16 June 2004

1. "Three killed in clashes with Kurd rebels in Turkey", two Kurdish guerrillas and a policeman were killed in separate clashes in Turkey's tense southeast in renewed violence that has erupted since the end of a rebel truce, security sources said on Wednesday.

2. "DEHAP Chairman Warns Turkish Government To Appreciate Current Peaceful Atmosphere", the chairman of the pro-Kurdish DEHAP Tuncer Bakirhan, responded to criticicism from the Turkish Prime Minister, saying on Tuesday in Sirnak that the Turkish government should appreciate this peaceful period of time in our country.

3. "Erdogan answers Zana", 'No one can compare the government with an illegal organization'.

4. "Ozkok rejects ceasefire call", Chief of General Staff Hilmi Ozkok said on Monday the Turkish Armed Services, which is the protector of the country's security, would continue the war against separatist organizations and fundamentalist groups, ignoring domestic and international calls that only confuse the nation.

5. "Head of Iranian Kurdish weekly paper arrested", the director of an Iranian Kurdish weekly paper published in the western city of Sanandaj has been arrested on charges of "disturbing public order", and encouraging ethnic and religious dissent, the official news agency IRNA said Wednesday.

6. "Syria's Kurdish groups vow to continue political activities, despite ban", eleven Kurdish parties in Syria vowed on Tuesday to continue their political activities, despite a decision by the government to ban them.

1. - Reuters - "Three killed in clashes with Kurd rebels in Turkey":

TUNCELI / 16 June 2004

Two Kurdish guerrillas and a policeman were killed in separate clashes in Turkey's tense southeast in renewed violence that has erupted since the end of a rebel truce, security sources said on Wednesday.

Fresh fighting since the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) ended its unilateral ceasefire on June 1 threatens the fragile peace in the mainly Kurdish southeast. It comes at a time when Turkey is implementing reforms to expand Kurds' cultural rights and meet European Union membership criteria.

A military source said two PKK fighters were killed late on Tuesday in a clash in Hakkari province, a remote area near the Iranian border used by rebels in recent months to re-enter Turkey from mountain bases mostly in Iraq.

Also on Tuesday night, PKK gunmen opened fire on a police station in Hatay province near Syria, killing one officer, a security official said.

Security officials said a bomb exploded late on Tuesday in a commercial building in the town of Sirnak near the Iraqi border. No one was hurt in the blast, which damaged several shops, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Separately, the PKK claimed responsibility for a gun attack in Hatay on Sunday that killed three village guards, who are armed by the state.

More than 30,000 people, mostly Kurds, have been killed since the PKK launched a campaign for an independent state in the region in 1984. Fighting has largely fallen off since 1999, when the PKK's top commander was captured and imprisoned.

Security officials estimate more than 2,000 militants have entered Turkey in recent months and say they are crossing back from northern Iraq via Iran and Syria.

2. - CIHAN - "DEHAP Chairman Warns Turkish Government To Appreciate Current Peaceful Atmosphere":

SIRNAK / 15 June 2004

The chairman of the pro-Kurdish DEHAP Tuncer Bakirhan, responded to criticicism from the Turkish Prime Minister, saying on Tuesday in Sirnak that the Turkish government should appreciate this peaceful period of time in our country.

Bakirhan, accompanying a southeastern tour by freed ex-MPs of the DEP, warned that Turkey could never attain the same peaceful atmosphere again if she loses the existing one.

The DEHAP leader praised the recent steps taken by the Turkish government to expand the cultural rights of the Turkish Kurds but Bakirhan said that the steps are not satisfactory. "The steps do not meet the expectation of the people in the region. We are expecting more in order to fulfill the needs of citizens in the region. If not, the peaceful atmosphere may be gone."

Yesterday the Turkish government lashed out fiercely at statements from the pro-Kurdish DEHAP chairman Tuncer Bakirhan and freed ex-MP Leyla Zana.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday accused the DEHAP chairman of putting the illegal organization on the same ground as the Turkish government

The Turkish government paved the way for expanding the cultural rights of the Kurdish people by adopting the EU-inspired reform packages. Last week, the state broadcaster (TRT) began airing radio and TV programs in two Kurdish dialects, Kurmanji and Zaza. The Turkish Supreme Court freed four former pro-Kurdish-DEP deputies, including Nobel peace prize nominee Leyla Zana, who were jailed in 1994 for ties with the PKK.

3. - Turkish Daily News - "Erdogan answers Zana":

'No one can compare the government with an illegal organization'

ANKARA / 16 June 2004

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that no one could compare the government with an illegal organization, adding: "Those who have not learned their lessons from democracy." With this statement, Erdogan gave the harshest reply to former Democracy Party (DEP) deputy Leyla Zana's words.

Speaking at the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) parliamentary group meeting, Erdogan reacted harshly against Zana's announcement after she was released from prison, noting that they were as close to the government as they were to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Democratic People's Party (DEHAP) leader Tuncer Bakirhan repeated Zana's statement a day earlier.

Erdogan said no one had the right to disturb the peace, adding: "We are against regional, ethnic and religious nationalism. Ideologies that go against our history were always defeated. Such people and ideas have no chance of success. We are trying to facilitate the establishment of social peace by eliminating all the boundaries. We will continue to implement steps that adhere to the Copenhagen Criteria. However, to comment about our national values beyond the limits set by respect will cloud the peace we are trying to establish."

"No one has the right to endanger the peace. The worst thing you can do to this country is to think differences can be ground for a political ideology. We believe that the only way to practice politics is to welcome all. Our democratization efforts are done only for us, not because others want them. Our ideal is a prosperous and free nation. Everyone should work to fulfill this goal. Confusing legality and illegality is not a democratic solution."

"The same reason that compelled us to fight inflation and high interest rates, made us committed to lift all restrictions that limited the freedom of expression. If certain people can't see this, then they have a problem. No one can come and compare the government to an illegal organization."

"Comparing the government of the republic of Turkey to an illegal organization is an indication of not learning the lessons democracy provides. Everybody should reassess their ideas and thought processes. Our people never rewarded such behavior and never will. This can only be described as self adoration. We propose their reassess their opinions."

Meanwhile, former DEP deputies and DEHAP leader, on a tour of the southeast, addressed large crowds. Former DEP deputy Orhan Dogan said at a rally in Mardin noted that while some were claiming that an amnesty would be useless and those who utilized it would soon return to the mountains, he could personally guarantee no one would return. He said Kurds were trustworthy people.

He also warned Erdogan to be careful of what he said, because his statements indicated he was not a man of peace.

4. - Turkish Daily News - "Ozkok rejects ceasefire call":

ANKARA / 16 June 2004

Chief of General Staff Hilmi Ozkok said on Monday the Turkish Armed Services, which is the protector of the country's security, would continue the war against separatist organizations and fundamentalist groups, ignoring domestic and international calls that only confuse the nation.

Ozkok's statement came just days after former Democratic Party (DEP) deputies called for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to restore its ceasefire, suspended a few weeks ago, but the PKK rejected the call.

Ozkok, in a written statement in honor of the 165th anniversary of the founding of the Gendarmerie, said the risks and threats that affected national security had broadened after the end of the Cold War, noting that rebel groups had started to utilize the technological resources available to make them harder to locate or fight against.

"The number of unknowns has increased. The only way to assure security is through education, better utilization of technological developments, improved coordination and cooperation between security agencies," Ozkok said.

The Gendarmerie was the intermediary between the military and the people and its members were committed to uphold Ataturk's reforms and principles, added Ozkok.

He said while the Gendarmerie had waged a very successful war on separatism and fundamentalism, it had also provided a great service in the education of the people on environmental awareness and human rights.

He said that despite the general realization that terrorist acts would lead nowhere, the PKK had decided to resume its activities. Ozkok said the military would not be influenced by the confusing statements made both in Turkey and overseas in its fight against "terrorism" and the religious fundamentalists.

Ozkok noted that the Gendarmerie was an indivisible part of the military and had shown time and again that its members were willing to put their lives on the line to protect and preserve constitutional principles, democracy and the secular and social regime.

5. - AFP - "Head of Iranian Kurdish weekly paper arrested":

TEHRAN / 16 June 2004

The director of an Iranian Kurdish weekly paper published in the western city of Sanandaj has been arrested on charges of "disturbing public order", and encouraging ethnic and religious dissent, the official news agency IRNA said Wednesday.

Mohammad Sadigh Kaboudvand drew the ire of the hardline judiciary after publishing articles on jailed Turkish Kurd leader Abdollah Ocalan and Ghazi Mohammad, a historical pro-independence figure behind a breakaway republic in 1945.

The paper's director was currently in jail pending trial, but a member of his editorial staff said he could be freed on bail set at 80 million rials (9,300 dollars). The paper, The People's Message, is published in both Kurdish and Farsi and was launched in early 2004.

Iran has a sizeable Kurdish minority, and authorities are quick to stamp on what they consider to be any moves towards autonomy. At least a dozen journalists are currently in jail in the Islamic republic, where authorities have closed down over 100 publications in recent years. Most are close to the pro-reform movement.

6. - AFP - "Syria's Kurdish groups vow to continue political activities, despite ban":

DAMASCUS / 15 June 2004

Eleven Kurdish parties in Syria vowed on Tuesday to continue their political activities, despite a decision by the government to ban them.

In a faxed statement to AFP, the parties said: "The leaders of the Kurdish parties decided unanimously to continue their political activities, which are a natural and national right, necessary to Kurdish progress in Syria."

Earlier this month, Syrian security services told the Kurdish groups their parties were illegal and their political activities prohibited.

But the Kurdish groups say their parties "are legitimate because they represent over two and a half million Kurds in Syria who suffer under policies that go against international rules and charters."

They said the decision was a setback to positive steps taken recently by President Bashar al-Assad, who has insisted the Kurdish community is an important part of Syria. The ban also came despite the fact that ethnic Kurdish leaders had tried to end deadly confrontations between members of the community and the security forces in mid-March.

At least 25 people were killed in clashes over six days. Kurdish groups said the authorities also detained about 2,000 people. Analysts have said the ban is an effort by the ruling Baath party to crush
democratic movements that have emerged since Assad came to power in July 2000 after the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad.

Most Kurds in Syria, estimated to total 1.5 million or nine percent of the population, live in the north near the Iraqi border. Many refused to register in the 1962 census to avoid military service, which has since prevented them, and their descendents, from obtaining Syrian nationality.