15 September 2006

1. "3.243.627 signatures for Ocalan as a political representative", Despite repression which deterred a number of people from joining this campaign, more than 3 Million people, exactly 3,243,627 persons, have signed the declaration reading: "I, from Kurdistan, recognize Mr. Abdullah Ocalan as a political representative in Kurdistan"

2. "Protesters voice anger at southeast Turkey bombing", About 1,500 people marched through the largest city in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast on Thursday to appeal for peace in the troubled region and voice anger at a bomb blast which killed 10 people.

3. "PKK's support for AK Party for elections", Turkey is preparing to witness the sixth cease-fire of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

4. "Erdogan on US flag leash could mean 3 years in prison", A British collage artist faces from one to three years in prison for depicting Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a dog attached to a leash made out of the American flag.

5. "Turkish cleric criticizes pope comments", Turkey's top Islamic cleric asked
Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday to take back recent remarks he made about Islam and unleashed a string of counteraccusations against Christianity, raising tensions before the pontiff's November visit — his first to a Muslim country.

6. "Detained PCDK Leader Released", As Turkey continues efforts to arrest the leaders of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, the Iraqi government released Faik Gulpi, the leader of the Democratic Solution Party (PCDK).

1. - KON-KURD- "3.243.627 signatures for Ocalan":

BRUSSELS / 12 September 2006

From July 14th, 2005 until May 1st, 2006 people living in Kurdistan and those from Kurdistan living around the world have been conducting an extraordinary campaign. They have stated in an entirely peaceful manner, through participating in the signature campaign, that they want to see Abdullah Ocalan as a political representative.

Although there are hardly any other possible methods which are more peaceful than expressing one's opinion by signing a declaration, massive intimidation and repression against the conductors have taken place all over Kurdistan. In Syria there have been detentions and house raids. In Iran there have been massive intimidations of the Kurdish people. In Turkey, hundreds of people imprisoned and sentenced because of joining the signature campaign, signing the declaration or organizing it.

Despite all this repression which deterred a number of people from joining this campaign, more than 3 Million people, exactly 3,243,627 persons, have signed the declaration reading:

"I, from Kurdistan, recognize Mr. Abdullah Ocalan as a political representative in Kurdistan"

These figures and the fact that the campaign has been conducted under clandestine conditions gives an impression about how much higher the actual support for Ocalan is.

"I, from Kurdistan, recognize..."

Of those signing the declaration, 2,042,920 did so in Turkey, 537,335 in Iraq, 332,899 in Iran, 156,341 in Syria, 140,356 in Europe and 33,794 in the Russian Federation.

"...Mr. Abdullah Ocalan..."

Abdullah Ocalan has undertaken remarkable efforts for the de-escalation of the armed conflict during his trial in 1999, and through his call for a retreat of Kurdish fighters from Turkish territory the same year he gave the start to a lasting, one-sided ceasefire. In his messages and writing, Ocalan has since developed a bunch of proposals for a peaceful, political resolution of the Kurdish question in all parts of Kurdistan. These proposals are by no means extreme or unrealistic. Ocalan calls for the cultural rights and full citizenship rights of the Kurdish people and a political process that would eventually enable the rebel fighters to put down their arms and join the democratic process.

"...as a political representative in Kurdistan."

The massive support for Abdullah Ocalan in all parts of Kurdistan and abroad, especially in Turkey, where he has been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole and is still imprisoned under severe isolation conditions in violation of his human rights, does require a reconsideration of his role in the political process.

Kurds do not want war. Kurds want a political resolution to the conflict. For a political solution, political representatives are needed. Ocalan is the choice of the people. Millions of people from Kurdistan want this voice of peace to be heard and recognized. Their call is clear: "Take our political will seriously, support a peaceful solution, accept our representative."

2 . - Reuters - "Protesters voice anger at southeast Turkey bombing":

DIYARBAKIR / 14 September 2006 / by Hamdi Istanbullu

About 1,500 people marched through the largest city in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast on Thursday to appeal for peace in the troubled region and voice anger at a bomb blast which killed 10 people.

State prosecutors in Diyarbakir authorised police to search properties at will for three days as they investigated Tuesday evening's blast, the latest in a series of bombings in Turkish cities, including tourist resorts, in recent weeks.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, the bloodiest in Turkey since suicide bombers killed more than 60 people in Istanbul in November 2003. Eight children were among the victims of the latest attack, two less than a year old.

"Break the hands of those who threaten the peace", "Find the killers", the demonstrators chanted as they marched to the site of Tuesday's bombing, a bus stop near a park in the city.

Some protesters shouted slogans in support of Abdullah Ocalan, jailed leader of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The outlawed group launched a violent separatist insurgency in 1984 in which more than 30,000 people have died.

Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu played down claims on a previously unknown Web site that a shadowy far-right militant group, the Turkish Vengeance Brigade, carried out the bombing in revenge for PKK killings of Turkish soldiers and police.

"Many things are written and displayed (on the Internet) and our colleagues are investigating what is true," Aksu told reporters during a visit to Diyarbakir.

Amid tight police security, protesters laid red carnations at the blast site. Most traders in the district pulled down their shop shutters to show support for the protest.

A group of some 500 youths threw stones at police after trying to cross a police barricade before scattering into surrounding streets.

LAST VICTIM IDENTIFIED

Newspapers said the bomb had been concealed in a 12-litre plastic water container and police said traces of plastic explosives had been found at the spot.

Nine of the victims were buried on Wednesday in small ceremonies. Police on Thursday identified the 10th victim as a 14-year-old boy. Some witnesses said the container, left by a wall, exploded when the boy tried to open it.

The local governor's office previously said it believed the blast happened as the explosives were being transported and could have been destined to target police headquarters.

Police raided houses in the Baglar district where the bomb went off and questioned people believed to have links to Kurdish militants. The PKK has condemned the attack and blamed it on shadowy elements within the Turkish state.

There was no word from the Kurdistan Liberation Hawks (TAK), a group believed linked to the PKK which claimed responsibility for attacks in August. TAK has threatened to turn Turkey into "hell" over its policies towards the Kurds.

Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir said the attack was a bid to sabotage efforts by Kurdish politicians to end the violence.

3. - The New Anatolian - "PKK's support for AK Party for elections":

14 September 2006 / by Sedat Bozkurt

Turkey is preparing to witness the sixth cease-fire of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) leader Ahmet Turk made a call to the PKK to lay down its arms this week and said that it's at the request of its grassroots. Hence the calls for "Let the arms fall silent," sending a message to both sides, have been replaced by a concrete call made solely to one side. The southeast, which was normalized under the last cease-fire, started to become tense again after the PKK ended that cease-fire and a declaration that terrorist activities would be kept at a controlled level. That tension is affecting the region's residents the most, who are known to be sympathetic to the PKK's cause and constitute the DTP's grassroots.

The U.S. appointed a retired general as an envoy in the fight against the PKK's presence in northern Iraq. Turkey responded by appointing a retired general as well. This indicated that the U.S. was taking the fight seriously. Meanwhile, the UK declared the PKK, though not its affiliated groups, a terrorist group and banned its activities. That was a sign: a sign that countries were to exert pressure on the PKK. The administration in northern Iraq was also known to be troubled by pressure from Iran and Turkey on them over the PKK. The PKK's presence in their sphere of influence was therefore a problem for them. An operation into the head of a legal political group in northern Iraq affiliated to the PKK was a message to the group. The central administration in Iraq shut down the Ocalan Cultural Center in Baghdad.

Funerals for soldiers killed by PKK terrorists have continued to be a very serious concern for the Kurds, 65 percent of whom live outside southeastern Turkey. As the number of funerals rises and they become more visible, difficulties between the Turks and the Kurds have increased. Some of the attacks have targeted the DTP's premises. As ethnic tension has mounted, fueled by certain demands of the ethnic Kurdish population as part of European Union harmonization, the rhetoric of political parties has become tougher.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who didn't hesitate to use the catch phase the "Kurdish problem," stopped using the word "Kurd." The DTP was totally isolated and unable to find counterparts for a discussion, let alone an alliance.

Another political formation that is experiencing those tensions very acutely is that of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party.

The difficulties of the AKP in its quest to become a party whose legitimacy cannot be questioned have been compounded by the tension sparked by the PKK. Erdogan's remark that the military is not a place "to lie down and take it easy" made him a very clear target at which people could direct their frustration against terrorism. At funerals for victims of PKK terrorism, there were three targets: The PKK, DTP and AK Party.

Amid such tension, members of the two political sides, the AKP's deputies from the southeast and some DTP administrators, came together and decided on the call to the PKK to lay down its arms. It was also decided that the DTP should not be the only group to make that call, and the political party's call should be followed by a call from the Turkish intelligentsia. That came 48 hours later.

The cease-fire, which the PKK is expected to respond to positively, will go into effect on Oct. 1 and last until after the elections -- in other words, more than a year. If this indeed comes about, it will be a considerable relief to the AKP during the campaign period. This may indeed be the best support Washington could give the ruling party though its new envoy.

4. - The New Anatolian - "Erdogan on US flag leash could mean 3 years in prison":

ANKARA / 14 September 2006

A British collage artist faces from one to three years in prison for depicting Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a dog attached to a leash made out of the American flag.

Michael Dickinson was taken into custody on Tuesday after he refused to put away the poster-sized collage which he displayed in a court during a hearing in a case against an anti-militarist activist, Erkan Kara, for being insulting.

Dickinson, long settled in Istanbul, has also faced similar charges for insulting Prime Minister Erdogan's dignity through a different collage, displayed at a media exhibition as part of a Peace Fair organized by the anti-militarist Global Peace and Justice Coalition (Kuresel BAK) in March.

The first collage depicted U.S. President George W.Bush pinning a rosette on Erdogan at a dog show. The exhibit's organizer Erkan Kara was taken into custody and faced trial on charges of insulting the premier's dignity under Article 301 of the revised Turkish Penal Code (TCK). In June, Dickinson went to the judge's office on his own initiative and submitted a letter, assuming sole responsibility for displaying the work, entitled "Best at Show." A probe was then launched against Dickinson on the same charges.

Kara denied responsibility for the collage, saying, "A lot of people were coming and going in the tent. I didn't see who put the picture up." Kara's statement was verified by Dickinson as well, who was cited in British daily The Guardian yesterday as saying, "I didn't ask for permission to put it up; I just walked in and did it."

At Tuesday's hearing of Kara's trial, Dickinson protested the case with the new collage and was immediately taken into custody.

The Guardian said yesterday that Dickinson told the daily, on the phone from the police station where he made a statement, "I wasn't even planning to open it up. But then I said 'in for a penny in for a pound' -- if I'm here at all, it's about freedom of speech."

The daily also said that some people were unhappy with Dickinson's method of protest. "In the crowded corridor of the courthouse before yesterday's trial began, angry words were exchanged between the British artist and members of the Peace and Justice Coalition of which Mr. Kara is a member," the daily said, citing a Kuresel BAK member as saying that Dickinson's collages drive people away from the anti-militarist movement.

The British daily also said that Erdogan is believed to have earned at least 115,000 British pounds in damages from insult cases related to cartoons and columns.

5. - Associated Press - "Turkish cleric criticizes pope comments":

ISTANBUL / 14 September 2006 / by Benjamin Harvey

The Vatican hastened to defend the pope, saying that the pontiff wanted to promote respect and dialogue toward other religions, "obviously also toward Islam."

Ali Bardakoglu, head of Turkey's powerful Religious Affairs Directorate, said he was deeply offended by remarks about Islamic holy war made Tuesday by the pope during a visit to Germany, calling them "extraordinarily worrying, saddening and unfortunate."

Bardakoglu said that "if the pope was reflecting the spite, hatred and enmity" of others in the Christian world, it would be even more troubling.

In a speech Tuesday, the pope quoted from a book recounting a conversation between 14th century Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel Paleologos II and an educated Persian on the truths of Islam and Christianity.

"The emperor comes to speak about the issue of jihad, holy war," the pope said.

"He said, I quote, 'Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.'"

Clearly aware of the delicacy of the issue, Benedict said "I quote" twice before pronouncing the phrases on Islam and described them as "brusque," while neither explicitly agreeing with nor repudiating them.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Tuesday the pontiff had not been giving an interpretation of Islam as "something violent," although Lombardi said the religion contained both violent and nonviolent strains.

Bardakoglu said he expected an apology from the pope and said it was Christianity, not Islam, that popularized conversion by the sword, according to Turkey's state-owned Anatolia news agency.

"The church and the Western public, because they saw Islam as the enemy, went on crusades. They occupied Istanbul, they killed thousands of people. Orthodox Christians and Jews were killed and tortured," he said.

Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, was the capital of the Eastern Roman and Byzantine Christian empires before being conquered by Ottoman Muslims in 1453.

The Christians "saw war against those outside the Christian world as a holy duty," Bardakoglu said. "That's why the Western clerics always have in the back of their minds a crusade mentality and the idea of holy war."

Bardakoglu said he suspected Benedict had the same mentality and asked the pope to "look in the mirror" before making remarks against Islam.

Benedict and his entourage were heading back to the papal summer residence near Rome when Bardakoglu spoke. A few hours after Benedict's arrival back in Italy, the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, insisted that the pontiff respects Islam.

Benedict wants to "cultivate an attitude of respect and dialogue toward the other religions and cultures, obviously also toward Islam," Lombardi, who had accompanied the pope in Germany, said in a statement released by the Vatican.

"It is opportune to note that that which is at the pope's heart is a clear and radical refusal of the religious motivation of violence," Lombardi said.

In his address Tuesday, Benedict did not touch directly on the current controversy over Islamic extremism, although it is an issue he follows closely with concern. He urged Islamic leaders last year to take responsibility for their communities and teach their young to abhor violence.

Benedict, who has made the fight against growing secularism in Western society a theme of his pontificate, is expected to visit Turkey in late November. He was invited by the staunchly secularist Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who said the invitation was part of an effort to strengthen dialogue between religions.

Although officially secular Turkey is 99 percent Muslim, the main purpose of the pope's pilgrimage there is to meet with the spiritual leader of the world's 200 million Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, whose headquarters, for historical reasons, are in Istanbul.

6. - Cihan News Agency / Zaman - "Detained PCDK Leader Released":

SULEYMANIYE / 14 September 2006

As Turkey continues efforts to arrest the leaders of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the outlawed organization operating in northern Iraq, the Iraqi government released Faik Gulpi, the leader of the Democratic Solution Party (PCDK), allegedly a political extension of the PKK.

Gulpi, who had been detained for allegedly killing Kemal Sahin, secretary of the Kurdistan Union and Solidarity Party and another former PKK leader, was released due to lack of sufficient evidence to convict him.

The website of the Iraqi Kurdistan Patriotic Union confirmed Gulpi’s release.