Untitled Document

2 March 2005

1. "Abdullah Ocalan: We prepared the ground for a peaceful solution of the Kurdish Question", Ocalan’s team of defence lawyers have been allowed to visit him on the prison island of Imrali. As so often before, in the previous weeks the Turkish authorities knew how to circumvent such meetings and made it impossible for Ocalan to receive any visitors. Touching on various themes of Turkish politics, the discussion between Ocalan and his lawyers centred particularly on the AKP government’s attitude towards the Kurdish question and the issues raised by expanding Kurdish nationalism.

2. "Austrian Journalist Detained in Istanbul", Reporters Without Borders protested today against the imprisonment of Austrian journalist Sandra Bakutz of Radio Orange 94.0 and the German newspaper Junge Welt.

3. "International Observers to Attend FOE Cases", 2 March trials of Fikret Baskaya and Ragip Zarakolu symbolise the continuation of freedom of expression problems in Turkey.

4. "Prime Minister Sues Caricaturist Kart", journalists and caricaturists continue to criticize the Prime Minister Erdogan who sued caricaturist Kart of Cumhuriyet daily for drawing him as a cat. Caricaturist Kart and editor-in-chief Sucu were fined a total of 3,800 dollars for the caricature.

5. "They say ’incident’. To me it’s genocide", when its finest novelist attacked Turkey’s bloody past, he became a hero for Armenians and Turks alike, says Nouritza Matossiann.

6. "A dilemma or a breakthrough?", the recent statements from Ankara regarding the city of Kirkuk and their fear of Kurds oppressing Turkomans there have sent a strong message to Iraqi Kurdistan that Turkey’s "Kurdophobia" has not subsided, despite repeated Kurdish reassurances that Kurds have no intention to Kurdisize the city of Kirkuk.

7. "EU divided over Turkey’s reform pace", Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül denies slowing down in process, says government committed to reforms.

8. "Iraq's Kurdish And Shiite Leadership Begin Heavy Bargaining", negotiations to form Iraq's next government intensified Monday as Shiite Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the frontrunner to become the next prime minister, and Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani held talks on forming a coalition.

1. - Flash Bulletin - "Abdullah Ocalan: We prepared the ground for a peaceful solution of the Kurdish Question":

2 March 2005 / translated by Susanne Kempe

Ocalan’s team of defence lawyers have been allowed to visit him on the prison island of Imrali. As so often before, in the previous weeks the Turkish authorities knew how to circumvent such meetings and made it impossible for Ocalan to receive any visitors. Touching on various themes of Turkish politics, the discussion between Ocalan and his lawyers centred particularly on the AKP government’s attitude towards the Kurdish question and the issues raised by expanding Kurdish nationalism.

Calling on the AKP government to be open and sensitive towards democratic reforms, Ocalan said: “Turkey as a state reached a definite watershed. The government will lead Turkey into a catastrophe, if it does not introduce truly democratic reforms and changes, if it does not solve the Kurdish question peacefully and create a peaceful and democratic atmosphere in society. I have fulfilled my responsibility working for a peaceful settlement and just solution of the Kurdish question. Now it is the task of the Kurds to defend their freedom. My current responsibility and task is finished and has come to an end. We have prepared the ground for a peaceful solution of the Kurdish question. The Turkish government has to take on responsibility, now. Thinking it can solve the problems, defeat and destroy Kurdish guerrilla forces by organising summits and conferences, the government is very much misled. Neither the guerrilla forces nor the problems will disappear.”

Ocalan clarified his position further: “There are forms of democratic consciousness developing. If the demands of the Kurds for freedom are met and a dignified, democratic atmosphere of peace in society is created, then I can disarm the guerrilla forces within two months.”

Referring to the rise and fostering of nationalism in Iraq, Ocalan explained: “The Arabic peoples have suffered a lot since the creation of the Israeli state in 1948. Currently there are forces supported by the US government nurturing nationalism in Southern Kurdistan. The policies of the AKP government facilitate this process. Grounded in a philosophy of freedom, I am against the support of nationalism. I believe it is possible to solve the problems of the Middle East by means of a democratic con-federalism which I am calling for and working towards.

During the last meeting with his lawyers, Ocalan also discussed that topic. “The AKP government displays a business mentality and attitude. It is not willing to reach peace. It is concerned with the conflict between Israel and Palestine, but not with peace in its own country. In the name of peace, Abdullah Gul is travelling to Israel and Palestine, but does not see what is going on in front of his eyes at home. I come to the conclusion that war is in the AKP’s interest. Soldiers, policemen and Kurdish young people die, but they are not interested. This is the only way the AKP can keep itself in office.”

“The system has been working and running like this for thirty years. The Turkish army is getting weaker, the Kurdish people are getting weaker, but the Kurdish ‘Aghas’ are developing. Kemalism is on the retreat. The USA becomes stronger. The Turkish government, Kurdish collaborators, the USA and EU are coming together and cooperating in order to attack and defeat the PKK. With respect to the EU summit in December 2004, we have called for substantial support of this summit and offered our cooperation. But there was no answer, our demands and suggestions were ignored. Where does this lead to? Kurdish collaborators are busy preparing the foundation of a state in a second Zionism-like manner. The creation of a state based on Kurdish nationalism will be used against Iran and Turkey. I have tried to prevent this from happening. But our people have been keeping quiet. Even this twit who calls himself my brother is working with and for the nationalists. Similar things happened in Palestine in 1948. The result was and still is horrific war. As they let Israel wage war against the Arabs and let the Arabs be defeated and slain, so also today they pursue politics of power, dominance and power-sharing. A Turkish-Kurdish war starts and both the USA as well as the EU will use both sides for their own interests and power politics.”

“Kirkuk is the new Jerusalem. Blood will flow in wide streams. It hurts me to say that, but this will be the result. The killings of PKK members and policemen in Mosul are a mere beginning, the start of a bloody phase. It is the first step. I have called on the Turkish minister president asking for his impetus: ‘It is in your hands to stop this. We are only asking for normal rights. We have to prevent it from happening that Kurdish nationalism becomes a form of second Zionism.’ I have tried to behave responsibly. Why does not the minister president reply and answer my letters? I have written in the spirit of faith and love, but there is no answer. This will lead to war. There will be people’s uprisings, Serhildans. The government does not allow Kurdish kindergartens, TV and radio stations. The minister president calls for ‘Zero Tolerance for Torture’; in reality we are faced with zero tolerance for democracy and human rights. He should approach me asking to work together for peace and unity of the republic. All of us have made mistakes in the past. We say to him: Let us overcome our past and these mistakes together, let us turn the page and start a new chapter.”

“But if this is not going to happen, then I will tell the people to defend their own language and culture. Women, children, everybody should demand: ‘I want my Kurdish kindergarten, my TV, my radio’ referring to rights protected under the new EU constitution. They should take to the streets. To learn ones mother tongue is a basic, fundamental human right. Unfortunately, around here politics are understood as a fiddling game. The opposite team is scoring goals all the time. Actually, there is no goal and there is no goalkeeper anymore. Hundred to nil, two hundred to nil, three hundred to nil. Our people do not understand it. If they do not defend themselves and fight, they will be exterminated or will commit suicide. Where will this lead us? A blind exchange of blows will be the result. That is not good. The people of Turkey have not deserved this. Why should soldiers and policemen die? I never think of revenge. Why should these young people, these men die? Instead of thinking about the peace in Israel and Palestine, they should consider the situation and peace in their own country. They would gnaw their leg off for Palestine. We are not asking for much. Basically, it is a problem of power, the problems caused by the interests of some very powerful. I mentioned several points that could contribute to a solution.”

“If democracy and human rights are not fought for and defended, they will fight against each other. I will stay out of that. I have said what I was able to say. Being a prisoner in constant and strict isolation, there is only so much I can actually do. That is the core of my message. If steps are not taken now, then the Kurdish people will take their own position. Our people have to mobilise.”

Source: MHA, 19 January 2005; II, 17 January 2005; ISKU, Published in NUCE, Weekly news from Kurdistan, No 189, 21 January 2005

2. - RSF - "Austrian Journalist Detained in Istanbul":

Reporters Without Borders protested today against the imprisonment of Austrian journalist Sandra Bakutz of Radio Orange 94.0 and the German newspaper Junge Welt.

2 March 2005

Bakutz was arrested on 10 February on her arrival at Atatürk international airport in Istanbul and has been held ever since on a charge of "belonging to an illegal organization."

Bakutz was taken to the Pasakapisi detention centre in Istanbul on 16 February, and was subsequently transferred to the prison in Gebze, a town about 50 km south of Istanbul, where she is now awaiting trial.

"We call on the Turkish justice minister to release this Austrian journalist at once," Reporters Without Borders said. "Her imprisonment, which has so far lasted 18 days, is based on vague suspicions and is not supported by an international arrest warrant."

The press freedom organization added: "The Turkish justice system does not respect articles 9 and 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights banning arbitrary detention and guaranteeing the right to a fair and transparent trial, or article 19 guaranteeing freedom of opinion."

Bakutz, who has been involved for several years in defending Turkish political prisoners, was to have attended the trial of 82 activists who were arrested in an international police operation on 1 April 2004 against the DHKP-C (Revolutionary People¹s Liberation Party/Front), a far-left movement classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.

She was detained as soon as she disembarked from her flight from Vienna. The next day she was brought before the Court for Heavy Penalties to be told the reason for her arrest, namely a September 2001 arrest warrant issued by the 2nd State Security Court (which was responsible at that time for trying Turkish political prisoners and which no longer exists, having been replaced by the Court for Heavy Penalties). The illegal organization of which she is alleged to be member is the DHKP-C.

Although Bakutz went to Turkey as part of a delegation arranged by the International Platform against Isolation (IPAI), an international organization that defends Turkish political prisoners, she was to have covered the trial of the 82 activists as a journalist and was to have produced a report for Radio Orange 94.0. Her alleged membership of DHKP-C is in no way proven.

Bakutz¹s Austrian lawyer, Gabriele Vana, claims that the Turkish authorities used a spurious pretext "membership of an illegal organization" just to prevent a journalist from investigating a controversial aspect of the human rights situation in Turkey at a time when it is trying to join the European Union.

Since her transfer on 16 February to Gebze prison, Bakutz has had her appearance before a judge postponed twice. An official explanation for this extended "police custody" is cruelly lacking.

The Austrian ambassador and Austrian consul general in Istanbul went to Gebze prison yesterday morning but only the consul general was allowed to see her. She shares her cell with 10 other political prisoners and is not allowed to make telephone calls or have any other contact with the outside world.

3. - Bianet - "International Observers to Attend FOE Cases":

2 March trials of Fikret Baskaya and Ragip Zarakolu symbolise the continuation of freedom of expression problems in Turkey.

ISTANBUL / 2 March 2005 / by IPA/International PEN

International PEN, and the IPA, as well as other international NGOs, among them Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, are in Turkey to attend as observers the trial hearings against writer Fikret Baskaya and publisher Ragip Zarakolu, set for 2 March 2005.

Fikret Baskaya will be tried in Ankara on charges of 'insult to the State, State institutions, and the military' under Article 159 of the current Penal Code. He could face a three-year jail sentence. The charges stem from articles published in the early nineties (since republished as a book entitled: "Articles against the Current") in which he was critical of the Turkish authorities.

Ragip Zarakolu, co-founder and owner of Belge Publishing, is charged in Istanbul with 'incitement to racial hatred' under Article 312 of the current Penal Code, charges occasioned by his writing of an article critical of Turkey's foreign policy on Kurdish issues. The charges carry a two-year jail sentence. An additional case was initiated against him in December 2004 for the publication of George Jerjian's Book entitled: "The truth will set us free/Armenians and Turks reconciled" for insulting the State and the memory of the founder of the Republic, Atatürk. The first hearing in this case is due to take place in Istanbul on 16 March 2005. An investigation was also opened for his publication of Zulkuf Kisanak's "Lost Villages".

Lars Grahn, Chairman of the IPA Freedom to Publish Committee, declares: "Both Fikret Baskaya and Ragip Zarakolu have been subjected to a series of long, time-consuming and expensive court hearings. Whatever the outcome of these trials, this is in itself a form of harassment and punishment for daring to produce works which touch on sensitive issues".

There are currently an estimated 60 writers, publishers and journalists under judicial process in Turkey for practicing their right to freedom of expression. In this regard, the 2 March trial hearings of Fikret Baskaya and Ragip Zarakolu are just two out of many. Eugene Schoulgin, Member of the Board of International PEN says: "To us, they symbolise the continuation of freedom of expression problems in Turkey".

4. - Bianet - "Prime Minister Sues Caricaturist Kart":

Journalists and caricaturists continue to criticize the Prime Minister Erdogan who sued caricaturist Kart of Cumhuriyet daily for drawing him as a cat. Caricaturist Kart and editor-in-chief Sucu were fined a total of 3,800 dollars for the caricature.

ISTANBUL / 1 March 2005 / by Erol Onderoglu

Journalists and caricaturists continue to criticize the Prime Minister, who sued caricaturist Musa Kart of Cumhuriyet newspaper for drawing him as a cat.

Caricaturist Behic Ak, who spoke to Bianet, said caricaturists, as well as journalists, constantly live through the problem of lack of freedom of expression in Turkey. He said there is a double censorship in Turkey.

Caricaturist Musa Kart and editor-in-chief Mehmet Sucu were fined a total of 5 billion Turkish lira ($3,800) for a caricature showing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a cat entangled in headscarf threads.

The caricature was published in the Cumhuriyet newspaper on May 9, 2005 in Kart's corner named, "Beyond the Boot." The caricature represented the much-debated Islamic high schools, or Imam Hatip.

Ak: "The caricature was taken as an insult, not a compliment"

There are two kinds of censorship in Turkey, according to Ak. One applied to newspapers, and one, which newspapers apply to themselves. "Censorship self-applied by newspapers, which have turned into corporations in Turkey, has alienated both journalists, and caricaturists," said Ak.

"While drawing someone as a cat could be seen as a compliment, it was taken as an insult," said caricaturist Ak. He said the conviction showed the degree of press freedom in Turkey.

"This shows, people are afraid of the smallest expression of thought, or joke," said Ak. He added that people in Turkey like caricature a lot, and said caricaturists can stand up to difficulties because they get their power from the people.

Alkan: Worse is drawn in democratic countries

Journalist Turker Alkan called on Erdogan to be more tolerable toward journalists in his column called in Radikal newspaper."To be honest, the caricaturist was fair. In democratic countries, worse things are drawn," wrote Alkan.

"They published a picture of Churchill as a statue with a dog's body. Don't they almost everyday publish caricatures of Bush, showing him as a monkey, and Blair as a dog?"

Pulur: I thought there was democracy in this country?

Another writer of the newspaper, Hakki Devrim, drew attention to contradictory rulings by Ankara and Eskisehir courts on cases involving the same caricature.

"Birgun" newspaper published a statement by the Turkish Animal Rights Platform (THHP) and asked: "Is it belittling to be likened to a cat?"

Columnist Hasan Pulur of the Milliyet newspaper wrote about the issue in his article titled, "The Caricature's Conviction."

"I thought there was democracy, freedom of thought," wrote Pulur. "I thought we were going to share European values."

Eksi warned for ECHR

"Who knows how he would be punished if he drew a member of the army," wrote Cetin Altan from the same newspaper.

Journalist Hasan Cemal touched the issue by publishing an article by Cumhuriyet's Oral Calislar in his column.

Oktay Eksi, the top columnist for Hurriyet newspaper reminded in his article, that the European Court of Human Rights usually overrules decisions by Turkish courts.

5. - The Observer - "They say ’incident’. To me it’s genocide":

When its finest novelist attacked Turkey’s bloody past, he became a hero for Armenians and Turks alike, says Nouritza Matossiann

27 February 2005 / by Nouritza Matossiann*

There is a Turkish saying: ’A sword won’t cut without inspiration from the pen.’

Orhan Pamuk, wielder of Turkey’s finest pen, has spoken and cut a swath through his country’s conscience. His most recent novel Snow was set in Kars and peppered with references to the Armenian culture of that formerly Armenian city. Brilliant novelist, translated in 20 languages, winner of international prizes, he has become a hate figure.

His crime was one sentence in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Tagesanzeiger this month. ’Thirty thousand Kurds and a million Armenians were killed in Turkey. Almost no one dares speak but me, and the nationalists hate me for that.’ All hell broke loose. The press attacked him for dishonouring the Turkish state and incitement to racial violence. He has been called a liar, ’a miserable creature’ and a ’black writer’ in the daily Hurriyet. Professor Hikmet Ozdemir, head of the Armenian studies department at the Turkish Union of Historians, rejected his statement as a ’great lie’.

A lone voice, Halil Berktay, professor at Sabanci University, supported Pamuk: ’In 1915-16 about 800,000 or one million Armenians were killed for sure.’

Mehmet ?çok, an attorney, filed charges at the Kayseri public prosecutor’s office. Another charge was filed by Kayseri Bar Association attorney Orhan Pekmezci: ’Pamuk has made groundless claims against the Turkish identity, the Turkish military and Turkey as a whole. He should be punished for violating Articles 159 and 312 of the Turkish penal code. He made a statement provoking the people to hatred and animosity through the media, which is defined as a crime in Article 312.’

I find this ironic. My mother’s family was deported from the historic Armenian city of Kayseri, leaving their murdered menfolk behind.

I was recently in Istanbul lecturing on my biography of Armenian-American artist Arshile Gorky, the basis for the controversial genocide movie Ararat. Official permission for my talk required me not to utter the word ’genocide’ to refer to the Ottoman empire’s systematic deportations, tortures and killings of two million Armenians which Gorky witnessed. I might refer to those ’incidents’. The crime has never been acknowledged by successive Turkish governments, Britain or the United States.

Recent discussions of Turkey’s possible entry into the EU were dominated by France and other countries demanding that Turkey first admit the Armenian genocide. What if Britain had a law forbidding criticism of its history, identity, or the armed forces? Turkey has far to go to reach the legal standards of EU members, with their humane and non-discriminatory laws aiming at standards of truth and reason. So much hatred. So much anger. What does Turkey have to hide?

’Pamuk has always defended freedom of speech and thought, the rights of minorities,’ writes Hrant Dink, owner of the Armenian Turkish-language weekly Agos. ’For 90 years we Armenians have been abused, insulted and discriminated against. We cannot enter certain professions, we Turkified our names. We have learnt to survive and endure without protest. Maybe it is time that the Turkish people also learnt tolerance and endurance from us.’

In London, a thinly veiled propaganda exercise at the Royal Academy trumpets Turkish empires, making far-reaching claims about the origins of the ’Turkic peoples’. Echoes of master-race ideology. Pamuk himself writes in the Academy journal: ’Turks gripped by romantic myths of nationalism are keen to establish that we come from Mongolia or central Asia... scholars have come no closer to offering definitive or convincing evidence to link us with a particular time and place.’

In the show the contributions of other nationals in the Ottoman empire - Armenians, Greeks and Jews - are not credited. Yet their handiwork is everywhere, in architecture, pottery, carpets, manuscripts.

Britain colludes in this travesty for the sake of oil interests in Azerbaijan, Turkey’s closest ally.

Akin Birdal, vice-president of the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues, emphasises: ’No matter we have come to the 90th year of "incidents" Orhan Pamuk talked about, these will of course be discussed on domestic and international platforms. The aggressions carried out against Pamuk are those which have been carried out against thought. Pamuk is not alone.’ Pamuk has cut the Gordian knot. He has become the hero of every right-thinking person in Turkey and every Armenian worldwide.

*Nouritza Matossian is author of ’Black Angel, A Life of Arshile Gorky’.

6. - Bitter Lemons - "A dilemma or a breakthrough?":

Turkey will receive good news and bad news when the new government is formed in Iraq. The good news is that Jalal Talabani, a long-time friend of Turkey who understands its importance in the Middle East, will be the president. But the bad news is that as a Kurd he cannot do much about Turkish-Iraqi-Kurdish relations

28 February 2005 / by Hiwa Osman*

The recent statements from Ankara regarding the city of Kirkuk and their fear of Kurds oppressing Turkomans there have sent a strong message to Iraqi Kurdistan that Turkey’s "Kurdophobia" has not subsided, despite repeated Kurdish reassurances that Kurds have no intention to Kurdisize the city of Kirkuk.

For the Iraqi Kurdish leadership, Kirkuk has a Kurdistani character. This means that it is part of a geographical region called Kurdistan, but does not mean that it is exclusively Kurdish. The demographic makeup of the region of Kurdistan includes Kurds, Turkomans, Arabs and Assyrians--and so does Kirkuk.

The city of Kirkuk symbolizes for many Iraqis the old Iraq that was rife with destruction, expulsion, discrimination and racism. Looking to its future, Kirkuk has the potential of being the symbol of the new Iraq.

The people of Kirkuk took the first step in this direction. They went out of their homes, despite the security threats, and voted. But the process of turning Kirkuk into a success story does not stop here. It is only the start, and Turkey can play an important role.

Turkey should appease the Kurdish and Iraqi leadership by assuring them that it will not interfere in Iraq’s internal affairs. It should further declare its support for any efforts to democratize and create an infrastructure that would be conducive to lasting peace and stability in Iraq, especially in the areas near its border.

Rather than making a fuss over the situation of only the Turkomans of Iraq, Ankara should encourage the newly elected Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Assembly to write a regional constitution that enshrines the principles of human rights, equality and civil liberties for all those who live in the Kurdistan region.

A constitution in the Kurdish region will be a lot easier to adopt and will guarantee everyone’s rights there. By doing this, Turkey will send a message to the leaders and the people of the new Iraq that Turkey is a partner that wants to see a strong, stable, free and democratic Iraq--not one that is threatened by civil war.

The naming of a Kurdish president for Iraq or the presence of a large number of Kurdish deputies in the Iraqi parliament should not create a dilemma for Turkey. It should signal the start of a new policy on Iraq and the Kurds. This can only be done by setting "Kurdophobia" aside and seeing the Kurds as a key ally in the new Iraq.

The Kurds and other Iraqis realize that, unlike most of the neighboring countries, Turkey has played no role in encouraging the terrorist violence in Iraq. Turkey should capitalize on this and build upon it.

Turkey is the model for an Islamic state that is democratic. It has managed to prove that Islam and democracy are not mutually exclusive. The challenge for Turkey is to prove that Turkey and the word Kurdish are not mutually exclusive either.

By the same token, tolerating the word Kurdish or setting "Kurdophobia" aside in Turkey will pave the way for solving Turkey’s problems with the PKK, an issue that can not be solved across the border. The PKK issue needs to be taken back into Turkey. In this regard, the Kurds of Iraq seem to have enough on their plate. The last thing they want is to create new enemies. They do not see the PKK as an issue they can solve, especially violently. All they can do is prevent the PKK from using Iraqi Kurdish territory for launching attacks against Turkey.

The United States cannot do much to change the sides’ minds or hearts regarding one another. It will eventually leave Iraq. Change has to come from within. The Kurds and Turks are stuck with each other, and need to work out a relationship either with or without Iraq.

Despite pressure from Kurdish public opinion, the elected Kurdish leadership has said over and over again that it does not intend to break away and form an independent Kurdish state. It will send its heavyweights to Baghdad and be part of shaping the new Iraq. But this is conditional; if the violence does not stop in the center and south, no one in their right mind would want to be part of it. If the Kurds are not helped to be a real part of the new Iraq, they will be forced to look at other options.

Under these circumstances, Turkey could receive a visit from the Kurds asking the following: Iraq is not working; we don’t want to be part of it, nor do we want to have a war with you. And we can’t drop our Kurdish identity. What shall we do?

Turkey will have to have an answer.

* Hiwa Osman is an editor and trainer at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in Iraq.

7. - Turkish Daily News - "EU divided over Turkey’s reform pace":

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül denies slowing down in process, says government committed to reforms

ANKARA / 1 March 2005

The European Union's term presidency and its Executive Commission looked divided yesterday over candidate Turkey's preparations for upcoming negotiations, while Ankara dismissed any slowing down in the process.

Luxembourg, holder of the EU's term president, said there was a fatigue in Turkey after a landmark Dec. 17 summit, in which EU leaders agreed to open long-delayed accession talks with Turkey on Oct. 3.

“The post-Dec. 17 atmosphere in Turkey is not very good,” Luxembourg's Deputy Foreign Minister Nicolas Schmit, on a visit to Turkey, was quoted as saying in an interview with private NTV television.

He later urged Ankara not to lose the momentum of reforms aimed at preparing Turkey for eventual EU membership. “We cannot just lean back and wait for things to happen. We have to work,” Schmit told a news conference after talks with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül.

In Brussels, the EU Commission, however, said it was not aware of any indication of “fatigue” in Turkey.

“We have not seen any sign of fatigue in Turkey-EU relations. The atmosphere of ties has not changed since Dec. 17,” commission spokeswoman Françoise Le Bail was quoted as saying by Anatolia news agency at a press conference.

She was responding to a question on Schmit's remarks in Ankara.

The statements come amid media reports accusing the government of losing momentum in preparations for starting EU entry talks. Critics say Ankara has done little to complete technical preparations for talks since Dec. 17.

In a weekend statement, Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson also complained of a slowing down in the post-Dec. 17 period. “There are many important steps that need to be taken. Turkey should keep on if it wants to join the EU,” he said.

Gül on defensive

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül denied news reports that Ankara's commitment to joining the EU was flagging.

“Turkey attaches great importance to the EU process ... We are in a process of preparation and the political reforms are continuing,” Gül said, emphasizing that EU-related matters were of primary importance for the government.

One major step that needs to be taken is to appoint a chief negotiator. Asked when Turkey would name its chief negotiator for the EU talks, Gül said the prime minister would announce a name “when the time comes.”

Gül previously said the chief negotiator would be named before the arrival in Ankara next Sunday of the EU's new enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn.

He said yesterday that things would be easier if the post of chief negotiator is taken by a politician.

8. - AFP - "Iraq's Kurdish And Shiite Leadership Begin Heavy Bargaining":

ARBIL / 1 March 2005

Negotiations to form Iraq's next government intensified Monday as Shiite Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the frontrunner to become the next prime minister, and Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani held talks on forming a coalition.

"We decided to continue the negotiations and create an Iraqi government of national unity, in which Arab Sunnis should play a role," Barzani told reporters, after the two met for several hours in the Kurdistan mountain retreat of Salahuddin.

The two groups, which have bickered in the past over Kurdish demand's for wide-ranging autonomy, papered over their differences as they vowed to create a national unity government.

"There was a sharing of our points of view and we have decided to continue the discussions," said Jaafari, who was due to visit the other main Kurdish leader, Jalal al-Talabani, in Sulaimaniyah on Wednesday.

The Shiite leader added that the sides had "resolved some points" but declined to elaborate. Jaafari, who headed a five-man delegation, reiterated the joint commitment to "the participation of all in the political process and on the necessity of Sunnis being represented in the next government."

But before joining any coalition, the Kurds are demanding written pledges that the next government will follow to the letter the interim constitution, the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL), and work toward restoring Kirkuk to the Kurds, interim deputy prime minister Barham Saleh told AFP in Baghdad.

Saleh insisted there was "broad agreement" between Jaafari's United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) and the Kurdish list, the two biggest vote getters in January's historic election, but repeated that the Kurds wanted more than words.

"We would need specific written pledges and agreements between all the various lists in parliament as far as their commitment to the provisions of the TAL," Saleh said.

Jafaari has previously said he wants to repeal the interim law's provision that a two-thirds majority in three provinces could veto the constitution, which is due to be drafted by the next government and put to a referendum in October.

Kurds -- who control the provinces of Arbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah -- see the provision as an iron-clad guarantee that they will be able to guard their virtual autonomy in northern Iraq and ensure they are never again persecuted by Iraq's Arab majority.

Kurdish suspicions towards Iraq's Shiite majority were stirred last March during the haggling over the interim law when Shiite members of Iraq's Governing Council boycotted the signing ceremony because of the provision.

Reference to the interim law was dropped from UN Security Council resolution 1546 last June which recognised the end of the US occupation, due to Shiite discontent over the near-sovereignty granted the Kurds in the document.

The TAL also covers the status of the oil rich city of Kirkuk, which Kurds demand be included in the Kurdistan region as part of any deal on a future Iraqi federation.

Kurds regard the city as their Jerusalem and claim it was stripped away from them by a forced settlement of Arabs in the region and the expulsion of thousands of Kurds during the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Saleh said the Kurds also want written guarantees on Kirkuk.

"We have presented our views. They need to respond but we will certainly be looking to some very specific outlines and measures that need to be taken to normalise the situation in Kirkuk," he said.

"There are concrete proposals: They will be to allow all the people displaced to go back, to change the names (of places) Saddam Hussein has changed, removing the administrative changes Saddam Hussein has done."

Saleh also warned that the Kurds wanted Talabani appointed the country's next president as a gesture of goodwill by the Arabs and recognition of their community's clout.

"If he were rejected merely because he is a Kurd, relegating the Kurds to second class (status), that is a position we will not accept."

Following a period of political jockeying, Jaafari of the Shiite Dawa party was picked last week as candidate of the UIA, which swept 140 of the 275 seats up for grabs in the country's legislative elections.

The Kurdish Alliance came second with 75 seats and has emerged as kingmaker in choosing the next government and recently picked up two more seats from Kurdish Islamists.