29
March 2004
2. "Election observers banned in Turkey", Election observers, including a Welsh MEP, were forbidden from entering polling stations in east Turkey today (Sunday 28 March), amidst accusations of abusive behaviour by police.
3. "Vote of Confidence for Turkish Ruling Party", The prime minister declares victory after his party gains support in local elections as he pushes ahead with EU membership plan.
4. "Turkmen quit northern Iraqi city council, say Kurds taking over", Six local Turkmen leaders withdrew from the city council here Sunday, exacerbating ethnic tension in the city, a week after a similar move by their ethnic Arab colleagues, one of them said.
5. "Cyprus plan presented", A UN plan to reunify Cyprus will be presented to Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders on Monday.
6. "Greeks, Turks Face Three-Day Cyprus Deal Deadline", Turkish and Greek leaders, both buoyed by strong election mandates, meet on Monday facing a three-day deadline to strike a peace deal uniting Cyprus for European Union membership on May 1.
1. - AFP - "Syria detains up to 2000 Kurds":
28 March 2004
Kurds make up nine percent of Syria's population
Syria has continued to arrest Kurds in the wake of deadly riots earlier this month, raising the number behind bars to more than 2000, the head of a banned Kurdish party said on Sunday.
The secretary general of the Kurdish Progressive Democratic Party, Abd al-Aziz Dawud, also said security officials had threatened even harsher measures in a meeting with Kurdish leaders.
"Instead of calming things down and showing themselves to be more flexible, Syrian security officers have threatened to take repressive measures and arrest more people," Dawud said in a statement.
The statement followed a meeting between Kurdish leaders and the
security services on Saturday in Hassake, more than 500km north of
Damascus.
"These security officials issued these threats knowing full well
that the number of detained Kurds has passed 2000," he said.
Clashes
Authorities informed the Kurds last week of the release of around 600 of their people, but Dawud said at the time that another 1500 were still detained in Hassake and Aleppo provinces where the clashes took place.
Kurdish leaders said 40 people were killed in the six days of clashes which broke out on 12 March. An official toll put the number of dead at 25.
The trouble broke out at a football match in Qamishli, 600km north of Damascus, when Arab tribesmen taunted Kurds with slogans against Iraqi Kurdish leaders and brandished portraits of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Syrian officials have accused foreign infiltrators of being behind the unrest, but Dawud cited growing resentment, including discrimination against Kurds in universities and the military.
The roughly 1.5 million Kurds in Syria make up about nine percent
of the population, and live mostly in the north.
2. - NewsWales - "Election observers banned in Turkey":
28 March 2004
Election observers, including a Welsh MEP, were forbidden from entering polling stations in east Turkey today (Sunday 28 March), amidst accusations of abusive behaviour by police. Later there were reports of up to one hundred people being detained and not allowed to vote.
The observers included a Welsh member of the European Parliament Eurig Wyn of Plaid Cymru as well as Holyhead solicitor Eilian Williams, who was at another location this afternoon, and representatives of the Amicus trade union.
Speaking from Diyarbakir, a large town in the heart of Turkish Kurdistan, Mr Wyn said: “In the course of our observation at polling stations during the afternoon, the chief of the local police prevented us from entering the large primary school Vali Unal Erkan where the polling station was situated.
”Our understanding from polling officials in the course of our investigations was that we would be free to enter any polling station. We were surprised that the police shouted and became abusive.
“The main purpose of our visit was to ensure free and fair elections, in particular for the large percentage of Kurdish voters in this part of east Turkey.
Mr Wyn said he would be calling on the European Parliament to condemn
the Turkish government – who are applicants for membership of
the European Union
He added that he would be writing immediately to Pat Cox, President
of the European Parliament, with a full dossier setting out all the
facts of the incident.
“These local elections are crucial for the large Kurdish population
of Turkey to be fairly represented in local government institutions
within the country,” he said.
It emerged later that there had been allegations that up to one hundred people, who had been seeking to vote, may have been detained by the authorities. These allegations are being reviewed by the Human Rights Association.
3. - Los Angeles Times - "Vote of Confidence for Turkish Ruling Party":
The prime minister declares victory after his party gains support in local elections as he pushes ahead with EU membership plan.
ANKARA, Turkey / March 29, 2004 / By Amberin Zaman
Turkey's ruling conservative party won a strong mandate in local elections Sunday that could strengthen its hand in taking the largely Muslim country into the European Union and pushing for a settlement on the divided island of Cyprus.
The Justice and Development Party, known as AKP, retained control of key municipalities including the capital, Ankara, and the country's largest city, Istanbul, while registering gains in regions long dominated by left-wing groups.
"Turkey has voted once again for stability and progress," said Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, after claiming victory at the party's headquarters here.
Looking relaxed in a bright checkered shirt and tailored linen jacket, Erdogan assured Turks that "this victory will not cause us to lose our heads. To the contrary, it will increase our sense of responsibility."
Erdogan has thrown his weight behind the latest United Nations plan to reunite the island of Cyprus, which is divided between Turkish and Greek factions. European leaders have made it clear they will not consider Turkish membership in the EU unless Ankara helps resolve the dispute over Cyprus.
Erdogan was expected to fly to Switzerland today to join four-way reunification talks involving Turkey, Greece and the Turkish and Greek Cypriots. Western diplomats here say Sunday's result will probably reinforce Erdogan's position against hawks within Turkey's powerful armed forces, who oppose the U.N. plan.
At the national level, Erdogan has pushed through a raft of economic and social reforms aimed at opening membership talks with the EU. The measures approved by the AKP-dominated parliament include easing bans on the Kurdish language and stiffening penalties for torture.
AKP legislators are finalizing draft laws that would end discrimination against homosexuals, scrap reduced sentences for "honor" killings of women accused of besmirching their families' reputations, and abolish special security courts in which thousands of dissidents have been prosecuted for expressing anti-establishment views.
The proposed changes may have helped the AKP snatch mayoral seats in five major predominantly Kurdish cities held by the country's largest pro-Kurdish group, the Democratic People's Party, or Dehap.
Unofficial results Sunday showed the AKP winning more than 40% of the vote across the country. The main opposition pro-secular Republican People's Party trailed well behind with 20%.
Formed by a group of former Islamists three years ago, the AKP swept to power in November 2002 parliamentary polls with 34% of the vote, giving this country of 68 million people its first single-party government in 15 years and ushering a period of political and economic stability.
Sunday's victory confirmed voters' support for leaders of AKP-run municipalities. Unlike their pro-secular rivals, AKP mayors have been largely untainted by corruption and have provided free food and fuel for thousands of slum dwellers.
Erdogan rose to national prominence in the 1990s as the mayor of Istanbul who brought water to the drought-stricken city of 10 million.
Fears that the party might steer the country away from the pro-Western
and secular policies introduced by the founder of modern Turkey, Kemal
Ataturk, have proved groundless so far. Seeking to quell such concerns,
Erdogan did not field any female candidates who wore the Islamic-style
head scarf, and in a gesture to non-Muslim Turks, the AKP ran three
ethnic Armenians in Istanbul.
4.
- AFP - "Turkmen quit northern Iraqi city council, say Kurds
taking over":
KIRKUK, Iraq /March 28 2004
Six local Turkmen leaders withdrew from the city council here Sunday,
exacerbating ethnic tension in the city, a week after a similar move
by their ethnic Arab colleagues, one of them said.
Turkmen councillor Mustafa Yaishi said the northern Iraqi city was
being "overwhelmed" by Kurds, and called for the dismissal
of Kirkuk's governor and US military intervention "to drive away
armed Kurdish militias".
"The six members who represent the Turkmen Front have decided
to suspend their membership in the city council because of the lack
of security and chaos that prevails," Yaishi told AFP.
That leaves the council, which at one time had up to 40 members, with
only 15 Kurdish and seven Christian members.
"We are denied our legitimate rights and we are kept away from
administrative positions," he said.
"These problems will contribute to a civil war," Yaishi
warned.
Last Sunday, nine Arab ethnic council members decided to pull out
of the council for the same reasons, namely accusing the Kurds of
taking over the city and depriving them of their political rights.
Ethnic unrest has run high in Kirkuk since the end of the US-led war
last year, as the city's Kurdish majority has been pushing to be incorporated
into the autonomous Kurdish region further north.
Under former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, many Kurds were evicted
from oil-rich Kirkuk. Since the fall of his regime last April, they
have been returning to the city in their thousands.
The uneasy ethnic mix of Turkmen, Kurds and Arabs has fanned tensions
and spilled over into violence on several occasions.
Turkmen in Kirkuk number 250,000 out of a total population of more
than one million, according to estimates that are difficult to verify.
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 almost exclusively in and around Kirkuk, account for no more
than two percent of the population.
Turkmen oppose northern Iraq's majority Kurds, who have controlled
the region since the 1991 Gulf War under US and British military protection,
and suspect them of pushing for an independent Kurdish state.
5. - Eupolitix.com - "Cyprus plan presented":
29 March 2004
A UN plan to reunify Cyprus will be presented to Greek and Turkish
Cypriot leaders on Monday.
Kofi Annan is hosting talks in Switzerland and the UN Secretary General
will be joined by Greek and Turkish leaders for the make or break
talks
Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders have until Wednesday to agree a
deal before the issue is put to the vote.
Simultaneous referendums on both the Greek and Turkish sides of the
partitioned island are to beheld in three weeks - April 20.
Annan will "fill in the blanks" if both sides fail to agree
the detail of a complex deal - current drafts are said to be over
1000 pages long.
Europe, the UN, Ankara and Athens are keen to reunify Cyprus after
30-years of division before the Greek half of the island joins the
EU on May 1.
Brussels enlargement chief Gunter Verheugen will attend negotiations
to ensure that any brokered agreement is within the terms of EU law.
Tough talks lie ahead on populations concerns expressed by both the
Greek and Turkish sides.
Turkish Cypriots fear an influx of up to 180,000 Greeks who fled after
partition in 1974.
Ankara is seeking assurances that EU freedom of movement laws will
not compound any fall out to reunification.
Greek Cypriots are banking on returns and calling for 100,000 Turks
who settled on the island since 1974 to go back to Turkey.
6. - Reuters - "Greeks, Turks Face Three-Day Cyprus Deal Deadline":
BUERGENSTOCK (Switzerland) / By Brian Williams / March 28, 2004
Turkish and Greek leaders, both buoyed by strong election mandates, meet on Monday facing a three-day deadline to strike a peace deal uniting Cyprus for European Union membership on May 1.
Deep divisions and distrust remain from past bloodshed, but U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has taken personal charge of talks with high stakes for the EU and NATO as well as the Greek and Turkish Cypriots and their motherlands.
The United Nations has set Wednesday as the deadline for a deal and Annan has a mandate to fill in any disputed gaps in a U.N. peace plan if the sides fail to agree. The plan is then due to go to a referendum on both sides of Cyprus on April 20.
Opinion polls show many Cypriots see economic attractions in a united Cyprus going into the EU, but that each side is wary of any deal that gives away too much to the other on issues such as freedom of movement on the island and property ownership.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, set to join the talks on Monday after his party won local elections on Sunday, is working the phones to President Bush and European leaders to press his case on the decades old standoff.
"I will seek their support for carrying out much better and more positive negotiations," Erdogan told Turkey's state-run Anatolian news agency on Sunday.
Conservative Greek Minister Costas Karamanlis, who earlier this month ended a decade of socialist rule, is already in the secluded snowy Swiss Alpine resort of Buergenstock where the two sides are deadlocked despite six weeks of intense negotiation.
HIGH STAKES
No deal at Buergenstock will mean only the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot government in the south of the Mediterranean island joining the EU on May 1.
This could cement the island's partition and harm Turkey's own hopes of becoming the first Muslim state to join the EU, as well as set back a thaw in relations between Greece and Turkey -- both in NATO but also uneasy old foes.
Annan has presented a plan for a loose federal system giving Cyprus's Greek and Turkish communities large degrees of autonomy over domestic affairs, but this has failed to satisfy two sides deeply suspicious of each other.
The minority Turks in the island's population of about a million want permanent curbs on the number of Greek Cypriots allowed to reclaim property in the north, fearing domination by the wealthier and more populous Greek Cypriots.
The Greek Cypriots and Greece refuse to discuss any permanent restrictions, which they view as contravening European Union law.
Annan worked at the weekend to revise the plan in an effort to break the deadlock.
Last year produced some easing of tensions on Cyprus when Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktash authorized opening checkpoints on the so-called "Green Line" border to bolster confidence between the two sides.
The Greek Cypriots announced an easing of trade restrictions on Turkish Cypriot goods, lifting a long-running blockade on the north which is only recognized by Ankara.
Cyprus has been highly militarised since a Greek Cypriot coup in 1974 triggered a Turkish invasion and the partition of the island.
About 30,000 Turkish troops are based in the north and there is an army of around 15,000 Greek Cypriots in the south. Greek Cypriots have a defense accord with Greece.
Cyprus gained independence from Britain in 1960 after an armed campaign
by Greek Cypriot guerrillas, but fighting flared three years later
between Greek and Turkish Cypriots until the arrival of a U.N.-mandated
peacekeeping force in 1964.