28
September 2004
2. "Three Turkish soldiers killed in clash with Kurdish rebels", three Turkish soldiers have been killed in fighting with Kurdish rebels in the country's southeast, the army said Saturday.
3. "Anti-Democratic Articles in the New TCK", Turkish Parliament finally adopted the controversial reform of the Turkish penal code. Although applauded exaggeratedly by Verheugen and some EU leaders because of absence of the mention of adultery, the new TCK is full of many anti-democratic articles.
4. "Is the EU holding Turkey to too high a standard?", Turkey's moment of truth is fast approaching.
5. "Turkey and the EU: One Step Closer", Turkey came one step closer to its goal of EU membership after EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Gunter Verheugen, announced there are no more obstacles to opening negotiations on accession.
6. "Leyla Zana Heads to Brussels To Receive Shakarov Human Rights Award", former Democracy Party (DEP) deputy Leyla Zana, who was released from jail in June after the Turkish courts struck down her 15-year prison sentence, will travel to Brussels in October to argue that members of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) should be granted amnesty by Turkey.
1. - The Christian Sience Monitor - "How will Turkey respond to growing rebel violence?":
Next month the European Union will hear a progress report on Turkish membership, with a final vote due in December.
ISTANBUL / 22 September 2004 / by Yigal Schleifer
The ambushing of Turkish forces by Kurdish guerrillas. Bombings of
hotels in Istanbul. The evacuation of a village in Turkey's predominantly
Kurdish southeast. This may sound like a recounting of events in the
bloody 15-year war fought in the 1980s and '90s between Turkey and
the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). But, in fact, it is
the story of the past few months.
While the fighting is nowhere near the levels reached during the previous
conflict, when more than 30,000 lost their lives, the potential of
Kurdish-related violence once again appears to be looming in Turkey.
How Turkey responds will not only have profound implications for life
in the country's Kurdish areas and across the border in northern Iraq,
but also for Turkey's relations with the US and the EU, analysts say.
The PKK (which now calls itself Kongra-Gel) called off a five-year unilateral cease-fire in June. Since then, more than 30 Turkish security personnel have been killed in a series of attacks, while some 70 rebels have died.
In early August, coordinated bombings struck two Istanbul hotels and a fuel depot in the city, killing two and wounding 11. An unknown Kurdish group took responsibility for the blasts, but Turkish officials said they believe the PKK was behind them. Several smaller explosions linked by Turkey to the PKK have also gone off throughout the country in recent weeks.
In July, the 343 residents of a small village in the southeast were forced out of their homes for six weeks while security forces tried to flush out rebels from the area. For many Kurds, it was an ominous reminder of the '80s and '90s, when some 3,600 villages were emptied as a result of fighting, displacing 300,000 people.
The PKK began its cease-fire after the 1999 capture of its leader, Abdullah Ocalan. It withdrew its fighters from Turkey to the mountains of northern Iraq, where it today has an estimated 5,000 members. With the start of last year's war in Iraq, Turkey had asked the US to use its military presence in the country to confront the PKK. American officials have said the US plans to go after the rebel organization but that right now it's a question of not having enough resources in Iraq. But with the increase in PKK activity inside Turkey, government and military officials are growing impatient.
"We cannot progress in this issue by relying on other countries," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told Turkish television. When asked if the Turkish military would engage in cross-border operations, Gul replied, "We do what our security necessitates."
There are an estimated 12 million Kurds living in Turkey, mostly in the southeast. Another 10 million are spread among Syria, Iraq, and Iran. The leftist PKK started its activities in the 1980s in the hope of carving out an autonomous Kurdish area within Turkey.
Now, analysts say, Turkey must figure out its own response to the possibility of more PKK violence. A move by Turkey against the PKK in northern Iraq could lead to conflict with other Kurdish groups and severely strain Turkey's relations with the US. A harsh response against the organization's activities in Turkey's southeast could jeopardize Turkey's EU aspirations. But Soner Cagaptay, a Turkey researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, says that while the PKK's fighting capability has been diminished, major attacks by the group could lead to a strong Turkish response.
"These are still very fresh wounds. If the organization caused major casualties through sensational attacks then, yes, the response would be very strong," he says.
In the meantime, people in Turkey's southeast fear getting caught in the crossfire. After almost two decades of warfare and life under emergency rule, the region has been slowly returning to normal. Reforms by the Turkish government, such as allowing private Kurdish-language schools, have brought some sense of greater cultural freedom to the area.
"People are waiting in anxiety," says Selhattin Demirtas,
head of the Human Rights Association office in Diyarbakir, the largest
city in the southeast. "I think that at this point both the government
and PKK/Kongra-Gel should take steps to let peace prevail. The people's
only expectation is that." 
2. - AFP - "Three Turkish soldiers killed in clash with Kurdish
rebels":
ANKARA / 25 September 2004
Three Turkish soldiers have been killed in fighting with Kurdish rebels in the country's southeast, the army said Saturday.
The clash with the "terrorists" ocurred on September 9 in the province of Siirt, the brief statement said, without specifying whether rebels were also killed.
Turkish authorities use the definition "terrorists" for members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), now also known as KONGRA-GEL, which has fought Ankara for 20 years.
The group ended a five-year unilateral ceasefire with the government in June, raising tensions in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast.
Some 37,000 people have been killed since 1984 when the PKK took
up arms for self-rule in the region.
3. - Biannet - "Anti-Democratic Articles in the New TCK":
Turkish Parliament finally adopted the controversial reform of the Turkish penal code. Although applauded exaggeratedly by Verheugen and some EU leaders because of absence of the mention of adultery, the new TCK is full of many anti-democratic articles.
BRUSSELS / 27 September 2004
Ten days after the withdrawal by the government of the project in order to introduce a clause penalizing adultery, the last two articles of the Penal Code, like two other bills aiming at reforming the legal system, were voted after the debates which lasted longer than envisaged because of last minute amendments as well as conflict on the calendar of application.
The meeting was marked by recriminations of the deputies of the Republican People's Party (CHP ) social-democrat opposition) against the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Prime Minister, absent at the debates, whom they accused ofhaving created an useless crisis while trying to penalize adultery.
"We did not succeed in convincing him, it happened to be necessary that he goes to Brussels for being convinced by Verheugen", a CHP said ironically. He referred to the talks Thursday between Mr. Erdogan and Geunter Verheugen, European Commissionner for Enlargement, who put an end to one week of crisis between Ankara and Brussels.
The deputies of the opposition also criticized the fact that the new penal code will be applied in three times -- a first part, on the wild urbanization, immediately, the large part of the law on April 1, 2005, and the articles penalizing the pollution of the environment on April 1, 2007.
The CHP announced that it would seize the Constitutional court to make cancel the clause delaying until 2007 the penalization of environment's pollution, like some other amendments of last minute imposed by the AKP.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Saturday sure that the European Union (EU) will give in December its green light to the opening of negotiations for the country's adhesion.
"I would like to affirm firmly and clearly that a date for the opening of negotiations of adhesion will be fixed this year in December", said Erdogan in his monthly address to the Nation, diffused by TV.
The Prime Minister's speech intervenes 48 hours after his visit to Brussels during which he ensured the European Commissionner for Enlargement, Guenter Verheugen, that adultery would not be mentioned in the new Turkish penal code.
"My conclusion is that there is no more obstacle on the table. From my point of view, Turkey does not have additional conditions to fill for allowing the Commission to make a recommendation ", had declared Guenter Verheugen at the end of this visit.
However, Mr. Verheugen, as many other leaders of the European Union, is fooled once more, because the new Turkish Penal Code is full of antidemocratic and repressive articles for the freedom of expression and the press. Many of these articles already existed in the former Penal Code, borrowed in 1926 from Mussolini's Penal Code (for example Articles 158, 159 et 312).
These articles were imposed by the military and approved one by one by the Grand National Assembly with the complicity of the opposition party (CHP).
The Journalists' Association of Turkey (TGC) has established the following list of these new antidemocratic articles.
If the "crimes" defined in these articles are committed by any kind of written, audio-visual and electronic media (newspapers, magazines, radio, TV and/or Internet), the punishment will be increased one-half or one-third according to the case.
So, even with this new Turkish Penal Code, adopted without mention of adultery, Turkey will always remain as a country where freedom of expression and the press is subject to the State repression.
Antidemocratic articles of the New Penal Code
Article 215 - Praising a committed crime or a person who committed this crime: up to 2 years (if committed by the means of media, to be increased one-half).
Article 216 (new form of Article 312) - Instigating a part of the people having different social class, race, religion, sect or region to hatred or hostility against another part of the people in a way dangerous for the public security: up to 3 years (if committed by the means of media, to be increased one-half).
Article 220/8 (new form of Article 169) - Propaganda of an organization founded for committing crime: up to 3 years (if committed by the means of media, to be increased one-half).
Article 285 - Spreading confidential information on a legal investigation: up to up to 3 years (if committed by the means of media, to be increased one-half).
Article 300 (new form of Article 158) - Insulting the President of the Republic: up to 4 years (if committed by the means of media, to be increased one-third).
Article 301 (new form of Article 145) - Insult to the Turkish flag or to anything having the Turkish State's symbol (crescent and star): up to 3 years (if committed by a Turkish citizen abroad: to be increased one-third); Insult to the Turkish national anthem: up to 2 years (if committed by a Turkish citizen abroad: to be increased one-third).
Article 302 (new form of Article 159) - Insulting the Turkish national identity, the Republic or the Grand National Assembly of Turkey: up to 3 years (if committed by a Turkish citizen abroad: to be increased one-third); Insulting the Turkish Government, the judicial organs, military or security institutions: up to 2 years (if committed by a Turkish citizen abroad: to be increased one-third).
Article 306 - Acting against fundamental national interests for directly or indirectly receiving benefits from foreign persons or institutions: up to 10 years. (According to the statement of reasons for this article, written by the Parliamentary Commitee of Justice, a citizen who demands the withdrawal of Turkish soldiers from Cyprus or declares that the Armenian genocide actually took place during the First World War, can be pursued by virtue of this article).
Article 319 - Instigating the people against military service: up to 2 years (if committed by the means of media, to be increased one-half).
Article 324 - Spreading unfounded news or information during a war: up to 10 years (if committed as a propaganda campaign against the military and in accordance with a foreigner, up to 20 years).
Article 330 - Unveiling the information that should remain confidential for the sake of the State's security or its internal and external political interests: up to 10 years (if committed during the war or the preparation of the war: up to 15 years).
Article 331 - Unveiling, with the purpose of political or military spying, the information that should remain confidential for the sake of the State's security or its internal and external political interests: Life prison.
Article 337 - Unveiling the information that is forbidden by the competent authorities and should remain confidential because of its nature: up to 5 years (if committed during the war or the preparation of the war: up to 15 years).
Article 338 - Unveiling, with the purpose of political or military
spying, the information that is forbidden by the competent authorities
and should remain confidential because of its nature: up to 15 years
(if committed during the war or the preparation of the war: life prison).
4. - The Daily Star - "Is the EU holding Turkey to too high
a standard?":
27 September 2004 / by Patrick Seale*
Turkey's moment of truth is fast approaching. On Oct. 6, the European
Commission is due to publish its report on whether Turkey is ready
to start negotiations for membership of the European Union. The commission's
report is eagerly awaited because it will carry great weight with
EU leaders at their summit in Dublin in December, when they will have
to decide whether to say yes to Turkey and, if so, fix a date for
the start of accession negotiations, most probably in 2005. This will
be a moment of truth for Europe as well as for Turkey.
It is widely recognized that the start of negotiations with the EU will not mean rapid membership for Turkey. On the best estimates, Turkey could not become a full EU member before 2015, or even 2020. This lengthy "time buffer" provides reassurance for those who view Turkey's accession with apprehension.
Nevertheless, the question of Turkey's admission to the European club is of immense importance. It will affect the West's relations with the Islamic world - relations that are now in a state of tension because of the war in Iraq and America's global war on Islamic terrorism. Many Muslims would see rejection of Turkey as a slap in the face, a confirmation of the notorious "clash of civilizations." Acceptance of Turkey would, on the contrary, be seen as reaching out by the West to Islam, as a gesture of good neighborliness and as recognition that Europe is not a Christian club, but rather a highly diverse group of nations united not by ethnicity or religion but by a belief in democracy, human rights, the protection of minorities and market economics. Above all, it would reassure the estimated 12 million Muslims living in the EU about their rights as full citizens and as a legitimate part of the fabric of European life.
A decision to say yes would also have a vast impact on Turkey's continuing progress toward becoming a modern, liberal, prosperous democracy. Great strides have already been taken in the past two years since Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to power. His government has passed into law many economic, judicial and political reforms. The issue now is whether the new legislation - asserting civilian control over the army and its budget, banning torture, abolishing the death penalty, allowing the Kurdish language to be taught in schools - will be implemented or, on the contrary, quietly shelved - which might well be the case in the event of Turkey's rejection.
The decision to start negotiations with Turkey will also determine the future shape of Europe, as well as the success or failure of its enlargement. The EU has just admitted 10 new members and will, in the coming years, be busy absorbing them, strengthening their democratic institutions and generally bringing them up to EU standards. Facing the challenge of enlargement is the EU's immediate preoccupation.
Turkey, however, presents a problem on an altogether different scale from that of Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Malta, Greek Cyprus or most of the other new members. It is a country of 71 million people, poor, largely agricultural and predominantly Islamic. Most of its land mass lies in Asia rather than in Europe. Many Europeans fear that Turkey's accession will bring with it a flood of needy immigrants, disturbing Western Europe's labor markets. They are concerned that huge transfers of funds will be required to bring Turkey up to Western levels of prosperity. Turkey's per capita GDP is only 29 percent of the average of the EU's 25 members.
Once Turkey joins the club, the EU will extend toward Iraq, Syria and Iran, the borders of which are notoriously porous and difficult to control. Will this mean that the violence and instability of the Middle East will be imported into Europe? These are among the most commonly cited fears of opponents of Turkey's accession. Former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing has even gone so far as to say that Turkey's accession would mean the end of Europe! His is a strictly minority position among Europe's leaders, if not among public opinion. Up to a few weeks ago, no one seriously doubted that Europe would say yes to Turkey. France's Jacques Chirac, Britain's Tony Blair and Germany's Gerhard Schroeder all came out strongly in favor of starting talks with Turkey.
A sizeable and wholly unexpected obstacle has, however, recently emerged.
The latest reform that Erdogan presented to his Parliament on Sept. 14 was a major overhaul of the country's criminal code. This had been discussed in committee for several months where it had been largely approved. It contained several explicit protections for women, including stronger laws against rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, "honor killings" and the like. It was strongly supported by Turkish feminist groups. The new criminal code was intended to replace a code that Turkey had borrowed from Mussolini's Italy in 1926.
At the last moment, however, a clause was added to the bill criminalizing adultery and making the guilty liable for punishment by prison sentence. The same women's groups that had supported the code now turned against it. Some 600 women representing dozens of feminine associations demonstrated in Ankara in mid-September carrying placards denouncing the code as a violation of women's rights.
The case was immediately seized upon by opponents of Turkey's accession in several European countries, who used it to demonstrate that Turkey was still in the grip of repressive, conservative Islam. Erdogan was accused of seeking to appeal to the grassroots of his Justice and Development Party by implementing a covert Islamic social agenda. Faced with a storm of criticism - which appears to have taken him by surprise - Erdogan decided to withdraw the whole criminal code. But this, in turn, exposed him to criticism from the European Commission. The code was a central element in the package of reforms that the Erdogan government had pledged to enact. Erdogan angrily rejected the criticism as "interference in Turkey's internal affairs."
This did not go down well with the commission and seems likely to affect the tone of the report on Turkey that it is due to issue. If the new criminal code is not passed promptly into law, the commission's verdict on Turkey's readiness to start negotiations could now be negative, or at least not wholly positive.
In an interview with the French daily Le Monde on Sept. 22, the new president of the European Commission, the former Portuguese prime minister, Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, declared: "We recognize that (Turkey) has made great progress but, at the moment ... all the criteria have not been fulfilled." Turkey, he added, had asked for membership in the EU. It had, therefore, to accept Europe's conditions. "Turkey must adapt to the rules of Europe rather than Europe to the rules of Turkey."
The adultery clause is a tempest in a teacup. The fuss about it reeks of hypocrisy on the part of Turkey's opponents. Ireland joined the EU at a time when, under Catholic influence, it criminalized abortion. In America, 24 states still consider adultery a crime, punishable by up to a year in jail. Excessively high standards seem to be asked of Turkey.
Most observers continue to believe that Europe cannot possibly say no to Turkey. But the outcome is no longer a foregone conclusion. Supporters of Turkey's membership - both in Turkey and in the rest of Europe - must now hold their breath.
* Patrick Seale, a veteran Middle East analyst, wrote this commentary
for THE DAILY STAR.
5. - Worldpress.org - "Turkey and the EU: One Step Closer":
26 September 2004 / by Zornitsa M. Stoyanova-Yerburgh
Turkey came one step closer to its goal of EU membership after EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Gunter Verheugen, announced there are no more obstacles to opening negotiations on accession. The news came after urgent talks between Verheugen and Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Turkish penal code reforms. The adoption of the reform package had been stalled after a clause criminalizing adultery provoked criticism from Brussels and pro-reformists in Turkey. Erdogan’s assurances that he will go ahead with reforms and drop the controversial clause, which he originally backed, put an end to the crisis that threatened to jeopardize Turkish membership aspirations.
In a special session, the Turkish Parliament voted overwhelmingly to pass the reforms that will bring Turkish criminal law up to EU standards.
On October 6 the European Commission is to deliver a report on Turkey’s readiness to begin accession talks. Consulting the Commission’s recommendations, EU leaders from the 25 member states will have the final say on December 17, when they vote on whether to open negotiations with Turkey.
After coming to power in 2002, Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party has undertaken sweeping reforms to bring Turkey closer to European standards, including crucial issues such as minority and civil rights. Turkey’s EU bid has gathered support among EU member states and is also backed by the US. However, there remains a great deal of skepticism among politicians and the European public is deeply divided on the issue of Turkish entry. While some officials have expressed doubts about the ability of Turkey to meet political and economic criteria or questioned its true commitment to human rights, there is also the less spoken fear of allowing a large Muslim populated country into the EU. If admitted, Turkey will be the second-largest country after Germany in the EU, and, under the current arrangements, will enjoy significant political power in the European institutions. Debates on Turkey have also touched on the cultural identity of the Union and the question of the limits of Europe. Turkey’s size and relative poverty present significant challenges to the institutional setup and the budget of the EU.
Among current members, opposition to Turkish entry is strong in some key member states. French President Jacques Chirac has spoken favorably of Turkish membership, but his party, the governing conservative Union for a Popular Movement, is strongly opposed. French Prime Minister Jean- Pierre Raffarin in a recent interview for the Wall Street Journal asked, “Do we want the river of Islam to enter the riverbed of secularism?" But he also added, “We don't think we should tell Turkey that the doors of Europe are forever closed to it." Austrian President Heinz Fischer has said that the EU is not ready to accept Turkey at the moment, and that it needs more time to assimilate the ten new members. In Germany, Turkey was at the center of a domestic political debate between Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s governing coalition and opposition Christian Democrats who have proposed the idea of ‘privileged partnership’ instead of full membership. The German opposition leaders have stressed that their proposal is based on a concern about a possible over commitment of EU institutions, and not religious and cultural grounds. The Vatican (not a member of the EU), on the other hand, concerned with preserving Europe’s Christian heritage, has recently questioned Turkey’s entry into the EU.
Supporters say that Turkey, with its size and rapidly growing economy, will boost economic growth and bring in a young workforce in an aging Europe. For many, the success of the EU-inspired reforms in Turkey will serve as a bulwark against Muslim fundamentalism and as an example to other Muslim nations. Turkey, a NATO-member, and a secular Muslim country straddling Europe and the Middle East, is also strategically important for Europe. Denying Turkey the opportunity to start talks after its hard work on meeting EU demands could also damage the credibility of the Union. Commission President designate Jose Manuel Durão Barroso, who supports Turkish entry as long as it fulfills the criteria, said recently “if Turkey responded positively to the EU’s demands, I don’t see how we could say no.” Among those backing Turkish entry are the UK and Italy.
Turkey applied for an associate membership back in 1959 shortly after
the establishment of the European Economic Community, and in 1963
signed an Association Agreement that included the possibility for
future membership. It applied for full membership in 1987, but was
given official candidate status only in 1999. If given the green light
on talks, Turkey will still face a long road to full entry, probably
not earlier than 2015.
6. - Zaman - "Leyla Zana Heads to Brussels To Receive Shakarov Human Rights Award":
27 September 2004
Former Democracy Party (DEP) deputy Leyla Zana, who was released from jail in June after the Turkish courts struck down her 15-year prison sentence, will travel to Brussels in October to argue that members of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) should be granted amnesty by Turkey.
After Turkey received assurances that no obstacles remain on its
way to European Union (EU) membership, Zana will try to convince Brussels
to impose upon Turkey the condition of granting "political amnesty"
to PKK members. Zana and her friends have been preparing this project
for some time.
Zana's plans envisages Turkey being required to grant an amnesty to
PKK militants by December 17, when a discussion date is expected to
be given to Turkey at the EU summit. If amnesty is not feasible, then
Zana will argue for an "enlarged penitence law" instead.
On June 9th four former DEP deputies --Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Orhan Erdogan, and Selim Sadak-- were released from jail after having served 10 years of a 15-year sentence. The four had been accused of being members of the PKK. Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul met Zana and her friends after their release and they exchanged messages of peace.
The four DEP members will meet with high-level EU officials in Brussels on October 12. Zana will also receive the Shakarov Human Rights Award at that time.
Zana plans to make a speech in the European Parliament during her trip and also participate in bilateral talks. The other DEP deputies will participate in an interactive forum in the EU Foreign Affairs Commission.
Leyla Zana's request for a meeting with EU Enlargement Commissioner
Gunter Verheugen has not been confirmed yet.