9 March 2005

1. "Turkey criticized on reforms", European Union officials criticized the Turkish government Monday for its treatment of dissenters and for the slow pace of implementing recent reforms that are meant to ease the country’s entry into the European bloc.

2. "EU enlargement chief says change of mindset needed in Turkey", the European Union's Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said at the end of a visit here Tuesday a change of mindset was needed by Turkey for it to embrace democratic reform and become part of the EU.

3. "AI Denounces Police Brutality Against Women", denouncing police brutality against peaceful demonstrations by women for International Women's Day, Amnesty International calls on the Turkish authorities to ensure that perpetrators of human rights violations are brought to justice.

4. "Human rights groups against ‘privileged partnership’", 'Suggesting ‘privileged partnership for Turkey means ignoring the future of the Turkish people,' says IHD Chairman Alatas.

5. "Turkey calls for study into Armenia genocide claims", Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has called for an unbiased study by historians of Armenian claims that their people suffered genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turkish troops around 90 years ago.

6. "Turkey expects to meet IMF conditions by mid-April for new loan", Turkey is planning to meet all the legislative steps required by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and sign a letter of intent by mid-April in order to secure the release of a multi-billion-dollar credit line agreed last year, Economy Minister Ali Babacan said on Wednesday.

1. - Los Angeles Times - "Turkey criticized on reforms":

ANKARA / 9 March 2005

European Union officials criticized the Turkish government Monday for its treatment of dissenters and for the slow pace of implementing recent reforms that are meant to ease the country’s entry into the European bloc.

The criticism came a day after police in Istanbul attacked women rallying to commemorate Tuesday’s International Women’s Day.

Three EU officials said in a statement released here that they were “shocked by the images of the police beating women and young people demonstrating in Istanbul” and “concerned to see such disproportionate force used.”

The three officials - EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn, British Minister for Europe Denis MacShane and Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn - were in Ankara, the capital, for daylong talks on Turkey’s bid for EU membership.

Television images showed truncheon-wielding police officers repeatedly beating and kicking women gathered in Istanbul’s Sarachane district to protest gender inequality and violence against women. Three women were hospitalized after police sprayed pepper gas at their faces. At least 63 people were detained.

Turkish authorities said they broke up the demonstration because it was illegal. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul promised an investigation and said that Turkey remained committed to the reforms needed to gain EU membership.

Some EU officials remain skeptical, saying this nation has been backtracking on reforms after the European organization’s leaders agreed in December to open accession talks with Ankara. The negotiations, which are expected to last at least 10 years, will start in October - provided Turkey signs a customs protocol with Cyprus and holds rights abuses in check.

Gul pledged to act on both counts. In private, Turkish officials said their government was unlikely to open its seaports and airports to the Greek Cypriots until the EU fulfilled its pledges to end a decades-long trade embargo on Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus. The divided Mediterranean island remains a major sticking point in Turkey’s relations with the European alliance.

“There is a disturbing complacency since December,” said an EU diplomat who asked not to be identified. “The Turks are playing straight into the hands of those in Europe who don’t want Turkey to join.”

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has yet to appoint a team to handle what might become the toughest and most controversial accession in the EU’s history.

Human-rights activists, meanwhile, charge that despite a “zero tolerance” policy, torture of people under detention remains widespread. They also charge that extrajudicial killings by authorities continue.

Police provoked a public outcry in November when they shot to death a 12-year-old Kurdish boy and his father outside their home in the southeastern town of Kiziltepe.

Local officials have sought to shield the police from prosecution, saying the slain pair were terrorists. Said veteran human rights activist, Husnu Ondul: “Without sustained external pressure (from the EU), abuses will continue, justice will not be served.”

2. - AFP - "EU enlargement chief says change of mindset needed in Turkey":

ISTANBUL / 8 March 2005

The European Union's Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said at the end of a visit here Tuesday a change of mindset was needed by Turkey for it to embrace democratic reform and become part of the EU.

"In the reform process the critical thing will be the change of mentalities which will entrench and anchor the legal and political reforms in Turkey," Rehn told a press conference shortly before flying out of Ataturk airport.

Turkey, keen to join the EU, is under pressure to prove that the democratic reforms it has adopted in a bid to align with EU norms are properly implemented on the ground.

Rehn was in Turkey for discussions to prepare the start of accession talks with Ankara in October. But his visit was overshadowed by a police crackdown on a women's rally in Istanbul, which drew sharp protests from Brussels.

The commissioner, who visited a rehabilitation centre for the victims of torture in Istanbul, renewed a call for Ankara to take firm steps to put an end to the police practice of torture of prisoners.

"There is still work to be done to achieve zero tolerance policy against torture in Turkey," Rehn said, acknowledging that some progress had been made and that torture may not be as widespread as previously.

"I would encourage the Turkish government... to strive for this objective in order to facilitate Turkish access to the Union," he said.

A crucial EU report on Turkey published in October said that "although torture is no longer systematic, numerous cases of torture and in particular ill-treatment still continue to occur and further efforts will be required to eradicate such practice".

Rehn said a political will to reform needed to be "translated fully also into the mentality of law enforcement agencies and the state administration."

Rehn said it was important for Turkey to make progress in time for an EU report reviewing its progress on democratic reforms, to be published in November, one month into the country's entry talks.

"It will be embarrassing for Turkey to have a very critical review one month after the opening of the negotiations," he stressed.

Earlier Tuesday, Rehn told a group of Turkish business leaders that Ankara had failed to live up to its commitments on economic questions.

"There are still unfortunately many unfulfilled commitments by the Turkish side, which is unacceptable," he warned, noting that Ankara's economic relations with the EU were largely governed by a 1996 customs agreement.

Concerning intellectual property law, he said the country was guilty of "evident breaches", while he said it had imposed restrictions on free trade in a number of sectors.

"Such measures are frankly hard to understand from a candidate country which is about to open accession negotiations," he concluded.

3. - Bianet - "AI Denounces Police Brutality Against Women":

Denouncing police brutality against peaceful demonstrations by women for International Women's Day, Amnesty International calls on the Turkish authorities to ensure that perpetrators of human rights violations are brought to justice.

LONDON / 8 March 2005

“Amnesty International is greatly concerned by the disproportionate use of force by police officers,” says the organization in a public statement in reaction to police brutality in Istanbul.

500 people who had gathered peacefully in the Sarachane and Beyazit quarters of Istanbul on 6 March to celebrate Women's Day early were dispersed violently by police who used truncheons and pepper gas. 63 people were detained and at least three people being reportedly hospitalized.

The police had reportedly intervened on the basis that the demonstration had not been authorized. Images of the ill-treatment received wide press coverage internationally because of the European Union Ministerial Troika that began in Ankara Monday.

Recalling the numerous changes to the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations in an attempt to address concerns regarding the policing of demonstrations, “However,” says AI “allegations of ill-treatment during demonstrations have very rarely resulted in prosecution of law enforcement officials, and sanctions have often been limited.”

Further the AI statement reminds that, “those complaining of ill-treatment are themselves frequently prosecuted for resistance to public officials or for violating Law No. 2911 on Meetings and Demonstrations.”

Albeit welcoming “news that the government has opened an investigation into the incident” the Amnesty International calls on the authorities

* To publish the full findings of the investigation,

* To ensure that perpetrators of human rights violations are brought to justice

* To take further urgent steps to ensure that police officers conform to international standards on the right to freedom of assembly and on the use of force.

4. - Turkish Daily News - "Human rights groups against ‘privileged partnership’":

'Suggesting ‘privileged partnership for Turkey means ignoring the future of the Turkish people,' says IHD Chairman Alatas

ANKARA / 9 March 2005

Yusuf Alatas, chairman of the Human Rights Association (IHD), said French politicians' suggestion of “privileged partnership” for Turkey as a substitution for full European Union membership is not fair, reported the Dogan News Agency.

Speaking at a conference held in Paris earlier this week at which Turkey's human rights reforms were discussed, Alatas said the EU should not be considered as merely a project between states. The EU foresees improving a relationship based on integration, democracy and human rights between the peoples of separate countries, he added.

“Suggesting ‘privileged partnership for Turkey means ignoring the future of the Turkish people,” Alatas was quoted as saying by Dogan. He called French politicians' suggestion for Turkey “dangerous.”

Alatas, together with Turkey's Human Rights Foundation (TIHV) Chairman Yavuz Önen and Diyarbakir Bar Association Chairman Sezgin Tanrikulu, attended the meeting titled “Human Rights in Turkey: A Reality Under Construction?” at the invitation of French parliamentarian Serge Blisko, secretary of the Turkish-French Parliamentary Friendship Group.

The meeting had actually been scheduled for a date before the Dec. 17 EU summit, where EU leaders set Oct. 3 as the official start date for entry talks between Turkey and the EU; however, prospective Turkish attendees preferred to postpone the meeting to a date after the summit.

5. - EUobserver - "Turkey calls for study into Armenia genocide claims":

9 March 2005 / by Honor Mahony

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has called for an unbiased study by historians of Armenian claims that their people suffered genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turkish troops around 90 years ago.

"We have opened our archives to those people who claim there was genocide. If they are sincere they should also open their archives", Mr Erdogan said at a press conference on Tuesday (8 March).

"Teams of historians from both sides should conduct studies in these archives".

He added, "We do not want future generations to have a difficult life because of hatred and resentment".

Armenia says that up to 1.5 million of its people were killed between 1915 and 1923 after a decision to carry out the killings by the political power in Istanbul at the time, known as the Young Turks.

Armenia also says that the killings amount to genocide.

Ankara has denied that it was genocide and insists that between 250,000 and 500,000 Armenians as well as thousands of Turks were killed when they clashed during World War 1.

This is not the first time the issue has been raised recently. In December, France angered Turkey by calling for recognition of the Armenian genocide.

Paris made it clear that the demand was not a condition for opening membership negotiations with Turkey but said it would be raised once talks are opened - expected in October.

France also officially recognised the Armenian genocide in 2001.

Mr Erdogan's call for a study into the issue follows strong criticism by the EU for Turkey’s handling of a separate issue.

The EU on Monday condemned the use of "disproportionate force" used by Turkish police during a protest in Istanbul.

The police used truncheons and tear gas to break up a demonstration on Sunday ahead of International Women's Day.

The police crackdown has re-opened the debate in some quarters in the EU about whether Ankara will start EU talks on 3 October, as planned.

6. - AFP - "Turkey expects to meet IMF conditions by mid-April for new loan":

ANKARA / 9 March 2005

Turkey is planning to meet all the legislative steps required by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and sign a letter of intent by mid-April in order to secure the release of a multi-billion-dollar credit line agreed last year, Economy Minister Ali Babacan said on Wednesday.

"I expect we will complete all the required work in the first half of April at the latest and we will sign the letter of intent in the same period," Babacan told the NTV news channel.

Turkey and the IMF completed talks in December on a three-year stand-by deal worth 10 billion dollars (7.57 billion euros) aimed at strengthening the recovery of the Turkish economy.

The IMF told Turkey that it had to complete key legislation on financial services, social security and tax administration before the IMF exectuive board can convene to approve the deal.

Nearly three months on, the Ankara government is still trying to complete the required reforms.

On Wednesday, Babacan blamed resistence within state institutions to the required changes as the main reason for the delay.

"There are different opinions among different institutions, but most imporant of all there is a very strong tendency to preserve the status quo," he said.

But he was nonethless upbeat that his government would make headway soon.

"We have been working hard for the past two months with a feeling that we were stuck in a dark tunnel. But now, we can clearly see the light at the end of the tunnel," he said.

The new IMF deal will suceed a 16-billion-dollar three-year deal Turkey signed with the IMF in 2002 to haul the country out of its worst recession since World War II, triggered by atwo severe financial crises.

IMF-demanded structural reforms have since helped the country recover significantly, bringing chronic inflation down to single digits and boosting growth.