22 October 2001

1. "Turkey Urges Fraternal Effort Over Afghan Turmoil", Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem pursues talks on Monday with Afghanistan's ex-Soviet neighbors, using Ankara's influence as a NATO member and U.S. ally to forge closer links during the campaign against Kabul.

2. "Turkey: One hundred years later, the patient checks in", earthquakes, Armenians, and the Loss of Cyprus.

3. "US envoy expected in Ankara for Cyprus talks", the US State Department's special envoy for Cyprus, Thomas Weston, was due to arrive in Ankara Monday for talks with senior Turkish officials on the future of the divided island, a US embassy official said.

4. "Elci prosecuted according to Article 312", thus, after Erbakan, Erdogan and Guzel, another party leader, Elci, gets prosecuted according to Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code The indictment maintains that Elci has said that the Kurds are a people with a history, geography, language and culture of their own, and that the promises made to the Kurds during the War of Liberation have not been kept.

5. "Europe needs Turkey", columnist Ferai Tinc writes on Turkey's importance for Europe.

6. "It is wrong to include PKK to the list", Renzo Imbeni, Deputy Chairman of European Parliament who evaluated the inclusion of PKK to the list of terrorist organizations, stated that it is wrong to declare an organization that struggles for peace a terrorist organization.

1. - Reuters- "Turkey Urges Fraternal Effort Over Afghan Turmoil":

ASHGABAT / by Steve Bryant

Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem pursues talks on Monday with Afghanistan's ex-Soviet neighbors, using Ankara's influence as a NATO member and U.S. ally to forge closer links during the campaign against Kabul.

Cem flew into Turkmenistan on Sunday evening from Azerbaijan in the Caucasus region and was opening his day of meetings with the country's all-powerful leader Saparmurat Niyazov.

Before leaving Baku, Cem told reporters his discussions with Azeri President Heydar Aliyev had focused on ``the real issue -- the world situation after the September 11 attacks, developments in Afghanistan and their repercussions for Central Asia and our brother countries there and in the Caucasus.''

Cem is pushing a wide and sometimes vague agenda of humanitarian aid, inter-religious dialogue and security cooperation on his rapid tour of the region, which will also take him to Uzbekistan later in the day.

All three countries on the trip have close ethnic and linguistic ties to Turkey, as repeatedly stressed by Cem.

``These members of the great family that I have visited and will be visiting are more aware now of the need to depend on each other, and that is the meaning of this trip,'' he said.

``If I need something, I can ask Azerbaijan, I can ask Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan.''

Besides ethnic links, overwhelmingly Muslim Turkey points to its position as a member of NATO, EU membership candidate and a firm backer of the U.S. retaliatory campaign as grounds for what it says should be its leading role in managing the upheaval.

Turkey has opened its airspace and bases to the United States as part of efforts in response to the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington. Last week, it suggested its troops might act later as peacekeepers in Afghanistan.

TURKMEN LEADER MAY SUPPORT JOINT AID EFFORT

Niyazov, known as Turkmenbashi, or leader of all the Turkmen, enjoys practically unchecked power in his mostly desert republic and his face appears on nearly every building in the capital.

He is likely to applaud Cem's call for a joint humanitarian aid effort as such convoys have been pouring over the country's border for some time to prevent mass famine as the U.S.-led campaign against the fundamentalist Taliban intensifies.

Cem said on Sunday he envisaged ``an aid convoy for Afghanistan representing Azerbaijan, Turkey and all the brother countries of Central Asia. We will bring this to life.''

Officials say the idea is still at the feasibility study stage although they want it to happen as soon as possible.

Cem said Azerbaijan backed his idea of a meeting between the European Union and the countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to ``get rid of the exploitation of our religion and to maintain understanding and cooperation.''

The Turkish minister's trip has also dealt with security cooperation with its allies. Cem said he had discussed such issues in Azerbaijan but gave few details. He was set to review Turkey's support for Uzbekistan's difficulties with Islamic hard-liners during his talks later in the day in Tashkent.

Uzbekistan's President, Islam Karimov, escaped an assassination attempt by Islamist groups in 1999 and has since cracked down on dissent.

Karimov has offered the use of Uzbek bases and airspace for humanitarian purposes and rescue missions and about 1,000 U.S. troops are reported to have arrived in the country.

Ex-Soviet Tajikistan, which has the longest northern border with Afghanistan, has offered similar facilities.

2. - The New York Times - "Turkey: One hundred years later, the patient checks in":

Earthquakes, Armenians, and the Loss of Cyprus

by Christopher Deliso

Almost a century ago, in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey was known as the "sick man of Europe." As it lay prostrate, the great powers circled like vultures, jockeying for position besides Balkan hopefuls like Greece and Bulgaria, intent on carving up the dead Turkish beast. Yet at the final hour, the beast was resuscitated by the dashing Kemal Mustafa Ataturk, a military leader who refused the orders of the last Ottoman sultan to disband, and instead drove the foreigners out, in order to establish the secular, modern, and outwardly strong nation that exists today.

While Turkey is not currently gripped in the mortal throes of a wasting disease, it is in danger of being eclipsed: of being forgotten, diminished, and generally overlooked at the very moment when its citizens wish to claim their nation's rightful heritage. Yet here the Turks are divided into two camps: the pro-Western elite, who see Turkey's future as an EU member state well-integrated with Europe, and the pro-religious populace, who detest Ataturk's secular designation, and wish for a Turkish Islamic government - like in Iran, the Arab states, Afghanistan. Controlling the latter (as well as Turkey's many mostly imagined enemies) has required a constant and costly show of force, in the form of a highly visible military presence.

Turkey's military strength works against it on several levels. Paradoxically, even though the army is there to protect and nurture a pro-democratic, pro-European climate, the resulting image of Turkey as a police state run by humorless generals has caused many Westerners to criticize the apparent suppression of dissent and free speech. Besides the political hindrance presented by the military, a second and more basic factor is the inordinate expense of maintaining and outfitting such a force. The vast majority of the Turkish budget goes to defense - thereby reducing the funding for education and social programs that would improve the lot of average Turks, and increase the skills and aptitude of the Turkish labor force. Yet with perceived enemies on every border - the Russians, Iraqis, Syrians and Greeks, not to mention the internal religious separatists and restless Kurdish minority - it's unlikely that Turkey will change its policy anytime soon. As we will see, the apparent strength of the Turkish militarily actually conceals the country's fundamental weaknesses, which continue to spread. Over the next decade, Turkey's eclipse seems almost guaranteed.

FOR THE TURKS, TUESDAY USED TO BE THE BEST DAY OF THE WEEK

September 11th was really bad timing for Turkey, considering how it spoiled the very day (Tuesday) on which the Byzantine capital of Constantinople fell to the Ottoman sultan Mehmet II in 1453. Ever since, Tuesday has meant good luck to Turks and bad luck for the Greeks. Yet the events of the more recent "Black Tuesday" seem to have ruined this association for Ankara. While it will undoubtedly get a reassuring pat on the back from America for the continuing US air force presence in Incirlik, Turkey is uneasy at the prospect of mass anti-Western protests. Should America start bombing Islamic countries, many fear that the government might suffer from guilt by association - and become an object of attack from within. The prospect of Turkey's huge arsenal falling into the wrong hands, as unlikely as it might be, is an unsettling one. More so than any other Islamic country, a radicalized Turkey would pose an unpredictable and immediate danger to Europe. Once again, the dependence on a strong military can become a potential liability.

EVEN THE TURKISH CYPRIOTS ARE SHOUTING: "TURKEY, OUT!"

Most embarrassing for Turkey is the current crisis of morale in Northern Cyprus. The minority population of the traditionally Greek island, which the Turkish army is allegedly there to "protect," is chafing under a demoralizing existence of repression and poverty, brought about by the disastrous thirty-year misrule of Rauf Denktash, a bilious curmudgeon comparable to the equally rancorous and ideologically obsolete Ian Paisley in Northern Ireland.

Allegiance to Ankara has largely been a given for the Turkish population of Cyprus since the invasion of 1974. Through promises of a better life and macho displays of military might, Ankara maintained the charade that it was really concerned about the lives of its citizens - while really just trying to keep up a military presence on the last Greek island left exposed. For strategic reasons, and to guarantee a diplomatic card, Turkey pursued the military occupation of a sovereign country, and set up a "republic" of Northern Cyprus that has gone unrecognized by every country but Ankara. To strengthen their claims to the island, between 40-70,000 Anatolian Turks were forcibly relocated to Cyprus, many leaving a life of relative prosperity for one of barren poverty, so that Ankara could play its political games. Now the usually docile Turkish Cypriots are angry; they gaze enviously across the barbed wire at affluent Greek Cyprus, its currency stronger than the British pound, its culture modern, European and forward-looking. Now, with Cyprus being sped along to EU membership by 2004 - whether or not a settlement is reached with Turkey - the Northern Cypriots are beginning to feel betrayed and unjustly hindered by their own leaders. A report in the Guardian of 25 September captures the mood:

"Please tell the world that the TRNC is an open prison," Ahmet Barcin, president of the zone's secondary-school teachers' union, said. "It's one big, militarised zone and all the gates are locked. Our only key to freedom is a quick peace settlement [with the Greek south of the island], entry to the EU and reintegration with the rest of the world."

DENKTASH: WILL "OUT OF TOUCH" MEAN "OUT OF OFFICE?"

Although applications for passports have almost doubled, and desperate Turkish Cypriots have organized a diverse collection of opposition parties into a front called "the Group of 41," their ill-tempered throwback of a leader continually denies the existence of any problem - or even of any unique local culture:

"Those who are against Turkey are wrong. There is no Cypriot culture, apart from our national custom of drinking brandy. There are Turks of Cyprus and Greeks of Cyprus, that's all," he snapped.

But last year tear gas was used in northern Nicosia to break up supporters of the Group of 41 demonstrating under the slogan "This is our country."

Not long after that the opposition newspaper Avrupa (Europe) was bombed, and there was a severe crackdown on all informal contacts with Greek Cypriots. "What's the point of such contacts?" Mr Denktash said. "I've heard the only thing people seem to do at these meetings is have sex."

Ouch! In striking quite literally below the belt, Denktash sets himself up for derision and betrays his failure to connect with the modern generation of Turkish-Cypriots. The question is not whether he will be replaced, but when. The warm Mediterranean sun, which should really be shining down equally on Cyrprus as a whole, casts its benevolent rays solely on the Greek section of the island. With EU accession looming, and full integration into Europe becoming more and more likely, the Turkish Cypriots are determined to avoid being frozen out. Unlike their compatriots on the Anatolian mainland, the Turkish Cypriots have a chance - and damned if they're going to let one cranky old man stand in their way.

WHAT A FREE CYPRUS WOULD MEAN FOR ANKARA

The Cyprus stalemate is so longstanding now that any concession on the Turkish side would inevitably be seen as a sign of weakness and failure. For a country unified solely by the threat and the image of a strong army, weakness and failure do not go over well. Therefore, a unified Cypriot state, ineluctably to be dominated by its more affluent, educated and Europeanized Greek majority, would be considered a step backwards, even from the backwardness of life that Turkish Cypriots currently enjoy. The loss of control of the northern section of the island would come as a tremendous military setback and admission of weakness, one which might have ramifications for the internal stability of the Turkish government. Indeed, could there be any scenario more distressing to the Turks than a free and unified Cyprus?

THINKING THE UNTHINKABLE

Yes, in fact, we can go one better, with the ultimate scenario that would give every Turkish leader an instant stroke - that is, the thought of Cyprus finally joining the Greek state. While this is admittedly a long shot of an option, and one categorically excluded by the Turks, it can be argued that a Greek-controlled Cyprus would actually be good for Ankara in several ways.

First of all, such a capitulation on Turkey's part would of necessity engender a similarly major concession on the part of the Greeks. In terms of what Turkey wants, a guarantee of EU membership would be the absolute minimum required, and they would no doubt win additionally in trade concessions and other economic relief. The second reason why Turkey would benefit is that, as the past decade in the Balkans has shown, being an ethnic minority in someone else's country is much better than having an ethnic minority within one's own country. By championing the rights of the Turkish minority in Cyprus, Ankara would acquire greater leverage (indeed, it gain practically a veto power on all Greek policy decisions) while at the same time winning the affection of Turkish-Cypriots - for, with the heavy-handed, Ankara-imposed government dismantled, and military intervention halted, the Turkish Cypriots would have no reason to curse their own. Yet it's unlikely we'll see a really Greek Cyprus anytime soon - militarily speaking, Turkish testosterone shows no signs of abating.

THE OIL PIPELINE - TURKEY GETS SQUEEZED OUT

Turkey's bad economic news is also not going away. Despite all the happy rhetoric from the Clinton administration, and all the hopeful gestures on the part of potential investors, it seems likely that the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline, a potential cash cow for Turkey, will never be built. This because the route is more costly than similar routes through Russia and Iran, and also because of Turkey's sinking economy. Turkey's unending economic woes have already caused three of the major partner companies to pull out of the deal, and with Clinton out of office, the need to bypass Russia and Iran is moot. In fact, with the way things are going now, our new and cooperative friend Russia might stand to gain on more than the Chechnya issue. As for Iran, it stands to be rewarded for any help against bin Laden, and Dick Cheney has long been (in matters of oil, at least) firmly in the Iranian camp.

THE FALLOUT, ON TWO FRONTS

While analysts have shivered at the thought of Turkey's "wrath" at being locked out of the pipeline, there would seem to be little to fear. At worst, the US could lose access to its strategic bases, but Turkey is not about to start a war with anyone, because it is economically in ruins. Indeed, these woes are making Turkey into a very expensive mistress for the US, which is now being asked to write off Turkey's massive military debt.

The traditionally hostile Turko-Russian relationship looks set to get worse, and the outlines of a realpolitik cold war showdown are already emerging in the Caucasus. In the Adjara region of southern Georgia, the turkish-speaking minority is clamoring for independence. A little further to the east, Georgia's Armenians are protesting the withdrawal of Russian troops, who they believe are essential to protect them against the Turks. Whether or not there fears are justified nowadays, many of the Armenian Georgians are old enough to remember when they were.

THAT DAMN ARMENIA THING JUST WON'T GO AWAY!

Modern Turkey continues to be roasted by Europe for its "human rights" deficiencies, both old and new. In this regard, John Paul II, feeble as he is, has still got that Catholic instinct for twisting the knife. The Pope condemned Turkey for yeghern (Armenian for "genocide") against its Armenian minority, a designation also made by European governments but for which Clinton lacked the guts. It is probable however, that 1.5 million Armenians were rounded up and killed by the Turks between 1915-1923, and any student of Anatolian history knows that the region of "Armenia" (at various times, a powerful medieval kingdom) was much larger than the pitifully small country which Turkey bullies even today.

FOR EUROPE, THE CYNICAL VIEW MAY PROVE HARD TO SWALLOW

The cynical view is that since Greek dropped its objections to Turkish EU accession in 1998, the rest of Europe has been scrambling to find a way to keep the Turks out of Europe. For prosperous and peaceful countries like Sweden and Ireland know well that, the second Turkey joins the EU, their borders will be flooded by millions of poor and desperate Turks. Yet they don't want to say it. Since European countries have always fancied themselves as being so advanced and humanitarian, it was easy to make Turkey all kinds of promises before - the "oh, we'd love to have you, if Greece would just drop their objection" duplicity.

Yet the Greeks know well that if Turkey does join the EU, those ravenous masses won't stop at Athens - no, it'll be all the way to Brussels, Stockholm, or London, baby! And then those caring Northern Europeans will have to put their money where their mouth is. To avoid doing this, it is easier to just make Turkey run the gauntlet of "human rights" - a Sisyphisean labor involving prisoners' rights, or Kurdish rights, or recognizing the Armenian genocide, or abolishing the death penalty. And so the Turks (the pro-Western elite, anyway) have been rushing around frantically to do their masters' bidding.

Yet they shouldn't hold their breath. Europe has no intention of ever letting Turkey in, for obvious economic reasons, and unstated cultural ones. Indeed, while Berlusconi's controversial words may have been foolhardy, they were also courageous, and they did represent the reality - that Europeans do by and large view Islamic culture as backwards and inferior, though they are too afraid to say so, caught as they are in the web of political correctness that they themselves fabricated in order to ensnare others. It is just Turkey's bad luck to have to be the scapegoat; though Europe will assuredly always speak to it in the politest of tones, it will at the same time keep whispering derisively behind its back. Yet you can bet if the Turks ever make it through, and minarets start going up in Dublin, or the amplified Arabic wailing rings out over Oslo, the whisper will become a roar, and the "cultural war" which bin Laden is presently trying to bring about will happen for real.

BUT ARE THEY READY FOR THE ULTIMATE APOCALYPSE?

As if all this were not enough, there is one final disaster waiting to happen in Turkey, which would immediately plunge the country - and even the whole region - into chaos.

Ever since the major earthquake in Izmit, in August 1999, in which over 20,000 Turks were killed (mostly due to illegally built, poor quality housing), seismologists have been predicting an even worse catastrophe - a massive earthquake in Istanbul. Following the historical progression of seismic activity during the 20th century, it is clear that the Turkish fault line has been steadily activated in a westward direction, with periodic quakes roughly following the contours of the Black Sea coast. Over the past hundred years, subterranean pressure has been slowly building, so that the final rupture, the epicenter of which is anticipated to be the Sea of Marmara, just offshore from Istanbul, is likely to be the most devastating of all. Simply put, a massive earthquake in Istanbul would be catastrophic - and the Turks are completely unprepared for it.

That an earthquake here would be so destructive owes to Istanbul's location, construction and also its historic value. Situated on a tiny peninsula jutting into the Bosphorous, this sprawling city of 17 million is a decrepit maze of ancient, tiny streets and ramshackle buildings, flimsy constructions that are hardly strong enough to withstand a major quake. The prospect of oil, gas and chemicals flooding the Sea of Marmara, and the islands of Greece further on, is an almost unimaginable environmental nightmare. Moreover, Istanbul's wealth of historical ruins from Byzantine and Ottoman times make it Turkey's top tourist draw. On any given day, an estimated 2 million tourists throng its streets and shore up the Turkish economy. An earthquake in Istanbul, Turkey's most vibrant and important city, would signal the death of the Turkish economy, livelihood and culture. It would probably signal the start of mass starvation and death. If the earthquake of 1999 is anything to go by, unscrupulous thieves would soon start cutting body organs from the still-warm bodies of the dead, to sell on the black market. In such a scenario the government would probably be toppled, and anarchy would reign. Experts are not optimistic that the inevitable can be avoided.

Whether Turkey goes out in a blaze of glory (i.e., a fiery quake), or just sinks into a somnolent and useless old age, it seems likely that the country will diminish in stature over the coming years. Their only hope, really, is for some minor miracle (in terms of US-backed aid), that would derive from the still uncertain fallout of September 11th. It is still possible that the Turks might just somehow, despite all the indications to the contrary, reclaim their lucky day.

3. - AFP - "US envoy expected in Ankara for Cyprus talks":

ANKARA

The US State Department's special envoy for Cyprus, Thomas Weston, was due to arrive in Ankara Monday for talks with senior Turkish officials on the future of the divided island, a US embassy official said.

Weston is expected to meet Tuesday with Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and the undersecretary of the foreign ministry, Ugur Ziyal, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. After the talks in Ankara, the US envoy will go to Greece and Cyprus itself for further talks, he added. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey occupied its northern third in response to an Athens-engineered military coup in Nicosia seeking to unite Cyprus with Greece.

Hopes for a settlement to the 27-year division were dashed in September when Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash rejected an invitation by UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan to hold separate meetings with him and Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides, saying there were no grounds for talks. Denktash' decision was backed by Turkey, the only country to recognize his self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), but was criticized by the international community.

Annan's invitation was the latest effort in revitalizing the stalled peace talks between the island's leaders which broke down in November 2000 when Denktash withdrew from the UN-brokered proximity talks on the grounds the negotiations were against Turkish Cypriot interests. Denktash insists that the reunification of Cyprus must be as a two-state confederation, thus making recognition of the TRNC a precondition to a settlement. Clerides and the international community favour a "bi-zonal, bi-communal federation".

4. - Turkish Daily News - "Elci prosecuted according to Article 312":

At the Van DGM a case has been opened against Serafettin Elci, the chairman of the banned DKP, for "clearly inciting people by undermining racial and regional differences'

Thus, after Erbakan, Erdogan and Guzel, another party leader, Elci, gets prosecuted according to Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code

The indictment maintains that Elci has said that the Kurds are a people with a history, geography, language and culture of their own, and that the promises made to the Kurds during the War of Liberation have not been kept

MERT GOZDE

Serafettin Elci, who was the chairman of Democratic Mass Party (DKP) which was closed by the Constitutional Court, is going to be tried at the Van State Security Court (DGM) for "inciting hatred and enmity in people by clearly underlining racial and regional differences."
Cahit Buldu, the chief prosecutor of the Van DGM, had asked the court to punish Elci, a lawyer, according to Article 312/2 of the Turkish Penal Code for committing the crime during a speech he made in Van on Aug. 19, 2000.

The prosecutor has also made a similar demand against the DKP's deputy chairman, Nizamettin Maskan.

Thus Elci joins the group of political party leaders that have been prosecuted according to Article 312, namely, professor Necmettin Erbakan who had been the chairman of the banned Welfare Party (RP) and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Rebirth Party (YDP) leader Hasan Celal Guzel.

In his indictment, the prosecutor said that in the course of his speech Elci engaged in separatism by saying that the Kurds are a people with a history, geography, language and culture of their own, and that the promises made to the Kurds during the War of Liberation have not been kept

Elci defends himself personally

Attending the first hearing on Oct. 17, 2001 in the company of his lawyer Halil Kartal, Elci defended himself personally, pointing out that the Article 312 is in the eye of an ongoing controversy, and that when Turkey became a candidate for European Union full membership Turkey pledged to amend that article.

Freedom of thought

Elci stressed that he is a politician, a person with political views of his own, and that his views would not necessarily please everybody.

He said: "I believe that the security forces tend to make far-fetched assumptions and that the prosecutors should take greater care to subject to a legal scrutiny the Article 312-related files relayed by the security forces before taking any action on the basis of these."

Stressing that his views may clash with official views, and that this should be seen as something natural in politics, Elci said:

"The European Court of Human Rights said in one of its rulings that politicians should be given larger boundaries within which to voice their criticism compared to ordinary citizens. In a civilized society this should be tolerated even when the 'dose' of the criticism is 'high.' The views expressed by the politicians should be considered to be in the realm of the freedom of thought. Therefore it should be out of the question for these to be considered criminal."

'We respect the political boundaries of the state'

Elci said, in brief: "In my speech I pointed out that Turkey has various problems and that the Kurdish problem lies at the base of these problems. This is not only my personal view. This is a fact, a view that has been voiced by various writers, parties and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

"We believe that to solve this problem, methods used by the civilized societies must be adopted. We have respect for the political boundaries of the state. We are against the use of force. We maintain that the problem is of a political nature, and that a solution can be reached through dialogue. Therefore we have no intention of committing a crime."

'Promises made to Kurds not kept'

"While the Turkish Republic was being founded, during the War of Independence, it was promised that the Kurds rights would be respected. However, later this did not materialize. At the Erzurum Congress it was announced that the Turks and the Kurds owned this country together. This was reiterated at the Sivas Congress. And the Amasya Protocol said that all kinds of racial and social rights of the Kurds would be protected. And Ataturk voiced his views on the Kurds in his 'Speech.'

"In my speech I noted that in the wake of the Lausanne Conference a policy of rejection and denial has been adopted aimed at destroying the existence of the Kurds, and that this has been a mistake, that this policy has led to adverse consequences. And I referred to the Kurdish rebellions.

"I stressed that these two peoples have lived together all these years, that those who live together should respect one another's rights, that no problems crop up when Kurds are treated respectfully, and that problems emerge when that is not done."

5. - Hurriyet - "Europe needs Turkey":

Columnist Ferai Tinc writes on Turkey's importance for Europe.

The previous night important messages were issued at the congress and meeting center called 'Noble Concert' in Brussels. Upon the initiative of Turkey's Ambassador to the European Union Nihat Akyol, a foundation was established to improve communication and the understanding between the EU and Turkey entitled 'Turkey -Europe Foundation.'

It aims to form a civilian platform to enhance the communication channels in politics, business, culture and art and the mass media. The Foundation will be chaired by Belgian politician Baron Daniel Cardon de Lichtbuer. The EU Commissioner responsible for enlargement, Gunther Verheugen expressed his support for the foundation with the statement 'Europe needs Turkey.' The EU which included Turkey into the enlargement process with the decision taken at the Helsinki Summit, is faced with new evaluations following the terrorist attack on the US on September 11.

It is not clear how much these evaluations will affect European reluctance for Turkey's full membership, but in Brussels there are those who feel they have to adopt new approach towards Turkey. This new approach is reflected in Verheugeun's statement made the previous night. "It has been understood that both Turkey and the European Union need each other. Turkey is indispensable for the European Union as Europe is indispensable for Turkey.

Turkey's importance does not stem from her being a role model for other Muslim countries with the reforms she has gone through provided by the Republic under the leadership of Ataturk. Her strategic importance is not the issue either. Turkish-European relations gain importance in order to show that the argument concerning the clash of civilizations is not true.' Verheugen added that an important opportunity was seized at the moment as the raprochement between Europe and Turkey will contribute to the world peace.

He said, 'Differences in our cultures will prove that this is not a disadvantage but advantage.' The enactment of quick and determined amendments to the Constitution is received positively in Brussels. Verheugen said that the enactment of the amendment package in such a short time even surprised him. However, he believes that the enactment of these reforms are not enough and the adaptation laws required to implement them have to be passed from the parliament soon.

He added that some steps should be taken regarding the Cyprus problem, that the ESDI was nearing a solution and that Turkey had to continue carying out the economic reforms. All is well said, but will these favorable expressions be reflected in the progress report to be completed next month.

If they are left on paper, and there are no initiatives which will carry Turkey towards negotiations they will be meaningless. The new situation arising after September 11 has increased the sensitivity towards what Turkey has to say. Europe is ready to listen more than ever."

6. - Ozgur Politika - "It is wrong to include PKK to the list":

Renzo Imbeni, Deputy Chairman of European Parliament who evaluated the inclusion of PKK to the list of terrorist organizations, stated that it is wrong to declare an organization that struggles for peace a terrorist organization.

ALI OZSERIK

Renzo Imbeni, Deputy Chairman of European Parliament (EP), stated to OZGUR POLITIKA that in spite of the peace process initiated by PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) the only reason that USA has included PKK to the list of "terrorist organizations" is that it needs the help of the Ankara government.

Saying that PKK has taken positive steps especially in the new process and therefore it should considered positively, Imbeni emphasized that USA has made a big mistake by including it to the latest list of terrorist organizations. The Deputy Chairman continued to say the following: It is not suitable to say that Turkey is a candidate in the real meaning of the word. It is more realistic to say that its candidacy is discussed. There are 3 basic problems for Turkey to be a candidate", and listed these problems as follows:

- The Kurdish problem should be solved within the framework of a broad autonomy.
- The occupation of Cyprus which is not recognized by any other state except Turkey should put an end.
- Turkey should be democratised.

Imbeni concluded his words saying the following: "Everybody supports USA but there are still bad things. USA cannot attack saying terrorist to other states, this should not be approved".