29 May 2002

1. "Turkish business leaders urge government to advance EU bid", a leading Turkish business group called on the government Wednesday to implement reforms needed to join the European Union, warning that failure to do so would prove costly for the country.

2. "Turkey tightens controls on the net", controversial new controls on the internet in Turkey have provoked protests from websites which fear they may be driven out of existence.

3. "The threat from the protectors", Turkey's record in Kurdistan is a grim warning to Afghan women.

4. "Kurds seek guarantee US will topple Hussein before backing action", Kurds in northern Iraq have created a quasi-democratic, somewhat prosperous life under the protection of US jets patrolling a no-fly zone and keeping Saddam Hussein's tanks away. But faced with the question of whether that democracy could flower elsewhere in Iraq if the US launched an invasion to topple Saddam, many Kurds are leery.

5. "Bahceli stipulates five preconditions for the EU", Bahceli asks the EU to include KADEK on its terrorist list, urges the government to transfer death row inmate PKK chieftain Abdullah Ocalan's dossier to Parliament.

6. "Izgi, Turk disagree with Bahceli's on Ocalan issue", Parliament Speaker Izgi and Justice Minister Turk note that Turkey should wait for the European Court of Human Rights decision and then add the Ocalan execution issue to Parliament's agenda.

1. - AFP - "Turkish business leaders urge government to advance EU bid":

ANKARA / 29 May 2002

A leading Turkish business group called on the government Wednesday to implement reforms needed to join the European Union, warning that failure to do so would prove costly for the country.

"Turkey is at a historical crossroads," the Turkish Association of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSIAD) said in full-page advertisements published in leading national newspapers. "If we are unable to get from the European Union a date for accession talks by the end of the year, we will move away from other candidate countries and will remain alone," it said. Such a prospect would jeopardize the eventual membership of the country, which has been an EU candidate since December 1999, TUSIAD warned. Turkey, grappling with effects of an acute financial crisis, is the only candidate among 13 applicants that has yet to start accession talks and has asked the 15-member EU to set a date for such negotiations by the end of the year.

But it has been clearly told by its European partners that talks could start only if Ankara fulfills the EU's political criteria, which include abolishing capital punishment and allowing education and broadcasts in the Kurdish language. But such reforms have hit snags as the far-right partner of the ruling three-party coalition, the Nationalist Action Party (MHP), remains strongly opposed to them, leading to arguments within the government.

TUSIAD said in its ad that EU membership was a vital issue that could not be manipulated to satisfy a party's electorate. "EU membership should not be used as a means of struggle in Turkey's domestic politics. What is in question is a country's hopes and ideals," it said. It called on both the coalition and the parliament to "act with responsibility and take the needed steps" to clear the way for Ankara's EU bid.

"The start of accession talks with the European Union through the realization of reforms such as abolishing death penalty and legalizing Kurdish-language education and broadcasts has become the most urgent item on Turkey's itinerary," TUSIAD said. The TUSIAD statement came ahead of a scheduled June 7 meeting between the leaders of political parties represented in parliament and President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who proposed the gathering in a bid to spur politicians into making way on EU refoms.

2. - BBC - "Turkey tightens controls on the net":

ISTANBUL / 28 may 2002 / by Dorian Jones

Controversial new controls on the internet in Turkey have provoked protests from websites which fear they may be driven out of existence.

The new measures are part of a new wide-ranging broadcasting law which place the internet under the same legislation as the rest of Turkey's media for libel and an offence called "lying news".

Under the new law, websites could face having to be officially registered and send copies of their material to the authorities.

The measures have been condemned by much of the internet sector, from service providers to users, who warn that the whole future of the net in Turkey could be at stake.

Impact on internet sector

"There's not going to be a certain direction, no freedom of speech and this is going to impact the local content and local hosting services and eventually the whole internet sector," he said.

"They might easily put me and my chairman out of business."

With around a million subscribers, Superonline has been part of the country's rapidly growing internet sector.

Many burgeoning Turkish internet websites carry criticism of ministers, including material newspapers dare not publish.

But Dr Oktay Vural, Minister of Transport and Communications, insists the measures are not intended to stiffle sites.

"There are no restrictions. It is only that there have been several things which have been forbidden by the law," he said.

"So if these actions were taken through the internet, then the regulations will cover for those actions only. We cannot be an eye in the chatrooms; that is not the aim of that law.

"Let's see what happens. I don't think it will affect the internet. I think time will show the truth," he said.

Media controls

The new law puts the internet under the control of Turkey's Supreme Radio and Television Board.

According to Savas Unsal, that opens the door to the internet facing the similar restrictions as the rest of the country's media.

"A judge can tell you to bring a copy of your website whenever you update it to be approved by the local authorities," he said.

The law is unclear what it actually covers. According to Fikret Ilkiz, media lawyer for the Turkish daily newspaper, Cumhuriyet, internet providers could be liable for prosecution for anything written, even in chatrooms.

He also argues that the notion of "lying news" is too ambiguous.

"The biggest problem is that the law is very unclear. The law forbids fake or lie news. But what is this?" he asked.

"The law doesn't define what it is. It just says it's forbidden. And this could apply to chatrooms.

"The way the law is now, it will be defined by many court cases. For now, there is great uncertainty. No one knows what is legal and what is not. It is chaos."

'Ambiguous law'

Reaching a definition of the law by court cases could well be an expensive process for internet providers and users, with fines of up to $195,000 for each offence.

But some critics of the law argue it is deliberately ambiguous. Much of Turkey's legislation governing the control of the media is characterised by catch all phrases.

The internet until now has been largely exempt from such legislation. Such freedom has allowed it to become a powerful forum for criticising politicians.

Many journalists publish articles on the internet which neither television nor newspapers dare print, due in part to existing legislation.

The European Union, which Turkey aspires to join, has strongly condemned such legislation. This latest law has also drawn the ire of the EU, with officials calling for its repeal.

That could well happen because Turkey's President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has sent the law to the Constitutional Court, accusing it of breaching the constitution.

The court could take up to a year to make a ruling. In the meantime, the law remains in force.

Internet slowdown

The uncertainty created by the new legislation could prove most damaging of all to Turkey.

Professor Haluk Sahin, who teaches media studies at Istanbul's Bilgi University, warns that Turkey risks repeating the mistakes of the past

"A lot people in Turkey realize that Turkey must not make the mistake of 200 years ago," he says.

"Some 200 years ago, the Ottoman Empire missed the Industrial Revolution. Now, we believe that the internet, and computers in general, provide us with a second chance.

"A new train has arrived. Whether we embark on that train or not is up to us and the younger generations seem determined to do that.

"Unfortunately, the older generations and the politicians do not seem to be of the same mind," he said.

3. - The Guardian - "The threat from the protectors":

Turkey's record in Kurdistan is a grim warning to Afghan women

28 May 2002 / by Isabel Hilton

Next month, on a date yet to be agreed, Britain will hand over command of the 18-nation UN security force in Afghanistan to Turkey. The arrangement was agreed, not without reservations on many sides, last April. Superficially, it seems like a reasonable idea. Turkey, though secular at government level, is a Muslim country with a large army and aspirations to enter the western fold. It is a long-standing member of Nato and an aspirant member of the EU.

Washington was keen on Turkey's leadership of the International Security Assistance Force, not least because it allows the US to argue that the Afghan campaign is not, as is widely believed in the Muslim world, a war against Islam. President Bush asked Congress to pay Turkey $228m to take the job on. The vice-president, Dick Cheney, turning a blind eye to the State Department's own human rights report, felt moved to reiterate the administration's support for Turkey's application to join the EU.

So much for what Turkey and the US are getting out of it. What is Afghanistan getting? Not much, it seems. The Karzai government has not hidden its anxieties about Turkey's support in the past for General Abdul Rashid Dostum, now deputy defence minister, whose passion for tying people to tank tracks was documented in painful detail by the journalist Ahmed Rashid. Gen Dostum's men, followers of Afghan affairs will remember, also had a remarkably poor record when it came to rape and sexual torture of Afghan women.

How much hope is there that Turkey will provide protection from such abuses? Not much, according to a recent report by the Kurdish Human Rights Project. It claims that Turkish security forces systematically rape and sexually abuse women in Turkey. When victims complain, it is they, not the rapists, who face criminal prosecution.

The document is a trial observation report - not, sadly, a trial of army or police officers for rape, but of women who spoke out and were then charged with undermining the unity of the state. The charges arose from a conference organised in June 2000 by several NGOs to address what they said was systematic sexual violence perpetrated by state officials against women in custody.

The Turkish government's response to the powerful evidence presented was to initiate investigations against 19 of the speakers and subsequently to bring legal proceedings against them for "denigrating" the security forces. A second investigation led to even more serious charges against five speakers, this time before the state security court, for daring to claim that Kurdish women were disproportionately the victims.

By mentioning the fact that Kurdish women were raped in custody and during village raids, the state argued, the conference organisers, lawyers and victims had "incited people to enmity and hatred by pointing to class, racial, religious, confessional or regional differences". The charges before the state council carry a maximum sentence of six years.

It is no coincidence that many Kurdish women are raped. Rape, as the lesson of the Balkans reminds us, is a useful tool in the destruction of a rival ethnic group. Given the social and legal penalties for speaking out, it is a reasonable assumption that the documented cases of rape and sexual torture of Kurdish women represent the tip of the iceberg. Even so, they reveal that sexual torture is routinely used against women in custody, and frequently involves their children and other family members.

Until recently the Turkish government denied that rape and sexual torture took place. Then came a small admission of "isolated cases".

In November last year, an intrepid group held a further conference to mark the International Day Against Violence Against Women. As a result, Eren Keskin, co-founder of a project that supplies legal aid to women raped or sexually abused by state security forces, has been charged with disseminating "separatist propaganda". The second hearing in the case is set for July, by which time, if things go according to plan, Turkish forces will be in charge of the security of the women of Afghanistan.

The Kurdish report has received little attention, but then the abuse of women in Afghanistan was scarcely a high priority in Washington before September 11. Afterwards, of course, even Laura Bush was moved to protest about the suffering of her Afghan sisters.

Now that the Taliban have been ousted from Kabul, the continued suffering of the women of Afghanistan, like that of Kurdish women in Turkey, is no longer useful. The ongoing abuse is merely an embarrassment to Afghanistan's western "liberators", rather as the suffering of Kurdish women is an embarrassment as long as President Bush needs the Turkish military in charge of peacekeeping in Afghanistan.

4. - The Irish Examiner - "Kurds seek guarantee US will topple Hussein before backing action":

WASHINGTON / 28 May 2002 / By Sally Buzbee

KURDS in northern Iraq have created a quasi-democratic, somewhat prosperous life under the protection of US jets patrolling a no-fly zone and keeping Saddam Hussein's tanks away. But faced with the question of whether that democracy could flower elsewhere in Iraq if the US launched an invasion to topple Saddam, many Kurds are leery.

They worry any US military action in Iraq could just lead to a backlash against them by Saddam, who gassed Kurdish villages in the 1980s.

Even if Saddam were toppled, they could just end up with another dictator in Baghdad or even worse invasions by Iran or Turkey, said several who attended a meeting in Washington on prospects for democracy in Iraq.

Before they support any US efforts to overthrow Saddam, the Kurds want guarantees that the US would not stop until Saddam was overthrown, and that they would have a role in any future central Iraqi government, said Mahmood Osman, a Kurdish politician who lives in London.

"They cannot destroy all their gains, and give more sacrifices," he said at the weekend conference, sponsored by the human rights group Freedom House and Iraq Institute for Democracy, an organisation based in Irbil in the Kurdish north of Iraq.

Much of the debate in the US over how to deal with Saddam has focused on how to overthrow him, what opposition groups the US might work with and whether a military invasion is too risky.

President Bush has made clear his desire to see Saddam toppled, but has not said how he might do that. Some officials in his administration advocate military action, some covert action, others diplomatic efforts.

But the concerns raised at the conference here point to another problem: How to ensure a stable government once Saddam is gone - a government that's agreeable to Iraq's neighbours and provides a better life for Iraqis, even minority groups. "Removing Saddam will be opening a Pandora's box, and there might not be any easy way to close it back up," said Philip Gordon, a military analyst at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

Neighbouring Turkey, a US ally, fears any Kurdish freedom in Iraq would encourage restive Kurdish minorities in their territory. Iran has the same concern. Many regional governments don't really want a democratic northern Iraq under Kurdish rule, or even a democratic Iraq overall, said Fuad Hussein, an Iraqi who lives in the Netherlands. He and others at the conference said they believed the Kurdish autonomy in the north could serve as a potential model for Iraqis seeking democracy in the country as a whole, if Saddam were toppled.

But the problem is that Iraqis have been so conditioned to fear Saddam's harsh regime that their very mindset must first be changed, said Laith Kubba, an Iraqi expatriate who works for the National Endowment for Democracy in the United States.

5. - Turkish Daily News - "Bahceli stipulates five preconditions for the EU":

Bahceli asks the EU to include KADEK on its terrorist list, urges the government to transfer death row inmate PKK chieftain Abdullah Ocalan's dossier to Parliament

The EU should set a date for the start of Turkey's membership negotiations since they could take 10-12 years

ANKARA / 29 May 2002

Coalition senior partner Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader and Deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli has stipulated five preconditions for Turkey's European Union membership.

At a press conference organized by the Turkish Embassy in Peking, Bahceli assessed the three years of the 57th government and touched on Turkey's EU bid. Asking the EU to include the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK), the new name of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), on its terrorist list, Bahceli also urged the government to transfer death row inmate PKK chieftain Abdullah Ocalan's dossier to Parliament, regardless of the European Court's resolution.

Bahceli emphasized that the leaders of the PKK and KADEK should openly announce to the world their remorse. According to him, they should also clarify their loyalty to the Turkish Constitution.

Another precondition Bahceli stipulated was that the EU should set a date for the start of the negotiations regarding Turkey's full membership, since it could take 10-12 years.

Touching on Turkey's journey on the EU path, Bahceli stated that Turkey has taken some concrete steps towards the EU in the last three years, with the active support of the MHP. Bahceli noted that certain extra steps have become preconditions for Turkey's membership, adding that the abolition of the death penalty, even for crimes of terrorism, and broadcasting and education in languages other than Turkish were among the EU's demands. He stated that these sensitive issues had once more come to the agenda during last week's leaders' summit. He stressed that Turkey might consider these steps if the EU fulfilled Turkey's demands.

Denying accusations that the MHP has been hindering Turkey's EU bid, Bahceli noted that the steps taken in the past three years have been realized with the active support of his party.

Bahceli recalled that Turkey has been struggling against separatist terrorism for 17 years, saying that the terrorist threat had not come to an end after Ocalan was imprisoned and sentenced to death. He claimed that there were still armed militants from the bloody terrorist organization in the regions neighboring Turkey's borders.

Bahceli stated that the PKK had changed its name to KADEK, but had not given up its aims, stressing that it had determined a new strategy, which mainly focused on Turkey's EU membership process and the Copenhagen criteria. He claimed that the MHP's national sensitivities over Turkey's EU bid stemmed from this fact.

"The EU's demands from Turkey in the name of the Copenhagen criteria match the terrorist organization's political targets. It is not possible to evaluate these demands as innocent requests required for democracy in this light," he emphasized.

Ocalan's dossier should be presented to Parliament

Stressing that it was impossible to help the terrorist organization reach its unchanged targets before the terrorism threat has definitely ended, Bahceli said that Ocalan's execution would be a concrete step towards eliminating this threat.

Urging the transfer of PKK chieftain and death-row inmate Ocalan's dossier to Parliament, Bahceli noted that the procedure to be followed on this dossier depended on the will and decision of the Turkish Parliament.

Bahceli also said that there was no longer a need to keep Ocalan under special circumstances on Imrali Island, urging that he should be transferred to an F-type prison.

The EU should include KADEK on its terrorist list

According to Bahceli, the EU should show its determination in the struggle against terrorism, and include KADEK on its terrorist list.

Bahceli noted that the armed militants of the terrorist organization should surrender to the security forces, adding that the PKK/KADEK should openly announce that it has given up its bloody terrorist acts and show its will with its actions.

Asking the EU to set a date for the start of Turkey's full membership negotiations at the end of this year, Bahceli noted that Turkey should reconsider the steps it had to take on the EU path with a new understanding, if the EU sets a date.

He emphasized that Turkey has entered a very critical period in its relations with the EU, saying that vital decisions would be made at the Copenhagen summit to be held in December 2002.

6. - Turkish Daily News - "Izgi, Turk disagree with Bahceli's on Ocalan issue":

Parliament Speaker Izgi and Justice Minister Turk note that Turkey should wait for the European Court of Human Rights decision and then add the Ocalan execution issue to Parliament's agenda

In the aftermath of senior coalition partner Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader and Deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli's call for the execution of Abdullah Ocalan, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) chieftain, Parliament Speaker Omer Izgi and Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk stated that Turkey should wait for the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) before placing the issue on Parliament's agenda.

Bahceli, who is currently on an official visit to China, said that he would agree to measures aimed at advancing Turkey's bid to join the European Union, as long as Parliament was allowed to vote on whether or not to execute Ocalan.

The EU is demanding that Turkey abolish the death penalty.

Turkey sentenced Ocalan to death in 1999, but Ocalan's lawyers have appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. Parliament must approve death sentences before they are carried out, but no government has brought a death sentence to a vote since 1984.

Izgi, an MHP member, in a surprising move rejected Bahceli's demand.

Noting the agreement that was signed in 1997 by the coalition partners, which recognized the judicial authority of the ECHR in regards to the Ocalan case, Izgi said that only after the decision of the court, would the Turkish Parliament see the Ocalan file, in the same line with the court's decision.

Referring to Bahceli's demand to transfer Ocalan to an F-type high security prison from the prison island of Imrali, Izgi said that this was discriminatory, according to the Constitution.

Ocalan is the only inmate on Imrali, while other inmates convicted of terrorist crimes are staying at the F-type prisons which have one or three-inmate cells.

Meanwhile, Turk said on Tuesday that for security reasons Imrali was the perfect prison for Ocalan.

He reiterated that Turkey would wait for the ECHR decision regarding Ocalan's execution.

"The mentioned person is being held responsible for the death of some 30,000 people and the martyrizing of 5,000 soldiers. The ECHR earlier decided to suspend the execution of his capital punishment and the government decided on the suspension accordingly. As it is known, the court's decision is not enough to execute an inmate, Parliament should pass a law approving this decision," Turk said.

MHP deputy prepares a censure motion against Ecevit

On the other hand, coalition senior partner Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) deputy Edip Ozbas prepared a censure motion against Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit on the grounds that death row inmate chieftain of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan's dossier regarding his sentence, was not sent to Parliament.

Opened to signing of ministers on Tuesday, the motion also defines MHP leader Devlet Bahceli and Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Mesut Yilmaz as being an 'accessory' to the event.

As the Constitution and the Parliamentary bylaws require some 55 signatures for the filing of a censure motion to the Parliament Speaker's Office, Ozbas sent letters to lawmakers to gain their support.

Criticizing the Prime Minister for delaying the transfer of Ocalan's dossier to Parliament, Ozbas said that damaged the patriotism and confidence in the state.

Ozbas told the Anatolia news agency that he believed all deputies would sign his motion, stressing that his demand was not related with his party.