10 July 2003

1. "Turkey Warns U.S. That Its Troops Will Fire Back, Milliyet Says", Turkey warned the U.S. that its troops will fire back at U.S. soldiers if another attempt is made to arrest Turkish soldiers in Iraq, Milliyet daily reported, without saying how it obtained the information.

2. "US 'has evidence' to justify arrest of Turkish troops", the US was expected to present Turkey on Wednesday with "reliable evidence" that 11 members of its special forces detained by US troops in northern Iraq last week were involved in suspect activities.

3. "Retaliation by HPG guerrillas in Dersim", while the Turkish army increases ist operations against the People’s Defence Forces (HPG) guerrillas, the guerrillas retaliated too. As a result of the operations in Dersim resulted 2 guerrillas and 5 soldiers died and 12 soldiers wounded. The operations launched in Hozat and Cemisgezek on June 23 are said to spread as far as districts of Hozat, Pertek and Nazmiye in Dersim.

4. "Turkey Keeps Up Anti-U.S. Criticism, Soldiers Meet", Turkey, still smarting from the brief detention of its commandos by U.S. troops in Iraq, kept up its angry barrage of criticism on Wednesday as military officers from the two NATO (news - web sites) allies met to defuse tensions.

5. "Turkey's dubious presence in northern Iraq", amid the chaos and tribulations of "postwar" Iraq, the initial reports reaching here over the weekend from a small town in extreme northern Iraq suggested a welcome, successful operation.

6. "Syrian authorities clamp down on pro-KADEK demonstration", on the 30th of June, 2003, supporters of the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK), formerly known as Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), staged a demonstration in the evening in Al-Ashrafia (a part of Aleppo city with Kurdish majority).

7. "Armenian genocide resolution hampers conciliation efforts Between Turkey and U.S.", Turkish government circles: Armenian genocide resolution hampers conciliation efforts Between Turkey and U.S.

8. "Baku-Ceyhan Project Violates Turkey`s EU Accession Agreement", Campaigners take first step in potential EU legal challange to controversial BP pipline


1. - Bloomberg, UK - "Turkey Warns U.S. That Its Troops Will Fire Back, Milliyet Says":

9 July 2003

Turkey warned the U.S. that its troops will fire back at U.S. soldiers if another attempt is made to arrest Turkish soldiers in Iraq, Milliyet daily reported, without saying how it obtained the information.

Turkish Military Chief of Staff Hilmi Ozkok issued the warning during a meeting yesterday with General James Jones, the U.S. commander in Europe, Milliyet said.

Jones visited Ankara for two hours yesterday after Ozkok called the detention of Turkish soldiers by U.S. forces last weekend a ``crisis of confidence'' between the two allies. The 11 Turkish soldiers, who were detained by U.S. forces in northern Iraq Friday on suspicion they were involved in an alleged plot to harm Iraqi officials, were released Sunday.

Turkey has thousands of troops in parts of northern Iraq to prevent Kurds from Turkey who have set up bases in Iraq from establishing an independent Kurdish homeland. Some analysts have said the U.S. probably wants Turkish troops out of Iraq. Relations between Turkey and the U.S. have been strained since before the start of the war because Turkey refused to allow the U.S. to use Turkish bases to stage the attack against Iraq.

(Milliyet 7-9, 1)


2. - The Financial Times - "US 'has evidence' to justify arrest of Turkish troops":

ANKARA / 9 July 2003/ by Leyla Boulton / Additional reporting by Charles Clover in Baghdad

The US was expected to present Turkey on Wednesday with "reliable evidence" that 11 members of its special forces detained by US troops in northern Iraq last week were involved in suspect activities.

The arrest on July 4 of the Turkish troops, who were freed on Sunday, provoked a storm of protest from the Turkish armed forces, the media, and the opposition Republican People's party (CHP).

The release came hours after Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister, warned Dick Cheney, US vice-president, that he would be unable to contain a tide of popular anger unless the men were freed. Far from dying down, the national furore has been further inflamed by reports that the men suffered humiliating treatment at the hands of their Nato ally, including the covering of their heads with hoods.

General Hilmi Ozkok, chief of general staff and commander of the armed forces, spoke on Monday of a "crisis of confidence" between the US and Turkey. The CHP opposition has demanded a US apology and some newspapers called on Wednesday for a review of Turkey's ties with the US.

On Wednesday, however, Turkish government officials appeared to have softened their tone. This followed a visit by a top US general on Tuesday to Gen Ozkok, who is thought to have been informed of the sort of "evidence" which US military officials were expected to present at the bilateral military inquiry which started in Ankara on Wednesday.

Abdullah Gul, foreign minister, said he hoped the incident was an isolated one.

One US observer said: "They know we acted on solid evidence but they are upset we did things the way we did."

The men are said to have been found with explosives, sniper rifles, and maps circling locations near the office of the newly elected Kurdish governor of Kirkuk in Kurdish-dominated northern Iraq.

The ostensible reason for Turkey's continuing military presence has been to fight terrorism in the form of Turkey's home-grown Kurdistan Workers party (PKK), whose militants have long taken refuge in northern Iraq.

But the armed forces are also fearful that an autonomous, stable northern Iraq could encourage separatism.

An official of the Kurdistan Democratic party (KDP) accused the Turkish government of meddling in Iraqi Kurdistan. "The Turks have been interfering in our area very intensively and we want them to stop."

The US armed forces in Iraq make no secret of their hostility towards Turkey after its failure this spring, following weeks of foot-dragging, to allow the stationing of US troops in Turkey for a second front against Iraq.


3. - The Kurdish Observer - "Retaliation by HPG guerrillas in Dersim":

SOUTH KURDISTAN /MHA / 9 July 2003 / by Beritan Gulan

While the Turkish army increases ist operations against the People’s Defence Forces (HPG) guerrillas, the guerrillas retaliated too. As a result of the operations in Dersim resulted 2 guerrillas and 5 soldiers died and 12 soldiers wounded. The operations launched in Hozat and Cemisgezek on June 23 are said to spread as far as districts of Hozat, Pertek and Nazmiye in Dersim.

The armed clash between Turkish soldiers and HPG guerrillas on June 26 began at 2.00 p.m and continued till 8.00 p.m. While a guerrilla named Ferhat lost his life, the Turkish army had three casualties, two being wounded.

Operations continue intensly in Ovacik, Perdtek, Nazimiye and Cemisgezek. There are buildups in gendarme stations in Nazimiye.

And in countryside of Hurmuz, Yaylidere there was an armed clash between a group of HPG guerrillas and Turkish soldiers on July 5 and a HPG guerrilla lost his life while a Turkish soldier died.

3 soldiers died, 7 soldiers wounded

A statement made by HPG commanders in Dersim said that as a retaliation for the attack on June 5 and operations in Dersim, HPG guerrillas made an attack on a military vehicle in Ovacik on July 5. As a result 3 soldiers in the vehicle died and 7 of dthem wounded.

While the Turkish army launched an operation of one day in countrside of Bilika, Cudi on July 3. The operation launched in Cemce between Kagizman and Agri on July 5 still continues.

According to the information received herds in Kesan in the region of Haftanin were attacked from above. Tens of cattle died.


4. - Reuters - "Turkey Keeps Up Anti-U.S. Criticism, Soldiers Meet":

ANKARA / 10 July 2003 / by Gareth Jones

Turkey, still smarting from the brief detention of its commandos by U.S. troops in Iraq, kept up its angry barrage of criticism on Wednesday as military officers from the two NATO (news - web sites) allies met to defuse tensions.

The U.S. troops arrested the 11 commandos in northern Iraq on Friday, triggering what Turkey's powerful General Staff described as a "crisis of trust" between Ankara and Washington. The men were released on Sunday.

Washington sent its top soldier in Europe, General James Jones, who is also NATO commander, to Ankara on Tuesday to agree the terms of a special probe into the incident. The probe opened in Ankara on Wednesday at lieutenant-general level.

Turkey has enjoyed close ties with the United States, but Ankara's refusal to allow in U.S. troops during the Iraq war dented the long-standing partnership.

"Don't even try it," read a banner headline in the Milliyet daily, warning U.S. troops against further arrests of Turkish soldiers, in northern Iraq to monitor Kurdish separatists.

"The General Staff tells U.S. General (James Jones), 'If something like the incident in northern Iraq happens again our soldiers will respond in kind'," the paper headline said.

On the streets of Istanbul, Turkey's commercial capital, the mood was equally defiant.

"The United States is not fair to us. How dare they take our soldiers away? From now on I don't want any relations with them," said mini-bus taxi driver Hasan Balci, 43. "We can be on our own, we have 70 million people."

Turkish debt, the lira and stocks all slipped on Wednesday because of the tensions. Brokers said the military talks in Ankara may prove key to halting a further slide in asset prices.

Diplomatic sources in the Middle East say one of the Turks detained was a colonel whom U.S. or British forces had expelled from Iraq twice previously for "suspicious activities." They say there is evidence the soldiers were involved in a plot to kill the interim governor of Kirkuk. Turkey has denied such claims.

TRUST

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said the two sides would examine the incident "without undermining trust."

He also shrugged off talk of any rift between Turkey's generals and the government -- distrusted by the staunchly secular army due to its Islamist roots -- over the affair.

"There can be no division between the government and the military. This is a Turkey issue and we are working closely together," Gul told reporters.

A commentator for the Radikal newspaper, Ismet Berkan, said the weekend incident underlined Washington's changed priorities after the ousting of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), which meant Turkey had become less central to its regional interests.

But Berkan said Turkey should avoid reacting emotionally and instead focus on building closer ties with the European Union (news - web sites). Ankara is currently adopting political reforms in the hope of starting EU accession talks in early 2005.

In another potential threat to strained U.S.-Turkey ties, the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on Wednesday or Thursday on draft legislation that would recognize the killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915 as genocide.

Turkey has long denied the charges of genocide, saying the Armenians were among numerous victims of a partisan war raging in World War One as the Ottoman empire collapsed.

In the past, the Congress has dropped such resolutions because the White House has said it could harm U.S. interests in the Middle East. But this time, Turkey fears a bad outcome.


5. - The Boston Globe - "Turkey's dubious presence in northern Iraq":

WASHINGTON / 10 July 2003 / by Thomas Oliphant*

Amid the chaos and tribulations of "postwar" Iraq, the initial reports reaching here over the weekend from a small town in extreme northern Iraq suggested a welcome, successful operation.

Acting on what was officially described as intelligence information about plots against officials trying to manage the country's Kurdish-led northern sector out of Kirkuk, U.S. forces raided a section of the town of Sulaimaniya, seizing weapons and communications equipment as well as about two-dozen men who were taken to a house in Baghdad for questioning.

The glow of success, however, quickly faded as it became clear that 11 of the men were Turkish soldiers, igniting a fresh round of political strife between the United States and a Turkish government that has developed a severe habit of behaving badly. The seizure has been treated as a major incident by the unsteady government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and its media house organs, but the few facts that are known suggest they are protesting far too much. Furthermore, the detentions raise fresh questions about just what Turkish armed forces are doing in northern Iraq that can meet any definition of the adjective "good" and why Washington tolerates their presence in one part of the country where there has been some progress in inching toward a form of self-rule by Iraqis (in this case, the Kurds).

All weekend, U.S. officials, speaking privately for reasons of diplomatic convenience, insisted that the operation in the town, carried out by elements of the 173rd Airborne Brigade, followed receipt of what was described as "hard intelligence" that people in the compound that was raided were planning to destabilize the region's government and that assassination of high officials was to be involved.

The insistence by these officials became stronger as the Turkish government first denied any connection to such plots and then used the detention of its soldiers as fodder for propaganda claiming injury to the country's pride and honor. These protestations do not deserve to be taken at face value.

This is the same Turkish government that before the war greatly complicated Washington's planning at the last moment by refusing to allow its territory to be the base for an invasion by coalition forces from the north. This is the same Turkish government that also complicated the American air campaign by confused and conflicting responses regarding over-flight permission.

This is the same Turkish government that has attempted to subvert and suppress Kurdish autonomy - inside its own territory and more ominously inside Iraq's for more than a decade. And this is the same Turkish government that has at various moments this year asserted a right if not an intention to enter northern Iraq on its unilateral assessment of "security" concerns and to continue pursuing its own Kurds across the border whenever it chooses.

So far the United States has kept these dangerous tendencies at bay, but the latest incident suggests that the underlying problem remains serious.

In the current environment, the United States can hardly insist that Iran keep its political and subversive hands out of the delicate situation in the Shiite south. It can hardly insist that Syria not become a haven for cross-border guerrilla and terrorist activities and still tolerate Turkish misbehavior in the north simply because it has status as a NATO member. NATO membership is a responsibility, not a license.

More important, the United States cannot tolerate threats to one of the brighter spots on the Iraqi horizon since the invasion - the continued development of a Kurdish-dominated civil society in the north. The United States has a right to be concerned, as does Turkey, that this developing Kurdish government continue to be inclusive and tolerant, especially toward the significant Turkoman population that also lives there.

However, the results to date - as well as the results during a decade of autonomy north of Kirkuk when the Kurds were belatedly protected by one of the no-fly zones - have been uniformly hopeful. At long last, one of the world's most suppressed population is enjoying an opportunity for limited autonomy, and the fact the Kurds are making the most of it is both exciting and crucial to the eventual emergence of a stable, nondictatorial Iraq.

The latest incident was papered over by some hurried phone traffic between Ankara and Washington - involving Erdogan himself and Vice President Dick Cheney at one point. The detained Turkish soldiers have been returned to their base in northern Iraq. And there will be a Turkish-American investigation into the circumstance surrounding the U.S. raid.

The diplomatic requirements are understandable, but it is important that there be no more incidents that call directly into question Turkey's good will. It is one thing for Ankara to maintain longstanding concerns in the region, but it ought to be unacceptable to permit it to assert any right to control events in Kurdish Iraq, and severe reprisals should accompany any further attempt to intervene violently.

*Thomas Oliphant's columns appear regularly in The Boston Globe.


6. - KurdishMedia - "Syrian authorities clamp down on pro-KADEK demonstration":

ALEPPO / 10 July 2003 / by Hawar Miran

On the 30th of June, 2003, supporters of the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK), formerly known as Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), staged a demonstration in the evening in Al-Ashrafia (a part of Aleppo city with Kurdish majority).

The number of demonstrators were about 300 and they demanded constitutional recognition of the Kurdish identity in western Kurdistan, Kurdish schooling system, democracy in Syria and freedom for Abdullah Ocalan. The demonstrators were carrying the pictures of president of Syria, Bashar Alassad, as well as of the now imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.

The demonstrators were attacked in hundreds by the Syrian intteligence agents and fire fighting trucks. The security agents dispersed the demonstrators with excessive violence and detained several of them.

Those arrested were subjected to harsh treatment and were beaten by the security forces in the street in front of other citizens. The number of detainees and their whereabouts is unknown.

In an attempt to curb Kurdish activism and agitation for the recognition of Kurdish rights, activists are being asked to frequenlty contact the Syrian intelligence departments.


7. - Turkish Daily News - "Armenian genocide resolution hampers conciliation efforts Between Turkey and U.S.":

Turkish government circles: Armenian genocide resolution hampers conciliation efforts Between Turkey and U.S.

ANKARA / 10 July 2003

'The resolution does not contribute to a solution for the problems, it even hampers all efforts for conciliation, and afterwards it would be very difficult for Turkey to sit at the table with Armenia,' says Erdal Ilter.

While secret groundwork for conciliation between Turkey and Armenia continues, a resolution draft at the U.S. Senate that indirectly recognizes the so-called "Armenian genocide" not only frustrates conciliation efforts, but also dismissed hopes for fixing relations between Turkey and the United States.

"The resolution draft may mark the end of the conciliation efforts, and may underline the souring ties between the two NATO allies Turkey and the United States," said Erdal Ilter, head of the Armenian desk of ASAM (an Ankara based think-tank institution).

The move came just after a Turkish Foreign Ministry official visited Armenian capital Yerevan for secret groundworks for a conciliation between the two regional states, before the meeting of the two countries foreign ministers at a U.N. Summit in New York in September.

Turkish and Armenian officials are reportedly discussing to normalize the relations between the two countries, and in parallel to this to solve the problems between Armenia and Azerbaijan, with which Turkey has historic and ethnic ties.

"The resolution does not contribute to a solution for the problems, it even hampers all efforts, and afterwards it would be very difficult for Turkey to sit at the table with Armenia afterwards," said Erdal Ilter, speaking to the Turkish Daily News.

Turkey was the first country to recognize independent Armenia in 1991 but diplomatic ties were later severed following the Armenian occupation of Azeri territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Turkey has said it is ready to support every confidence building measure between the two states. Turkey also added normalization of ties depended on Armenia's signing an agreement with Turkey making sure that the current border is recognized by this country, Armenian administration's stopping to support Armenian lobby efforts to get international recognition for the alleged genocide and withdraw from Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian announced Wednesday that Armenia has many proposals within the scope of taking "small steps" aimed at normalizing relations.

Oskanian also told the press in Yerevan that he hopes to reach some concrete agreements in September.
The resolution hampers US-Turkey fence-mending efforts

The move also coincides with a tense atmosphere between the two NATO allies, Turkey and the United States after seizure of Turkish commandos in northern Iraq in an incident that underlined souring ties after the rejection of deployment of U.S. troops in Turkey during the Iraq war by the Turkish Parliament.

Turkey wanted the U.S. Administration to show more effort for the rejection of the resolution, that might be viewed as a gesture in the relations strained after the seizure of Turkish commandos in northern Iraq.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Wednesday that the resolution is not related to the U.S. Administration, it is related to the U.S. Congress, and added, "But, the U.S. Administration is showing sensitiveness on the issue."

"We are doing what is necessary to overcome the problem," Gul added.


8. - Kurdish Media - "Baku-Ceyhan Project Violates Turkey`s EU Accession Agreement":

Campaigners take first step in potential EU legal challange to controversial BP pipline

8 July 2003 / KHRP

The controversial BP-led Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline project[1] violates Turkey’s accession agreements for entry into the European Union[2], says a coalition of leading human rights and environmental NGOs[3], as well as a group of local Kurdish people affected by the project. The NGOs and affected people yesterday submitted a detailed submission to the European Commission, calling for all pre-accession assistance to Turkey to be frozen until all BTC project defects are remedied. If the Commission fails to take corrective action, the campaigners and affected people will consider all legal avenues open to them, including seeking remedy through the European Court of Justice.

According to the campaigners, the legal agreements that underpin the project break EU law, as well as Turkey’s obligations under the EU Accession Partnership. Under the agreements, Turkey exempts the pipeline consortium from all Turkish laws that might affect the project [4]. Turkey would also be obliged to compensate the consortium if new laws were introduced that affected the "Economic Equilibrium" or profitability of the project [5].

The NGOs cite a legal opinion by EU law barrister Philip Moser [6], in which he argues that as part of its EU Accession Partnership, Turkey is obliged to move towards the acquis of Community law; instead, it has moved away from the acquis, triggering the Commission’s duty to act. Moser concludes that the agreements, "amount to a clear potential breach of what would be Turkey’s EU law obligations, namely accepting the supremacy of Community Law."

In their letter to the Commission, the campaigners state: "The Accession Partnership with Turkey is severely undermined by the construction of this pipeline. Turkey has agreed a move towards the Community acquis and the Copenhagen criteria, yet the pipeline project agreements represent a step in entirely the wrong direction. The implementation of this project involves actual and/or potential breaches of EU, Human Rights and International Law."

Turkey has also undertaken to implement EU laws on environmental impact assessments (EIAs). However, the submission points out that the project violates EU EIA requirements on nine counts, including failing to consult properly with those affected by the pipeline. The Complaint is supported by sworn affidavits from villagers affected by the project, who state that they been neither properly consulted or compensated, although BP has frequently claimed to have consulted everyone who will be affected by the pipeline.

Accusations of human rights violations, particularly in areas with large Kurdish populations, have also dogged the BTC project. "These statements are only the tip of the iceberg", says Kerim Yildiz, Executive Director of the Kurdish Human Rights Project. "There are hundreds more people who are in the process of filing complaints about the way BP has failed to consult them about, or pay them for, the use of their land. But what else do you expect when BP’s plans took so little account of their rights in a politically repressive environment? It’s a tribute to these people’s bravery that they are willing to speak up in a climate so lacking in freedom of expression."[7]

The European Commission has powers to act in the event of Turkey acting contrary to its accession agreements, including the capacity to freeze all pre-accession assistance [8]. "The European Commission is the Guardian of the accession process and must act in circumstances such as these, where the evidence of Turkey’s failure to comply with its accession obligations is so overwhelming," says Phil Michaels, legal advisor to Friends of the Earth. "We expect them to take appropriate and
proportionate action."

For further information, contact:

- Nick Hildyard, The Corner House - 01258 473795 or 07773750534
- Greg Muttitt, Platform - 07970 589611
- Kerim Yildiz, Kurdish Human Rights Project - 0207 287 2772
- Phil Michaels, Friends of the Earth - 0207 566 1725
- Philip Moser, barrister - 0207 643 5000

EDITORS’ NOTES:

[1] The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, if built, would carry up to a million barrels of oil a day from the Caspian Sea through Georgia to Ceyhan on the Turkish Mediterranean coast. UK oil giant BP leads the project, and is seeking around $2 billion in public subsidy from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank and export credit agencies such as the UK’s ECGD. The BTC project has come in for extensive criticism for its human rights, social and environmental implications: for more on the critiques, see www.baku.org.uk.

[2] The letter sent to the Commission is available from The Kurdish Human Rights Project - khrp@khrp.demon.co.uk

[3] The groups include the Kurdish Human Rights Project, Friends of the Earth, PLATFORM, the Ilisu Dam Campaign and Cornerhouse.

[4] The preamble of the Intergovernmental Agreement signed between Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia, the three states through which the pipeline passes, states: "... the Intergovernmental Agreement shall become effective as law of the Republic of Turkey and (with respect to the subject matter thereof) prevailing over all other Turkish Law (other than the Constitution) and the terms of such agreement shall be the binding obligation of the Republic of Turkey under international law..."

[5] The HGA contains a ’stabilisation clause’, where if anything threatens the "Economic Equilibrium" of the Project, then Turkey and other states shall (HGA, Art.7.2(xi)): "...take all action available to them to restore the Economic Equilibrium established under the Project Agreements if and to the extent the Economic Equilibrium is disrupted or negatively affected, directly or indirectly, as a result of any change in Turkish law (including any Turkish laws regarding taxes, health and safety and the environment). .this shall include the obligation to take all appropriate measures to resolve promptly by whatever means may be necessary, including by way of exemption, legislation, decree and/or other authoritative acts, any conflict or anomaly between any Project Agreement and ... Turkish law."

[6] Philip Moser, a barrister with the European Law Group at 4 Paper Buildings, Temple, is a widely acknowledged specialist in European Law.

[7] A fact-finding mission report issued in May by many of the NGOs involved in the submission concluded that so serious is the level of political repression along parts of the pipeline route that freedom of expression effectively does not exist, fundamentally invalidating the idea or practice of consultation.

[8] Council Regulation 390/2001 "on assistance to Turkey in the framework of the pre-accession strategy" establishes a system for the Commission to recommend that ’appropriate steps’ be taken in relation to pre-accession assistance to Turkey. Such steps include the freezing, or withdrawal, of such assistance.