16 August 2004

1. "Police officer killed in clash with Kurdish rebels", a Turkish police officer died in a crackdown Friday by security forces on a "terrorist organization" in southern Turkey near the Syrian border, Anatolia news agency reported. Mehmet Kose was seriously injured in the operation near Hatay and died from his wounds in a hospital.

2. "Turkey blames Kurds for blasts, hardliners call for new offensive", Turkey on Friday blamed Kurdish militants for deadly bombings in Istanbul amid reports of new threats ahead of the 20th anniversary of the start of their armed campaign against Ankara. Jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, whose arrest in 1999 led to the ceasefire, has also warned of renewed violence if Kurds are denied their "rights".

3. "Torture Claims Should Be Cleared", the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association sent a letter to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urging for investigation regarding claims of tortured Kurdish guerillas, arrested during operations especially in eastern and southeastern Turkey.

4. "IHD: Denier policies lead to deaths", emphasizing the death of Selami Kurnaz in F Type Prisons, Istanbul Branch of Human Rights Associations(IHD) claimed denier and destructive policies led to deaths.

5. "Vatican stirs debate on Turkish EU membership", by Honor Mahony Negative comments by a high-ranking Cardinal in Vatican about Turkish membership of the EU have once more stirred the controversial debate.

6. "Schroeder backs Turkey's EU bid", German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder says the European Union must keep its promise to accept Turkey as a member once it has fulfilled the required conditions.

1. - AFP - "Police officer killed in clash with Kurdish rebels":

ISTANBUL / 13 August 2004

A Turkish police officer died in a crackdown Friday by security forces on a "terrorist organization" in southern Turkey near the Syrian border, Anatolia news agency reported.
Mehmet Kose was seriously injured in the operation near Hatay and died from his wounds in a hospital.

The swoop in the area was still going on, the agency added.

Anatolia did not give details about the group targeted by the police operation but Kurdish separatists are frequently labeled as such.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party, formerly known as the PKK but now renamed KONGRA-GEL, called off a five-year-old ceasefire in June.

Since then security forces and alleged separatists have clashed more than 50 times in southeast Turkey where Kurdish separatism is most virulent.

The separatist uprising and crackdowns by Turkish forces claimed nearly 37,000 lives between 1984 and 1999 when separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan was captured before being sent to jail for life.

Turkey earlier Friday blamed Kurdish militants for deadly bombings in Istanbul amid reports of new threats ahead of the 20th anniversary Sunday of the start of their armed campaign against Ankara.

A police official said authorities were now convinced that Tuesday's attacks against two hotels and a gas complex, which left two dead and 11 injured, most of them tourists, were carried out by KONGRA-GEL.

2. - AFP - "Turkey blames Kurds for blasts, hardliners call for new offensive":

ANKARA / 13 August 2004

Turkey on Friday blamed Kurdish militants for deadly bombings in Istanbul amid reports of new threats ahead of the 20th anniversary of the start of their armed campaign against Ankara.

A police official said authorities were now convinced the Tuesday attacks against two hotels and a gas complex, which left two dead and 11 injured, most of them tourists, were carried out by the former Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), now known as KONGRA-GEL.

As the 20th anniversary on Sunday of the PKK uprising approached, Turkish media reported Friday of a threat of a new urban bombing campaign by a group of Kurdish militants.

The PKK's two-decade armed campaign against the central government in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey began on August 15, 1984 with attacks on security forces in the town of Eruh.

Since then the conflict has claimed some 37,000 lives.

Police spokesman Ramazan Er told a news conference Friday that the authorities believe it was the PKK which carried Tuesday's bombings, which have been claimed by an extremist organization linked to the Al-Qaeda network and a previously unknown Kurdish group, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons.

"The incidents in the hotels in Istanbul are definitely the work of the PKK/KONGRA-GEL... They sometimes resort to such sections (the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons) to cover up their deeds," Er said.

The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons Thursday, in a statement, urged foreign tourists and investors to leave Turkey, warning that more attacks would follow.

According to media reports, police in Istanbul are tracking four Kurd bomb makers in connection with Tuesday's attacks.

The suspects are reportedly loyal to PKK commander Murat Karayilan, a hardliner who is believed to be one of the main figures behind the organisation's June decision to call off its five-year ceasefire.

The rebels have since been blamed for some 50 attacks on security forces in the southeast.

Turkish police have intelligence that a group, calling itself "The August 15 Initiative," is preparing for attacks in big cities, news reports said.

The end of the truce has coincided with a rift among PKK leaders -- some have defected and called for the group's dissolution, while others have insisted on continuing the armed struggle.

The rebels, most of whom have been hiding in the mountains of neighboring northern Iraq since the 1999 truce, are also under pressure by the United States, which has promised Turkey that it will crack down on them.

Both the United States and the European Union, which Turkey is seeking to join, consider the rebels "terrorists."

"August 15 will mark the beginning of a new push... We will resist conspiracies. That is why the war of legitimate defense should be sustained," the pro-Kurdish Ozgur Politika newspaper quoted Friday senior rebel leader Cemil Bayik as saying.

Another high-ranking militant, Duran Kalkan, also voiced satisfaction with the end of the ceasefire and expressed confidence that "a new all-out struggle can be organized within five or six months."

The beating of war drums comes at a time when Ankara has won international praise for granting its Kurdish minority greater freedoms, including the right to study Kurdish and allowing broadcasts in Kurdish, as part of efforts to align with EU democracy norms.

Jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, whose arrest in 1999 led to the ceasefire, has also warned of renewed violence if Kurds are denied their "rights".

"In six months' time a guerrilla war would develop into an avalanche. I would not be able to stop it," he told the pro-Kurdish MHA news agency through his lawyers who visited him in prison.

Following his capture, Ocalan has denounced armed campaign in favor of a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish conflict.

3. - BiaNet - "Torture Claims Should Be Cleared":

The Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association sent a letter to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urging for investigation regarding claims of tortured Kurdish guerillas, arrested during operations especially in eastern and southeastern Turkey.

ISTANBUL / 13 August 2004

The Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD)made a press statement in front of the downtown Galatasaray post office on Tuesday and then sent a letter to the Prime Minister. The Democratic People's Party (DEHAP), Labor Party (EMEP), Peace Mothers, Socialist Democracy Party (SDP) and Association of Families of Prisoners (TUAD) also signed the letter.

"We are seeing that the Kurdish guerillas who have been detained in operations or clashes recently are going through brutal torture," said the letter by IHD. "Militarist policies (on the Kurdish issue) which which cause violence rather than resolving the issue should be abandoned," they said.."We demand democracy not for the European Union, but for our people."

IHD urged Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan order investigate allegations of torture and prevent further violence.

4. - DIHA - "IHD: Denier policies lead to deaths":

ISTANBUL / 13 August 2004

Emphasizing the death of Selami Kurnaz in F Type Prisons, Istanbul Branch of Human Rights Associations(IHD) claimed denier and destructive policies led to deaths.

In written explanation of ÝHD, it was stated that officials' insensitivity to tragedy in F typed prisons led a great amount of death or disabilities.

He reminded 117th person who died due to death fast yesterday and added:

"Officials escaped from responsibilities remaining silent and indifferent in case of tragedy that was experienced in prisons. One more prisoner died about the 300th day of his death fast. We as supporters of human rights call authorities to put an end denial and destructive policies."

5. - EUobserver - "Vatican stirs debate on Turkish EU membership":

16 August 2004

By Honor Mahony Negative comments by a high-ranking Cardinal in Vatican about Turkish membership of the EU have once more stirred the controversial debate.

In an interview last week with Le Figaro magazine, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger said that Turkey is "in permanent contrast to Europe" and that linking it to Europe would be a mistake.

To make his point he spoke of the Ottoman Empire's incursions into the heart of Europe in past centuries.

Cultural riches should not be sacrificed for the sake of economic riches, the Cardinal is quoted as saying in Turkish media.

The German, who heads the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said that Turkey, which is a predominantly Muslim secular republic, should seek political union with Arab states and not with European countries.

He suggests it "could try to set up a cultural continent with neighbouring Arab countries and become the leading figure of a culture with its own identity".

Turkish rejection

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected the Cardinal's comments.

"The Vatican is a religious state. We are speaking to and making evaluations with EU member countries," said Mr Erdogan, according to Zaman.

All of these comments come ahead of some crucial decision in the EU about Ankara's bid to join the bloc.

The European Commission will publish a report in October on Turkey's readiness to join.

On the basis of this report, EU leaders will make a decision in December.

But Turkey already has support from some influential countries in the EU - including the UK and Germany.

6. - Al Jazeera - "Schroeder backs Turkey's EU bid":

13 August 2004

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder says the European Union must keep its promise to accept Turkey as a member once it has fulfilled the required conditions.

Speaking at the opening of a German-Bulgarian economic forum on Friday, Schroeder said bringing in Turkey as a member would contribute to Europe's security "in an incredible fashion" by uniting the values of enlightenment and a "non-fundamentalist Islam".

Schroeder said he was confident the European Commission would establish that Turkey was on the right road to fulfilling the membership criteria.

If this occurred, he said Germany would ask at the EU summit in December for the commitment made to Turkey to be respected.

The German chancellor's support of Turkey's ambitions to be integrated as a member nation of the EU comes only days after a leading Catholic cardinal said the Muslim country had no cultural common denominator with the rest of Europe.