraqi opposition. They are also weighing whether to extend American support beyond the Iraqi National Congress, now the main recipient of U.S. aid, to other opposition figures and organizations.