20 March 2002

1. "Kurds protest after being blocked from Romania", a group of some 250 Kurds protested Wednesday that they had been subject to "physical and psychological pressure" after being blocked from travelling through Romania.

2. "Turkey: Cheney To Discuss Iraq, Turkish Command Of Security Forces In Afghanistan", U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney arrives in Turkey today to discuss possible military action against Iraq. Turkey, a key Muslim ally of Washington in the Afghan campaign, has said it opposes extending the antiterror drive to its southern neighbor, citing concerns about its frail economy and for political stability in its restive Kurdish provinces.

3. "Kurds oppose US attack on Saddam", Kurdish leaders observed a five-minute silence on Saturday to mourn thousands of Kurds killed or injured in an Iraqi chemical attack 14 years ago. But the leaders also opposed any military strike against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

4. "Turk says death penalty bill with Cabinet", as two parliamentary commissions approve a set of reforms Turkey has pledged to the EU in its National Program, the justice minister discloses that the bill lifting the death penalty, except for terrorist crimes and for times of war, is on Cabinet's agenda.

5. "Let's foil the ploy", columnist Gungor Mengi writes on the stance of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture regarding Abdullah Ocalan.

6. "US hides "real policy" towards Iraq , Iraqi Kurdish leader says", the United States will not disclose its real plans regarding arch-enemy Iraq, whom it is threatening with military action for allegedly developing weapons of mass destruction, a prominent Iraqi Kurdish leader said here on Wednesday.

1. - AFP - "Kurds protest after being blocked from Romania":

BUCHAREST / March 20

A group of some 250 Kurds protested Wednesday that they had been subject to "physical and psychological pressure" after being blocked from travelling through Romania.

The group, heading from western Europe for a meeting in Turkey, have been ordered back into Hungary after being blocked for over 24 hours at the Hungarian-Romanian border at Nadlac, they said in a statement. Specifically they were "victims of physical and psychological pressure, before being sent back into Hungary," said the organizers of the group, heading to a meeting in western Turkey on the use of the Kurdish language. Travelling in six coaches, the Kurds arrived on the Hungarian-Romanian border on Monday evening and were initially given authorization to travel through Romania to Bulgaria, en route to Turkey. But after the first coach was allowed through, the Romanian government said it was informed by the Bulgarian government that Sofia had banned the Kurds from crossing its territory.

The Kurds were therefore blocked at Nadlac, where they were put under close surveillance by some 250 military police. The affair, which comes during a visit by Turkey's interior minister to Bucharest, risks embarrassing the Romanian government notably because it is counting on Turkish support to be invited to join NATO later this year.

2. - Radio Free Europe - "Turkey: Cheney To Discuss Iraq, Turkish Command Of Security Forces In Afghanistan":

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney arrives in Turkey today to discuss possible military action against Iraq. Turkey, a key Muslim ally of Washington in the Afghan campaign, has said it opposes extending the antiterror drive to its southern neighbor, citing concerns about its frail economy and for political stability in its restive Kurdish provinces.

PRAGUE / by Jean-Christophe Peuch / 19 March

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney arrives in Turkey today on the last leg of a 12-nation trip to drum up support for Washington's campaign against terrorism.

Cheney arrives from Israel after a nine-day tour that brought him successively to Britain, Jordan, Egypt, Yemen, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait.

During his stay in Ankara, the U.S. envoy is expected to successively meet President Ahmed Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, and Army Chief of Staff General Huseyin Kivrikoglu.

Talks are expected to focus on possible U.S. military action against Iraq and on the future leadership of Afghanistan's International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF.

Britain, which currently leads the ISAF, is keen to hand over command before its mandate expires in June. Turkey had expressed an interest in taking over, but it has since backtracked, citing concerns about the scope of the ISAF's mandate.

Ecevit's coalition cabinet, which is battling the country's worst economic crisis since World War II, says it also wants firm assurances that the international community will share the financial burden implied by such an operation.

Finally, some officials in Ankara have expressed concern at the recent upsurge of violence in eastern Afghanistan, saying unrest in the region should be stamped out before Turkey -- which already has some 260 soldiers on the ground -- assumes the leadership of the 4,500-strong ISAF.

U.S. and British representatives held talks with Turkish officials a week ago, but no agreement has been reached.

Addressing Britain's House of Commons yesterday, Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said negotiations with Turkey will nonetheless continue: "Our talks with Turkey, which has expressed an interest in taking on [the leadership of the ISAF], continue. It would not be appropriate to say too much before these talks are concluded, but certainly the atmosphere in the high-level discussion between the United Kingdom, the United States and the Turks in Ankara last week was extremely positive."

The CNN-Turk private television channel late yesterday said Britain and the U.S. have finally succeeded in overcoming Turkey's reservations, notably by pledging financial support, but the report cannot be confirmed.

By all accounts, Turkish officials want to get clarification over Washington's plans regarding Iraq before they agree to take over the ISAF command. NATO-member Turkey, a key U.S. ally in the region, fears that an attack on its southern neighbor would jeopardize its efforts to overcome its current economic crisis and would stir Kurdish separatism in its restive southeastern provinces.

Turkish officials claim the Gulf War and international trade sanctions imposed on Iraq have cost Ankara some $40 billion in lost revenue.

In 1990, Turkey was the first regional country to join the U.S.-led international campaign to drive Iraqi troops from Kuwait. Then President Turgut Ozal even briefly considered committing troops to overthrow President Saddam Hussein's regime in a bid to boost Turkey's role as a Western stronghold in the Middle East. But strong opposition from the Turkish military forced him to revise his plans.

Since the end of the Gulf War, Ankara has sought to restore economic ties with Baghdad, bringing the two countries' trade volume to $1 billion in 2001, compared to an average annual $2.5 billion before the conflict. Earlier in March, a Turkish business delegation led by Foreign Trade Under Secretary Kursad Tuzmen signed contracts worth $300 million to sell goods and services to Iraq.

Speaking to reporters during the European Union summit in Barcelona on 15 March, Ecevit reiterated his opposition to any strike against Iraq, saying that Turkey's economy would "suffer a lot" from any such move. Ecevit also dismissed U.S. claims that Iraq poses a threat to its neighbors.

Washington accuses Baghdad of producing weapons of mass destruction, and U.S. President George W. Bush recently listed Iraq -- along with North Korea and Iran -- as supporting international terrorism, labeling the three an "axis of evil."

The U.S. insists that United Nations weapons inspectors should be allowed to return to Iraq after more than three years of absence. Despite Iraqi officials' claims that they are willing to settle the issue through direct dialogue with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in April, Washington remains inflexible.

There are still uncertainties, however, over the Bush administration's plans regarding Iraq. Addressing reporters earlier today in Jerusalem at a joint press briefing with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Cheney once again remained evasive about Washington's intentions, saying the U.S. will continue negotiations with regional governments on how best to deal with the "Iraqi threat."

"There's been great press speculation about the possibility of a military action against Iraq. I have said repeatedly throughout the course of my travels in response to those questions -- one, no such decision has been made, and secondly, we never speculate about prospective future operations," Cheney said.

On 12 March, Turkey's "Milliyet" columnist Derya Sazak speculated that Cheney's insistence in meeting Chief of Staff Kivrikoglu could suggest that Cheney might discuss details of a military action against Iraq.

Turkey's NTV private television channel yesterday reported that Turkish diplomats and military planners held consultations recently and decided that Ankara will reject any U.S. demand to contribute troops to a possible attack against Iraq. NTV quoted unidentified Turkish officials as saying that Ankara might, however, consider any request for logistical support under certain, as yet unspecified, conditions.

This report, which cannot be confirmed, reflects a common view among Turkish analysts that, should the U.S. decide to take action against Saddam, Ankara will have to contribute in some way. Its southern Incirlik air base is already being used by U.S. and British warplanes to enforce a "no-fly" zone in northern Iraq. Experts point out that Ankara is indebted to Washington for it support in securing $16 billion in international loans to rescue its battered economy.

Yet Turkey might try to negotiate its support in a bid to minimize the possible consequences of any U.S. military action.

One of Ankara's main concerns is to ensure that unrest in mostly Kurd-populated northern Iraq would not impact its own Kurdish provinces. Turkey also wants to avoid a repetition of 1991, when an estimated 500,000 Kurds attempted to cross the border during the Gulf war -- a move that eventually led to the creation of Iraq's "no-fly" zone.

The leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Jalal Talabani -- which has controlled about one-third of Iraq's northern Kurdish provinces since the end of the Gulf war -- arrived in Ankara today shortly before Cheney for talks with government officials.

During a previous visit to the Turkish capital on 5 March, Talabani expressed his concerns about any violent move to topple Saddam's regime from the outside, saying he favors democratic changes involving forces within the country.

On 27 February, Talabani's main rival in the region -- Democratic Party of Kurdistan leader Masood Barzani -- warned that his movement will not support an attempt to overthrow Saddam unless it knows what the alternative to his regime will be.

Both Kurdish leaders have made it clear they do not want to be assigned the same role as the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan -- a mere auxiliary force in a U.S. military operation to depose Saddam.

3. - The InterPress News Service - "Kurds oppose US attack on Saddam":

DAMASCUS / By George Baghdadi / March 20

Kurdish leaders observed a five-minute silence on Saturday to mourn thousands of Kurds killed or injured in an Iraqi chemical attack 14 years ago. But the leaders also opposed any military strike against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

"The change (of the regime) in Iraq is an internal affair." said Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), on a visit to Damascus. "No one should get involved in this matter, not even the Americans." Talabani's party shares control of northern Iraq with the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

Talabani made his party's stand clear to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. He spelt it out also to US ambassador to Syria Theodore Kattouf and to British ambassador Henry Harger.

His partner in government supported the stand. Mas'ud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) said: "We will not take part in any foreign military plan to change the regime. This goal should be made by the hands of national Iraqis."

Nassrallah Sourji, director of Arab Relations with the Kurdistan Labour Party, agrees. "It is true we have differences with Saddam but any change should not be made by the Americans with whom we have certain experiences," Sourji said.

"In 1991, the US said it was aiming at Saddam but actually it was not," he said. "Now, they would also not target him. It is only a manoeuvre and a game to smack Iraq's infrastructure."

Leaders of other groups too, oppose military action against Saddam Hussein, whatever their own differences with him. Abdullah Ismail, member of the Shura (consultative) Council of the Islamic Unity Movement In Kurdistan, said: "We believe any US strike on Iraq would not aim at the regime but at the economy and the Iraqi people."

The Kurdish opposition to US strikes against Saddam Hussein is significant, analysts say. Among possible opposition players, they are the only people with a fighting force.

Talabani dismissed a media report that the United States had sent a military reconnaissance team into the Kurdish-controlled north of Iraq. "It is a pure lie," Talabani said in reply to a question at a meeting with media representatives.

The London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported last week more than 40 US military officers and experts recently spent about ten days inspecting military positions in the Kurdish areas of northern Iraq, including two airports, "in the framework of the preparations for military operations."

The Kurds are taking a firm political stand in a difficult situation. " The Kurds are caught between the threat of an attack by Iraqi troops if they decide to co-operate - they cannot forget Saddam's shelling of Halabja with chemical weapons in March 1988 which left 5,000 dead and 7,000 injured - and the risk of losing US protection if they remain on the sidelines," an analyst said.

"The world did nothing when Halabja was bombarded," he said. "Saddam is still there and who can say he is not going to do it again," he said. " It looks safer for them to take such a stand, at least for the time being."

Talabani spelt out his party's stand in Damascus following signs of backing from Syria. The meeting between Assad and Talabani came as US Vice-President Dick Cheney toured the Middle East in an attempt to gain support for military action against Iraq.

An official Syrian statement said both leaders "examined the matters related to Iraq and particularly the American threat against Baghdad." Syria insists that the US preoccupation with Baghdad is misplaced when fighting is raging across the West Bank and Gaza between the Israeli army and the Palestinians.

State-run Tishreen newspaper wrote in a recent front-page editorial that "the Arabs were expecting US President Bush's administration to undertake intensive efforts to install a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East, and not to add to the Palestinians' tragedy a new tragedy in Iraq."

President Assad spelt out that position to the vice-president of Iraq's Revolutionary Command Council, Izzat Ibrahim Douri, during recent talks, according to a well-placed diplomat.

Syria and Iraq, ruled by rival factions of the Socialist Baath Party, have been rebuilding ties that were effectively severed when Syria sided with Iran in the 1980-1988 war with Iraq. Now Iraq is a valuable export market for the struggling Syrian economy, despite the constraints of UN sanctions against Iraq.

4. - Turkish Daily News - "Turk says death penalty bill with Cabinet":

As two parliamentary commissions approve a set of reforms Turkey has pledged to the EU in its National Program, the justice minister discloses that the bill lifting the death penalty, except for terrorist crimes and for times of war, is on Cabinet's agenda

The constitutional and justice commissions of Parliament approved Tuesday a set of reforms that Turkey pledged to the European Union in the National Program. Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk disclosed that the controversial bill lifting the death penalty, except for crimes of terrorism and during times of war, was now on the agenda and would soon be submitted to Parliament.

March 20

The controversial bill had touched a nerve in the three-way coalition government, with the Democratic Left Party (DSP) of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, and the Motherland Party (ANAP) of Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz supporting the total dismissal of capital punishment, and the senior coalition partner, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) of Deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli, categorically rejecting the lifting of the death penalty all together, branding it a move aimed at saving the country's public enemy number-one, separatist chieftain Abdullah Ocalan, from the gallows.

Turk said he expected Parliament to legislate the reform package by March 24, the first anniversary of the publication of the National Program in the Official Gazette. Thus, Turk said that Turkey would abide by its pledge to complete the short-term objectives listed in the National Program. Turk did not say when the subsequent package, including, besides the death penalty bill, the drafts amending the cheque and bankruptcy laws, would be submitted by the government to Parliament.

The seven-article reform package is expected to be handled by the General Assembly of Parliament on Thursday.

The package makes amendments to the laws on associations, political parties, meetings, gatherings and rallies, the Gendarmerie, State Security Courts, civil servants and the Penal Code.

The reform package replaces party closure practices with the deprivation of state assistance, temporarily or permanently. It provides enhanced freedoms for associations to be organized and to establish contacts with foreign counterparts, and it also lifts most of the restrictions on meetings and gatherings.

According to a statement from the Prime Ministry, with the legislation of the reform package:

1- Only civil servants from the administrative executive class would have the power to act for local district officers (kaimakams).

2- The printing equipment of publications, sentenced for acting against the integrity of the State and the nation, against the fundamental tenets of the republican order, or the country's national security, could be confiscated.

3- The closure period of the press organ, where the article forming the essence of the crime was published, would decrease to one to 15 days, from three days to one month, and the sentence for those who publish such material would be reduced to one to three months, from one to six months.

4- Civil servants who, because of their application of torture or brute force, cause the State to pay compensation as a result of verdicts from the European Court of Human Rights, will have to pay the compensation themselves.

5- Rather than political parties being closed down, they will be deprived, temporarily or permanently, of state assistance, and if they have already received state assistance, but were sentenced to be deprived of such help, they must pay back the money they had received.

6- The definition of the term, "to become a den of anti-state or fundamentalist activity," in the law on political parties, will be clarified.

7- Everyone, with the eligibility of their actions, will be allowed to establish associations and become members of associations. Also, in line with the changes made to the Constitution, the conditions of the founding membership of associations and the barring of those sentenced under paragraph 2 of Article 312 of the Penal Code from founding an association for five years, will be redefined.

8- Article 5 of the law on associations will be amended in line with constitutional amendments.

9- The emblems and names that cannot be used by associations will be redefined.

10- The rights of associations to form federations and confederations will be rearranged in line with the amendments made to the Civil Law.

11- University students will be allowed to form associations that deal only with educational matters.

12- Associations will be allowed to invite administrators and members of foreign associations to Turkey, or to send their members to meetings organized by associations abroad.

13- The age requirement to become eligible to be among the organizers of a gathering, will be reduced to 18 from 21 years.

14- The suspension of meetings or gatherings based on the phrase, the "Existence of high probability of committing crime with the intention of damaging the fundamental tenets of the republican order," will be replaced by the terms, "With the intention of preventing a crime" and "for the defense of rights and freedoms of others."

15- The phrase, "the power of the emergency rule area governor to prohibit publication in one or more provinces of the region" will be changed to "the power to suspend such publications considered hazardous to public order."

16- The following will be delete completely:

a- From the Press Law, the stipulation that sentences of responsible editors who publish material in languages restricted by law could not be converted to a fine or suspension.

b- From the Gendarmerie Law, the article that empowers gendarmerie officers and uncommissioned officers to temporarily act for district administrators (kaimakams).

c- The articles on the restrictions of meetings of suspects and their lawyers, in the law on the procedures of trial at the State Security Courts.

d- The articles of the law on associations regarding prohibitions on international activities.

e- The articles of the law on meetings, gatherings and rallies that prohibit associations, foundations and professional establishments from having meetings other than for purposes cited in their charters.

Turk told the parliamentary justice commission Tuesday that, so far, the International Court of Justice has ruled that fines totaling œ549,215, $3,000 and ff775,000, be paid by Turkey to people complaining that they had been tortured. He said that Turkish courts had issued sentences for 94 torture complaints in 2000, and for 69 complaints in 2001. They also ruled for the acquittal of 218 and 153 cases of accused officials in 2000 and 2001 respectively.

5. - Sabah - "Let's foil the ploy":

March 20

Columnist Gungor Mengi writes on the stance of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture regarding Abdullah Ocalan. A summary of his column is as follows:

“The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has asked for a television, shortwave radio and a telephone for Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving out his stentence in Imrali. The release of the report requesting this coincided with General Staff Planning and Principles Department head Lt. Gen. Resat Turgut’s speech to the American-Turkish Council’s meeting in Washington calling on Europe to stop supporting terrorism.

Lt. Gen. Turgut said, ‘The West should support Turkey and point to it as a role model for other Islamic countries.’ He added that if Europe really understood the importance of Turkey’s role, it would not have supported terrorist organisations indirectly nor would it have blocked Turkey’s road to entering the EU. In fact, whether the CPT’s suggestions regarding Ocalan are made deliberately or unknowingly, it is certain that they are provoking hatred inTurkey against the EU.

At a time when we expect the appreciation and support of the whole world for not executing Ocalan, who caused the death of 30,000 people and enormous losses in Turkey totalling $100 billion, they are acting to the contrary by keeping his situation continually in the news. People asking for justice are being provoked. Although his conditions in the prison are known to be acceptable and humane, new privileges are asked for him and there are requests that he be transferred to a prison where he can have contact with other inmates.

Don’t they know that such a development would endanger Ocalan’s security? Or is this exactly what they want? If Turkey is a democratic state of law, it has to find a solution to counter this interference. The Turkish public supports the government’s patience in pursuing national interests rather than sacrificing its admittance to the EU, as no one has been executed for 14 years.

This cannot go on indefinitely. It is time to put a stop to this problem, which may result in an accident led by provocations, and to end the exploitation of the Ocalan case for political purposes. Parliament has to adopt the amendment which would commute his death sentence to severe life imprisonment with no chance of release or amnesty. We must be aware that this problem not only blocks over the road to the EU but also the future of social calm and security.

Crying out, getting tough and saying ‘you can do whatever you want with your organization’ is not the way to prove wrong those opposed to Turkey in the EU. This in fact does not serve us, but rather our opponents. Reason dictates not stepping on mines but to first sweep for them calmly. The interests of a political party should not be taken into account during such an important time.”

6. - AFP - "US hides "real policy" towards Iraq , Iraqi Kurdish leader says":

ANKARA / March 20

The United States will not disclose its real plans regarding arch-enemy Iraq, whom it is threatening with military action for allegedly developing weapons of mass destruction, a prominent Iraqi Kurdish leader said here on Wednesday.

"The Americans will never tell anyone their real policy towards Iraq," Jalal Talabani, who heads the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), told reporters in response to a question on US Vice President Dick Cheney's just-ended regional tour to rally support for the anti-terror drive. On his 12-nation tour, Cheney met with stiff resistance, especially from Arab countries, to possible strikes on Iraq for its refusal to allow UN weapons inspectors to return.

Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said Tuesday after talks with Cheney that Washington was not planning to take military action against Iraq "in the near future." Turkey, a key Muslim ally of Washington is also opposed to any operation against Iraq, which it fears would deliver a serious blow to its crisis-hit economy and lead to an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq. Such a state could fan separatist sentiments among Turkey's own Kurds in the southeast, where a 15-year Kurdish rebellion has eased since 1999. Another opponent of military action against Baghdad is Talabani himself: On his previous visit to Ankara in early March, he said that he preferred a democratic change of regime in Iraq involving forces within the country instead of a military intervention from outside. Talabani came to Ankara Tuesday on his second visit in less than two weeks and met the undersecretary at the Turkish foreign ministry, Ugur Ziyal, on Wednesday.

The PUK leader said after the meeting that he had asked Ankara to persuade more Turkish businessmen to invest in northern Iraq. "We already have five Turkish companies, but we would like to see 50 Turkish companies," he said. Talabani added that there were many construction and infrastructure projects to be undertaken in northern Iraq and said the PUK had the money to pay for them. "We have about 1,500 million dollars in the bank," he said. Northern Iraq has been outside Baghdad's control following the 1991 Gulf war, and much of it is controlled by Talabani and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Massoud Barzani.