24
May 2004
2. "Factions Jostle for Top Posts in a New Iraq", President Bush prepared Sunday for a campaign to rally support at the United Nations about his policies in Iraq, while senior envoys struggled in Baghdad with competing demands by Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds for the top positions of the new caretaker government.
3. "20,000 Kurds to win Syrian nationality: ex-defence minister", Some 20,000 Kurds whose community was at the centre of deadly unrest in north Syria last March will be granted Syrian nationality, former defence minister Mustapha Tlass said in an interview published Friday.
4. "Impending catastrophe in Maxmur Kurdish refugee camp", The world is largely unaware of the Kurdish issue. As the Kurds are the world’s largest nation with no state of their own, worldwide ignorance of the plight of the Kurdish nation is inexcusable.
5. "Wary Kurds ready to stand up for rights", If there is one issue guaranteed to spark a strong reaction among Kurdish leaders in postwar Iraq, it is that of their region's status.
6. "EU and Turkey: a lot at stake", The European Union will soon have to decide whether to formally open accession negotiations with Turkey, which has been trying to enter this club since the 1960s. The EU should consider its options well as there is certainly a lot at stake.
1.
- AFP - "Kurds wound three Turkish policemen":
ANKARA / May 24, 2004
Three Turkish policemen were wounded in a gun battle with members
of the banned separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the village
of Yuksekova, in eastern Turkey near the border with Iran, Anatolia
news agency reported on Monday.
It quoted authorities as saying that police were hunting for the "terrorists"
who attacked the police station in Yuksekova late Sunday.
About 37,000 people have been killed in fighting between Turkish forces
and the PKK since 1984, when the group took up arms, although there
has been a marked decrease in violent incidents since September 1999
when it said favored a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
2. - The New York Times - "Factions Jostle for Top Posts in a New Iraq":
By STEVEN R. WEISMAN / May 24, 2004
President Bush prepared Sunday for a campaign to rally support at the United Nations about his policies in Iraq, while senior envoys struggled in Baghdad with competing demands by Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds for the top positions of the new caretaker government.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell spent Sunday in telephone conversations with envoys on the United Nations Security Council, which could get an American draft of its resolution on Iraq as early as Monday.
The resolution, critical to efforts to make the United Nations more involved in Iraq, is expected to call for international donations and troops. It is also supposed to define any limitations on Iraq's sovereignty after the transfer of power planned for June 30.
The overture to the United Nations comes as Mr. Bush is preparing a speech for Monday night at the United States Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., and amid sagging poll results for the president at home.
An administration official said Mr. Bush would outline a plan of action to dispel "this idea that we don't know what we're doing" on Iraq. Mr. Bush will explain to Americans and people around the world that the United States has a plan to overcome the security problems and the political impasse in Iraq, this official said.
The situation has been complicated by recent security developments, including the decision to install former Saddam Hussein-era military commanders in Falluja.
That deepened the distrust of Shiites and Kurds that the Sunnis would wield their old powers. After Falluja, many diplomats say, the Kurds and Shiites are even more determined to press for leadership positions.
The process of selecting government leaders is being overseen by Lakhdar Brahimi, a special United Nations envoy, who has been working closely with Robert D. Blackwill, a former United States ambassador to India who is now Mr. Bush's special envoy in Iraq. They have set a deadline for the end of May.
"What happened in Falluja compounds Brahimi's problems," a senior administration official said. "He can mollify the Shia by giving them status in the new government. But with the Shias in charge, the Sunnis and the Kurds don't want to feel like junior partners."
United Nations, Iraqi and American officials said Mr. Brahimi and Mr. Blackwill had been struggling over demands for a Kurd to be either the president or the prime minister. At the same time, they said, Shiites are fighting for control of the new Iraqi government, which is to stay in power until elections next year.
People who have been in contact with Iraqi officials said Mr. Blackwill was continuing to press for a prominent role for Adnan Pachachi, a former Iraqi foreign minister who has been a favorite of the United States. But his supporters are charging that Shiites and Kurds are trying to sideline him.
Administration and Iraqi officials said the eight positions over which Iraqi factions are jockeying are the jobs of prime minister, which is supposed to be the principal governing job; president and two vice presidents, which are defined as more ceremonial; and four ministries, including defense, foreign affairs, finance and oil.
"Brahimi is starting to close in on the choices," said the senior Bush administration official.
But "he doesn't just have three or four positions to play with," he said. "He's got a larger structure to identify. The trick will be not letting all these politics overwhelm the effectiveness of the government that is chosen."
A spokesman for Mr. Brahimi said in a phone interview from Baghdad that the United Nations envoy was shuttling among Iraq's various factions and constituencies, including many of the 400 political parties that have identified themselves since Mr. Hussein was overthrown. "There's still a lot of maneuvering going on," said the spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi. "There's still shuttling back and forth between all the parties and players. We're not there yet."
People familiar with Mr. Brahimi's style say that in Afghanistan, where he helped set up the government two years ago, he spent the first weeks listening to people and not proposing any names as his favorites. But then when the deadline approached, they said, he would start suggesting names.
An element of drama is part of the process, according to people who have watched Mr. Brahimi. They say that demands by one or another group — like the demands of the Kurds for a top position — might be placated by other kinds of offers.
A Kurdish official said Sunday that "we'll never be obstructionist" as Mr. Brahimi reaches his conclusion. "We want to cooperate to make sure the process is successful," he added.
At the same time, many diplomats at the Security Council say they crave more information about the Bush administration's plans. Officials there said that the Security Council had presented the administration with a long list of questions, including some on the powers of the new Iraqi government over security, oil revenues and finances, but that they had failed to get answers.
Mr. Fawzi and Mr. Brahimi have avoided identifying any Iraqis who might lead the government. Earlier this month, some American officials said Mr. Brahimi had circulated the name of Dr. Mahdi al-Hafidh, now the planning minister in Iraq, as a possible prime minister. But Mr. Fawzi said Mr. Brahimi vehemently denied that claim.
Other Iraqis say that another possible prime minister candidate is Adel Abdel Mehdi, a leading Shiite Islamist with the support of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Mr. Mehdi was at a dinner Friday attended by Mr. Brahimi and other top Shiite leaders, along with Ahmad Chalabi.
Mr. Chalabi's attendance at the dinner was surprising to some Iraqis,
because Mr. Chalabi has accused Mr. Brahimi of trying to impose a
government on Iraq that was not representative.
3. - AFP - "20,000 Kurds to win Syrian nationality: ex-defence minister":
BEIRUT / May 21, 2004
Some 20,000 Kurds whose community was at the centre of deadly unrest
in north Syria last March will be granted Syrian nationality, former
defence minister Mustapha Tlass said in an interview published Friday.
Tlass, who played a conciliatory role in calming the conflict, told
the Arabic daily Al-Hayat that President Bashar al-Assad had promised
them nationality because "they are really Syrians", he said.
"We make no distinction between an Arab and a Kurd," he
said. "There are a number of Kurds who are Syrian and have the
right to Syrian nationality."
Asked about other Kurds in Syria, 200,000 of them were stripped of
their national identity cards in 1962, Tlass said that tens of thousands
had come
from Iraq and Turkey.
"We told them frankly that those who are Syrian will have nationality
and the others will not."
Syria's Kurds, who live mainly in the north of the country, are estimated
to number 1.5 million, some nine percent of the population.
Clashes between March 12 and 17 that pitted Kurds against security
forces and local Arab tribes killed some 40 people, according to Kurdish
sources,
and 25 according to Syrian officials.
Tlass, who retired on May 12 after 32 years as defence minister, met
Kurdish leaders after the unrest and Assad said "the question
of nationality which has gone on for 42 years will be resolved."
"The Kurds are Syrian citizens who live among us, and Kurdish
nationalism is part of Syria's history," Assad said in a recent
interview.
4. - KurdishMedia - "Impending catastrophe in Maxmur Kurdish refugee camp":
By Agit Can / 23 May 2004
The world is largely unaware of the Kurdish issue. As the Kurds are the world’s largest nation with no state of their own, worldwide ignorance of the plight of the Kurdish nation is inexcusable. While the world remains uninformed of the trials and tribulations, and frequently the very existence, of the Kurdish nation, a large portion of the Kurds of the world, both in Kurdistan and in exile, are not knowledgeable of some of the most serious humanitarian concerns of their nation.
The Turkish government’s campaign against any and all expressions of Kurdish identity throughout the1980 ’s and1990 ’s is common knowledge. Village burning and forced deportation were key elements of this campaign, resulting in the creation of a large but undocumented number of Kurds who became refugees in their own homeland.
Many of them relocated to large cities, causing the population of the city of Amed (Diyarbakir), the Turkish-occupied capital of Kurdistan, to skyrocket. The nondescript multi-floor apartment buildings that can today be seen on the outskirts of the city are a testament to this phenomenon. While many Kurds moved to large cities, including Amed and cities outside of Kurdistan, thousands fled to Iraqi Kurdistan. The sprawling Maxmur refugee camp in Iraqi Kurdistan, which has existed in some form for over two decades, contains perhaps ten thousand Kurdish refugees from the Turkish-occupied segment of Kurdistan.
The Turkish government has described the Maxmur refugee camp as nothing more than a (Kurdistan Workers Party) PKK camp or recruitment center. Maxmur is not a recruitment center for anyone; it is a camp containing thousands of Kurds who were expelled from their homes by the Turkish regime and may very well face harassment, torture, or disappearance if they ever attempt to return to their homes. Children are born in Maxmur, and some have lived their entire lives in the camp. The overwhelming majority of the refugees are unemployed and living in poverty.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is playing a role in improving the lot of the refugees of Maxmur, and is currently supporting four schools in the camp and providing some measure of assistance and care to some1 , 000people there. Unfortunately, the future of the Maxmur refugees is uncertain. Maxmur is official under the administrative jurisdiction of Mosul, however, for the last few years it has been under the de facto jurisdiction of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Hewler (Erbil). The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), the ruling authority in Iraq at the moment, considers Maxmur to be part of, and thus the responsibility of, Mosul. The KRG still has a desire to aid the people of Maxmur, but states that it does not have the budget to do so, and indeed it does not have the officially sanctioned mandate to do so as it does not currently have control over the province of Mosul.
While the KRG is facing administrative difficulties that keep it from further aiding the Kurds of Maxmur, the Turkish government is pressing for the forced “repatriation” of the refugees and thus an end to the existence of the camp. The Turkish government has repeatedly pressed for the deportation of the Maxmur refugees, and was successful in influencing members of the Iraqi interim government and UNHCR until various advocates of refugee rights protested this unjust course of action.
The unfortunate situation of the refugees of Maxmur is due to Turkish actions against the Kurds and exacerbated by an administrative nightmare (i.e., provincial boundaries which keep Maxmur outside of the current boundaries of the KRG-administered Kurdish autonomous region). The refugees of Maxmur face an uncertain future made all the more complicated by the impending June 30 transfer of sovereignty in Iraq, which is supposed to mark the beginning of a new period of self-rule for all of Iraq. Months ago I asked a Kurdish official in the Iraqi government about the Maxmur refugees, and was told that these refugees will not be forced out of Iraq by their Kurdish brothers and that they are also not forcibly confined to their refugee camp.
It is imperative that the refugees of Maxmur must be under the administrative control of the KRG, who can then help their Kurdish brothers help themselves. It is also imperative that Kurds and their friends worldwide, and indeed all friends of humanity and freedom, raise their voices to demand justice for the people of Maxmur. These refugees must not be forcibly deported to face persecution in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan. The refugees themselves are not the problem, the racist and inhumane policies of the Turkish regime, the true causes for the refugee crisis, are thus the roots of the humanitarian issue at hand.
The people of Maxmur must not be forgotten and they must not be allowed
to suffer due to the inhumanity of the Turkish regime and an administrative
complication. It is the duty of the Kurdish people to keep the situation
of the Maxmur refugees in mind as the June30 deadline approaches and
Iraq’s neighbor to the north continues to act with malice toward
Kurds and all things Kurdish.
5. - The Financial Times - "Wary Kurds ready to stand up for rights":
May 24, 2004 / By Gareth Smyth in Suleimaniya, northern Iraq
If there is one issue guaranteed to spark a strong reaction among Kurdish leaders in postwar Iraq, it is that of their region's status. "This is non-negotiable," Nawsherwan Mustapha, a senior member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of two main Kurdish parties, told the Financial Times. "We will insist on federalism."
The roots of their insistence can be glimpsed at the monument and museum in the northern town of Halabja, which opened last September to mark the killing of 5,000 civilians in 1988 when Iraqi aircraft dropped nerve agent, cyanide and mustard gas. "You see the pictures in the museum of burned children and twisted bodies, and then you know why the Kurds want federalism," said a woman who fled to Iran at the time.
The Kurds, allied with the US-led coalition in ousting Saddam Hussein, are disappointed with the lack of progress in Iraq. Their leaders are privately digesting the strong likelihood that neither the president nor the prime minister in the transitional government to take office on July 1 will be Kurdish. They fear they may even lose the foreign ministry, the only top position now held by a Kurd.
"This is a great disappointment - and it's a mistake for both to be Arab," said Mr Mustapha. "It's like Ba'athist times when no Kurd was allowed in a senior post."
There had been speculation that Jalal Talabani, the PUK leader, would become prime minister in the interim government to be announced shortly after horse-trading among the US-led administration, Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN envoy, and Iraqi political groups.
Kurdish aspirations have nevertheless been encouraged by their improved fortunes under de facto self-rule since Mr Hussein withdrew from northern Iraq in 1991.
Economic development in the Kurdish region has proceeded apace and contrasts with the chaos in most of the rest of Iraq. Suleimaniya is set to pip Arbil in opening the first ever airport in Kurdish Iraq, with the first flight arriving, probably from Ankara, in December.
A road is being built along the stunning Azmar mountain overlooking Suleimaniya, in anticipation of Gulf investment in tourism. The Kurdish administration has also set up banking schemes to lend money for house construction and farming.
"We could be in a position to offer advice to the rest of Iraq," says Mr Mustapha. "But the problem there is with the security situation, and this won't improve until the Iraqis are in charge. Even under the new government security will be with John Negroponte [who will be the US ambassador to Iraq after June 30]."
Despite recent setbacks, the Kurds remain hopeful that Arab groups will accept Kurdish federalism.
"We understand that Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani objected to having the TAL [the Transitional Administrative Law] in the UN resolution because it should not pre-empt the decision of the Iraqi parliament to be elected in January," said Mr Mustapha, referring to the stance of Iraq's most influential Shia cleric. "So perhaps this is a matter of timing."
But despite their longstanding agreement over federalism with Arab opposition groups, the Kurds, who maintain at least 30,000 in armed forces, are prepared for all eventualities.
As the war ended in April, the Kurds "liberated" the stocks of arms - including heavy weapons - held by the Iraqi army in the north.
"I don't know whether the future of Iraq is stability or civil war," said Mr Mustapha, who himself spent 19 years as a guerrilla fighter.
"The Kurds want peace," he said. "We don't think there
is a strong tendency against federalism, but in any case we will not
negotiate away our national identity and rights."
6. - Valetta Times (Malta) - "EU and Turkey: a lot at stake":
by Anthony Manduca / 23 May 2004
BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair's recent visit to Turkey has highlighted the importance of this secular Muslim country which has such a key role in bringing about stability in the region and which can be a model for other Islamic nations.
The European Union will soon have to decide whether to formally open accession negotiations with Turkey, which has been trying to enter this club since the 1960s. The EU should consider its options well as there is certainly a lot at stake.
I was present at the Helsinki EU summit in December 1999 when Turkey was actually declared to be a candidate country and the Turks were absolutely delighted. Although at that stage no guarantee was given over the opening of membership negotiations between Brussels and Ankara, the fact that Turkey was told that it had the necessary credentials to apply to join the EU was a huge boost for the country. The message at Helsinki was clear: the opening of negotiations with Turkey would depend on the progress made in both political and economic reform.
Before having a look at whether such reform has taken place it is important to discuss the principles involved here. Turkey has been a loyal ally and friend of the West throughout the post-second world war period. It is a member of NATO and successive Turkish governments have tried to take their country into the EU. If Turkish soldiers can die for Europe, through NATO membership, then surely it is only fair that Turkish citizens should be allowed to share in the benefits of an enlarged Europe.
However, it is not only the fact that Turkey has been a good friend of Europe which should be taken into consideration. Turkey is almost unique in the Muslim world in the sense that it is a secular democracy - which is why it is often the target of Islamic militants. Secularism and democracy are the twin hates of Muslim fundamentalists - such beliefs are completely alien to people like Osama Bin-Laden and his Al-Qaeda terrorist organisation. It is therefore crucial that Turkey remains within the Western sphere of influence, and continues to be both secular and democratic. The best guarantee of this is to open EU accession negotiations with Turkey and to eventually allow it to become an EU member.
It is true that some politicians in Europe, especially those on the right, are sceptical, if not openly hostile, to the idea of Turkey becoming an EU member. The fact that Turkey is a Muslim country is seen as a threat - I personally consider it a great opportunity for Europe to improve its links with the Muslim world.
Some say that Turkey's membership of the EU is incompatible with Europe's Christian heritage. I cannot agree. While I fully acknowledge Christianity's unique contribution to European civilisation and heritage (which should be mentioned in Europe's Constitution), I do not fear that Turkish membership of the EU would somehow threaten Europe's Christian identity. Europe is secular and so is Turkey, so there should be no cause for concern.
The benefits for Europe as a result of Turkish membership of the EU are so obvious that it would be madness for the Union to snub Turkey. As a member of the bloc Turkey would be the ideal link to the Muslim world at a time when tensions between Islam and the west are at an all-time high. Turkey could also encourage the EU to take a more active role in the Middle East peace process which at the moment is in tatters.
Furthermore, a stable, democratic, secular, pluralistic, liberal Muslim Turkey where the rule of law is supreme and where minorities have full rights would be the perfect model for the entire Muslim world. It would prove, beyond any doubt, that democracy and Islam are not incompatible, and Turkey's success would be the greatest weapon against al-Qaeda and Islamic militants all over the world.
I am not suggesting that Turkey is not yet a democracy, however, it still has some way to go before it can be considered a complete democracy, although a lot of progress has been made. Opening EU accession negotiations would be the perfect way to encourage further reforms, both political and economic, and to serve as an incentive and a catalyst for such reform.
The Turkish government led by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has, since 2002, passed legislation which has guaranteed freedom of expression and association, abolished the death penalty, made torture a criminal offence and given the Kurdish minority increased rights. In foreign policy, Ankara managed to keep out of the war in Iraq without greatly offending its close ally, the United States, and it also persuaded Turkish Cypriots to vote in favour of a UN plan for Cyprus. These are all worthy achievements which might not have taken place had there not existed the possibility of EU accession for Turkey.
Of course, these reforms and a sensible foreign policy are in Turkey's interest just as they are in the EU's interest. However, I believe that the EU has absolutely no choice but to start negotiating Turkey's EU membership because to do otherwise would result in Turkey being isolated, angry, and humiliated, which is in nobody's interest. It would also encourage the growth of the darker and nationalistic forces of Turkish politics which would be bad news. The time frame for Turkey's entry into the EU would naturally depend on the pace of reforms in the country. The two go hand in hand.
We need a sensible debate in Europe about Turkey's EU membership
and not hysterical claims about Turkish Muslims invading our labour
markets. Certainly, accepting Turkey into the EU will be a challenge
- which I am sure Europe will rise up to. Snubbing Turkey, yet again,
will be too great a risk to take.