21.
August 2002
2. "Cem: Germany Is One Of The Leading Key Countries In Turkey's Accession Process To EU", New Turkey Party (YTP) leader Ismail Cem said on Tuesday that Germany was one of the key countries in Turkey's accession process to the European Union (EU), noting that relations between Turkey and Germany, the EU, and Iraq would be discussed during his meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder who also acts as the leader of Social Democrat Party.
3. "Incidents similar to the ones that prompted Turkey to invade and occupy Cyprus now seem to be taking place in Kirkuk", Cyprus PIO relays a commentary from Hurriyet's Murat Bardakci on recent developments around Kirkuk.
4. "Headscarf issue flares after woman's death in Turkey", Medina Bircan already was dying from cancer when she was admitted to Istanbul University's Capa Hospital last month. Six days later, doctors told her son there was nothing more that they could do for his 71-year-old mother and advised him to take her home.
5. "Toxic Gas Tests Draw U.S. Study - Kurdish Group in N. Iraq Accused", the Bush administration recently considered launching a covert military attack against a tiny, radical Kurdish group in northern Iraq that might be experimenting with toxic agents, according to administration officials.
6. "Germany arrests suspected senior member of banned Kurdish group", German authorities have arrested a man suspected of being a leading member in Germany of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
Dear reader,
due to the holiday time our "Flash Bulletin" will not be forwarded to email addresses from August 1, 2002 until August 25, 2002. It can be viewed, however, right here in the internet at www.flash-bulletin.de as usual.
the staff
1. - Associated Press -"Danish prime minister says Turkey's reform package is large step toward EU":
COPENHAGEN / August 20, 2002
Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark, which holds the
EU presidency, Tuesday welcomed Turkey's reform package as a large
step toward membership of the European Union ( news - web sites).
But he refused to give Turkey any promises.
"This is indeed a courageous step by the Turkish government,"
he said.
In a bid to meet EU's entry requirements, Turkey this month abolished
capital punishment in peacetime, extended rights to minority Kurds
and eased restrictions on the press and freedom of expression.
Denmark will host an EU summit in December with 13 applicant countries
expected to take part, including Turkey.
"It's too early to say what Turkey can be offered (at the summit),"
Fogh Rasmussen told reporters after talks with Turkish Deputy Premier
Mesut Yilmaz.
Besides political requirements, Turkey also must fulfill economic
ones and work toward resolving a dispute over Cyprus. 
2. - Anatolia - "Cem: Germany Is One Of The Leading Key Countries In Turkey's Accession Process To EU":
ISTANBUL / August 20, 2002
New Turkey Party (YTP) leader Ismail Cem said on Tuesday that Germany
was one of the key countries in Turkey's accession process to the
European Union (EU), noting that relations between Turkey and Germany,
the EU, and Iraq would be discussed during his meeting with German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder who also acts as the leader of Social
Democrat Party.
Cem left for Berlin together with YTP Secretary General Istemihan
Talay to hold talks with Schroeder.
Cem, who had a news conference at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport, pointed out that his party would hold its first contact abroad in Germany, noting that Germany was very important for Turkey as more than three million Turkish citizens live there and with respect to economic relations.
Stressing that the EU would have priority in his contacts in Germany, Cem said, ''Germany is a strategic country on the EU issue, and bears a determining quality. The EU issue will have priority during the contacts. We have taken a very serious support from Germany and Chancellor Schroeder in the EU process. Serious and determined support of Schroeder in Helsinki Summit in 1999, the time when Turkey's candidacy was announced, had an important influence in getting candidacy status.''
Cem said, ''Schroeder is also a politician who always exerted efforts in overcoming of the difficulties of our people in Germany and worked for their integration with German society. Relations between Turkey and Germany, the EU, and Iraq will be among the issues which we will discuss together.''
Cem said that during his stay in Germany, he also had a meeting with Turkish businessman Vural Oger. ''Oger sent two million tourists to Turkey and he is closely following economic and political developments in Turkey. We'll meet with German and Turkish businessmen in Germany. The YTP regards investments and production very important; therefore, we see Germany as a big support and resource for Turkey,'' he said.
Cem also said that Germany is a key county in Turkey's EU membership process. ''We find this visit important for our people and also for Turkey's economic recovery,'' he commented.
When asked if foreign ministers of 15 European countries would support him before the elections, Cem said that he made good friends in the last five years not only in the EU, but also with foreign ministers in the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). ''All these people said they would support me,'' he went on to say. ''I didn't particularly asked for this support but their support is very important for the YTP. The YTP will be a leader in Turkey's preaccession process to the EU. Old friendships and their confidence will help me in this leadership efforts.''
When asked if he invited Vural Oger to his party, YTP Secretary General
Istemihan Talay said Oger has been strongly supporting the YTP since
the party's foundation and they would be very happy if Oger joined
the party.
3. - Cyprus PIO - "Incidents similar to the ones that prompted Turkey to invade and occupy Cyprus now seem to be taking place in Kirkuk":
"Hurriyet": We became aware of Kirkuk 80 years after we lost Iraq
August 20, 2002 / Cyprus PIO relays the following commentary from "Hurriyet" by Murat Bardakci from 18/08/2002
Ankara for the first time reacted strongly with regard to Kirkuk more than 80 years after it lost Iraq. Ankara warned Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP) Leader Mesut Barzani, who declared Kirkuk as a Kurdish city, "that he would stand to suffer" because of this. Kirkuk, which is only a couple of hours' distance from our borders and where up to one million Turks live, was felt as if it is "the furthermost city in a far country" for over 80 years. Moreover, this city has earlier become the scene of bitter experiences and massacres. Well, this was the short story of the past of the Turks living in Kirkuk after we lost Iraq...
Thus, Ankara displayed a tough reaction to Mesut Barzani's endeavour to declare Kirkuk as a "Kurdish city." Reacting to the incident, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned: "Turkey will absolutely oppose the idea of placing Musul and Kirkuk under Kurdish control. Barzani, who has begun to create tension with Turkey, stands to suffer because of this." With this statement, Turkey for the first time displayed this kind of an urgent reaction with regard to Kirkuk over 80 years after it lost Iraq. This was the first time that Turkey raised its voice regarding the issue. Kirkuk and its vicinity, where more than one million Turks live, has always appeared as the furthermost city in a far country for us. The word "Kirkuk" bears a different meaning for us when it is spelled together with Musul, that is, when it is expressed through "Musul and Kirkuk."
We used to feel sad every time we used to remember the lost territories after uttering the expression "Musul and Kirkuk." This sadness stems from the fact that we lost control over the oil beds found in those territories and that we do not possess the riches found there any more. However, the word "Kirkuk" alone did not usually remind us of anything. Well, Kirkuk, which is only a couple of hours' distance from our borders in the southeast and where more than a million Turks live, has appeared very far from us, but has only been the scene of bitter experiences and suffering. Incidents whereby numerous lives have been lost have followed one another and Kirkuk has been turned into poison for the Turks for over 80 years. The incidents that have taken place in Kirkuk have become more tragic than the incidents that took place in Cyprus in the sixties.
Ever since its monarchy era, Iraq implemented a long term "Arabization" policy in Kirkuk. This policy became tougher when the Ba'th regime became dominant in Baghdad. Arab settlement centres were set up in Turkish regions and Turks were gradually banned from buying and selling property. The districts affiliated with Kirkuk were linked to other provinces, thus reducing the city's area by 50 percent. The Turkish population was subjected to a phased migration and was forced to migrate to the country's southern regions and in the vicinity of Basra where only Arabs live. Meanwhile, Saddam Huseyin changed Kirkuk's name to "al-Ta'mim."
Meanwhile, the population proportions were also falsified. Although the Turks constitute 10 percent of Iraq's population, the Iraqi authorities claim that the Turks constitute only two percent of the population. Thus, given that they claim that only 400,000 Turks live in Iraq, whose total population stands at 20 million, the correct number of the Turks living in Iraq should be about one million.
We, for our part, did not make a single objection in this regard due to our economic concerns or due to our carelessness and ignored the matter by saying that all the events taking place in Kirkuk are Iraq's concern. Here is a short history of the tragedies that the Turks in Kirkuk encountered after Turkey lost its control over Iraq:
1924, the Levi storming: This event took place on 4 May 1924. The Iraqi soldiers stormed the houses of Turks without any reason and killed more than 100 Turks.
1946, the Gavurbagi incidents: A group of Turkish workers staged a strike in Kirkuk on 12 July 1946 demanding better working conditions. Soldiers marched against the strikers and opened fire at these workers with automatic weapons, killing a number of Turks.
The 1959 Massacre: This event took place on 14 July 1959, the first anniversary of the toppling of the Iraqi monarchy and the declaring of a republic. This was the largest massacre of Turks in history that took place in Kirkuk. Molla Mustafa Barzani, Mesut Barzani's father, had returned from exile a couple of weeks earlier. Barzani's men stormed into a Turkish coffeehouse and killed a Turkish man.
Following the growing of tension, armed units were dispatched to the city. A curfew was imposed and a siege was laid on Kirkuk from all sides. Storming the Turkish homes in a surprise move, Barzani's peshmergas and the Iraqi soldiers attacked the houses belonging to the Turks. A massacre was carried out in the city following orders issued by General 'Abd al-Karim Kasim, the Iraqi dictator in those days. Hundreds of Turks were killed and the workplaces belonging to Turks were plundered. This terror lasted for three days.
The 1980 executions: The prominent Turkish intellectuals were executed en masse after being hastily tried in a secret operation in response to orders issued by Saddam Huseyin. The executions continued intermittently until the Gulf War in 1990.
The 1991 Tuzhurmatu assault: The Gulf War had come to an end during this incident. The Kurds living in northern Iraq revolted against Iraq. Units affiliated with Saddam Huseyin coming from Baghdad first entered Tuzhurmatu town in Kirkuk and opened fire at a large number of civilians. Turkish archaeological structures hundreds of years old were grounded during this operation.
Fire was opened at Turkish refugees migrating toward the Turkish borders in the north and immediately thereafter Kirkuk was fired on from helicopters. A massacre worse than that in Kirkuk took place in Altinkopru town, situated between Kirkuk and Erbil. Fire was opened at hundreds of Turks from Kirkuk from all ages on the grounds that the Turks revolted against the authorities.
Well, the Turks in Kirkuk lived in this kind of a horror for a period of over 80 years. The nightmare is continuing. I am sure that a number of individuals will describe my writing as "chauvinism" and "illusion" and will make comments that are full of concepts such as "change," "globalisation," "geo-political balances," or "Middle East-Caucasus axis."
However, let us not forget the following: These concepts are never
uttered in our neighbouring countries, particularly in Iraq. Consequently,
the venture of someone named Mesut Barzani to claim that Kirkuk is
a "Kurdish town" means nothing but a "global annihilation"
for the one million Turks living in the vicinity of Kirkuk.
Let Us Not Forget the Following Three Articles
The establishment of an autonomous or an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq and the raising once again of the future of Musul and Kirkuk on the agenda reminded me of the three Articles of a famous agreement regarding this issue, mainly, Articles 62, 63, and 64 of the Sevres Agreement about the establishment of an independent Kurdish state... I am mentioning these three Articles here just for your information:
Article 62: A meeting will be held in Istanbul within a period of six months after putting in force the said agreement on the autonomy of the regions that will be determined in the future to the east of the eastern border with Armenia and to the north of the border between Turkey, on the one hand, and Syria and Iraq, on the other and where Kurds constitute the majority of the population. A three-member committee will thereafter be set up. Each of the three members of this committee will be appointed by the British, French, and Italian governments respectively. Should the committee fail to reach a solution with regard to a certain problem with unanimity of votes, each of the three members of the committee will refer the problem in question to his respective government...
Article 63: The Turkish government agrees from now to accept and implement any decision made by this or that committee envisaged in Article 62 within a period of three months after this decision is conveyed to it.
Article 64: Turkey agrees from now that should the Kurds living in the regions determined in Article 62, refer, a year after the said agreement is put into force, to the League of Nations asking for independence in the regions where the Kurds constitute a majority and should the League of Nations reach the conclusion that the Kurds are worthy of independence and advise Turkey to recognize the Kurds' independence, Turkey would heed to this advice and relinquish all its rights in these regions.
The process whereby Turkey relinquishes its rights will become the
subject of discussion during a special agreement that will be reached
between the allied countries and Turkey. The allied countries will
not oppose in any way the desire of the Kurds living in the Musul
Province sector of Kurdistan to join the independent Kurdish state
with their free will during the process whereby Turkey relinquishes
its rights in these regions.
4. - Chicago Tribune - "Headscarf issue flares after woman's death in Turkey":
ISTANBUL / August 20, 2002
By Catherine Collins
Medina Bircan already was dying from cancer when she was admitted to Istanbul University's Capa Hospital last month. Six days later, doctors told her son there was nothing more that they could do for his 71-year-old mother and advised him to take her home.
First, however, he needed to make arrangements for her to continue to receive dialysis as an outpatient. That is when the trouble began.
Because Bircan wore a headscarf--an important symbol of her Muslim faith--on her national health identification card, a document required for treatment at public hospitals, the hospital refused to approve the paperwork for her outpatient treatment. Turkey's staunchly secular government bans headscarves in public buildings such as parliament and universities.
She died a week later in the hospital as her son tried to alter her ID photo by digitally removing the scarf.
Almost immediately, pro-Islamic circles seized on the case and turned Bircan into a symbol of oppression of people who are outwardly religious. Women cannot attend universities wearing headscarves, and a member of the parliament was stripped of her office for wearing a scarf into the assembly.
In Bircan's case, the Islamists argue, the headscarf ban cost a woman her life.
As with most collisions between religion and government in Turkey, the truth is complicated and subject to distortion. Officials say Bircan was not denied proper care. "We never stopped medical treatment," said Dr. Deniz Sargin, vice dean of Istanbul Medical School.
The family says she was denied the outpatient care that would have allowed her to die at home with her family.
The long, complex dispute over the politics of scarves in Turkey
could be a flash point as the country heads toward parliamentary elections.
With half the voters undecided--many in the conservative rural areas--politicians
of all stripes are trying to craft appeals that may inflame the conflict.
Motivations disputed
Just where Bircan's death fits in depends on who is talking about it.
In order to leave the hospital and be treated at home, Bircan needed written approval from the hospital. Family members say hospital officials would not sign the documents because she wore a headscarf in her official photograph.
Sargin said the hospital requires that women patients present ID photos without scarves in order to fight fraud, because identities could be obscured. "This is not a human-rights issue," she said.
But Ahmet Mercan, director of Mazlum-Der, a human-rights organization, begs to differ. To him, the hospital's headscarf ban violates human rights.
"This is a private application [of law] by the university," Mercan said. "You cannot apply rules as you please in a state of law."
This latest twist in the headscarf dispute occurred after the government ordered all national public health cards renewed. Most public institutions applied the law only to students and staff, but Istanbul University expanded the dress code regulations to relatives of staff members and to patients, including Medina Bircan.
Although doctors are emphatic in saying they have continued to provide services to all patients, delays in processing paperwork may prevent patients from receiving prescribed care.
Typically, the hospital's waiting room is full of women wearing headscarves. During a recent visit, many expressed concern about their access to care under the rule.
"I would rather die than remove my headscarf," said Yeter Yavuz, 48. "This is my tradition. They should not be able to force me to forsake my traditions."
Many people have found a way to work around the regulations. A dozen
photo shops near the hospital digitally alter women's official identification
documents. Bircan's son Mustafa tried to do just that, but his mother
died before the new card was finished.
Strange bedfellows
The headscarf issue has created curious allies of traditional pro-Islamic Turks and liberal Western-leaning ones because it touches on freedom of expression and on religious tolerance.
The political party that is leading in opinion polls, Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-oriented Justice and Development Party, has a built-in appeal to conservative voters. Erdogan's daughter chose to attend Indiana University, where she did not have to relinquish her scarf.
At the other end of the political spectrum is a former foreign minister, Ismail Cem, who recently resigned from the ruling three-party coalition government to found a party called New Turkey. Cem, whose daughter runs an Internet company, surprised Turks recently with a promise to protect the country's secular system and religious freedoms.
"We have a formula," Cem said. "We say a secularism which is respectful of religious sensitivities."
Rights advocates are wary.
"We don't want to be an Algeria or an Iran, a country where
women are forced to wear head coverings," said activist Sanar
Yurdatapan. "But what is the difference between forcing someone
to wear something or requiring them to take it off? The human rights
are the same."
5.
- The Washington Post - "Toxic Gas Tests Draw U.S. Study -
Kurdish Group in N. Iraq Accused":
By Dana Priest and Bradley Graham
August 20, 2002
The Bush administration recently considered launching a covert military attack against a tiny, radical Kurdish group in northern Iraq that might be experimenting with toxic agents, according to administration officials.
U.S. officials said yesterday that a couple of members of Ansar al Islam, a small, Islamist Kurdish group, had been testing primitive forms of ricin and poisonous cyanide gas on farm animals in a makeshift dwelling. Ricin, a derivative of the castor plant bean, is highly toxic to humans.
In broadcasts last night, ABC News and CNN characterized the operation as a chemical weapons program in a laboratory. But officials said it was neither that advanced nor that sophisticated.
The reports, and the discussion within the administration over whether to take military action against such an inconclusive threat, point to the heightened pressure on the administration to make its case against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. In recent days, a number of prominent Republican leaders, including former national security adviser Brent Scowcroft, have publicly questioned the administration's stance against Iraq.
Sources said the administration did not make a decision about the group or its facilities, which leaves open the possibility of some military or paramilitary action.
Another administration official said that military action was one of many options reviewed, and that while a decision was made not to proceed with the operation at this time, details of the plan remain highly classified.
News of the potential raid comes amid recent reports that senior Pentagon officials are looking at a variety of covert operations to expand the role of Special Operations forces in the war on terrorism.
Air Force Gen. Charles R. Holland, chief of the U.S. Special Operations Command, met with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld earlier this month to review options.
It could not be determined last night which forces were considered for the raid, although one official said it had been conceived as a combined CIA and Pentagon operation and presumably would have involved Special Operations units such as Delta Force or Navy SEALs and their associated air crews.
Ansar al Islam is a fundamentalist Islamist group that operates outside of the territory controlled by Saddam Hussein and is thought to number up to 300 members. Some 10 to 15 Ansar al Islam members are thought to have gone to Afghanistan for training by al Qaeda in the past several years.
Intelligence officials, whose operatives would be supplying the Bush administration with information on the chemical weapons and terrorism threat from Iraq, do not know whether the group members involved in the experimentation were those trained by al Qaeda. Nor do they know whether Saddam Hussein was aware of their activities.
Ansar al Islam's link to Saddam Hussein is tenuous. The Iraqi leader is said to pass them arms and other equipment so they might harass the larger Kurdish nationalist groups operating freely in northern Iraq and seeking an independent state.
Asked to comment yesterday on reports of a pending attack on Ansar
al Islam, White House National Security Council spokesman Michael
Anton told Reuters: "We don't confirm whether something was,
is, or might be a military target."
6. - Associated Press - "Germany arrests suspected senior member of banned Kurdish group":
German authorities have arrested a man suspected of being a leading member in Germany of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.
BERLIN / August 20, 2002
The man, identified only as Bozan A., a Turkish citizen of Kurdish ethnic origin, was arrested by border police at Duesseldorf airport, a statement from the federal prosecutor's office said. He is accused of arson among other offenses.
Prosecutors said the man, who was in charge of youth work for the party, disagreed with a 1996 order from PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to end attacks on Turkish facilities in Germany and aimed, along with other activists, to "return the PKK leadership in Germany to its earlier terrorist line."
In 1997, prosecutors said, he ordered PKK activists to carry out an attack with Molotov cocktails on the premises of a German-Turkish friendship association in the west German town of Bad Kreuznach.
The PKK waged a 15-year armed struggle for autonomy in Turkey's predominantly
Kurdish southeast until announcing a cease-fire in 1999. Some 37,000
people, mostly Kurds, have been killed as a result of the fighting.