23 April 2002

1. "Turkish government seeks opposition support to lift death penalty", Turkish government officials are manoeuvering to secure opposition support for the abolition of the death penalty, a key EU demand, in a bid to overcome resistance by nationalists in the three-party coalition, press reports said Tuesday.

2. "Germany confirms Iraqi Kurdish leaders visited Berlin last week", the German government on Monday confirmed that Iraqi Kurdish opposition leaders met in Berlin last week but said it was not aware of reported meetings with US officials here.

3. "HADEP's 'calendar' case continues at DGM", the trial of 51 suspects in the "calendar" case, filed against the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HADEP) which is also facing a closure case at the Constitutional Court, continues in the Ankara State Security Court (DGM).

4. "Fogg: RTUK law against both EU and Turkey's norms", EU Representative Karen Fogg says that, 'There is no threat and problem of fundamentalism in Turkey'.

5. "Dervis insists Turkey can meet growth targets", Turkish Economy Minister Kemal Dervis said on Monday his nation's growth and inflation targets with the International Monetary Fund would not be revised because Ankara could meet them.

6. "Turkey complets helicopter projekt", Turkey's defense industry has completed its role in a Western helicopter project.

1. - AFP - "Turkish government seeks opposition support to lift death penalty":

ANKARA / April 23

Turkish government officials are manoeuvering to secure opposition support for the abolition of the death penalty, a key EU demand, in a bid to overcome resistance by nationalists in the three-party coalition, press reports said Tuesday.

"We aim to bring in a law by October that will totally abolish the death sentence," Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, who holds the EU affairs portfolio, told reporters during a flight to the eastern Agri city Monday, the mass-circulation daily Hurriyet reported. The other deputy prime minister, Husamettin Ozkan, known as Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's right hand, "is working to ensure a compromise with the opposition," Yilmaz said, according to Hurriyet. Late last year, Turkey passed a constitutional amendment that limited capital punishment solely to times of war, imminent threat of war and terrorist crimes as part of democratic reforms to boost its bid for European Union membership.

Under EU criteria, however, candidates are required to totally abolish the death penalty. The far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the senior partner of Ecevit's center-left Democratic Left Party (DSP), is firmly opposed to such a move, arguing that convicted Kurdish rebels, and particularly their leader Abdullah Ocalan, should not go unpunished.

The DSP and the third coalition partner, Yilmaz's center-right Motherland Party (ANAP), favor the death penalty's abolition, but lack the required parliamentary majority to pass the reform without backing from opposition parties. Controversy over the death penalty has been linked to the future of Ocalan, the country's number one public enemy, who was sentenced to death for separatism in 1999, and an opportunity for him to escape the gallows is likely to spark public outrage. Ocalan's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has waged a 15-year war for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast, with the conflict claiming some 36,500 lives.

Ankara has suspended Ocalan's execution until the European Court of Human Rights rules on his complaint.

"I am against the hanging of Ocalan because of EU standards and because it will not bring Turkey any benefit, and also because we are against the death penalty in principle," Yilmaz said. While capital punishment remains on the books in Turkey, the country has not carried out executions since 1984 under a de facto moratorium.

2. - AFP - "Germany confirms Iraqi Kurdish leaders visited Berlin last week":

BERLIN / April 22

The German government on Monday confirmed that Iraqi Kurdish opposition leaders met in Berlin last week but said it was not aware of reported meetings with US officials here. "The foreign ministry was informed that these people would spend time here," ministry spokesman Andreas Michaelis said. "We have no information about the type of talks or possible contacts."

The Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat had reported Sunday that US officials held a secret meeting near Berlin with the leaders of the main Kurdish factions controlling northern Iraq to plan a strike against President Saddam Hussein "by year's end".

The paper, quoting an Iraqi Kurdish source, said the US interlocutors included military officials and representatives of the State Department and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Massoud Barzani and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) chief Jalal Talabani, whose factions share control of a Western-protected Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq, both attended the three-day meeting which ended on Friday, the paper said.

The US strike would be launched from northern Iraq, where "three airports have been upgraded" to serve as springboards for the attack, it said.

A planned meeting of US officials with Barzani and Talabani in a mediation bid in Washington on Thursday was called off after the Berlin talks brought the rival leaders closer, according to Asharq Al-Awsat's source.

One of the topics discussed was the possibility of merging the KDP's and PUK's military resources into a single force in anticipation of the anti-Saddam strike, which would take place "by year's end," the report said.

The United States has threatened to launch a military offensive against Iraq and try to overthrow Saddam unless he allows UN arms inspectors back into the country to verify that Baghdad no longer has weapons of mass destruction.

3. - Turkish Daily News - "HADEP's 'calendar' case continues at DGM":

The trial of 51 suspects in the "calendar" case, filed against the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HADEP) which is also facing a closure case at the Constitutional Court, continues in the Ankara State Security Court (DGM).

The Prosecutor had filed a case regarding the party's 1998 calendar, which included photos of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants. HADEP's 51 top officials, including chairman, Murat Bozlak, are accused of being political wing managers of the PKK.

Mehmet Nuri Ozmen and Yusuf Alatas, the lawyers for the defendants, attended Monday's hearing. Ozmen asked for extra time for the defense, as suspects Ayse Zarakolu, Mehmet Emin Altun and Isa Karakurt have died, and the death certificates have not yet been transmitted to the court.

The Court chairman approved the demand, and postponed the trial. The suspects will face at least 22.5 years imprisonment if found guilty.

Prosecutor Talat Salk had earlier demanded the acquittal of 29 suspects, including former HADEP Chairman Ahmet Turan Demir, Diyarbakir Mayor Feridun Celik, former banned pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP) deputies Sirri Sakik and Sedat Yurttas, while asking for the postponement of the case for 21 suspects, including Bozlak. Salk said that the aim of these 21 suspects was to create propaganda for the PKK, but added that this crime, included in Turkish Penal Code Article 169, was being evaluated in the scope of Law 4,616, related to the conditional release and postponement of cases and sentences. Salk also demanded the separation of Ihsan Durukal's file from the case.

4. - Turkish Daily News - "Fogg: RTUK law against both EU and Turkey's norms":

EU Representative Karen Fogg says that, 'There is no threat and problem of fundamentalism in Turkey'

ANKARA / 23 April

The European Union Representative to Turkey, Karen Fogg, said that the Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTUK) law, is not only against the norms of the European Union, but also the norms of Turkey. Fogg participated in "Basin Kulubu - Press Club" in Haberturk, and answered the questions related to current developments in EU-Turkey ties.

Fogg evaluated the RTUK law by stating that, "This law means taking a few steps back. This law has shocked the Europeans. Especially the restrictions and limitations related to the use of languages, are very considerable. However, sometimes some progressive steps may be taken during the implementation. We see some improvement in the issue of mother tongues, and improvements in the issue of torture. But sometimes no improvement could be assured. The general perception of the EU is that, Turkey has assured some improvements in fulfillment of the obligations and its promises."

Fogg also evaluated the threat of fundamentalism in Turkey, and the closures of the political parties. By saying that, "There is no threat and problem of fundamentalism in Turkey" Fogg stated, "The closure of the political parties should be extremely restricted conditions. In order to close a political party, the condition of provocating the violence should be available. The EU thinks that the closure of the political parties is unacceptable."

By evaluating the Feb. 28 Process, Fogg said that, "The Feb. 28 Process has remained in the past. A balance of trust should be established between the rulers and the people. Now, we have witnessed some positive steps. So we should look forward, and we should not hang over the developments of the past."

By stressing on her relations with the authorities in Turkey, Fogg stated that, "We had debated the relations of civilians and the military in the European Commission. I have very limited contact with the General Staff. I have never officially meet with the Chief of General Staff. In fact this was not a duty of the European Commission. The Commission considers that an evolution will be lived, and the civil authority will be predominant eventually. We expect the General Secretary of the National Security Council to be a civil person, and a balance in the relations between civilians and the army. We want to just work with the government in Turkey."

By answering the claims over the purchase of the Turkish unions by the EU, Fogg stated that, "Four union confederations have a membership to the confederations in Europe. These institutions have made cooperations on the membership to the European Union. Could this be called as purchasing or bribing? The unions receives training support from the confederations that they are members of"

"EU does not want the transfer of any border dispute in the membership. It wants solutions. We do not always bring the Cyprus issue on the agenda." said Fogg and continued, "If Turkey does not want membership to the EU, it can enter relations with other countries. The preference completely belongs to Turkey,."

Fogg continues to say that, "The candidates do not wait for membership to the EU, they work, make efforts for this aim. However, Turkey has started to fulfill the conditions / criteria for the first time. The indispensable condition of the membership to the EU is, appropriation of the EU policies and laws. The EU criteria are always the same. The important thing is how much a candidate is ready for membership. The efforts in Turkey have always been insufficient. For every country the same standards have been applied. There are three main criteria for every country: Political, economic and constitutional criteria. Turkey will decide itself when it will access the EU."

By saying that Turkey should explain its approach on the terrorist organization PKK in Europe, Fogg stated that, "Those who are called terrorist by you, behave very cautiously in European countries, and do not violate the rules of those countries."

5. - Reuters - "Dervis insists Turkey can meet growth targets":

WASHINGTON / April 22

Turkish Economy Minister Kemal Dervis said on Monday his nation's growth and inflation targets with the International Monetary Fund would not be revised because Ankara could meet them.

"In two or three months, positive growth statistics will be seen," Dervis said in a speech in Washington. "In terms of the crisis, we have turned the corner. We will see growth eventually. It won't be a huge figure but a cautious one."

Turkey had been slow to emerge from a debilitating banking crisis and its worst recession since 1945, leading many economists to question whether it can reach the 3 percent economic growth figure demanded for this year in its $16 billion IMF loan program.

But Dervis -- here for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings last weekend -- said talks with IMF officials in recent days produced a consensus that the targets in the program, including cutting inflation to 35 percent this year, could be met and would not need to be revised.

"They are maintaining the 3 percent and 35 percent targets," Dervis said. "We agreed that these targets can be met."

Even if Turkey can reignite growth after its economy contracted by a worse-than-expected 9.4 percent last year, some fear that should the United States go to war with Iraq, Ankara's economy would be hammered.

Dervis said Turkey's current economic program could weather minor regional shocks such as weak tourism, but he conceded something larger like war in Iraq could knock the program off track. "If the shock is very bad and prolonged, I don't know."

Dervis also called on the European Union to give a date for the start of membership negotiations with Turkey, saying such an announcement "would boost our structural reforms and foreign direct investment."

6. - Middle East Newsline - "Turkey complets helicopter projekt":

ANKARA / 23 April

Turkey's defense industry has completed its role in a Western helicopter project.

Officials said state-owned Turkish defense companies have fulfilled their obligations in such projects as the S-70 and AS-532 military helicopters. The obligations were part of offset arrangements included in Turkey's purchase of Western air platforms.

Aselsan completed the installation of the wireless hardware into the Western helicopters. The semiofficial Anatolia news agency reported that Aselsan was a leading Turkish contractor in the Black Hawk and Cougar helicopter. The former is produced by the U.S. firm Sikorsky Aircraft and the latter by the French-German Eurocopter.

Turkey has linked all defense projects to offsets meant to expand the nation's defense industry. Aselsan and other state-owned firms have been awarded contracts as part of defense projects led by Israeli and Western companies.