13 April 2004

1. "Jailed Kurdish activist slams EU for putting rebel group on terror list", Jailed Kurdish activist Leyla Zana has warned the European Union that its decision to place a Turkish Kurd rebel group on its terror list could encourage Kurdish violence, a newspaper reported Sunday.

2. "Banned Syrian Kurdish party complains of more arrests after riots", Syria's banned Kurdish party Yakiti charged Thursday that arbitrary arrests are still being carried out following deadly ethnic riots last month, and that even schoolchildren had been targeted.

3. "Syria arrests more than 1000 Kurds", Syrian authorities have arrested more than 1000 Kurds as part of a continuing campaign against the Kurdish minority, a Syrian human rights group claimed today.

4. "A Call from Diyarbakir", Civil Society Organisations to the EU said , "Dialogue with KONGRA-GEL is the only solution".

5. "Ankara wants recognition for Turkish Cyprus if peace plan fails", Turkey has said it will seek international recognition for the breakaway statelet in Northern Cyprus if the UN plan to reunite the island is accepted by Turkish Cypriots but rejected by the Greek Cypriot community.

6. "Turkish troops kill three Kurdish militants", Turkish troops killed three Kurdish militants and arrested one in a four-day military operation in southeast Turkey, a military source said on Sunday.

1. - AFP - "Jailed Kurdish activist slams EU for putting rebel group on terror list":

ANKARA / 11 April 2004

Jailed Kurdish activist Leyla Zana has warned the European Union that its decision to place a Turkish Kurd rebel group on its terror list could encourage Kurdish violence, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Zana made the warning in a letter to European Commission head Romano Prodi and foreign affairs envoy Javier Solana after Brussels added the Kurdistan People's Congress (KONGRA-GEL) on its list of terrorist groups last week, the Internet edition of the pro-Kurdish Ozgur Politika daily said.

The group is an offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a bloody campaign for self-rule in southeast Turkey, and is also considered a terrorist organisation by Ankara and Washington.

"In my opinion the EU has made the most unfortunate decision in its history," said Zana, a former member of the Turkish parliament and winner of the European Parliament's 1995 Sakharov human rights prize.

KONGRA-GEL is "defending the democratic rights of the Kurds, who live mostly in Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq" and which "has repeatedly said it is ready to disarm if a legal arrangement is made to ensure its democratic participation in society," Zana said.

"Perceptions which see enlightenment and innovation projects among the Kurds as the continuation of the old will encourage violence and harm regional peoples, primarily in Turkey, as well as world peace," she said.

KONGRA-GEL was founded in November by Kurdish militants who announced that they were disbanding the Turkish Congress for Democracy and Freedom in Kurdistan (KADEK), an earlier offspring of the PKK, in order to pursue a democratic struggle for Kurdish rights.

They said, however, they had strengthened their armed wing, whose guerrillas are based in mountains in northern Iraq close to the Turkish border. Zana sent the letter also to US President George W. Bush, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, according to Ozgur Politika.

Zana and three other former Kurdish MPs were jailed to 15 years in 1994 for collaborating with the PKK in its armed campaign to carve up a Kurdish state in Turkey's southeast. The ruling, which has been widely criticized as an attempt to silence even peaceful advocates of Kurdish freedoms, is currently being reviewed by a court in Ankara.

2. - AFP - "Banned Syrian Kurdish party complains of more arrests after riots":

DAMASCUS / 8 April 2004

Syria's banned Kurdish party Yakiti charged Thursday that arbitrary arrests are still being carried out following deadly ethnic riots last month, and that even schoolchildren had been targeted.

"The Syrian authorities have not stopped their nighttime searches of houses nor the campaign of arrests and repression" against the minority Kurds, the party said in a statement signed by its leader Abdel Baki Yussef.

"The regime does not seem to know that the Kurdish cause requires a democratic solution and a political dialogue," it said, adding that the crackdown had spread to the towns of Amuda and Darbasiyah on the Turkish border.

"Security services arrested Tuesday four students aged between 12 and 13 in a school in Qamishli," it said.

The riots broke out on March 12 at a football match in Qamishli, 600 kilometres (375 miles) north of Damascus, when Arab tribesmen taunted Kurds with slogans against Iraqi Kurdish leaders and brandished portraits of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

The unrest spread to other cities and even the suburbs of Damascus. Kurdish leaders said 40 people were killed in the six days of clashes.

An official toll put the number of dead at 25. The head of another banned party, the Kurdish Progressive Democratic Party, also said late last month that Syria has continued to arrest Kurds and that more than 2,000 Kurds were behind bars.

Syrian officials have accused foreign infiltrators of being behind the unrest, but Kurdish officials have cited growing resentment, including discrimination against Kurds in universities and the military.

The roughly 1.5 million Kurds in Syria make up about nine percent of the population, and live mostly in the north.

3. - AP - "Syria arrests more than 1000 Kurds":

DAMASCUS / 12 April 2004

Syrian authorities have arrested more than 1000 Kurds as part of a continuing campaign against the Kurdish minority, a Syrian human rights group claimed today.

It was the second report in less than a week of an alleged clampdown on Kurds in Syria since last month's clashes between Syrian security forces and Kurdish rioters in which 25 were killed and more than 100 wounded.

In a statement faxed to foreign news agencies in Damascus today, Aktham Naisse, the chairman of the Committees for the Defence of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights in Syria, said "arbitrary daily arrests" were still continuing against Kurdish women and men.

More than 1000 Kurds have been arrested and many of them were tortured, he said.

Naisse said two Kurds, Firhad Mohammad Daoud, 21, from Qamishli in north east Syria, and Hussein Hmak Nassom 22, from the northern town of Afreen, died under torture in prison.

The statement claimed that a number of Kurds were dismissed from Syrian universities for participating in last month's demonstrations.

Syrian officials could not be reached for comment.

Faisal al-Youssef, a member of the political bureau of the Kurdish Democratic Party, said that daily arrests of Kurds have been conducted since last month. He also reported the deaths of the two Kurds in detention.

On April 7, the Kurdish Yekiti Party claimed that Syrians authorities conducted raids in north-eastern Syria and arrested dozens of Kurds.

The March clashes between Kurds and Syrian police began with a brawl between supporters of rival soccer teams before a match in Qamishli. The next day, Kurds went on the rampage during a funeral for the riot victims, and the violence spread to nearby areas.

In his statement today, Naisse called for an immediate halt to "terrorist and illegal practices" against the Kurds, warning that such practices would "further complicate the situation and increase unrest" among Syria's various ethnic groups.

He said the introduction of swift democratic reforms would help deal fairly with the issue of the Kurds' rights in Syria.

Kurds comprise about 1.5 million of Syria's 18.5 million people, live mostly in the underdeveloped provinces of Qamishli and Hasakah and occasionally complain of being marginalised in Syria.

Syria and other Iraqi neighbours with large Kurdish minorities are concerned Kurds in their countries may be inspired to become more assertive because of the political rise of Kurds in neighbouring Iraq since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein last year.

4. - International Initiative - "A Call from Diyarbakir*":

Civil Society Organisations to the EU said , "Dialogue with KONGRA-GEL is the only solution"

8 April 2004

The spokesperson of the Diyarbakir Democracy Platform, which comprises 32 civil organisations, the solicitor, Selahattin DEMIRTAS, criticised the inclusion of KONGRA-GEL in the EU's "list of terrorist organisations". He charged that the declaration of an organisation that has not carried out a single military action as "terrorist" cast a shadow on the EU's sincerity.

Mr Demirtas highlighted the support that Kurds in Turkey give to KONGRA-GEL, and noted that the Kurdish question cannot be resolved by ignoring and blacklisting KONGRA-GEL. Arguing that dialogue was the only way for reaching the Kurds in Turkey, Demirtas also said;

"For many years, attempts made to resolve the Kurdish question have been informed by a policy of 'yes to the Kurdish question, no to the PKK'. However, this approach falls short of reflecting reality. Any power wanting to resolve the Kurdish question, must take these people seriously. Any power or state that attempted to resolve the Kurdish question by way of denial has become bankrupt. I am only pointing out the facts. To accept them or otherwise is up to states and unions. But it is necessary to acknowledge the huge sympathy that the Kurds living in Turkey do feel towards KONGRA-GEL. Accordingly, improving dialogue with KONGRA-GEL is the way to reach the Kurds. Anyone who is sincere about resolving the Kurdish question would see that the way to achieve this is not by adding KONGRA-GEL to the 'terrorist list'. Into what kind of EU would you accept a Turkey that has not resolved the Kurdish question? The Kurdish question is a fundamental problem of this country. Thus, in order to entrench democracy in Turkey, the Kurdish question must be resolved."

"The EU is perceived as supportive of the democracy powers in Turkey. By including an organization that has defined itself as a "People's Congress" and encapsulates a range of different political thoughts, that until now has not been implicated with any armed action in a 'terror list' is indicative of the lack of sincerity when it comes to connecting with the struggle for democracy and human rights her on the ground in Turkey. If the EU does not alter its position, of course the democracy powers here would understandably become anxious about the EU's sincerity in approaching the problems in the region. As a result, future relations might be tainted by a lack of confidence. Therefore, the EU must reconsider its policy towards democracy in Turkey and the Kurdish question. Settling problems in this way is not possible....."

* Turkey-Kurdistan

5. - Monday Morning (Lebanon) - "Ankara wants recognition for Turkish Cyprus if peace plan fails":

13 April 2004

Turkey has said it will seek international recognition for the breakaway statelet in Northern Cyprus if the UN plan to reunite the island is accepted by Turkish Cypriots but rejected by the Greek Cypriot community.

Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, meanwhile, stepped up his rhetoric against the plan, warning Ankara that its endorsement of the deal would endanger the Turkish Cypriot minority’s future.

“If Greek Cypriots vote ‘no’ and Turkish Cypriots vote ‘yes’, I shall seek recognition for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdallah Gul said in remarks published by the daily Hurriyet.

If that occurs, -- which according to recent opinion polls is a likely outcome of the referendums on April 24 -- “I shall proudly travel the planet advocating recognition of the TRNC”.

Athens, which backs the internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot South, dismissed Gul’s remarks. “For the Greek government, the [Turkish-Cypriot] pseudo-state remains a pseudo-state”, government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos told reporters.

The TRNC was set up in 1983, nine years after Turkey invaded the northern third of the island in response to a Greek-Cypriot coup aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s National Security Council, a top policy-making body which brings together the country’s civilian and military leadership, said after a meeting that it had reservations over parts of the UN settlement plan, but welcomed its positive aspects.

“There are positive sides to the plan but some of Turkey’s demands have not been met”, the council said.

It particularly called for guarantees that the Turkish North of the island would be permanently exempt from EU law settlement provisions limiting the ability of Greek Cypriots to settle, invest and buy property in the North.

Many fear that the Greek Cypriots, who form the more populous and richer side of the island, could one day -- politically and economically --swallow up the Turkish Cypriot minority.

“The question of exemptions needs to be closely and carefully discussed with the European Union... without which problems could arise”, the text said.

According to Turkish diplomats, Ankara had obtained assurances from the EU concerning the legal exemptions.

Turkey has given its blessing to a plan by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to reunify the island before May 1, when it is due to join the European Union.

If either community rejects the plan in simultaneous referendums to be held on April 24, only the Greek Cypriot South will be admitted to the EU.

Turkey, which maintains some 30,000 troops in the TRNC, fears that such a prospect may undermine its own bid to join the EU.

Denktash said he was concerned the situation in Cyprus could come to resemble that in Kosovo and the Palestinian territories if reunification was forced on the people against their will.

Denktash has vocally criticized the Annan plan even though his patrons in Ankara say it is the best possible settlement that could have been obtained at last-ditch peace talks in Switzerland.

6. - Reuters - "Turkish troops kill three Kurdish militants":

TUNCELI / 11 April 2004

Turkish troops killed three Kurdish militants and arrested one in a four-day military operation in southeast Turkey, a military source said on Sunday.

Two soldiers were wounded in the clashes in the southeastern provinces of Tunceli, Siirt, Sirnak and Bingol, once a stronghold of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) separatists, and the operation is still under way, the source said.

More than 30,000 people, most of them Kurds, died in three decades of armed conflict between Turkish security forces and Kurdish separatists in southeast Turkey, but the PKK said it would focus on political means to achieve its goals after the arrest and imprisonment of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999.

Turkey has begun reforming its treatment of minorities such as the Kurds as part of its drive to join the European Union, but a recent European Parliament report said much remained to be done.