10 April 2002

1. "Former Kurdish party leader jailed for ten months", a Turkish state security court on Tuesday sentenced the former chairman of the pro-Kurdish People's Party (HADEP) to 10 months in jail for undermining the country's unity, the Anatolia news agency reported.

2. "European rights court fines Turkey for closing Kurdish party in 1993", European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decided on Tuesday [9 April] that Turkey violated the right to organization of the European Convention on Human Rights, upon the complaint of former administrators of banned People's Labour Party (HEP).

3. "Turkish court convicts Kurd for playing Kurdish music tape", a Turkish state security court on Tuesday sentenced a Kurdish man to 45 months in jail for playing a tape of Kurdish music, but later suspended the sentence, his lawyer said.

4. "With a Word, Israeli-Turkish Strain Surfaces", Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit of Turkey told a gathering of his political party last week that Israel's military raids into the West Bank were genocide.

5. "European Court head: Broadcasting in Kurdish will not divide Turkey", European Court of Human Rights Chairman Luzius Wildhaber said that broadcasting in mother tongue would not divide Turkey. Attending a live interview hosted by Mehmet Ali Birand on Turkish news channel CNN-Turk, Wildhaber made comments on the Turkish government's agreement on broadcasting in the Kurdish language.

6. "Yilmaz: Turkey's steps on EU path cannot be underrated", the leader of the coalition's junior partner, the Motherland Party (ANAP), Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, said that the steps taken by Turkey toward meeting the Copenhagen criteria in the past year could not be underrated.

1. - AFP - "Former Kurdish party leader jailed for ten months":

ANKARA / April 9

A Turkish state security court on Tuesday sentenced the former chairman of the pro-Kurdish People's Party (HADEP) to 10 months in jail for undermining the country's unity, the Anatolia news agency reported.

The crime stemmed from a speech Ahmet Turan Demir made at a party congress in November 2000, which, the indictment claimed, was "aimed at harming the unity and indivisibility of the state", the report said. The agency did not elaborate on what Demir had said at the congress. Turkish authorities regularly crack down on HADEP, detaining or jailing its members for separatism or links with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which led a 15-year armed campaign against the Anakara government demanding Kurdish self-rule in the country's southeast.

HADEP, which campaigns for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question and greater cultural rights for Turkey's Kurds, denies such charges, but nonetheless faces a possible ban for links with the PKK. Violence in the southeast has eased considerably since 1999 when the PKK said it was ending its armed campaign to seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict. But the truce has been brushed off by Turkey's powerful army as a "ploy".

2. - BBC Monitoring Service - "European rights court fines Turkey for closing Kurdish party in 1993":

Strasbourg / 9 April

European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decided on Tuesday [9 April] that Turkey violated the right to organization of the European Convention on Human Rights, upon the complaint of former administrators of banned People's Labour Party (HEP).

The court did not find it necessary to examine the applications made related with Article 9 regulating freedom of thought, article 10 regulating freedom of expression, Article 6 regulating the right to a fair trial, and article 14 regulating the ban of discrimination.

ECHR fined Turkey to almost 40,000 euro financial compensation in this case.

Feridun Yazar, Ahmet Karatas and Ibrahim Aksoy, the former administrators of HEP, applied to ECHR in 1993 after the Constitutional Court had decided to close down their party on charges of trying to harm national unity.

3. - AFP - "Turkish court convicts Kurd for playing Kurdish music tape":

DIYARBAKIR / April 9

A Turkish state security court on Tuesday sentenced a Kurdish man to 45 months in jail for playing a tape of Kurdish music, but later suspended the sentence, his lawyer said.

The court in this southeastern Turkish city found Sulhaddin Onen guilty of "aiding and abetting an armed organization" by playing songs in Kurdish in 1999 in his taxi, Onen's lawyer Sedat Yurttas told AFP. The court deemed that playing Kurdish songs amounted to supporting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has led a 15-year armed campaign against Turkey for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish-populated southeast, Yurttas said.

"But the court suspended the execution of the sentence on account of the fact that my client does not have a criminal record," Yurttas said. The conviction comes at a time of debate in EU-hopeful Turkey on whether to meet the European bloc's demands to allow radio and television broadcasts in the Kurdish language as part of human rights reforms.

However, authorities fear that allowing Kurdish-language broadcasts might fan separatist sentiment among the Kurds and rekindle the PKK's armed campaign which has substantially subsided since 1999.

4. - The New York Times - "With a Word, Israeli-Turkish Strain Surfaces":

ISTANBUL / 10 April / by Douglas Frantz
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit of Turkey told a gathering of his political party last week that Israel's military raids into the West Bank were genocide.

Israel might have ignored the statement had it come from another Muslim leader, but Turkey is Israel's best friend in the region. So Mr. Ecevit's choice of words set off protests that heightened strains in a relationship of strategic importance to both countries and to the United States.

"We have some common interests in the Middle East, but whether we can sustain the relationship with what is happening now in Palestine is a question," Ilter Turkmen, a retired Turkish diplomat and foreign minister, said today.

Pro-Islamic politicians in the opposition have called for a re-evaluation of Turkey's ties with Israel, and mainstream politicians and newspapers have joined in condemning what they describe as Israeli aggression.

As much as Turkish politicians may want to criticize Israel, however, they are restricted by deep military and economic bonds. While other governments in the region have kept Israel at arm's length, the Turks have embraced it.

Turkey recently awarded Israel a $670 million contract to modernize 170 M-60 tanks. Israel already was upgrading Turkish warplanes in a deal worth nearly $1 billion. Turkey also provides airspace for Israeli military exercises, and the countries share intelligence and military technology.

Bilateral trade topped $1 billion last year, and long-running negotiations are continuing for Turkey to sell Israel $50 million to $75 million worth of water annually. Israelis are among the most numerous tourists on Turkey's Mediterranean coast.

"We live in the same region, and we face the same reality," said David Sultan, Israel's ambassador to Turkey.

The friendship has multiplied Turkey's influence in Washington. The pro-Israeli lobby argued Turkey's case for increased international financial aid. American Jewish organizations have lobbied on Turkey's behalf against attempts by Armenian-Americans to have the killing of Armenians between 1915 and 1921 in Turkey declared a genocide.

"We have put a lot of effort in on behalf of Turkey," said Barry Jacobs, director of strategic studies in Washington for the American Jewish Committee. So his organization and other American Jewish groups were stung and angered when Mr. Ecevit said at a party meeting in Ankara that "genocide is being committed" against the Palestinians.

Nine organizations, including B'nai B'rith and the Anti-Defamation League, fired off a letter telling the Turkish leader that his remark was "absolutely wrong as fact and offensive as comment." Israel also lodged diplomatic complaints.

The next day, Mr. Ecevit downplayed his statement, saying his words only reflected concerns felt in the region and Turkey.

Other Turkish officials hurried to repair the damage by assuring Israeli and American diplomats that Turkey's basic policy remained unchanged.

"Turkey's relations with Israel are based on sound foundations," a senior Turkish government official said today. "We believe these relations will play an important role in ensuring peace in the region."

The Israelis had no desire to fan the flames either. Mr. Sultan said Israel was satisfied with Mr. Ecevit's clarification.

5. - Turkish Daily News: "European Court head: Broadcasting in Kurdish will not divide Turkey":

ANKARA / 10 April

European Court of Human Rights Chairman Luzius Wildhaber said that broadcasting in mother tongue would not divide Turkey. Attending a live interview hosted by Mehmet Ali Birand on Turkish news channel CNN-Turk, Wildhaber made comments on the Turkish government's agreement on broadcasting in the Kurdish language.

Stressing that the agreement was good news, Wildhaber noted that this would also provide a great contribution to the court. "It is possible for the member countries to file an application with our court in every official language. We are seeing cases in 37 languages. In this respect, it is normal for the languages to be reflected in the media. Of course, that does not mean that equal communication is provided. For instance, in my country there is a language that only 1 percent of the population speaks. This should be taken into notice for this reason. But basically this is wonderful news," he said.

When asked whether broadcasting in five or six languages would harm the integrity of the country, Wildhaber said that did not pose a threat to the integrity of the country. "On the contrary, if minorities can express themselves, they will be more relieved," he added.

Responding to a question whether this situation was positive in terms of the European Convention of Human Rights, Wildhaber noted that the cases brought to the court were not related to the use of minority languages in the past, adding that they had heard cases regarding the TV monopoly. He emphasized that they were supporting pluralism on television.

6. - Turkish Daily News - "Yilmaz: Turkey's steps on EU path cannot be underrated":

ANKARA / 10 April

The leader of the coalition's junior partner, the Motherland Party (ANAP), Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, said that the steps taken by Turkey toward meeting the Copenhagen criteria in the past year could not be underrated.

Attending a panel organized by the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB) on Turkey's EU membership, Yilmaz said that the European Union had asked for two things from Turkey as a prerequisite for the launching of full membership negotiations, which were the complete fulfilment of the Copenhagen political criteria, and movement on the Cyprus issue. Yilmaz noted that in the case of the EU finding Turkey's performance satisfactory, it would begin the negotiations.

Yilmaz emphasized that Turkey's presence in the EU process was not a coincidence, saying that the integration of Turkey with the West was the conscious preference of those who had established the republic. Yilmaz noted that although Turkey had been the first to take action in order to enter the EU, it was now the sole country being left behind among the 28 candidates.

According to Yilmaz, the EU expects Turkey to contribute and support the finding of a political solution for Cyprus. "In fact, we have always stressed that the EU's stance was not objective and was indifferent and did not help in finding a solution," he added. He said that the EU was wrong to provide the membership negotiation opportunity to Southern Cyprus before reaching a permanent political solution.