9 May 2001

1. "FM Cem explains Turkey's views about EU's Future in unofficial meeting of EU Foreign Ministers", Foreign Minister Ismail Cem explained Turkey's views about the future of the European Union (EU) in the unofficial meeting of the EU countries' foreign ministers held in Sweden between 5-6 May.

2. "Iraqi Kurdish faction vows to sustain struggle against PKK", the head of a leading Kurdish faction in northern Iraq pledged here Tuesday that his militia would continue fighting rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) who have retreated from Turkey.

3. "British Kurds protest at anti-terrorist law", more than 1,000 people, most of them Kurdish, gathered outside a government building in London on Tuesday to protest at new legislation designed to clamp down on foreign "terrorist" groups, police said.

4. "The ECHR process is the case of the Kurdish people", aA statement released by the PKK Council of Leaders stressed that the "Case of the Century" which will be heard in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is the case of the Kurdish people.

5. "Aegean dispute gnaws at Greek-Turkish Ties", the dispute over the Aegean Sea continues to gnaw at efforts to develop military relations between Greece and Turkey.

6. "Iraqi, Turkish trade to be raised", the Iraqi minister of trade Muhammad Mahdi Saleh said on Monday that Iraq and Turkey are seeking to raise the volume of their trade relations to reach the level it has already reached before imposing the embargo on Iraq in 1990.


1. - Anadolu Agency - "FM Cem explains Turkey's views about EU's Future in unofficial meeting of EU Foreign Ministers":

ANKARA

Foreign Minister Ismail Cem explained Turkey's views about the future of the European Union (EU) in the unofficial meeting of the EU countries' foreign ministers held in Sweden between 5-6 May.

Speaking in the working dinner hosted for foreign ministers of EU countries and candidate countries, Cem said that the EU has developed a lot when compared to the 50 years ago, when it was founded. ''It has yielded a positive result, thus this dynamic process has to continue. The share of authority between the states and EU institutions have been formed in a way, '' Cem had said.

The EU has to focus now on to make itself more effective, he said adding that ''there are 15 member countries of the EU for the moment and this will reach 30 in the future. When this comes true, there will be certain economic and interregional inbalances within the union. Various problems will come to agenda.''

Referring to the Charter of Fundemantal Rights, Cem said that there is already the European Convention on Human Rights, adding that ''the Charter of Fundamental Rights is just like a political declaration. It is not the legal part of the agreements.'' If the latter comes true, it will form a new legal area in parellel with the one in Strasbourg, said Cem, noting that two different mechanisms can be harmful and the one in Strasbourg can suffer from that.

Creating a second legal area in the EU can also cause a double standart between the citizens of the EU countries and non-EU countries.

Cem said regarding the simplification of laws that the laws of the EU represent a compromise, adding that ''EU should not spoil the laws in order to simplify them. The laws have been prepared in a very careful way, but the problem here stems from the fact that EU citizens can't understand the laws as they are too complicated.''

Cem said about national parliaments that parliaments can play an important role in overcoming the democratic deficiences that came out between the socities and state institutions.

Recounting that a web site ''http://europa.eu.int/futurum'' has been formed by the EU to overcome this broken-off relations between these institutions and the people, Cem said that the Foreign Ministry works on such a service in Turkish for citizens who don't know English. The site is planned to be opened by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and think tanks.


2. - AFP - "Iraqi Kurdish faction vows to sustain struggle against PKK":

ANKARA

The head of a leading Kurdish faction in northern Iraq pledged here Tuesday that his militia would continue fighting rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) who have retreated from Turkey.

"The presence of the PKK in our region is unacceptable," Massoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), said after talks with senior Turkish diplomats, Anatolia news agency reported.

"If the PKK insists on staying, our struggle to get them out of the region will continue and it is continuing," he added.

Barzani's faction, which controls the area along the Turkish border, has long supported urkish cross-border operations against PKK rebels in the region.

Ankara says the PKK, which has waged a 15-year war for Kurdish self-rule in southeastern Turkey, uses northern Iraq -- outside Baghdad's control since the Gulf War -- as a jumping-off point for attacks into Turkey.

Some 5,000 PKK militants are currently based in the region, according to Turkish officials.
The PKK move to northern Iraq sped up after autumn 1999 when the group said it was laying down its arms and withdrawing from Turkey to seek a peaceful resolution to the Kurdish conflict in the country.

Barzani also hailed the recent rapproachement between his KDP and its arch-rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of Jalal Talabani.

"I hope this will contribute to the reconstruction of the region," he said.

The two feuding sides have recently outlined several confidence-building measures in a bid to implement a long-delayed peace agreement, signed in 1998 under US auspices.

Barzani met with Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit later on Tuesday.

The two leaders discussed moves by the United States for revised UN sanctions on Iraq, an aide to Ecevit told AFP, without disclosing details.

Washington wants to modify the sanctions by easing restrictions on civilian products, such as allowing carefully regulated trade in consumer items and oil, and tightening those on military equipment and technology.

NATO member Turkey, which hosts US and British planes patrolling the no-fly zone over the Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq, has recently urged the lifting of UN sanctions on Baghdad and has held a series of talks with Iraqi officials to revive bilateral trade.


3. - AFP - "British Kurds protest at anti-terrorist law":

LONDON

More than 1,000 people, most of them Kurdish, gathered outside a government building in London on Tuesday to protest at new legislation designed to clamp down on foreign "terrorist" groups, police said. Demonstrators deliberately defied the law, which bans 21 foreign groups from operating or promoting themselves in Britain and makes membership illegal, by wearing T-shirts with the names of the outlawed organisations.

The peaceful demonstration was held outside the Home Office, or interior ministry, in central London. The police officer in charge said the Terrorism Act gave him the power to arrest the demonstrators, but that his officers were using their discretion and not making any arrests. Dr Dhayasuddin Siddiqui, leader of Britian's unofficial Muslim parliament, said: "The massive turnout shows how the community feels about this."

"So many people are disgusted by this. It's not only unjust but the traditions of free speech in this country have been breached and it also lacks any moral base." The new legislation was introduced earlier this year because foreign governments complained that Britain was allowing itself to be used as a safe haven for terror groups. Among the organisations outlawed under the law are the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers, or LTTE, and the Kashmiri separatist group Jaishe Mohammed.


4. - Kurdish Observer - "The ECHR process is the case of the Kurdish people":

A statement released by the PKK Council of Leaders stressed that the "Case of the Century" which will be heard in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is the case of the Kurdish people. The statement added, "Therefore, let's develop the demonstrations to be held on May 8 in England and on May 12 in Germany as the first steps of the new drive."

The written statement released by the Leadership Council of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) pointed out that the Kurdish people had reached the stage of solution in their struggle for peace, democracy and national freedom starting with their Newroz celebration, and declared the beginning of the Second Peace Drive.

The statement recalled that the case of PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan would soon be heard in the European Court of Human Rights and warned that the international powers in question, EU countries foremost of all, needed to leave their current policies to one side and take on a more problem-solving approach. The statement said that the case in the ECHR through the person of Abdullah Ocalan was the case of the Kurdish people, and continued to say the following: "Comrade Abdullah Ocalan, the general chairman of our party, is the indisputable national leader of the Kurdish people. A stance against his person, his case, will be a stance against our people. The results born of the Lausanne Treaty signed between the European countries under the lead of the Republic of Turkey and England must be the subject of this court. The international conspiracy, which has the characteristic of the latest implementation of the Lausanne Treaty's policies of denial and annihilation imposed against the Kurdish people, must be taken up in its historical development and be enlightened. And while uncovering the results created by the policies of national denial and annihilation, decisions must be reached to end the great injustices which still continue against the Kurdish people. The ECHR process must be a process in which the international powers and the states with sovereignty over Kurdistan undergo deep-rooted changes in their policies related to the Kurdish question and accept the Kurdish identity and a solution to the problem. Along this line, the prohibitions preventing Kurds from engaging in free politics must be lifted and the freedom of President APO, along with national freedoms, must be recognized."

Second Peace Drive...

The statement said that, "From now on, our entire struggle must be for a solution," and continued to state the following: "For this reason, the ECHR process must be turned into a process of intensified and broadened serhildans (popular uprisings). We are beginning the Second Peace Drive for this reason. Let's develop the demonstrations to be held on May 8 in England and on May 12 in Germany as the first steps of the new drive. Our people in all the parts of Kurdistan and living outside the country must used their right to democratic action throughout the three months ahead of us in activities such demonstrations, marches, meetings, boycotts, closing down shutters, leaving work, etc." The statement stressed that the policies of denial, which had been largely overcome de facto, must be overcome in the official policies with the struggle of the Kurdish people, adding: "The ECHR process created the opportunity for this. Serhildan activities with the mottos 'Freedom to President APO and the Kurdish nation" and "Let's share President APO's life, let's lift the prohibitions on the PKK and the Kurds" must be strengthened."

Mass identity statement campaign

The statement also called on all individuals of the Kurdish people, especially those living in Europe, to participate in activities stating their identity as PKK members and as part of the Kurdistan National Liberation Struggle and in the campaign to have the bans voided. The statement continued as follows: "The Second Peace Drive, in the mass identity statement center, will be the New Peace Drive of our people. The statement of identity will begin in the first stage in Europe without delay; the second stage will be developed in Turkey and North [Turkish] Kurdistan. We are calling on you to take action on this basis with all your resources. All patriots, from seven to seventy, must risk trial, just as our Leadership is being tried for freedom, and take part in this campaign."


5. - Middle East Newsline - "Aegean dispute gnaws at Greek-Turkish Ties":

ATHENS

The dispute over the Aegean Sea continues to gnaw at efforts to develop military relations between Greece and Turkey.

Western diplomatic said both countries have not demonstrated any easing of their position regarding territorial rights over air and sea space in the area of the Aegean that divides Greece from Turkey. They said this issue has torpedoed plans to develop defense relations -- particularly in coordination in the area.

Over the last two weeks, Greece has several times sent warplanes to intercept Turkish F-16 jets flying in the Aegean region. The F-16 jets were unarmed and patrolling areas that Ankara insists is under their sovereignty.

In the latest development, Turkey has refused to transport Greece's navy commander Vice Admiral Giorgos Theodoroulakis.to a Turkish base in the Aegean. The commander was scheduled to attend a NATO ceremony at the Turkish naval base of Axaz next week.


6. - Arabic News -"Iraqi, Turkish trade to be raised":

The Iraqi minister of trade Muhammad Mahdi Saleh said on Monday that Iraq and Turkey are seeking to raise the volume of their trade relations to reach the level it has already reached before imposing the embargo on Iraq in 1990.

In statements he made following the inauguration of the third specialized exhibition for Turkish products at Baghdad's international Fair, the Iraqi minister said that the sanctions has damaged both Iraq and Turkey simultaneously, noting that the Turkish companies will have after lifting the embargo a remarkable position in the Iraqi market.

He added that the exhibition aims at expanding bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the economic and commercial areas, noting that this will have reflections on other areas.

Worthy mentioning that Turkey, Iraq's northern neighbor, is one of the countries most hurt from the economic sanctions imposed on the UN security Council on Iraq, as figures indicate that the Turkish losses because of the recession in its trade with Iraq exceeded $ 35 billion during the past ten years.