18 June 2002

1. "Selcuk: Turkey delayed in abolishing death penalty", Evren: Turkey delayed too long in hanging Ocalan.

2. "Turkey's pro-West role", American politicians and media keep asking, "why can't other Muslims be more like the Turks?" In the North American view, Turks are 'good Muslims:' - democratic, pro-western, cooperative, and non-troublemaking.

3. "Political uncertainty takes toll on Turkish markets", ailing Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit admitted Monday that political uncertainty could deal a new blow to the economy as markets fell further amid obscure prospects for the government's future.

4. "U.S. seeks to unite Iraqi opposition groups", Congress is backing a Bush administration request to provide money to prod two rival factions in northern Iraq to create a united opposition to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

5. "I am the target of EU opponents: Fogg", the EC representative praises the MGK for its moves to end capital punishment.

6. "Greek lobby succeeded to stop the credit", Turkey can not buy 14 helicopters.

1. - Turkish Daily News - "Selcuk: Turkey delayed in abolishing death penalty":

Evren: Turkey delayed too long in hanging Ocalan

ANKARA / 18 June 2002

Newly retired chairman of the Court of Cassation Chairman Sami Selcuk said that Turkey should definitely abolish the death penalty, adding that it was already delayed in abolishing it.

Attending a live TV show namely Press Club in private channel HaberTurk, Selcuk commented on various issues such as the abolition of the death penalty, headscarf ban and election bans.

Stressing that he has been supporting the abolition of the death penalty for years, Selcuk stated that he has been in favor of the abolition of it totally, adding that people should think wise on this issue although he could understand the sensitivities of Turkish people.

When asked a question on the death sentence of outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) chieftain death row inmate Abdullah Ocalan, Selcuk refused to talk on person basis. He stated that Turkey would of course consider the European Union, adding that the death penalty was a sentence, which the contemporary world left behind.

"I agree with Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk's views. Because the new law suggests a sentence lighter than the death penalty. Life sentence does not urge conditional release. We should look at the amendment. This law is a positive law. If it's perceived as a total, there is no problem," Selcuk added.

Parliament recently adopted a constitutional amendment abolishing the death penalty except for crimes of war and terrorism. Coalition main partner Democratic Left Party (DSP) deputies considered lifting this penalty with a motion to change this amendment, while the coalition senior partner Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) objected to it. Thus, the DSP is planning to receive the support of the opposition and change this amendment with a proposal to come from the opposition.

Emphasizing that the death penalty cannot be put on the referendum, Selcuk stated that the view of an execution of a convict was horrible and added that judges have always been regretful for their death penalty verdicts.

"In the 1970s, I, too, suggested that the death penalty should be abolished except for crimes of war. The West wants the abolition of it including all exceptions. This is a scientific issue. This cannot be put on a referendum. It is very hard to tell its details. I do not agree with Turk on the issue that the death penalty should not be abolished for the crimes of war," he added.

Headscarved students should be able to enter universities Commenting on the headscarf ban at schools and universities, Selcuk stated that universities were places where everybody should enter, adding that these headscarved students should be able to enter their classes wearing their headscarves.

Selcuk noted that a legal mistake was being made on this issue and stressed that nobody including the media should comment on the decisions reached by the jurisdiction.

Political ban is wrong When asked his opinion about the political bans, Selcuk stated that he did not find them right, adding that making politics was a right that must not be banned by anybody.

Selcuk stated that the European Court's criteria were obvious on this matter, but stressed that nothing that provoked and encouraged violence could be accepted.

Evren: Turkey delayed too long in hanging Ocalan

Turkey's 7th President Kenan Evren said that Turkey has delayed too long in hanging outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) chieftain and death row inmate, Abdullah Ocalan.

Visiting Denizli over the weekend, Evren responded to questions from reporters and commented on Ocalan's death sentence. Evren said that it was not appropriate to debate whether or not to execute Ocalan at present, since the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) was about to deliver its verdict on the issue.

Evren emphasized that he did not agree with the claims that if Ocalan was hanged, he would become a hero, adding that there would be no such outcome. Noting that Turkey did not do what it had to do three years ago, Evren said that Ocalan should have been executed when the court delivered its verdict, adding that it was now too late.

2. - Dawn Internet Edition - "Turkey's pro-West role":

By Eric S. Margolis / 17 June 2002

American politicians and media keep asking, "why can't other Muslims be more like the Turks?" In the North American view, Turks are 'good Muslims:' - democratic, pro-western, cooperative, and non-troublemaking.

Turkey is assuming command of the western 'protective' force in Kabul, Afghanistan, propping up the US-installed regime of Hamid Karzai. Turkish intelligence works closely with CIA and Israel's Mossad against Islamic militants. Turkey has become a close ally and major arms customer of Israel. Islam - particularly its political and social sides - is severely restricted by Turkey's militantly secular, anti-religious regime.

In return for Turkey's 'strategic partnership,' Washington just rushed to save Turkey from financial collapse through a $12 billion IMF loan. Turkey's shaky economy shrank nearly 10 per cent last year; inflation is rampant, with one US dollar now equal to almost 1.5 million Turkish lira. The on-going illness of Turkish prime minister Bulent Ecevit has further worsened the financial crisis.

On a closer view, Turkey's credentials as a western-style democracy are far from perfect. When US Vice President Dick Cheney came to Turkey to drum up support for war against Iraq, he devoted far more time meeting with the chief of staff of Turkey's powerful armed forces than with Prime Minister Ecevit. The real power in Turkey remains the army. Turkey, like Prussia, is an army disguised as a nation. Behind a fagade of squabbling, impotent politicians, real power in Turkey is held by the generals, who throw out prime ministers whenever they please.

Turkey's generals see themselves as keepers of the sacred flame of Kemalism, the statist political system created by Kemal Atat|rk in the 1920s. Ataturk was a brilliant general who saved post-World War I Turkey from being carved up by Britain, France, Italy, and Greece. As the father of modern Turkey, he imposed a dictatorial regime that was influenced by 1930s fascism and communism.

Ataturk sought to remake Turkey into a European nation by banning the Arabic alphabet and the fez, repressing Islam and even hanging Islamic scholars. He literally ripped out Turkey's Islamic roots and replaced them by a form of imitation Europeanism that left the Turks with a persisting national identity crisis, unsure of what they really are: easterners, westerners, or something in between.

Turkey's armed forces perpetuate Ataturk's philosophy. Enshrined in a regal mausoleum, Atat|rk has become the secular god of Turkey. Anyone daring to question Kemalism is jailed - or worse. Leaders of Turkey's moderate Islamic parties have been routinely ousted from office on phoney charges and thrown in prison. One, the popular mayor of Istanbul, for daring to read a classic poem deemed too Islamic by the generals.

Turkey's Kemalist political system is designed to perpetuate the interests of the nation's US-supported ruling elite, an alliance between the military and big industrialists. Leftist critics call it the last of the 1930s totalitarian systems. Westernized urban Turks, mostly nominal Muslims, generally support the status quo and favour joining Europe. Rural Turks, larger in number but without any political power, are deeply religious, do not support westernization, and favour a return to Turkey's Islamic roots.

The nation's largest minority, Kurds, remain a central problem for Turkey. Though the long Kurdish struggle for an independent state has been suppressed, and Kurdish leader Ocalan captured, Kurdish nationalism still remains sand in the eye of the Turkish nation. Turkey's brutal war against Kurdish insurgents was marked by serious human rights violations that earned condemnation by Europe. Turkey's oft-criticized rights record has been the ostensible reason Europe has continued to deny Turkey admission to the EU. The true reason: Christian Europe's potent prejudice against admitting Muslim Turkey, with millions of farmers. Europe is up in arms against its Muslim emigrant population, and certainly has too many subsidized farmers.

Turkey's strategic alliance with Israel - underlined by a recent $800 million tank deal signed with Israel during the bloody Israeli invasion of Palestinian territory - won Ankara important support in the US Congress and silenced complaints over its human rights record, but outraged the Muslim world. The Israel lobby has been making things easy for Turkey in Washington and preventing the Greek and Armenian lobbies from imposing restrictions on US-Turkish relations. Good relations with Israel assures good press in the US.

President Bush's crusade against Iraq and militant Islam has put the Turks in a difficult position. Turkey has lost billions on trade with Iraq by supporting US sanctions against Baghdad. Now, the US is pressing Turkey to act as the policeman against Islamic groups and deepen its anti-Islamic cooperation with Israel. A majority of Turks oppose such policies; many Turks are calling on Ankara to embrace moderate Islam, stop acting as Washington's gendarme, forget hostile Europe, and resume Turkey's traditional close relations with the Arab Mideast.

Turks have long complained that their enormous contribution to NATO - its second largest army - has been ignored and their nation taken for granted by the West. A few Turkish intellectuals and writers risk prison by proposing to ditch Kemalism, get the army out of politics, build a genuine democracy, and allow Turks to be the fierce, self-assured, and devoutly Islamic people they used once to be.

3. - AFP - "Political uncertainty takes toll on Turkish markets":

ANKARA / 17 June 2002 / by Sibel Utku

Ailing Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit admitted Monday that political uncertainty could deal a new blow to the economy as markets fell further amid obscure prospects for the government's future. Ecevit's ill health, which has kept him away from his desk since early May, coupled with a government rift over democratic reforms required for Turkey's bid to join the European Union has raised tensions over the future of economic reforms that are backed by massive IMF loans.

Alarmed by the grim picture coming from financial markets, Ecevit convened senior economy officials Monday at his private residence. "The implementation of the economic program has come to an important turning point where inflation has decreased and growth has begun. "It has been seen that the program is successful and that its application should be continued in an uncompromising manner," a statement from Ecevit's office said.

It added, however: "In recent weeks a general conviction of political uncertainty has caused a rise in fluctuations in financial indicators. The continuation of these fluctuations will have a cost for the economy." The national index of the Istanbul stock exchange hit a new year-low on Monday, plunging 2.5 percent to close the day at 9,231 points. The Turkish lira also fell against the dollar, recording an overall loss of about 12 percent over the past month. Yields on heavily traded April 2003 bonds, meanwhile, have risen from around 50 percent to more than 70 percent since Ecevit was first hospitalized, sparking concerns about the roll-over of a hefty debt stock.

Many investors have already ruled out the prospect of Ecevit, 77, heading his embattled three-party coalition until its term ends in May 2004 and want to know how a new government will be shaped -- with or without early elections. "Nobody expects Ecevit to get well and return to office," said a broker from Global Securities who asked to remain anonymous. "Foreign investors want to see whether the reforms initiated by (Economy Minister) Kemal Dervis will continue or not. They wonder whether he will have a seat in the next government," she added. Early elections are another destabilizing prospect for the country.

Public surveys have shown that snap polls could oust the secularist ruling parties from parliament and bring to power Islamist leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan just five years after a harsh military-led campaign forced Turkey's first Islamist premier Necmettn Erbakan to step down. "If this uncertainty continues for a while recent economic achievements will suffer a bit from the impact of politics. If this uncertainty continues for one or two months, the damage will be serious," said Ugur Yilmaz, the head of Gedik Securities.

Speaking after the meeting with Ecevit, Dervis said they had discussed a wide range of issues, but declined to laborate. He stressed that the prime minister looked "very well". Political problems have been at the core of Turkey's economic woes in recent years and have cost the country dearly. A public row between Ecevit and the president over ways to fight corruption transformed banking turmoil into a full-blown crisis in February 2001. Several months later, a nationalist minister's resistance to free market reforms delayed the release of vital cash from the International Monetary Fund, taking a heavy toll on the markets.

The IMF has come several times to the aid of Turkey, a key Muslim ally of the United Sates, with support of around 30 billion dollars since late 1999. The most recent loan, worth 16 billion dollars, was approved in February to support a three-year economic recovery plan.

4. - USA Today - "U.S. seeks to unite Iraqi opposition groups":

WASHINGTON / 17 June 2002 / by Barbara Slavin

Congress is backing a Bush administration request to provide money to prod two rival factions in northern Iraq to create a united opposition to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

In a little noticed action, Congress gave the State Department approval this month to spend $3.1 million to improve the health care of Kurds living under U.S. protection in northern Iraq. The money is intended to forge peace between two groups that have fought each other in the past and are leery of President Bush's goal of ousting Saddam.

State Department officials say the funding is central to building a strong opposition to Saddam, who has managed to suppress all serious threats to his regime.

Iraq experts doubt the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) or Patriotic Union of Kurdistan would play a major military role in Iraq similar to the Northern Alliance offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan. But they say Bush's hopes of toppling Saddam can't succeed without their support.

The 4 million Kurds are the only opposition group in Iraq that controls land and has a large military, some 70,000.

"The significance of this grant cannot be underestimated," says Mark Freeman of the Meridian International Center, a nonprofit group administering it. "It is a sign that the two groups can work together."

Aid for the Kurds could bolster new covert steps to overthrow Saddam. The Washington Post reported Sunday that the efforts could include increased aid for rebels, expanded intelligence gathering and the use of CIA and military commandos to kill Saddam.

The CIA has told Bush that large military forces would likely be needed in addition to covert action to overthrow Saddam. USA TODAY reported in February that Bush had approved the covert plan.

Bush won bipartisan support Sunday for the effort. "We should try to do it first covertly or with special operations, but if not, be prepared to do what's necessary," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said on CBS' Face the Nation. On the same show, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del., said, "If Saddam Hussein's around five years from now, we've failed."

The State Department grant bypasses the Iraqi National Congress, a controversial London-based umbrella for Saddam opponents. Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., the ranking minority member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and an INC supporter, held up the grant to the Kurds for several months because it was bypassing the INC, congressional staffers say.

5. - NTV / MSNBC - "I am the target of EU opponents: Fogg".

The EC representative praises the MGK for its moves to end capital punishment

17 June 2002

The outgoing representative for the European Commission in Ankara has said she had been made a target of opponents of Turkey’s accession to the European Union.

Speaking on NTV Sunday, Karen Fogg said that while most people in Turkey were supportive of the plans for the country to join the EU there were some who opposed the move. “I am representing the EU Commission in Turkey but there are a group of people that are very suspicious of the EU. These do not want Turkey to progress along the EU path. They employ numerous tricks…” Fogg said.

In respect to the debates over the abolition of capital punishment, and the right to conduct education and broadcasting in mother tongue languages Fogg said debate over these issues was good as long as they resulted in a concrete step. She also praised the recent National Security Council decision to ban capital punishment.

When asked about the illegal publishing of her electronic correspondence, Fogg refused to make a direct comment, saying she rather prefer to forget the whole incident. Earlier this year, the left wing magazine Aydinlik printed a series of illegally obtained e-mails to and from the EC representative, with Fogg’s candid comments about Turkey and some of the country’s politicians creating a storm and prompting calls for her to be dismissed from her post in Ankara.

The publisher of the leftist magazine is facing a court case over making public Fogg’s e-mails, which also added to the tension in relations between Ankara and EU at the time. In reference to being a focus of criticism in Turkey she said,” It has not been good for Turkey-EU relations. I cannot deny that,” she said.

6. - Turkish Daily News - "Greek lobby succeeded to stop the credit":

Turkey can not buy 14 helicopters

ANKARA / 18 June 2002

American senator Paul Sarbanes prevented the Turkish navy from buying 14 helicopters with the credit of the U.S. Eximbank. According to diplomatic sources Eximbank decided not to give the $300 million credit since the agreement has not been signed yet.

It is claimed that Eximbank took this decision due to the pressure of Sarbanes. Turkey had chosen to buy blackhawk helicopters produced by the Sikorsky Aircraft company in 1992 and the U.S. Eximbank had decided to give a credit of $1.3 Billion for the sale. Turkey bought 550 helicopters until 1999 and it cost $1 billion.

Turkey decided to buy eight Seahawk sea helicopters and six carrier helicopters for the navy. U.S. Democrat senator Sarbanes claiming that Eximbank credits shall not be used for defence projects and refused the remainder of the credit. U.S. Eximbank extended the credit for six month's, but declared that credits can be given for the on going projects. The new project would have started if the credit was approved.