14 February 2003

1. "KADEK declared a war of defence", KADEK determined its new line as carrying out democratic serhildans and war of legal defence together. The party reminded that the time previously given would come to an end on February 15. Kurdistan Congress for Freedom and Democracy (KADEK) Presidential Council released a written statement, saying that KADEK President Abdullah Ocalan was not allowed to see his lawyers and relatives this week either, and the period administred with unilateral sacrifices came to an end. And it called on the Kurdish people to participate in the serhildans (popular uprisings) and the Kurdish youth in the guerrilla.

2. "Turkey's Kurdish rebels call on youths to join guerrillas, prepare for war", Turkey's Kurdish rebels on Wednesday urged Kurdish youths to join the guerrillas and said war against Turkey had become inevitable, in a statement carried by a Kurdish news agency.

3. "Turkish Minister Says NATO Credibility Hurt", NATO's failure to approve steps to protect Turkey in the event of a U.S.-led war with Iraq has hurt the alliance's credibility but will not affect Turkey's security, Turkey's foreign minister said on Thursday.

4. "Turkish PM casts doubt on next week's vote on US troop deployment", Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul on Thursday cast doubt on whether his government would ask parliament next week to approve the deployment of US soldiers on Turkish soil and dispatch Turkish soldiers to northern Iraq.

5. "European Court rejects appeal to overturn Turkey's banning of pro-Islamic Welfare Party", the European Court of Human Rights rejected an appeal Thursday to overturn a ruling backing Turkey's decision to ban a pro-Islamic party which was dissolved in 1998.

6. "Mountains remain the Kurds' greatest friends", feature by Financial Times.

1. - Kurdish Observer - "KADEK declared a war of defence":

KADEK determined its new line as carrying out democratic serhildans and war of legal defence together. The party reminded that the time previously given would come to an end on February 15. Kurdistan Congress for Freedom and Democracy (KADEK) Presidential Council released a written statement, saying that KADEK President Abdullah Ocalan was not allowed to see his lawyers and relatives this week either, and the period administred with unilateral sacrifices came to an end. And it called on the Kurdish people to participate in the serhildans (popular uprisings) and the Kurdish youth in the guerrilla.

MHA/FRANKFURT / 13 February 2003

Kurdistan Congress for Freedom and Democracy (KADEK) Presidential Council released a written statement, saying that KADEK President Abdullah Ocalan was not allowed to see his lawyers and relatives this week either, and the period administred with unilateral sacrifices came to an end. And it called on the Kurdish people to participate in the serhildans (popular uprisings) and the Kurdish youth in the guerrilla.

The Presidential Council announced its decision that would affect policies in Kurdistan and Turkey and also regional and international policies. KADEK has given time to the Turkish state to take steps towards solving the Kurdish question, to lift the isolation, to put an end to repression and to declare a general amnesty until February 15, 2003.

Pointing out that let alone efforts towards peace Turkey had announced a war of destruction against the Kurdish people seizing the opportunity from the turmoil in the region, KADEK stressed that it would be silent in the face of it. KADEK stated that Turkey as well as the states in the region and their allies would be responsible for a new war after its call to take a step towards peace was replied by silence.

“War is unavoidable”

KADEK announced that it had decided to put a war of legal defence into its agenda. It stated the following: “The Turkish state is insistent on its stance not to solve the Kurdish problem and on isolation. And it is contended with it, it is making preparations to occupy both North and South Kurdistan. Assessing the situation, KADEK has decided that peace process has come to a deadlock and the war in unavoidable. Our party has decided to put war of legal defence of the Kurdish people into its agenda. War of defence against war of destruction is on the agenda.”

The statement called attention to the following respects: “Peace initiative launched by our President and recognized by the freedom movement and the people faces a danger to fail. The isolation and war will put an end to the peace process. It will not be possible to continue it by unilateral sacrifices. The Kurdish people has to reply the war of destruction by war of defence. The war defence is not a preference of KADEK and the Kurdish people but it is imposed forcibly.”

Democratic serhildan and war are interconnected

KADEK informed about the new process. Accordingly, the democratic serhildan will be in effect, being the main struggle method. KADEK will aim to strengthen them. Therefore the defence war and the serhildans will be interconnected. The statement had this to say on the subject: “The defence war does not change the content of the serhildans, they go hand-in-hand. Developments will be observed closely and steps will be taken accordingly. Until the war be a concrete reality the peace process will be made functional. In case that Turkey approaches positively, the decision will be re-examined.”

Turkey could not use the peaceful ground

KADEK also gave information about the transition from the peace process to the process of legal defence. For KADEK the main reason of it was the fact that Turkey had replied the declaration of the peace process by the war of destruction. The unilateral peace process had laid the groundwork for a lasting peace. During that time PKK withdrew its armed forces from the region, declared a truce and stressed political activities. It took important steps towards change and transformation. Peace delegations were sent to Turkey, projects for peace were proposed. The Kurdish people assimilated the peaceful line and behaved with common sense in spite of provocation. But there was no real change in the Turkey’s policies. KADEK continued with following words: “Now Turkey is making preparations for the war. Although our decisions relating with the conditions under which our President is being kept are well known, the solitary confinement is also a part of these preparations. Our President has been kept from seeing his lawyers and family members for 11 weeks on the pretext of ‘bad weather conditions’. The isolation incites the Kurdish freedom movement to an armed conflict. In spite of the democratic actions of the Kurdish people the provocation continues. And there are also operations against the People’s Defence Forces. More importantly, efforts of the Kurdish people to solve the Kurdish question by political means are blocked. DEHAP was kept from being present in the Parliament at the last elections.”

Attempts to occupy

The statement gave examples for the attempts to prevent Kurds to enjoy any gains from the war against Iraq: “An overwhelming part of its army are deployed to Kurdistan. As North Kurdistan is continued to be occupied by reinforced units, a force of a hundred thousand is waiting for an order to occupy South Kurdistan. It is clear that Turkey will occupy South Kurdistan. As it made preparations for occupation on the one hand, it continued its military operations causing a number of guerrillas to lose their lives. Killings-by-unknown perpetrators continued although it lost its momentum. A number of people engaging in political activities were detained and arrested. Again torture and ill-treatment continued systematically. Adjustment laws were put into effect but remained on paper. Amendments abolishing the capital punishment and allowing education in mother tongue were nearly forgotten. Capital punishment was abolished but replaced by a heavy solitary confinement.”

“Foreign forces contributed to the negativity”

“At the time the international public did not display the necessary sensitivity as well. USA and England included in the international conspiracy against our President supported Turkey’s aggressive policies, let alone making efforts to develop peace. Following PKK having being taken into the “list of terrorist organisations” in Europe, KADEK was declared a “terrorist organisation” by USA. And the European Council followed a line strengthening Turkey’s position by its uncertain policies. And taking the advantage Turkey exploited peaceful attempts of Kurds, thus leading to a new war of destruction.”

“Cooperation against Kurds”

KADEK emphasized that a new war was at the threshold and warned that conflicts might spread to all the region. The Presidential Council underscored that regardless of its means Turkey would not allow a Kurdish state in the region to be established. The statement continued with words to the effect: “Turkey is making preparations for a widespread war by fortifying its military units in the region and trying a create an anti-Kurdish front. USA made agreements with countries like Turkey, Iran and Syria that had declared war against the Kurdish freedom movement. As a result of this Iran and Syria increased their pressure on KADEK. Iran launched military operations against the guerrilla forces. Both Iran and Syria escalated their attempts to keep Kurds from organizing political works. Thus an alliance preserving its reactionary status-quo as always were renewed.”

People to serhildan, youth to mountains”

KADEK called on the Kurdish people as well, drawing attention to the delicate balance. Saying that all sections of the society should do what they must do, KADEK emphasized the duties to be fulfilled on and after February 15. The statement went on: “The Turkish Republic did not display a positive approach to the peace efforts carried out unilaterally. It continuously exploited the peace process to liquidate our freedom movement. It did not give up its policies of denial and destruction. And now it imposes the war once again.”

KADEK made the following calls: Under the conditions imposed by the Turkish State a war to defend democracy and freedom is of absolute necessity. We must be ready to wage a war as a way to freedom instead of living like a slave. We must do what we must do for a war as well as the democratic serhildan. We must make all necessary sacrifices. We must use the opportunities created by the military attack against Iraq for the victory. We must never accept to live without freedom.

We must make the anniversary on February 15 a beginning of our escalated struggle. Our reply to the captivity of President Apo must be a drive of democratic serhildans. When February 15 is made a turning point the necessary reply will be given to the international conspiracy. For it we must make all kinds of democratic actions. Youth, women and all sections of the society must participate in the actions actively. Let’s stop the life on February 15. Let’s fast, let’s students not go to their schools, let’s retailers shut down their shuttles, let’s workers stop working. Everybody must turn off their lights between 09.00-09.30 p.m., everybody must wear black, and everybody including youth and women must make actions and march. Everybody must prove his/her devotion to President APO with his/her actions.

We call on our people living all four parts of Kurdistan and abroad to support the defence war, and to participate in the democratic serhildan, and on the youth to participate in the guerrilla.

We call on forces of democracy of the countries dominating Turkey and Kurdistan to abandon their passivity and to engage in a common struggle.

We call on international community to react against the aggressiveness of Turkey, to make efforts for peace and to support our people’s legal struggle for freedom.”

2. - AP - "Turkey's Kurdish rebels call on youths to join guerrillas, prepare for war":

ISTANBUL / 12 January 2003

Turkey's Kurdish rebels on Wednesday urged Kurdish youths to join the guerrillas and said war against Turkey had become inevitable, in a statement carried by a Kurdish news agency.

The announcement marks an important change of position by the rebels, who had declared a unilateral cease-fire in 1999.

The rebels said they "understood that the four-year-old peace process has been choked and that war has become inevitable." The statement also accused Turkey of preparing to occupy northern Iraq to "suppress Kurdish freedom" there.

Turkey says it will send thousands of troops into northern Iraq in case of U.S.-led war against Iraq. Most analysts believe Turkey wants to send in its forces to prevent the creation of an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq and to fight the Turkish Kurdish rebels who have their main bases there.

The rebel group, which last year changed its name from the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, to the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress, or KADEK, withdrew four years ago to bases in northern Iraq when it declared a unilateral cease-fire.

It was not clear if the rebels were declaring an end to the cease-fire and the resumption of attacks.

"It has been decided to take back on the agenda the right of the Kurdish people to justified self-defense. On the agenda is a defensive war against a destructive one," said the statement released by the Germany-based Mesopotamia news agency.

The rebel leadership urged Kurds to prepare for war.

"We call on all Kurds ... to take part in actions of democratic uprising, on youths to join the guerrillas and on all our people to support the defensive war materially and spiritually," the statement read.

Many Kurds are worried about the fate of rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is in a Turkish jail serving a life sentence for leading a 15-year war against the Turkish army that left 37,000 people dead.

For the past 11 weeks, Turkish authorities have prevented Ocalan's lawyers from traveling to the prison island where he is the sole inmate, citing bad weather conditions.

3. - Reuters - "Turkish Minister Says NATO Credibility Hurt":

WASHINGTON / 13 February 2003

NATO's failure to approve steps to protect Turkey in the event of a U.S.-led war with Iraq has hurt the alliance's credibility but will not affect Turkey's security, Turkey's foreign minister said on Thursday.

Speaking after talks with Secretary of State Colin Powell, Turkish Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis said his country would get what it needed, via bilateral agreements if necessary, to protect itself from counter-attack by neighbor Iraq.

Germany, France and Belgium, who oppose any rush to military action against Iraq, have blocked proposals to start planning for the deployment of Patriot air defense missiles, early warning planes and anti-chemical and germ warfare teams to protect Turkey against possible retaliation by Iraq.

"We believe that the last developments in NATO have negatively affected the credibility of the alliance," Yakis told reporters.

"It does not affect Turkey's protection or security but it may have affected the credibility of NATO as a whole so that in future, when there is such a situation, the third parties will believe that NATO will be bogged down (in) discussions on the procedures and formalities," he added.

"Even if NATO as a whole does not agree to extend protection to Turkey we are conducting consultations with our allies on a bilateral basis so I think Turkey, if attacked, will have no difficulty being protected," Yakis said.

The United States has threatened Iraq with war if it fails to give up its suspected chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs. Iraq denies it has such weapons.

Yakis, who came to Washington with Turkish Economy Minister Ali Babacan, said part of his mission was to discuss the number of U.S. troops who may be allowed to be based in Turkey should the United States go to war against Iraq.

He said Turkey was "trying to accommodate" U.S. requests, giving no details on the number of troops other than to say that a figure of 80,000 initially discussed had been modified.

The State Department said that in the first of two days of meetings with the Turkish officials, Secretary of State Colin Powell focused on Washington's commitment to the strategic partnership between the two nations.

"The Secretary expressed our gratitude for Turkey's strong support, especially last week's decision by the Turkish parliament to allow for site preparations to move forward at Turkish bases," State Department spokeswoman Amanda Batt said. "He emphasized that the United States looks forward to the parliament's consideration of our remaining request."

Last month U.S. officials said Washington had discussed a compromise with Ankara under which troops would be rotated through the country in relatively low numbers, with a goal of keeping the presence as low as possible -- around 15,000-20,000 troops at any one time -- to avoid a backlash from Turks widely opposed to a war against their fellow-Muslim neighbor.

Yakis said nothing about U.S. and Turkish negotiations over an aid package -- estimated by U.S. sources last month to be worth nearly $14 billion -- to protect Turkey's economy against damage from a war on Iraq.

The package, which could change as negotiations continue, is likely to include as much as $10 billion in loan guarantees and to cost the U.S. Treasury $4 billion to $5 billion over three years, assuming Turkey did not default on the loans.

4. - AFP - "Turkish PM casts doubt on next week's vote on US troop deployment":

ANKARA / 13 February 2003

Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul on Thursday cast doubt on whether his government would ask parliament next week to approve the deployment of US soldiers on Turkish soil and dispatch Turkish soldiers to northern Iraq.

Turkish MPs were expected to vote on the issue on February 18, but Gul refrained from giving a clear answer when asked by reporters whether the vote would go ahead as expected or would be postponed until the end of ongoing negotiations with the United States.

"This is a process. They are not independent of one another," the prime minister told reporters in the western province of Izmir, Anatolia news agency reported. He added that he would hold a meeting with military officials, diplomats and Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis and Economy Minister Ali Babacan -- who are currently on a two-day visit to the United States -- over the weekend.

"Once our friends get back, we will sit down and talk and do what is right... The government stance will be come clear in the next few days," Gul said. Last week the Turkish parliament voted to allow US army engineers to upgrade several air bases and ports in the country in preparation for a possible operation against Iraq, in what was seen as the first step toward allowing the deployment of US combat troops on Turkish soil.

But there have been indications recently that the government might put off asking permission for troop deployment. The leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) said on Wednesday that Turkey would wait for a second UN resolution on Iraq before seeking parliamentary approval on the deployment of troops. That issue will come up "after discussions... on the resolution the UN Security Council will take," Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Anatolia news agency.

"Turkey will watch, evaluate and then prepare the motion" on troop deployment, he added, without giving a clear date. According to recent press reports, Turkey is considering allowing up to 20,000 US soldiers to use its territory as a springboard for intervention in northern Iraq.

The government is also planning to send Turkish troops to the Kurdish-held northern Iraqi area, which borders Turkey, to stop a possible influx of refugees and thwart any moves by local Kurds toward independence.

Ankara fears the downfall of the Baghdad regime could lead to a break up of Iraq and spawn a Kurdish state in the north, which in turn could influence its own restive Kurdish population.

5. - AP - "European Court rejects appeal to overturn Turkey's banning of pro-Islamic Welfare Party":

STRASBOURG / 13 February 2003

The European Court of Human Rights rejected an appeal Thursday to overturn a ruling backing Turkey's decision to ban a pro-Islamic party which was dissolved in 1998.

The court's Grand Chamber of 17 judges ruled unanimously that "there had been no violation" of the European Convention on Human Rights, which Turkey is bound to uphold as a signatory.

In its final ruling, judges said "it was not necessary to examine the complaints" which were filed by members of the now-banned Welfare Party.

Party chairman Necmettin Erbakan and two members, Sevket Kazan and Ahmet Tekdal, went to the court in May 1998 complaining that Turkey was violating their rights of freedom of thought, expression and protection of property. They also charged discrimination and a restriction of their fundamental rights.

The judges rejected all complaints, saying the Turkish measures were necessary to ensure the proper functioning of a democratic system.

"The interference (by Turkish courts) could not be regarded as disproportionate in relation to the aims pursued," the judges said, adding there were "convincing and compelling reasons" justifying the Welfare Party's closure.

The judges added that the ban on the party "might be regarded as necessary in a democratic society."

"We can see from this ruling that the European Court of Human Rights in fact cannot protect human rights in any country and practices double standards," Kazan said, commenting on Thursday's ruling.

Kazan became justice minister in 1996, when Erbakan came to power in a coalition government headed by the Welfare Party.

Turkey's Constitutional Court ordered the dissolution of the Welfare Party in 1998, saying it had become a "center of activities against the principle of secularism."

The Turkish court ordered the confiscation of all the pro-Islamic party's assets and banned Erbakan, Kazan and Tekdal from taking an active role in Turkish politics for five years.

A lower chamber of the European court ruled in July 2001 that the Welfare Party under Erbakan wanted to establish Islamic law, which it said "was in marked contrast to the values embodied in the (European) Convention."

The Islamic movement reached its height in 1996 and formed a coalition government after winning elections.

That coalition fell after just a year in office under heavy pressure from Turkey's powerful army, which considers itself the guardian of secularism.

6. - The Financial Times - "Mountains remain the Kurds' greatest friends":

DOHUK / 14 February 2003

I met Hisham Abdul Aziz during the Kurdish elections in 1992 when he was translating for international monitors, and over the next couple of years we became close colleagues and friends.

We ate hot bread and yoghurt in Arbil souk, and we traipsed the mountains with peshmerga guerrillas. We interviewed hundreds of people whose lives had been torn apart by the violence of modern Iraq, and we drank tea in makeshift shelters amid the 4,000 Kurdish villages that Saddam Hussein's forces had razed in the 1988-90 "Anfal" campaign.

We heard appalling accounts of chemical attacks made at a time when the world refused to listen.

When I arrived back in northern Iraq after ten years absence, I went to look for Hisham. It wasn't easy to find him again.

The postal address on a torn-out page of an old book referred to a printing press long since closed. The home address behind Dohuk secondary school for girls was a little vague. And perhaps the 10-year-old picture I showed people bore no resemblance to the Hisham of 2003. In truth, I had no reason to assume he was still alive.

Then a local official with the Kurdistan Democratic Party came to my assistance and, following a mixture of whim and reason, placed the picture under the nose of a woman who turned out to be Hisham's mother.

Later in the day Hisham suddenly appeared as I typed away in the Internet hall of Dohuk's new five-star hotel. "You've aged much less than me," he insisted. "Life here has not been easy."

This is a place where people can age fast. And sure enough, Hisham had some terrible tales to tell of people we knew who had been assassinated, of the violence between the Kurdish parties in the mid-1990s and of the daily grind of living in a de facto Kurdish state surrounded and squeezed by enemies.

But first there was good news. Hisham had married Bouchra and they had two small sons, and so he took me off to meet Hoshang, a polite six-year-old looking at the pictures in a newspaper, and Farhang, a lively bundle of two-year-old chaos who sprung mischievously from behind the drapes of a wooden cot.

Hisham is paid around $70 a month as a secondary school teacher, earns as much if not more from giving private lessons, and brings his monthly wage to $200 by translating material for an NGO in the evening.

But 20 days ago he spent $4,000 on a car and, at 42, is gradually learning to drive, although he keeps his speed below 30 km an hour. Hisham needs the car, he said, to escape. I noticed he keeps the tank full.

Hisham intends to drive to the mountains if Saddam responds to any American assault by yet again attacking the Kurds. We have relatives in a village, he told me. Like many Kurds, Hisham's greatest fear is the use of chemical or biological weapons.

"Some people say you'll be all right if you put a wet towel over your face and shut all the doors and windows," he said. "But once you see your neighbour has fled, maybe you too will put the children and wife in the car and drive for the mountains."

However terrible its context, Hisham's plan reflects the achievements of Iraq's Kurds in the past ten years. When in 1991 the Kurds fled into the mountains from Saddam's rage at the end of the Gulf war, the villages that might have welcomed them lay in ruins and thousands of people died of cold and starvation.

In the long decade since Hisham and I worked together, the Kurds have gradually rebuilt these villages. Whoever else betrays or abandons them, the mountains are once again the Kurds' greatest friends.