1. "Five Top PKK Members Guned Down In Mosul", five top members of the Kurdish group that led a 15-year revolt in southeast Turkey were gunned down in northern Iraq, in a major blow to the organisation, a Turkish military official said on Wednesday.

2. "Turkish court demands heavier penalties in high-profile torture case", Turkey's appeals court Thursday overturned sentences of four years in jail for four policemen for torturing a university student to death on the grounds that the penalties were too lenient, lawyers said.

3. "Patriarch says rights record harms Turk image in EU", a lack of full religious and minority rights could undermine Turkey's efforts to win a date to begin accession talks with the European Union this month, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians said.

4. "Remove the "National Security Document!", lawyer Cetin said that the National Security Board should just be an advisory body, added that the Sept. 12 period legitimized bodies like the MGK and secret documents. Prof. Uskul said MGSB should be in line with constitutional and political realities.

5. "A Myth Under Question: Military-Nation", a young academic, Ayse Gül Altinay, probes into the intricate mechanisims of Turkish state-building processes, through her invaluable work "The Myth of The Military-Nation". Crtics praise the book also for its universal value in analysing male domination.

6. "Turkey: EU Eyes Tougher Conditions for Ankara Ahead Of Key Summit", Turkey’s long-awaited nod from the EU may still be a long time coming.

7. "Turkey's EU Bid Leaves Turkish Cypriots Nervous", as Turkey keeps up the diplomatic heat in its quest for EU entry talks, many Turkish Cypriots fear they could be left out in the cold.

8. "Kurdish factions to bury differences", Iraq's two rival Kurdish factions have publicly buried their differences in order to gain maximum parliamentary weight to enshrine their autonomy in the country's future constitution.

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1. - Reuters - "Five Top PKK Members Guned Down In Mosul":

TUNCELI / 1 December 2004

Five top members of the Kurdish group that led a 15-year revolt in southeast Turkey were gunned down in northern Iraq, in a major blow to the organisation, a Turkish military official said on Wednesday.

The attack by unidentified gunmen on the members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) near Mosul on Monday came as the rebels face growing pressure to leave their stronghold in northern Iraq following last year's U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

The assailants opened fire on a vehicle carrying the PKK leaders, including Meysa Baki, an Iraqi Kurd who sat on the party's ruling council.

She and two other women were among those killed. The occupants of the vehicle also included another Iraqi Kurd, two Iranian Kurds and one Turkish Kurd, the official said on condition of anonymity.

He said Turkish authorities had been closely tracking the moves of the group, which had been in Mosul, Iraq's third largest city, for secret talks with unknown parties.

"This killing is the biggest blow (to the PKK) in recent years," the official said.

Turkey sees northern Iraq as part of its sphere of influence, worried that greater autonomy for Kurds there in a post-invasion political deal could rekindle separatism among its own 12 million Kurds. Kurds also live in Iran and Syria.

Relations between NATO partners Turkey and the United States have been strained by Ankara's demand that U.S. forces eliminate the PKK, which took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 in a conflict that has killed more than 30,000 people.

Washington, battling Arab insurgents elesewhere in Iraq, has been reluctant to overstretch itself by taking on the PKK as well, analysts say.

U.S. forces may also fear sparking instability in relatively peaceful northern Iraq, where Kurds served as close U.S. allies in the war that toppled former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

Southeastern Turkey enjoyed a relative lull in violence after PKK commander Abdullah Ocalan was captured and jailed in 1999 and most of his followers withdrew to northern Iraq.

But fighting between Turkish security forces and the PKK has intensified since June, when the rebels called off a unilateral truce. Turkish security officials say nearly 2,000 rebels have crossed back into Turkey this year.

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2. - AFP - "Turkish court demands heavier penalties in high-profile torture case":

ANKARA / 2 December 2004

Turkey's appeals court Thursday overturned sentences of four years in jail for four policemen for torturing a university student to death on the grounds that the penalties were too lenient, lawyers said.

The ruling comes as a new twist in a legal saga over the death in police custody in 1991 of medical student Birtan Altinbas, watched closely by human rights campaigners and the European Union as a test of Ankara's promises to stamp out torture.

A lower court had sentenced the four officers to four years and five months in prison in March, mitigating original terms of 10 years and eight months on the grounds that it was impossible to determine which policeman actually caused Altinbas' death and because of their good conduct.

The appeals court, however, said there was no room for mitigations, Oya Aydin, the lawyer of the Altinbas' family, told AFP.

The lower court will now review the case. Aydin welcomed the decision of the appeals court but expressed concern that the case may be dismissed under a statute of limitations taking effect in January 2006 if the legal process dragged on.

"The statute of limitation now carries a very big risk," she said. The appeals court upheld the acquittal of four other officers.

The 20-year-old Altinbas died in January 1991, several days after being detained for alleged membership of an outlawed far-left group.

Police had claimed that Altinbas killed himself by hitting his head on his cell walls. He died in a military hospital where police took him after his condition deteriorated.

The case against eight policemen was opened only in 1998. The first verdict, handed down in 2001, was overturned on procedural grounds.

Turkey has long been under fire for failing to punish policemen accused of torture, who often receive covert support and protection from colleagues in the security establishment.

EU leaders will discuss Turkey's democratization efforts at a December 17 summit in Brussels before deciding whether to open membership talks with the country.

The European Commission, the EU executive arm, said in a report in October that torture was no longer systematic in Turkey.

The United States is also closely watching the Altinbas case. Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed concern over delays in the process in a letter to the Ankara government in February.

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3. - Reuters - "Patriarch says rights record harms Turk image in EU":

ISTANBUL / 2 December 2004

A lack of full religious and minority rights could undermine Turkey's efforts to win a date to begin accession talks with the European Union this month, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians said.

The EU will decide on Dec. 17 whether to set a date in 2005 for overwhelmingly Muslim Turkey to begin entry talks.
Critics say problems faced by the 1 percent non-Muslim minority, including curbs on property ownership and training of clergy, show Turkey is still not ready for talks.

Patriarch Bartholomew I said his church faced "rapacious encroachments" and that a "sword of Damocles" hung over its properties in an unusually strong call on Turkish officials to improve their patchy rights record.

"For primarily it is the image of our country that is thereby injured in the eyes of those who on Dec. 17 will be called upon to pronounce in respect of (Turkey's) European prospects," he said in a speech at a reception to mark the St Andrew holiday late on Tuesday.

"Our political leadership ... must now undertake more tangible actions, avowing equality of rights under the law within our republic together with full respect for religious freedom and minority rights," said Bartholomew.

The once all-powerful patriarchate has seen its influence wane as the Orthodox community in Turkey dwindles.

Only an estimated 3,000 Greeks remain in Istanbul, which as Constantinople was capital of the Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.

The patriarchate believes the re-opening of the Halki seminary, shut in 1971, is vital to its future.

The EU sees the school's re-opening as a sign that Turkey is committed to democratic pluralism, but the issue is proving politically difficult for the government, whose grassroots Muslim supporters distrust the Orthodox Church.

"Nor should our schools remain shut despite the express desire that they be opened of so many everywhere on earth, including ourselves," Bartholomew said.

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4. - Bianet - "Remove the "National Security Document!":

Lawyer Cetin said that the National Security Board should just be an advisory body, added that the Sept. 12 period legitimized bodies like the MGK and secret documents. Prof. Uskul said MGSB should be in line with constitutional and political realities.

ISTANBUL / 30 November 2004 / by Neslihan Savas

Professor Dr. Zafer Uskul from the Bogazici University in Istanbul spoke to bianet about the National Security Policy Document (MGSB) that is to be amended. According to Uskul, not every criticism toward the regime can be viewed as an internal threat.

Lawyer Fethiye Cetin, who also commented on media reports claiming the MGSB would be amended, said the document is under the responsibility of the government and added that such a document should be removed from the Turkish political life.

Zafer Uskul agreed that national security policy should be under the responsibility of the government. "If MGSB is going to be recreated, it is normal that this is done through the initiative of the government," said Uskul.

The professor said that it is natural and necessary to touch on external threats toward the country and take measures against such threats. "Internal threats may also be at issue," he added.

According to Uskul, the main issue that needs to be questioned is, whether or not there is violence against the regime. "Not every criticism toward the regime is a threat," said Uskul.

"As the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) also stated, no matter how 'shocking' these criticisms are, they cannot be viewed as threats as long as they don't involve violence."

"The government should make a correct assessment of this and there should be no secrecy in its assessment," Uskul told bianet.

"When a country's interests are at issue, it is hard to say 'there should be no secrecy at all.' The state may keep some secrets but the public should know about internal assessments. There has to be transparency in matter."

Uskul said that it is natural for government institutions to assess policies and strategies and added it would not be realistic to expect the prime minister to write such a document. He said the National Security Council (MGK) is one of those institutions.

Cetin: "The amendments should be clear and publicly available"

Lawyer Fethiye Cetin said despite all the steps taken toward full European Union membership, the state still has secret documents and regulations that are not transparent. The MGSK is one of those documents, according to Cetin.

"With the amendments to the National Security General Secretaryship law, it was said that the state would become civilian and the secret regulations would be abolished. But none of those promises were kept."

"The regulations and the MGSB are not available to the public. This is unacceptable in a democratic country," said Cetin adding that transparency is a legal rule.

"The operations of law enforcement should be clear. If not, as a citizen, I can't know my rights and defend them. If there is no confidence in the law, you cannot speak of a democracy in that country."

Cetin said that "internal threat" is not a legal term and added it is a direct outcome of the state seeing its citizens as threat, not loving or trusting them, and developing policies against them.

"National security documents and boards should be under the prime ministry," said Cetin. "The September 12 period legitimized such boards, and such secrecy. Such a document should be removed from Turkey's political history. The presence of such a document is unacceptable. The MGK should just be an advisory board."

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5. - Bianet - "A Myth Under Question: Military-Nation":

A young academic, Ayse Gül Altinay, probes into the intricate mechanisims of Turkish state-building processes, through her invaluable work "The Myth of The Military-Nation". Crtics praise the book also for its universal value in analysing male domination.

ISTANBUL / 30 November 2004

“The contradictions and silences in both seemingly intact discourse of militarized nationhood and individuals’ experiences promise new openings in overcoming the dissimulating state discourse”, Ayse Gül Altinay, observes in the closing paragraph of her invaluable research“The Myth of The Military-Nation: Militarism, Gender, and Education in Turkey”.

Her book comprises one of these “new openings” which, in her own words, provide a new approach in analyzing “the mechanisms that have created and sustained the myth of the military-nation, as well as of interrogating the many contradictions that lie beneath and within the masks of ‘the military’ and ‘the state’”.

Altinay’s book appears at a time when the powers and domination of the Turkish army is under public discussion as the country marks time for a date to start negotiations with the European Union (EU) for full membership. Yet for most Turks, albeit the country had to face 4 military coups (1960, 1971, 1980 and 1997) since its adoption of a multi-party democracy in 1950, the credibility and the popularity of the army seems to remain unstained. According to a recent public opinion poll the military appears as the most respected institution with 80 percent while the parliament and the media remain as the least respected.

Altinay’s research probes into the intricate mechanisms of the building up of the Turkish nation-state in which the Turkish military has played a very significant part, thus bringing from heavens to the earth one of the major myhths of Turkish statehood what will be standing to the test of major debates as the country expects to get along with the so called “European values” of multi-ethnicity, civil society, accountability, affirmative action, etc…

Published by Palgrave Macmillan this month, Altinay’s 207 page book is welcomed by Cynthia Cockburn of City University London, as “ a stunning insight into the intimate and enduring bond between education and military service in Turkey.”

“The Myth of the Military-Nation is a precious gift to those many of us who want to understand the cultural processes through which manhood and national belonging come to be inseparable from soldiering - and the courage and cost involved in reaching for an unmilitarized way of being," says Cockburn, in appreciation of the universal value of Altinay’s work which transcends the Turkish experience as such and provides insight to male-dominated state building mechanisms of modernity in general.

"With all the news about Turkish politics due to the Cyprus, Iraq and EU debates, now is exactly the time for all of us to read this smart feminist investigation of the Turkish political interplay between masculinity, men, statist nationalism and soldiering, " observes feminist author Cynthia Enloe who also values Altinay as “one of the most insightful political anthropologists,” she knows.

Betty A. Reardon of Peace Education Center, Teachers College too converges that "Gul Altinay has dared to demonstrate a crucial truth that applies not only to Turkey but to virtually all states, as well as, to human groups aspiring to statehood; the conflation of national identity and military capacity is the greatest of the many obstacles to human security.”

And she advises that “it should be read by every educator concerned by the disservice to critical learning done by the militarization of education." For “this is a work which contributes essential substance to modern history, peace and security studies, gender studies and to the theory and practice of education.”

The author, Ayse Gül Altinay is Assistant Professor of anthropology and cultural studies at Istanbul’s Sabanci University . With a Ph. D. from USA’a Duke University where she has thaught anthropology and gender studies she is also distinguished with a wide range of articles in Turkish and English, she is the editor of “Vatan-Millet Kadinlar” (Homeland-Nation-Women) from Iletisim Yayinlari, Istanbul.

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6. - Radio Free Europe - "Turkey: EU Eyes Tougher Conditions for Ankara Ahead Of Key Summit":

Turkey’s long-awaited nod from the EU may still be a long time coming.

PRAGUE / 1 December 2004

Although the European Commission recommended in September that Turkey fulfill the political criteria to start membership talks, EU member states with a final say are having second thoughts.

The biggest skeptics include France, Austria, and Cyprus -- a new EU member that is still not recognized by Ankara.

Earlier this week, a leaked draft statement being prepared by the EU’s Dutch presidency for the 16-17 December summit emphasizes tough conditions for starting entry talks.

Today, European Commission officials appeared to acknowledge that views are hardening. Francoise Le Bail, a commission spokeswoman, called the draft a "work in progress" but suggested that new, possibly favorable elements could find their way into the summit statement.

"The commission believes that the proposal it has made in September, it’s a balanced one. It is quite natural now that there is a debate in the council and we are confident that we will find a balanced solution, a solution that will take into a great part of what the commission has proposed in September," Le Bail said.

Crucially, the summit draft does not contain what has been Turkey’s key demand: a start date for entry talks.

EU officials say a debate is raging within the union. A number of influential countries, led by France, do not want Turkey to be an issue during preparations for the ratification of the new EU constitution next year.

One official told RFE/RL that the December summit could put off naming a date for accession negotiations, announcing instead the immediate start of pre-talks aimed at "screening" Turkey’s positions. This would fall well short of Turkey’s expectations. Ankara is said to prefer even a late date to no date at all.

One of the biggest hurdles for Turkey’s entry is the Cyprus problem.

The draft summit statement said Turkey would have to recognize the Greek Cypriot government as rulers of the whole island, just like the rest of the EU. Cyprus joined the EU with nine other new members in May, but Turkey continues to back a breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in north Cyprus.

The draft also appears to toughen measures to enable members to keep Turkish workers out after EU entry. And it specifies that EU members may request breaking off entry talks at any point if they see Turkey as not living up to EU standards.

The draft also confirms an earlier European Commission view that no financial provisions for a Turkish accession can be made before the budget cycle starting from 2014.

A report adopted by the foreign affairs committee of the European Parliament today says EU membership is not the "automatic consequence" of entry talks. Although a reference to a "privileged partnership," falling short of actual membership, was voted out of the report, this option is gaining credence in some EU states.

Austria’s center-right government, France’s ruling conservatives, and the conservative opposition in Germany are all campaigning for a limited "special partnership" for Turkey.

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7. - Cyprus Mail - "Turkey's EU Bid Leaves Turkish Cypriots Nervous":

1 December 2004 / by Simon Bahceli

As Turkey keeps up the diplomatic heat in its quest for EU entry talks, many Turkish Cypriots fear they could be left out in the cold.

Divided Cyprus is one of the touchiest issues at the heart of Turkey's EU bid, which will face judgment on December 17 when the 25 EU leaders -- including Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos -- decide whether to open full talks with Ankara.

"The danger is that efforts to find a solution to the Cyprus problem could be put in the deep freeze," said prominent politician Mustafa Akinci of the Peace and Democracy Movement.

A draft European Union summit statement obtained by Reuters on Monday said Turkey would have to accept tough conditions, including de facto recognition of the internationally accepted Cyprus government, in order to start negotiations.

The big issue for most Turkish Cypriots is not whether Ankara clears this diplomatic hurdle, nor even a related Greek Cypriot demand that it withdraw more than 30,000 troops from the breakaway Turkish Cypriot enclave in the north of the island.

But after voting two-to-one in an April referendum in favour of a UN reunification plan -- a deal scuppered by a strong Greek Cypriot 'no' vote -- many fear they will either stay in international limbo or be forced into life as a minority in a Greek Cypriot-dominated state.

International talk of rewarding Turkish Cypriots for their vote by starting direct aid, trade or transport links with the north, easing decades of sanctions, has amounted to little so far. The north remains isolated, and far poorer than the south.

Akinci said it was widely accepted that Turkey must sooner or later recognise the Greek Cypriot-run Republic of Cyprus, which joined the EU in May in the name of the whole island.

But he said if no fresh peace initiative was agreed before then, Turkish Cypriots would lose any traction in future talks and could be pushed to settle for a far worse deal.

"To have a viable solution both sides have to be willing, and I don't think we would be willing to do this," he said.

Diplomats say the chances of a fresh peace drive in the near future are slim. The UN in particular has been cool to any idea of trying to broker another deal since Secretary-general Kofi Annan called off diplomatic efforts after the referendum.

Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat played down talk that Turkish Cypriots could be sidelined as Turkey nears its EU goal.

"Of course, they (Turkey) think the Cyprus problem can be used as a tool or a bargaining chip, but not as a sacrifice. It's wrong to say Turkey will give any concession demanded to get EU membership," he said.

But Talat has also expressed worry in recent months that the north's bargaining position in any Cyprus peace talks would be weaker once Turkey gains a date for EU accession talks.

Some Turkish Cypriots are already deeply disillusioned.

Hakan Kuntay, a local activist in Morphou, said Talat was too focused on not rocking the boat with Turkey over its EU bid.

Morphou would have passed to Greek Cypriot administration under the Annan plan, and is now paralysed by uncertainty.

"We showed our willingness to make sacrifices for peace through our 'yes' vote, but now our patience has run out," Kuntay said.

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8. - AlJazeera.Net - "Kurdish factions to bury differences":

1 December 2004

Iraq's two rival Kurdish factions have publicly buried their differences in order to gain maximum parliamentary weight to enshrine their autonomy in the country's future constitution.

"The Kurdish political powers have reached an agreement to present a joint list for the general elections as well as for the Kurdish parliament," said Masud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

He was speaking on Wednesday from his Salah al-Din stronghold in northern Iraq after meeting with Jalal Talabani, whose Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) is the Kurdish community's other major party.

"We call on the people of Kurdistan to participate in the elections as we need every single vote to obtain as many seats as possible in the Iraqi national assembly," said Talabani at a joint press conference.

"The current situation obliges us to put the future of Kurdistan before our own individual interests and join the same list to guarantee the rights of the Kurdish people in Iraq," Barzani added.

On 30 January, Iraqis are due to choose the 275 members of the national assembly. The Kurds will also pick the 111 members of their autonomous parliament.

Talabani urged "the people of Kurdistan to take part in the ballot, because we need every vote we can get in order to obtain the largest possible number of seats in parliament".

The 30 January elections will be a single, proportional ballot. The resulting interim national assembly will be tasked with drafting a permanent constitution.

When asked why the two Kurdish political heavyweights had not joined forces with some Arab parties, Talabani hinted that none of them were ready to boost Kurdish aspirations towards more autonomy.

"We were not able to find an agreement on the place of the Kurds. There are a few Assyrians and some Turkmen on our list but not the Turkmen Front," he explained.

Kurdish inhabited parts of Iraq have been spared much of the violence that followed the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, which the Kurds staunchly supported.

Its leaders have since exerted simultaneous efforts to grab key positions in the central government while backing every move towards increasing their autonomy.

Barzani said the joint list, expected to be one of the leading blocs in the next interim parliament, would also include the Kurdistan Islamic Movement, but not the other two major Kurdish Islamic parties.

A total of 18 Kurdish electoral lists have been approved by the Iraqi electoral commission.

Relations between the two major groups that control the three Kurdish provinces of Iraq have sometimes been frosty.

The KDP and PUK clashed for several months in 1994 and each one has its own government.