9 May 2005

1. "IHD reports abuse of women and children", Human Rights Association (IHD) Diyarbakir branch head Selahattin Demirtas held a press conference on Friday about the group's findings on violence against women and children. Demirtas summarized the results of the report "2004 Report on the Violation of the Rights of Children and Women in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia."

2. "Iraq instability threatens Turkey", although the military did not release its own casualty figures, Namik Tan, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, estimated that Turkish security forces "suffered between 15 and 17 fatalities in the clashes with the Kurds". These losses are significant. However, Turkish intelligence estimates that since the beginning of April some 1500 Kurdish guerrillas have crossed into eastern Turkey via the mountain paths along the Iraq border.

3. "Kretschmer: The Speed Of Reforms Will Determine The Outcome Of Negotiations", EU Commission Turkey Representative Hans Jorg Kretschmer has indicated on Friday that the speed of reforms in Turkey will determine the outcome of negotiations. An efficient and comprehensive reform package will result in early accession, told Kretschmer.

4. "Turkish president calls for EU membership talks without delay", President Ahmet Necdet Sezer urged the European Union Sunday to start accession talks with Turkey as scheduled in October and help the mainly Muslim nation realize its decades-old creed of integrating with the West.

5. "Turkish Cypriot Gov't Wins Confidence Vote", the new Turkish Cypriot government of Premier Ferdi Sabit Soyer won a vote of confidence Sunday in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state, in a boost to efforts to reunify the divided island.

6. "IMF warns Turkey over debt management, urges action on unemployment", Turkey should strive to decrease the ratio of its debt to gross national product and tackle unemployment as well as a large informal sector in order to consolidate the gains from spectacular growth since a severe crisis four years ago, IMF first managing director Anne Krueger said Friday.

1. - The New Anatolian - "IHD reports abuse of women and children":

DIYARBAKIR / 7 May 2005

Human Rights Association (IHD) Diyarbakir branch head Selahattin Demirtas held a press conference on Friday about the group's findings on violence against women and children. Demirtas summarized the results of the report "2004 Report on the Violation of the Rights of Children and Women in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia."

The report documents the cases of 756 children and 109 women whose abuse was reported to authorities. Demirtas said that the document was a compilation of reports about women and children undergoing torture and cases involving suicide. Among the 109 women whose cases were known to the IHD, two of them involved honor killings and 96 of them had attempted or committed suicide.

According to the report, 209 people applied to the agency complaining of torture. "When we compare this year's report to previous years, we see no examples of serious physical torture using electric, severe beatings with weapons or hangings," Demirtas said. "We see this as a positive improvement."

Nearly 500 children were determined to have had unlawfully been deprived of their right to an education. More than 10 children died and 22 more were injured from mines and other explosives. Four children were murdered and 26 were reported to have experienced torture. More than 50 children suffered from family violence, with seven known to have been sexually abused. Twenty-four children committed suicide and eight made an attempt but survived.

2. - Al Jazeera - "Iraq instability threatens Turkey":

8 May 2005 / by Scott Taylor*

Over the past few weeks, the media reports coming out of Iraq have focussed extensively on the insurgents' escalating attacks against US military and Iraqi police forces.

Overshadowed by the coverage of this series of suicide bomb attacks has been the dramatic and ominous development of unrest along the Iraq-Turkey border.

For the first time since US President George Bush launched his military intervention to topple Saddam Hussein in March 2003, the violent anarchy which ensued throughout Iraq is now spilling over into neighbouring countries.

On 20 April, following 10 days of sporadic combat, the Turkish government announced its defence forces had killed 33 Kurdish rebels after they had crossed the Iraqi border.

Although the military did not release its own casualty figures, Namik Tan, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, estimated that Turkish security forces "suffered between 15 and 17 fatalities in the clashes with the Kurds".

These losses are significant. However, Turkish intelligence estimates that since the beginning of April some 1500 Kurdish guerrillas have crossed into eastern Turkey via the mountain paths along the Iraq border.

These fighters belong to the hardline Kurdish rebel group known as the PKK (the Kurdish acronym for the Kurdistan Workers Party) which has been linked to 'terrorist' activities.

In the early 1990s the PKK waged a long and bloody struggle to gain independence for the Kurdish majority living in eastern Turkey.

However, by the end of the decade, Turkish security forces had clearly gained the upper hand militarily, and political reforms were eroding popular support for the separatist movement.

With the 1999 arrest of their leader, Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK remnants fled into the Kurdish-controlled region of northern Iraq.

As part of an internationally brokered ceasefire, the PKK camps in Iraq were monitored by the United Nations. That supervision ended following the US-led intervention in Iraq and the UN's subsequent decision to withdraw all of its personnel until the coalition forces could establish a secure environment.

Despite repeated requests by the Turkish government, the US-led coalition forces did not attempt to secure or contain the PKK camps subsequent to the UN pullout.

"The Americans regarded the Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq provinces as stable, and therefore they have been content to let [the Iraqi Kurd leaders] Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani have a free rein," said professor Umit Ozdaq, director of the Ankara-based Centre for Eurasian Studies.

"Unfortunately, that decision has led to this current crisis."

There is no question that the two rival Iraqi Kurdish leaders enjoy a strong measure of American support and tolerance.

Despite their appointments to prominent positions within the new Iraqi government - Talabani as president and Barzani as director of the Kurdish provinces - the former warlords still maintain their own private peshmerga (militia) armies, and their own private Asaish (secret service) agencies.

More importantly, US authorities have allowed the Iraqi Kurds to steadily entrench their control over the oil-rich northern Iraq city of Kirkuk.

Should Kurdish claims to Kirkuk be formally recognised, the oil revenue would be sufficient to make an independent Kurdistan economically viable.

The Turkish government has always maintained that such a move would not only violate the rights of the (Turkish-speaking) Iraqi Turkmen population of Kirkuk, but that an independent Kurdistan might also re-ignite the separatist movement in eastern Turkey.

This latest incursion of PKK guerrillas into Turkey proves such fears of renewed violence are well founded. "At the moment, the PKK have been prevented from entering the major cities and towns," said Namik Tan.

"They are only operating from the mountains and caves."

In order to keep the Kurdish incursion in check, the Turks have deployed the 7th Army Corps along with air force units to augment the already considerable Jendarma (interior police) in the border region.

Although they publicly distance themselves from the PKK, moderate Kurdish politicians are using the renewed guerrilla activity to press the Turkish government for additional concessions.

"What they are asking for is autonomy within a federation, but this would simply be the first step towards independence," said Professor Ozdaq. "From a Turkish perspective, that is unacceptable."

The Turkish government's goal is to quickly neutralise the PKK guerrilla threat before it can gain widespread popular support.

During nearly 10 years of fighting, the previous Kurdish insurrection in Turkey left some 30,000 people dead, and this already impoverished region was subjected to widespread destruction.

"The people of eastern Turkey are weary of war and the political reforms made towards improving Kurdish civil rights have eliminated many of the root causes of the separatists," said Namik Tan.

"Unfortunately, the situation in Iraq is allowing leaders such as Barzani to use the PKK to further destabilise the region."

Iraq-based US forces, already unable to contain the insurgency in the Sunni Triangle, are stretched too thin at the moment to even contemplate a clampdown on the Kurdish leaders.

However, as the incursion of the PKK into Turkey illustrates, the magnitude of the US failure to seize control of the northern Iraq border and to demobilise the peshmerga has yet to be fully recognised.

* Former Canadian soldier Scott Taylor is the editor of Esprit de Corps military magazine and a veteran war correspondent. He has visited Iraq 20 times since August 2000 and is the author of Spinning on the Axis of Evil: America's War against Iraq and Among the Others: Encounters with the Forgotten Turkmen of Iraq. Last September he was held hostage for five days in northern Iraq by Ansar al-Islam Mujahadin.

3. - Anadolu Agency - "Kretschmer: The Speed Of Reforms Will Determine The Outcome Of Negotiations":

ISTANBUL / 7 May 2005

EU Commission Turkey Representative Hans Jorg Kretschmer has indicated on Friday that the speed of reforms in Turkey will determine the outcome of negotiations. An efficient and comprehensive reform package will result in early accession, told Kretschmer.

In a speech delivered at the Forum Istanbul 2005 meeting, Kretschmer remarked that EU's decision of October 3rd is actually a political one. A different decision could have been made. No one should have any doubts about the decision taken on December 17th. This shows Europe's political will about Turkey's accession into the union, stated Kretschmer.

Kretschmer mentioned that Turkey must fulfill its duties in making the essential political reforms. ''Turkey must do its homework in implementing the reforms,'' said Kretschmer.

The public opinion is the biggest supporter of the negotiations and the Turkish government must do more in informing the Turkish society about its EU process, commented Kretschmer.

Referring to EU's pre-accession assistance, Kretschmer pointed out that in 2006 Turkey will receive half a million Euro as financial grant. After 2006, Turkey will receive one million Euro annually, said Kretschmer.

Kretschmer expressed that if Turkey does its homework, then the EU is ready to give full support to Turkey. If political stability is maintained, Turkey will have a good chance of becoming a full member, told Kretschmer.

Kretschmer noted that by letting in Turkey as a full member the EU would have gained a country that has political and economic stability.

Polish Central Bank's Deputy Chairman Pawel Samecki indicated that there could be tiresome topics during entry negotiations. However, with good planning the difficulties could be overcome, said Samecki.

Samecki added that the EU would not let a country in that poses serious macro economic threats. ''Turkey must continue its reforms. Political stability is crucial,'' mentioned Samecki.

Karel Lukas of the Czech Republic's Industry Confederation commented that national interests could be spelled out as a radical. ''If you can join the opposition in your arguments, you could be more successful. We could not do this and experienced some problems. You must be careful while implementing judicial reforms,'' indicated Lukas.

Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Ministry EU General Secretary Murat Sungar has noted that when the negotiations begin on October 3rd, political topics will have to leave their place on the agenda to rural development, doing away with regional differences, economic and social harmonization and the harmonization of sectors.

Sungar stressed that the topics of Cyprus, Armenians and minorities are political matters not mentioned in the Copenhagen criteria.

4. - AFP - "Turkish president calls for EU membership talks without delay":

ANKARA / 8 May 2005

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer urged the European Union Sunday to start accession talks with Turkey as scheduled in October and help the mainly Muslim nation realize its decades-old creed of integrating with the West.

"Turkey... has made its objective of becoming an integral part of modern Europe the fundamental element of its foreign policy," Sezer said in a message in the eve of May 9, Europe Day.

"The main expectation of the Turkish people... is that accession negotiations begin on October 3, without allowing any delay.

"There should be no doubts that Turkey will do whatever is up to her to ensure that the negotiations proceed sucessfully.

"We expect our European friends to display the same caution and we hope the EU will act with the sense of responsibility that our relationship of more than 40 years requires," he said.

Turkey, which first signed an association agreement with the European Economic Community -- the precursor of the EU -- in 1963, was given the go-ahead for accession talks in December 2004.

The negotiations are scheduled to start on October 3 and widely expected to take at least a decade.

Many sceptics in the EU, however, argue that the populous and relatively poor Muslim nation should not be allowed into the bloc.

5. - AP - "Turkish Cypriot Gov't Wins Confidence Vote":

NICOSIA / 8 May 2005

The new Turkish Cypriot government of Premier Ferdi Sabit Soyer won a vote of confidence Sunday in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state, in a boost to efforts to reunify the divided island.

Soyer replaced former prime minister Mehmet Ali Talat, who took over as president last month. Both Talat and Soyer want to restart reunification talks with Greek Cypriots in the south so Turkish Cypriots can benefit from membership in the European Union.

"Turkish Cypriot people want to build the future together with Greek Cypriot people on the basis of political equality and partnership," Soyer said. "They want to make Cyprus an island of peace."

Cyprus joined the European Union last year, but the island's division has excluded Turkish Cypriots from most benefits.

The new government commands 29 seats in the 50-seat parliament and says it wants a solution to the island's partition. Twenty-eight lawmakers voted in favor of the new government, while 19 voted against it. One government lawmaker did not attend the vote.

Soyer, head of the Republican Turkish Party, formed the new Cabinet on April 26 along with Talat's former partner, Serdar Denktash, who retains his post as deputy premier and foreign minister.

Talat overwhelmingly won presidential elections on April 17, replacing 81-year-old Rauf Denktash, who founded the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in 1983. Rauf Denktash is Serdar Denktash's father.

Turkey is the only nation that recognizes the Turkish Cypriot government in the north of Cyprus, which has been divided since Turkey invaded the island in 1974 following a failed coup by supporters of a union with Greece.

6. - AFP - "IMF warns Turkey over debt management, urges action on unemployment":

ANKARA / 6 May 2005

Turkey should strive to decrease the ratio of its debt to gross national product and tackle unemployment as well as a large informal sector in order to consolidate the gains from spectacular growth since a severe crisis four years ago, IMF first managing director Anne Krueger said Friday.

Turkey has managed to slash the debt ratio to 63 percent from 90 percent in 2002, when it signed a 16-billion-dollar (12.3-billion-euro) three-year deal with the International Monetary Fund to resolve its worst recession in decades, Krueger told a news conference here.

"I think most analysts would regard anything above 40 percent and probably anything much over 30 percent as being a little on the high side," she said.

"If interest rates in the world economy rises, there is still some vulnerability. Turkey could handle it but on the other hand it might be somewhat painful," warned Krueger, who held talks with Turkish officials and attended various symposiums in the past two days.

The IMF official hailed Turkey's "impressive" recovery, but she urged Ankara to keep up vital structural reforms to maintain strong growth, listing the financial sector, management of public finances and the labour market as priority areas.

Krueger said authorities needed to take steps to boost employment and curb a large informal economy, both of which could stunt the country's potential growth.

Decreasing minimum wage, which is currently about 350 Turkish lira (about 260 dollars, 200 euros) and relaxing regulations that make it difficult to lay off workers were among steps that could be taken by the government to allow more people to get productive work in the formal sector.

"Evidence from all over the world is that when you impose minimum wages that are quite high, you discourage employment," Krueger said.

According to official figures, Turkey's unemployment rate was 10.3 percent in 2004, with an estimated 2.5 million jobless.

But observers says the figures do not reflect the truth when it comes to undeclared or hidden unemployment where educated, qualified people are often engaged in menial, unqualified jobs.

The IMF executive board is scheduled to convene next week to consider a fresh 10-billion-dollar (7.7 billion euros) stand-by deal with Turkey to succeed the earlier deal which expired in February.

The new programme aims at consolidating and advancing the reforms that helped the economy emerge from the recession spawned by two severe crises in the financial sector.