6 April 2004

1. "E.U. Adds All Names Of Pkk To Its List Of Terrorist Organizations", the European Union (EU) has added ''KADEK'' and ''KONGRA-GELL'', names used by the rebel organization of PKK, to its list of terrorist organizations.

2. "Peace in Cyprus a key to Turkey's fortunes", as a market economy, Turkey's prospects are improving. Inflation is under control, interest rates are falling, and a sweeping victory in recent local elections has strengthened the mandate of the Justice and Development Party, which favors economic reform.

3. "Ankara wants recognition for Turkish Cyprus if peace plan fails", Turkey said on Monday it would seek international recognition for its breakaway statelet in northern Cyprus if the UN plan to reunite the island were accepted by Turkish Cypriots but rejected by the Greek Cypriot community.

4. "From Kirkuk to Kurds", unrest may erupt as Kurds' pursuit of independence has gained a momentum of its own since the war, since it would hardly be recognized by any future regime in Baghdad.

5. "Iraqi Kurds dance to a different tune", unlike Arab compatriots, most Kurds welcome the occupation.

6. "In crucial year for Turkey’s EU bid, much remains to be done to find solutions for several hundred thousand displaced Kurds", as the European Union’s decision on opening membership negotiations with Turkey draws closer, much remains to be done for the Turkish government to find durable solutions for the hundreds of thousands of Kurds who were displaced in more than a decade of fighting in the country’s south-east, according to a report published by the Global IDP Project of the Norwegian Refugee Council today.

1. - Anadolu Agency - "E.U. Adds All Names Of Pkk To Its List Of Terrorist Organizations":

BRUSSELS / 5 April 2004

The European Union (EU) has added ''KADEK'' and ''KONGRA-GELL'', names used by the rebel organization of PKK, to its list of terrorist organizations.

The updated list of terrorist organizations was published in the EU's Officials Gazette on April 3, 2004.

Earlier, the rebel organization was included in the EU's list of terrorist organizations with its first name ''PKK''.

In the updated list, it was stressed that the PKK was also using the names of ''KADEK'' and ''KONGRA-GEL''

The list also includes the terrorist Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C).

The EU decided to prepare a list of terrorist organizations following the September 11th events in the United States in 2001.

In 2002, the rebel or leftist organizations of PKK and DHKP-C were included in the list.

The EU envisaged to freeze all possessions of the organizations and persons included in the list, in the EU.

However, practice seems to be insufficient. It is observed that these organizations are still able to continue holding several demonstrations in the EU-member countries and do not have any financial difficulties.

After the PKK decided to change its name first as ''KADEK'' and then ''KONGRA-GEL'', Ankara asked the EU to include also these names in its list of terrorist organizations.

The EU updates the list once in six months to add names of several persons and organizations.

The Committee of Permanent Representatives, known as COREPER, decides the changes in the list. After being published in the Official Gazette, the new list comes into force.

Turkey has launched intense initiatives and pressures in the EU-member countries just before all meetings of COREPER for more than a year, and asked the EU to include new names of the organization in its list.

Some EU-member countries have prevented inclusion of new names of the PKK in the list claiming that the organization had not staged acts of violence under its new names.

Number of these countries reduced one by one as a result of initiatives of Ankara. Belgium, the last country, has approved the decision at last by not raising an objection in the process.

2. - International Herald Tribune - "Peace in Cyprus a key to Turkey's fortunes":

6 April 2004 / by Barbara Wall

As a market economy, Turkey's prospects are improving. Inflation is under control, interest rates are falling, and a sweeping victory in recent local elections has strengthened the mandate of the Justice and Development Party, which favors economic reform.

What Turkey needs now, fund managers say, is a unified Cyprus. In fact, they add, local financial markets are banking on it.

Cyprus was split in 1974 when a Greek-backed attempt to seize power was thwarted by Turkish military intervention. The Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has worked to promote reunification since coming to power in November 2002 because a divided Cyprus is a key obstacle to full membership in the European Union.

In the past week, negotiators from Greece, Turkey and Cyprus met in Bürgenstock, Switzerland, to try to hammer out a reunification plan. No agreement was forthcoming. All sides have accepted that the United Nations will be the final arbiter in the peace deal, which will be put to separate referendums on April 20, in time for the island's entry to the EU on May 1.

Greece, Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot community appear to be broadly in favor of the UN peace proposal, and Turkey's financial markets have priced in a positive outcome in the referendums, fund managers say. Nevertheless, after a 71 percent rise in the Istanbul stock market since Erdogan took power, and a good run so far in 2004, some investors might be tempted to lock in profits.

David Lubin, a London-based economist with HSBC, said he expected the Turkish Cypriot side to vote for the UN peace proposal, given that Erdogan has staked his political reputation on a favorable outcome. Lubin warned that a negative vote could upset domestic bond and equity markets.

Lubin is less confident about the likely outcome of the Greek Cypriot vote, though he said that this would probably have less of a bearing on Turkey's EU ambitions and the direction of the markets.

"Erdogan has done all that he could to unite Cyprus," Lubin said. “It would be difficult for the EU to refuse Turkey a date to begin accession negotiations simply because the Greek Cypriot community voted against the UN proposal. How the Greek Cypriot side votes is effectively out of Erdogan's control.”

Even if both Turkish and Greek Cypriot communities voted against the UN peace plan - Lubin's worst-case scenario - other observers said the disruption to Turkey's stock and bond markets might not be as bad as some have anticipated.

Jack Arnoff, manager of a Luxembourg-domiciled East European equity fund for Pictet, is not counting on Turkey's getting a date for EU accession negotiations. He has based his investment case on the country's economic growth prospects and growing business ties with Eastern Europe. A positive outcome on April 20 would be the icing on the cake but not the cake itself, he said.

Arnoff is sanguine about the Turkish stock market's recent strong run. He said there would be more surprises on the upside than shocks on the downside. "Interest rates in Turkey are falling, but, at 22 percent, they are still substantially higher than that of other markets in Eastern Europe," he said. As rates continue to fall, "we expect a massive consumer boom," he said.

Arnoff is investing in retail banks, which are well positioned to develop their consumer lending departments. He is also high on Turkish real estate investment trusts - "where any investor should be in a declining interest rate environment," he said.

Perhaps the most compelling reason for investing in Turkey is that investors get access to sectors that are not represented on the other stock exchanges in the region, such as real estate and consumer goods.

"There are few listed and liquid consumer and construction stocks in Eastern Europe," Arnoff said. "In our view, the best way to play these sectors is to invest in a Turkish company that has significant business interests in the region."

Arnoff favors the Turkish retail giant Migros Turk, which also has large outlets in Russia and Romania. He also likes Enka Insaat, one of the principal construction companies in Turkey and the largest real estate developer in Russia.

Arnoff's other Turkish picks include Efes, the largest beer producer in Eastern Europe, and Arcelik Beko, a maker of household appliances and other consumer durables, which is expanding throughout Western and Eastern Europe.

3. - The News - "Ankara wants recognition for Turkish Cyprus if peace plan fails":

ANKARA / 6 April 2004

Turkey said on Monday it would seek international recognition for its breakaway statelet in northern Cyprus if the UN plan to reunite the island were accepted by Turkish Cypriots but rejected by the Greek Cypriot community.

Hardline Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, meanwhile, stepped up his rhetoric against the settlement 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 Abdullah Gul said in remarks published by the daily Hurriyet.

If that occurs - which according to latest opinion polls is a likely outcome of the referendums on April 24 - "I shall proudly travel the planet advocating recognition of the TRNC," Gul said. 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. Turkey has given its blessing to a plan by UN chief 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. Latest opinion polls suggest the Greek Cypriots will vote against Annan’s proposals while the Turkish Cypriots will accept them.

Denktash, meanwhile, 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. "They are trying to reach a forced peace in Cyprus... Any such peace will be short-lived," he said during a visit to Turkey, according to Anatolia news agency. "We have been observing the situations in Kosovo and Palestine for years. They (the international community) claim to have settled those conflicts, but blood continues to flow," he said.

Denktash has vocally criticized the Annan plan even though his patrons in Ankara say it was the best possible settlement that could have been obtained at last-ditch peace talks in Switzerland last week. Denktash said he was particularly concerned over the EU’s reluctance to permanently exempt from EU law settlement provisions limiting the ability of Greek Cypriots to settle, invest and buy property in the Turkish Cypriot north.

Many fears 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. "We are facing a big disaster... We are asking the motherland (Turkey) to make this (settlement) sounder, more permanent and to rescue it from a position in which (our rights) could be eradicated in time under EU norms," Denktash told a conference in Bursa later in the day.

He warned that if Ankara threw its weight behind the reunification plan in its current form, "Turkey will lose its credibility in the eyes of peoples who have confidence in it." Meanwhile, a delegation from Greece’s socialist PASOK party began consultations with Greek Cypriot leaders here on Monday to gauge feelings in Cyprus ahead of a referendum on a UN reunification plan.

Turkey’s National Security Council, a top policy-making body, which brings together the country’s civilian and military leadership, also convened to discuss the Annan plan on Monday.

4. - Korea Herald (South Korea) - "From Kirkuk to Kurds":

6 April 2004

Yonhap news agency reported that the governor of Sulaimaniyah province, one of the two candidate locations for Korean forces and both Kurdish autonomous regions, said he will welcome the Korean contingent which is scheduled to arrive in his province, or in the neighboring Irbil province, in June. He hoped that the Korean forces would carry out a lot of reconstruction work in the area but stressed there would be few security tasks for the Korean troops because insurgent activities were rare.

It is fortunate that our troops will be deployed in a safer area where the inhabitants are generally more cooperative with the occupying authorities. Still, it is possible that religious and ethnic unrest could spread to the region if the situation continues to worsen elsewhere in Iraq and the interim Iraqi authorities lose control of the nation following the U.S. handover of sovereignty.

Unrest may erupt as Kurds' pursuit of independence has gained a momentum of its own since the war, since it would hardly be recognized by any future regime in Baghdad.

National interest was the reason for sending troops to Iraq. It means that Korea will be able to take part in postwar rehabilitation projects in the country with a stronger say and secure a stable supply of oil from it, if Korea keeps a sizeable force there.

But it is now doubtful that Korean troops will play a significant role in the postwar reconstruction since the northern Kurdish region has largely been saved from the destruction of war and therefore does not, in fact, have much to rebuild.

Keeping the 3,600 troops in Iraq will cost hundreds of billions of won a year. Our government's safety-first principle in dispatching forces to Iraq seems to be resulting in less practical advantages than expected. But it is primarily due to the need to maintain a strong alliance with the United States that Korea joined the coalition.

Korea will have to move in concert with the U.S. authorities, yet it is entirely up to our military and the administration authorities to make a correct judgment of the situation in Iraq and come to an independent decision. It is therefore recommended that the government review the number of troops to be dispatched to Iraq through careful consideration of all the factors, including the requirement for reconstruction work.

5. - Aljazeera - "Iraqi Kurds dance to a different tune":

IRBIL / 6 April 2004 / by Roshan Muhammed Salih

Unlike Arab compatriots, most Kurds welcome the occupation

Kurdistan comes straight out of a US government press release. It is a place where people look you straight in the eye and, without a hint of irony, call foreign occupation forces "liberators"

Unlike most other parts of Iraq - where people are actively hostile towards, or barely tolerate, the foreign invaders - Kurds do not feel the strains of occupation.

While Shia and Sunni Muslims have been fighting Americans in and around Baghdad in the past few days, Kurds on the streets of Arbil condemn anti-US attacks as "terrorism".

A recent poll by foreign broadcasters that suggested most Iraqis were happier since the US-led invasion a year ago was heavily influenced by Kurdish respondents.

The survey found only one in three Arabs believed their country was liberated - compared to four out of five Kurds.

And if Kurdistan were Iraq writ large, then you might just believe the US had won the battle for Iraqi hearts and minds.

Different state

The road from Baghdad to Kurdistan is littered with so many checkpoints you eventually lose count. After recent bombings in several Kurdish cities that have left scores dead, the Kurds clearly do not want troublemakers on their soil.

An oil-rich region in northern Iraq, Kurdistan has four million people (around 20% of Iraq's population) and has been virtually self-ruled since 1991 under US protection.

Its pro-Western leaders – Jalal Talabani and Masud Barzani – were both instrumental in helping the Americans topple Saddam Hussein last year.

The region itself has a different feel from the rest of Iraq. It is verdant and mountainous, the people speak a different language, dress differently and fly their own national flag. It is a metaphor, perhaps, for the different state of mind you encounter when entering Kurdish territory.

There are no gun-toting foreign soldiers seen elsewhere in Iraq, nor helicopters whizzing overhead.

Occupation's benefits

Dr Sherzad Amin al-Najjar, of Arbil's Salah al-Din University, told Aljazeera.net life in Kurdistan had improved considerably in the past year.

"The threat of Saddam invading Kurdish areas has been hanging over our heads for years," he said. "Like the Shia in the south, we have suffered greatly at his hands but we are now free from the fear of Saddam and we still have our self-rule government."

Al-Najjar said ordinary Kurds had particularly noticed the economic benefits of occupied Iraq.

"People's standards of living have gone up in the last year. The Coalition Provisional Authority has put a lot of money into this area as have UN agencies. There has especially been a lot of construction of roads, schools and water facilities.

"As a result of this political stability, there have been many social and psychological benefits. The only negative thing is there is more terrorism here now, which didn't exist before."

And al-Najjar is quick to thank the Americans for these changes. "The Americans have played a big part in improving our lives. So there isn't the hostility towards the US soldiers here that there is in other parts of Iraq.

"People in Kurdistan welcomed the American action last year and they are happy for the Americans to stay for a while until the country is secure. Personally, I think the Americans will stay for a long time."

Independence aims

But al-Najjar is circumspect when questioned about what many Iraqis fear – that the goal of the oil-rich Kurds is to eventually break away from the rest of the country.

"There is a difference between what people want and what they will get," he said.

"Outside powers would not accept Kurdish independence because this could threaten the territorial integrity of many countries. So we are realistic and we are content with a certain autonomy within a federal Iraq."

He added: "Democracy means that no one party can get 100% of what it wants – Iraqis have to learn this.

"But I think democracy is a problem in Iraq because normally it is preceded by economic, political and social foundations. We don't have that here in Iraq."

Common sentiments

These sentiments are repeated in the streets of Arbil as if all Kurds speak in unison.

Both young and old seem to agree the American invasion brought the Kurds liberation, but are content to remain an autonomous part of a federal Iraq.

Muhsin Majid, a cafeteria owner, told Aljazeera.net there was more work and better salaries in Kurdistan since the Americans had come.

Dalshad Hasan Rasul, a sweet shop owner, said the American intervention has brought Iraqis closer together because of the absence of Saddam.

And Balin Zain Ali, a waiter, called anti-US resistance fighters "terrorists" or Saddam supporters.

Dissenting voices

Words of dissent are definitely in the minority, and mostly uttered by non-Kurds.

My Arab Sunni driver and Arab Shia researcher, both from Baghdad, say they feel like foreigners in their own country. They predict in 10 years the Kurds will break away from the rest of Iraq and take the region's oil with them.

And an Arbil-based Kurdish journalist warns that people in the streets are only parroting the words of their pro-Western leaders and are not thinking long-term.

"It is true that in the short term people in Kurdistan have benefited to a greater extent than anywhere else in Iraq," he said. "But what they are doing now is supping with the devil."

"History teaches us that every American intervention in the Middle East has been a disaster. We have got rid of Saddam but now we have sold the country down the river to the Americans."

6. - NRC Global IDP Project - "In crucial year for Turkey’s EU bid, much remains to be done to find solutions for several hundred thousand displaced Kurds":

GENEVA / 6 April 2004

As the European Union’s decision on opening membership negotiations with Turkey draws closer, much remains to be done for the Turkish government to find durable solutions for the hundreds of thousands of Kurds who were displaced in more than a decade of fighting in the country’s south-east, according to a report published by the Global IDP Project of the Norwegian Refugee Council today.

“There have been a number of encouraging signals from the government indicating a new level of openness and transparency with regard to this sensitive issue”, said Raymond Johansen, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council. “But more efforts are needed, also in view of Turkey’s EU bid, to translate intentions into concrete and coherent policies and programmes aimed at the return or resettlement and reintegration of the displaced.”

According to official figures, 353,000 people were displaced during the conflict between Turkish security forces and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). But international observers and Turkish NGOs estimate that the total number may be higher than 1 million. As the government long ignored the problem and blocked any international involvement, little is known about the whereabouts and living conditions of the displaced, many of whom blended in urban slums across the country.

The significant reduction of violence in the conflict areas following the arrest of PKK leader Öcalan in 1999 opened the way for the displaced to return. But the return projects launched by the government have remained largely ineffective. Potential returnees continue to face obstruction by village guard militias, who have often illegally occupied their land and houses. Lack of support by the authorities to rebuild destroyed houses, and poor infrastructure and socio-economic conditions also hamper returns.

In a new sign of openness, the Turkish government recently entered into dialogue with the international community on the issue. This cooperation should be strengthened, the report suggests. The government also urgently needs to fill the information gap with regard to the displaced population and, on this basis, develop a coherent policy on addressing internal displacement in the country.

Finding durable solutions for the displaced is considered a key requirement for meeting EU accession criteria. In its last progress report the EU made clear that “serious efforts” were needed in this respect. The EU will decide in December 2004 on Turkey’s request to begin membership negotiations.

The full report and a detailed country profile on internal displacement in Turkey are available at the Global IDP Project’s online database at www.idpproject.org

The Geneva-based Global IDP Project, established by the Norwegian Refugee Council at the request of the United Nations, is the leading international body monitoring internal displacement worldwide.