10
January 2002
2. "Turkish Court Ruling Hobbles a Popular Pro-Islamic Politician", in a blow that may prevent Turkey's leading pro-Islamic politician from becoming prime minister in the foreseeable future, the country's highest court placed tight restrictions today on the political activities of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the former mayor of Istanbul.
3. "Intellectuals support the mother tongue", anumber of Turkish and Kurdish intellectuals including Yasar Kemal and Celal Baslangic support the campaign for Kurdish education organised by Kurdish students.
4. "Israel, Turkey plan to discuss Arrow-2", Israel and Turkey plan to discuss a project to jointly produce the Arrow-2 anti-missile system with the United States.
5. "Bulldozers level Ottoman fort site to develop Mecca", Bulldozers have completely razed an Ottoman fort here, sparking a diplomatic spat with Turkey, and are now clearing the rubble for a housing and shopping complex overlooking Islam's holiest site.
6. "General Staff opening up to the civilians", the meeting involving the creation of SAREM gives an important message. A changing world and a changing Turkey is causing TSK to review its thought and assessment processes.
1. - AFP - "Turkey proposes easing prison conditions":
ISTANBUL
Turkey's justice minister said prison conditions could be relaxed
on Wednesday in an attempt to end a hunger strike by prisoners which
has so far cost the lives of 45 prisoners and supporters, the Anatolia
news agency reported.
Among reforms proposed by the minister, Hikmet Sami Turk, is an increase in the amount of free time for prisoners to five hours per week. "Even if the number (of recent deaths) is reducing, the fact that there are still hunger strikers among the prisoners constitutes a serious problem for each and every one of us," Turk told a press conference. In return, Turk has asked that the protestors abandon their hunger strikes "to the death" and agree to accept medical treatment.
The five hours a week free time is a concession by the minister, who, since the beginning of the protests in October 2000 has denied prisoners access to social and sports facilities to prevent co-ordination of the strike movement. It follows the pardoning of four gravely ill prisoners by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer so far this month. At the core of the strike launched mainly by prisoners belonging to hard-left and Kurdish nationalist groups, was a proposal to end the housing of prisoners in large dormitories housing up to 60 prisoners in favour of in small cells containing a maximum of three beds. Turk rejected a proposal from barristers that doors be left open within three-cell units which would allow prisoners to talk to each other throughout the day.
"The law does not allow for this," said. Protestors claim that the new prison cells for up to three people, which replace large halls housing 60, increase social alienation and leave prisoners more vulnerable to attack. As well as the 45 deaths directly due to the strike, the movement saw 30 prisoners killed during a combined assault by police in December 2000 on a number of prisons in a bid to re-establish state contol in the jails.
Two police officers were also killed in the pitched battles
between prisoners and the forces of law and order which followed. In
November 2001, four more people died when police raided houses in Istanbul
which were sheltering hunger strikers and four prisoners burnt themselves
to death in protest against the raid. 
2. - The New York Times - "Turkish Court Ruling Hobbles a Popular Pro-Islamic Politician":
ISTANBUL / by DOUGLAS FRANTZ
In a blow that may prevent Turkey's leading pro-Islamic politician
from becoming prime minister in the foreseeable future, the country's
highest court placed tight restrictions today on the political activities
of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the former mayor of Istanbul.
The Constitutional Court said that Mr. Erdogan's 1999 conviction for threatening the secular government by reciting a poem deemed seditious disqualified him from serving as a founding member of the new Justice and Development Party, the country's most popular political party.
In its 6-to-5 decision, the court also said Mr. Erdogan's conviction meant that he could not be elected a deputy to the Turkish Parliament, a necessary step to becoming prime minister. His party is thought to have strong chances of winning the next election in 2004.
The decision left some confusion about Mr. Erdogan's political status, but it was clearly a victory for Turkey's staunchly secular establishment and a setback for Mr. Erdogan's moderate Islamic politics.
Mr. Erdogan held out hope for a reprieve before the next elections, telling reporters after a party meeting tonight: "There is still a long time before elections. In politics, as you know, a lot of things may change in 24 hours. For now, I am still in charge as chairman of the party."
Murat Mercan, an assistant to Mr. Erdogan, said the full impact of the court's decision will not be known until the ruling is published in the coming days.
The pro-Islamic party has ridden Mr. Erdogan's popularity and disenchantment with the governing three- party coalition to the top of public opinion polls since its founding last summer.
Turkey is entering the second year of a deep economic crisis, with inflation and unemployment running high and rescue by international lenders the only help in sight. One result is that Turks have little hope or trust in the current parties, according to recent public opinion polls.
The confusion over today's court ruling was all the greater because the written decision was not released.
The deputy head of the court, Hasim Kilic, told reporters that the justices had decided to order the pro- Islamic party to remove Mr. Erdogan from its board of founding members within six months. However, Mr. Kilic said the court did not agree to the prosecution's request that Mr. Erdogan be suspended as the party's chairman until he is removed from the board.
The court also rejected the prosecution's argument that six women who wear the traditional Islamic head scarf be removed from the party's founding board. Prosecutors contended that the head scarves violated secular law.
The ultimate decision on Mr. Erdogan's suitability to run for Parliament will be made by a state-controlled election board shortly before the 2004 election.
In an interview on Haber Turk, a local television station, Burhan Kuzu, a law professor in Istanbul, also raised the possibility that proposed changes to Turkish laws that restrict free speech could open the way for Mr. Erdogan to regain full political rights before the next election. Amendments to the Constitution that are under consideration as Turkey tries to join the European Union would lift many of the constraints on political speech.
Mr. Erdogan was mayor of Istanbul in the 1990's and a
member of the Islamic-oriented Welfare Party, which was later banned.
3. - Kurdish Observer - "Intellectuals support the mother tongue":
A number of Turkish and Kurdish intellectuals including Yasar Kemal and Celal Baslangic support the campaign for Kurdish education organised by Kurdish students.
ISTANBUL 
A number of Turkish and Kurdish intellectuals including Yasar Kemal
and Celal Baslangic support the campaign for Kurdish education organised
by Kurdish students.
The press conference held in Human Rights Organization (IHD) Istanbul Branch was attended by writer Cezmi Ersoz, linguist Feqi Huseyin Sagnic, journalist-writer Celal Baslangic, lawyer Niyazi Bulgan, KESK General Secretary Sevil Erol, MKM administrator Hatice Coban, Harun Ece on behalf of students and our newspaper's writer Ragip Zarakolu.
Reading the statement, IHD Branch Chairwoman Eren Keskin said that repression on students continued and a number of students were detained, 4 students were put into prison and they were tortured under detention. Keskin added that writer Yasar Kemal supported the campaign although he could not come as well as other writers and intellectuals who supported the campaign but could come to the press conference.
Lausanne Agreement
The statement drew attention that the campaign for mother tongue had spread to a number of universities rapidly and petitions were submitted in 21 universities. It stressed that in some universities petitions were accepted while in some declined, adding the following: "In some universities such as Dicle University the university administration collaborated with police and confiscated the petitions. Students were threatened."
Chairwoman Keskin stated that there were no legal obstruction before the Kurdish education, continuing to say the following: "Paragraphs 4 and 5 of the article 39 of the Lausanne Agreement guarantees it for everybody. Paragraph 4 foresees it as follows: 'There will be no limit for using a language freely in all public and private transactions and religion and publication.' Beside it, other international agreements ratified by Turkey and Copenhagen Criteria in particular guarantees 'education in one's mother tongue' and 'the right to learn one's mother tongue'."
Repressions shameful
Then journalist-writer Celal Baslangic gave a talk, saying that he felt mortified that in the year 2002 languages were repressed and banned. And Ragip Zarakolu pointed out that Turkey did not comply with the international agreements it had ratified and violated the articles of the Lausanne Agreement while Cezmi Ersoz stressed that banning a language meant to make a nation feel lonely, and isolation on a nation of 20 millions should be lifted. KESK General Secretary Sevil Erol and linguist Feqi Huseyin Sagnic stated that they supported the campaign. Istanbul MKM administrators, on their part, emphasized that they claimed the campaign their own. And the students' representative Harun Ece said that their friends were wounded severely after an assault with cleavers and gave the medical reports to the reporters, adding that repression would not intimidate them.
Writers and artists
Writers and artists supporting the campaign are as follows:
Yasar Kemal, Cezmi Ersoz, Ragip Zarakolu, Sevil Erol, Celal Baslangiç,
Aydin Sayman, Ferzende Kaya, Umay Umay, Ayse Duzkan, Osman Bas, Ziya
Ozanlar, Ismail Goldas, Osman Özçelik, Mahmut Sakar, M.
Salih Yildiz, Erol Emerle, Gulsum Cengiz, Metin-Kemal Kahraman, Munir
Ceylan, A. Melik Firat, Sanar Yurdatapan, Yusuf Çetin, Nebile
Irmak Çetin, Sunay Akin, Ragip Duran, Mulazim Özcan, Sukru
Erbas, Helim Yusiv, Firat Ceweri, Arjen Ari, Renas Jiyan, Rodi Zerya,
Kawa Nemir, Lal Lales, Cihan Roj, Irfan Amida, Berken Bereh, Ehmed Hüseyini
and Kazim Oz on behalf of MKM artists.
4. - Middle East Newsline - "Israel, Turkey plan to discuss Arrow-2":
ANKARA
Israel and Turkey plan to discuss a project to jointly produce the
Arrow-2 anti-missile system with the United States.
Turkish defense sources said an Israeli delegation is expected later this month in Ankara to discuss a trilateral missile defense project that would produce the Arrow-2 in Turkey. The talks would be the first since Ankara cancelled a round of missile defense negotiations meant to have been held in Tel Aviv last summer.
The United States, the sources said, has shown renewed interest in Turkish participation in the project. They said this is a reversal from years of opposition by Washington for Turkish procurement of the Arrow.
The sources said Washington has ended its opposition to
Turkish participation in the Arrow amid the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan
and efforts to recruit Turkey in any attack on the regime of Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein. Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, who has expressed
opposition to the attack, is scheduled to meet President George Bush
in Washington next week.
5. - AFP - "Bulldozers level Ottoman fort site to develop Mecca":
MECCA / by Omar Hasan
Bulldozers have completely razed an Ottoman fort here, sparking a diplomatic spat with Turkey, and are now clearing the rubble for a housing and shopping complex overlooking Islam's holiest site.
Ajyad fort was built by the Ottoman rulers of the western province of Hejaz around 1775 to protect Mecca against marauding tribes. It was sacrificed last week in the march to modernisation that has seized the oil-rich Saudi kingdom and brought vast construction projects to both Mecca and Medina, the two most sacred shrines in the Moslem world.
"For all the expansion, ordered by King Fahd, we made sure the Ottoman-era designs and constructions were left intact out of respect for the Ottoman contribution," an official with the authority in charge of the Grand Mosque told AFP. "Even for this project, the fort, though it is not as valuable as the Grand Mosque, will be rebuilt exactly to its original design," and on the same spot, he added. A modern replica of the fort will be built once Bulbul hill is flattened into a 23,000 square metre site to be developed at a cost of 533 million dollars.
"It had to be demolished because this is the only way to make use of the hill," the official said. The huge Grand Mosque compound is surrounded by dark-coloured hills, the highest of which is Bulbul, atop which Ajyad fort stood guard. All the other hill sites have already been developed with high-rise hotels and shopping malls, although two other forts from the same period remain untouched nearby. "This is the only empty side left facing the Grand Mosque in an area where there is tremendous demand for housing projects," said an official with the Mecca Development Authority.
"I think the Turks have no justification for their protests because the fort will be rebuilt, and the city needs modernisation," he said, asking not to be identified. Mecca has a population of some 550,000 people, but that figure swells by a further two million people clamouring to have an elevated view of the mosque during the annual haj pilgrimage. Even outside the haj period the faithful pour into Mecca from around the world. Turkey claimed that the demolition of Ajyad resembles the Taliban's destruction last year of giant statues of Buddha in Afghanistan.
Ankara said it had taken its case to the United Nations cultural body UNESCO, although the small, 800-square metre, fort was not a protected monument. Saudi Arabia hit back furiously on Wednesday telling Ankara not to meddle in its internal affairs. "What the kingdom did is part of exercising sovereignty over its territory," Saudi Minister of Awqaf (Endowments) and Islamic Affairs Saleh al-Shaikh said. The project was vital for the Grand Mosque, which owned the fort and surrounding land, he said. The project's returns will go to the mosque. "This is in the interest of Muslims all over the world," the minister asserted.
But in Ankara, parliament Speaker Murat Sokmenoglu called
it a sign of animosity against Turkey, a secular state established after
the collapse of the Ottoman Empire with a pro-Western leaning that many
Arabs see as a deviation from Islam. "A Muslim country's destruction
of another Muslim country's historic heritage on holy soil is sinful
behaviour in breach of the moral values of Islam, religious brotherhood
and common sense," he said. Sokmenoglu called on thousands of Turks
planning to travel to Mecca for the haj pilgrimage to "keep in
mind this issue."
6. - Turkish Daily News - "General Staff opening up to the civilians":
Opinion by M. Ali Birand
The meeting involving the creation of SAREM gives an important message.
A changing world and a changing Turkey is causing TSK to review its
thought and assessment processes. The important thing is for this group
to be able keep well abreast of the conditions
Two days ago the General Staff created a research group named Strategic Studies and Research Center (SAREM). The nature of the persons invited to the inauguration meeting and the fact that the chief of staff attended the meeting and delivered the inauguration speech, were signs attesting to the importance the TSK attach to this group
Brig. Gen. Resat Odun's speech indicated that the intention is to create, via SAREM, a think-tank which would be half-military and half-civilian. In other words, without being bound by official policies, SAREM will make "security-oriented studies and assessments at the geopolitical and geostrategic level."
SAREM can be viewed in two ways.
One may think that the military will bring together those who think in the same way as the military and obtain the results the military want.
I do not think that this is the way Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) views the issue at hand.
At the spot the world and Turkey has now reached, it would be impossible to assess the developments only through the military viewpoint and to draw conclusions. The military too will express their views but assessments must be made by adding to these the civilian and scientific views as well. It was no secret that the General Staff too has felt this need for some time. Now the first step has been taken.
In such studies the most important factor is that the names that will make a contribution to the group must be selected properly and that no limits should be imposed on the nature of the work to be done and the mental exercises to be engaged in.
There is, in the United States, a THINK TANK similar to SAREM: The RAND Corporation.
The researchers who work for RAND, some of them civilians and others with a military background, get support from the Pentagon. However, they do not feel bound by the official views. They make studies with America's general interests.
If the General Staff contents itself by hearing out the retired soldiers and academics who think in the same vein as the "headquarters", it cannot get from SAREM the benefits it expects.
For example, RAND makes use of academics who have extremely liberal views along with journalists and, especially, businessmen. The more divergent views get produced the sounder decisions the policy-makers can take.
SAREM is a good beginning.
The TSK is indicating that it wants to hear out the civilian views more extensively and to have diversity in its assessments.
Transparency the most important factor
The money to be spent will be wasted if SAREM gets turned into a hardly accessible group at the General Staff, a group whose communications, publications and meetings are subject to military discipline and control, that is, if SAREM gets turned into a group that looks at the developments exclusively through the military's window.
I think that exactly the opposite will happen.
I expect creation of a "transparent" working environment in which certain taboo subjects and approaches too will be debated.
I am dreaming of an environment in which it would be possible to debate even Cyprus, the Turco-Greek relations in the Aegean, Northern Iraq and the Kurdish problem in the region.
A mental exercise of this kind would undoubtedly benefit not only TSK but also the media, even the universities.
Unfortunately, in our country the circulation of information is very inadequate.
Here, there is no habit of debating without fear or to listen to different views.
SAREM can break these taboos -- if that is desired.
Both the state and society would benefit greatly from learning not to fear ideas and to discuss even those ideas that seem to be most extreme.