2 May 2002

1. "Turkey hails EU decision to put PKK on terrorist list", Turkey hailed Wednesday a European Union decision to include the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on its list of terrorist groups, but lamented the move as "belated."

2. "Kurdish group says inclusion on EU terrorism list means "war"", the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has warned that its inclusion on an enlarged list of terrorist organisations drawn up by the European Union means "war" and said that it would use its right to self-defence.

3. "Detentions, hunger-strike mark May Day celebrations in Turkey", a ban on May 1 celebrations in several mainly Kurdish provinces in Turkey on Wednesday resulted in the detention of at least 30 people and a one-day hunger strike to protest the restrictions.

4. "Yilmaz: There are obstructions at the entrance to EU", coalition junior partner Motherland Party (ANAP) leader and Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said that Turkey should immediately fulfill the criteria required for its accession to the European Union and thus start membership negotiations.

5. "Denktas: Cyprus Did Not Apply To EU", President Rauf Denktas of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) said on Wednesday the Greek Cypriot side could never represent Turkish Cypriots at the European Union (EU), adding, ''Cyprus did not apply to the EU. Greek Cypriots applied to it. Greek Cypriot is not Cyprus.''

6. "German arms suspension could hurt Turkey's M-60", Germany's suspension of weapons exports to Israel could hurt Turkey's M-60 main battle tank upgrade program.

1. - AFP - "Turkey hails EU decision to put PKK on terrorist list":

ANKARA / 1 May 2002

Turkey hailed Wednesday a European Union decision to include the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on its list of terrorist groups, but lamented the move as "belated."

"We are very pleased with the result... The (PKK's) inclusion on the terrorist list shows how rightful is the struggle that we have been carrying out for years," Interior Minister Rustu Kazim Yucelen told reporters, Anatolia news agency said. But Yucelen added: "For us, this decision of the EU is a belated one."

The PKK, which fought for self-rule in southeastern Turkey for 15 years, was put on a new list of terrorist groups by permanent representatives of the EU nations Monday, diplomatic sources said. Ankara, an EU membership candidate, has long criticized Brussels for turning a blind eye to the PKK and another armed underground Turkish group, the far-left Revolutionary People's Liberation Front-Party (DHKP-C).

The DHKP-C has also been put on the EU's enlarged list of terrorist organizations, according to Turkish media reports. The PKK, which announced a unilateral ceasefire in September 1999, reacted angrily to the EU decison. The EU "will start a new process of war by including the Kurdish liberation movement in the list of terrorist organizations," Osman Ocalan, a senior PKK commander, said Monday.

"We will use our legitimate right to self-defence in case of war," said Ocalan, the brother of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan who is on death row in Turkey for treason. The PKK announced last month it was reorganizing itself under the name of Congress for Freedom and Democracy in Kurdistan (KADEK) as part of a new strategy to campaign for Kurdish freedoms through democratic means.

Yucelen said KADEK should also be branded "terrorist" by the EU. "A terrorist organization is a terrorist organization even if it changes its name. If the PKK has been banned, the organization established to replace it should also be banned." The PKK has already been outlawed in Britain, France and Germany and has been dubbed "terrorist" by the United States. The group took up arms for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast in 1984, with the conflict claiming more than 36,000 lives. Turkey has played down PKK peace overtures as a "ploy" and the army continues to hunt down the rebels.

2. - AFP - "Kurdish group says inclusion on EU terrorism list means 'war'":

ANKARA / 30 April 2002

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has warned that its inclusion on an enlarged list of terrorist organisations drawn up by the European Union means "war" and said that it would use its right to self-defence, the pro-Kurdish Mesopotamian news agency reported Tuesday. The European Union "will start a new process of war by including the Kurdish liberation movement in the list of terrorist organizations," Osman Ocalan, a senior PKK commander, said in an interview on the pro-Kurdish Medya TV late Monday, the agency reported.

"We will use our legitimate right to self-defence in case of war," added Ocalan, the brother of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan who is on death row in Turkey for treason. Ocalan's outburst came after the PKK, which fought for self-rule in

southeastern Turkey for 15 years, was put on a new list of terrorist groups by permenant representatives of the EU nations meeting in Brussels on Monday, diplomatic sources said.

The group announced last week it had changed its name to the Congress for Freedom and Democracy in Kurdistan (KADEK), and would fight for Kurdish rights through legal means. Ocalan claimed that the EU's decision would encourage Turkey to ignore Kurdish calls for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish conflict and meant "an approval of attacks against the Kurdish liberation movement."

"We hold the EU responsible for a possible war... We warn the EU, the United States and Turkey over their dangerous policies," he added. Turkey, an EU candidate country, had been unhappy that the original EU list, adopted in December, failed to name organizations which Ankara has "persistently" asked Brussels to include, one of which was the PKK. More than 36,000 people -- most of them PKK rebels -- have been killed in PKK attacks and counterattacks by the powerful Turkish army. In September 1999, the group said that it was ending its armed campaign and withdrawing from Turkey to seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict. But Turkish officials and the army have brushed aside the PKK truce as a "ploy" and called on the rebels to surrender to the authorities.

3. - AFP - "Detentions, hunger-strike mark May Day celebrations in Turkey":

DIYARBAKIR / 1 May 2002

A ban on May 1 celebrations in several mainly Kurdish provinces in Turkey on Wednesday resulted in the detention of at least 30 people and a one-day hunger strike to protest the restrictions. In Diyarbakir, the central city of the predominantly Kurdish southeast, truncheon-wielding police supressed attempts by several small groups to stage demonstrations despite a ban on May Day celebrations, taking 10 people into custody, police sources told AFP.

To protest the ban, about 20 members of the local branch of Turkey's biggest trade union, Turk-Is, launched a one-day hunger-strike in their office in the city, organizers of the protest said. In Tunceli, which also has a large Kurdish population, police detained 20 people, among them the head of the local branch of a pro-Kurdish party, after a group of unionists, politicians and rights activists insisted on making a public statement despite the ban, Anatolia news agency reported.

Both Diyarbakir and Tunceli have been under an emergency rule along with several other mainly Kurdish provinces since 1987, imposed three years after Kurdish rebels took up arms for self-rule in the region. Turkish authorities banned May Day celebrations in several provinces in the region on fears that Kurdish activists could use the opportunity to stage demonstrations against Ankara and trigger violence. Celebrations were also banned in the southern province of Mersin, where two Kurds were killed on March 21 when police cracked down on demonstrations marking the Kurdish New Year.

The local governor said that residents observed the ban. Demonstrations were also peaceful in the capital Ankara and the country's biggest city Istanbul, where about 15,000 police officers, equipped with armored vehicles and helicopters, were deployed to prevent incidents. Thousands of people gathered in specially allocated squares in the two cities, taking the opportunity to raise their voices on a wide range of issues -- from the economic problems plaguing the country and the Kurdish conflict to the Israeli-Palestinian violence and homosexual rights. Each year Turkey steps up security measures for May 1, which has in the past been marred by violence.

In 1996, three protesters were killed in Istanbul and dozens of demonstrators and police injured in clashes. The most deadly May Day was in 1977, when 37 protesters were killed in Istanbul during clashes between demonstrators and police.

4. - Turkish Daily NEws - "Yilmaz: There are obstructions at the entrance to EU":

ANKARA / 02 May 2002

Yilmaz claims that Turkey's failure to access the union would be a major security risk / Yilmaz says May 1 is both Workers' Day and spring festivity

Coalition junior partner Motherland Party (ANAP) leader and Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said that Turkey should immediately fulfill the criteria required for its accession to the European Union and thus start membership negotiations. He claimed that there were major obstructions facing Turkey's full membership target.

Addressing his group in Parliament on Wednesday, Yilmaz said: "There are some obstacles in front of us; we have work to do. However, if we think these obstacles are limited to a couple of laws that we should enact or to the Cyprus issue, we are mistaken. Yes, there are these obstacles, but there are obstructions that are bigger than these obstacles."

Yilmaz noted that the first obstacle on Turkey's EU path was the climate of instability created by certain circles in society, adding that Turkey should rid itself of this climate as soon as possible. He stated that Turkey should show the determination required to become a member of the union. Stressing that the second obstacle was the fallacy, "Whatever we do, they will not let us in the union," Yilmaz noted that Turkey should also rid itself of this fallacy. According to Yilmaz, another obstacle was the lack of interest in the EU issue.

"If we want to be a member of the EU, we should rid ourselves of the feelings of extreme susceptibility and offense. My concern is that new obstacles may be added to the current ones," Yilmaz noted.

Yilmaz said that pressing the EU to start full membership negotiations before fulfilling the required conditions would produce nothing but a "rejection." According to Yilmaz, the attitudes hindering Turkey's full membership process were reducing Turkey's chances of bargaining with the EU. "Everybody should know that Turkey will become an EU member sooner or later. If we speed up this process by ourselves, shape the developments and take steps according to our decisions, we will reach the target more quickly," Yilmaz noted. He added that if the country failed to take the steps, the people would be faced with a Turkey, which has neither entered the EU, nor broken away from it.

Security risk

Emphasizing that Turkey has been in the same situation since the 1970s, Yilmaz stated that those countries that started the EU journey with Turkey, have now come to the point of full membership. Yilmaz said that when these countries became EU members, Turkey would be left behind in terms of economic welfare among these neighboring countries. He stressed this was a major security risk for Turkey.

May 1

Yilmaz said that May 1 was both Workers' Day and a spring festivity, adding that society was prevented from welcoming May 1, since workers' rights have long been seen as ideological rights.

Yilmaz emphasized that great pains were experienced during May 1 activities in Turkey in the past, hoping that such pains would not be felt today and in the future.

5. - Anatolia - "Denktas: Cyprus Did Not Apply To EU":

BURSA / 02 May 2002

President Rauf Denktas of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) said on Wednesday the Greek Cypriot side could never represent Turkish Cypriots at the European Union (EU), adding, ''Cyprus did not apply to the EU. Greek Cypriots applied to it. Greek Cypriot is not Cyprus.''Denktas was presented ''Honorary Doctorate'' on 'International Affairs and Politics'' by the Uludag University Senate in a ceremony.

Addressing professors and students of the university in the ceremony, Denktas said that he knew that this doctorate was actually given to the Turkish Cypriots.

Denktas recalled that a balance of peace had been formed between Turkey and Greece under the Lausanne Treaty but Cyprus had been left to Britain under the same document.

Noting that Greek Cypriots had done everything to intimidate Turkish Cypriots after Britain had started to rule the island, Denktas said that Greek Cypriots which had given the start for terrorist acts in 1950s for the sake of ''Enosis'' had ''destroyed the partnership republic'' in 1963 despite the 1960 agreements which reiterated the balance at Lausanne in a way covering also Cyprus.

Denktas said that the Cyprus issue had started on that date but the Greek Cypriot side deceived the world by saying that Turks ahd started the Cyprus issue by landing on the island in 1974.

Stressing that Cyprus was tried to be put as the biggest obstacle in front of Turkey in its accession process, Denktas said that those who could not put Ireland in front of Britain and put terrorism in front of Germany and say to Greece, ''you are the side which started the issue so solve it'' were saying to Turkey, ''you can come after solving it'', which was very meaningless.

Recalling that EU officials were saying that this island was very important for their bloc when they asked ''why do you have suh an enmity against Turkish Cypriots and why do you adopt such an attitude against Turkey?'', Denktas said, ''Cyprus is geopolitically important also for Turkey and Turkey's this geopolitical right is mentioned in international agreements and it sacrificed its sons in order not to have others possess this right. If Cyprus is geopolitically important for the EU, it should accept Turkey's membership, protecting this right through Turkey.''

Regarding the Greek Cypriot side's EU candidacy, Denktas said, ''the EU tells that 'Cyprus has made an application and it is one of the best candidates in terms of economy and politics. So also the Turkish Cypriots should board this train.' However, this is not a Cyprus train but it is Greek Cypriot train. Cyprus has not applied to the EU but the Greek Cypriots made an application. Injustice in Cyprus is so serious as far as violation of the Lausanne Treaty. Turkey will not give in to this game. If Turkey's position and situation had been only saving lives of Turkish Cypriots, it would have opened its doors to us and embraced each Turkish Cypriot and there would not have been Turkish Cypriots issue.''

Denktas added, ''if they include Cyprus in the EU without Turkey, the Greek Cypriot side would achieve the thing which it could not achieve through use of arms and terrorism.''

Calling on the European Parliament, the EU and U.N. Security Council officials to find a scientific and realistic answer to the question of ''What is Cyprus question?'', Denktas said, ''Greek Cypriots who occupy the governing authority by saying 'I am the legal Cyprus government' continue their threats and armament and their policy of possessing whole Cyprus by telling lies to the world.''

''Why did I start to meet Clerides? Because, I saw a very serious danger. People responsible for the EU say, 'we will take Cyprus even if there will be agreement or not. Turkey is bluffing. Turkey caanot prevent this. Turkey does not have the right to prevent this under the 1960 agreements'. I know that Turkey will expend efforts for solution till the very last minute and support us and our efforts. But I also know that Turkey will use its legal rights if the EU says 'I accepted Cyprus' membership' despite all our efforts, and this creates a crisis. It would be a crisis which also shakes the EU and the Turkish-Greek blanace, and there would not be compromise. We do not want this. I sincerely believe that if there would be a good diagnosis and the Greek Cypriots are told 'you can't represent the Turkish Cypriots', this issue could be solved peacefully,'' Denktas said.

6. - Middle East Newsline - "German arms suspension could hurt Turkey's M-60":

Germany's suspension of weapons exports to Israel could hurt Turkey's M-60 main battle tank upgrade program.

Industry sources said the German suspension of defense exports includes components for the engine and transmission of the engine to be installed in the M-60A1 tank. The components are manufactured by the German firms MTU and Renk.

The state-owned Israel Military Industries has won a $688 million project to upgrade 170 Turkish M-60 tanks. The project is meant to complete the modernization within 18 months.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that MTU and Renk were chosen to supply the engines for the M-60 project. The German newspaper said their exports to Israel have been halted amid a decision by Berlin to protest the Israeli military campaign in the West Bank.