6 April 2005

1. "Bullet-riddled body of child casts shadow over Turkey’s EU aspirations", with Brussels watching, the bullet-riddled body of a child is proving hard to explain. Four policemen are on trial accused of the extra-judicial killing of Ugur and his father and then planting a large rifle in the boy’s small hands. The handling of the Kaymaz killings has become a test case, at home and abroad, for Ankara’s willingness to rein in its feared security forces, particularly in the embattled Kurdish villages of the south-east.

2. "Nationalist strain deepens as Turkey leans toward Europe", the incident occurred shortly after two boys apparently tried to set fire to a flag during a Kurdish celebration in Mersin, on the Mediterranean. Turks responded - egged on by politicians and the military - by hanging flags en masse. Unions and other organizations held flagwaving demonstrations and TV stations put a flag in the corner of the screen.

3. "Turkey’s Erdogan under strain amid defections, media criticism", some say his government is suffering from reform fatigue, others claim it is falling prey to the vices of power. Whatever the diagnosis, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is going through a rough patch in his career, at war with the media and his party hit by defections.

4. "IPF slams new Turkish penal code", the International Press Federation said the new Turkish Penal Code was a clear sign that the government was trying to censor the media and make it submissive.

5. "European rights court raps Turkey over imprisonment without trial", the European Court of Human Rights Tuesday ordered Turkey to pay damages to two suspected members of a banned communist party who were detained for several years without trial.

6. "Kurdish leader chosen as Iraqi president", Iraq's National Assembly has voted in Jalal Talabani, the Kurdish leader, as president, breaking a two-month deadlock on forming a new government.

1. - The Independent - "Bullet-riddled body of child casts shadow over Turkey’s EU aspirations":

6 April 2005 / by Meriel Beattie

With his small face, framed by the broad white Peter Pan collar worn by schoolchildren throughout Turkey, Ugur Kaymaz looks even younger than 12. His wide, dark eyes stare out of a black-and-white photograph, sellotaped to the windscreen of his father’s truck where the pair died in a hail of gunfire last November. The truck hasn’t moved since, parked by the roadside in Kiziltepe, a rundown town on the troubled road to Iraq and Syria. The caption under the photograph reads: "People won’t forget you."

With Turkey bent on joining the European Union, the bloody conflict with its Kurdish minority is one that Ankara would like forgotten. But there has been a resurgence in fighting. This week the army said that it had killed nine "Kurdish rebels" in five days of clashes.

With Brussels watching, the bullet-riddled body of a child is proving hard to explain. Four policemen are on trial accused of the extra-judicial killing of Ugur and his father and then planting a large rifle in the boy’s small hands.

The handling of the Kaymaz killings has become a test case, at home and abroad, for Ankara’s willingness to rein in its feared security forces, particularly in the embattled Kurdish villages of the south-east.

"Even though the laws are changing, the people who are supposed to implement those laws in daily life are still working in the same old way," said Huseyin Cangir, the head of the Human Rights Association and the Kaymaz family lawyer. "Turkey is trying to be a law-based state. But what we still have is a police state."

The government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan has scrapped the death penalty, abolished the notorious state security courts and cut the time allowed for detention without trial.

Kiziltepe’s mainly Kurdish residents have been traumatised after years of armed conflict. The Kaymaz family had to leave their own village because of the fighting. Ugur’s father, Ahmet, had been detained at least twice on suspicion of supporting the militants. He had no proven links to the PKK.

With unemployment high, Ahmet, like many men here, made his money transporting oil between northern Iraq and the Turkish refineries.

On the evening her son and husband died, Makbule said it was already dark and she was putting out the plates for dinner. Ahmet, who was getting ready for another oil run, needed to carry his duvet and other things for the trip over to the truck - and Ugur went with him to help. Then she heard noises.

"When I looked for a second from our gate, I could see Ugur," she says. "I recognised his white trousers. Policemen were forcing him down, pushing him to the ground.

"When we heard the gunfire, I took all the children and went to our neighbour’s. And then after a while a lady, the state prosecutor, came in and said "My condolences," but I didn’t understand what was going on. They didn’t say then that they’d killed Ahmet and Ugur. We couldn’t believe that they had died. One of them was a truck driver, the other a schoolboy. Why would they do that?"

The official versions of what happened are quite different. The police say they were acting on a tip-off that a PKK attack would be launched from the Kaymaz house on a passing military convoy. Initially the shootings were described as a "clash" in which the police claimed they returned fire after father and son started shooting. That version was later changed to say that they were killed after ignoring an order to stop.

Immediately after the incident, the provincial governor Temel Kocaklar denounced Ahmet and Ugur Kaymaz as "terrorists".

In the past that would have been the end of it. Then Ahmet Tekin intervened. A teacher at Ugur’s school, he was asked by police to identify the two bodies.

Remarkably in a community which has learnt to keep its mouth shut, Mr Tekin has talked openly of the policemen’s initial disbelief when he told them Ugur’s name and age - a reaction interpreted by the family’s lawyers to suggest they had actually come for someone else.
More significantly, it is Mr Tekin - one of the few people to see the weapon lying next to Ugur’s body - who has repeatedly emphasised the absurdity of the idea that he could have carried such a large gun.

Then something unprecedented happened - in a country where abuse of the Kurdish minority is overlooked - the public got interested. Photos of Ugur soon appeared in the papers, incensing public opinion. Journalists seized on autopsy reports that nine of the bullets in Ugur’s back had been fired from just 50cm. A parliamentary commission criticised the security forces. The Prime Minister weighed in, criticising the governor’s description of the child as a terrorist. Four of the police involved were suspended. A date was set for a trial.

That momentum may now be fading. By the time the trial opened, all four policemen had been reinstated and reassigned to other districts. The Kaymaz family lawyers claim that the public prosecutor has watered down the case.

Ahmet’s brother Resat, said: "If you don’t make people here feel secure, what will these children do when they grow up? They go to the cities and become pickpockets. Or they join the PKK."

2. - The Christian Science Monitor - "Nationalist strain deepens as Turkey leans toward Europe":

ISTANBUL / 5 April 2005 / by Yigal Schleifer

In a country accustomed to political flaps sparked by what might seem like trivial matters, a recent brouhaha may be the icing on the cake - literally.

During a ceremony in the eastern town of Ezerum that was hosted by the German ambassador, cakes were decorated as the flags of Germany and Turkey. But among the guests was the local chief prosecutor, who warned that cutting into the cake would violate a law forbidding the desecration of the Turkish flag.

The incident occurred shortly after two boys apparently tried to set fire to a flag during a Kurdish celebration in Mersin, on the Mediterranean. Turks responded - egged on by politicians and the military - by hanging flags en masse. Unions and other organizations held flagwaving demonstrations and TV stations put a flag in the corner of the screen.

The military also weighed in, stating that its forces were "ready to shed their last drop of blood to protect the country and its flag."

The patriotic outburst was the latest indication of what observers in Turkey say is a troubling rise in nationalism, one that is linked to - and could negatively affect - Turkey’s push for European Union membership. A Dec. 17 EU summit in Brussels set the framework for talks on Turkish membership, although only after a long period of negotiations.

"The flag issue is an indication of a new form of politicization [based on] nationalism, and distrust of a world that many Turks believe is either rejecting Turkey or openly hostile to it," says Dogu Ergil, a political scientist at Ankara University. And in Turkey, he adds, "It’s very easy to whip up nationalist sentiments."

Land sales and bestsellers

Recently, a high court overturned a new law allowing for the sale of land to foreigners after an opposition party asked that it be scrapped on national-security grounds. In bookshops, Adolf Hitler’s "Mein Kampf" is currently a bestseller, along with several conspiracy-minded books that see Turkey under attack by external forces.

Meanwhile, after staying out of civilian affairs in order not to jeopardize Turkey’s EU bid, the country’s military is again making its voice heard. A few weeks ago, high-ranking military officials took part in a commemoration for six policemen killed by the British in World War I. The ceremony had been moribund since the 1950s.

Suat Kiniklioglu, executive director of the German Marshall Fund’s Turkey office, says Turks appear to be turning inward.

"The current mood is a reaction to an anxiety felt by some people that some of the values that are important to us are being sold out by the EU drive," he says. "Before Dec. 17, the country’s hopes and forward-looking vision were behind the EU drive. Now people are becoming confused. There is a fatigue, and nationalism becomes an escape route."

Many Turks appear to believe that the EU discussions will only lead to a dead end. Meanwhile, there is growing concern that in order to join the EU, Turkey will have to make one-sided concessions regarding the divided island of Cyprus, accept the Armenian claims of genocide by the Ottoman Turks in 1915, and accede to EU pressure on dealing with its minorities.

"These were things that Turks were accustomed not to address all these decades. But if you want to be in the EU process, you have to address these issues," says political analyst Cengiz Candar. "It seems like it’s very painful for Turks to redefine their identity according to EU norms."

Stalled reforms

The growing nationalism comes at a time when Turkey’s government, led by the Justice and Development Party (AKP), is beset by internal problems that appear to be stalling its reform drive.

The AKP government has yet to appoint a chief negotiator for its talks with the European Union, while more than a dozen parliamentarians and one cabinet member have recently resigned from the party.

An EU diplomat in Ankara said the Turkish government has so far been slow to respond to the resurgent nationalism.

"The lack of leadership by government in the reform-minded, European direction that we’ve seen previously does raise question marks," the diplomat says. "There is a sense in Ankara, and I think also in Brussels, that this version of Turkish nationalism is incompatible with the European Union."

3. - AFP - "Turkey’s Erdogan under strain amid defections, media criticism":

ANKARA / 5 April 2005

Some say his government is suffering from reform fatigue, others claim it is falling prey to the vices of power. Whatever the diagnosis, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is going through a rough patch in his career, at war with the media and his party hit by defections.

What Turks have mostly seen in their prime minister recently is a fretful and ill-tempered man, lashing out virtually at anybody who criticizes government policies.

The media became his punching bag when they denounced the beating of women at a demonstration in Istanbul last month, only to be accused of "tipping off" the European Union to rights violations in Turkey.

The country’s most influential business group was told "to mind its own business" when it joined the critics.

Next in line was a humorous magazine Erdogan took to court after it made fun of him for suing a political cartoonist who had depicted him as a cat entangled in a ball of yarn.

Erdogan’s reactions prompted questions over the sincerity of his stated desire to improve rights and freedoms in Turkey as a man who has often cited himself as a victim of undemocratic restrictions.

Erdogan served a four-month jail sentence for sedition in the 1990s for publicly reciting a poem with Islamist messages.

Critics say the government has lost its reform drive since it was given the green light for membership talks with the EU in December after a series of far-reaching democratic reforms that won international praise.

Ankara, for instance, has yet to name a chief negotiatior to the talks scheduled to start on October 3, or to put into force an EU-sought penal code reform.

Sceptics argue that Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), a conservative movement with Islamist roots, is not even truly committed to the EU goal and has been compelled to back it because of the overwhelming popular support it enjoys.

"The EU is not a path they believe in," Suleyman Saribas, a member of parliament who recently resigned from the governing party, told AFP. "Democracy is the regime of tolerance and they do not have it."

Saribas is one of 13 lawmakers, including a government minister, to have quit the AKP since February, accusing the party leadership of nepotism, corruption and lack of respect for dissenting views in its ranks.

The defectors are mostly center-right politicians who were lured to the AKP ahead of the November 2002 elections as part of Erdogan’s efforts to prove that he has cut his links with his Islamist past.

The prime minister has said he is unmoved by the defectors, calling them "the rotten apples in the bag," and has rejected criticism of the government as political envy.

The AKP still enjoys robust support among the electorate, according to opinion polls, and Erdogan has justified his policies with remarkable improvements in the economy following two severe financial crises in 1999 and

Even though the AKP retains a strong majority in parliament, analysts are questioning whether the resignations have eroded the party’s claim to be a mainstream center-right force.

"In a 550-member parliament, 357 seats is still are large number, but it is obvious that the possibility of internal bleeding has emerged," columnist Cengiz Candar wrote in the daily Tercuman.

If the party continues to lose deputies, he said, the government may be forced to call early elections next year.

4. - NTV/MSNBC - "IPF slams new Turkish penal code":

The International Press Federation said the new Turkish Penal Code was a clear sign that the government was trying to censor the media and make it submissive.

5 April 2005

IPF has called on the Turkish government to amend the country’s proposed new penal code to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Turkish media.

In a letter sent to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan the IPF said the organisation was concerned over the limitations imposed on the freedom of expression and thought under the new penal code.

It also stressed that more than 25 articles of the new code placed limits on the right of free reporting and could result in arbitrary jail sentences.

The new code was supposed to come into effect on April 1. However, the Turkish parliament deferred implementing the new penal code until June after widespread criticism was made of many of its provisions.

5. - AFP - "European rights court raps Turkey over imprisonment without trial":

STRASBOURG / 5 April 2005

The European Court of Human Rights Tuesday ordered Turkey to pay damages to two suspected members of a banned communist party who were detained for several years without trial.

The court ruled that both men's right, under article 5 of the European convention on human rights, to a trial within a reasonable time or release pending trial had been violated.

It awarded 4,000 euros (5,140 dollars) in damages to Ali Hidir Polat, 45, who was held in custody for five years and three months without trial on charges of membership of an illegal organisation, the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLCP), and participating in armed actions aimed at overthrowing the state.

After having numerous bail applications refused by the Istanbul State Security Court on the basis of the state of the evidence and nature of the offences, Polat was finally released in June 2001. His trial is pending.

The European court awarded 3,500 euros (4,500 dollars) to Nabi Kimran, 40, who was imprisoned for four years and nine months without trial also on a charge of membership of the MLCP.

He was also released from custody in June 2001, after having several bail applications refused on the same grounds as Polat. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison in January 2003 and his case is now pending before a court of appeals.

Both men were also were awarded 2,000 euros for court costs and expenses.

Polat and Kimran were arrested in March and September 1996, respectively, in a police operation against the MLKP.

The Strasbourg court, which upholds the European convention on human rights, ruled that although evidence of guilt could be a relevant factor in pursuing suspects it did not on its own justify the continuation of detention for such long periods.

6. - Financial Times - "Kurdish leader chosen as Iraqi president":

6 April 2005 / by Fiona Symon

Iraq's National Assembly has voted in Jalal Talabani, the Kurdish leader, as president, breaking a two-month deadlock on forming a new government.

Mr Talabani, hailed by a standing ovation in parliament after the votes had been counted, pledged to work with all ethnic and religious factions to rebuild Iraq after decades of conflict and dictatorship.

"I will acknowledge your trust in the first free elections in our Iraq after being freed from the most horrific dictatorship," Mr Talabani said.

Adel Abdel Mahdi, finance minister in the interim government and a Shia, and Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar, the Sunni interim president, were chosen as Mr Talabani's deputies.

The trio are expected to take up their posts in an official ceremony in the capital on Thursday, when the new prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari of the United Iraqi Alliance, is also expected to be officially named.

The appointments resolve differences over sharing power between the United Iraqi Alliance, which won the most seats in the January 30 election, and the Kurdish Alliance, which came second with 75 seats in the new 275-member parliament.

It is understood that Mr Talabani's appointment was part of a deal in exchange for the Kurds' agreement to back Ibrahim Jaafari, the Shia alliance candidate, for prime minister.

The presidential council has two weeks to name a replacement for Iyad Allawi, interim prime minister - making possible the formation of the country's first democratically elected government in over 50 years. The new government will require the support of two thirds of parliament.

The Kurds have used their position as power broker to extract maximum concessions from the Shia List before agreeing to a join a governing coalition.

The main Kurdish and Shia parties have also been trying to include representatives of the Sunni Arab minority that dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein but was left sidelined after most Sunni Arabs boycotted the polls. There are only 17 Sunnis in the new parliament.

Hajem al-Hassani, interim industry minister and a Sunni, was selected as parliamentary speaker at the weekend.

The Iraqi List of interim prime minister Iyad Allawi won 40 seats in the election. He is seen as a unifying figure, according to Kurdish, Sunni and Shia politicians, but it is not clear whether any suitable role has yet been found for him in the new government.