22
October 2004
1. "Kurdish activist to form new party" - Kurdish activist and former Turkish MP Leyla Zana, released from prison in June after a 10-year jail term, has announced the creation of a new political party.
2. "Military operation in Sirnak" - Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have launched an operation against People's Defense Forces (HPG) in Çiyaye Bizina Field on Mount Gabar, Sirnak.
3. "18 months imprisonment to the living shields triying to go the Gabar Mountain" - Criminal court of first instance of Cizre sentenced the 35 members of Diyarbakir Living Shields Iinitiative who came together in 1 September at the World Peace Day to stop the operations started by the Turkish Armied Forces.
5. "It is OK for men to beat us: Turkish wives" - More than a third of the Turkish women believe they deserve to be beaten if they argue with their husbands, deny them sex, neglect children or burn a meal, according to a survey.
6."Talabani: U.S. Mistreatment Blamed for Iraq Violence" - Iraqi Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani charged Thursday U.S. mistakes and excessive use of violence against Iraqis fuels terrorism.
7. "Turkey urged to cut unofficial economy"
- The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development urged
Turkey on Thursday to reduce the size of its “unregistered”
economy which accounts for more than 50 per cent of total employment
if it is to have any hope of reforming its tax system and creating
more jobs as the population continues to expand.
8."Would Turkey split the EU and the U.S.
?" - On Oct. 7, the European Union's executive commission
officially recommended that the 25-member bloc start talks with Turkey
on eventual membership in the EU. As Europe debates the merits of
Turkey's admission, it faces a defining moment. 
1. Aljazeera.Net - "Kurdish activist to form new party"
22 October 2004
Kurdish activist and former Turkish MP Leyla Zana, released from prison in June after a 10-year jail term, has announced the creation of a new political party.
Her announcement came shortly before she was to go on trial for the third time for alleged ties with armed Kurdish rebels.
"We former MPs ... want to serve democracy and peace. For this reason we are launching the popular democratic party," Zana told reporters on Friday .
Zana was the first Kurdish woman ever elected to Turkey's parliament and has been awarded the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Human Rights.
She was accompanied on Friday by Hatip Dicle, Orhan Dogan and Salim Sadak, three other former Kurdish parliamentarians who, like her, were sentenced in 1994 to 10 years in prison.
All four politicians are due later in the day to go before an Ankara court for a retrial after their convictions were overturned.
Peaceful solution
The fundamental principles of the as yet unnamed party, would be to "support Turkey's European process" and "achieve a peaceful and democratic solution" to Kurdish demands for more cultural and political rights, she said.
European Union leaders will decide on 17 December whether to heed the recommendation of the EU's executive, the European Commission, and start negotiations with Ankara on Turkey joining the 25-member bloc.
Zana said that neither she nor her three colleagues would stand for the chairmanship of the new party, which would also work for a change to the constitution to take into account the country's "ethnic and cultural diversities".
"No political party has been able to respond to the demands of the people for social change," Zana said. "The world has changed and Turkey cannot be kept away from this change."
Zana last week belatedly received the European Parliament's Sakharov prize for human rights, awarded to her in 1995 while she was in jail.
Zana was reunited in Brussels with her two children and husband Mehdi Zana, a prominent Kurdish politician himself, who has lived in exile for nine years.
Legal saga
In a legal saga closely watched by the EU, Zana and her colleagues have already been convicted twice - in 1994 and 2004 - and spent a decade in prison for being a member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Fighting between the separatist PKK, now known as Kongra-Gel, and the army claimed some 37,000 lives between 1984 and 1999, when the PKK announced a unilateral ceasefire. It called off that truce earlier this year.
Zana and her colleagues were unexpectedly released in June, just one month before an appeals court overturned their convictions on procedural grounds and ordered a new trial.
Their lawyer, Yusuf Alatas, said the new trial would be no more than
a "formality" and stressed that whatever the outcome, his
clients would not go back to jail, thanks to a recent overhaul of
the country's penal code.
2. DIHA - "Military operation in Sirnak"
22 October 2004 / SIRNAK
Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have launched an operation against People's Defense Forces (HPG) in Çiyaye Bizina Field on Mount Gabar, Sirnak.
Yesterday evening soldiers from Sirnak Provincal Gendermary Commandership,
Kasrik and Kumçati Gendarmery Stations launched an operation
against HPG in Çiyaye Bizina district, located on Mount Gabar,
Sirnak. Due to operation to which village guards jointed, too, troops
were shifted from Akçay to Çiyaye Bizine district.No
information has been obtained on whether any fightings took place
or not.
3. DIHA - "18 months imprisonment to the living shields
triying to go the Gabar Mountain"
SIRNAK / 21 October 2004
The first jail opened after the members were arrested in Cizre in which they were undergoing an open trail, came to a conclusion. According to the conclusion they were sentenced to 1 year and 6 months. As it is known the initiative was the first to stop the operations going on at the district.
"The decision is not juridical"
A lawyer of the members Rojhat Dilsiz stated that the verdict is
completely political and added, "The decision was not juridical.
This is to give harm to the process in which Turkey will be given
a membership date for EU." He said "The issue 2911 on which
the conviction based is about the meeting and demonstration rights.
Even if it is crime it has not been completed. Their aim is to establish
peace. They had to go through Cizre as it is on the route." He
added that they would discern the decision claiming it is against
the laws.
4. DIHA - "65-year living shield having 30 grand children:I
have become a living shield because of my love for peace"
Sirnak / 21 October 2004 / Rojda Kizgin, Omer Tur
A 65 year-old member of Mardin Living Shield Initiative, Rasit Özgen expressed that he became a living shield because of his love for peace, freedom and democracy. ''I have swore on my son's blood I am going to struggle untill peace comes to these lands'' said Özgen who has 14 children and 30 grand children.
The most elderly member of Mardin Living Shield Initiative (consisting of 32 persons) formed in Derik, Mardin, set off on October 14 in order to go to Cudi Mount, near Cizre(the county of Sirnak). He and the group aim the conflicts to be stopped.He covered a short distance by a long-term journey and successed in reaching Cizre and Silopi.Özgen taken into custody with the other members has been arrseted on the grounds of 'opposition to the issue 2911, the law of meeting and demonstration' and sent to Silopi Closed Jail.
His 12 year-son wanted to be a living shield, too
''My 12-year son Kedkar wanted to join to grup.Since I did not admit,
he sulked. After giving the proxy to my wife, I took my destination.One
of my sons was killed in the conflict and I swore on his blood that
I am going to struggle till peace comes to this country'' he said
and added, his family agrees with his decision.
I feel as if I were 15 years old
''We met with arbitrary interferences. Actually this made us more powerful and did not make us change our decision.''said Özgen telling they had some interesting dialogues with the authorized:He was asked the question'what is your business here at this age'' Expressing my resolution I was saying there was no age of wanting democracy,peace and freedom he says to Diha.He adds at one of the check points an official said to him'' You look younger than you seem in the picture on your identy.''He replies the official''Going Cudi Mount make me look younger.I feel as if I were 15.
Everybody should be living shields so that people do not die
Özgen said he do not want neither the guarillas on the mountains nor the soldiers to die any more,declaring ''both the soldiers and the guarillas are all our children.There is no difference.I want this war to be finished now on.I want to live freely and I will struggle for that untill I die.''
"I want millions of people to come to the scene to cry out they
do not want war.I call to the Kurdish and the Turkish community who
claim they are humans;come and be living shields.
5. 123bharath.com - "It is OK for men to beat us: Turkish wives"
London / 22 October
More than a third of the Turkish women believe they deserve to be beaten if they argue with their husbands, deny them sex, neglect children or burn a meal, according to a survey.
According to the poll of 8,075 women in Turkey, 39 percent women said their husbands were right in beating them. In rural areas, the figure rose to 57 percent, reported the Telegraph, quoting a report by Anatolia news agency.
Arguing with one's husband topped the list of justified reasons for domestic violence in the survey, followed by spending too much and neglecting children.
According to the survey, as many as half of all Turkish women were estimated to be victims of physical violence in their families.
A study in east and southeast Turkey found that 45.7 percent women
were not consulted about the choice of husband and 50.8 percent were
married without their consent. Women who refused their family's choice
were at the risk of violence and death.
6. (UPI) - "Talabani: U.S. Mistreatment Blamed for Iraq Violence"
Cairo / October 21
Iraqi Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani charged Thursday U.S. mistakes and excessive use of violence against Iraqis fuels terrorism.
"I believe the serious mistakes committed by the Americans and the mockery made by allied forces of Iraqis are the reasons for the dangerous security deterioration and rampant violence," Talabani said in an interview with Cairo's daily al-Ahram.
He accused the U.S.-led multinational forces of humiliating and degrading Iraqis, fuelling feelings of hatred and extremism.
"How could we accept that U.S. soldiers torture and the humiliation of Iraqi nationals by laying them on the ground and crushing their heads and necks with their military boots," said Talabani who heads the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.
He blasted the bombing attacks sweeping the country as "sheer terrorism" that has nothing to do with national resistance.
"Those behind the attacks are terrorists while resistance is
a sacred national act," he said.
7. Financial Times - "Turkey urged to cut unofficial economy"
Istanbul, Paris / 21 October 2004 / Vincent Boland, John Thornhill
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development urged
Turkey on Thursday to reduce the size of its “unregistered”
economy which accounts for more than 50 per cent of total employment
if it is to have any hope of reforming its tax system and creating
more jobs as the population continues to expand.
But the Paris-based organisation, which groups the world's main economies, tempered its message by saying the country had made a strong economic recovery in the past three years, which could be underpinned by the opening of talks on Turkey's European Union membership.
The launch of the OECD's latest economic survey of Turkey coincided with a private visit to Paris by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, who protested at a French decision to hold a referendum on the country's possible EU entry.
In an interview with Le Parisien newspaper, Mr Erdogan implicitly criticised Jacques Chirac, the French president, for bowing to popular pressure to hold a referendum if accession talks with Turkey are completed.
He appealed to Mr Chirac, whom he described as a friend, to put an end to all the bad-mouthing among French politicians, who have been heatedly debating Turkey's membership. Mr Erdogan said no referendum had been held to approve the entry of other member states and imposing one on Turkey would be “contrary to the principles of the Union”.
France held a referendum in 1972 on the accession of the UK, Denmark and Ireland, but did not hold a ballot on whether 10 new members mostly from eastern Europe should join earlier this year.
In the interview, Mr Erdogan said: “It would be an error to transform the joining of Turkey [to the EU] into a subject of political quarrels.
“It would also be a mistake to mix up the debate on the European constitution with that on the entry of Turkey. That said, it is up to France to decide whether or not to organise such a referendum: I do not want to interfere in that debate.”
The OECD's warnings were contained in its latest economic survey of the country, which described the scale of Turkey's unregistered economy as “a major problem”, accounting for over 50 per cent of total employment and a narrowing of the tax base.
It urged Turkey to lighten the regulatory burden in the product and labour markets, and shift the focus of tax and social security away from the labour market.
It also said wider reform of the labour market was needed to boost employment. Turkey's employment rate, at 46 per cent of those of working age, was now the lowest of any OECD country, and raising that figure was essential to increased productivity.
High unemployment made labour market reform “urgent, as continuously high unemployment could undermine the social and political support for reforms”, the OECD said.
The OECD called for more privatisation and the reform of corporate
governance “to improve the credibility of the banking system”.
8. International Herald Tribune - "Would Turkey split the
EU and the U.S. ?"
New York / 21 October 2004 / Ian Bremmer
On Oct. 7, the European Union's executive commission officially recommended
that the 25-member bloc start talks with Turkey on eventual membership
in the EU. As Europe debates the merits of Turkey's admission, it
faces a defining moment. EU member states must decide if it is time
to expand the definition of Europe to include a Muslim nation. But
the decision may also change the fundamentals of trans-Atlantic relations
in unexpected ways: Turkey's admission to the EU may drive a wedge
between the United States and Europe.
Turkey's eventual EU invitation will depend on two currently competing
trends in Europe: recognition that the continent's aging population
needs increased immigration to pay for the continuation of its generous
social safety net, and the cultural and political backlash when those
immigrants are Muslim.
On the one hand, anti-Muslim sentiment in Europe is growing, particularly
since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and efforts to force
Europe's several million Muslims to assimilate are under way in several
European countries. France has imposed a ban on the wearing of the
Muslim headscarf in state-run schools - an idea with broad popular
support. Several German states are pursuing the same idea. Denmark
has placed restrictions on arranged marriages. The British government
has introduced civics lessons and an oath of allegiance for all applicants
for citizenship.
Then there's the more openly xenophobic reaction. It has not escaped
the notice of several far-right parties in Europe that for the fourth
year in a row, the most popular name for newborn boys in Brussels
is Muhammad. A Danish far-right political party recently produced
campaign posters featuring a picture of a young blond girl and the
slogan: "When she retires, Denmark will have a Muslim majority."
Anti-immigrant far-right parties are building a political following
across Europe. Austria's Freedom Party, Italy's Northern League, Switzerland's
People's Party, and Norway's Progress Party cooperate with similar
groups in France, Germany, Belgium, and elsewhere. Anti-Muslim assaults
are on the rise, particularly since last spring's Madrid train bombings.
On the other hand, Europe's coming demographic crisis is real. A recent
Brookings Institution study predicts that in 2050, while the median
age in the United States will be 35.4, in Europe, with its declining
birthrate, it will rise to 52.3. And because Europeans tend to retire
earlier than Americans - only 39 percent of European men age 55 to
65 now work - a shrinking number of young people are paying into pension
systems that have to support a steadily rising number of retirees.
Europe is a wealthy continent with low birthrates and an aging population,
bordered to the south and southeast by poor Muslim countries with
lots of unemployed young people. And as productivity and quality of
life improve for citizens of the new EU member states of Eastern Europe,
fewer of those Easterners will move west in search of better prospects.
The need for immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East will
only grow if Europe is to expand its tax base widely enough to fill
the demographic gap.
It's been estimated that allowing a million immigrants a year into
Europe would have the same effect on the tax base as an increase in
the European birthrate of one child per mother. But a million immigrants
a year would add up to 50 million immigrants by 2050. Europe is having
enough trouble assimilating the 13 million to 15 million Muslims it
already has.
What new priorities will Europe adopt in response to these new demographic
and political realities? The EU could decide that its citizens will
trade generous pensions for a stronger sense of security. Resistance
to Muslim immigration would increase. Europe might become the key
U.S. ally in the war on terror, and anti-Muslim immigration laws would
be tightened. Fewer Muslims would immigrate to EU countries; Muslims
already in Europe would leave in search of more welcoming surroundings.
Muslims that stay would become easier prey for Muslim extremists in
European cities preaching hatred of the West. If present trends continue,
this is the Europe we can expect in 2015 or 2020.
Or Europe may adopt a much more flexible sense of its own identity
and work harder to assimilate Muslims who will help drive the economy
and protect the social safety net. EU countries might find creative
ways to bring Europe's Muslims out of their current isolation and
into the political and cultural mainstream. This choice offers less
social strife and protection for Europe's aging population, but would
require that Europe face its xenophobia.
This is where Turkey comes in. The entry of Turkey into the European
Union - at least a decade away by most estimates - will immediately
add tens of millions of Muslims to the population of Europe. And the
European Union will then border Iran, Iraq and Syria.
What effect does this have on Europe's relationship with Washington?
Long-term, Turkey's inclusion in the EU causes real trouble for the
United States, because it makes a permanent rift between Europe and
the United States, along the lines seen recently over Iraq (where
Turkey's position was already closer to Paris and Berlin than to Washington),
much more likely. The addition of Turkey's armed forces makes a common
European defense more feasible - which makes NATO less necessary.
While Turkey might bring its traditionally strong relationship with
Israel into the EU, it is more likely that a newly self-confident
European Turkey will loosen its bonds with both Israel and America.
The addition of Turkey's Muslim population - already over 70 million
- to the rest of Europe's Muslims will swing Europe further from America
than ever on conflicts in the Middle East.
George W. Bush, like his recent White House predecessors, has consistently
promoted Turkey's entry into the EU - and been scolded by many Europeans
for interference in European politics as a result. Given the likely
effect on U.S.-European relations, Washington's support for Turkey's
entry no longer makes sense. On the other hand, perhaps President
Bush understands Europe better than most think. Maybe he figures a
Bush endorsement of Turkey's entry is the best way to keep Turkey
out.