3
May 2005
1. "Kurdish group says it exploded bomb in seaside resort", a radical Kurdish group, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, said Monday it was responsible for a weekend bomb explosion in a Turkish seaside resort that killed a policeman, and warned tourists to stay away from the country, a pro-Kurdish news agency reported.
2. "European rights court to rule on appeal by Turkish Kurd leader", the European Court of Human Rights will issue its ruling in the case of an appeal by jailed rebel Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan on May 12, the tribunal said Monday. Ocalan is appealing against the conditions of his detention in a Turkish prison on the remote island of Imrali in the Marmara Sea.
3. "Forthcoming Grand Chamber
Jugment - Öcalan v. Turkey", press release issued
by the Registrar - The European Court of Human Rights will be holding
a public hearing in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on Thursday
12 May 2005 at 9.30 a.m. (local time) to deliver a Grand Chamber judgment
in the case of Öcalan v. Turkey (application no. 46221/99).
4. "Turkey pressed to continue reform",
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has assured Turkey that membership
negotiations with the European Union will start as scheduled on October
3, but has warned it must not go back on reforms, according to an interview
published in a Turkish newspaper today.
5. "Dealing with Realities in Coping with the PKK", Turkish, Kurdish and Iraqi Leaders have to Deal with Realities in Coping with the PKK.
6. "Turkey and Israel to sign arms deal worth $500 mn", the Turkish Prime Minister Receb Erdogan is to sign an arms deal worth $500 million with Israeli officials under which Tel Aviv would upgrade 30 Turkish F-4 jetfighters at a cost of half a million dollars, the Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported.
1. - AFP - "Kurdish group says it exploded bomb in seaside resort":
ANKARA / 2 May 2005
A radical Kurdish group said Monday it was responsible for a weekend bomb explosion in a Turkish seaside resort that killed a policeman, and warned tourists to stay away from the country, a pro-Kurdish news agency reported.
The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, said by Turkish police to be an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), made the claim, according to the Internet site of the German-based Mesopotamia agency which has links to the PKK.
One police officer was killed and four others were injured Saturday when a parcel bomb exploded in the hands of a bomb disposal expert in Kusadasi, a seaside resort town on the Aegean Sea in western Turkey popular with British tourists.
"If the nationalist policy and the pressures aimed at the Kurdish people continue, our actions will also continue," the statement said, dictated to the agency by a caller.
The group first came to public notice in August 2004 when attacks on two hotels in Istanbul killed two and injured 20, mostly tourists.
The agency said the caller had urged foreigners not to visit Turkey.
Tourism is the country's chief source of revenue, producing almost 16 billion dollars (12.3 billion euros) in 2004 from some 17.5 million holiday-makers.
The PKK waged a bloody campaign for self-rule in south-eastern Turkey between 1984 and 1999. The conflict claimed more than 36,000 lives and was the source of accusations of gross human rights violations on both sides.
The PKK declared a unilateral ceasefire in 1999 after
its leader Abdullah Ocalan was captured and tried in Turkey, but it
called off the truce last year, raising tensions in the region. 
2. - AFP - "European rights court to rule on appeal by Turkish Kurd leader":
STRASBOURG / 2 May 2005
The European Court of Human Rights will issue its ruling
in the case of an appeal by jailed rebel Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan
on May 12, the tribunal said Monday. Ocalan is appealing against the
conditions of his detention in a Turkish prison on the remote island
of Imrali in the Marmara Sea.
His lawyer has charged that his client is being subjected to "psychological
torture", and that he is suffering from asthma and other ailments
owing to damp in the prison.
In March 2003 the Strasbourg-based court agreed with Ocalan that a death
sentence passed on him in 1999 came "at the outcome of an unfair
trial" and amounted to inhumane treatment.
But it rejected his complaint about the conditions of his detention
and the circumstances of his arrest. Both the Turkish authorities and
Ocalan appealed against the rulings.
Ocalan, 56, was captured by Turkish undercover agents in Kenya in 1999,
brought back to Turkey and sentenced to death for "treason and
separatism." He is the only detainee in the island prison.
The condemnation arose from Ocalan's role in the war for independence
waged by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in which an estimated 37,000
people died.
His sentence was later commuted to life in prison.
3. - European Court of Human Rights - "Forthcoming Grand Chamber Jugment - Öcalan v. Turkey":
Press release issued by the Registrar
2 May 2005
The European Court of Human Rights will be holding a public hearing in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on Thursday 12 May 2005 at 9.30 a.m. (local time) to deliver a Grand Chamber judgment in the case of Öcalan v. Turkey (application no. 46221/99).
The press release and the text of the judgment will be available after the hearing on the Court’s Internet site (http://www.echr.coe.int).
Summary of the facts
The case concerns an application brought by a Turkish national, Abdullah Öcalan, who was born in 1949. He is the former leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and is currently incarcerated in Imrali Prison (Bursa, Turkey).
At the time of the events in question, the Turkish courts had issued seven warrants for Mr Öcalan’s arrest and a wanted notice (red notice) had been circulated by Interpol. He was accused of founding an armed gang in order to destroy the integrity of the Turkish State and of instigating terrorist acts resulting in loss of life.
On 9 October 1998 he was expelled from Syria, where he had been living for many years. From there he went to Greece, Russia, Italy and then again Russia and Greece before going to Kenya, where, on the evening of 15 February 1999, in disputed circumstances, he was taken on board an aircraft at Nairobi airport and arrested by Turkish officials. He was then flown to Turkey, being kept blindfolded for most of the flight.
On arrival in Turkey, a hood was placed over his head while he was taken to Imrali Prison, where he was held in police custody from 16 to 23 February 1999 and questioned by the security forces. He received no legal assistance during that period and made several self-incriminating statements which contributed to his conviction. His lawyer in Turkey was prevented from travelling to visit him by members of the security forces. 16 other lawyers were also refused permission to visit on 23 February 1999.
On 23 February 1999 the applicant appeared before an Ankara State Security Court judge, who ordered him to be placed in pre-trial detention.
The first visit from his lawyers was restricted to 20 minutes and took place with members of the security forces and a judge present in the same room. Subsequent meetings between the applicant and his lawyers took place within the hearing of members of the security forces. After the first two visits from his lawyers, the applicant’s contact with them was restricted to two one-hour visits a week. The prison authorities did not authorise the applicant’s lawyers to provide him with a copy of the documents in the case file, other than the indictment. It was not until the hearing on 2 June 1999 that the State Security Court gave the applicant permission to consult the case file under the supervision of two registrars and his lawyers’ permission to provide him with a copy of certain documents.
On 29 June 1999 Ankara State Security Court found the applicant guilty of carrying out actions calculated to bring about the separation of a part of Turkish territory and of forming and leading an armed gang to achieve that end. It sentenced him to death, under Article 125 of the Criminal Code. That decision was upheld by the Court of Cassation.
Under Law no. 4771, published on 9 August 2002, the Turkish Assembly resolved to abolish the death penalty in peacetime. On 3 October 2002 Ankara State Security Court commuted the applicant’s death sentence to life imprisonment.
An application to set aside the provision abolishing the death penalty in peacetime for persons convicted of terrorist offences was dismissed by the Constitutional Court on 27 December 2002.
Complaints
The applicant complains that the imposition and/or implementation of the death penalty was or would be in violation of Articles 2 (right to life), 3 (prohibition of ill-treatment) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights; and that the conditions in which he was transferred from Kenya to Turkey and detained on the island of Imrali amounted to inhuman treatment in breach of Article 3. He also complains that he was not brought promptly before a judge and did not have access to proceedings to challenge the lawfulness of his detention, in breach of Article 5 §§ 1, 3 and 4 (right to liberty and security). Under Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial) he complains that he was denied a fair trial, in that he was not tried by an independent and impartial tribunal, as one of the judges of the State Security Court was a military judge, the judges were influenced by hostile media reports and his lawyers were not given sufficient access to the court file to enable them to prepare his defence properly. He also complains, under Article 34 (right of individual application), that his legal representatives in Amsterdam were prevented from contacting him after his arrest and/or that the Turkish Government failed to reply to a request by the European Court of Human Rights for information.
The applicant further relies on Articles 7 (no punishment without law), 8 (right to respect for family life), 9 (freedom of religion), 10 (freedom of expression), 13 (right to an effective remedy), 14 (prohibition of discrimination) and 18 (limitation on use of restrictions on rights) of the Convention.
Procedure
The application was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 16 February 1999. A Chamber hearing was held on 21 November 2000 and the case was declared partly admissible on 14 December 2000. In its Chamber judgment of 12 March 2003, the Court held that there had been a violation of Article 5 §§ 3 and 4, Article 6 §§ 1 and 3 (b) and (c), and also of Article 3 on account of the fact that the death penalty had been imposed after an unfair trial.
The case was referred to the Grand Chamber[1] at the request of the applicant and the Government. A Grand Chamber hearing was held on 9 June 2004.
***
Registry of the European Court of Human Rights
F – 67075 Strasbourg Cedex
Press contacts:
Roderick Liddell (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 24 92)
Emma Hellyer (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 90 21 42 15)
Stéphanie Klein (telephone: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 21 54)
Fax: +00 33 (0)3 88 41 27 91
***
The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe Member States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. Since 1 November 1998 it has sat as a full-time Court composed of an equal number of judges to that of the States party to the Convention. The Court examines the admissibility and merits of applications submitted to it. It sits in Chambers of 7 judges or, in exceptional cases, as a Grand Chamber of 17 judges. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe supervises the execution of the Court’s judgments.
***
[1] Under Article 43 of the European Convention on Human
Rights, within three months from the date of a Chamber judgment, any
party to the case may, in exceptional cases, request that the case be
referred to the 17 member Grand Chamber of the Court. In that event,
a panel of five judges considers whether the case raises a serious question
affecting the interpretation or application of the Convention or its
protocols, or a serious issue of general importance, in which case the
Grand Chamber will deliver a final judgment. If no such question or
issue arises, the panel will reject the request, at which point the
judgment becomes final. Otherwise Chamber judgments become final on
the expiry of the three-month period or earlier if the parties declare
that they do not intend to make a request to refer.
4. - icWales - "Turkey pressed to continue reform":
2 May 2005
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has assured Turkey that membership
negotiations with the European Union will start as scheduled on October
3, but has warned it must not go back on reforms, according to an interview
published in a Turkish newspaper today.
Schroeder, who has long backed Turkey's bid to join the bloc, was speaking ahead of his trip to Turkey, which begins on Tuesday.
There have been concerns that a recent slowdown in the pace of Turkish reforms might derail the talks.
"It's important to continue on the path that has been chosen. Reforms, especially in terms of basic freedoms and human and minority rights, need to be implemented and it needs to be made sure there's no going back on the reforms. For this, as Prime Minister (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan has said, there needs to be a change in mentality. This won't be possible overnight," Schroeder was quoted as saying.
"The negotiations will start on October 3. The conditions that Turkey must fulfil are known. The negotiations will definitely be long and difficult. The progress that Turkey makes in the reform process will determine to a large extent the progress it makes in the negotiations."
At a December European Union summit, the bloc agreed to open membership talks with Turkey. But it must sign a customs agreement that would mean de facto recognition of the government of Cyprus - a step it has been hesitant to take.
Schroeder said a recent call by Erdogan to establish political relations with Armenia while jointly researching the killings of Armenians during the First World War is "a step in the right direction."
Armenia has rejected the proposal.
Armenians accuse Turkey of genocide in the killing of
up to 1.5 million Armenians as part of a 1915-23 campaign to force them
out of eastern Turkey. But Turkey denies the killings were genocide
and says the death count is inflated.
5. - The New Anatolian - "Dealing with Realities in Coping with the PKK":
Turkish, Kurdish and Iraqi Leaders have to Deal with Realities in Coping with the PKK
2 May 2005 / by Ilnur Cevik
Can Turkey declare an amnesty for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels? In the past, the answer was no. Today the answer is NO. Why? Because in the past we felt there was a strong Turkish sentiment against any possible amnesty for the PKK rebels simply because the power centers running Turkey were dead set against such a move.
Turks feel a deep enmity toward the PKK and that's no real surprise. The PKK has killed too many of our young Turkish soldiers in clashes in eastern and southeastern Turkey. Every village and township has a martyr lying in its graveyard. Old fathers, mothers and orphans remember their dead, and families simply cannot forgive the PKK and its militants for this. Abdullah Ocalan, who led the PKK and ordered the armed campaign, is now being punished for all this by serving a life sentence.
Recent incidents in Turkey show the depth of anger and intolerance the PKK has created in our country. The hatred for the PKK has unfortunately turned into a general animosity towards Kurdish people, and this is very dangerous. The events in Trabzon , Sakarya and Gonen, where thousands gathered to lynch a handful of so-called Kurds, show that the situation is highly explosive and sensitive. Can anyone talk about an amnesty for the PKK militants under such an environment?
That is why the Iraqi Kurdish leaders have to realize it's a "mission impossible" to urge Turkey to call an amnesty for the PKK rebels.
On the other hand, Turkish leaders should not expect Iraqi Kurdish leaders or the Iraqi government in Baghdad to catch the PKK rebels and hand them over to Turkey. Iraqi Kurdish public sentiment will not allow Kurds to be captured en masse and be extradited to Turkey. "A Kurd will never give a Kurd to a Turk to be punished."
So Turks have to see that this option is also impossible.
That leaves the Iraqi Kurds to punish the criminal Kurds
themselves. It's clear that the Iraqi leaders in Baghdad and the Iraqi
Kurdish leadership don't want the PKK in their territories. So both
Turkish and Iraqi leaders should work to dismantle the PKK from the
mountains of the Iraqi Kurdish area in an effective manner. We should
not ask from each other the impossible.
6. - Al Jazeera - "Turkey and Israel to sign arms deal worth $500 mn":
2 May 2005
The Turkish Prime Minister Receb Erdogan is to sign an arms deal worth $500 million with Israeli officials under which Tel Aviv would upgrade 30 Turkish F-4 jetfighters at a cost of half a million dollars, the Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported.
The paper also stated that the Turkish government set the condition that the upgrading process should be carried out at Turkish air force bases rather than at Israeli military factories.
Previously, Tel Aviv had agreed to sell Ankara a number of unpiloted drones to the tune of $200 million; with some 54 Turkish warplanes having already been upgraded in Israel.
Erdogan on Sunday arrived in Tel Aviv on an official visit during which he held talks with the Israeli premier Ariel Sharon and a number of Israeli officials.
The visit is the first of its kind since Erdogan came to power a few years ago.
According to Israeli media sources Erdogan's trip would further boost the bilateral relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv, particularly in the military and industrial fields.
Erdogan who is visiting the Palestinian territories for talks with President Mahmoud Abbas, and other officials, is expected to offer prayers at the holy Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem, according to the sources.
The Turkish premier was accompanied by a high-ranking delegation, grouping 100 industrialists and 50 journalists.
Israeli-Turkish trade volume reached around $2 billion
in the year 2004 and is expected to reach $4 billion by the end of 2005.