6 August 2004

1. "New trial of former Kurdish MPs set for October", the trial will be the third on the same charges for human rights award winner Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Selim Sadak and Orhan Dogan in a legal saga which could influence Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

2. "Turkish military, PM clash over army expulsions", Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his defense minister objected, in vain, to an army decision to expel 12 officers for indiscipline, including pro-Islamist activities, Turkish newspapers reported Friday.

3. "Investors mildly hopeful on Turkey EU chances-poll", Turkey is likely to win only a conditional date to start European Union entry talks when EU leaders meet to decide its fate in December, according to a survey of financial institutions published on Wednesday.

4. "181 taken into custody in Dogubeyazit", in Dogubeyazit district of Agri, 181 villagers who gave petition demanding release of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan were taken into custody by gendarme.

5. "Cyprus issues coming to the fore in EU and at the UN", the Cyprus government has got its hands full over the next two months with core issues related to the Cyprus problem coming up for review in the European Union, United Nations, Council of Europe and European Court of Human Rights.

6. "Kurds face uncertain future", thousands of Iraqi Kurds fled to neighbouring Iran to escape campaigns of persecution by the former government. Many returned during the 1990s but 61,000 are still there, according to Kurdish officials.

1. - AFP - "New trial of former Kurdish MPs set for October":

ANKARA / 5 August 2004

Four former Turkish MPs who spent a decade behind bars before their conviction for links with armed Kurdish rebels was overturned by the appeals court will be tried again in October, a lawyer for the defendants said Thursday.

"The date of the new trial has been set for October 22," attorney Yusuf Alatas told AFP.

The trial will be the third on the same charges for human rights award winner Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Selim Sadak and Orhan Dogan in a legal saga which could influence Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

The four were first sentenced to 15 years in jail in 1994 for membership of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which led a 15-year bloody campaign for self-rule in the country's southeast.

Zana, 1995 winner of the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize, and her co-defendants were allowed a retrial in March last year after their original trial was condemned as unfair by the European Court of Human Rights in 2001.

The retrial upheld the original sentences amid accusations by rights activists and defence lawyers that the proceedings were again flawed. However, the appeals court quashed their conviction and ordered a new trial. The four activists were released in June.

The case is being closely monitored by the European Union which sees the proceedings as a test of Ankara's resolve to adopt democratic reforms ahead of a key decision by European leaders in December on whether to open accession talks with the mainly Muslim country.

2. - AFP - "Turkish military, PM clash over army expulsions":

ANKARA / 6 August 2004

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his defense minister objected, in vain, to an army decision to expel 12 officers for indiscipline, including pro-Islamist activities, Turkish newspapers reported Friday.

But the annual meeting of the Higher Military Council (YAS), which decides military promotions and retirements, saw the army chief snub the prime minister's opinion on the expulsions, the press reported.

The influential Turkish army, the self-styled guardian of the Muslim nation's strictly secular system, has often clashed with Erdogan's government which has its roots in a banned Islamist party.

The general staff said Thursday it had sacked 12 personnel on "disciplinary grounds" -- a term it usually uses to describe involvement in pro-Islamist activities -- at the end of the three-day annual YAS meeting.

Erdogan and Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul expressed reservations on the expulsions on the grounds that cashiered officers cannot appeal the decision, the Radikal daily reported. They had done the same last year.

The two, however, signed on to the decision which is taken by majority vote by the army-dominated council. Sabah newspaper reported that army chief General Hilmi Ozkok did not even ask for Erdogan's opinion before asking an aide to write up the decisions after all military council members had agreed to the expulsions.

"You are having the decision written down, but you did not ask for our opinion," Erdogan told Ozkok, according to Sabah. The general retorted: "Mr Prime Minister, we already know your opinion."

Asked whether he could deny or confirm the exchange, Gonul told Sabah: "I will not deny it... What happened at YAS should have stayed there. The person who told you this has violated YAS' principle of secrecy."

Even though it has disavowed its Islamist roots, Erdogan's Justice and Development Party is still viewed with suspicion by the army and Turkey's secularist elite.

3. - Reuters - "Investors mildly hopeful on Turkey EU chances-poll":

ANKARA / 5 August 2004

Turkey is likely to win only a conditional date to start European Union entry talks when EU leaders meet to decide its fate in December, according to a survey of financial institutions published on Wednesday.

The Web-based survey, conducted by London-based HSBC Bank on August 2, also found that many investors remain unconvinced that Turkey will have become a full EU member by 2015.

"Our assessment of the overall survey results is that there is no evidence of EU-related euphoria among investors and that the market's view is probably best characterised as guarded optimism," HSBC said.

The survey, which canvassed the views of more than 100 institutions dealing with Turkey, found 58 percent saw Turkey getting a "conditional date" to start talks, meaning it would have first to meet further conditions on reform.

Barely a quarter of respondents saw Turkey starting negotiations in 2005, the option most favoured by Ankara. But very few respondents saw the EU rejecting Turkey outright.

HSBC noted that investors seemed more optimistic about Turkey's short-term prospects than its longer-term chances.

Forty-two percent of respondents said they saw Turkey as a full EU member by 2015 against 37 percent who said they were not confident. Few expressed strong confidence about 2015.

A small majority believed Turkey would see a credit upgrade of one notch by the end of 2004 and that spreads on the country's external debt would narrow modestly if negotiations began in 2005, the survey showed. The European Commission is due to publish its long-awaited report on Turkey's prospects in early October. On the basis of that report, the 25 EU leaders will decide at their December summit in Brussels whether to open negotiations.

If Turkey, a relatively poor and overwhelmingly Muslim country of 70 million people, gets the green light, the negotiations are expected to last up to a decade.

The institutions canvassed by HSBC are based in Europe, the Americas or Turkey and include dedicated emerging market funds, banks and pension and insurance funds.

HSBC economist David Lubin said Ankara's relationship would dominate investor perceptions of Turkish risk in the countdown to December because the decision had the potential to trigger fundamental changes in the Turkish economy.

4. - DIHA - "181 taken into custody in Dogubeyazit":

AGRI / 5 August 2004

In Dogubeyazit district of Agri, 181 villagers who gave petition demanding release of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan were taken into custody by gendarme.

Dogubeyazit Republican Prosecutor carried out an investigation about 181 villagers who gave petitions on 6 July, accepting Öcalan as their National Leader and demanding freedom for him. 181 villagers including Head of TAY-DER Branch of Dogubeyazit, Burhan Karatay and municipal council members Sükran Gültekin, Fatma Okçu, Tabibe Inan, owner of Ararat'in Sesi newspaper, Ahmet Inan and DEHAP executives of Dogubeyazit Mehmet Aydin, Mehmet Ilvan and Çetin Esiyok were taken into custody in an operation held by gendarme.

Many of the people interrogated on charge of violation of the article 312/2 of TCK have been released. The interrogation process is continuing.

5. - Cyprus Mail - "Cyprus issues coming to the fore in EU and at the UN":

5 August 2004 / By Stefanos Evripidou

THE Cyprus government has got its hands full over the next two months with core issues related to the Cyprus problem coming up for review in the European Union, United Nations, Council of Europe and European Court of Human Rights.

The governments of Cyprus and Greece yesterday agreed on a common action plan to deal with the wide range of issues to be dealt with this August and September.
Delegates of the two Foreign Ministries outlined their common approach to the various issues before meeting President Tassos Papadopoulos at the Presidential Palace yesterday.

After the meeting, Foreign Minister George Iacovou told reporters that the government planned to send a specific proposal to Enlargement Commissioner Gunter Verheugen and UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan detailing plans to operate the closed port of Famagusta and the town’s fenced off area.

Regarding the thorny issue of direct trade and financial assistance to the Turkish Cypriots tabled for discussion this September, it seems the Dutch EU Presidency is going to leave the issue of direct trade for a later stage, concentrating first on financial regulation and measures economically to support the Turkish Cypriot community, said Iacovou.

He revealed that UN representatives were expected on the island on August 23 to take a closer look at the role and mission of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), while Annan will submit his report on UNFICYP’s mission to the Security Council sometime in September.

The usually sedate month of August will be busy with various contacts with the Dutch presidency and other EU partners, said Iacovou. On September 3, the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) will meet in Brussels, followed by the Council of Ministers, and the General Affairs Council meeting where the regulation for the economic assistance to the Turkish Cypriots will be examined.

The minister noted that many EU countries were waiting to see how these issues developed in Brussels before taking a stand in the UN Security Council.

He added that the government proposals – present and future -- on trade with the Turkish Cypriots would make the regulation on direct trade unnecessary.

The head of the Greek delegation, Foreign Ministry General Director George Yenimatas, described yesterday’s talks with the President as “very useful and constructive”.

Meanwhile, the government awaits a key decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that will affect the status of Greek Cypriot refugee cases against Turkey on September 2.

The decision, which is considered critical, deals with the status of a ‘compensation commission’ set up by the Turkish Cypriot administration that aims to address refugee property claims.

6. - Reuters - "Kurds face uncertain future":

4 August 2004 / by Seb Walker

HAJ OMRAN: At a mountainous border crossing point between Iraq and Iran, Daoud Khuder waits to meet relatives he has not seen for 14 years since they fled the country to escape Saddam Hussein's army.

As the convoy bringing Iraqi Kurd refugees from Iran appears and Daoud catches sight of his brother's family, the emotion of the occasion becomes too much for the 62-year-old former Kurdish militia (peshmerga) fighter.

"My brother swore he wouldn't return until Saddam was finished - I never had the chance to see him again before he died in Iran," said Khuder, tears rolling down his cheeks as he embraced young nephews he had never met.

"I'm so happy they are back, but it also makes me sad because if they don't get money or help there will be problems." For the 32 Kurdish families returning to Iraq in the convoy - the second since the programme was initiated by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) following June's transfer of sovereignty - returning to their homeland brings mixed feelings.

"I wanted to come back because I never felt I could call Iran my home, but I'm apprehensive about our future - we have very little money," said Khuder's eldest nephew Dehil, a 32-year-old labourer.

Saddam is gone, but as Iraq's ethnic and religious communities jostle for power, the issue of Kurdish returnees has become politicised - and the international community does not want to be seen taking sides.

In years gone by, Iraqi Kurd returnees would have received money and other assistance to rebuild their lives. Now each family gets $20, a kerosene stove, two water containers, some blankets, and a tent.

They are provided with transport to the destination of their choice - but only if this is above the so-called "green line" separating Kurdish territory from the rest of Iraq.

Thousands of Iraqi Kurds fled to neighbouring Iran to escape campaigns of persecution by the former government. Many returned during the 1990s but 61,000 are still there, according to Kurdish officials.

The UNHCR does not promote returns to Iraq because of continuing instability and the lack of services in the country.