01 March 2005

1. "Turkey condemns German parties on Armenia", Turkey's ambassador to Germany accused the opposition Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) of having made itself into a "spokesman for fanatical Armenian nationalism". | news

2. "Defense ties intact despite ‘anti-Americanism’", Little has changed behind the scenes, apart from more suspicious looks at each bilateral meeting, after repeated American complaints of rising "anti-Americanism" in Turkey. Defense ties, the traditional pillar of the multi-dimensional U.S.-Turkish partnership will remain mostly intact despite a barrage of problematic coverage in the public domain, according to officials in Ankara and Washington. | analysis

3.- "Show them death and they will love the fever", “There is no such place”, the Turkish intelligence officer told my son earlier this month. He was going through our luggage at the Turkish end of the Habur bridge that separates Turkey from northern Iraq, and had found a chess set, with the place of origin, “Kurdistan” carved into it. | comment

4. - "Al-Jaafari: PKK has no place in Iraq", The Shiite politician says his policy would be to have good relations with Iraq’s neighbors | news

5. - "Shia coalitions: Kirkuk has never been and never will be Kurdish", In a telephone chat show conducted by the popular US backed radio in Iraq ‘Radio Sawa’, representatives of the three main winners of the landmark Iraqi elections went into hot controversial discussions. | news

6. - "Syria May Be Bowing to Pressure", The Syrians have a record of complying under pressure. Under threats of invasion from Turkey, Syria expelled Turkish Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan in October 1998 after he had operated from Damascus for years. | news

7. "Turkey: Official rate of unemployment hits 10%" | shortnews

8. "Gendarmerie uncover arms cache in Mardin", One militant was killed in a clash near the Syrian border. | shortnews

1. - expatica / dpa - "Turkey condemns German parties on Armenia"

BERLIN / 28 February 2005

Turkey's ambassador to Germany, Mehmet Ali Irtemcelik, has angrily denounced a parliamentary resolution by the German conservative opposition on the alleged mass expulsion and murder of Armenians by Ottoman Turks 90 years ago.

In a statement, the ambassador accused the opposition Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) of having made itself into a "spokesman for fanatical Armenian nationalism".

He called the resolution, put forth by the CDU/CSU faction in the German parliament on 22 February, a one-sided portrayal and said the matter should be left to the historians.

"We would hope that our
Adblock
friends in the Union parties, through their clumsy slander of Turkish history, are not aiming to insult in particular our citizens living here and in this manner to damage the manifold relations between Turkey and Germany," he said.

The CDU/CSU resolution was put forward to mark the upcoming 90th anniversary of the events in the former Turkish Ottoman Empire involving the Turks' treatment of the ethnic Armenian minority.

In the resolution, the CDU said that on 24 April 1915, the order was given by the Ottoman Turks to arrest and deport the Armenian cultural and political elites, leading to the murder of most of them. It said 1.2 to 1.5 million Armenians were victims.

The resolution said that to this day, Turkey as the legal successor to the Ottoman empire is still denying that the events were planned and massacres carried out.

"This position of rejection stands in contradiction to the idea of reconciliation which guides the community of values in the European Union which Turkey wants to join," the CDU/CSU resolution said.

In his statement, Irtemcelik said the CDU/CSU needed to explain why it has waited so long, including the period when it was in power in Germany to put such a sensitive topic on the agenda. The CDU/CSU was in power in Bonn and then Berlin between 1982 and 1998.

He said the Union parties in the past had always opposed initiatives which had sought to instrumentalise the German parliament.

Over two million Turks live in Germany, making up by far the largest foreign ethnic group in the country.

In January, the eastern German state of Brandenburg, bowing to diplomatic pressure from Turkey, struck the subject of the Turkish genocide against Armenians from its classroom curriculum.

But then this move was partially rescinded, after pressure by Armenian representatives, so that the genocide against Armenians is taught in the classroom as being one of several examples of genocide in the 20th Century.

2. - Turkish Daily News - "Defense ties intact despite ‘anti-Americanism’"

ANKARA / Exclusive by TDN Defense Desk

Little has changed behind the scenes, apart from more suspicious looks at each bilateral meeting, after repeated American complaints of rising "anti-Americanism" in Turkey. Defense ties, the traditional pillar of the multi-dimensional U.S.-Turkish partnership will remain mostly intact despite a barrage of problematic coverage in the public domain, according to officials in Ankara and Washington.

Turkish and U.S. officials say the fundamentals of ties between Ankara and Washington remain unchanged despite increasing publicity that suggest otherwise.

"There is a problem, one cannot deny. But its magnitude is widely overrated. It's mostly business as usual," said one senior Turkish military official. "Despite scratches, the partnership is still there, up and running."

A defense official in Ankara said: "A genuine political problem almost always immediately echoes in defense procurement. This is not the case about the United States."

He said, "U.S. weapons manufacturers have troubles regarding the Turkish market, but they are not related to Turkish public sentiments or to a genuine political problem between Ankara and Washington. They still queue up for contracts."

The anatomy of verbal fighting:

Compared to a generally favorable public view of the United States in Turkey in the late 1990s, America's popularity has plunged down to fresh lows after the 2003 Iraq war. A BBC World Service poll conducted in 21 countries throughout the world in the wake of last November's U.S. presidential election found that 82 percent of the Turkish population sees the United States under President George W. Bush's administration as a threat to world peace.

Last November's U.S. military campaign against Falluja, a key Sunni insurgent stronghold in central Iraq, marked a steep rise in what the United States perceives as climbing anti-Americanism in Turkey. For the first time, some leading parliamentary deputies from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) went so far as to accuse the Americans of committing genocide and using nuclear weapons against Iraq's Sunni population. One key AKP official even declared that the United States was no longer Turkey's ally, but a potential enemy.

America bashing is also in fashion in the Turkish media, U.S. officials say. They refer to what they call unbalanced reports and even blatant lies about what the Americans are doing in Iraq and elsewhere.

Some eccentric Turkish newspaper reports even blamed the United States for the tsunami that hit southern Asia late last year, killing more than 250,000 people. Accusations ranged from "causing the tsunami with a secret nuclear test" to deliberately failing to inform the region's people in time.

Also, Turkey's new best-selling novel, "Metal Storm," although it is pure fiction, highlights the deep fear and anger that many Turks feel toward the United States. The book is about a U.S. invasion of Turkey in 2007.

Since early December, U.S. officials have made it increasingly clear that they are really disturbed by this America bashing, mainly putting the blame on Erdogan's government and urging him to make a serious effort to curb anti-America sentiments in the public and in part of the political establishment.

After the matter was discussed in detail when the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Ankara in early February, Marc Grossman, then undersecretary of state for political affairs, said Feb. 10 that Washington was "worried about the anti-Americanism we see in some Turkish media and politics over Iraq." He said: "We know what is going on in Iraq is controversial in Turkey. But we need to approach this debate based on facts and conduct it as allies."

But it was the remarks by Douglas Feith, undersecretary of defense for policy that made a major impact in Ankara. "It's crucial that the appreciation of our relationships extend beyond government officials down to the public in general, because otherwise the relationship is really not sustainable ... We hope that officials in our partner countries are going to be devoting the kind of effort to building popular support for the relationship that we build in our own country. I think that that's extremely important," Feith said Feb. 17 in Washington. He also visited Ankara in early February.

As Grossman notes, anti-American sentiment in Turkey is mainly related to Iraq. Many analysts agree that religious Turks, who also form part of Erdogan's party base, are infuriated by what they see as the persecution of Sunnis in Iraq. Secular Turks, for their part, are frustrated by what they perceive as American efforts to pave the way to the creation of an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq. The United States categorically denies this and says it is fully committed to Iraq's territorial integrity. But in a country where conspiracy theories are popular, the damage is done.

Turks also are angered by U.S. reluctance to take active measures against thousands of PKK/Kongra-Gel terrorists based in the mountains of neighboring northern Iraq.

But eventually, U.S. warnings on anti-Americanism have partly reached the target. Turkish government leaders, who had earlier sought only to downplay the dispute's importance, have been refraining from inflammatory statements and making a special effort to praise U.S. ties in recent weeks.

However, the unfavorable view of the Turkish public opinion is mostly unchanged. Many see those repeated U.S. warnings as renewed efforts to threaten Turkey.

"They are effectively beating us up in Iraq, and at the same time they are urging us to remain silent," said one conservative commentator.

Playing down the verbal fighting:

Analysts say the Americans, rather than writing off Turkey, are trying to avoid a situation in which they must write off Turkey.

Hence the increased traffic of messages in the public domain," said one London-based Turkey specialist. "Through various back channels and publicity, Washington is telling the AKP that it must behave if it wants to cohabit with the superpower."

A Washington-based analyst agrees. "I don't think the differences between the United States and Turkey are as deep as they are portrayed by the media and perceived by the public opinion in both countries. The United States, through back channels, is pushing Erdogan into a choice between his Sunni Islamist genes and pragmatism. There is every reason to believe Erdogan when pushed further into a choice won't hesitate too much to go for rationality. Erdogan has gone a little bit too far in his efforts aiming at domestic consumption. He will retreat."

A Turkish Foreign Ministry official commented, however that "The anti-American sentiment in the Turkish public opinion has very limited leverage on the government. Has anyone ever seen a fundamental change in historic ties between two states because of negative public sentiment? U.S.-Turkish ties can be exposed to a genuine crisis depending on Washington's future moves in this part of the world, not depending on what most Turks think about America."

Similarly, a U.S. State Department official said, "Although rising anti-Americanism in Turkey or elsewhere in the region is a problem for our interests, we also have noted that what goes on in Turkey is more anti-Bushism than anti-Americanism."

Egemen Bagis, a deputy of the ruling AKP and a top adviser to Erdogan, admitted on Feb. 12 that the unpopular war in neighboring Iraq continued to fuel anti-American feelings in Turkey. "But this public feeling, this public tension, is not any different from what is happening in other European countries or other Middle Eastern countries," Bagis told reporters in Washington. "In other words, anti-Americanism in Turkey is not higher than that in other European-ally states."

Especially after Feith's remarks became public in Turkey, government leaders toned down their rhetoric. "The United States is a very important and valuable ally," Erdogan told reporters Feb. 22. "There may have been some communication problems, but we are overcoming them."

"Prime Minister Erdogan and his government are firmly committed to this relationship," said Faruk Logoglu, Turkey's ambassador to Washington.

Keeping a cool head since the beginning of the anti-American euphoria in the public, the Turkish military also sought to relieve tensions with Washington. "Our ties with the United States are too deep and comprehensive to be tied to one single matter (Iraq)," said Army Gen. Ilker Basbug, deputy chief of the Turkish General Staff. As Ankara's rhetoric eased, Washington also toned down its criticism, but still emphasizing the bottom line. "This is a very positive and healthy relationship, and one that deserves the kind of work that we've put into it to make sure it stays healthy and productive for both sides," Richard Boucher, U.S. State Department spokesman, told reporters Feb. 23.

3. - bitterlemons-international.org - "Show them death and they will love the fever"

24/2/2005 / by Peter Galbraith

“There is no such place”, the Turkish intelligence officer told my son earlier this month. He was going through our luggage at the Turkish end of the Habur bridge that separates Turkey from northern Iraq, and had found a chess set, with the place of origin, “Kurdistan” carved into it. After initially insisting we return the set to Iraq, he loaned Andrew a screwdriver to gouge out the offending word.

Fifty meters away from the Turkish intelligence post, at the other end of the bridge, is a sign that reads “welcome to Kurdistan of Iraq”. The operative question is how long the “of Iraq’ will be there. The Iraqi flag does not fly at the border crossing or anywhere else in Iraqi Kurdistan (a pre-1991 version of the flag does fly on a few public buildings in the part of Kurdistan controlled by the PUK). The Kurdistan flag, a green-white-red tricolor and with a bright yellow sun, is ubiquitous. The Kurdistan government--not the authorities in Baghdad--controls the Habur crossing. There are no central government offices in Kurdistan and the Kurdistan government does not allow the Iraqi army to send its forces into the region.

And, should there be any doubt about where all this is heading, the people of Kurdistan voted in an advisory referendum on Iraq’s election day on whether Kurdistan should remain part of Iraq or be independent. Two million people voted (almost the same number as in the regular ballot) and 97 percent chose independence.

Andrew’s defaced backgammon board was a gift from the PUK leader, Jalal Talabani, who headed the united Kurdish list in Iraq’s January 30 elections. With 26 percent of the seats in the Iraq National Assembly, the Kurds are an indispensable partner to Sistani’s Shi'ite list, which won a narrow majority. Effectively, all important National Assembly decisions require a two-thirds majority, meaning if the Shi'ite list is going to form a government--or write a constitution--it must have Kurdish support.

The Kurds have already declared the price of their support: any constitution must codify the current level of Kurdistan independence. Kurdistan will run its own affairs (financed by a proportionate share of Iraq’s federal budget), keep its own armed forces, own and manage its own oil, control its international borders, and be totally free from Baghdad interference. This includes, as KDP leader Massoud Barzani stated in a recent New York Times interview, a constitutional ban on the presence of the Iraqi National Army in Kurdistan.

And the Kurds want the oil-rich province of Kirkuk attached to Kurdistan. Their claim was substantially bolstered by the provincial elections which gave a pro-Kurdistan list (that included Turkmens, Arabs, and Christians) more than 80 percent of the vote.

The Kurds also expect to share power in Baghdad, not only to affirm their status with the Arabs as one of Iraq’s two nations, but also because they believe a major role in Baghdad is key to securing and safeguarding a separate Kurdistan. As part of a deal to install a Shi'ite as prime minister, the Kurds insist that they get the presidency, and their candidate is Jalal Talabani. It will be a fitting irony that Iraq’s first ever freely chosen head of state--indeed arguably the first freely chosen leader in the territory that is now Iraq since Adam was there alone--is a Kurd.

Like the military man we encountered at the border, some Turks are in denial about the new reality in Iraq. But, overall, Turkey’s response to emerging Kurdistan has been sophisticated. Many Turks--both close to Erdogan’s government and, more surprisingly in the military/intelligence/diplomatic establishment known as the “deep state”--see opportunity as well as peril in developments in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Kurdish nationalism in Iraq is a fact, and Turkey’s ability to influence the drive for statehood (whether merely de facto or recognized) is minimal. Turkey has no meaningful military option. A large scale armed intervention would confront more than 100,000 well armed peshmerga operating on their own terrain (a far more formidable force than the Turkish military faced in a 15 year war against the PKK in southeast Turkey), would shatter relations with the United States and kill Turkey’s hopes of joining the European Union. An economic boycott is a double edged sword that would also destroy Turkey’s lucrative trade with Iraq. Closing the border would inflict particular pain on Kurdish southeast Turkey where popular sympathy is solidly behind the Iraqi Kurds.

Separatist sentiment among Turkey’s Kurds has sharply declined not only with the military defeat of the PKK but also with the prospect that all of Turkey--including the southeast--might join the European Union. Wrong steps on Iraq--particularly those that compromise EU accession or indeed the substantial advances made on Kurdish rights in Turkey as a result of that process--could reignite nationalist sentiment among Turkey’s Kurds.

While the rhetoric out of Ankara is sometimes threatening, Turkey has maintained cordial relations with Kurdistan’s leaders since 1991. Indeed, of all Iraq’s new leaders, the Kurds are the ones Ankara knows the best. The Kurds appreciate Ankara’s role in establishing and maintaining the safe haven that enabled a separate Kurdistan to survive--and later thrive--during Saddam Hussein’s time. Turgut Ozal, the Turkish president who opened the door in Ankara to the Iraqi Kurds and who pushed the reluctant George H.W. Bush to establish the safe haven, is revered among Iraq’s Kurdish leaders.

The Iraqi Kurds have shrewdly cultivated Turkish business and investment in their region. Turkish companies are ubiquitous--creating a bottle water plant, building an airport, and even establishing a brewery. A Turkish company, Genel Enerji, won the first production-sharing contract awarded by the Kurdistan Regional Government to develop the Taq-Taq oil field--a venture strongly supported by the Turkish government.

Enlightened commentators in Turkey note that Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan have a lot in common, and not just shared bonds of ethnicity. The Iraqi Kurds have the same western and secular orientation that defines the modern Turkish state. Instead of being seen as subversive, many Turks--including in the deep state itself--now view Iraqi Kurdistan as a potential ally, a bulwark against a militant Islamic Iraq.

One practical consequence of Kurdistan’s drive for independence is Ankara’s silence on the issue of federalism in Iraq, which just two years ago was proclaimed publicly to be unacceptable. As the Kurdish proverb goes: “Show them death and they will love the fever”

Peter Galbraith is on the faculty of the National War College, Washington, DC. He has served as US ambassador to Croatia and as a senior adviser to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He documented Saddam Hussein's genocidal campaign against the Iraqi Kurds in the late 1980s, contributing to the decision to create a safe-haven for the Kurds.

4. - Turkish Daily News - "Al-Jaafari: PKK has no place in Iraq"

The Shiite politician says his policy would be to have good relations with Iraq’s neighbors

ANKARA / 1 March 1, 2005

Shiite politician Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the leading candidate to become Iraq's prime minister, pledged to fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) based in the mountains of northern Iraq, saying that Iraq would not allow any organization operating in its territory to harm neighboring countries.

A few thousand armed militants from the PKK, which also goes by the names KADEK and Kongra-Gel, are holed up in the mountains of northern Iraq. Turkey has pressed the United States and Iraqi interim administration to crack down on the outlawed group, which fought a separatist war in southeastern Turkey for 15 years in the past.

Al-Jaafari, speaking at a press conference in Baghdad after talks with a group of visiting U.S. senators, said Iraq would not allow any organization operating in its territory, including the PKK, to pose security threats against Iraq's neighbors. The Shiite politician said his policy was to have good and cooperative relations with neighboring countries.

Al-Jaafari is the election-winner Shiites' candidate for the Prime Ministry and he looks set to get the job, given the Shiites' clear victory in the Jan. 30 polls.

He said the PKK faced two choices. The PKK, he said, should either abide by Iraqi rules and stop its harmful activities or leave Iraq. Ankara has signaled satisfaction with the Shiite bloc decision to name al-Jaafari as candidate for the Prime Ministry. A statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry said al-Jaafari was an experienced statesman who knows Turkey well.

Kirkuk settlement awaits vote:

In comments on the disputed status of the northern city of Kirkuk, al-Jaafari said the city should have a balanced administration but added that any lasting settlement would emerge as part of efforts to draft a permanent constitution for Iraq.

Iraqi Kurds won more than half of the votes in local elections in Kirkuk, which were held on the same day as parliamentary elections and say the election results prove the city's Kurdish identity. Turkmens and Arabs also lay claim to the city and accuse Kurds of irregularities during the polls.

5. - KurdishMedia.com- "Shia coalitions: Kirkuk has never been and never will be Kurdish"

LONDON / 28 February 2005 / By Bryar Mariwani

In a telephone chat show conducted by the popular US backed radio in Iraq ‘Radio Sawa’, representatives of the three main winners of the landmark Iraqi elections went into hot controversial discussions.

The guests were, Nawshirwan Mustafa, the prominent PUK politician and a representative of the Kurdistani Coalition List. Dr. Ali Reza, a member of the Islamic Al-Dawa party and representative of the Iraqi cleric Al-Sistani backed Iraqi Shiia Coalition List and Abu Fahd Al-Isawi, a member of the Iraqi Prime Minister Allawi’s Al-Wifaq party.

Nawshirwan Mustafa said that his list has not entered any coalitions with any other Iraqi lists because their demands have not been met but hinted that negotiations are still in progress in Baghdad.

When asked whether Kurds are ready to accept delaying the implementation of Article 58 of the temporary Iraqi constitution, an article which states that situations in Kirkuk should be normalised to the status before the Arabisation campaign era by Saddam Hussein, Nawshriwan Mustafa the representative of the Kurdistani list said "No, because Kirkuk is a central issue to the Kurdish movement. We could have agreed with the Iraqi government 40 years ago if we were ready to give up on Kirkuk".

Ayad Allawi’s representative, Abdu Fahd Al-Isawi, in response to a question related to Kirkuk said, “Kirkuk has never and never will be a Kurdish city. I am very disappointed when I hear these comments [That Kirkuk is a Kurdish city] from politicians and from ordinary people. There is something historical that can’t be played with. Kurdistan region is an Iraqi region and Kurds are real Iraqis and they believe in the unity of Iraq.”

The Radio show host then asked the representative of Sistani backed ‘Iraq Coalition List’ (Shiia List) to give his opinions on the issue of Kirkuk. Dr. Reza said “I am with Al-Sabawii on the issue of Kirkuk. Kirkuk has never and will never be a Kurdish city. Kirkuk is more Arabic than Kurdish.”

6. - AP - "Syria May Be Bowing to Pressure"

CAIRO / 28 February 2005 / By SALAH NASRAWI

Syria, long blamed for Middle East mayhem, seems to be bowing to U.S.-led international pressure to shed its image as a sponsor of regional instability.

Iraqi authorities say Syria - accused among other things of aiding anti-Israeli extremists and fanning the insurgency in Iraq - handed over Saddam Hussein's feared half brother, Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan. The decision came as an apparent goodwill gesture to ease tensions with the United States, which has demanded Damascus stop aiding Mideast militants and withdraw its 15,000 soldiers from neighboring Lebanon.

The handover of al-Hassan, who was No. 36 on the list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis compiled by U.S. authorities after the ouster of Saddam in April 2003, follows two recent deadly bombings in the Middle East that have escalated regional tensions and led some to point to possible Syrian involvement.

The Feb. 14 bomb that killed former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri and 16 others in Beirut set off huge protests by Lebanese who blamed Syria and Lebanon's pro-Damascus government for the attack.

The United States and France used the assassination to renew calls on Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon in line with a U.N. Security Council resolution passed in September. Washington also withdrew its ambassador to Damascus.

Responsibility for Friday's suicide bombing of a Tel Aviv nightclub that killed four Israelis was claimed by Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian militant group that has some officials based in Syria.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday charged that Syria was behind the suicide bombing, saying Islamic Jihad carried out the bombing on orders from its leaders in that country.

Israel did not immediately threaten retaliation, but the possibility was clear, considering Israeli warplanes bombed an Islamic Jihad base in Syria in 2003 after a suicide bombing at a restaurant in Haifa that killed 19 people.

Syria has denied involvement in the Hariri and Tel Aviv bombings, but al-Hassan's handover and apparent improvements in Syrian safeguards on its long, porous border with Iraq indicate that embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad is showing signs of complying with increasing demands to support U.S.-backed efforts to stabilize the volatile Middle East.

In Cairo on Sunday, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shaara indicated his government would gradually withdraw its troops from Lebanon, which - along with ending its support for Palestinian and Lebanese extremist groups - is a key U.S. demand.

Handing over wanted Iraqi fugitives and complying with demands on Lebanon could ease Syria's tense relations with the Bush administration. Many in this region fear Damascus could be next on America's hit list.

The U.S. State Department, which withdrew its ambassador to Syria after Hariri's assassination, had no immediate reaction, although spokesman Steve Pike said there was no change in the status of Ambassador Margaret Scobey.

The French ambassador to Washington, Jean-David Levitte, told CNN's ``Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer'' that al-Hassan's handover ``would be certainly a positive development, and that's exactly what we expect from Syria.''

President Bush has said he does not know if Syria was involved in Hariri's killing, but has accused Damascus of being ``out of step with the progress being made in the greater Middle East.'' The ambassador's withdrawal, he noted, indicated ``the relationship is not moving forward.''

Iraqi officials say al-Hassan and 29 other members of Saddam's former Baathist regime were rounded up in the northeastern Syrian town of Hasakah and handed over at the nearby Iraqi border to authorities there.

The catch is an important one as al-Hassan is widely believed to have been a leading figure in financing and orchestrating the ongoing anti-U.S. insurgency in Iraq. The United States had offered $1 million for his capture.

Saturday's Baghdad newspaper Al-Mada reported that Syria provided information that led Iraqi authorities to breaking up 35 insurgent cells in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and arresting some 750 suspected militants.

The Syrians have a record of complying under pressure.

Under threats of invasion from Turkey, Syria expelled Turkish Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan in October 1998 after he had operated from Damascus for years.

In February 1999, Ocalan, head of the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers Party, was snatched in a Turkish commando raid in Kenya and faced trial in Turkey. He is serving a life sentence for leading a deadly insurgency in favor of autonomy for Kurds in southeastern Turkey.

In 2000, Damascus handed over Egypt's most wanted terrorist, Rifaa Taha. Taha led the notorious al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya, which was responsible for a decade long bloody rebellion to overthrow the secular government of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. In return Mubarak convinced then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to resume peace talks with Syria, but the talks collapsed that year.

In recent years, U.S. officials have praised the assistance they have received from Syria in tracking and nabbing members of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network.

7. - albawaba.com - "Turkey: Official rate of unemployment hits 10%"

28 February 2005

Turkey's rate of unemployment amounted to 10 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004 (October, November, December). The State Institute of Statistics (DIE) has announced the total employment was estimated at 21.8 million people, and the employment rate was estimated as 43.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004. Turkey

According to TurkishPress website, the total unemployment was estimated as 2.4 million people, and the rate of unemployment became 10 percent for the same period.

According to the results of the Household Labor Force Survey, total labor force participation rate was 48.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004.

8. - NTVMSNBC - "Gendarmerie uncover arms cache in Mardin"

One militant was killed in a clash near the Syrian border.

1 March 2005

Forces from the Turkish gendarmerie on Monday seized a large cache of firearms in the south eastern province of Mardin.

The gendarmerie made the find when the stopped a truck in Mardin, locating 93 firearms and a large stock of ammunition.
Two people were taken into custody in connection with the arms trafficking.
In another incident in the province of Mardin, officials said that one militant was killed in an armed clash between the security forces and members of the PKK/Kongra-Gel. The clash took place near the town of Nusaybin, close to the Syrian border.