2 April 2004

1. "Turkish court under fire as verdict nears in retrial of Kurdish activists", a Turkish state security court reviewing jail terms imposed on human rights activist Leyla Zana and three other former Kurdish lawmakers came under fire for being biased Friday as it was due to deliver its verdict.

2. "EU parliament gives frosty review of Turkey's entry bid", the European Parliament Thursday poured cold water on Turkey's much-cherished bid to join the EU by lodging a wide-ranging series of objections before accession talks can begin.

3. "Turkey not ready for EU membership, say MEPs", the European Parliament on Thursday (1 April) voted with an overwhelming majority in favour of a report saying that Turkey is not yet ready to start EU membership talks.

4. "First Kurdish Courses Begin in Turkey", for the first time ever, teacher Abdurrahman Ozer, 52, writes the letters "q," "w," and "x" on a blackboard.

5. "Human rights reforms, Cyprus settlement before Turkey can join EU", the European Parliament says Turkey does not yet meet the political standards for membership in the European Union.

6. "EU lauds Turkey and pleads with Tassos", the European Commission yesterday praised Turkey and urged Greece and Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos to show leadership after UN-brokered Cyprus peace talks ended without an agreement.

1. - AFP - "Turkish court under fire as verdict nears in retrial of Kurdish activists":

ANKARA / 2 April 2004

A Turkish state security court reviewing jail terms imposed on human rights activist Leyla Zana and three other former Kurdish lawmakers came under fire for being biased Friday as it was due to deliver its verdict.

The retrial of the four, jailed in 1994 for belonging to an armed Kurdish separatist group in a much-criticized verdict, is seen as a test of Turkey's resolve to embrace European norms and could have a bearing on its drive to become a member of the European Union.

"We cannot say that the trial has been healthy and fair," defence attorney Yusuf Alatas told the court as he presented his final arguements. He said the three-judge panel was not impartial and openly favored the prosecution throughout the retrial process, which started in March 2003.

"The defense has been crippled," he said. The lawyer also charged the judges failed to take account of a 2001 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights which condemned the 1994 trial of the four Kurdish activists as unfair.

Alatas told AFP he did not expect the court to rule in favor of the defendants. The four -- Zana, Hatip Dicle, Orhan Dogan and Selim Sadak -- were absent from the courtroom, following their boycott of the hearings in protest at the court proceedings and its refusal to release them on bail.

Several European observers, including members of the European Parliament, were attending the hearing. Joost Lagendijk, an MEP who co-chairs the EU-Turkey joint parliamentary committee, told reporters during a break in the hearing that the defense lawyer "managed to convince me that the trial is not a fair trial."

Zana, winner of the European Parliament's 1995 Sakharov prize, and her co-defendants -- all MPs from the now-defunct pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP) -- were sentenced to 15 years in jail in 1994 for membership of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Alatas said the conviction of the four "was a political settling of accounts" at a time when tensions between Ankara and its Kurdish minority were at their peak. The PKK was fighting for self-rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast. It declared a ceasefire in September 1999, six months after the capture of its leader Abdullah Ocalan, and vowed to pursue peaceful means of political change.

Zana, the first Kurdish woman to win a seat in Turkey's parliament, has long been a focus for international rights campaigners who insist that her conviction was a result of Ankara's determination to silence even peaceful activists advocating Kurdish freedoms.

In its 2001 ruling, the European Court of Human Rights said the four defendants had been unable to question key witnesses and had not been informed in time of changes to the charges against them. They were allowed a re-trial under democracy reforms adopted by Turkey in order to boost its bid to join the EU.

"I think the court will reconfirm the 1994 sentences imposed on the defendants. We will then appeal against the sentence and, if need be, go to the European Court of Human Human Rights," Alatas said.

Zana, 43, also did not sound hopeful in a letter she wrote to Nobel peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi, a human rights lawyer in Iran, and former French first lady Danielle Mitterand from her Ankara prison cell.

"Maybe by the time my letter arrives, the old verdict will have been upheld. We knew and were expecting such a result," Zana said in the letter dated March 30, a copy of which was faxed to AFP. "The old trial was being repeated in the name of a new trial, the government was using the trial as a trump card in international relations and the judiciary was made into a tool for these dirty politics," she added.

2. - AFP - "EU parliament gives frosty review of Turkey's entry bid":

STRASBOURG / 1 April 2004

The European Parliament Thursday poured cold water on Turkey's much-cherished bid to join the EU by lodging a wide-ranging series of objections before accession talks can begin.

The European Union assembly adopted a highly critical evaluation of Turkey's progress towards EU entry conditions, ahead of a decision in December by EU leaders on whether the long-delayed talks should start.

"Settlement of the Cyprus conflict is an essential condition for progress on Turkey's EU membership application," MEPs also said in adopting the report by 211 votes for, 84 against with 90 abstentions.

Turkey has been an EU candidate since 1999, but is the only country among 13 states not to have begun accession talks. It has launched a raft of reforms that it says should be enough to finally start negotiations.

The European Parliament, however, said the largely Muslim country should notably adopt a brand-new constitution to show it was serious about joining the EU.

It said that "absolute priority should be given to the political criteria" of EU membership before the accession talks can begin.

"A modern constitution may form the basis for the modernisation of the Turkish state," the author of the parliament's report, Dutch conservative Arie Oostlander, said.

The legislature praised the EU-oriented reforms already enacted in Turkey -- including some taboo-breaking constitutional amendments -- but said implementation on the ground was lagging behind.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen, who has been largely sympathetic to Turkey's EU bid provided it can meet the tough entry criteria, underlined the point.

"Changes in legislation are not enough," the German official told the parliament. "We have to see changes in practise as well. Again and again, we get reports that the process of reform is being accepted only hesitantly by local administrations," he said.

MEPs also castigated Turkey for "the continuing influence of the army in politics, business, culture and education, continuing torture practices and mistreatment, the intimidation of human rights defenders, the discrimination of religious minorities and the fact that trade union freedom is not fully guaranteed".

They singled out the detention of four activists including Leyla Zana, who were sentenced to 15 years in jail in a much-criticised verdict in 1994 for collaborating with armed Kurdish rebels. Zana has become something of a cause celebre for the European Parliament, which awarded her its Sakharov prize for human rights in 1995.

The parliament also called on the European Commission, which will deliver a crucial review of Turkey's EU bid in October, "to take account of the EU's capacity to absorb new member states". Ten more countries are due to join the EU on May 1 followed, possibly, by Bulgaria and Romania in 2007.

Many conservative voices who object to Turkey joining have questioned whether the EU could absorb a vast country that straddles Europe and Asia. But the parliament rejected an amendment promoted by right-wing deputies, including from French President Jacques Chirac's UMP party, for Turkey to be offered a "privileged partnership" with the EU rather than full membership.

3. - EUobserver - "Turkey not ready for EU membership, say MEPs":

BRUSSELS / 2 April 2004

The European Parliament on Thursday (1 April) voted with an overwhelming majority in favour of a report saying that Turkey is not yet ready to start EU membership talks.

With 211 votes in favour and 84 against, MEPs said while Turkey has made many important reforms since last year in order to meet the political criteria for EU membership, it still needs to implement the reforms in many areas.

The euro-deputies had a range of criticisms against the country - including the continued influence of the army in politics, the continuing torture practices and the discrimination of religious minorities.

They also raised the question of whether the European Union can absorb such a large and relatively poor country.

This year is a crucial year for Turkey meaning that reports like these count even more than usual.

Negatiave political signal
EU leaders decided in 2002 that on the basis of a report by the European Commission in October this year, member states will decide in December whether Ankara has achieved the political credentials for starting accession negotiations.

Although the European Parliament's report is not legally binding, it will send a negative political signal to Ankara which lately has become much more optimistic about its chances of getting the go-ahead from member states this year.

However, the country still has some strong backing from influential member states - particularly Germany and the UK. The key question is likely to be whether France will support Turkish membership.

Admittance of the mainly Muslim country to the EU is set be one of the biggest political issues this year and is already on the way to becoming a big topic in some countries at the forthcoming European elections in June.

4. - AP - "First Kurdish Courses Begin in Turkey":

BATMAN / 2 April 2004

For the first time ever, teacher Abdurrahman Ozer, 52, writes the letters "q," "w," and "x" on a blackboard.

The letters don't exist in Turkish. They belong to Ozer's mother tongue, Kurdish, a language spoken by millions in Turkey but until now outlawed in the classroom.

Ozer is one of two teachers who on Thursday began teaching the first legal Kurdish language courses in Turkey. Not surprisingly, most of his students are adults who never learned to read and write their language, which was forbidden even to speak for many years.

The courses - offered at a private language school in this city in the predominantly Kurdish southeast - were made possible by a series of reforms Turkey adopted to strengthen its chances of joining the European Union.

Turkish leaders only reluctantly agreed to allow the courses, along with radio and television broadcasts in Kurdish, fearing the measures could revive a separatist conflict.

Kurdish guerrillas fought Turkish soldiers for 15 years before declaring a unilateral cease-fire in 1999. About 37,000 people were killed.

Turkey, with a population of 70 million, is home to 12 million ethnic Kurds. For many, being able to take courses in their language marks a milestone in their long struggle for greater rights.

"To write the Kurdish alphabet legally on the chalkboard for the first time means that the door to freedom is partially open," said Ozer, who like the other teacher at the school is a volunteer.

However, he said the reforms are insufficient because they allow only private, after-hours schools to teach the Kurdish language - not public schools.

Kurdish was banned in 1983, just before the start of the armed separatist uprising, but was legalized in unofficial settings in 1991. Before 1983, Kurdish was tolerated as a spoken language.

Even after Kurdish language instruction became legal, Ozer and other school officials had to wrangle for months with Turkish bureaucrats to start the courses. TV and radio broadcasts have so far been limited to music and music videos.

Ozer's school and two others in southeastern Turkey got permission to open last month. The other two schools are expected to begin teaching in the coming days while at least five other schools throughout the country are still waiting for permission.

Around 45 students, mostly adults, sat at wooden desks in two classrooms Thursday evening, to learn the alphabet of the language they grew up speaking, but never studied. Portraits of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, hung above the chalkboards in all the classrooms.

"It's our mother tongue, but we can't read or write it," said Naime Celik, who brought her 10-year-old Devran Cenk Celik to the course. "I want him to learn Kurdish, like they teach him Turkish in school."

Her son, the youngest student in the class, added: "They give us German courses in school, but don't teach us our own language."

The school waived the $75 fee for many of the students in the impoverished region.

The beginning of the courses comes at an important time for Turkey, which hopes that the 15-nation EU will give it a date to begin accession negotiations by the end of the year.

The EU has praised Turkey's efforts to broaden cultural rights for Kurds but has said more must be done.

Many Kurds are still deeply distrustful of Turkish authorities and are critical of the strong tactics used by Turkey's military against the rebels.

Turkish officials worry that Iraqi Kurds, who dominate a region bordering southern Turkey, could serve as an inspiration for Turkish Kurds.

Batman's mayor, Huseyin Kalkan, won last Sunday's local elections with 73 percent of the vote. Kalkan's pro-Kurdish party also won several other cities in the region, including the largest, Diyarbakir.

The governing Justice and Development Party, which swept elections throughout the rest of Turkey, didn't even run in the Batman race.

Kalkan said Kurds are pleased about their expanded rights, the decreased military presence in the region and the fact that fighting has diminished.

There have been only sporadic clashes between rebels and the army since the 1999 cease-fire, which came shortly after the capture of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan.

But Kalkan said much remains to be done.

"Our greatest fear is that there could be a return to the days of fighting," he said. "We're Kurds, but citizens of Turkey. We want to live in Turkey, but watch TV in our language and learn Kurdish. We want it to be taught in public schools."

Ozer, the teacher, said he believed learning Kurdish was essential for the region's development.

"A people that doesn't know its own culture and language can never get on its feet," he said.

5. - CBC News (Canada) - "Human rights reforms, Cyprus settlement before Turkey can join EU":

STRASBOURG / 1 April 2004

The European Parliament says Turkey does not yet meet the political standards for membership in the European Union.

EU deputies voted 211 to 84 to adopt a report on Ankara's progress toward accession, which states Turkey does not yet meet what are called the Copenhagen Political Criteria – a reference to EU standards on democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

The report says the pro-European government of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has taken many courageous steps in the face of resistance to political and economic reforms, but says more progress is needed.

It notes Turkey continues to allow torture, some political parties have been banned, and human rights campaigners are often intimidated.

Euro MPs also called on Turkey to "implement without delay outstanding decisions of the European Court of Human Rights," according to a news release on the EU website, "including in the matter of restoring property rights on Cyprus and to withdraw its forces from the northern part of Cyprus."

The EU says settlement of the Cyprus conflict is an "essential condition" for Turkey's acceptance into the group.

6. - Cyprus Mail - "EU lauds Turkey and pleads with Tassos":

2 April 2004

The European Commission yesterday praised Turkey and urged Greece and Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos to show leadership after UN-brokered Cyprus peace talks ended without an agreement.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen insisted the negotiations had not failed and appealed to all Cypriots to back the UN peace plan to reunite the island before it joins the European Union on May 1.

"Over the past two days in Switzerland we have come very close to achieving that objective. This procedure certainly has not failed," Verheugen told the European Parliament.

In a statement that could boost Turkey's own bid to open EU accession talks next year, he said: "Turkey played a very constructive and co-operative role in the negotiations. I would like to say that expressly."

The EU executive is due to recommend in October whether Turkey has met the political criteria to begin membership negotiations.

EU leaders have said the Ankara government's active co-operation in a Cyprus settlement would improve its own prospects when they take a decision in December on whether to open entry talks.

The talks in Buergenstock, Switzerland, ended on Wednesday night with UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan saying he would put a peace plan to referenda of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots on April 24, despite criticism by Greece and the Greek Cypriots.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat supported the plan.

"What we really have to do is convince the Greek Cypriot community that this most recent plan -- the only plan -- is in their interests as well. We need clear leadership and a strong political will," Verheugen said.

"I would call on the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders to do all they can to try and persuade the population of the island that the present plan represents the best and most balanced solution that can possibly be achieved," he said.

"The alternative is this plan or nothing, no solution at all, and I don't think in the near future we'll have another opportunity to arrive at a solution to this issue," he said.

Whether or not voters approve a peace agreement, Cyprus will join the EU on May 1.

Verheugen said the Annan plan provided for a viable state speaking with a single voice and could be accommodated without permanent exceptions or opt-outs from EU law.