14 May 2004

1. "Releasing Zana In Exchange For Guns", Claudia Roth is well known in Turkey. Knowing full well that she wouldn’t be allowed in, Roth took a bouquet of flowers to Ankara’s Ulucanlar Prison. (..) One German parliamentarian in the visiting group headed by Roth told Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Germany could restart selling guns to Turkey, thus ending a ban imposed due to Turkey’s human rights violations.

2. "Turkey approves new Islamic education bill", Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses his deputies in parliament in Ankara. Parliament passed a bill to make it easier for graduates of religious high schools to study at universities.

3. "EU Must Not Slam Door on Turkey : Verheugen", Turkey may halt democratic reforms and fall into political disarray if its bid to start entry talks with the European Union is unfairly rejected, EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said on Thursday.

4. "Main political parties in Austria oppose Turkey joining the EU", from the Greens to the Conservatives all the main Austrian political parties see Turkey's membership bid in a negative light.

5. "Greece, Turkey seek end to feud", Greece and Turkey have embarked on what diplomats describe as a period of "optimism and hope" with the ultimate goal of ending their centuries-old feud.

6. "Assad hints at change in official policy on Kurds", Activists witness historic shift from security to political approach.

1. - Radikal - "Releasing Zana In Exchange For Guns":

13 May 2004 / by Hakki Devrim

Claudia Roth is well known in Turkey. She is Germany’s Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid and is also chair of the German-Turkish Parliamentary Friendship Group. During her recent visit to Turkey, Roth met with Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. She expressed her pleasure with recent developments in Turkey in its bid for European Union membership.

Knowing full well that she wouldn’t be allowed in, Roth took a bouquet of flowers to Ankara’s Ulucanlar Prison. They didn’t let her in. She left the flowers at the door and told her concerns to the press, and left after the show was over. We are becoming Europeans, therefore we must get used to such things.

One German parliamentarian in the visiting group headed by Roth told Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Germany could restart selling guns to Turkey, thus ending a ban imposed due to Turkey’s human rights violations. Erdogan replied by saying that he is against armaments, that the reason for terrorism is poverty, and that peace is more important. This was a good reply. Now look at the German delegation’s friendship trip to Ankara from this perspective. While the chair of the delegation offers flowers to Zana, who was sentenced for ‘staging separatist activities both in Turkey and abroad in line with orders and directives of leaders of the rebel group PKK,’ another member says that Turkey will soon be able to buy guns from Germany. One should ask: What for?

2. - Associated Press - "Turkey approves new Islamic education bill":

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses his deputies in parliament in Ankara. Parliament passed a bill to make it easier for graduates of religious high schools to study at universities.

ANKARA / 14 May 2004

Parliament passed legislation Thursday to make it easier for graduates of religious high schools to study at universities, despite strong opposition by the deeply secular military and a likely veto by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer.

With a show of hands, lawmakers from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party - which has Islamic roots and holds a majority in parliament - approved the measure. Lawmakers from the secular opposition centre-left party walked out of the hall before voting began to protest the measure.

Under current law, graduates of high schools that train imams and preachers have easy access only to theology departments at Turkish universities.

Critics of the new measure say religious school graduates would be encouraged to become lawyers, teachers and to hold key state posts under the new legislation rather than become religious leaders. Many critics say religious schools are also breeding grounds for political Islam.

In a rare move, the military - which forced Turkey's first Islamic government out of power in 1997 - issued a statement last week criticising the legislation.

Analysts say Sezer, a firm believer in Turkey's secular traditions, is likely to veto the bill.

Secular critics claim Erdogan's government is seeking to raise the profile of Islam in this predominantly Muslim but strictly secular country. Erdogan, however, strongly denies any Islamic agenda.

The debate is being closely watched by the European Union, which has said Turkey must curtail the military's influence before it can join the bloc. The military has staged three coups in recent decades in addition to forcing the Islamic government from power.

3. - Bulgarian News Network - "EU Must Not Slam Door on Turkey : Verheugen":

SOFIA / 13 May 2004

Turkey may halt democratic reforms and fall into political disarray if its bid to start entry talks with the European Union is unfairly rejected, EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said on Thursday.

EU leaders are to decide in December whether the sprawling Muslim state of 70 million has made sufficient progress on political reforms and human rights to begin accession negotiations -- five years after it won candidate status.

Verheugen said the decision must fairly reflect Turkey's achievements and should not be influenced by mounting opposition among political elites and public opinion in some EU states to admitting the country to the bloc.

Some detractors fear that if present population trends go on, Turkey in 15 years' time would be the biggest country in the EU and, under the new constitution, have the greatest number of votes in key decision-making after economic powerhouse Germany.

"If you take away the European perspective from Turkey, you stop effectively the process of democratization in the country," he told a seminar on enlargement staged by the independent pro-EU think-tank, Friends of Europe.

"In the long run you will be responsible for the loss of stability and predictability of that strategically important country," he said.

France's governing conservative UMP party and Germany's opposition center-right Christian Democrats oppose Turkish membership.

French President Jacques Chirac has said talks with Turkey, if they were opened, would be tough and very long.

The executive European Commission will issue a key report in October on whether Turkey is ready to start accession talks on the basis of the so-called Copenhagen criteria on human rights, the rule of law, free elections and free market.

Verheugen praised Turkey's progress, saying the country had displayed "very impressive dynamism in modernization, democratization and liberalization."

Verheugen said Turkey's membership bid must not be rejected for political reasons if the country meets the entry criteria.

"Relations between Western democracies and the Islamic world...will be the most important question of the 21st century. Turkey can make a difference," he said.

Verheugen reiterated that Bulgaria and Romania were on track to become the next countries to join the EU in 2007 after 10 mostly east European countries entered the bloc on May 1 and accession talks with Croatia would begin very soon.

He said EU membership was not on the agenda for other countries such as Ukraine, Moldova or Belarus. "But we cannot tell them: 'You'll never make it'," he said.

4. - Euractiv - "Main political parties in Austria oppose Turkey joining the EU":

14 May 2004

From the Greens to the Conservatives all the main Austrian political parties see Turkey's membership bid in a negative light.

Turkey's membership bid is being hotly debated in Austria in the run-up to the EP elections on June 13. Eighty two per cent of the Austrian population is hostile to the idea of full Turkish membership, according to a recent SORA-poll. What is more, the message coming from all major political parties is not in Ankara's favour.

Social Democrats' (SPÖ) leader Alfred Gusenbauer told the newspaper Kurier that "Turkey is not ready for the EU and the EU is not ready for Turkey." He denies that this stance has to do with religious aspects, he thinks that it would be "unresponsible" and "dangerous" for the EU to go ahead with another enlargement before the EU has consolidated itself after taking in ten new countries.

Ursula Stenzel, who heads the list of the ruling Conservative Party (ÖVP) of chancellor Wolfgang Schlüssel in the EP elections, is in favour of "better relations" but not membership. Hans Kronberger of the far right party (FPÖ) has demanded a stop to the negotiations towards possible membership, which he likens to the sinking of the Titanic. Johannes Voggenhuber of the Green party prefers the EU to give first priority to preparing the future membership of the Balkan nations.

The atmosphere of the debate in Austria, which has an estimated moslem population of 300,000, the majority of Turkish origin, has been fuelled by controversial remarks by bishop Kurt Krenn of Vienna, who warned against an 'islamisation' of Europe. He has called islam a "very agressive kind of religion" that will not easily allow for the political unity with the Christian faith.

5. - The Washington Times - "Greece, Turkey seek end to feud":

NICOSIA / 14 May 2004 / by Andrew Borowiec

Greece and Turkey have embarked on what diplomats describe as a period of "optimism and hope" with the ultimate goal of ending their centuries-old feud.

A meeting in Athens last week between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Greek counterpart, Costas Karamanlis, sparked diplomatic dispatches and newspaper editorials forecasting an unprecedented era of cooperation.

Above all, the prime ministers pledged not to let their long-standing dispute over Cyprus stand in the path of a rapprochement.

"The European Union has accepted the whole of Cyprus -- with a special dispensation for its northern sector," Mr. Karamanlis said. "For us, the issue has been solved and has been dealt with."
He also stressed Greek backing of Turkish efforts to join the European Union and for planned Turkish political and economic reforms.

Mr. Erdogan said, "Greek-Turkish relations must not be affected by the Cyprus issue. ... The improvement of bilateral relations between Greece and Turkey will be to the benefit not only of the two countries but to stability, peace and cooperation in the whole region."

The statements caused considerable concern in Greek-Cypriot political circles, where it was understood that the new chapter in Greek-Turkish relations was facilitated by the Greek-Cypriot rejection of a U.N. plan to unite the island -- and a Turkish-Cypriot vote of acceptance.

International sponsors of the plan quickly moved to reward the hitherto ostracized and boycotted Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, putting the legal Greek-Cypriot government on the defensive.

The fear now is of a loss of international interest in the island's future.

Since the Ottoman massacre of Armenians and the post-Ottoman wars of the 1920s, Greece and Turkey have rarely seen eye to eye. Although both are partners in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, their military preparations have been mostly aimed at each other.

Greece and Turkey nearly went to war three times in recent years -- in 1974 because of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in retaliation for a Greek coup, in 1987 when Turkey sent an oil drilling ship into the disputed areas of the Aegean Sea, and in 1996 over a disputed uninhabited Aegean islet.

The Erdogan-Karamanlis meeting follows a steady search for better relations, marked by 25 bilateral agreements in the past five years.

The conservative Athens daily Kathimerini, however, added a note of caution:

"Both men seek to hammer out relations based on sincerity and trust which will allow them to resolve nagging hitches. But the EU will never begin accession negotiations with a state in which political life is under the shadow of the military."

Turkish officials and diplomats insist that Turkey has made strides toward major changes in its political outlook.

Hakan Altinay, of the Open Society Institute in Turkey, said, "A transformation wrought by the soft power of the European Union has gone unnoticed by Europe. ... The death penalty was repealed, draconian laws that restricted speech and the press for decades were abolished.

"The state of emergency that curtailed basic liberties in southeast Turkey was lifted after 25 years. The extraordinary powers of the National Security Council which subordinated civilian rule to military authority were eliminated."

6. - The Daily Star - "Assad hints at change in official policy on Kurds":

Activists witness historic shift from security to political approach

BEIRUT / 14 May 2004 / by Nayla Assaf

The Syrian authorities appear to be examining the plight of their Kurdish population for the first time in over five decades.

"We have recently witnessed an historic shift. Our cause is being addressed by a serious political approach rather than dominated by security measures," said prominent Kurdish activist Omar Oussi, alluding to Syrian President Bashar Assad's recent assertions that the Kurds were "part and parcel of the Syrian mosaic."

In an extensive interview with Al-Jazeera last week, Assad said that Syrian Kurds are full-fledged citizens; that the March Qamishli incidents were not instigated by outside influences and, more importantly, that the 1962 census, which revoked the nationality of over 150,000 Kurds, had been largely unjust.

Assad said the Kurds that were unjustly stripped of their nationality will be able to retrieve it very soon.

"This is the first time in over half a century that a Syrian president has touched on the subject of Syrian Kurds. This was an extremely positive move and the pledges he made are exactly what we had been asking and lobbying for," Oussi said.

Oussi said that he has since held ongoing meetings with several officials in the Syrian government, "and all have been indicating that things are moving in the right direction.

"This new openness has even appeared in the Syrian media, which, contrary to its habits, has recently started raising the issue," he added.

According to Oussi, any solution to the irregular Kurdish status has to include two elements. It has to grant citizenship to those who were wronged in 1962 and give the Kurds the right to set up an organization or party to represent themselves.

There are about 14 Kurdish groups in Syria, but none of them are legally recognized by the government.

The crackdown in Qamishli on hundreds of Kurdish rioters came after unrest erupted on March 12, 2004. The riot started after supporters of an Arab soccer team provoked the Kurdish crowd. It later spread to other provinces and several public buildings were destroyed.

About 25 people were killed and hundreds were arrested.

Since the riots, international human rights watchdog Amnesty International has stated repeatedly that hundreds of Kurds are being held incommunicado and with no official charges filed against them. About 2,000 have since been released.

According to Sabri Mirza, a Damascus-based lawyer and a member of the politburo of the Yeketi Party or Union Party, at least 400 Kurds are still being detained without charges in the Sidnaya Detention Center and are liable to face trial in state security courts.

Mirza said he believes that at least 1,500 people are still in detention today, including 27 minors.

"But the problem is that these arrests are very hard to quantify, since most of the time the people are held in unknown locations and since the arrests are ongoing," he added.

Mirza said Assad's incentive is more than welcome, "but we have not yet seen anything on the ground, neither the formation of committees, nor an incentive that can be translated into facts."

He said the problem of cultural repression is even more important than the issue of nationality. "We want our language, our culture and recognition."

On allegations that Syrian Kurds were seeking separation from the central government, Mirza, whose party is deemed radical by the authorities in Damascus, said that the mere notion of independence is an invention of the government.

Activists inside Syria believe that "caution" is the best way to achieve their goals, especially in light of the fact that the regime in Syria is just barely opening up.

"Frankly, I believe that for the Kurds to achieve what they want, they should deal with the matter with great caution and present it in a way that would enable the authorities to digest it," Oussi said.

Some 2 million Kurds live in Syria today, among a population of about 17 million. While the official numbers usually put forth by the Syrian authorities say that there are about 142,000 stateless Kurds, the Kurds themselves say that the real number is in the 200,000 range.

These stateless Kurds are identified as foreigners and cannot vote, own property, attend public schools or hold public office. It is also reported that an additional 75,000, called maktoumeen, or unregistered, are not recognized at all and cannot be treated in public hospitals or obtain marriage and birth certificates.