8
November 2002
2. "Rasmussen sees balanced solution for Turkey in Copenhagen", the Danish prime minister suggests the EU will closely follow political developments in Turkey and the policies of the incoming AK Party government before making a decision at the Copenhagen summit
3. "Ocalan has not met with his lawyers for 4 weeks", KADEK President Abdullah Ocalan did not met with his lawyers the other day once again. Lawyers from Law Bureau of the Century, Irfan Dundar, Mehmet Erbil, Bekir Kaya and Faruk Yaygin, were not given permission to go to Imrali Island on the grounds of "bad weather", where Ocalan has been imprisoned for about 4 years.
4. "The elections results are not legitimate for Kurds", the elections is not democratic and legitimate as far as the Kurdish people and DEHAP are concerned. The will of the Kurdish people are kept from being realized by tricks and electoral threshold. As a result the Kurdish people are not represented in the parliament although in all Kurdish provinces DEHAP have won the overwhelming majority with the exception of one or two provinces.
5. "Standard and Poor's raises Turkey's credit outlook to stable", US credit rating agency Standard and Poor's said Thursday it had revised its outlook on Turkey's credit rating to stable from negative.
6. "With or without headscarf: wives a factor in the search for Turkey's next PM", with no clue as to who will be Turkey's next premier, spouses of likely candidates are coming under close scrutiny as many believe a prime minister's wife should not wear the Islamic headscarf.
1. - Associated Press - "Turkey's New Leader to be Chosen After Parliament Convenes Next Week":
ANKARA / 8 November 2002
The leader of the party that won Turkey's election says the new prime minister will not be nominated until after the new parliament convenes. Justice and Development Party leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, made the announcement after meeting with Turkey's president.
Mr. Erdogan refused to be drawn on just who the country's next prime minister will be. He said the issue had not come up during his talks with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, and that a prime minister will be nominated only after the parliament holds its first session, sometime next week.
Mr. Erdogan is not eligible for the post because of a prior conviction on charges of seeking to incite religious hatred. That conviction, which cost him his former job as Istanbul's mayor, disqualified him from running for a seat in the parliament. Under Turkish law, only parliamentary deputies are eligible to become prime minister.
In a bid to quash speculation that he will seek to run the country through the prime minister, Mr. Erdogan said he would choose a strong and effective leader to head the government.
Financial markets remained buoyant, despite the uncertainty regarding the nomination of a prime minister, with the Istanbul Stock Exchange continuing to make hefty gains for a fourth straight day after the elections.
The mood in the markets mirrors that of the business community and western governments in the wake of the Justice and Development Party's spectacular victory at the polls, which swept away Turkey's old guard of politicians.
The only other party to clear the minimum 10 percent of the national vote needed to win seats in the parliament was the pro-secular Republican People's Party, led by Deniz Baykal. Mr. Baykal, has said that, as the sole opposition leader, he will seek to cooperate with Mr. Erdogan's party on a broad range of issues.
Few Turks appear worried about Justice and Development's clearly Islamic roots. And Mr. Erdogan, who began his career in an overtly pro-Islamic party, has repeatedly emphasized that he does not believe in mixing religion with politics.
Party officials said Thursday that the new government will keep up strong ties with Turkey's closest regional ally, Israel.
Mr. Erdogan has also said that securing Turkey's membership in the European Union is among his government's foremost goals.
That would mean bringing Turkey's constitution, drawn up by strongly
pro-secular armed forces when they seized power in 1980, into line
with EU standards. Party officials say the proposed changes would,
among others, likely enable Mr. Erdogan to take the post of prime
minister in the future.
2. - Turkish Daily News - "Rasmussen sees balanced solution for Turkey in Copenhagen":
ANKARA / 8 November 2002
The Danish prime minister suggests the EU will closely follow political developments in Turkey and the policies of the incoming AK Party government before making a decision at the Copenhagen summit
The European Union will find a "balanced solution" for Turkey at the upcoming Copenhagen summit, said Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, whose country holds rotating presidency of the EU. He emphasized the EU would closely follow the new Turkish government's EU policy before deciding whether or not to give Turkey a negotiations start date at the summit.
Addressing members of the European Parliament in a General Assembly meeting, Rasmussen said Turkey should be treated on an equal basis with other candidates and added it would be given a date for the beginning of accession talks as soon as it fully meets membership criteria.
According to Rasmussen, Turkey has recorded significant progress in meeting EU accession criteria but, as an EU Commission report recently said, it still had deficiencies in this regard.
Turkey hopes to get a date for the beginning of membership talks with the EU at the EU leaders Copenhagen summit in mid-December. The message to EU officials is that it has fulfilled most of the criteria set and deserves to be given a clear membership calendar.
The EU Commission's annual progress report, however, declined to mention the date issue, emphasizing there are still deficiencies in Turkey's performance to meet EU criteria. A subsequent summit of EU leaders in Brussels also failed to mention a date.
Rasmussen said the EU would closely eye political developments in Turkey in the aftermath of elections. "The EU leaders will find a balanced solution for Turkey in Copenhagen and it is still early to suggest anything," he said. He suggested that the Copenhagen summit might adopt a different and more advanced approach towards Turkey than that of the Brussels summit.
EU Commission President Romano Prodi agreed with Rasmussen and said the EU had to see what the new government would do to fulfill EU's membership criteria.
The landslide victor of the November 3 elections, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), pledged to treat Turkey's EU membership process as a priority. AK Party Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to tour European capitals soon in an effort to convince the EU leaders that the incoming AK Party government would be committed to political and economic reforms.
European parliamentarians mixed on date for Turkey
Addressing the European Parliament session, German socialist parliamentarian
Hannes Swoboda said the EU should take a cautious, not skeptical,
attitude towards Turkey's demand for a date at the Copenhagen summit,
warning Turkey not to make promises that could not be kept.
British liberal parliamentarian Baroness Nicholson suggested that the EU should tell Turkey that it might start talks in 2004, provided that it fulfills membership criteria.
German socialist Martin Schultz argued AK Party was the strongest
opponent of reforms in Turkey and said the EU should first know the
government direction before making a decision on the Turkish membership
bid.
3. - Kurdish Observer - "Ocalan has not met with his lawyers for 4 weeks":
7 November 2002
KADEK President Abdullah Ocalan did not met with his lawyers the other day once again.Lawyers from Law Bureau of the Century Irfan Dundar, Mehmet Erbil, Bekir Kaya and Faruk Yaygin were not given permission to go to Imrali Island where Ocalan had been imprisoned for about 4 years on the grounds of "bad weather".
KADEK President Abdullah Ocalan did not met with his lawyers the other day once again.
Lawyers from Law Bureau of the Century Irfan Dundar, Mehmet Erbil, Bekir Kaya and Faruk Yaygin were not given permission to go to Imrali Island where Ocalan had been imprisoned for about 4 years on the grounds of “bad weather”.
His lawyer Hatice Korkut made the following statement last week:
We are talking about a man who has been under isolation for 4 years.
We have not been able to see him for 3 weeks. There is a case in ECHR
and there are cases here and in Athens. We have not got any information
about his health. Last week they said that the boat was out of order.
Our demand is to guarantee the dates and system of the meetings."
4. - Ozgur Politika - "The elections results are not legitimate for Kurds":
7 November 2002
"The elections is not democratic and legitimate as far as the Kurdish people and DEHAP are concerned. The will of the Kurdish people are kept from being realized by tricks and electoral threshold. As a result the Kurdish people are not represented in the parliament although in all Kurdish provinces DEHAP have won the overwhelming majority with the exception of one or two provinces.”
by NURDOGAN AYDOGAN
Mustafa Karasu, member of KADEK Presidential Council, talked to Ozgur Politika on elections results.
-What would you like to say about the new parliament?
The new parliament does not represent all political tendencies in Turkey. Democratic forces and the Kurdish people are not represented in the national assembly. A parliament in which the Kurdish people and the leftist forces are not present is an incomplete, somewhat undemocratic one. In fact the national assembly has always existed with such a handicap. As the leftist forces have not been present in it, it has not reflected the longings of the people. Therefore Turkey has not been able to solve the Kurdish question nor met the demands of the society for democracy and freedom.
Both party leaders in the parliament are not able to solve the problems in Turkey. We can say this clearly: Turkey is in the hands of two inept politicians. Neither Erdogan’s capacity is enough to solve the problems nor Baykal’s. Their mentalities do not have democracy, freedoms. They have self concepts of democracy and freedoms. And they are reactionary as far as the Kurdish question that is the main criterion of democratisation is concerned. We know Tayyip Erdogan’s stance about abolishing capital punishment: reactionary. Before the elections he tried to deceive people who get tired of poverty and unemployment by saying that they will banish foreign workers as fascists have done, they will employ their own workers.
Now there are two parties in the parliament. They have got 40% of
the 40 million votes. That means that they do not represent 60% of
the voters. The power and the opposition have got a total of 40% and
AKP has got 25%. That is, it will come to power with 25% of votes.
Its legitimacy is disputable of course. Especially Kurdish people
were tried to be kept from representing its will in the parliament.
Both CHP and AKP were opposed to a reduction in national electoral
threshold. As a result the Kurdish people are not represented in the
parliament though DEHAP have got overwhelming majority in Kurdish
provinces except for one or two provinces. If it passed the threshold,
90% of the Kurdish deputies would belong to DEHAP. But as it was,
a party which had got millions of votes could not enter into the assembly
whereas a party or an independent candidate which had got five or
six thousand votes could enter it. Can we talk about a legitimacy
or justice then?
-What can you say about the obstructions and repression against DEHAP?
There have not been so much repression in the past. DEHAP’s campaign might be easier than 1999 elections but in a number of places in Kurdistan it did not have enough freedom. Even in Diyarbakir it did not have it. In Mardin, Sirnak, Hakkari and Van there was repression or the activists limited their activities taking the repression into consideration. And it kept the campaign from being more effective. The elections did not have anything to do with freedom and justice. Comparison is not good, being comparatively free does not mean it is wholly free and fair. On the other hand the democratic leftist forces and the Kurdish people were under intense repression. HADEP which had somewhat enough organization could not run in the elections. And debates on whether DEHAP could be qualified or not went on and on. Ballot box observers were not allowed in Kurdistan provinces. Village guards intimidated voters. Some police and gendarme stations threatened people and in some villages forced villagers to vote openly.
Consequently, no matter whet the other parties say, elections do
not have any legitimacy and democracy for the Kurdish people and DEHAP.
In Diyarbakir for example AKP have got 8 deputies while in normal
conditions it could have got only one. Can this be legitimate? Are
they be able to represent the Diyarbakir people, the Kurdish people.
It is an imposition on the Kurdish people. It means “Go and deliver
your will to AKP, CHP or DYP”. It does not have another meaning.
And it is clear that it can not be accepted by the Kurdish people.
“Brotherhood of two peoples”
-How do you consider the election results as far as leftist democratic block and other parties are concerned?
The result of the elections is the liquidation of all parties in power and in opposition. It is a definite fact. There is no single party that is successful, because all deputies are from the parties which have not come to power in the past. AKP ran in the elections bearing a mask, therefore it is difficult to say that they are successful. The other parties could not successful as they have no concept to solve the problems. Maybe they will gain more power later but those who try to be powerful by using the failure of the others will sooner or later face failure. And AKP will decline as it rises upon the failure of the old parties.
What must be considered is the leftist democratic block. We expected more votes for the block. The official results are beyond the expectance. Its reasons are debated and will be debated in the near future. What are its drawbacks, inadequacies. And it will prepare itself for the future by eliminating them. But the block has not lose votes than the past. There is a general rise. But it was not sufficient. In spite of the result we can say that the greatest political campaign has been realized by the leftist democratic forces within DEHAP. DEHAP has run the most energetic, dynamic campaign at the history. Even anti-DEHAP forces accept it.
In fact the block succeed by coming together. It played an important role in breaking the thought that left cannot come together. It created a hope and excitement. Intellectuals, artists, non-governmental organizations supported it. It is very important. As far as inertia, lack of hope and excitement of the democratic forces are concerned, the spirit it has created becomes especially important. Its value cannot be measured by votes and deputies.
The other important thing the block has succeded is the brotherhood of two peoples. Nobody must underrate it. What is important is the beginning a reconciliation, a movement of brotherhood between two peoples. Of course power is important but first of all it must begin. Without starting a movement, without establishing its principles, programs etc. it is impossible to be a force. Therefore we consider it very valuable. The democratic forces of the two peoples will be an important force and change the fate of the country. No matter what the results are, it is responsibility of democratic forces, patriotic forces both in Turkey and Kurdistan to believe in it absolutely, not to depart from its program and principles.
The campaign was successful, in fact very successful. It was successful in the sense that it created excitement, hope and dynamism, organized hundreds, thousands public gatherings and meetings, it introduced itself. Maybe it did not succeed to make people vote for itself but absolutely impressed them. At least it is an important development that its concepts and thoughts were listened to. It must be seen as a beginning. It was an exaggerated expectance anyway for the program to be assimilated rapidly by people within a month. One must not be surprised at the result as far as people brainwashed by media for tens of years are concerned. But the democracy and freedom movement has preserved its vigor, in fact raised it. There is a ground. If they work properly the number of votes can be raised, new areas can be found. This message should be deduced from the results.
On the other hand meetings were splendid. People still talk about
them. Even the most reactionary sections accept its difference. Masses
gained a political training, political experience by participating
in the meetings. It is one of the great gains of the campaign.
“Democratic revolution deepened with women”
-We witnessed that women played a front role in the campaign…
The most important thing DEHAP has succeeded is women leading the
way. It means that consciousness for democracy and freedom has deepened
in Kurdistan and Turkey, democratic revolution has deepened. It must
be considered very important. The Women’s movement cannot be
measured only by a qualitative rise. It must be seen as a movement
which strengthens the roots of democratic consciousness, contribute
to the energy in the struggle against reactionism. The main sign of
the democratic and revolutionary quality of the campaign is the dynamism
and vigor of the women. It is a great success in itself. And it can
be seen as a victory. Free Women’s Movement which has been developed
by patient efforts of President Apo and the national democratic movement
for long years has made a break-out. Why it has not changed into votes
is related with insufficient organizational level. And there were
insufficiencies to explain its aims to masses insistently, to make
organized, planned efforts on this matter. In short, the women’s
movement has not succeeded to convince individual women. While the
break-out is a very important development, it has not succeeded to
change itself into a concrete movement, a concrete organization, concrete
relations. But the main success, the most democratic, most revolutionary
success of the campaign was that women organized themselves in such
a political struggle.
5.
- AFP - "Standard and Poor's raises Turkey's credit outlook
to stable":
LONDON / 7 November 2002
US credit rating agency Standard and Poor's said Thursday it had
revised its outlook on Turkey's credit rating to stable from negative.
"The outlook revision reflects Standard and Poor's view that
the risk of events leading to a downgrade is now well balanced by
the prospect of a more stable and effective government in Turkey,"
said Standard and Poor's credit analyst Ala'a Al-Yousuf.
At the same time, Standard and Poor's stood by its B minus long-term
and C short-term ratings.
S and P's outlook revision follows the landslide victory of the moderate
Islamist Justice and Development Party (AK) in general elections Sunday,
after which the party quickly reassured the markets that it would
work to advance Turkey's bid to join the European Union and cooperate
with the International Monetary Fund.
"The stable outlook reflects expectations that the new government
will not make major economic policy changes and will remain firmly
committed to the present IMF program," said Al-Yousuf.
In his first speech after the elections, AK leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan
said he had no "prejudice" against the IMF but stressed
that Ankara would take into account its "national interests"
when dealing with the international organisation.
"Success in obtaining a quick completion of the fourth review
under the present IMF program and a timetable for EU accession would
also be a significant improvement, as it would provide an important
anchor for AKP's secular domestic position, the government's reform
efforts, and in case a war in Iraq heightens investor risk aversion
again," added Al-Yousuf.
6. - AFP - "With or without headscarf: wives a factor in the search for Turkey's next PM":
ANKARA / 7 November
by Sibel Utku
With no clue as to who will be Turkey's next premier, spouses of
likely candidates are coming under close scrutiny as many believe
a prime minister's wife should not wear the Islamic headscarf.
"The question of the day is who will be the prime minister. The
second is: will the wife of the new prime minister be veiled or not?"
the mass-circulation Sabah daily asked Thursday.
Only once previously has the wife of a top leader -- Necmettin Erbakan,
the country's first Islamist prime minister -- worn a headscarf which
the pro-Western Turkish elite sees as a symbolic rejection of modern
values.
Erbakan was later forced out of office by the army.
The country has even banned the headscarf from public offices and
universities, where it is viewed as a statement in favor of political
Islam. Veiled women are not allowed into military facilities.
Now that a party with Islamist roots -- Justice and Development (AKP)
-- has won a landslide election victory, Turks are again grappling
with the mighty question of whether a top official's wife can attend
official functions if she is veiled.
The AKP, formed on the ashes of a banned Islamist movement, has rejected
its heritage and advocated a centrist agenda, but most of its senior
members are practicing Muslims whose spouses adhere to Islamic attire.
The question popped up at a press conference at the presidential palace
Thursday.
The spokesman for President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who is charged with
appointing the prime minister, declined to say whether the headscarf
issue would be a factor in Sezer's choice.
AKP chairman Recep Tayyip Erdogan is legally barred from holding the
post due to a past conviction for Islamist sedition, and the party
must choice another andidate.c
In a harsh article denouncing the AKP's victory, Hurriyet columnist
Bekir Coskun lamented the "incredible choice" made by voters
who have hurt Turkey's efforts to take "its place in the modern
world."
"The Western media says that political Islam has come to power
in Turkey. And in the photos accompanying the reports we see Erdogan
and his very dear veiled wife," he wrote.
The press has speculated that Erdogan's closest aide and the most-likely
candidate to head the government, Abdullah Gul, could also be dropped
because his wife wears a veil.
The AKP was reportedly considering other candidates, particularly
among members whose wives are not veiled and who originally came from
mainstream political parties.
The Milliyet daily ran a list of possible candidates, accompanied
by information on how their spouses dress and their pictures.
Its chief editor dismissed the issue as "absurd."
"Everybody should drop their prejudices and give a chance to
the AKP and the prime minister it will chose," Mehmet Yilmaz
wrote.
Nuray Mert, a columnist for the liberal Radikal, saw "a psychological
problem" at the core of the controversy.
"Most opponents object to the headscarf not because it is against
secularism, but because it clouds our efforts to look Western,"
Mert said recently.
"Changing our stance over the headscarf will not only be a step
towards democratization, but also therapy for our chronic inferiority
complex towards the West," she added.