9 September 2005

1. "Coexistence between Turks and Kurds is suddenly fraying", Turkey’s Kurds can’t they get along any more?

2. "Turkish troops kill seven Kurd rebels in mountains", Turkish troops killed seven Kurdish rebels in an operation in the east of the country on Thursday, a military source told Reuters.

3. "Turkish military intelligence responsible for bomb attack against Kurds in Semdinli", a bomb attack on September 1 against a 'Peace Tent' set up by Kurds in city of Semdinli in northern Kurdistan (southeastern Turkey) wounded 14 civilians.

4. "The 75 aged Woman Victim Of The Racist Attack", Adile Ortaç (75) who was attacked by the racists while returning from the demonstration not allowed to be held in Gemlik, was taken to the morgue as she was thought to be died.

5. "EU split on Turkey-Cyprus ultimatum", Ambassadors to the European Union met on Wednesday in Brussels in a continuing attempt to agree on a statement calling on Turkey to seek to normalise relations with Cyprus in coming years.

6. "EU divided on talks for Turkey", the European Union remained divided Thursday over the terms for opening accession talks with Turkey as member governments struggled to agree on a declaration pressing Ankara to normalize relations with Cyprus.

1. - The Economist - "Coexistence between Turks and Kurds is suddenly fraying":

Turkey’s Kurds can’t they get along any more?

ANKARA / 8 September 2005

THE history of Kurdish rebellions against Turkish authority goes back to the Ottoman era; there have been 29 of them in all. The latest—launched in 1984 by the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the PKK—has claimed nearly 40,000 lives. Yet, even at the height of that bloodshed, many ordinary Turks and Kurds, helped by a common Muslim faith, coexisted quite happily.

Countless Turkish Kurds—albeit by dint of repressing their identity—have won high positions. Indeed most Kurds in Turkey now live far from their native, south-eastern provinces; Istanbul is the world’s largest Kurdish city.

Centuries of delicate harmony seemed on the verge of unravelling last week after a series of clashes between Turks and pro-PKK Kurdish demonstrators in Istanbul and the western provinces of Bilecik and Bursa that left hundreds injured. The clashes erupted on September 4th after demonstrators waving PKK banners and posters of the jailed PKK boss, Abdullah Ocalan, shouted slogans as they drove through the town of Bozuyuk. Turkish nationalists stopped their convoy, smashed bus windows with stones, set their tyres ablaze and traded blows with the Kurds.

Further violence on September 6th, between police and demonstrators, left at least one Kurd dead in the south-eastern province of Siirt. A Kurdish worker was killed the same day in a scuffle with a nationalist mob in Duzce.

Turkey’s reformist prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has blamed the PKK and its political wing, known as Dehap, for the unrest. Dehap has been at the forefront of rallies to protest over Mr Ocalan’s solitary confinement.

Their primary goal is to reverse provisions in a new penal code, adopted on June 1st, that in effect proscribe Mr Ocalan’s lawyers from forwarding instructions to PKK rebels based in Iraq.

This flow of orders from Mr Ocalan’s cell to the field had angered many Turks. The PKK is angry too. Apparently to allow time for its demands to be met, the PKK declared a month-long ceasefire on August 20th. Should it fail to win satisfaction, said Murat Karayilan, a PKK commander in Iraq, “We shall no longer be responsible for what ensues.”

2. - Reuters - "Turkish troops kill seven Kurd rebels in mountains":

TUNCELI / 8 September 2005

Turkish troops killed seven Kurdish rebels in an operation in the east of the country on Thursday, a military source told Reuters.

Clashes between Turkish security forces and the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have increased since the rebels called off a five-year unilateral ceasefire in 2004.

The military source said the army airlifted more than 500 troops overnight onto the Munzur Mountains on the borders of the eastern Tunceli and Erzincan provinces, after discovering a group of 20 to 30 PKK rebels.

"Clashes are continuing and the operation is ongoing," the source said. He said seven rebels had been killed so far.

Tension has been rising among Turkey’s restive Kurds this week with demonstrations across the mainly Kurdish southeast in support of Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK leader jailed for life as the sole inmate in an island prison in the Sea of Marmara.

Turkish leaders have accused Kurdish parties of trying to incite violence and bring the issue of Kurdish rights onto the agenda as the European Union prepares to start accession talks with Turkey on Oct. 3.

More than 30,000 people, most of them Kurds, have been killed since the PKK began its campaign for a separate homeland in 1984.

3. - DozaMe.org - "Turkish military intelligence responsible for bomb attack against Kurds in Semdinli":

7 September 2005

A bomb attack on September 1 against a 'Peace Tent' set up by Kurds in city of Semdinli in northern Kurdistan (southeastern Turkey) wounded 14 civilians. A statement was issued with the signature "The blood of our five martyrs will not be left on the ground" by an unknown group claiming responsibility for the attack as a revenge for five Turkish soldiers killed in the area in early August.

The statement read as following:

"At 00:30 am on August 5, a couple of bandits, who without any legal reasons, thinking that they are doing something good carrying out the bomb attack who martyred five of our brothers, and those who help them, will pay with their lives and the lives of their families. From now on, these bandits and every person helping them, will be punished."

The soldiers mentioned in the statement are the five Turkish soldiers, of them three sergeants, who were killed by a remote-controlled bomb in the city of Semdinli on August 5.

An eye witness who didn't want to be named spoke to the Kurdish news agency DIHA.

"A white Toros [car] drove up to the tent. Four plain-clothed individuals stepped out of the car and two of them had walkie-talkies. The ones with the radio equipment asked us questions like 'who lives in that house, who owns the trees here' and so on. While these two asked us questions, the other two went to the area where the bomb later went off. They later left and never returned. And until the bomb went off, the security forces were monitoring the tent from a far distance", the witness told DIHA.

14 civilians were wounded in the attack. The names of the wounded were Kadri Yalçin, Ilhami Öztürk, Kerem Elmas, Naim Erkoyuncu, Gülcan Tekin, Ayhan Öztürk, Beyhan Sevgi, Hüseyin Avci, Pinar Mavigöz, Metin Yilmaz , Turan Korkmaz, Mehdi Zerende, Numan Erkoyuncu and the Semdinli municipality board member Ibrahim Öpengin.

The witness also said that the type of the car, the individuals stepping out from the car and the statement issued, were things which had convinced the Kurds in the area that the bomb attack had been conducted by individuals from the Turkish military intelligence.

"It's nothing new actually, we've been through it before", the witness said.

4. - DIHA - "The 75 aged Woman Victim Of The Racist Attack":

HATAY / 8 September 2005

Adile Ortaç (75) who was attacked by the racists while returning from the demonstration not allowed to be held in Gemlik, was taken to the morgue as she was thought to be died. I found myself in the morgue when I woke up and a nurse screamed, said Ortaç.

Participating to the convoy going to Gemlik to protest the insulation towards the leader of the Kurdish people Abdullah Ocalan, Adile Ortaç was attacked by the racists together with the other demonstrators while returning from Bursa after they were not allowed to go Gemlik to hold the demonstration. She was taken to the morgue as she was thought to be died while she was fainted in deed. After the nurse realized that she was alive, her relatives were informed and then she was taken from the hospital by the relatives.

Participating to the convoy to give voice their demands for peace, Ortaç could not recover from the shock of the racist attacks. She told the events as such: "Our coach was stoned by the attackers for 5 hours. I could not stay in the coach and got out. Then the racists attacked on me. I was injured by head. They were kicking me by head and stomach swearing 'the prostitute is not dying'. Enough! She died, shouted one of the police so they left me. I was fainted. When I woke up I was in the morgue. They had taken my dental prosthesis out and undressed me. I was hearing voices in the morgue under the cover and one of the nurses realized that I am alive after I moved slightly. Then they took me to the care unit."

She stated that her aim to go to Gemlik was very important, so she would participate to such an event again if necessary. Everyday young bodies are being buried I am not more valuable than them so I am dying everyday watching the news, said she.

Her son Lokman Ortaç said they went to the hospital as soon as they heard the case. Learning that his mother had been taken to the morgue directly even before checking in the care unit, Lokman said they would bring the case to the Court of European Human Rights saying 'Where do we live? That barbarism is too much. We will follow the case."

5. - Financial Times - "EU split on Turkey-Cyprus ultimatum":

ANKARA / 9 September 2005 / by Vincent Boland

Ambassadors to the European Union met on Wednesday in Brussels in a continuing attempt to agree on a statement calling on Turkey to seek to normalise relations with Cyprus in coming years.

Cyprus wants a tough statement on recognition, but the UK, which currently holds the EU presidency, fears a tough ultimatum could prompt Turkey to walk away before the start of the October 3 talks.

Meanwhile, clashes between nationalists and Kurds are adding to domestic tensions in Turkey. In spite of attempts by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, to reach out to the rebel Kurds, a rise in demonstrations and violent incidents involving nationalists and Kurdish rebel sympathisers has led to hundreds of arrests in recent weeks.

Turkey’s political leaders and the military on Tuesday called for restraint after clashes in Istanbul, Turkey’s biggest city and economic capital, as well as towns across eastern Turkey, where many Turks of Kurdish origin live.

Although the focus of the unrest appears to be Kurdish demands, some diplomats in Ankara say it is symptomatic of efforts by Turkish nationalists to embarrass the Islamist-oriented, pro-EU government ahead of the beginning of the talks.

”Now you can see why this government cannot make any more concessions on Cyprus,” a diplomat said, referring to intense pressure on the Turkish government from some of its counterparts in the EU to recognise the government of Cyprus, an EU member, before the accession process begins, or as soon as possible after that.

Mr Erdogan and Abdullah Gul, foreign minister, have both rejected the demand and threatened to walk away from the EU if Ankara is forced to make more concessions.

The political clashes have overshadowed an attempt by the government in recent weeks to show that it is adopting a fresh approach to the south-east.

Analysts and diplomats say the political leadership of Turkey’s Kurdish movement remains riven by a power struggle.

6. - International Herald Tribune - "EU divided on talks for Turkey":

BRUSSELS / 9 September 2005 / by Graham Bobley

The European Union remained divided Thursday over the terms for opening accession talks with Turkey as member governments struggled to agree on a declaration pressing Ankara to normalize relations with Cyprus.

Cyprus joined the EU last year, but Turkey's refusal to recognize it is exposing tensions within the Union and clouding the opening of membership talks on Oct. 3.

Cyprus called Thursday for an extraordinary meeting of EU foreign ministers on Sept. 26, a meeting that would bring the issue of Turkey's recognition of Cyprus to a head, and accused Britain of being prejudiced in favor of Turkish entry into the EU.

EU ambassadors failed to agree on a declaration at a meeting on Wednesday in Brussels. The British government, as current holder of the EU's presidency, on Thursday continued to pursue bilateral talks with member states to try to seal a compromise.

The EU statement on Ankara's stance would be a response to a Turkish declaration in July that the extension of a customs union to the 10 countries that joined the EU on May 1, 2004, did not represent political recognition of Cyprus.

"I expect we will be heading to an emergency session of the general council on external relations on the 26th of this month," the Cyprus foreign minister, George Iacovou, told Cyprus radio.

But Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, has said that although Britain has not ruled out such a meeting, it is not planning one and hopes that a meeting will not be necessary.

Cyprus is pushing for a strongly worded declaration to compel Turkey to implement the customs union with all countries of the EU, and not to discriminate against Cyprus.

It complains that even after Turkey has extended the customs agreement to the new EU counties, it still does not allow Cypriot ships, or any ships that have recently used Cypriot ports, to visit Turkish ports.

It also wants the membership negotiations to be linked to progress on Turkey's recognition of Cyprus. It is being supported by France and Austria.

A Cypriot government spokesman, Kypros Chrysostomides, on Thursday criticized Britain, accusing it of being swayed by Turkey and of presenting the British position as the EU position.

In speeches and articles, Straw has set out a powerful case for Turkish membership of the EU. He warned Thursday that rejecting Turkey's approach to the EU would create "a crisis on our own doorstep."

He said the prospect of EU membership had encouraged reform in Turkey, while the policy of extending Europe's borders to embrace more countries like Turkey benefited Western European nations by helping them confront the economic pressures of globalization.

"Stopping enlargement would only weaken Europe's ability to compete with emerging Asian economies," he said, echoing the thrust of a speech Prime Minister Tony Blair made to the European Parliament in June.

EU unity on deporting urged

Home Secretary Charles Clarke of Britain called on other European Union countries Thursday to consider common rules to deport people for inciting hatred or encouraging terrorism, The Associated Press reported in Newcastle, England.

Clarke said a Europe-wide approach on deporting extremists would bolster the fight against terrorist groups. "This is perfectly sensible. I think it's worth looking at," Clarke told reporters. "The question is what are the rules."

He said, however, that the issue of drafting common rules could conflict with national laws already in place, not to mention individual rights and rights enjoyed by citizens under the 1948 European Convention on Human Rights.

Clarke has, along with other British government officials, come under fire from civil liberties groups over plans to deport extremists to countries with dubious human rights records.