18 February 2003

1. "KADEK: Kurds must be ready for serhildan and war", KADEK Presidential Council member Osman Ocalan stated that they would launch a new campaign, calling people to be ready for a campaign called “I Want My Freedom” and a defence war.

2. "Turkey seeks assurances from US", Ankara wants $30 billion from Washington to cover potential damages from an attack by Iraq.

3. "Turkey postpones vote on US troops", Turkey has postponed, in defiance of US pressure, a parliamentary vote due on Tuesday to allow the stationing of US troops on its soil for the opening of a second front in a possible war against Iraq.

4. "Risking a Civil War", Turkey is demanding that it send 60,000 to 80,000 of its own troops into northern Iraq.

5. "Greek Cypriot leader fans fears in north", Tassos Papadopoulos, presi-dent-elect of the Greek Cypriot-controlled south of Cyprus, is a persuasive talker. But the 69-year-old lawyer, who took power with unexpected ease in Sunday's election, has still to convince fellow-islanders that he wants a peace settlement with Turkish Cypriots.

6. "Human Rights: A year after the amendment of Turkish civil code", Women's associations still unsatisfied while officials claim the amended version of the Civil Code brings gender equality.

1. - Kurdish Observer - "KADEK: Kurds must be ready for serhildan and war":

KADEK Presidential Council member Osman Ocalan stated that they would launch a new campaign, calling people to be ready for a campaign called “I Want My Freedom” and a defence war.

FRANKFURT/MHA / 17 January 2003

Participated by telephone in the “Special Program” on Medya TV, KADEK Presidential Council Osman Ocalan stated that they would increase their efforts for the freedom of their President Abdullah Ocalan between March and May and concentrate on democratic actions. The Council member said that the time given to Turkey completed on February 15 and the decision they had made would be a more comprehensive than the old one. He asked for the elections to be held in Siirt to be boycotted. “Next few months are very critical. There will be system crisis and turmoil in the region. If the Kurdish people raises the democratic serhildan (popular uprising) on the next months, no power will be able to underrate them,” said Osman Ocalan.

Drawing attention that the time they had given to Turkey till February 15 was completed, Ocalan stressed that a legitimate defence war was on agenda and a possible war would be more comprehensive than the old one lasting 15 years. He underscored that they did not bluff and in case that peace was not given a change the war would spread to a broad geography. “We have given time till February 15 and asked them to take steps. We have said that policies of destruction, denial and isolation cannot be accepted by us. The state made the mistake to think that their leader being captive Kurds would not be able to wage war. It will not be a prolonging war. It will be more comprehensive than the old one. All kinds of actions from guerrilla action to actions disturbing the tranquillity of life are considered,” said he. The Council member stated that they had debated about it for a year, saying that the freedom of the Kurdish people would be defended in all Kurdistan. It will also be a reply to Turkey that wants to occupy South Kurdistan, said he.

Cities, villages, all Turkey a battle field”

Osman Ocalan explained the reasons why they had made a war decision as such: “Capital punishment is abolished but a prolonged solitary confinement still continues. Its army, majority in Kurdistan is added by 120 thousand soldiers. Kurdistan is re-occupied as it is. We as KADEK have said that we would defend the interest of our people regardless of conditions. We want to warn all sections by this decision. The main means of struggle of the new period will be democratic serhildan. But there will also be legitimate defence war. We do not have an aim to resort a prolonged war. 95% of the last war was waged at mountains. Of course there will be mountains too but not like the old. Cities, villages, all parts of Turkey and Kurdistan will be a battle field. It will include not only military targets but the whole life. All institutions of the system will be targets. It will be a war in service of political struggle. The Kurdish people must support it with every means. They must debate on the practice. We have said that youth must rush to guerrilla lines.”

Elections in Siirt to be boycotted”

Osman Ocalan asked for the Kurdish people to boycott the elections in Siirt to be voted on March 9. Ocalan emphasized the matter with following words: “I call out to Kurds. Erdogan tries to be a deputy from Siirt. Kurds’ qualification to run in the election was hindered. Siirt people must give them a lesson. They must boycott the elections. But it must be a passive boycott. If 70% of the people protested against them, the due lesson would be given. We call on AKP and CHP candidates to resign. If they say they are Kurds, they must resign. We also call on Kurdish deputies from AKP and CHP to learn lessons from the experiences. They deny their own identity.”

2. - Christian Sience Monitor - "Turkey seeks assurances from US":

Ankara wants $30 billion from Washington to cover potential damages from an attack by Iraq.

ISTANBUL / 18 Januar 2002 / by Ilene Prusher

Turkey has finally jumped over a major hurdle to ensure its defense by NATO should it be dragged into a war against neighboring Iraq. But the country says there are still walls to scale before it can allow thousands of US troops to be based and shuttled through here in a campaign against the regime of Saddam Hussein.

A key parliamentary vote to allow foreign troops here was due to take place Tuesday but is now being postponed, much to Washington's chagrin, because Turkish officials say they have not yet received the US assurances they require. Analysts and officials familiar with the wrangling between Washington and Ankara say the dispute is bogged down in Turkey's dissatisfaction with the role the US expects it to play in a would-be war, and the concern that Turkey will not be adequately compensated for its losses.

Capping a week of European divisiveness not seen since World War II and a weekend of massive antiwar protests in cities across the globe, Turkey Monday decided it could afford a few more days of indecision.

"There are difficulties concerning the timing. We have explained that we may not be able to bring the issue to parliament in a short period of time. It will be very difficult to persuade the [representatives] to vote for American troops to be located here and to use Turkish bases,'' says Prime Minister Abdullah Gul.

Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis told reporters upon return to Turkey from a weekend of intense negotiations in Washington that while the US had pressed for the passage of legislation by Feb. 18, the government would not be able to get the motion through parliament so quickly. In a joint press conference, Economy Minister Ali Babacan said that Turkish and US officials failed to reach an agreement on an aid package to ease the toll a war could take.

"There is no agreement yet on the size of the package," Mr. Babacan said. "Discussions on a figure will continue."

The US has offered Turkey an aid package that includes close to $6 billion in grants and up to $20 billion in loan guarantees, which would fall under the terms of Turkey's program with the International Monetary Fund. Though that is higher than the initial offer of $14 billion, it still falls short of what was requested by Turkey, which estimates it lost $30 billion in the last war with Iraq.

"The Turkish side feels the compensation package that has been designed by the US falls short of satisfying Turkish expectations," says Sedat Ergin, the Ankara bureau chief of the Hurriyet newspaper. "And the American side is very much frustrated because the planning effort has been jeopardized by the Turkish reluctance, but the Turks are waiting for a quid pro quo."

Late Sunday night, members of NATO voted to send Turkey military hardware the US requested to bolster Turkish defenses in the event that Iraq, under attack by US-led forces, strikes back at Turkey. But European opposition to the Bush administration's plans is far from resolved: France does not sit on the Defense Planning Council that voted to allow Turkey to receive backup defenses in the form of AWACS air reconnaissance planes, Patriot missiles, and chemical and biological warfare defense teams. But France, as well as Germany, Russia, and China, remains opposed to the use of force to remove Saddam Hussein, arguing for weapons inspectors to continue their work.

Despite the NATO decision, Europe remains deeply divided over Washington's plans to deal with Iraq. And Turkey, keen to join the European Union, is trying to satisfy both it and the US. The parliamentary vote scheduled to be held Tuesday was postponed in part because Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul was to travel to Brussels Monday to attend an emergency European Union summit called to find a common position on Iraq and close rifts over the use of NATO.

The focus of the impasse between Turkey and the US is Ankara's demand for written assurances of Washington's commitments, encompassing economic aid, military arrangements, and a say in the future of Iraq, with which Turkey shares a 218-mile border.

"Turkey wants ... assurance that the loans, whatever should be made available, will actually be there. They want to ... make sure that the administration won't say later, 'Well, we tried, but Congress didn't approve it,' " says Ilter Turan, a professor of international relations at Istanbul Bilgi University.

US officials say Turkey has gotten their final offer on the issue. "The ball is in the Turkish court. They have heard what we have to offer, and it's up to them now," says a US official, referring to the aid package. Though relations seem to have skidded into unusually tense territory, he said economic and military subcommittees were continuing to try to hammer out various agreements.

On Sunday, two US transport planes landed at the main airbase in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, filled with troops in charge of upgrading Turkish facilities under an interim agreement.

What role the Turkish military would play in case of war could be a far more complex issue. Turkey says the number of Turkish troops in Iraq should be greater than the number of US troops entering Iraq through Turkish territory. Turkey also says these troops should be under Turkish commanders, who would coordinate with the US. The US plan, according to most reports, was for Turkish troops to be under US command.

Figuring out the balance of forces and their coordination is a major point of contention, and is seen by the Turkish military as essential to ensuring that a war does not produce chaos, a Kurdish takeover of oil fields in northern Iraq, and the creation of independent Kurdish state.

Turkey is also worried that a war could set off a refugee crisis, and has requested that Turkey be permitted a 15-mile "buffer-zone" to prevent Kurdish refugees - or separatist guerrilla warfare - from spilling into Turkey. The concept has been condemned by some Iraqi Kurdish leaders. "On the political front, that's the key," says Dr. Turan. "It's not as if compensation is not important, but it is equally important to have an understanding of the division of [military] responsibility."

Deputy defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz recently suggested the US may soon have to move ahead, with or without Turkey, and forgo opening a northern front in Iraq - or perhaps work with a much smaller front than planned. But the possibility of resorting to what critics call unilateralism and the US calls a "coalition of the willing" seems to be ratcheting up anti-US sentiment. The latest polls show that 96 percent of Turks oppose a US-led war in Iraq.

"What you see is a global protest against the US, and it affects the political climate in Ankara," says Mr. Ergin.

But US officials say there is little time left to test the wind. Charles Heyman, editor of Jane's World Armies in London, says it is possible for the US to move ahead without Turkey. "Any operation against Iraq could quite easily be launched by bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, and aircraft based in ships in the Mediterranean near Jordan and Israel," he says. "Turkey is a good-to-have, but not a must-have."

3. - Financial Times - "Turkey postpones vote on US troops":

17 January 2003 / by Leyla Boulton in Ankara

Turkey has postponed, in defiance of US pressure, a parliamentary vote due on Tuesday to allow the stationing of US troops on its soil for the opening of a second front in a possible war against Iraq.

The vote would also have allowed the dispatch of up to 55,000 Turkish troops to northern Iraq to block a feared flood of refugees after half a million people sought refuge in Turkey in the 1991 Gulf War.

The postponement is likely to anger Washington, which earlier this month secured a partial go-ahead from Turkey when parliament voted to allow the US to beef up Turkish bases and ports in preparation for an eventual attack.

"That would not be good news," said one US official. "Timing is important and we have other options." Washington has served notice that if necessary, it will launch a "regime change" operation bypassing Turkey's border with northern Iraq even though that could lead to greater American casualties.

Before leaving Turkey for an emergency European Union summit on Iraq, Abdullah Gul, prime minister, said on Monday that a 'yes' vote would be difficult to secure in parliament before "reaching agreement on political, military, and economic issues to which Turkey attaches importance".

He was thought to be referring in part to the failure of the US to win United Nations backing for an attack after last week's briefing of the Security Council by Hans Blix, the chief UN weapons inspector. Having been at the centre of a damaging Nato row over Iraq last week, Ankara has continued to press for a peaceful solution to the Iraqi standoff.

Yasar Yakis, foreign minister, indicated that Turkey also remained dissatisfied with the level of financial compensation offered by Washington to help its fragile economy withstand the effects of a war-next-door.

Yakis and Ali Babacan, economy minister, on Sunday returned from Washington empty-handed after failing to persuade interlocutors including President George Bush to be more generous.

"The message that we have given what we can (in terms of financial assistance) was repeated at the highest level in Washington," said the US official.

The US offer on the table - understood to involve around $3bn in grant aid and between $10bn-$20bn in loan guarantees - falls well short of Turkish requests. Washington says that money is contingent on full Turkish military cooperation and continued adherence to the terms of Turkey's $16bn standby agreement with the International Monetary Fund. Some members of the ruling Justice and Development party (AKP) have seized on hopes of a large US infusion of cash as a reason to soft-pedal on parts of the IMF deal agreed by the previous coalition government.)

As preparations for a possible war continued on the ground, Turkish military leaders announced they would visit the border area, where Turkish officials were on Monday conferring with Iraqi Kurds and US officials.

4. - Newsweek - "Risking a Civil War":

Turkey is demanding that it send 60,000 to 80,000 of its own troops into northern Iraq

Feb. 24 issue (16/2 2003) / by Owen Matthews, Sami Kohen and John Barry

Turkey is raising its price for allowing U.S. forces to invade Iraq from its territory. In early negotiations with the United States, Ankara spoke of sending in Turkish troops to set up a “buffer zone” perhaps 15 miles deep along the Iraqi border. This would prevent a flood of Kurdish refugees from northern Iraq, the Turks said.

BUT NOW, NEWSWEEK has learned, Turkey is demanding that it send 60,000 to 80,000 of its own troops into northern Iraq to establish “strategic positions” across a “security arc” as much as 140 to 170 miles deep in Iraq. That would take Turkish troops almost halfway to Baghdad. These troops would not be under U.S. command, according to Turkish sources, who say Turkey has agreed only to “coordination” between U.S. and Turkish forces. Ankara fears the Iraqi Kurds might use Saddam’s fall to declare independence. Kurdish leaders have not yet been told of this new plan, according to Kurdish spokesmen in Washington, who say the Kurds rejected even the earlier notion of a narrow buffer zone. Farhad Barzani, the U.S. representative of the main Kurdish party in Iraq, the KDP, says, “We have told them: American troops will come as liberators. But Turkish troops will be seen as invaders.”

The White House did not respond to requests for comment; officials elsewhere in the administration played down the Turkish demands as bargaining tactics: “We told them flat out, no.” But independent diplomatic sources in Ankara and Washington with knowledge of the U.S.-Turkey talks say that while the precise depth of the “security zone” has still to be agreed, the concept is “pretty much a done deal,” as one observer put it. These sources add that the main U.S. concern has been that U.S., not Turkish, troops occupy the northern Iraqi cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, and that Turkish troops merely surround but not enter the heavily Kurdish cities of Erbil and Sulemaniye. To get Turkey’s assent to this, these sources say, the United States had to “cave” on its demand that Turkish troops be under U.S. control.

Two days of tough negotiations in Washington last week failed to settle the other part of Turkey’s price: a multibillion-dollar economic package. Turkish P.M. Abdullah Gul is now threatening to delay the all-important vote in the Turkish Parliament to allow U.S. deployments in Turkey. Pentagon officials acknowledge frustration at the problems Turkey’s bargaining poses for the U.S. military buildup. Turkish sources say that when Turkey’s Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis met with President Bush on Friday, the president warned that the United States might open a northern front against Iraq without Turkish participation. But military sources say that would be close to impossible.

“Turkey is playing hardball,” said Michael Amitay of the Washington Kurdish Institute. “But if the U.S. agrees to these Turkish deployments, there is a real risk that the Kurds will start a guerrilla war against the Turkish troops.”

5. - The Financial Times - "Greek Cypriot leader fans fears in north":

18 February 2003 / by Leyla Boulton, Andreas Hadjipapas and Kerin Hope

Tassos Papadopoulos, presi-dent-elect of the Greek Cypriot-controlled south of Cyprus, is a persuasive talker. But the 69-year-old lawyer, who took power with unexpected ease in Sunday's election, has still to convince fellow-islanders that he wants a peace settlement with Turkish Cypriots.

In a move that underlined international concern about Mr Papadopoulos's intentions, Alvaro de Soto, the UN special envoy, called off yesterday's planned session of talks and flew to Ankara. His mission, analysts said, was to calm Turkish fears that the new leader would disrupt talks aimed at securing a framework deal by February 28 - the final deadline that would allow a reunited Cyprus to sign an EU accession treaty in April.

Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader, said he was saddened by the election result. "As long as Papadopoulos doesn't abandon unrealistic, imaginary solutions, there is no reason to continue with this dead-end process," he said.

Mr Papadopoulos, leader of the Democratic party, won an outright majority in Sunday's election, capturing 51.51 per cent in the first- round vote. He was backed by the powerful Cyprus Communist party, which favours a peace settlement, but also won votes from Greek Cypriots with reservations about the UN plan.

President Glafcos Clerides, the defeated incumbent, had hoped to pull off a deal that would reunite the island as a confederation of two component states, each responsible for running its own affairs. But after 10 years in power, and a year of inconclusive talks with Mr Denktash, the "fed-up" factor loomed large.

"In spite of Mr Clerides's efforts, there's strong underlying Greek Cypriot opposition to a solution - as the election result demonstrated," said James Lindsey Ker, a Nicosia-based analyst.

Mr Papadopoulos led the "rejectionist" faction, opposed to a deal that would exclude the return of all Greek Cypriots to their former homes in north Cyprus. The current plan would allow up to 90,000 people to return - about half the number who fled when Turkish troops invaded in 1974 in response to a coup aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece.

In an interview yesterday on state television, Mr Papadopoulos presented himself as a negotiator committed to a settlement that would ensure the Greek and Turkish sides of the island could join the EU in May 2004.

But he has sacked Mr Clerides's negotiating team and hinted he will take a more robust position at talks. After meetings yesterday with Mr de Soto and Mr Clerides he said there had been no substantive results from the negotiations so far.

Critics of the UN plan say it would lead to deadlock because the Turkish Cypriots would have veto rights in the central government council that would handle foreign policy and relations with the European Union. Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, travels to Ankara, Athens and Nicosia next week and is expected to present the capitals with the latest revised version of the plan - and exert his personal influence.

However, in Mr Denktash's self-declared republic in the north the election result was seen as a further blow to hopes of a settlement this month. Popular pressure for reunification triggered massive demonstrations after Cyprus's EU accession was approved last December.

But Turkish Cypriot optimism diminished as Mr Papadopoulos's campaign gained ground and Mr Denktash maintained his objections to handing back about 9 per cent of the island's territory, as required by the UN plan.

Ali Erel, the pro-settlement leader of the Turkish Cypriot chamber of commerce, said: "I still think there is a possibility of a deal but it will only come about as a result of pressure from the international community as well as Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots."

With Mr Papadopoulos in power in the south, Mr Denktash can play on fears of a return to the aggressive Greek Cypriot nationalism of the early 1960s, which transformed Turkish Cypriots into second-class citizens, excluded from senior civil service jobs and business opportunities.

Mehmet Ali Birand, a Turkish commentator, said Mr Papadopoulos's victory made it easier for Mr Denktash to avoid becoming seriously involved in the negotiating process. "This is a great present for Denktash," he said.

Mr Papadopoulos's first test comes on Friday, when the next session of talks is scheduled to take place in the terminal building of Nicosia's former airport in the UN-policed buffer zone. He has asked Mr Clerides to accompany him for an official handover - although neither of them can be sure Mr Denktash will show up.

6. - Turkish Daily News - "Human Rights: A year after the amendment of Turkish civil code":

Women's associations still unsatisfied while officials claim the amended version of the Civil Code brings gender equality.

ANKARA / 18 January 2003

A year has passed since the amendment of the Turkish Civil Code pledging equality between couples, but it is still argued by the Women Associations.

The amended version of the Civil Code has 1030 articles and organizes a well balanced share of assets between couples in case of divorce.

Couples who got married before the Civil Code amendment will have the right to make an agreement on the sharing of assets and if they don't make a deal in a year's time then the new system automatically shares the assets acquired during marriage.

Women's associations argue that the difference of sharing of assets regime between the new marriages and the marriages done before the amendment is harming the equality principle.

Istanbul Women's Association Union Chairwoman Nazan Moroglu called on the government to correct this implementation.

On the other hand, officials defend the new Civil Code saying that it pledged gender equality and reduces discrimination.

The new civil code became official last year.

The previous code, virtually unchanged since it was introduced in 1926, designated the man as head of the family and gave the woman no say in decisions concerning the home or children. In the event of divorce women were only entitled to property legally registered under their names.

The new code uses plainer, more politically correct language and scraps the phrase "the head of the marriage union is the man." Men and women are given an equal say while making decisions concerning the family.

Under the previous code, a woman had to seek her husband's permission to work outside the home, although a court ruling in 1994 voided that provision. The new code makes clear that a woman does not need her husband's consent to get a job.

Turkey adopted its previous code from Swiss family law, replacing the old Ottoman system which, for example, allowed a man to have more than one wife or to repudiate a wife who was no longer in favor. The 1926 code was considered revolutionary for a Muslim country when it was adopted, but it failed to keep up with the times.

Under the new code, men are able to request alimony from their wives.

A man can take his wife's surname if he wishes, while a woman can use her maiden name together with her husband's family name.

The new code raises the legal age for marriage to 18 from the current 17 for men and 15 for women. It sets a legal separation period of six months before couples can file for divorce.

The code also lowers the legal age for adopting children from 35 to 30 and allows a single parent to adopt. Out-of-wedlock offspring are given the same inheritance rights as others.

It makes sex change operations harder, requiring people over 18 to prove in court that the change is physically necessary.

The new code does not mention modern issues such as surrogate motherhood or homosexual marriages. In this predominantly Muslim country where unmarried couples living together are still frowned upon, it also makes no provisions for cohabiting families.