23
August 2003
2. "Turkey's EU Integration to Cost 45 Billion Euros", Brussels based research by the independent think tank "Friends of Europe" suggests that Turkey's Integration with the European Union (EU) will cost more than what current estimates predict.
3. "Governorship warned Kurdish Language Course to take down the red-yellow-green colored fascia", Diyarbakir Private Kurdish Language Teaching Course fell on hard days because of the fascia that was written with red-yellow-green colors and reading Diyarbakir Private Kurdish Language Teaching Course.
4. "Turkey decides to recognise Cyprus for EU business", Turkey has taken a decision in principle to recognise the Republic of Cyprus within the framework of the island’s EU membership, CNN Turk reported last night.
5. "Ethnic tension rises in Kirkuk, as Turkmen denounce Kurdish ambitions", hundreds of Shiite Turkmen demonstrated in Iraq’s northern oil centre of Kirkuk Sunday, protesting against what they said were moves by Kurds in the ethnically divided city to seize their land.
6. "Allawi’s Mission Impossible", the Dawn of Liberation.
1. - AFP - "Two police officers wounded in suspected
Kurdish rebel attack in Turkey":
DIYARBAKIR / 21 August 2004
Two police officers were wounded when a group of armed Kurdish rebels attacked a police station in southeastern Turkey, local security sources said.
The attack by militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), recently renamed KONGRA-GEL, took place late Friday in the town of Semdinli, in Hakkari province which borders both Iran and Iraq.
Police were pursuing the assailants, sources said. Fighting
in Turkey's southeast has increased since the PKK ended a
five-year unilateral ceasefire with the government on June 1.
Some 37,000 people have been killed since the PKK took
up arms for Kurdish self-rule in the region in 1984. 
2. - Zaman - "Turkey's EU Integration to Cost 45 Billion Euros":
21 August 2004
Brussels based research by the independent think tank "Friends of Europe" suggests that Turkey's Integration with the European Union (EU) will cost more than what current estimates predict.
The organization forecasts that the cost in the first three years alone will be around 15 billion euros annually. The Eastern European Institute corroborates the findings, estimating annual costs to be nearly 14 billion euros.
The EU's policies towards its 10 newest members as well as Romania and Bulgaria are cited as the main reason for the projected high cost of Turkey's integration. If the EU holds Turkey to the same standards, then integration will cost the Union 45.13 billion euros.
The cost of the 10 new member countries as of May 1,2004, was 40.8 billion euros.
If Turkey's membership is given the go ahead, Germany will pay the highest annual payment, 2.4 billion euros.
Experts predict that Turkey's integration to the EU would
cause a large exodus from Turkey, with nearly three million Turks settling
in Germany over the next 30 years. The Eastern European Institute's
Wolfgang Quassier suggests that even if everything goes as planned,
Turkey's membership will not be finalized until at least 2013. Friends
of Europe indicate that Turkey would not become a member until sometime
after 2015.
3. - DIHA - "Governorship warned Kurdish Language Course to take down the red-yellow-green colored fascia":
DIYARBAKIR / 21 August 2004 / by Kadir Ozbek
Intervening to world of colors, Diyarbakir Governorship ordered Kurdish Language Course to get down the red-yellow-green colored fascia. Director of the course, Mehmet Vahit Gunes said Governorship verbally warned us about the fascia, not warned us with an act. Governorship wanted to solve this issue peacefully, did not want to use force and because of this, Governorship requested to take down the fascia."
Diyarbakir Private Kurdish Language Teaching Course fell on hard days because of the fascia that was written with red-yellow-green colors and reading Diyarbakir Private Kurdish Language Teaching Course.
Police officers of Diyarbakir Police Station had came to Diyarbakir Private Kurdish Language Teaching Course and wanted to get down the fascia for three days. Director of the course, Mehmet Vahit Gunes, said, "We hold three fascias for advertisement. One of them appropriates to official procedure but the other two fascias are not appropriated to procedure. We hold these two fascias for advertisement but Governorship wants to bring them down. We did not receive any act or court decision."
'Come and take them down'
Gunes said to authorities, "We do not take down these fascias, if you want to take down these, come here and take them down." He continued as follows:
"We used these colors because people of this region like these colors, we tried to attract their attentions. In addition to these colors have mythological and philosophical meanings. This crisis is not only faced in Diyarbakir. We witnessed this kind of crisis in Batman, Van, Adana and Urfa, but there isn't any court decision against us."
'Every sizes and every kinds of colors or figures could be used in fascias'
Remarking all Kurdish language courses faced this kind of fascia crisis, Head of Diyarbakir Branch of Human Rights Association, Selahattin Demirtas who came to the course for any judicial help said:
"This course fulfills the all obligations. The fascia
was hanged up appropriately to procedure. These two fascias have been
hanged up for advertisement, so the procedure of official fascias could
not be applied on these commercial fascias. Consequently, we do not
interpret the request of Diyarbakir Directorship of National Education
as legal attempt." Demirtaþ added, "We will be with
Diyarbakir Private Kurdish Language Teaching Course in any violation
of cultural rights. And, we expect that if this situation will be brought
before court, court will permit us to hang up these fascias."
4. - Cyprus Mail - "Turkey decides to recognise Cyprus for EU business":
21 August 2004
TURKEY has taken a decision in principle to recognise the Republic of Cyprus within the framework of the island’s EU membership, CNN Turk reported last night.
According to the report, Ankara has decided to grant a “functional recognition” to Cyprus bearing in mind its own EU aspirations following the advice of experts on international law.
Turkey is seeking a date for EU accession talks in December and has already said it will probably sign a customs union agreement with Cyprus before that date.
The recognition it plans for Cyprus does not include the opening of diplomatic relations, CNN Turk said and will only concern Cyprus’ dealings with the EU.
Commenting on the move on his return to the island from Germany last night, House President Demetris Christofias said it was inevitable that Turkey would have to recognise the Republic of Cyprus.
“It’s their legal obligation to do so,”
Foreign Minster George Iacovou told a private television station.
5. - AFP - "Ethnic tension rises in Kirkuk, as
Turkmen denounce Kurdish ambitions":
KIRKUK / 22 August 2004
Hundreds of Shiite Turkmen demonstrated in Iraq’s northern oil centre of Kirkuk Sunday, protesting against what they said were moves by Kurds in the ethnically divided city to seize their land.
"The goal of this demonstration is to have the voice of Iraq’s Turkmen community heard by the Iraqi government and the entire world... and alert them to relentless attempts by the Kurds to take over the city," one organiser said.
"Today we are demonstrating peacefully but tomorrow we could use force to remove them from our property," said Rasool Zein al-Abedin, from the Iraqi Turkmen Front.
Over the past three days, Kurds have reportedly stepped up efforts to muscle in to predominantly Arab and Turkmen areas of the city from which they claim they were expelled under Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Rival ethnic groups in Kiruk are increasingly jostling for dominance, demographically and on the ground, as a census aimed at determining the fate of the oil-rich city nears.
"No to Kirkuk becoming a Kurdish city," read some of the banners waved by demonstrators Sunday.
Turkmen in Kirkuk number 250,000 out of a total population of more than one million, according to unofficial estimates but they are impossible to verify in the absence of a census.
The Turkmen claim they make up about 13 percent of Iraq’s entire population of 25 million, or slightly more than three million people, which would make them the third largest ethnic group after Arabs and Kurds.
But according to the last Iraqi census conducted in 1977, their people, who live largely around Kirkuk and the main northern city of Mosul, account for no more than two percent of the population.
Most Turkmen oppose the Kurdish rebel groups which controlled three northern provinces between the 1991 and 2003 Gulf wars in defiance of Saddam Hussein’s regime.
However the Kurds argue that, but for demographic manipulation
by Saddam, they would also form the majority in Kirkuk and parts of
other provinces, and are pressing for their inclusion in an autonomous
Kurdish region within a federal Iraq.
6. - Kurdish Media - "Allawi’s Mission Impossible":
The Dawn of Liberation
19 August 2004 / by Bashdar Ismaeel
The ubiquitous struggle in Iraq is not nearing a conclusion. Almost 18 months after the liberation of Iraq, violence and terror rumbles on. One may wonder what Iraq would have become in 18 months of harmony, stability and redevelopment. The situation has seemingly worsened by the day. Where killings and terrorists bombing where once an infrequent occurrence in Iraq, this is now a daily routine. Many Iraqis have come to believe that they were better off under Saddam Hussein’s stable but authoritarian grip of Iraq. The question one asks before the morning news is not if there has been another bombing but where. With the violence has been a slow to non-existent redevelopment of Iraq with the oil pipelines and just about everything else in the fire lining – literally.
Iraq is currently governed by a US approved interim government whose primary purpose is to guide Iraq on the road to democracy and concord, unfortunately this is the same road that is seemingly littered with detonators and those who are ready to pounce on their next helpless victim. Iyad Allawi, the interim prime minister and a member of the Shia community, has a tough if not impossible job on his hand. On the one hand comes the unnerving pressure from the Bush administration in the running of Iraq leading to claims of being a puppet government and on the other hand he has to feel the full force of Iraqi unrest, anger and expectancy. At the current time the only peaceful part of the country is undoubtedly Iraqi-Kurdistan, which has experienced self-rule for over a decade to their full advantage. For the Kurds it is simple, they never felt a part of Iraq from the first day of its proclaiming, let alone at a time when it is bathed in blood and terror. One naturally begs the questions, will there ever be a solution for Iraq; will the unrest ever die down?
Mistakes of the US
It is obvious that the US had a tough job on their hand with the redevelopment and democratisation of Iraq after its liberation; the tactics thereafter, however have made that job even more difficult. They essentially turned what was a brewing crisis into a political disaster. Many reports have questioned the reasoning for the war by Britain and America and have criticised their conduct in the aftermath of the invasion. Some many months later, no weapons of mass destruction have been exposed and in addition the UK\US public have been gripped with disturbing images of prisoner abuse (Abu Ghraib prison scandal is a prime example). After the war, the coalition should have deployed a more careful and conservative approach, in essence too much happened to fast. Within hours of the liberation of Iraq there was widespread looting, within days there was no official army only numerous arms dumps, crucially within weeks there was disgruntled Iraqis with no food, jobs or medicine and within months there has been ever present bloodshed and destruction. From then on it has gone from bad to worse. In this period, the Iraqis themselves have not been of much help, with constant squabbling, backbiting and mistrust clouding the political horizon, owed much to the fragmentation and multi-ethnical nature of Iraq. The Fundamental Law was a US sponsored propaganda coup that was close to a sham – on the day of signature, the pens on the table were untouched. Only late US intervention and pressure prevented the ink on those pens becoming permanently dry. Further disagreements surrounding the UN resolution, federalism, Kirkuk and the future shape of the country is just the tip of the iceberg. And if this is not enough for one day, constant suicide bombing and assassinations have only compounded the situation. To add to worries, far too much has remained undecided for one to even contemplate short-term peace. Many crucial questions and potential stumbling blocks have only been delayed by the current unrest – these may prove to be even fiercer in their resolution than the current unrest itself. When the government has been finally elected in 2005, how they merge or in the words of the interim president, Ghazi Yawer, ‘glue’ the various segments in Iraq is crucial. One thing is clear; a great deal of negotiation and compromise needs to take place for Iraq to refuel on its journey to democratisation. An example, is the eventual stratagem to deal with the reversal of the so- called ‘Arbabisation’ process, how this is settled (or unsettled for that matter) may set the stage for Iraq in years to come.
Iraq and the Kurds
It is often easy to forget that Iraq is a dynamic mixture of a number of ethnic groups and its controversial composition in 1920, in the aftermath of the First World War and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, is the very reason for the instability and terror experienced today. After the premature end of the liberation honeymoon, mistrust has quickly displaced harmony; tears have replaced hope and joy. How the Iraqi cake will be cut is open to debate, federalism itself is a political hot potato, accepting federalism in principle does not constitute agreement on the finer details of its application. The problem in Iraq is that there are too many problems or hotspots, if you think you have resolved an uprising in Najaf, fighting erupts in Falluja, when the Kurds and Sunnis have reached agreement, the Shia and just about everyone else on the table are at war. It appears that just as one group is nearing satisfaction, another group bears groans of discomfort almost immediately. Yet although the Iraqi train has trudged along in the last year or so, not much has been achieved on the surface. The police and army are still small in numbers and lack the capacity to deal with Iraqi insurgents without the assistance and logistical support of the U.S. army. Unemployment is still high – after all who would want to do business in an environment where shootings and kidnappings are commonplace. Nationhood elections are now a matter of months away without any real progress on the ground. For the Kurds, the last 18 months has been a game of wait and see. Their patience is slowly running thin.
How long the Kurds are willing to co-operate with violence and the Arab majority in Iraq is open to debate. It is clear that they want to press ahead with their own redevelopment with or without the rest of Iraq. The keenness to encourage business development in Kurdistan is evident, the construction of two new airports in Arbil and Sulaminyia is testimony to this and Kurdish parliamentary members are openly seeking logistical support and training from as far a field as Taiwan. The deployment of South Korean troops around the outskirts of Arbil will at least in theory aid this goal of the Kurds.
The greatest fear for the Kurds is that continued patience and co-operation (however long that is sustained) may prove to be fruitless. After all the compromise and diplomacy on the part of the Kurds, their ultimatum goals of autonomy and federalism within a united Iraq have not been realised.
The Future
What the future holds for Iraq is unclear, what is clear is brining stability to Iraq will take much longer than first anticipated. Crucially, due to the volatile (and at times explosive) mix of the Iraqi population there is no guarantee of peace and harmony. The possibility of an Iraqi civil war may soon become a question of ‘when’ and ‘not if’. The numerous hot items on the table will not be resolved without someone getting their hands burnt, what is evident is that all parties want to handle the hot item for their maximum benefit without feeling its heat – this is not possible. We have already witnessed that compromise in Iraq is a scarce commodity. Who essentially loses out is key. Either way such losses or hot items will ultimately lead to what’s becoming increasingly predictable - Iraq’s disintegration.
One has to ask if the break up of Iraq is actually a bad thing. There are growing voices that the only solution is for the Kurds, Sunni and Shia to buy separate houses and no longer reside under the same roof. This is a natural human reaction, if you do not get on with your housemate or landlord, it is simple, you move out. In this analogy, in a future Iraq, the landlord will essentially be the Shia, how they treat the Kurd and Sunni minority is crucial. Ultimately, conflicts of interests will prove too much, leading to the partitioning of Iraq into 3 distinct states. A Kurdish state will for one cause uproar in Iran, Syria and particularly Turkey, however this is now becoming an inevitability in any case, many feel it is longer a question of whether an independent Kurdistan will be established. The climate of the Middle East is changing and Kurds will no longer be fearful or suppressed into following the will of the millions. In the short term at least the Kurdish, Sunni and Shia states will be susceptible to influence and external pressure, with the sources of this been obvious. A Shia state will be heavily influenced by the Iranian theocracy, the Sunni’s by Syria and possibly Turkey and Kurdistan will have to deal with hostility at every turn with its newly created and landlocked territory.
Violence and bloodshed is never a good thing, however,
Iraqis must now use the current mess and mass grieving to map a prosperous
future for Iraq. If this does not occur then Iraq will experience greater
bloodshed, whether now or in the future.