22 March 2005

1. "Turkey's Kurds celebrate traditional New Year, call for more freedoms", tens of thousands of Kurds in southeast Turkey on Monday celebrated the Newroz, their traditional New Year, which has been marred by tensions and bloodshed in the past. Kurdish leaders who joined the celebration in Diyarbakir, the main city of the predominantly Kurdish region, urged Ankara to expand Kurdish freedoms and end years of conflict that have claimed some 36,500 lives.

2. "One million celebrate Newroz in Amed", Approximately one million people attended this year’s Newroz celebration in the Kurdish capital of Amed (Diyarbakir), equaling last year’s record turnout. For the first time ever in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan, many Kurdistan national flag were displayed prominently at this celebration.

3. "Nevruz demonstrators clash with police injuring six", police clashed Sunday with a group of rock-throwing Kurds shouting slogans in praise of imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan and attempting to burn the Turkish flag, news reports said. The clashes in the Mediterranean port city of Mersin began after 25,000 people attending celebrations to mark the Kurdish spring festival of Nowruz began to disperse.

4. "AK Party takes step back on Apo case", Cicek: Our govt has no plans to retry Ocalan.

5. "Turkeys water resources turn it into a regional power", one resource that gives a country in the Middle East region great clout and leverage is its water, something which Turkey has plenty of.

6. "Shiites, Kurds say Iraq government posts almost divided up", Iraq's Shiites will take 16 to 17 ministries in the next government, the Kurds will hold seven to eight ministries and the country's Sunni minority will be awarded four to six ministries, a Shiite negotiator said Monday.

1. - AFP - "Turkey's Kurds celebrate traditional New Year, call for more freedoms":

DIYARBAKIR / 21 March 2005

Tens of thousands of Kurds in southeast Turkey on Monday celebrated the Newroz, their traditional New Year, which has been marred by tensions and bloodshed in the past.

Kurdish leaders who joined the celebration in Diyarbakir, the main city of the predominantly Kurdish region, urged Ankara to expand Kurdish freedoms and end years of conflict that have claimed some 36,500 lives.

"We expect the solution neither from the European Union nor the United States, but from those who are governing Turkey," Tuncer Bakirhan, the chairman of the pro-Kurdish Democratic People's Party (DEHAP), told the crowd.

"If you just make up your minds, the Kurdish people are ready with their projects and the problems can be resolved in three months," he was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency.

Ankara, long under international pressure to improve the rights of the Kurds, has recently granted them a number of cultural freedoms as part of reforms aimed at boosting Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

The Kurds, however say the reforms should be enhanced and are pressing in particular for an amnesty for Kurdish rebels who have fought the government since 1984.

For the Kurds, Newroz has become an occasion to call for their rights and demonstrate support for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a 15-year separatist campaign against Ankara.

Scores of police kept watch Monday as Kurdish men and women danced and sang around traditional bonfires at the festival venue in Diyarbakir.

Some revellers carried PKK flags and chanted slogans in favor of the group's leader, Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving a life term for treason in a prison island in northwestern Turkey.

In a statement carried by the pro-PKK MHA news agency, Ocalan, from his prison cell, issued a message advocating a loose confederal system of all Kurdish communities that would rule out an independent Kurdish state.

Twenty-six people were detained in the southern city of Mersin Sunday when a group marking Newroz attempted to burn a Turkish flag, causing tensions between revellers and the police, the NTV news channel reported.

Authorities have often banned Newroz celebrations in the past for fear they would trigger unrest.

In 1992, about 50 people were killed by security forces during Newroz clashes. Two men were crushed to death and dozens injured in a police clampdown on Newroz demonstrations in 2002.

Newroz marks the awakening of nature at the March 21 equinox, and is also celebrated in Iran and other Muslim communities in the Caucasus and Central Asia.

2. - Kurdish Media - "One million celebrate Newroz in Amed":

NEW YORK / 21 March 2005

Approximately one million people attended this year’s Newroz celebration in the Kurdish capital of Amed (Diyarbakir), equaling last year’s record turnout. For the first time ever in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan, many Kurdistan national flag were displayed prominently at this celebration. Additionally, portraits of imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan were displayed, as was the new flag of Ocean’s movement, featuring a red star within a yellow sun on a green background. Many police and soldiers were at the festival, and two helicopters, one police helicopter and one military helicopter, flew above the crowd. Military jets also flew over the celebration.

Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, and Orhan Dogan, Kurdish activists and formerly members of parliament recently released from Turkish prison, were in attendance. There was a small amount of rain, turning some of the festival grounds into mud as thousands enjoyed music by Ciwan Haco, Ibrahim Tatlises, and Koma Ciya. Ciwan Haco, one of the most popular Kurdish singers among Amed natives, sang the modern classic Diyarbekir for the crowd. Gulistan Perwer appeared as a surprise guest for the celebration, and sang Cane, the modern classic Keca Kurdan, and Newroz (Sibe yi Newroze).

3. - The New Anatolian - "Nevruz demonstrators clash with police injuring six":

ANKARA / 22 March 2005

Police clashed Sunday with a group of rock-throwing Kurds shouting slogans in praise of imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan and attempting to burn the Turkish flag, news reports said.

At least six people were injured, including at least three journalists and three police officers, private NTV television reported.

The clashes in the Mediterranean port city of Mersin began after 25,000 people attending celebrations to mark the Kurdish spring festival of Nowruz began to disperse.

A group remained, threw stones at police and attempted to burn a Turkish flag, according to NTV. Burning the flag is a crime in Turkey.

Kurdish demonstrators in the past have used celebrations of the holiday, which is on Monday, to assert Kurdish demands.

In the Aegean coastal city of Izmir, police discovered petrol bombs inside a bag left close to the site of Nowruz celebrations. The bag was apparently dumped by participants who realized they would be searched by police before being allowed into the site.

In Istanbul, some 30,000 people crammed into a square surrounded by riot police, carrying posters of Ocalan and shouting slogans supporting him. In Ankara, some 2,000 participants danced, sang and jumped over fires, symbolically burning away past impurities. Both demonstrations ended peacefully.

Nowruz festivities have been the scene of violent clashes, especially in the early 1990s - at the height of a bloody conflict between the security forces and the PKK members.

Fifteen years of violent clashes between the terrorist PKK and Turkish security forces in the southeastern region of the country claimed the lives of more than 35,000 people.

The PKK declared a one-sided ceasefire after Ocalan was captured in Kenya in 1999. He is serving life imprisonment in Imrali, where he is the only inmate on the prison island.

Nevruz, meaning "new day" in the Kurdish language, is celebrated on every March 21.

The Kurdish calendar begins on this day. Nevruz, therefore, is the new day, the first day of spring, the first day of the new year. Kurds have been celebrating Nevruz since a time far back in ancient history. This tradition dates back to the myth of Kawa the Blacksmith.

Turks also celebrate March 21 to mark the beginning of spring.

Officials including Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as well as party leaders issued Nevruz messages mainly focusing on its importance for peace and solidarity.

Similar to previous years, police took tight security measures.

Wearing yellow, red and green, symbolic colors of the Kurds, groups of people during the festivities chanted slogans about the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan.

4. - The New Anatolian - "AK Party takes step back on Apo case":

Cicek: Our govt has no plans to retry Ocalan

ANKARA / 22 March 2005

The Justice and Development (AK) Party government yesterday took a back step regarding a change in the Criminal Procedural Code to be debated by Parliament to allow a retrial of the Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, deciding instead to wait for a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision on this issue.

Justice Minister and government spokesman Cemil Cicek, asked about a possible retrial of Ocalan after Monday's Cabinet meeting, said, “This isn't possible under current regulations. The subject is already at the ECHR. According to the decision of the related department, the Turkish Republic and the opposing side went to appeal. Therefore we have to wait for the decision of the ECHR. "

Cicek said that new code would be discussed at the Parliament's General Assembly this week but the government won't suggest a retrial for Ocalan.

AK Party Deputy Chairmen Faruk Celik also said that the government has no plans on the subject. Celik said that he talked with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and said, “I heard very disturbing news regarding Ocalan.” The prime minister replied, “The government has no plans on this issue. There is no proposal.” Celik said that procedural code would be discussed at the Parliament.

In parliamentary debates, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul suggested an article could be added to allow retrial of Ocalan. In a secret meeting Justice Minister Cicek and the Parliament's Justice Commission Chairman Koksal Toptan came out against this proposition. Cicek and Toptan said that they should wait for the ECHR decision to be officially announced and discuss the issue later. Because of these opinions in the AK Party, the Parliament has not debated the issue.

Gul's proposal suggested changing the code recently passed by Parliament in order to allow a retrial of Ocalan. Lawyers of Ocalan appealed to the ECHR, and a decision is expected in the next one or two months.

The subject of retrying Ocalan is a sensitive one for both politicians and the public.

5. - Al Jazeera - "Turkeys water resources turn it into a regional power":

21 March 2005

One resource that gives a country in the Middle East region great clout and leverage is its water, something which Turkey has plenty of.

But Turkey's water wealth, being the home of the Euphrates and Tigris sources along with 24 other large river basins, has also been a source of tension with its water-starved southern neighbors, Syria and Iraq.

Controlling the source of the two rivers, gives Turkey first use of the water to best serve its agriculture and industry and leaving its two southern neighbours at Ankara's benevolence over the crucial supply.

In 1981, tensions rose when Turkey started the construction of the Ataturk dam, the fifth largest in the world and part of the ambitious Southeastern Anatolia project (GAP).

The project, which is due to be completed in 2010 but many say will realistically be finished closer to 2020 due to lack of funding, is designed to develop one of Turkey's poorest regions.

However, the dam will also cut Syria's flow from the Euphrates by 40 percent and Iraq's by 90 percent.

The Euphrates is 2,300 kilometers long running south into Syria and then on into Iraq.

Turkey lays claim to 88 percent of the Euphrates's flow and 50 percent of the Tigris's, which Ankara claims gives it every right to a free and independent use of the water.

Turkey's claim is further helped by there being no international agreements governing the division of water resources between countries sharing a river.

Syria has accused Turkey of depriving them of their rightful heritage with the GAP project an argument Ankara dismisses saying that Damascus is wasting the water it gets due to an archaic irrigation system.

Turkey and Syria first came to an agreement in 1987, when Ankara guaranteed a flow of 500 cubic meters per second to Syria, half of its natural flow but the agreement did not stipulate how much water Syria had to let through to Iraq.

In 1992, the three neighbours established a technical committee to negotiate how to share the water, but that committee has yet to yield any results.

Relations though have improved since Syria signed a security pact with Turkey in 1998 after the two came to brink of war over Damascus' support for Kurdish rebels. The regime change in Iraq could also help talks, officials and analysts say.

"The changes in the region have created a better environment to discuss the water question," said one Turkish diplomat who asked to remain anonymous.

"The problem persists," said Huseyin Bagci, a professor in international relations, but the means to overcome the problem have changed considerably due to the political changes in Iraq and the greater political transparency in Damascus.

"The question can be negotiated without any of the protagonists feeling threatened," Bagci said.

Turkey is also trying to cash in on the precious resource by selling water from the Manavgat River, shipping it from the Mediterranean port of Antalya to potential clients such as Israel or Jordan in a project named "Water of Peace".

6. - AFP - "Shiites, Kurds say Iraq government posts almost divided up":

BAGHDAD / 22 March 2005

Iraq's Shiites will take 16 to 17 ministries in the next government, the Kurds will hold seven to eight ministries and the country's Sunni minority will be awarded four to six ministries, a Shiite negotiator said Monday.

Kurdish sources confirmed the numbers and predicted an agreement on the government should be reached by Sunday.

The Shiites will take the interior and finance ministries, along with the cabinet post of national security advisor, said Maryan Rayes, a negotiator with the United Iraqi Alliance, which won 146 seats in the new 275-member parliament.

The Kurds, with 77 seats, the second largest bloc in parliament, will receive seven to eight ministries, including the foreign ministry and probably oil, Rayes said.

A Kurdish source also confirmed the Kurds were likely to get eight ministries, including oil and foreign affairs.

The source said other posts that were locked up included the presidency, to be held by Jalal Talabani, and the post of deputy prime minister.

The source said he expected a government would probably be announced by Sunday.

One complication that could change the allotment of slots is whether outgoing prime minister Iyad Allawi's list decides to join the government, which remains unclear, the Kurdish source said.

For her part, Rayes said Iraq's Sunni minority, who boycotted the election, would probably be awarded between four and six posts, while the Christian and Turkmen minorities would receive one ministry each.

Rayes said she thought it was doubtful Allawi or his followers would join the government.