14 November 2006

1. "EU Foreign Ministers to Tackle Turkey Problem", Turkey continues looking for a way into the EU.

2. "DISK Says EU Report Lacks Union Emphasis", DISK Secretary Genaral Musa Cam criticizes EU Commission Progress Report for concentrating on issues such as 301 and Cyprus but neglecting union rights. "Not even reports are mentioning union rights anymore" he says, noting no progress in this field.

3. "Journalists' Right to Organization on Agenda", EC Progress Report on Turkey referring to the lack of journalists' employement rights prompts journalist associations and unions. TGC, TGS and CGD list problems as "monopolization, fear of being sacked and lack of protective laws".

4. "Guarded welcome for Iraq refugees in Kurdish north", one day Salim Chalub finally had enough of Baghdad, where he grew up and had spent his entire life, and moved his family to the distant city of Arbil in the far north of Iraq, inside the Kurdish autonomous region.

5. "Kurds keep the faith despite problems", like other ethnic communities emerging from a long struggle for independence, Iraq’s Kurds are going through a period of disillusionment with their wartime leaders.

6. "Recent human rights development in East Kurdistan", posted the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan.

1. - Deutsche Welle - "EU Foreign Ministers to Tackle Turkey Problem":

Turkey continues looking for a way into the EU

13 November 2006

EU foreign ministers will discuss enlargement on Monday, but Turkey can expect little encouragement in its bid due to Ankara's trade embargo against Cyprus and scathing criticism from the bloc's executive arm.

Also on the EU 25's foreign ministers agenda in Brussels are plans for a new association agreement with Russia as well as the situations in Afghanistan and Kosovo.

In a downbeat annual report on Turkey issued Wednesday, the European Commission highlighted human rights and corruption problems as well as the influence of the army in politics.

However, it is the key issue of the divided island of Cyprus which looks set to upset Turkey's EU adhesion talks, which began a year ago and are due to take at least a decade to complete -- with no guarantee of membership.

Turkey, while refusing to open its ports to vessels from Cyprus, which is an EU member, moved to allay some of the European Commission's human rights concerns last week, with parliament approving a law to improve the property rights of the country's tiny Christian and Jewish communities, a key EU demand.

Discord within bloc

A lack of agreement among the EU member states could yet come to Turkey's aid as stopping the accession process would require unanimity.

Britain's Europe Minister Geoff Hoon on Wednesday reiterated London's backing for Turkey's EU ambitions, as well as those of Balkan countries queuing up at the bloc's southeastern door, led by Croatia.

But countries like Austria, France and Germany would prefer a "privileged partnership" rather than full membership for Turkey.

Merkel says Turkey should only be offered a Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Merkel says Turkey should only be offered a "privileged partnership"

Ankara has rejected any link between the Cyprus problem and its membership talks, saying that the responsibility to keep Turkey's bid on track "falls more on the EU."

Turkey refuses to open its air and sea ports to craft flying the flag of the internationally-recognized Cyprus Republic, whose Greek Cypriot government controls the south of the divided island. This is despite a customs deal with all members of the 25-nation bloc it is seeking to join.

The Turkish-Cypriot statelet in the north is only recognized by Ankara.

Suspension of talks ahead?

While stopping short of suspending membership talks immediately, the EU's executive arm last week told Ankara to make progress on the Cyprus problem before the EU summit on Dec. 15-16 or face unspecified consequences.

Analyst Amanda Akcakoca at the Brussels-based European Policy Center said: "Turkey's relations with the EU seem to be doomed to a negative spiral. The pace of reform in Turkey has slowed down. Everything now depends on what the (European) Commission recommends, but I expect they will recommend a partial suspension of talks."

This would probably take the form of freezing some of the 35 EU adhesion chapters, those concerned with customs and transport.

Cyprus remains a sticking pointBildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Cyprus remains a sticking point

All 35 must be satisfactorily dealt with ahead of full membership.

The foreign ministers will also consider the wider issue of enlargement as a whole.

With phrases like "enlargement fatigue" and "enlargement hangover" joining the EU lexicon, officials here have made it clear that Bulgaria and Romania, who will join on Jan. 1, 2007, will be the last entrants until the bloc sorts out its own institutional impasse. That impasse was caused by French and Dutch voters rejecting the EU's draft constitution at referendums last year.

Poles block on Russia

The ministers will also seek to convince Poland to agree, with its 24 EU partners, on a blueprint for a new accord with Russia to replace the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement which ends next year.

Warsaw wants Moscow to ratify an international energy charter and lift embargoes on Polish meat and plant products before any EU-wide negotiating stance on a new Partnership and Cooperation

Agreement is reached.

With no movement on the Polish side, the blockage will have a serious effect on an EU-Russia summit scheduled for Nov. 24 in Helsinki.

European Commission spokeswoman on external affairs, Emma Udwin, acknowledged Friday "Polish reserves" over the issue, but added that "the discussions are not yet over."

2. - Bianet - "DISK Says EU Report Lacks Union Emphasis":

DISK Secretary Genaral Musa Cam criticizes EU Commission Progress Report for concentrating on issues such as 301 and Cyprus but neglecting union rights. "Not even reports are mentioning union rights anymore" he says, noting no progress in this field.

ISTANBUL / 13 November 2006

Turkey's Revolutionary Workers Unions Confederation (DISK) Secretary General Musa Cam has criticized the European Union (EU) Commission Progress Report on Turkey saying that union rights in the country were covered in just a single sentence.

In a statement he made marking the end of a busy week debating Turkey's relations with Europe and a final warning from the Commission, Cam recalled that previous reports had detailed sections on union rights but still no progress had been made on the issue.

"Even reports aren't mentioning union rights anymore" Cam said, noting that the most recent Progress Report had concentrated primarily on issues such as Penal Code article 301 and Cyprus and covered union rights in just one sentence. This, he added, showed that absolutely no development had been recorded in union rights.

Pointing out that the EU Progress Report, despite the negative content it contained, had been regarded by the media and in political circles as "a railway accident that did not take place" Cam said "The railway accident did not take place and possibly the crisis has been postponed. But we need to realize that some of the railway cars are empty... the railway cars carrying the rights of the workers are empty".

Cam said that Turkey needed to lift all obstacles in front of opinion, expression and organizing not just to be a member of the European Union but for the interests of its own citizens and to become an equal, free and social country.

"Union rights are still being arranged by laws that were prepared in the September 12 era" he said, referring to the 1980 military takeover.

He added that unless the restrictive laws on union rights and working life were changed and articles 51, 53 and 54 of the Constitution were amended "one cannot mention union freedoms in our country".

Cam also said that Turkey urgently needed to implement changes in the field of union and worker rights was it affected millions of citizens and that it should improve on working conditions and provide for a human lifestyle for those working.

He said, the European Social Charter, which was approached by the Parliament with reservation, needs to be urgently accepted.

3. - Bianet - "Journalists' Right to Organization on Agenda":

EC Progress Report on Turkey referring to the lack of journalists' employement rights prompts journalist associations and unions. TGC, TGS and CGD list problems as "monopolization, fear of being sacked and lack of protective laws".

ISTANBUL / 13 November 2006 / by Emine Ozcan

European Union (EU) Commission Progress Report on Turkey that notes no progress in trade union rights in the country says "journalists continue to encounter specific problems in organizing and collective bargaining".

The report, released on November 8th, has prompted journalist associations and unions to get to the roots of the problem.

According to Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) data, the total number of journalists working in the country is 14,400 while only 3,995 -just under 28% of the total- are actually union members.

Yet of the approximately 4,000 union member journalists, say the same figures, only an approximate 500 can actually benefit from union rights such as collective agreements and the right to strike.

Giving information to bianet on the issue, Journalists Association of Turkey (TGC) chair Orhan Erinc,Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) chair Ercan Ipekci and Contemporary Journalists Association (ÇGD) chair Ahmet Akabay as well as former TGS chair and journalist Sukran Soner reflected a joint belief that the "specific problems" facing journalists aren't necessarily related to law but more to the obstacles in practice.

From the disorder of monopolization to fear of being sacked and the lack of a law protecting rights, many practical problems stand before Turkey's journalists and hinder their right to organizing, say the press activists agreeing with EU views on the issue.

They list the "specific problems" in organizing and collective bargaining in Turkey as the following:

* The disorder created by the monopolization in the media

* The attitude of media owners against unions

* Journalists fearing being laid off

* Failure of laws to protect those who are organizing.

Ipekci: "When media bosses are enemies of unions"

TGS chair Ipekci who said the reference to journalists' union rights in the Progress Report was due to his union's contributions, noted the attitude of newspaper owners who are against unions and explained that this prevented journalists from organizing in unions.

"According to the Constitution, union membership is not a direct reason for dismissal from work and even if newspaper owners do not use this as an excuse, they do dismiss journalists from work creating various other excuses" Ipekci said.

He added that the media bosses' lack of respect to union rights also prevented the social dialogue criteria that the EU sought for progress.

Noting that EU's Olli Rehn in charge of expansion had himself stressed that there was no progress on union rights in Turkey, Ipekci added, "Even though the government says 'we are progressing', on the issue of union rights it is kicking the ball out of the touch line. Instead of using an initiative to enforce the conditions that the EU has put forth on this issue, it maintains the mentality that the employer and the employee should agree between themselves, even though it knows this is not possible".

According to Ipekci, only a third of all working journalists are organized in Turkey and only one in eight of those who are organized can actually use union rights such as collective agreements and the right to strike.

He said these journalists were actually those who worked for the state agency Anatolian Agency (AA) and employees of the Ankara News Agency (ANKA).

Ipekci explained that the statistics at the Union showed approximately 3,500 union member journalists are not able to benefit from their union rights. He said that while there was fear of being dismissed on part of journalists, this was not the only reason behind the picture either.

"While defending the rights of everyone else", Ipekci said, "when it comes to their own rights they can well be indifferent".

Erinc: Laws do not protect organized journalists

According to TGC Chairman Erinc, even though the laws do not say "don't organize" to journalists, they do not effectively protect the journalists who want to organize.

Erinc believes one of the "specific problems" is that journalists are intimidated now on acting on this issue because of the previous pressures against organizing in unions.

"Although in instances of dismissal some additional forms of compensation are foreseen due to unions in Turkey, there are no sanctions that prevent someone being made unemployed" he says, noting that the obstruction before them is a physical one and that the term used in the Progress Report referred to such situation.

Soner: Media sector is in disorder

TGS former chairman Soner agrees that "in any case, the existing general picture with regard to unions is not encouraging".

"Union rights have lost a lot of blood during 12 September [military coup] and globalization eras".

Soner said that the total number of union member workers in Turkey was around 750,000 that, inclusive of the private and privatized public sectors that were shrinking could only be described as "a collapse".

Noting that monopolization was a considerable threat throughout the world, Soner said that in Turkey this monopolization did not even take place according to a convention and that journalists were not organized as result of this disorder brought on with monopolization.

According to Soner, the media sector is a field where monopolization and disorder is observed more than anywhere else and as a sector, it is as much in disorder and out of the laws as the construction sector.

Soner listed the lack of order in the media sector as:

* One-year contracts in the media allows for those working between companies to be undermined.

* Journalists, on paper, are shown not as employees of the newspaper they work for but as if they are employed by another company. There are television staff working for construction companies.

* Employment by copyright leads to serious problems. Even the most important journalists are made to work by copyright.

* Columnists and managers who are working for the highest salaries receive their income through more than one company even though this is not reflective of their real employment.

* Trainees or apprentice journalists are being made to work for a long time with no social security. If a contract is made, there is no press contract. There is no seniority [pay] law. The work time of those made to work is ambiguous.

"Union data isn't realistic"

Journalist Soner does not believe the data showing there are 3,995 union member journalists in Turkey is realistic. In his view, the number of real union members actively in journalism is lower.

Saying that since 1980 a number of journalists who retired and died were not deleted from the records, Soner believes one reason for maintaining the figure is to keep the number of union members high in order to show that a system actually exists.

Soner notes that other than journalists working for the television sector and newspapers, media workers do not actually enjoy a definition that shows their branch of profession.

"A symbolic radio [station] wanted to register with the union for idealistic reasons" he cites as an example. "They could not formulate how to do this." In Soner's words, the problem is that the profession is not described clearly which leads to debate on whether it is entertainment, magazine or others.

Another issue, he points out, is one of journalists being made to sign a blank paper when they are employed. "What kind of confidence would a journalist have in joining a union where there is a piece of blank paper he's been made to sign when given employment?" he asks.

Soner is a journalist who believes the expressions used in the EU text with regard to union rights in Turkey are insufficient.

"These rights are never brought to the agenda in the bargaining on the Copenhagen criteria" he argues. "This is because they put them in just so its not impolite. There is no monitoring. I do not think any serious sanction will be imposed from Europe. I say these based on the debate. No steps have been taken in the name of rights".

Abakay: Monopolization threatens organization and independence

CGD chairman Abakay says "There are no legal obstructions in front of union rights such as collective agreements or the right to strike. There are practical obstructions".

In his view, monopolization is the actual obstruction in Turkey because with it, comes the psychological threat of lay-offs. Abakay says that just like in the case of unions, monopolization also threatens editorial independence.

"If journalists cannot organize, if they cannot claim up to the existing organizations, call it pressure or monopolization, the responsibility for this is with the unions and journalists" he says.

Accepting that 1980 and the post-military coup era delivered a serious blow to organizations and unions, Abakay said this did not mean an excuse not to organize.

"If no one says you can't become a meber of the TGS, if no one says TGS cannot organize in this workplace, that means the issue is the unsuccessfulness of unions and journalists" he says, adding, this situation could not be used as an excuse for surrendering in front of an employer.

"There is a distancing in Turkey, in general, to all forms of organizing" Abakay believes. "Mass unions are also dysfunctional. Previously the TGS was organized in every newspaper. The September 12 law is in force but the Public Workers Unons Confederation (KESK) is as influential as no union has been. While there are no collective agreement rights, it holds these in its hands. The law is not the reason unions are losing people.

4. - AFP - "Guarded welcome for Iraq refugees in Kurdish north":

ARBIL / 13 November 2006

One day Salim Chalub finally had enough of Baghdad, where he grew up and had spent his entire life, and moved his family to the distant city of Arbil in the far north of Iraq, inside the Kurdish autonomous region.

"After watching Shiites displacing Sunnis and Sunnis displacing Shiites, we felt that the situation had just become intolerable," said the 63-year-old who has now made a new life in the north for his family. "We had to come here."

Unlike many others, the family found a local person to sponsor them and give them residency, but in return for security, they now have to deal with high prices and the struggle to find jobs.

"My sons leave every day to find work while the others stay home," said Chalub. "My daughters lost their jobs and have now become housewives."

Already hundreds of thousands of Iraq's best and brightest have fled the increasing violence and chaos in the rest of the country, with most going to neighboring Syria and Jordan.

Increasing numbers, however, have decided to settle in the north of the country, where the Kurds -- jealous of their security -- give the new arrivals only a grudging welcome.

"Because of the difficult security in other Iraqi regions, we take such measures to protect our citizens and the immigrating families and prevent terrorists infiltrating Kurdistan," said Lieutenant Colonel Harish Khalid Azkaye, director of the Arbil residency office.

Those hoping for residency in the Kurdish autonomous region must find a local sponsor, preferably a government employee, which is not easy for people from central and south Iraq who have had little contact with the Kurds before.

"This measure reduces immigration, especially the Arab families into Kurdistan as they find it hard to find a sponsor," said Azkaye.

Under its own administration since being put under international protection in 1991, the autonomous area of three Kurdish provinces in the north has managed to avoid the insurgent and sectarian violence plaguing the rest of Iraq.

There have been a few terrorist attacks on Kurdish cities, admitted Azkaye, but new security measures imposed over the past year have ended these and now keep the region safe.

This security has been a magnet for migrants from the rest of the country, and since 2004 2,054 families have moved to Arbil from elsewhere in Iraq, with similar numbers settling in the other Kurdish cities of Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah.

"The worse the security gets, the more people arrive," Azkaye said. "Sometimes we have to limit to 20 the number of families we can process per day to avoid congestion at the office."

Residency has to be renewed every three months.

Karim Sinjari, the interior minister for the region, however, denies that potential residents need sponsorship or that obtaining residency is a difficult process. He is also quick to confirm that all Iraqis have the right to settle in the Kurdish region -- as long as they pass the rigorous security checks.

"There is no law or instructions requiring sponsorship, but families or citizens that come from the outside wanting residency often bring a sponsor from the region at their own initiative to facilitate security checks and shorten the procedure," he told the pan-Arab daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat on Saturday.

For Abu Abbas, who sold his house in southern Baghdad's Zafaraniyah neighborhood to move to Arbil, achieving residency is definitely a problem.

Now living in a cramped housing complex near Arbil city center, he managed to get residency for his wife, but not for his daughter or son-in-law.

"A relative sponsored me in Arbil but refused to include my son-in-law who cannot leave the house to get a job," said the 45-year-old. "Two days ago I convinced someone in the complex to sponsor him, but he changed his mind the next day."

Professionals such as doctors, professors and engineers have an easier time of it and can be sponsored by the hospital or university interested in employing them.

A year ago, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani -- himself a Kurd -- called on doctors and engineers to move to the Kurdish provinces with their families and continue to "serve their country", rather than emigrating to Jordan or Syria as so many have done.

Security comes at a price, however, and as more people move to Kurdistan rents and prices of basic goods have soared, meaning that families like that of Abu Abbas have a much lower standard of living than before.

Fakhr Homondi, a real estate broker in Arbil, said that rents for houses are not less than 300 to 500 dollars a month, up to three times what they are in Baghdad, with many landlords demanding six months' rent in advance.

"Everyone looking for houses are Arabs," said Homondi. "Every day I have five to six families coming to my office looking to rent a house."

Abu Abbas and his son leave their modest new home each day to look for work, which is often scarce, especially when it rains.

"We opened a women's hairdressing salon in our housing complex that my wife and daughter work at, but there are few customers," he said.

As they eke out a new living in the north, however, many of the Arab immigrants long for the day when they can return to their homes in central Iraq.

"I had to leave Baghdad with my family for Arbil for security," said Zakiya Ali Ahmed, 61. "But I watch the situation closely and I hope it will quiet down so we can go home soon."

5. - Financial Times - "Kurds keep the faith despite problems":

13 November 2006 / by Steve Negus

Like other ethnic communities emerging from a long struggle for independence, Iraq’s Kurds are going through a period of disillusionment with their wartime leaders.

In Chamchamal, a dilapidated Kurdish town in northern Iraq, a group of men recount the many reasons why they have lost faith in their government. The Kurdistan Democratic party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the two guerrilla movements that fought for 40 years against Baghdad, have proved less inspiring in peacetime. "They were towers of strength but now they are failures," laments one. They complain of shortages of fuel, poor drinking water and other symptoms of the corruption and administrative lethargy they claim characterise the new administration.

Like other ethnic communities emerging from a long struggle for independence, Iraq's Kurds are going through a period of disillusionment with their wartime leaders. The region, an oasis of stability in the country, is going through an economic boom as Iraqi capital flees north, but many claim they have seen little benefit.

Nonetheless, there is little serious challenge to the current government, largely because many Kurds see their independence struggle as only half-finished. Two years ago the region held a referendum in which nearly 99 per cent voted to break away from Iraq. However, Kurdish officials admit secession would be difficult, given that Kurdistan is a land-locked region. "It's the desire of all the Kurds for one day to have a state of their own but one has to think realistically," says Nechirvan Barzani, the regional government's prime minister. "As the leadership, it is not our role to follow the sentiments and the emotions of the street if such objectives were not achievable."

The government has set itself three objectives which many see as a half-way house to independence. The first is to develop the economy. Last year the regional government started signing contracts with foreign oil companies to develop northern oil fields. The second objective is to unify the two rival administrations of the KDP and PUK. And a final goal is the absorption of the oil-rich province of Kirkuk and other "disputed territories".

The Kurds say they are sticking to a timetable included in Iraq's constitution. It calls for a referendum in the territories by the end of 2007 on joining the Kurdistan region. They say they have enough votes to win it despite opposition from some Sunni Arab and Turkmen groups. As for the other problems, Mr Barzani says, they require "patience and time".

6. - Kurdish Media - "Recent human rights development in East Kurdistan":

Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan / 13 November 2006 / translated by Samrand Moradi

Two casualties due to landmines

November 3, 2006: Sardasht- Landmines in a park killed Raheem Shokati and wounded Rahman Sharifzadeh. The regional park is situated near an army fort on Doupaza Mountain, by Bevran, a suburb of Sardasht.

Two summoned to political interrogations in Bana

November 3, 2006: Bana- Two urban residents, Salah Anwury and Salah Yezdanpanah, due to political reasons were detained and held in jail. They were released and then they were called to political interrogations by agents of the Iranian Islamic Regime. The Iranian Islamic Regime accused them of having contact with Kurdish political parties. Mr. Anwury fled the city to escape the pressure of the government and save his life.

Five year sentence for Kurdish man

November 3, 2006: Saghaz- The local court in Saghaz recently sentenced Tahid Alipour to five years in prison. Mr. Alipour is a teacher and also a college student. Mr. Alipour was detained since last summer and held in jail pending his sentencing, due to his participation in protests and demonstrations against the Iranian Islamic Regime.

Three locals jailed on political charges

November 2, 2006: Saghaz- Three Kurdish locals, Afsheen Mohamadi, Hemen Waysi, and Ibrahim Salahi have been arrested. Mr. Waysi and Mr. Mohamadi are both eighteen and participated in demonstrations against the Iranian Islamic Regime. Mr. Mohamadi was sentenced to two years in prison, while Mr. Waysi received an eight year prison sentence. Mr. Salahi received a six month sentence for possessing a Kurdish flag and a map of Kurdistan.