25 April 2002

1. "The report: Obligatory migration one of the worst dramas in Turkey history", the chairwoman of the GOC-DER, Sefika Gurbuz, stressed, "The events in our country are no different than this, instead of solving the Kurdish problem in a democratic way, the preference for violence caused the distortion of domestic peace."

2. "EUROPE: Turkey seeks to push through controversial media bill", the Turkish government plans to push through parliament a controversial media bill that clashes with the constitution and the country's commitments to the European Union, critics say.

3. "Death penalty issue likely to heat up", the abolition of the death penalty, which is among Turkey's medium-term political pledges, to the European Union in order to become a member, has come to the surface once again, as the government bill lifting the death penalty, except for crimes of war and terrorism awaits parliamentary debate.

4. "Bush calls on Turkey to normalize relations with Armenia", US President George W. Bush on Wednesday called on Turkey to move forward to a new stage in its history with Armenia and normalize its relations with the former Soviet state. Commemorating the 1915 genocide of some 1.5 million Armenians during the final years of the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of modern Turkey, Bush urged the world to learn from the "appalling tragedy."

5. "Turkish army cracks down on Islamist leader for anti-military remarks", the Turkish army has filed a complaint against prominent Islamist leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan for a 1992 speech in which he allegedly spoke out against the armed forces and praised radical Islam, the Anatolia news agency reported on Wednesday.

6. "Dutch interior minister: 'We won't block adding the PKK to the EU Terrorist list'", speaking at the Dutch Parliament yesterday, Dutch Interior Minister Klaas de Vries said the Netherlands would not veto adding the terrorist group PKK to the European Union’s official list of such groups, as it had previously done along with other EU members.

1. - Turkish Daily News - "The report: Obligatory migration one of the worst dramas in Turkey history":

IZMIR / 25 April / by Serdar Alyamac

The Migrants Solidarity and Culture Association (GOC-DER) has prepared a report on obligatory migration, which revealed the dramatic realities of people who were forced to migrate to other cities leaving their land, houses and lives behind. The chairwoman of the GOC-DER, Sefika Gurbuz, stressed at the beginning of the report that in the societies that were economically and democratically less developed and could not provide peace at home, crime and rights violations were experienced, reaching "a point that threatened their right to live, and for that reason, many people were forced to leave their homes."

Gurbuz stressed, "The events in our country are no different than this, instead of solving the Kurdish problem in a democratic way, the preference for violence caused the distortion of domestic peace. According to official figures, 3,848 villages were vacated and millions of people were forced to leave their land and homes. Finally, this event turned into a tragedy." Pointing out that despite the decrease in conflict in the southeast, the State did not provide the opportunities for people to return to their villages, Gurbuz said that the people who created obligatory migration have turned this into an instrument to obtain undeserved income. "Human smuggling became a real economic sector. There are lobbies benefiting from this. These lobbies do not want Turkey to be a democratic country adopted to the European Union in order not to lose their benefits."

"We have prepared this report on obligatory migration after a two-year study. This report was prepared in Istanbul, Izmir, Mersin, Diyarbakir, Van and Batman which absorbed most of the people who were forced to migrate. The report concerns 17,845 people who were forced to migrate, and we have interviewed these people face to face. We can quickly say that the most important reasons for migration are, the security forces' application in the Emergency Rules Region (OHAL) and the plateau and food embargo. On the other hand, education, health, and difficult economic conditions are the indirect reasons forcing people to migrate," Gurbuz said.

Stating that most of the people who were forced to migrate were living under the poverty line and had no social security, Gurbuz said that the authorities have left these migrants to fend for themselves.

Gurbuz also pointed out that 88 percent of migrants did not receive aid from the authorities, and that those who did receive help were supported by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and municipalities, not by the State. Gurbuz emphasized that despite all of the problems, 98 percent of people who were forced to migrate want to go back to their villages without any interference. "The democratization of Turkey and her membership to the EU depends on the solution of the Kurdish problem; and solving the obligatory migration issue is the first step. The solution of obligatory migration also depends on clearing landmines in arable fields, annulling the rural guard system, lifting the plateau and food embargo, compensating the loss of villagers, and giving these people the opportunity to return freely to their villages," Gurbuz said.

The report, prepared by sociologist Mehmet Barut, stated that the obligatory migration implemented on the Kurdish people in the southeastern region was one of the worst dramas experienced in the 21st century, "This drama was experienced because Turkey, a candidate of the European Union, could not have a rebuilding of democratization and an administration based on humanistic values."

According to the GOC-DER research, the average migrant family interviewed consisted of eight members. Almost 99 percent of migrants were from the eastern and southeastern Anatolia regions, most of them villagers. "The migration from the eastern and southeastern regions occurred between 1991 and 2000. During this period, most of the migration from the villages was made to Diyarbakir, Batman, Van, Siirt and Hakkari. Among these cities, Diyarbakir was a city that both received and created migration; Diyarbakir is also the city that received the most migration," the report stated.

"The age of the people forced to migrate was generally between 18-45, and these people had to live under the poverty line. Also, most of the family members were children between the ages of 0-14. These people have lost their ability to be productive because of unemployment. For that reason they are in a condition where they mostly consume. Some 18.1 percent of the 1,845 people interviewed were working, the rest, 82.9 percent, did not work. The percentage of those who cannot read or write is high."

The report underlined the reasons for migration and stressed that "The implementation of the OHAL, not accepting rural guard duty, the fear of losing their lives, vacating the villages because of armed conflicts and the plateau and food embargo were the main reasons people were forced to migrate. Health, education, and difficult economic conditions were others reasons." The report discussed these factors, stating that the migration had become massive and that the majority of people had migrated to cities where they had relatives. "The interesting thing was that the obligatory migration was not created according to any order or written notice. The people who had to migrate lost their main citizenship rights, such as ownership rights and settlement rights. Some of these people have appealed to the law to take back their rights, but they have not received any feedback.

"Furthermore, after this obligatory migration, the pressure on these people to migrate did not end. Approximately 36.3 percent of these people were arrested for political reasons. It came out that the people arrested could not properly use their right to defence."

The report emphasized that those who had been forced to migrate from their villages, now had to live in shantytowns in the cities where they migrated. "After the migration, nutrition problems emerged. They could not feed themselves properly."

"The majority of migrants still live in tents because of employment conditions. They set up their tents according to the working seasons. The obligatory migration caused these people to experience serious problems, such as adaptation to cities, economic concerns, education and health. Health problems especially, after migration became the main issue because of poverty and the absence of infrastructure. As a result, widespread health problems and contagious diseases threaten society's health as well.

"Among the migrant families, children aged 6-14 have been cut off from schools, so that most of the children do not know Turkish. Also, most migrant families prefer to speak Kurdish socially and at work. Furthermore, most of the women in these families do not understand the Turkish language. Due to these problems, the people who were forced to migrate could not find jobs and homes in the places where they migrated, and because of the differences in culture and mother tongue, they could not adapt. Young people also have problems with education and prejudice."

The report also stressed that the most important research finding was the migrants' aspirations to return to their villages. These people felt that they did not "belong to the place where they migrated because of cultural differences and they felt excluded. For that reason, if the structural problems causing obligatory migration were overcome and they were supported economically, they would return to their villages. Furthermore, most of them did not accept the central village project, and a few expressed that they would accept to live in central villages if they had no opportunity to return to their village."

The report emphasized that the problems resulting from obligatory migration could be solved if lingering social peace, and democratic and human rights were re-established. "However, the source of the problems and the new problems that have emerged with obligatory migration are political, social, cultural, economical and psychological, and for that reason the solution of the problem should be mostly political and social."

"The losses of these migrants should be compensated and in order not to experience such a drama again, the Constitution should be changed. OHAL and similar rules should be annulled and a general amnesty should be announced.

2. - Financial Times - "EUROPE: Turkey seeks to push through controversial media bill":

By LEYLA BOULTON / April 25

The Turkish government plans to push through parliament a controversial media bill that clashes with the constitution and the country's commitments to the European Union, critics say.

Aydin Dogan, the dominant Turkish media magnate whose newspapers account for two-thirds of Turkish newspaper advertising revenues, is the bill's most important backer outside parliament, and its most likely beneficiary.

The bill, to be submitted to the full parliament after its adoption in committee earlier this month, would remove a ban on media owners' right to bid for lucrative government tenders, including electricity distribution rights won by Mr Dogan's diversified conglomerate before a court ruled he could not exercise them. The support of Dogan group media is considered essential by most politicians eyeing an election due to be held by 2004.

EU diplomats argue that the law would also set back Turkey's bid to join the European Union, by tightening rather than liberalising restrictions on freedom of expression. For instance, the draft bill retains an effective ban on Kurdish-language broadcasting that Turkey had undertaken to lift by the end of last month. It also bans media from airing "pessimism". Lawyers say this could be interpreted to mean anything - including criticism of the unpopular three-party coalition government that is partly to blame for a devastating 9.4 per cent contraction in the economy last year.

In spite of a virtual blackout of coverage of the issues by Mr Dogan's eight newspapers and two television channels, the bill has been attacked by numerous critics struggling to broadcast their objections on other media, including internet news channels.

Nuri Kayis, head of the official radio and television media watchdog, has warned that the bill poses a threat to fundamental freedoms in Turkey and would allow already powerful media magnates to run "out of control".

Karen Fogg, the European Commission's envoy to Ankara, whose own e-mails were recently hacked and published in the media, has openly voiced concerns expressed privately by diplomats representing EU member states.

She has argued that the law contradicts the EU's criteria for a fully-functioning democracy - which Turkey must embrace before starting accession talks - as well as the government's stated commitment to ease constitutional restrictions on freedom of expression.

Savas Unsal, chief executive of Superonline, Turkey's leading internet service provider, says the law, which seeks to apply the same restrictions to the internet, would lead to a "huge exodus of Turkish websites out of the country, dealing a major blow to local internet content provision and the expansion of internet and related sectors".

The government has so far ignored all pleas for amendments to the bill, in an attempt to circumvent the legislation's most influential opponent, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. The president vetoed the bill last year. If no change is made to the draft rejected by Mr Sezer, he has no choice but to accept the legislation submitted to him a second time

Mr Sezer, who, perhaps as a warning, was recently attacked in Dogan group media for over-spending on curtains for the presidential palace, can still refer the law to the constitutional court. The court's deliberations - possibly influenced by an even more powerful media - could take years to produce a result.

3. - Turkish Daily News - "Death penalty issue likely to heat up":

ANKARA / 25 April

The abolition of the death penalty, which is among Turkey's medium-term political pledges, to the European Union in order to become a member, has come to the surface once again, as the government bill lifting the death penalty, except for crimes of war and terrorism awaits parliamentary debate. The tripartite coalition government is yet to reach an agreement on the issue, pushing the partners to seek a solution within the Parliament but outside the government.

On Tuesday, coalition junior partner of the Motherland Party (ANAP), leader and Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz warned, that in case the outer government agreement became widespread, the coalition would be harmed, stressing, that such an agreement would be an exception for the abolition of death the penalty.

Yilmaz's ANAP openly supports the abolition of it for the sake of Turkey's EU candidacy, while coalition senior partner Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), objects to such an act, with its fear that it would pave the way for the rescue of the inmate chieftain of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, who is currently on death row, from being executed.

Responding to questions from reporters on the issue during the Children's Day celebrations in Parliament on Tuesday, Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader and Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said that he continued discussing the matter with his partners, stressing that the DSP has been against the death penalty since 1970s.

Ecevit noted that ANAP and DSP were against the death penalty and the issue was nothing to do with Ocalan or anyone else. When asked whether the problem would be solved without the contribution of the MHP, Ecevit said they would think about it when necessary.

When asked whether there would be early elections in Turkey, Ecevit stated that there would be no such thing in his agenda, adding, that he did not know what that others thought about the issue. Responding to a question on the downsizing of the cabinet, Ecevit said that he would tackle the issue with his partners.

Like Ecevit, the MHP leader and Deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli responded to questions from reporters, during a Children's Day reception in Parliament. Bahceli said he found the discussion an important problem for Turkey in Parliament, but he stressed that an agreement reached in Parliament, would be the symmetry of a new coalition government that would be likely to emerge, hinting the importance of coalition harmony.

Bahceli, said it was wrong to find a solution to every problem, on which the government failed to reach an agreement, adding that the death penalty that came to Parliament, was an arrangement prepared in line with MHP's views.

Bahceli ruled out any possible early elections, and said that the current government aimed to stay in power until 2004.

Turk: Death penalty problem should be solved in three years

Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk, noted that Turkey should solve the death penalty problem in three years, since it was among the medium-terms pledges to the EU.

On answering a question on the execution of Ocalan, Turk noted that the Turkish Parliament might execute him within the law, and added he believed Parliament would make a proper decision in line with the country's interests.

4. - AFP - "Bush calls on Turkey to normalize relations with Armenia":

SOUTH DAKOTA / April 24

US President George W. Bush on Wednesday called on Turkey to move forward to a new stage in its history with Armenia and normalize its relations with the former Soviet state. Commemorating the 1915 genocide of some 1.5 million Armenians during the final years of the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of modern Turkey, Bush urged the world to learn from the "appalling tragedy."

"Today is an occasion for the world to reflect upon and draw lessons from these terrible events. It is a day for recognizing that demonizing others lays the foundation for a dark cycle of hatred," said Bush. "Transcending this venomous pattern requires painful introspection about the past and wise determination to forge a new future based on truth and reconciliation.

"In this spirit, I look forward to Turkey restoring economic, political, and cultural links with Armenia," Bush said. The president also underlined American solidarity with Armenia, and expressed gratitude for Erevan's support of the US-led war on terrorism in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks on the United States.

"In months to come America will continue to increase its security cooperation with Armenia and with Armenia's neighbors to combat terrorism and pursue a lasting and just settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which will strengthen peace and stability in the Caucasus," he added. Turkey categorically rejects genocide claims, saying that around 300,000 Armenians, along with thousands of Turks, died in fighting after siding with invading Russian troops to carve out an independent state in eastern Anatolia.

The 30,100 square kilometer (11,620 square mile) republic now has a population of around 3.5 million, with another seven million Armenians scattered around the world, including one million in the United States.

5. - AFP - "Turkish army cracks down on Islamist leader for anti-military remarks":

ANKARA / April 24

The Turkish army has filed a complaint against prominent Islamist leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan for a 1992 speech in which he allegedly spoke out against the armed forces and praised radical Islam, the Anatolia news agency reported on Wednesday.

The army's complaint to the justice ministry said that Erdogan's remarks amounted to "insulting and treating the armed forces with contempt" and "aimed to incite hatred and enmity among the public by observing religious differences", both of which are punishable crimes under the penal code. The ministry is now responsible with opening an inquiry into the speech, which could result in an official chargesheet against Erdogan, 48, who heads the opposition Justice and Development Party (AK).

In his speech in the northeastern city of Rize, a videotape of which was broadcast last week on a private television channel, Erdogan claimed the army sent untrained soldiers to fight armed Kurdish rebels seeking self-rule in the southeast of the country. "This is not defending the country. It is forceable suicide," said Erdogan, who at the time belonged to the now-defunct Welfare Party of former Islamist prime minister Necmettin Erbakan. Erdogan also praised Islamic rule over secularism and expressed support for Islamic movements in Algeria and Central Asia.

Without revealing details, the chief of the Turkish army, Huseyin Kivrikoglu, said late on Tuesday they had taken legal action against Erdogan, whom he accused of "throwing up his hatred towards the army". "We have launched a legal move against him," Kivrikoglu told reporters at a reception to mark the 82th anniversary of the parliament's foundation, according to Anatolia agency. "These remarks could not have been uttered by a normal person," he added.

In response, Erdogan said on Wednesday that Kivrikoglu's remarks were "unfortunate" and "casted a shodow on democracy in Turkey". "I reserve the right to legal procedures for the insulting remarks against my person in General Kivrikoglu's speech," he said in a speech to his MPs, Anatolia repoprted. Erdogan, the popular former mayor of Istanbul, has been a frequent target in the crackdwon of the Turkey's strictly secular elite, led by the army, against political Islam since 1997 when Erbakan, the country's first Islamist prime minister, was forced to step down amid a harsh anti-Islamist campaign.

Erdogan was convicted for sedition for publicly reciting a poem with pro-Islamic messages in 1999, for which he spent four months in jail. He made his political comeback last summer on the grounds that his sentence fell into the scope of an amnesty law of December 1999. But last week, the constitutional court said his conviction barred him from running for parliament.

6. - Sabah - "Dutch interior minister: 'We won't block adding the PKK to the EU Terrorist list'":

25 April

Speaking at the Dutch Parliament yesterday, Dutch Interior Minister Klaas de Vries said the Netherlands would not veto adding the terrorist group PKK to the European Union’s official list of such groups, as it had previously done along with other EU members.

De Vries also said that he didn’t want his country to stand alone in opposing adding the PKK terrorist group to the list.