06.
August 2002
2. "Turk PM Ecevit Tells Dervis to Stay Loyal or Quit", Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit on Tuesday urged Economy Minister Kemal Dervis to either stop trying to set up a rival political group or quit the government.
3. "Turk: Ocalan to continue stay in Imrali", MHP is trying to set up its election strategy on a cheap exploitation of sentiments
4. "Turkey Faces EU Membership Hurdles ", European Union officials said Monday that Turkey still has a long road ahead before it can join their club, despite its passage over the weekend of requested reforms on the death penalty, minority rights and press freedom.
5. "Kurds of eastern Turkey hopeful on rights reforms", after decades of conflict, the Kurds in the eastern city of Tunceli on Monday cautiously welcomed Turkey's passage of sweeping human rights reforms, some aimed at expanding rights for minorities.
6. "Reforms sufficient for EU talks, says Ankara", Turkey’s sweeping human rights reforms has earned it the right to begin European Union membership talks, the country’s top bureaucrat for EU affairs Volkan Vural said in Ankara on Monday.
7. "Politics shaped by the European Union", the new shape of Turkish politics in the wake of the passage of the EU harmonization
8. "Turkish army names new chief of staff amid threat of US strike on Iraq", Turkey has named a new army chief of staff and reshuffled other top military posts amid mounting concern over a possible US military operation against neighboring Iraq, military officials said Saturday.
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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.
1. - Turkish Daily News - "What the European Union reforms will bring":
Capital punishment has been abolished, the ban on radio and TV broadcasts in Kurdish has been lifted, education in Kurdish is allowed, human smuggling is banned, restrictions on freedom of expression have been further eased, minority foundations will be able to buy real estate, and the right to a retrial is being introduced, provided the cases are approved by the European Court of Human Rights.
ANKARA / August 06, 2002
Parliament has introduced a series of sweeping reforms, which have lifted restrictions, and has put Turkey several leaps forward on the path to fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria.
Here is a summary of the reforms introduced by Parliament last week:
The death penalty has been scrapped and the heaviest penalty
has become life imprisonment without parole. The death penalty has been
maintained only for war crimes. This means that terrorist leader Abdullah
Ocalan and other leading Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) personalities,
led by Semdin Sakik, will not be executed. However, those who have benefited
from this new law will have to serve a life sentence without parole.
Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk says the terrorists saved by the lifting
of capital punishment will be in prison for life, while some legal experts
claim that Ocalan and those like him will serve a 30-year sentence and
will then be freed.
Article No. 159 of the Penal Code, which deals with crimes against the
State or state institutions, was recently changed. Prison sentences
were reduced, but this was criticized at home as insufficient. This
time, the law was properly overhauled, allowing criticism of all the
state institutions, provided it does not contain insults. From now on,
Turks will be allowed to criticize the Republic, Parliament, the government,
the ministers, the military, the police and the judiciary through the
media.
Human smuggling has been banned. This means that Turkey has fulfilled
its obligations according to the U.N. protocols on human smuggling on
land, sea and air, as well as the fight against international organized
crime. According to the new law, those involved in human smuggling or
human organ smuggling will be severely punished. Those using foreign
labor under duress or involved in slavery and human smuggling will be
punished by prison terms ranging from five to ten years. If the crime
is committed through organized crime, the penalties will go up to 20
years.
Associations in Turkey will be able to work abroad, and foreign associations
will be able to function in Turkey. However, foreign associations will
not be permitted to provide training in the field, on military and security,
and will not be allowed to operate training facilities. The law also
scrapped several bans imposed on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
operating in disaster zones.
The restrictions on academicians, civil servants and students setting
up associations have been lifted. All foreign publications will be allowed
into Turkey without restriction.
The minorities established by the Lausanne Treaty will be allowed to
purchase real estate to satisfy their cultural, religious, educational,
social and health needs through their foundations. However, they will
need a cabinet decision to do so. This new law was opposed by the Nationalist
Movement Party (MHP). The law also allows foreign foundations to open
branch offices in Turkey with permission from Cabinet.
Foreigners will be required to seek permission from the Interior Ministry
to stage a rally or organize a meeting, but they will be able to participate
in rallies organized by Turks, use banners, flags, and other tools without
seeking permission. They will only be required to inform the authorities
about their participation in such events 48 hours in advance.
Turks will be able to win the right to a retrial, provided their case
is approved by the European Court of Human Rights. The only condition
here will be that those who win a case at the European court, and obtain
compensation, will have to prove that they are still being treated unjustly.
The individual will be required to apply to the Court of Cessation for
a retrial within a year. Observers say Turkish courts will display more
sensitivity and see to it that their rulings are not overturned by the
European court. However, this law will only be applied to the decisions
of the European court after August. It will also go into force a year
after it is published.
Turkish citizens will be allowed to make broadcasts in their own mother
tongue. This means language broadcasts will be allowed in such languages
as Kurdish, Laz and Cherkez. The state broadcasting board, RTUK, will
monitor these broadcasts. The regulations on such broadcasts will be
made by RTUK. These broadcasts will not violate national unity and the
principles of the Republic.
Citizens will be allowed to open courses in the mother tongues being
used in Turkey, under the supervision of the Ministry of Education.
Special Kurdish courses will be allowed.
Prison sentences for the press have been scrapped, but have been replaced
by severe fines ranging from TL 10 billion to 100 billion. If the fines
are not paid, the journalists will be sent to prison.
Young people below the age of 18 will not be employed in gaming halls,
or in other recreational places open to the public that serve alcoholic
drinks. Young people below the age of 18 will not be allowed into night
clubs and bars even if they are escorted by their parents. 
2. - Reuters - "Turk PM Ecevit Tells Dervis to Stay Loyal or Quit":
ANKARA / August 06, 2002
Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit on Tuesday urged Economy Minister Kemal Dervis to either stop trying to set up a rival political group or quit the government.
"It is not acceptable for the treasury minister to
be going from door to door trying to direct the course of politics,"
Ecevit told CNN Turk television in a second open warning to the architect
of Turkey's $16-billion IMF accord in as many days.
sA spokesman for Ecevit's Democratic Left Party made similar warnings
on Monday.
"Our patience as a party is exhausted," Ecevit said. "The
time has come for a warning, a reminder...It is up to Mr. Dervis whether
to part company or not."
Financial markets slumped last month when Dervis resigned
briefly to join a new political party formed by defectors from Ecevit's
party. Dervis withdrew his resignation on urgings from the president.
Market reaction to Ecevit's comments on Tuesday was limited. Few believe
that Ecevit would invite economic problems by forcing Dervis to quit,
although he might be able to force him to tone down his public campaigning.
Dervis, an independent seen by financial markets as a
linchpin of the IMF deal, says he must stay in government to enact IMF
policies but has also been meeting rival party leaders, trying to forge
an alliance ahead of November 3 elections.
"Dervis cannot continue this. He has to understand it. Mr. Dervis
will find the solution," Ecevit said.
3. - Turkish Daily News - "Turk: Ocalan to continue stay in Imrali":
MHP is trying to set up its election strategy on a cheap exploitation of sentiments
ANKARA / August 06, 2002
State Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said, "Abdullah Ocalan is on Imrali island because of security reasons and the abolishment of the death penalty did not change this issue."
Indian Ambassador to Ankara Aloke Sen visited Turk on the occasion of giving Indian poet Tagore's name to a street in Ankara. Turk also answered questions from reporters at the meeting.
Responding to a question asking, "Will you renew the extradition demands after the abolishment of the death penalty?" Turk replied: "We will renew extradition demands regarding criminals who were not extradited because of the death penalty before but I cannot give a number. There are some prominent names among them. Fehriye Erdal is also among them."
Turk also said that the abolishment of the death penalty will lift obstacles blocking the fight against terrorism.
Turk also commented on the statement from Nationalist Movement Party leader Devlet Bahceli which says that the supporters of the enactment of EU harmonization are committing acts of treason saying that this statement is an indicator of a type of fanaticism and added, "This does not comply with patriotism."
Turk also defended that MHP is trying to set up its election strategy on a cheap exploitation of sentiments saying, "They did not execute Abdullah Ocalan, they are giving some capabilities to the minorities, they are giving permission to education and broadcasting in Kurdish."
Turk recalled that he will leave the office to Professor
Aysel Celikel on Tuesday and thanked reporters with whom he had worked
with for almost three-and-a-half years.
4. - AP - "Turkey Faces EU Membership Hurdles ":
Brussels / August 05, 2002
By Raf Casert
European Union officials said Monday that Turkey still
has a long road ahead before it can join their club, despite its passage
over the weekend of requested reforms on the death penalty, minority
rights and press freedom.
Turkey still needs to change in many other ways to become eligible,
EU officials say – from its stance on the divided island of Cyprus
to fixing the economy to containing the influence of the military.
Enlarging the European Union to include Turkey would be a watershed:
adding a big Muslim nation to a group of 15 which encompass the historic
heart of Christianity; extending EU borders to such countries as Iran,
Iraq and Syria; and adding a shaky economy of some 62 million consumers.
In Turkey, the weekend decision on human rights reform
has raised hopes EU membership talks can start within months. Its parliament
abolished the death penalty in peacetime, granted minority rights to
Kurds and took steps to ease press restrictions – all long-standing
demands of the EU.
"The Turkish nation will expect that this fact should be recognized
by the members of the EU," said Volkan Vural, the foreign ministry
official in charge of EU affairs. "Turkey should be eligible for
the start of negotiations."
Membership would give Turkey greater access to the EU
market and allow its economy to expand. Its citizens would be free to
travel and work throughout the member states.
In Brussels, where the EU headquarters is based, the reaction to Turkey's
decision was much more cautious.
"The principle is great. Now we have to see the implementation
in everyday life," said EU Commission spokesman Jean-Christophe
Filori.
The EU's executive Commission has already asked for clarifications on
several points, including the rights of religious minorities.
The EU will publish a review on Turkish progress toward membership negotiations
in October and continuously update it until the Dec 12-13 summit in
Copenhagen, Denmark.
"We cannot say what the decision will be in Copenhagen," said
Filori.
Just five years ago, the EU presidency claimed it would "take decades"
before Turkey could join, scoffing at the thought that the human rights
issue could be solved "in three to five years."
Now, French government spokesman Bernard Valero called the weekend reforms
"a significant step forward on the democratic path," and even
Turkey's historic rival Greece said it "constitutes a positive
step."
Yet, no more than a step.
In Washington, a U.S. spokesman said the passage of the
reforms was "a major step forward." in Turkey's bid to join
the EU.
"The reforms are aimed at increasing Turkey's chances of joining
the European Union, which the U.S. strongly supports," said State
Department deputy spokesman Phillip Reeker.
The EU wants Ankara to make greater diplomatic efforts
to solve the issue of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, where Turkish
and Greek Cypriots have lived divided since 1974 when Turkey invaded
and occupied the northern third.
New talks on Cyprus will get under way at the end of the month.
"We expect Turkey to contribute positively on solving the issue,"
Filori said.
Turkey's economy has also been in crisis and is far from
compatible with EU economic guidelines.
The European Central Bank seeks to hold inflation to no more than 2
percent. Turkey plans to limit its inflation this year to 35 percent.
It was 68.5 percent last December. Turkey is also the biggest borrower
from the International Monetary Fund.
Beneath the surface, there has also been the tension of
bringing a different religion into the EU. Then-prime minister Mesut
Yilmaz said five years ago that "there are some circles in the
European Union who want that Europe should evolve as a Christian club."
Even now, Dr. Heinz Kramer, an expert at the German Institute for International
and Security Affairs, said that "there is a reluctance in the EU
due to the cultural, religious and economic factors" to embrace
Turkey.
All this creates a dilemma, especially when Turkey makes
strides forward on human rights.
"Turkey is delivering, while in the European Union, the reluctance
is even growing to speed up the (membership) process," said Kramer.
5. - Reuters - "Kurds of eastern Turkey hopeful on rights reforms":
Dersim (Tunceli) / August 05, 2002
By Mark Bentley
After decades of conflict, the Kurds in the eastern city
of Tunceli on Monday cautiously welcomed Turkey's passage of sweeping
human rights reforms, some aimed at expanding rights for minorities.
Decisions made in Ankara take some time to reach Turkey's outlying areas,
and Tunceli, nestled in the mountains, is impatient for something concrete.
Last week the state of emergency (OHAL) in the province was lifted after
15 years of Kurdish separatist conflict, ending wide state powers to
impose curfews and ban rallies.
Over the weekend, parliament passed legislation that will allow Kurdish language broadcasting and education, reversing decades of state policy designed to prevent separatism and division in order to meet European Union membership criteria.
"The EU laws are out and OHAL's been lifted, so now
let them implement all of this. We've been waiting so long," said
Davut, a 70-year-old grey-bearded shepherd on a road that winds into
Tunceli across the lake formed by the Keban dam.
The road has four checkpoints, all still manned by troops, but they
were not stopping cars on Monday. Similarly a recent festival in Tunceli
passed without problems. Commandos with blue berets calmly watched festival-goers
leaving town on Monday.
"They haven't been checking any IDs during the festival but let's
see what happens now," Kemal, a local bus driver.
"The state has to come and build three or four factories. So many
people have left here, and there's no work for those who remain,"
he said.
COUNTRYSIDE SCARRED
Like much of Turkey's mainly Kurdish east and southeast,
Tunceli, known as Dersim before it was renamed after a 1930s uprising,
has seen thousands leave to escape the fighting, the checkpoints and
the poverty.
The countryside has been devastated by the conflict. Swathes of forests
were burned either by rebels or the security forces to deny the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) rebels a refuge.
Villages have been forcibly cleared, also to deny shelter to the PKK,
and many families who once depended on farming are hoping the end of
emergency rule and the new atmosphere may allow them a return to their
old small holdings.
More than 30,000 people have been killed since the PKK took up arms
for Kurdish autonomy in 1984. Turkey's military has beaten the rebels
back in the vast majority of the country and fighting has died down
since Turkey captured PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999.
Separately, an Istanbul state security court acquitted six men of charges
they had aided a "terrorist organisation" by joining a petition
drive in January demanding Kurdish-language education, the state-run
Anatolian news agency. The case against another 86 defendants continues,
however.
6. - Daily Star (Lebanon) - "Reforms sufficient for EU talks, says Ankara":
But Europe insists on implementation, too
August 06, 2002
Turkey’s sweeping human rights reforms has earned
it the right to begin European Union membership talks, the country’s
top bureaucrat for EU affairs Volkan Vural said in Ankara on Monday.
Parliament at the weekend passed a set of political measures that included
abolishing the death penalty and allowing Kurdish-language broadcasting
and education, moves aimed at meeting Brussels’ requirements to
start EU entry talks.
Vural, secretary-general for EU affairs, told reporters Turkey had now
fulfilled Europe’s so-called Copenhagen criteria, political reforms
needed to begin membership talks, and was looking to an EU summit in
December for confirmation.
“Our expectation from the Copenhagen summit is to win a date for
negotiations,” Vural said.
“This (reform) measure ensures Turkey is in the same league in
terms of the political system and political requirements not only with
the candidate countries but with member countries.
Therefore the Turkish nation … will expect that this fact should
be recognized by the members of the European Union,” he said.
But the European Commission spokesman Jean-Christophe Filori on Monday
sidestepped questions about whether the reforms were sufficient for
Ankara to be given the date it seeks later this year for opening EU
accession talks.
Filori said the 15-nation EU’s executive warmly welcomed the package
of reforms.
But much would depend on how reforms were implemented in practice, he
said.
“The clarifications we will seek … are, for example, on certain
points in the law concerning religious foundations,” Filori said,
asking whether all restrictions would be lifted.
The EU wanted to see whether any curbs would be placed on the new right
to broadcast on television and radio in languages other than Turkish
which in practice affects Kurdish, spoken by millions in Turkey.
“That practice has been established now. We welcome it. But this
measure requires implementing decrees. Will there be restrictions put
on this freedom or not?” he said.
Vural said Ankara hoped to see through the reforms in less than a year,
but implementation was not required to start talks with the EU, saying:
“If implementation was not looked into with the other 12 candidate
countries, it should not be looked at with us.”
Turkey’s Education Minister Necdet Tekin, for his part, said Monday
that Kurdish-language courses, which were once punishable by lengthy
prison terms, could be started within three months after Parliament
passed the series of reforms.
The legislation now needs to be published in the official gazette and
the approval of the president, both largely ceremonial moves, to come
into effect.
Tekin told Anatolia news agency that after the legislation formally
becomes law, his ministry would prepare the necessary decrees to regulate
private Kurdish courses.
“I see this (preparation) period as three months. Maybe they (the
decrees) could be released even earlier,” he said.
7. - Milliyet - "Politics shaped by the European Union":
The new shape of Turkish politics in the wake of the passage of the EU harmonization
August 05, 2002 / by Derya Sazak
Following the adoption of the European Union reforms,
there is now a road map in front of Turkey. If Turkey manages to get
a date for the beginning of accession negotiations from the EU at its
Copenhagen summit in December then we have a chance of becoming a full
member in five to seven years. That is two election terms.
Of course factors other than the EU itself will help to shape the Turkey's
future. A US operation in Iraq, pressure to settle the Cyprus issue
and the future of the IMF-backed economic programme, for instance, will
affect developments coming over the next year. As the military places
great importance on institutionalisation and strategic planning, by
looking at the decisions of the Supreme Military council we can tell
what the military sees on the horizon.
Gen. Hilmi Ozkok is due to take over the post of Chief of General Staff
from Gen. Huseyin Kivrikoglu at the end of the month and former Gendarmerie
General Commander Gen. Aytac Yalman has been appointed to be the new
commander of the Ground Forces. Gen. Yalman is an experienced header
who served in the southeast at a time when PKK terrorism was at its
peak and he knows northern Iraq very well. By appointing Gen. Yalman,
it seems that the military is preparing itself for a US operation in
Iraq. In addition to concerns over the future of Iraq, the military
is also going to be very sensitive about issues of internal politics.
The newly enacted EU laws have given hope to the public. However, it's
unclear how the process leading up to the Copenhagen summit will be
affected if the Justice and Development Party (AKP) emerges from the
elections having the most seats in Parliament. The EU package almost
didn't pass as a whole, due to the AKP's insistence on a constitutional
amendment on the death penalty. AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
his party must change their ambivalent approach towards the EU. It looks
like we're all going to have to wait and see if the AKP is going to
come to power and the kind of attitude it will adopt.
However, clearly no one wants to experience another 'Erbakan incident.'
If the AKP takes a pro-EU stance before the elections, then it will
do its best, after elections, to give Turkey a better chance of becoming
a full member. What's more is that the Turkish public, including the
people of the southeast, does not want politics based on ethnic and
religious identity to be a source of tension anymore. As for State Minister
for the Economy Kemal Dervis, he still has his reservations about the
role he'll play in Turkish politics. He is trying to unite left-wing
parties to balance the power of the AKP. Let's hope that with his indecisiveness
he doesn't divide the left even more.
8.
- AFP - "Turkish army names new chief of staff amid threat of
US strike on Iraq":
ANKARA / August 03, 2002
Turkey has named a new army chief of staff and reshuffled
other top military posts amid mounting concern over a possible US military
operation against neighboring Iraq, military officials said Saturday.
General Hilmi Ozkok, 62, who has been the commander of the ground forces
for the past two years, will replace chief of staff General Huseyin
Kivrikoglu, who is set to retire at the end of August after a four-year
term, the army said in a statement carried by Anatolia news agency.
The post left vacant by Ozkok will be taken over by General Tahir Aytac
Yalman, the 62-year-old commander of Turkey's paramilitary forces since
2000, it added.
The second-in-command of ground forces, Mehmet Sener Eruygur, was promoted
to head the paramilitary forces, the statement said.
Turkish newspapers had forecast that Washington's determination to oust
the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would play a major role
in any reshuffling of NATO member Turkey's top army brass at the annual
meeting of the country's Higher Military Council. Prime Minister Bulent
Ecevit chaired the three-day session, which ended Friday.
Turkey, a key US ally hosting a major US air base, is opposed to any
military moves against its southern neighbour, fearing this could have
grave economic consequences and spark unrest in its southeast at a time
when Ankara is already grappling with a severe economic crisis and heading
into snap polls in November.
The council also decided to expel 46 soldiers for "disciplinary
reasons", the statement said, a term the army uses to describe
affiliation with pro-Islamic movements.
A council ruling on expulsion is irreversible and cannot be appealed
through either civilian or military courts.
The powerful Turkish army, the self-appointed guardian of the mainly
Muslim country's strictly secular system, has carried out three coups
in the past and led a harsh secularist campaign that forced the country's
first Islamist prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan, to step down in 1997.