23
February 2005
2. "Court rejects bid to close Egitim-Sen", the case was seen by many as a test of Turkey’s recent rights and freedoms reforms.
3. "European rights court censures Turkey for violation of freedom of speech", the European Human Rights Court Tuesday censured Turkey for violation of freedom of speech in suing a Turkish deputy who called president Suleyman Demirel a liar.
4. "Metal Storm or Brain Storm?", some national security big shots in the state and inherently anti-US politicians in Turkey had made all their calculations based on the assumption that Washington would not manage to occupy Iraq without Ankara's support. Under the influence of such fatal miscalculations, the March 1, 2003 deployment motion was not approved by the Turkish Parliament. The rejection of the motion resulted in the annulment of a joint memorandum of understanding, which gave Turkey initiatives regarding Northern Iraq and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Turkey is now trying to get those lost initiatives by shouting at the US. Alas, we live in a world ruled by "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours…"
5. "Future use of Incirlik base depends heavily on Iraq", amid Turkish-Iraqi-Kurdish hostilities, Turkey accused the United States of ignoring efforts by Iraq's independence-minded Kurds to gain control of the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk, home to Kurds, Arabs and Iraqi Turks alike. Washington rejected the charge, saying it was committed to the preservation of Iraq's territorial integrity. The United States says the future of Kirkuk is for the Iraqi people to decide upon.
6. "Cyprus ruling party wins election but not majority", the governing party of Mehmet Ali Talat, which has made reunification with Greek Cypriots its top priority, scored a strong victory Sunday in parliamentary elections in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state, but not enough to govern without a coalition.
7. "Kurds demand oil cash as prize for peace", independence is still a wish for all of the Kurds. But reality comes first. It is a time for negotiation and the creation of a new Iraq that guarantees Kurdish rights within the constitution.
8. "Turtles can make you cry", the first film made in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein whose regime was particularly harsh on the Kurds, Turtles Can Fly takes place mostly in a refugee camp bordering Iraq and Turkey on the eve of the American invasion of 2003.
1. - KeralaNext.com - "Turk police tried for Kurd deaths":
A trial has started in Turkey of four policemen accused of the unlawful killing of a man and his child in the south-eastern province of Mardin. Ahmet and Ugur Kaymaz were shot and killed in what security forces said was an anti-terrorism operation.
Ugur Kaymaz was 11-years-old when he was killed.
That the trial is happening - and that it is attracting attention inside the country - testifies to the changes Turkey has seen over recent years.
'Excessive force
The killing of Ahmet and Ugur Kaymaz in late November last year aroused little attention for a few days.
But gradually the Turkish media, non-governmental organisations and members of the Turkish parliament became more and more involved.
The security forces, which for years have been accused of torture and extra-judicial killings in Turkey's troubled Kurdish south-east, were thrown onto the defensive.
The shooting in the back of a child who was reportedly dressed in his slippers at the time did not seem to many like an attempt to halt a terrorist operation.
Instead the police have been accused of using excessive force.
Those involved were, for a time, suspended from duty. They have since been re-instated and re-assigned.
Quick action
Speaking to the BBC, the president of the Kurdish political party, Dehap, acknowledged that things had changed in Turkey.
He said that the growth in the strength of civil society had led to that change in atmosphere.
There is still a fair amount of paramilitary activity in the south-east and human rights groups maintain that the authorities are still heavy-handed in their response.
The difference between now and a few years ago is that, in some cases at least, such responses no longer go unnoticed in the rest of Turkey.
In this case, moreover, the authorities have been quick
to act against those who appear to have overstepped the mark. 
2. - Turkish Daily News - "Court rejects bid to close Egitim-Sen":
The case was seen by many as a test of Turkey’s recent rights and freedoms reforms
ANKARA / 22 February 2005
The Ankara Second Business Court on Monday rejected the closure application filed by the Ankara Prosecutors Office concerning the Education Labor Union (Egitim-Sen), which had attracted a lot of attention, both nationally and internationally.
The closure application against Egitim-Sen was filed because its regulations listed obtaining the right to receive education in one's mother tongue as one of its objectives. The closure application asserted that the union's regulation violates constitutional articles, which stipulate that Turkey's official language is Turkish and no other language can be taught as a mother language in educational institutions.
This was the second time the court rejected the closure application. The Supreme Court of Appeals overturned the previous rejection.
Unions praise the court
The Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions' (KESK) Sami Evren said the Egitim-Sen case had become a symbol of democracy and the freedom of expression, adding: “The rule of law was protected by the court when it decided not to change its previous decision. It was unfortunate that the case insulted people from other ethnic and cultural backgrounds.”
Egitim-Sen Chairman Alaaddin Dinçer thanked all those who had supported them during the trial and said the court's decision had shown everyone that there were real judges in Ankara.
Dinçer criticized the government on its silence over the case, and accused them of lacking the courage displayed by the sitting judge. The prosecutor's office has the right to appeal the decision. If it doesn't, the decision will be final.
The case was seen by many as a test of Turkey's recent
rights and freedoms reforms.
3. - AFP - "European rights court censures Turkey
for violation of freedom of speech":
STRASBOURG / 22 February 2005
The European Human Rights Court Tuesday censured Turkey for violation of freedom of speech in suing a Turkish deputy who called president Suleyman Demirel a liar.
The court found that the damages -- 55,000 euros (72,000 dollars) -- that Ekrem Pakdemirli was ordered to pay were disproportionate to the perceived offence.
Pakdemirli was taken to court in 1995 as Vice-President of the opposition Motherland Party after a press conference in which he called the then president Demirel a liar and a slanderer.
In its ruling, the European tribunal said the presiding judge at the Turkish hearing against Pakdemirli had aimed for as heavy damages possible, citing penal legislation that would have been applicable only if Pakdemirli had not enjoyed parliamentary immunity.
It said the Turkish court had been over-protective of
the status of the state president.
4. - Zaman Online - "Metal Storm or Brain Storm?":
ISTANBUL / 22 February 2005 / by Ali H. Aslan
They say one catastrophe is equal to a thousand pieces of advice. A few men, including me, have been trying to explain the degree of discontent in Washington and the necessity of mending this in Turkey's national interests for a long time. Only after a troubling commentary was published in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), did a big debate emerge. I think, however, that some chronic minds will still fail to get the message, because inside those minds, instead of a brainstorm, a "metal storm" blows*.
How do I know? Even when the sound of the approaching war was loud, many in Turkey thought the US would not be able to invade Iraq. Some national security big shots in the state and inherently anti-US politicians in Turkey had made all their calculations based on the assumption that Washington would not manage to occupy Iraq without Ankara's support. Under the influence of such fatal miscalculations, the March 1, 2003 deployment motion was not approved by the Turkish Parliament. The rejection of the motion resulted in the annulment of a joint memorandum of understanding, which gave Turkey initiatives regarding Northern Iraq and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Turkey is now trying to get those lost initiatives by shouting at the US. Alas, we live in a world ruled by "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours…"
Just a few days before the war, one of my sources at the White House had told me, "The President pushed the button, a military operation will begin very soon, I am sorry for Turkey." The next day, I wrote an article titled, "Words are Over Now," but some among the Turkish intelligentsia were insisting right up to the last minute that there would be no war! We said it will thunder and it did. We said a storm will break out and it did. Yet those who had a "metal storm" blowing in their minds preferred to blame weather forecasters like us instead of taking precautions. Our sin was telling the truths that no one wanted to hear.
The article titled "Troubled Tongue" that I wrote just a few days before the WSJ commentary was along the same lines. Almost every American I have talked to recently has expressed concern about the anti-US climate in Turkey. Actually, the day my article was published I spoke to a senior researcher who was preparing a report for the government on the Turkish-American crisis. The retired American diplomat politely conveyed his observations, which were similar to the WSJ's. His questions and assessments of the Justice and Development Party (JDP) government in particular, reflected the concerns of most people in Washington. Some secularists he spoke to were telling him things like: "You Americans are very naive. You supported Erdogan's government with democratic intentions. You believe the story that they have changed. Haven't you realized yet how dangerous they are?"
The JDP government's own actions provide the best material to those who want to undermine them from inside and abroad. Here are the questions that come to Western minds after the government's absurd adultery bill and the harsh anti-Israeli remarks: Are Erdogan and his friends secret Islamists? Do they want to turn Turkey's focus away from the West and the US as they get more powerful? Are they using the European Union (EU) process just to create themselves more room for political maneuvering?
A retired American ambassador told me that the Jewish lobby at first wanted to believe that Erdogan has changed, but lately they have lost most of their hope and are even speaking of the need to fast track some agreements like the Manavgat water project that were once considered to be a done deal. You might ask, is the Turkish administration the only party responsible for increased anti-US and anti-Israeli sentiment? Of course, it's not. The opposition, civilian and military bureaucratic elite, intellectuals, and the media do not generally think much differently than the administration, but the practices of the JDP jump out at Americans who are already looking at religious Muslims with suspicion because of the September 11 trauma. Besides, party leaders are the ones who lead the flood of criticism. Americans know that the administration can diminish this flood significantly if it really wants to.
The people that I speak to in Washington admit that persuading a few generals in Turkey may have been sufficient in the past, but things are not that easy in a US backed democratic atmosphere. This does not mean that the US is unhappy with democratization, but do we have to make them regretful? Some people are saying: "Excuse me, but didn't the US make any mistakes? Don't they deserve any of the criticism?" Well, is it our job to make a US that listens to no one in the world and bypasses even its closest Western allies behave? Have we become the world's most powerful nation just because we began to recover over the last few years? Furthermore, how could such a goal be achieved by pushing a stick into a hive? I am calling on the Anwar Pasha minded contemporary Young Turks who are dragging Turkey into adventure by creating friction with the US using northern Iraq as an excuse and the naive Anatolians that have become their tools. You are making a historic mistake. If you are really concerned that "Metal Storm" could come true, please do a little brainstorming…
Forgive me if my style has been rather harsh, but the latest developments are not indicative of good things. Sometimes one has to play "heavy metal" to get people to hear the truth…
*"Metal Storm" is a best-selling Turkish thriller
that portrays a fictional war between the United States and Turkey due
to disagreements over northern Iraq.
5. - Turkish Daily News - "Future use of Incirlik base depends heavily on Iraq":
ANKARA/WASHINGTON / 22 February 2005
At a time when every passing hour adds to tension in the complex web of relationships among the Turks, Americans and Iraqi Kurds, Ankara and Washington are seeking a compromise on the future use of a critical Turkish air base by U.S. forces.
The heart of the matter is mutual mistrust. The Turkish are wary of U.S. intentions over the future of northern Iraq, while the United States still hold the belief that Turkey's rulers were in solidarity with the Sunni/Baathists in Iraq, not the Iraqi people. Turkey also has deep suspicions over Washington's future plans for Iran and Syria. How, under such circumstances, could the old NATO allies find common ground over Incirlik?
To make matters worse, a U.S. Embassy statement from Ankara on Feb. 17 bluntly declared: "Military intervention by any of Iraq's neighbors would be destabilizing and could only lead to wider conflict. Turkey knows this well, and we have no reason to think that Turkey would undertake such action." Clear enough: an open letter of warning to Turkey's government and military leaders.
Such is the situation when the old Cold War allies come to discuss the future of Incirlik. But despite widening differences over Iraq and the Middle East, Ankara, having twice rejected informal requests by the United States, still leans toward agreeing to Incirlik's logistical use for specific missions by U.S. forces. All the same, Ankara's nod of approval heavily depends on reduced tensions with Washington over Iraq.
Last year, the United States sought to deploy two Germany-based squadrons of 48 F-16 fighter aircraft to Incirlik as part of a larger plan to restructure its military overseas to better meet what it sees as new global threats. But Ankara made it clear that it did not want the F-16 redeployment, an issue that never was brought officially to the negotiating table.
But that was understandable in Washington, with U.S. officials admitting in retrospect that the F-16 deployment matter was not realistic.
Ankara also turned down another U.S. request for training rights for U.S. fighter aircraft over a Turkish air base in Konya. "The United States has requested the same training rights the Turkish Air Force has over Konya, but it is practically not viable for us to grant them to the U.S. Air Force," said Gen. Ilker Basbug, deputy chief of the Turkish General Staff.
What remains on the negotiating table is a third request for Incirlik's logistical use in future U.S. operations. Turkey rules out blanket permission for unspecified U.S. missions, but it may agree to Incirlik's logistical use for U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Turkish Foreign Ministry officials said the U.S. request to use Incirlik as a logistical hub for its military operations to the east of Turkey could be accepted only on the condition that any missions run from the base are pre-specified and limited to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Analysts note that the Turkish position falls short of meeting U.S. expectations to obtain a broader right to use Incirlik, but still, it is better than nothing. The United States has made billions of dollars worth of investments on the base over the past few decades, and it does not want to completely give up the facility's highly strategic location and capabilities.
The two sides discussed Incirlik's future during visits to Ankara by a top American commander in the Near East and a senior Pentagon official. Gen. John Abizaid, commander of the U.S. Central Command, was in the Turkish capital in mid-January, and Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith's talks came in early February.
Analysts suggest that the only remaining obstacle to a formal agreement is the Iraq dispute and a resulting wave of anti-Americanism in Turkish public opinion. A January poll by BBC said that more than 80 percent of Turks believed that the United States, under President George W. Bush's administration, was a threat to world peace.
Amid Turkish-Iraqi-Kurdish hostilities, Turkey accused the United States of ignoring efforts by Iraq's independence-minded Kurds to gain control of the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk, home to Kurds, Arabs and Iraqi Turks alike. Washington rejected the charge, saying it was committed to the preservation of Iraq's territorial integrity. The United States says the future of Kirkuk is for the Iraqi people to decide upon.
Turkey also blames the United States for what it calls Washington's reluctance to take active measures against PKK rebels in the mountains of northern Iraq. Washington says it also considers the group to be terrorist but that its forces have higher priorities fighting the major Sunni Arab insurgency in central Iraq.
Built in 1954 in Adana province, Incirlik has been hosting U.S. military aircraft for nearly five decades. Under a 1980 defense cooperation agreement, the United States may keep up to 48 fighters on the base for "training purposes."
Turkey did not let the Unites States use Incirlik for
military purposes in the 2003 Iraq war, prompting the U.S. Air Force
to deploy fighters there to other bases. But the base was used extensively
last spring for the rotation of more than 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.
Under a Pentagon plan known as the Global Force Posture Review, the
United States is expected to withdraw up to 70,000 troops from overseas
bases within the next 10 years, but part of the remaining forces would
be deployed in new locations.
6. - AP - "Cyprus ruling party wins election but not majority":
22 February 2005
The governing party of Mehmet Ali Talat, which has made reunification with Greek Cypriots its top priority, scored a strong victory Sunday in parliamentary elections in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state, but not enough to govern without a coalition.
With all of the votes counted, Talat's Republican Turkish Party had 44 percent of the vote, while the National Unity Party of Dervis Eroglu, which opposes a U.N. plan for reunifying the island, had around 32 percent, the official elections board said.
The results represent a seven seat gain for Talat, who will now hold half of the seats in the 50-seat parliament, but not enough to govern alone. The victory was also a boost for efforts to bring peace to the divided island.
Talat, whose party last year endorsed a United Nations reunification plan that was voted down by Greek Cypriots, immediately called for a resumption of reunification talks with President Tassos Papadopoulos, the Greek Cypriot leader.
"We extend a hand of friendship to the Greek Cypriots to join us to work for a settlement," Talat told reporters.
Washington and the European Union strongly favored Talat, who backed the U.N. plan.
The European Union head office on Sunday welcomed Talat's victory, saying the vote showed Turkish Cypriots were determined to integrate into the EU.
Sunday's "results indicate a clear desire of the Turkish Cypriot community to continue preparations for their full integration into the EU," the European Commission said in a statement. "The results also show that the Turkish Cypriots are committed to the reunification of Cyprus."
The election was also important for Turkey, which could tout Talat's victory as evidence that the Cyprus conflict, which has hindered its EU membership ambitions, is perpetuated by Greek Cypriots who voted down the plan in a referendum.
Some 74 percent of eligible voters participated in Sunday's vote.
"May it be for the best," Eroglu said after winning 18 seats, two less than the last election. He called the election "a good example of democracy."
Only two other parties received enough votes to be represented in parliament: the Democratic Party of Serdar Denktash, Talat's current uneasy coalition partner, won six seats, and the moderate Peace and Democracy Movement, won just one seat - down from the four it held in the outgoing parliament.
Denktash rejects the U.N . reunification plan and Mustafa Akinci, head of the Peace and Democratic Movement, supports reunification.
Though Akinci and Talat agree on reunification, an alliance
is far from certain - they have been publicly at odds with each other
in recent months.
7. - Times Online - "Kurds demand oil cash as
prize for peace":
SULAIMANIYAH / 22 February 2005 / from Anthony Loyd
BLOOD and grief marked the years that Shoresh Ismail fought for freedom from Iraqi rule. He was wounded seven times in the 1980s, when he was a commander in the Kurdish peshmerga irregulars.
More than half his volunteers were killed. His father
was murdered and his brother shot by Iraqi agents outside Sulaimaniyah’s
main mosque in 1986 for no other reason than his blood tie to Shoresh.
But since the fall of Saddam, the Kurds have enjoyed a calm and comparative
peace that the rest of Iraq’s battle-fatigued people would envy.
Nowhere is this more obvious that on the streets of Sulaimaniyah, where
life is almost back to normal.
Now 48, Mr Ismail is director of the Establishment for Martyrs of the Kurdistan Revolution, a pension scheme funded by the Kurdish regional government for the families of killed peshmerga. Every day he hears stories of torture, execution and disappearance, which are all too common among northern Iraq’s 5 million Kurds. But at least the people can speak out without fear of retribution.
He has as much reason as any Kurd to hope for independence, but that is not his priority.
“Independence is still a wish for all of us,” he said, “but reality comes first. It is a time for negotiation and the creation of a new Iraq that guarantees Kurdish rights within the constitution.”
Kurdish nationalism continues to concern those trying to unite Iraq, but most Kurds remain pragmatic after the elections gave them 77 seats in the 275-member National Assembly, a powerful voice that will be enhanced if Jalal Talabani, the Kurdish leader, becomes president.
“We are landlocked,” Muhammad Tawfiq, a leading member of the politburo for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), said. “We have to be realistic. What we want is Iraq to remain secular and a parliamentary democracy, Kurdistan to exist in a federal set-up and for human rights to be guaranteed.”
Such reasonable tones are underlined by the experience of the Kurds in the past decade. While the rest of the country has been racked by violence and criminality, the Kurdish region has remained an oasis of comparative liberalism and peace under its own functioning administration.
Contention remains over the issue of Kirkuk, however, which sits on 40 per cent of Iraq’s oil reserves. It is regarded as Kurdish, but lies outside the borders of the three provinces controlled by the regional government. Kurds want it back, along with other disputed territories such as Khanaqin. Neighbouring countries such as Turkey, fearing that it will allow Kurds an economic platform for independence, are determined that it remains outside Kurdish control.
The Kurds have proposed that Kirkuk’s oil remains a national Iraqi asset and that in return Kurds should receive a percentage of Iraq’s overall oil revenue proportional to their population.
The Kurds say that the future of Kirkuk and Khanaqin must be decided over the summer and publicly backed by the National Assembly before the new constitution is drawn up.
“All we say to the Arab political parties is ‘give
us a good constitution, give us our disputed territories and give us
a good federalism and we’ll sell the idea to the Kurdish people’,”
Mr Tawfiq said. “But as for Kirkuk, if we aren’t happy we’ll
block the constitution.”
8. - rediff.com - "Turtles can make you cry":
22 February 2005 / by Arthur J Pais
The image of an armless orphan using his teeth to diffuse a landmine is not only scary and suspenseful, but also haunting. And though the movie Turtles Can Fly offers many similar images, this scene lingers on.
The image also sends a powerful message about the theme of this compelling drama that achieves intensity, despite underplayed emotions.
If you have been wondering about the miraculous power of cinema and have felt most films these days just do not have it, watch this film and your faith in movies will be restored.
The film, with a cast of non-professionals who also happen to be refugees in a Kurdish village in Iraq, has been winning critical acclaim and awards at numerous festivals. It was one of the better appreciated films at the Toronto and Berlin Film festivals last year. It won the audience award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival as well as the Sao Paulo festival. It also won in San Sebastian, Tokyo and Chicago.
Playing in art-house theatres in New York and Los Angeles before expanding to more cities, this movie deserves to be widely seen. In portraying the lives of a handful of the most vulnerable victims of war, 37-year-old Bahman Ghobadi has created a splendid anti-war statement in his third film. It’s also a fine film about survival. In fact, the actors, who play fictitious characters on screen, have shown plenty of resilience in their own young lives.
Hiresh Rahman, who plays the armless boy in the film, saw a bird caught in electrical cables not too long ago, according to writer and filmmaker Ghobadi. While he freed the bird, he was electrocuted and his arms were burnt beyond recovery. Yet, he had no fear of the camera, Ghobadi said.
’The reality is very, very hard and difficult,’ Ghobadi was quoted as telling a festival audience. ’Many times we were shooting and had to stop to cry.’
Now serious movie buffs in America have an opportunity to cry watching the film. But many of them could come out of theatres celebrating the film’s humanity and wishing Ghobadi a long life filled with more such delicately created films.
Ghobadi’s Turtles Can Fly is yet another reminder that great filmmakers do not need even a small budget (say $2 million) to make startlingly impressive films. Turtles was reportedly made for about $100,000.
Ghobadi is an Iranian Kurd and his film is a tribute to several Iranian masters -- including his mentor Abbas Kiarostami -- who are making films under difficult conditions, and yet getting them released worldwide, to immense recognition.
The first film made in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein whose regime was particularly harsh on the Kurds, Turtles Can Fly takes place mostly in a refugee camp bordering Iraq and Turkey on the eve of the American invasion of 2003.
In yet another underplayed but rich sequence in the film we see children struggle to set up a television antenna on a hilltop, to get CNN reports on the imminent American invasion.
Though all the amateur actors are splendidly engaging, Soran Ebrahim, who could be 14 and whose name in the movie is Satellite, draws the most attention. Nicknamed Satellite for his ability to install dishes that help his people receive news from non-official sources, he is endearing as well as brutal in his dealings with other children.
He is also a hustler and fixer, but like other children in the film who are taking risks, he too is a survivor.
As he commands the army of war orphans who will hunt for mines and shell casings to be sold for scrap, we also see in him a father figure, even though the children he recruits are not much younger.
The sad and intriguing (and in a way colourful) refugee camp includes, apart from Satellite and the armless boy Henkov (Hiresh Rahman), his frail, suicidal sister Agrin (Avaz Latif). The armless orphan, the other kids whisper, can predict the immediate future, and Agrin is a sorceress. And then there is a very small kid, maybe just a year-old, who has to be kept on a leash; he is prone to wander onto the landmines.
Ghobadi has dedicated the film ’to all the innocent children in the world -- the casualties of the policies of dictators and fascists.’
Saddam Hussein is clearly the unseen villain in the film
but Ghobadi, who, like his mentor, was refused a visa by the US to attend
American film festivals two years ago, doesn’t miss an opportunity
to question the attitude of the ’liberators.’