22 May 2002

1. "Turkey's troubled coalition says no to early elections", Turkey's hospitalized Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and his two coalition partners on Tuesday rejected calls for early elections, saying the government would continue in office.

2. "Turkey's coalition to debate EU refoms at sick PM's bedside", Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit is to meet his coalition partners at his hospital bedside on Tuesday to discuss reforms that are vital to the country's attempt to join the European Union. The meeting at the Baskent hospital in Ankara, where the 77-year-old prime minister is being treated for a cracked rib and an inflamed vein in his leg, will focus on EU requirements such as the abolition of captial punishment and the lifting of a ban on Kurdish language broadcasts and education.

3. "De Soto: Cyprus progress possible if sides focus", the UN envoy for Cyprus said on Tuesday progress on cracking the logjam in negotiations over the divided island by the end of June was possible if the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders made enough effort.

4. "Turkey hunger strike ends for supporters", Turkish activists protesting controversial prison reforms have ended their hunger strike, but 55 prisoners are continuing the action, a Turkish human rights group said Wednesday.

5. "Prosecution starts investigation into retired generals", the former generals may face court under article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code on charges of praising crime.

6. "US plans leadership of post-Hussein Iraq", the State Department has launched an initiative to help forge a credible Iraqi government-in-waiting that could take control of the country following an envisioned US-led overthrow of President Saddam Hussein, opposition and US officials say.

1. - AFP - "Turkey's troubled coalition says no to early elections":

ANKARA / 21 May 2002 / by Hande Culpan

Turkey's hospitalized Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and his two coalition partners on Tuesday rejected calls for early elections, saying the government would continue in office. "The government is working in harmony. The parties in the coalition are not considering early elections," said a statement issued after a meeting held at an Ankara hospital where Ecevit is being treated for a cracked rib and a vascular condition in his leg.

"It will be beneficial for both the country and the economy to end the debate on early elections," the statement said, adding that the government was planning to push a series of new laws through parliament in June. Ecevit has come under pressure to resign and bring forward elections since he was hospitalized twice in two weeks, raising doubts over the future of his three-party coalition amid intense efforts to drag the country out of its worst recession in decades.

Elections are not due to be held until 2004 but early polls are not uncommon in Turkey which has been governed by coalitions for more than 10 years. The 76-year-old prime minister has rejected early elections on the grounds that it would jeopardize the strict economic recovery programme backed by massive loans from the International Monetary Fund. The meeting at the hospital was called to discusss vital reforms Turkey needs to bolster its candidacy to become a member of the European Union.

The bid to join the 15-member bloc launched in December 1999 could also be derailed in case of snap polls. The statement said that the leaders had received from the foreign ministry its views on Turkish-EU relations and added that they would discuss the issue at their next meeting. Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz told reporters after the meeting that they had discussed "alternatives" to EU requirements such as abolishing the death penalty and allowing Kurdish-language broadcasts.

"We will evaluate them and discuss them in our next meeting, which will take place at the end of the month," he said, according to the Anatolia news agency. These two issues, a source of much friction between Turkey and the EU, have also led to arguments within Ecevit's fragile three-party coalition, with the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) strongly opposed to changes. The MHP opposes scrapping capital punishment, arguing that convicted Kurdish rebels and particularly their leader Abdullah Ocalan, should not go unpunished. Ocalan was sentenced to death for treason in 1999 for his rebel 15-year armed campaign for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast, but his execution has been suspended until the European Court of Human Rights rules on his complaint.

Late last year, Turkey passed a constitutional amendment that limited capital punishment solely to times of war, imminent threat of war and terrorist crimes, but under EU criteria, candidates are required to totally abolish the death penalty. Another sticking point is allowing radio and television broadcasts in the Kurdish language as well as education in Kurdish. The coalition has been reluctant to take steps to allow the Kurdish broadcasts and schools over fears that they could fan separatist sentiment among the Kurdish minority and rekindle violence in the southeast, which has eased since the PKK announced a unilateral truce in 1999.

Turkey, the only country among the 13 hopefuls that has yet to start accession talks with the EU, wants a date for the opening of negotiations set by the end of 2002. But it has been clearly told by its European partners that talks could start only if Ankara fulfills the EU's political criteria.

2. - AFP - "Turkey's coalition to debate EU refoms at sick PM's bedside":

ANKARA/ 21 May 2002 / by Hande Culpan

Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit is to meet his coalition partners at his hospital bedside on Tuesday to discuss reforms that are vital to the country's attempt to join the European Union. The meeting at the Baskent hospital in Ankara, where the 77-year-old prime minister is being treated for a cracked rib and an inflamed vein in his leg, will focus on EU requirements such as the abolition of captial punishment and the lifting of a ban on Kurdish language broadcasts and education.

These two issues have been the source of much friction between Turkey, an EU-candidate since December 1999, and the 15-member EU. They have also led to arguments within Ecevit's fragile three-party coalition, with the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) strongly opposed to changing the existing situation. The MHP, led by Devlet Bahceli, opposes scrapping the death penalty, arguing that convicted Kurdish rebels, and particularly their leader Abdullah Ocalan, should not go unpunished. Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), was sentenced to death for treason in 1999 for the PKK's 15-year armed campaign for Kurdish self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast. However his execution has been suspended until the European Court of Human Rights rules on his complaint.

Turkey has had a moratorium on executions since 1984, and late last year passed a constitutional amendment that limited capital punishment solely to times of war, imminent threat of war and terrorist crimes. But under EU criteria, candidates are required to totally abolish the death penalty. Although Ocalan's escape from the gallows is likely to trigger public outrage, Ecevit and his other coaliton partner, Mesut Yilmaz, believe the death penalty should be abolished to clear the way for Turkey's EU membership. "If Turkey doesn't abolish it by the end of the year we will have missed a key opportunity," Ecevit told the Milliyet newspaper. Turkey, the only candidate among the 13 hopefuls that has yet to start accession talks with the EU, wants a date for the opening of negotiations set by the end of 2002.

But it has been clearly told by its European partners that talks could start only if Ankara fulfills the EU's political criteria.

Another sticking point is allowing radio and television broadcasts in Kurdish as well as education in Kurdish. Although Turkish is the only language allowed on national television, Ankara has recently been tolerant of some broadcasts in Kurdish on private television stations as long as they do not disseminate pro-Kurdish political messages. However, it has ruled out demands for Kurdish-language education because of fears that it could fan separatist sentiment among the Kurdish minority and rekindle violence in the southeast, which has eased since the PKK announced a unilateral truce in 1999.

Tuesday's meeting comes amid increasing calls for Ecevit to resign because of his failing health and bring forward elections, currently set for 2004. Ecevit, who has been hospitalized twice in as many weeks, has categorically rejected holding new polls. He said such a move would hurt an economic recovery programme backed by the International Monetary to combat the country's worst recession in decades. Early elections are also likely to impede Ankara's efforts to join the EU as parliament would cease to work while MPs joined the election campaign.

3. - Reuters - "De Soto: Cyprus progress possible if sides focus":

NICOSIA / 22 May 2002 / by Michele Kambas

The UN envoy for Cyprus said on Tuesday progress on cracking the logjam in negotiations over the divided island by the end of June was possible if the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders made enough effort.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a call to the two leaders to speed up peace talks and make progress on core areas of dispute during a visit to the island last week.

Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktas has said a six-week deadline is too ambitious for the issues at hand but that progress could be apparent by the end of the year.

"The secretary-general continues to believe that, if they really want to, they could crack the core issues by the end of June," UN Cyprus envoy Alvaro de Soto told Reuters.

"What we would have after that is the legal drafting of texts (of a settlement) in time to seize the opportunity which is now open."

Quick movement is needed to beat a decision expected by the European Union in December on future enlargement of the bloc.

Cyprus is one of the frontrunners to join, and its EU aspirations have for the first time effectively set a deadline for settling the issue of the island's division -- a major source of tension between NATO allies Greece and Turkey.

A June target for progress on the key issues, listed as governance, security, territory and property, was a reasonable and feasible benchmark, de Soto said.

Denktas and Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides have been meeting regularly -- first three times a week then twice a week for longer meetings -- since January. There has been no change in the format since Annan's visit.

The application for EU membership was made by the Greek Cypriot-led government which legally represents the entire island but which in practice has authority only over the south.

The two sides still appear to differ sharply on how to reunite the island. Turkish Cypriots advocate a union of two states while Greek Cypriots want a bi-zonal federation.

EU member Greece has made clear it will block a future enlargement which does not include Cyprus -- divided or not -- while Turkey has said it may "annex" Turkish Cypriot state in the north if the island is included in the next expansion without a settlement.

4. - AFP - "Turkey hunger strike ends for supporters":

ANKARA / 22 May 2002

Turkish activists protesting controversial prison reforms have ended their hunger strike, but 55 prisoners are continuing the action, a Turkish human rights group said Wednesday.

"The last hunger strikers outside the prisons ended their action a few days ago, feeling they have sufficiently paid the price to make their voice heard," Husnu Ondul, president of human rights group IHD, told AFP.

Launched in October 2000 to protest against the introduction of high-security prisons and solitary confinement, the hunger strike has claimed 50 lives, including prisoners and outside supporters of the movement, as well as four police officers kille during disturbances related to the strike.

The protesters have lived on sugar and water during their strike, which the authorities say was orchestrated by the banned DHKP-C political party.

5. - NTV / MSNBC - "Prosecution starts investigation into retired generals":

The former generals may face court under article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code on charges of praising crime.

ISTANBUL / 21 May 2002

The Istanbul Bagcilar Prosecution has opened an investigation into comments by six retired Turkish generals who gave their support to Korkut Eken, a former member of the security forces found guilty playing a leading in a case linking organised crime groups with state officials.

The prosecution launched the investigation into the former generals after seeking expert reports which stated that the officer's comments in praising Eken could constitute a crime. In a recently published newspaper report, the officers said that Eken, a former officer in the Turkish military and subsequently a member of the Turkish intelligence service, had only been following orders from superiors when he had worked with criminal elements and that he had a good record when fighting against separatists in the south east.

Eken was sentenced to six years goal term in the so called Susurluk Case, which revealed state security employees had been involved in organised crime. On May 13, Ankara State prosecutor Bekir Selçuk, had ruled out laying charges agains the officers, saying that there was no evidence of a crime having been committed in their backing of Erken.

6. - Boston Globe - "US plans leadership of post-Hussein Iraq":

WASHINGTON / 21 May 2002 / By Anthony Shadid

The State Department has launched an initiative to help forge a credible Iraqi government-in-waiting that could take control of the country following an envisioned US-led overthrow of President Saddam Hussein, opposition and US officials say.

The emerging American strategy moves away from the longstanding reliance on the much-criticized opposition represented by the Iraqi National Congress, and signals support for a new alliance embracing a wider spectrum of Iraqi opposition figures. The State Department plans to spend $5 million on the effort, which draws in factions ranging from Kurds in northern Iraq to Shiites in the south to exiles.

The goal is to have Iraqi dissidents start working with Western experts as soon as next month on issues ranging from how Iraq's postwar oil industry and military would function. They also would address questions of justice, amnesty, and war crimes regarding members of Hussein's government.

The decision to move ahead is a striking illustration of how far the Bush administration has moved toward consensus on overthrowing the Iraqi leader and shaping a post-Hussein government. While differences persist between the Pentagon and the State Department on how and when Hussein would be removed from power, the evolving blueprint suggests the administration doesn't want a repeat of Afghanistan, where the civilian nation-building efforts lagged behind the military campaign.

''Let's not make the same mistake we did in Afghanistan when we had boots on the ground before we had the civil affairs side in place. How do you deal with refugees, how do you deal with questions of justice. Look at Afghanistan,'' said David Mack, a former US diplomat and vice president of the Middle East Institute, a Washington-based group that had a role in the initiative.

The effort will kick off with the creation of five to six working groups, sponsored by nongovernmental organizations, to tackle policy issues, including health, justice, and education. The groups, which in time may number a dozen or more, will draw in 15 to 20 Iraqis and experts, the US official said.

''You've got to think about the day after,'' the official said on condition of anonymity. ''What are you left with regionally, what are you left with internally, and how do you deal with that?''

The push is not without its detractors, and the State Department still draws fire from officials in the Pentagon and some opposition groups over its handling of the Iraqi opposition, which has always been divided and driven more by personality than ideology. It also reflects a growing consensus that despite early hopes, the opposition players appear incapable of engineering Hussein's ouster, leaving that job to the US military.

The Iraqi National Congress, which US officials helped set up after the 1991 Gulf War, has been the centerpiece of US efforts to topple the Iraqi government and still enjoys support in Congress and the Pentagon.

The State Department made a concerted effort to rebuild the group from 1998 to 2000. But since then, both the State Department and CIA have soured on the prospects of the INC, contending that it has too little influence inside Iraq, mismanaged its finances, and has been unable to hold the various opposition factions together. Many Arab governments share that view, and even Iraqis aligned against Hussein are dismissive of the INC. ''Nobody in the Middle East believes they are a viable Iraqi opposition,'' a senior Arab diplomat said.

In recent weeks, the United States, and in particular the State Department, has sharply stepped up its efforts to court those other opposition groups, some still nominally tied to the INC. The focus is on the military, whose elite units have guaranteed more than two decades of Hussein's rule, as well as organizations that draw on Iraq's ethnic and religious diversity.

The divisions between the factions fracture along geographic lines.

The two key Kurdish groups - the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan - hold sway in the Kurdish-dominated north and recently set aside many of their differences. In the south are Shiite Muslims, the majority in Iraq. The main Shiite opposition group receives substantial support from neighboring Iran, but its officials have recently reached out to US officials. Sunni Muslims are most numerous in central Iraq, the home of Hussein and long the region that has supplied the cadres of the ruling Baath party and the higher ranks of the Iraqi military.

A forum of organizations, known as the Group of Four, has recently gained prominence. It brings together the two Kurdish parties, the main Shiite opposition group, and the Iraqi National Accord, an organization that draws on former Iraqi military officers and has long been a favorite of the CIA. In London last month, its officials met a delegation of nine members of Congress, including US Representative Martin T. Meehan, Democrat of Massachusetts. So far this year, its officials have met representatives from the State Department, the Pentagon, and the National Security Council in Washington.

At a meeting Thursday, the Group of Four decided to send a delegation to Washington in June and has begun planning an opposition conference in Europe. While reluctant to call itself an alternative to the INC, it acknowledges that its influence is growing. Its officials expect to meet with Thomas Krajeski, the deputy director of the State Department's Northern Gulf affairs desk, when he visits London later this month.

''We've not been shouting our heads off like other people, but that doesn't mean we haven't been coming to Washington,'' said Salah Shaikhly, a leader of the Iraqi National Accord in London, in a disparaging reference to the INC's vocal lobbying. ''You come to do a job, and not to make a circus of it.''

The nation-building strategy poses potential pitfalls for the United States. A representative of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, an organization supported by Iran, has met with US officials in London and plans to travel to Washington next month for talks on efforts to overthrow Hussein. But those contacts remain tenuous. US-Iran relations are tense, and a Bush administration official, fearful of upsetting the contacts, would say only that ''Shiites are obviously important to what happens to post-Saddam Iraq.''

A representative of the group said he believes the United States is making greater efforts to reach out to it, despite Iran's support. ''I think the Americans have more positive attitudes toward the Supreme Council,'' said Hamid Bayati in London.

The cooperation would not be unprecedented. Iranian and US officials worked together on Afghanistan, particularly at a conference in Bonn, to set up the interim government that brought Hamid Karzai to power.

The State Department initially envisioned an Iraqi opposition meeting in Europe that would draw together hundreds of exiles and dissidents. But the Middle East Institute, the group it chose to organize the conference, drew opposition in Congress over its leaders' criticism of President Bush's description of Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as an ''axis of evil.'' The State Department decided to delay the meeting.