10 September 2004

1. "Three soldiers killed in clashes with PKK", Nearly 100 people have died since the PKK resumed its armed conflict at the beginning of June, ending a five year cease fire.

2. "Turkey arrests ex-mayor, 18 others for collaborating with Kurdish rebels", police in eastern Turkey have detained 19 people, including a former mayor, on suspicion of aiding and abetting armed Kurdish rebels, police said in a statement.

3. "'Imprisonment for adultery will imply Islamic Law'", AKP is out to punish infidelity, while EU Commissioner Verheugen warns against Turkey giving the impression of introducing Islamic influences into its legal system.

4. "Verheugen warns of deficiencies ahead of report", EU commissioner outlines 'potential risks' stemming from torture and mistreatment, the situation in southeastern Anatolia, cultural rights for Kurds, the ongoing efforts to draft a new criminal code and Cyprus

5. "EU needs "plan B" for Turkey", the EU should have a "plan B", as an alternative to opening membership talks with Turkey because of doubts about the country's democratic reforms and religious identity, said EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler.

6. "Syria hands Turkey senior Kurdish militant", Syria has turned over a senior Kurdish militant and six other rebels to Turkey in a sign of closer security cooperation between the former rivals, a Turkish security official says.

1. - NTV/MSNBC - "Three soldiers killed in clashes with PKK":

Nearly 100 people have died since the PKK resumed its armed conflict at the beginning of June, ending a five year cease fire.

10 September 2004

Three members of the Turkish security forces have been killed in clashes with militants of Kurdish rebel group the PKK, Turkish officials announced late Thursday.

The three men were taking part in operations in the south east of Turkey, party of a major sweep to flush out rebels hiding in the rugged terrain. All three were killed in a clash in the province of Siirt near the town of Pervari.

According to official sources, four members of the PKK were also killed in the clashes.

2. - AFP - "Turkey arrests ex-mayor, 18 others for collaborating with Kurdish rebels":

ANKARA / 9 September 2004

Police in eastern Turkey have detained 19 people, including a former mayor, on suspicion of aiding and abetting armed Kurdish rebels, police said in a statement.

The arrests were made in the province of Tunceli after a militant from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) mentioned names in his testimony, according to the statement, carried by Anatolia news agency.

Among those detained was a former mayor of Tunceli, Hasan Korkmaz, and the head of the province's chamber of commerce and industry, Ali Asker Guler.

The PKK, now also known as KONGRA-GEL, ended a five-year unilateral ceasefire with the government on June 1, raising tensions in the country's predominantly Kurdish eastern and southeastern regions.

Some 37,000 people have been killed since the PKK took up arms for Kurdish self-rule in the region in 1984.

3. - Turkish Daily News - "'Imprisonment for adultery will imply Islamic Law'":

AKP is out to punish infidelity, while EU Commissioner Verheugen warns against Turkey giving the impression of introducing Islamic influences into its legal system.

ANKARA / 10 September 2004

European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen said on Wednesday that if matters that were not considered a crime in any other EU country entered the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) as a crime, it would give the impression that Islamic law was being introduced into the Turkish legal system.

Speaking to daily Vatan, Verheugen said, "This does not mean we support extra-marital affairs, adding that such bans created more problems than they solved.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Central Executive Council (MYK) met on Wednesday and decided that adultery should be a crime punishable by imprisonment and require a complaint lodged by one of the spouses.

The AKP MYK also agreed that the adultery amendment in the new TCK should be based on gender equality, in accordance with the Constitutional Court decision.

Speaking after the meeting, AKP parliamentary group deputy leader Haluk Ipek said the new TCK was a revolution, claiming that the media had concentrated on adultery, while the new code included much progress.

Speaking before boarding his flight to Estonia, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said that the way the adultery issue was handled and distorted was irresponsible and accused commentators of initiating an unfair campaign.

He said: "At a time the EU had nothing further to demand from us, our headlines shouldn't have featured such reports." Parliament will start debating the new TCK in the General Assembly in Sept. 14 in an emergency session.

He said Parliament represented the nation and that the decision taken by it would represent the will of the people.

State minister responsible for gender affairs Guldal Aksit said on Wednesday that the changing values and requests made by the people had necessitated them to include adultery in the new TCK as a crime.

The purpose was not to punish a spouse over a certain incident, but was to protect the family unit, she said, adding that they were not interested in intervening in people's private lives.

The crime was in the old TCK, but was later annulled by the Constitutional Court after an application by a local court. The Constitutional Court had said that the law was solely applied to women and favored men. Since the annulment 8 years ago, no one has been able to file charges on adultery.

The members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) who support the amendment aim to look good to their conservative and Islamist constituents and increase their support. The conservative majority in Turkey also force the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) to back the amendment on adultery. While the populist policies in both parties violate EU legal standards, neither seems to be willing to take the risk of short-term vote loss.

The previous law on adultery that set a maximum punishment of 3-years for women and three months for men, which could be suspended, for adultery, made the law very hard to implement. The amendment proposal, by setting a maximum of three years imprisonment for women or men who are found guilty of adultery, will provide a very valuable weapon for the women of rural Anatolia. While in the past, almost all of the adultery cases that appeared in court until know have involved husbands filing charges against their wives, from now on women will be able to threaten men with charges.

4. - Turkish Daily News - "Verheugen warns of deficiencies ahead of report":

EU commissioner outlines 'potential risks' stemming from torture and mistreatment, the situation in southeastern Anatolia, cultural rights for Kurds, the ongoing efforts to draft a new criminal code and Cyprus

ANKARA / 10 September 2004

European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Guenther Verheugen warned the Turkish government yesterday of "potential risks" ahead of the release of a report assessing Turkey's readiness to open its long-delayed entry talks.

The commissioner said the government should take more determined steps to address concerns over torture and mistreatment and the situation in southeastern Anatolia, and called for measures to grant greater cultural rights to Kurds and to address underdevelopment in the region.

Verheugen, who wrapped up a four-day visit yesterday following talks with representatives of non-Muslim communities in Istanbul, said at a press conference prior to his departure that positive developments have already been achieved in the field of granting cultural rights, but suggested that more were needed. He also called for a strategy to improve the socio-economic situation in southeastern Anatolia.

He said he had received complaints from one human rights organization in Turkey that torture was still systematic, which worried him, although all the other organizations he had met mentioned an overall improvement in the situation. "The government should be determined that those involved in torture will be punished in the severest way possible," he later said in an interview with private CNN Turk television.

Another potentially risky area concerns government plans to amend the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). Verheugen said the EU Commission would take into consideration the changes made to the TCK once the parliamentary process of approval was complete.

Verheugen also warned of risks that could stem from Cyprus, emphasizing in the CNN Turk interview that Turkey should extend a customs union agreement with the EU to new member Greek Cyprus. "The issue may harm the process of talks," he said.

The commission will release its progress report on Oct. 6 that will assess the reforms Turkey has carried out and recommend to EU leaders whether and when the talks should commence.

Turkey says it will not accept another delay to the beginning of the talks as Turkish officials warned that a decision to postpone the talks at a summit of EU leaders in December would be taken as indicative of EU reluctance towards Turkish accession.

Verheugen has been highly positive in his comments assessing Turkey's chances to get a green light for the talks throughout his visit, saying that although reform implementation was not complete, such delay is "normal."

He also pledged that the report would be fair and objective.

On the last day of his visit, Verheugen listened to leaders of non-Muslim communities in Turkey, including officials from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, at a meeting in Istanbul after holding talks with representatives of employee and employer unions.

"The Turkish nation deserves democratic rule. The EU will benefit from the richness that Turkey's membership will bring," George Marovich, representative of the Vatican in Turkey, told reporters after meeting Verheugen alongside other non-Muslim representatives.

5. - Businnes World (Ireland) - "EU needs "plan B" for Turkey":

10 September 2004

The EU should have a "plan B", as an alternative to opening membership talks with Turkey because of doubts about the country's democratic reforms and religious identity, said EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler.

The Financial Times quoted a letter from Fischler to the 29 other members of the Commission that harshly criticises the EU's approach to possible Turkish membership.
"There remain doubts as to Turkey's long-term secular and democratic credentials," he said. "There could... be a fundamentalist backlash".

Because of such a risk, Fischler calls for a "plan B, addressing the best ways to help Turkey keep up the reform momentum... (such as) a special partnership status".

The Commission is next month expected to recommend the launch of membership talks with Turkey. A decision will be taken by EU leaders in December. In all, at least six out of 24 commissioners have concerns about Turkish membership, the FT noted.

6. - Reuters - "Syria hands Turkey senior Kurdish militant":

TUNCELI / 10 September 2004 / by Ferit Demir

Syria has turned over a senior Kurdish militant and six other rebels to Turkey in a sign of closer security cooperation between the former rivals, a Turkish security official says.

Separately, fighting in southeastern Turkey killed three soldiers and three Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels late on Thursday, another official said.

Syrian police detained the PKK's Hamili Yildirim, who has evaded capture since 1996, and the others in July as they tried to cross into Turkey from Syria, a police official said on Friday.

They were based in a PKK stronghold in northern Iraq and were heading for the Turkish city of Tunceli, where separatist violence has been on the rise, newspapers said.

Turkish police have been interrogating the men in a prison in Hatay province, bordering Syria, since taking them into custody on September 4 after weeks of talks with Syria, the official said.

Diplomatic and commercial ties between the neighbours have improved considerably since a low point in 1998, when Turkey threatened to invade its smaller Arab neighbour if it did not expel PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Ocalan had led the PKK's armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey since 1984. More than 30,000 people, mainly Kurds, have died in the conflict.

Turkey captured and convicted Ocalan the following year and violence subsided sharply. But fighting has increased since the PKK called off a unilateral, six-year ceasefire in June.

Besides improved trade links and efforts to improve cultural ties, Ankara and Damascus are also united by fears the conflict in Iraq will encourage Iraqi Kurds to secede, stoking separatism among their own restive Kurdish minorities.

Intense fighting in the mountainous district of Pervari in Siirt province that broke out on Thursday is just the latest in an upsurge of violence since the PKK said it would once again target Turkish interests.

Three soldiers and four rebels were killed in intense fighting after clashes broke out, a security official said.

Around 1,000 security forces backed by helicopter gunships were continuing operations against some 100 guerrillas, he said.

"Operations backed by air support are continuing. There is a large number of PKK in the region. We are expanding our operation to target them," he said.