13 February 2006

1. "Roj TV Key To Democratization?", Roj TV makes sure that Kurds are not obliged to watch the scarcity of images directly controlled by the Turkish state. Because of Roj TV’s modern satellite technology, Roj TV escapes the hands of Turkish dominance and censure.

2. "PKK 'terrorist' tag criticised", the Refugee Council of Australia, which represents more than 100 organisations and individuals working with and for refugees in Australia and around the world, has questioned the Howard government’s listing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) as a "terrorist" organisation. In the 1980s and ’90s, the PKK organised armed resistance in eastern Turkey to the Ankara government’s brutal suppression of the Kurds. However, at a PKK congress in January 2000, members voted that the party would henceforth use only non-violent political means to achieve its new public goal of improved rights for Kurds in Turkey.

3. "A whimper, not a bang, from 'honor' killings commission", Parliament commission to probe 'honor' killings produces report with unelaborated suggestions after 4 months and at very last minute withdraws proposal that such killings be considered premeditated murder.

4. "Turkey Gov't, Court Clash on Head Scarves", the ruling Justice and Development Party, which has its roots in the Islamic movement, has made no secret of its desire to lift the ban on head scarves.

5. "The EU, Turkey and Cyprus", as negotiations continue for the membership of Turkey in the 25-nation powerful European Union, Turkey has come forward and unveiled her plan recently for removing the political obstacle posed by Cyprus (South). Although the plan has been initially rejected by Cyprus and her mentor Greece as 'old wine in new bottle' the 10-point Cyprus Plan of Turkey is an interesting initiative to break the logjam.

6. "Cartoon row continues with protest in Turkey", tens of thousands of Turks have taken part in anti-Danish protests over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, as the head of the Arab League appealed to East and West to end the "vicious" row.

1. - Blog News - "Roj TV Key To Democratization?":

12 February 2006 / by Vladimir van Wilgenburg*

Roj TV makes sure that Kurds are not obliged to watch the scarcity of images directly controlled by the Turkish state. Because of Roj TV’s modern satellite technology, Roj TV escapes the hands of Turkish dominance and censure.

Despite some EU-reforms in Turkey, there isn’t something you can call real Kurdish television. The 30 minutes of state-run broadcasts and 45 minutes of private-run broadcasts are frankly not enough. This is an example that Turkish homogenisation and assimilation policy is still out there.

Roj TV, like KurdistanTV, Zaghros TV and Kurdsat makes sure that Kurds in Turkey and Kurdistan regain their pride, by becoming more aware of their Kurdish identity by delivering an alternative to Turkish television.

Kurds will become educated on their own identity, by educational information on Kurdish history, Kurdish literature, landmark geographical sites in Kurdistan, Kurdish culture, etc.

With the on-going debate about freedom of expression because of the cartoon-row, Roj TV is also in danger. Premier Erdogan concluded that, freedom of speech has it’s limits. I cannot agree with this, because if I would, it would give pretence for anti-democratic measures like closing Roj TV, stopping criticism on religion, family and governments under the name of “respect”. This would mean the end of freedom of speech and the start of a new dictatorship.

In the discussion about Roj TV, PKK is not the point. If you think the Turkish state is sacred and holy, then I can assure that this isn’t true. Just look to the number of Turkish nationalists still roaming in the Turkish government (MHP). Frankly Roj TV is offering a platform for more Kurdish parties from all parts of Kurdistan. It isn’t only focusing on Northern edges of Kurdistan, there is attention for situation of Iraqi, Iranian and Syrian `occupied´ Kurdistan as a lot of Kurds would say.

An example is that Roj TV last year invited politicians from the opposition parties Komala and KDP-I, after demonstrations in Eastern-Kurdistan (Iranian). They also once asked parties from Western Kurdistan (Syrian) to comment on the events there. Roj TV therefore creates more unity among the Kurds, which was also seen in the support of Kurdistan TV for the survival of Roj TV.(“ rival” TV-station of KDP)

Another good point of Roj-TV that it is multilingual like the most of the Kurdish TV-stations. Roj TV can be seen as an example for the mostly Turkish programmes on Turkish television. Roj TV even broadcasts in Turkish, although it’s meant to also reach Kurds who have forgotten their mother language.

Roj TV actually promotes democracy by giving an alternative view and showing Kurdish television 24 hours a day. Turkey still not managed to close Roj TV in the EU and therefore became a needle in the eye of Turkish republic. Even Turkish journalists-writers didn’t deny that Roj TV is popular and watched by non-PKK-Kurds, as well pro-PKK Kurds.

Therefore Roj TV is a source of pressure, next to the developments in South-Kurdistan and the EU democratization process. Turkey may realise that the only way to decrease the influence and support for Roj TV is by allowing more and longer Kurdish television broadcasting. This only can be seen as something positive. I think that even people within Roj TV would welcome more Kurdish television, as a the Roj-TV producer Hessen Qazi told me: ”Every Kurdish television station must be welcomed, because it will result in more pluralism” .

Then at last Roj TV could compete with those other Kurdish channels, instead of being subject of Turkish intervention and pressure. This is the only way it should be and that’s why the closure of Roj TV must be stopped. The destruction of Roj TV would mean the end of freedom of speech and would partly stop the further development of the Kurdish issue and the democratization of Turkey.

* Journalist in the Netherlands.

2. - Green Left - "PKK 'terrorist' tag criticised":

12 February 2006 / by Kerry Smith

The Refugee Council of Australia, which represents more than 100 organisations and individuals working with and for refugees in Australia and around the world, has questioned the Howard government’s listing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) as a "terrorist" organisation.

In a media statement issued on February 3, Refugee Council president John Gibson said the government’s decision will “impact adversely on offshore humanitarian applicants who have only distant links with the PKK such as elderly parents but who may have discreetly assisted their children's political actions.

“There is, in the council's view, a serious risk that thorough individual assessments in future cases will be replaced by a blanket refusal of claims invoking the proscription provisions together with the character provisions of the Migration Act for any Kurdish asylum seeker with actual or imputed links to the PKK.

“In these circumstances, the council urges the government to re-think its decision and the parliamentary joint standing committee on intelligence and security which is meeting soon to recommend that it be overturned.”

The government proscribed the PKK on December 15 under its anti-terrorism legislation. The PKK, a left-wing party founded in 1978 in south-eastern Turkey, seeks the establishment of an independent Kurdish state in the Middle East, uniting the 30 million Kurds in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran.

In the 1980s and ’90s, the PKK organised armed resistance in eastern Turkey to the Ankara government’s brutal suppression of the Kurds. However, at a PKK congress in January 2000, members voted that the party would henceforth use only non-violent political means to achieve its new public goal of improved rights for Kurds in Turkey.

3. - The New Anatolian - "A whimper, not a bang, from 'honor' killings commission":

12 February 2006 / by Ayla Ganioglu

Parliament commission to probe 'honor' killings produces report with unelaborated suggestions after 4 months and at very last minute withdraws proposal that such killings be considered premeditated murder.

A report prepared and released by a parliamentary commission to investigate “honor” killings fell short of expectations, containing unelaborated proposals for solutions and no concrete initiatives.

In its last meeting on Tuesday, the commission reviewed the chapter of the report on “Proposals for Solutions” one more time. The ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party’s members of the commission requested that a proposal to amend Article 82 of the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK) so that “honor” killings be considered premeditated murder be removed, arguing that there are no loopholes in the TCK in this regard. However experts heard previously by the commission criticized the TCK as it stipulates a “tradition” killing (e.g. blood feuds between clans) is premeditated murder but honor killings are not.

Main opposition Republican People's Party’s (CHP) Canan Aritman said that if the new TCK isn't amended it will encourage honor killings and legitimize murders committed for reasons of honor. The suggestion was taken out of the report at the AK Party members’ insistence, with the CHP members saying that they will add a dissent to the report.

The commission’s proposal argued that Article 82 of the new TCK should be amended to include honor killings which would in turn increase the prison sentence for the crime.

Over the four months it was in session the investigation commission heard a number of experts who expressed the hope that the commission would contribute to their efforts to have their proposals realized. However the commission fell short of expectations. Members of the commission paid visits to the east of the country as well as to the Black Sea region and Istanbul, which revealed that a number of steps should be taken to prevent tradition and honor killings. But the commission went no further than describing and naming the problem.

Although it discovered that distorted religious beliefs play a role in honor killings, particularly in rural areas, the commission failed to effectively cooperate with the Religious Affairs Directorate, with only one official from the body going to visit to the east and another one heard at a commission meeting.

Religious Affairs Directorate official Dr. Ilhan Yildiz attended a commission meeting and stated that only the Old Testament of the books of Abrahamic religions stipulates honor killings and states that adulterers should be killed. Yildiz said that neither the Koran nor the Christian Bible stipulate such a punishment, adding that adulterous women being punished with death doesn't stem from Islam but from traditions of the Middle East as this also happened in the region before Islam.

Although the commission had decided to ask for support from the Religious Affairs Directorate at the outset, it failed to do so and called on the body to take the initiative on the issue in the final report it released.

State Minister Nimet Cubukcu, responsible for women and family affairs, was invited to the commission after the final report was completed but the education and interior ministers, who would be expected to play a significant role in resolving the problem, weren’t invited to the commission at all.

A representative statistical report wasn’t possible as incidents of violence against women and children aren’t recorded regularly and the commission failed to review the results of academic research into instances of unrecorded domestic violence.

The commission's report will be debated by the full Parliament in the near couple of days, with all political parties declaring their views on the issue. Following the debates, the report will be put in the archives.

4. - AP - "Turkey Gov't, Court Clash on Head Scarves":

11 February 2006 / by Benjamin Harvey

A teacher who wore a head scarf outside of classes should not be promoted, Turkey's high court has ruled, a decision condemned Saturday by the Islamic-rooted government.

Under Turkish law, women are not allowed to enter schools and other public buildings wearing head scarves. Even wives of ministers are excluded from government functions and formal state dinners because they wear head scarves.

The ruling Justice and Development Party, which has its roots in the Islamic movement, has made no secret of its desire to lift the ban on head scarves.

The teacher, Aytac Kilinc, removed the scarf each day while teaching, but the Council of State, Turkey's highest administrative court, said she was setting a bad example for young people and violated the secular principles of the Turkish state.

The court said it objected to promoting her because she wore a head scarf outside of school.

The teacher said she will appeal the decision to the European Court of Human Rights.

Around 99 percent of Turks are Muslims, but the country's secular establishment, including the courts and the military, has sought for decades to restrict Islamic influence, which some political leaders view as an obstacle to Western-style modernization.

"As the prime minister of a country where freedom prevails, I condemn the decision," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul echoed the prime minister's views.

"This understanding, as you know, is the philosophy of authoritarian, dictatorial regimes," he said. "This is a step contrary to the continuing democratization of Turkey."

Cabinet minister Kursad Tuzmen said the ban would be lifted in time. "These kinds of problems always happen in developing countries," he said. "When we reach the level of a developed country, these things will be lifted on their own."

In Europe, assimilating Muslim students is a sensitive political issue. In 2004, France banned "conspicuous religious symbols" such as head scarves from state schools. Britain allows individual schools to decide what form of dress is appropriate.

5. - The Daily Star - "The EU, Turkey and Cyprus":

12 February 2006 / by Arshad-uz Zaman*

As negotiations continue for the membership of Turkey in the 25-nation powerful European Union, Turkey has come forward and unveiled her plan recently for removing the political obstacle posed by Cyprus (South). Although the plan has been initially rejected by Cyprus and her mentor Greece as 'old wine in new bottle' the 10-point Cyprus Plan of Turkey is an interesting initiative to break the logjam.

We may recall that after hard bargaining during the last European Union (EU) Summit it was decided that a date was set for the start of serious negotiations between Turkey and the EU. The idea is that EU will thoroughly examine the progress of Turkey in all possible fields which includes human rights, the state of the economy and related matters. Turkey should be considered to have achieved a standard at par with other member states.

If we travel farther back we may note that Turkey has been waiting at the door of the EU for more than four decades. There has been ups and downs, mostly downs, but it speaks something for Turkish tenacity that they have hung on. They got some mileage from joining the Customs Union in the early nineties. This opening ajar the door for duty-free entry of all kinds of goods within the territory of Turkey has not been without pain. Turkey made a major breakthrough in 1999 at the Summit in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, when she extracted the promise of membership. Turkey has continued to struggle and it is only last year that she was given a date for start of serious negotiations. Turkey crossed that major hurdle by carrying through sweeping breathtaking reforms, leaving the entire EU members in awe. Those reforms forced the doubters to offer a date for start of negotiations.

Those negotiations have started in right earnest from 1 January 2006. Nobody expects, least of all the Turks, an early conclusion of these negotiations. The prediction is between 10 and 15 years. Nobody should doubt the tenacity of the Turks to bring to a successful conclusion these negotiations. True there are critical voices here and there. Yet the Turks are a determined lot and membership of the EU has become a National issue for Turkey. There were hesitations in Turkey and within EU that the new Government of Turkey led by Recep

Tayipp Erdogan, may not be enthusiastic as his predecessors. The argument was that Erdogan's government of the Justice and Development Party with its Islamic leanings would be more prone to lean towards the Islamic world of the East than the EU of the West. Prime Minister Erdogan proved the doubters totally wrong as he plunged headlong for reforms with a view to achieving membership of the EU. A cursory glance at the history of the Turkish people will demonstrate that they have always moved west. Thus the mighty Ottoman Empire, which ruled in Europe, the Middle East and the Balkans, went to the Arab world strictly as rulers. The Turkish people irrespective of the shade of opinion they may hold has always felt a strong attraction for the West. Mustafa Kemal AtaTurk, creator of Modern Turkey gave a mighty push in the direction of the West by importing wholesale the judicial system, education system and the alphabet. The powerful Turkish Army stands as the sentinel of AtaTurk's reforms.

The 10-point Action Plan, which was recently presented by Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, calls for simultaneous lifting of all obstacles on free movement of goods, persons and services in the context of the Cyprus issue. We may recall that the question of Cyprus has been hanging for more than three decades between Turkey and Greece and Turkish State of Northern Cyprus and South Cyprus. The island was divided between the two sides following military action by Turkish troops, which itself was triggered by a military coup in Greece leading to near annexation of Turkish Cyprus by Greece and South Cyprus.

Since Greece's attitude was crucial to Turkish membership of EU, by patient diplomacy Turkey has virtually normalised her relations with Greece. The only sticking point is Cyprus. Interestingly on the basis of the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's plan a referendum was held on the two sides of Cyprus recently and belying all forecasts Greek Cyprus rejected the Annan plan whereas Turkish Cyprus accepted it. Greek Cyprus has since joined the ten new entrants and has a veto power.

Greek Cyprus is out to extract her pound of flesh from Turkey. She wants that Turkey should lift restriction of flights in Northern Cyprus and lift embargo on entry of Cypriot ships in Turkish Cypriot port. Turkish Cyprus has been the victim of a world embargo since 1974. In order for Turkish Cyprus to open her port and airspace to everyone including Greek Cyprus, Turkish Cyprus rightly demands that special arrangements for its practical inclusion as an economic entity, into the EU Customs Union should be made. Also steps must be taken for unhindered direct trade between both sides of the island as well as with the outside world. Since joining the EU Greek Cyprus has been campaigning for access her trade and movement of people in Turkish Cyprus and she has sympathetic ears among many. On the other hand when Greek Cyprus was included in the EU the organisation promised the Turkish Cypriots that their burden would be eased. The latest 10-point plan aims at finding a way out. It would be worth the effort to move forward since all are set to gain.

* Arshad-uz-Zaman is a former Ambassador.

6. - AFP/AP - "Cartoon row continues with protest in Turkey":

13 February 2006

Tens of thousands of Turks have taken part in anti-Danish protests over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, as the head of the Arab League appealed to East and West to end the "vicious" row.

Denmark, where the offending images were first published in September, has been the main target of Muslim protests that intensified after the drawings were reprinted this year, and has been forced to recall its diplomats from half a dozen countries.

The Indonesian government has criticised Copenhagen's decision to withdraw its staff from the country as "hasty", insisting that it could have ensured their security.

Denmark said it was acting based on "credible information" that its staff faced being targeted by Islamic extremists and also advised its nationals to leave Indonesia.

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said withdrawing embassy staff from Syria, Iran and Indonesia amid anger over the prophet Mohammed cartoons did not mean breaking off diplomatic relations with those countries.

"I would like to stress that we have done so for security reasons," Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on CNN's Late Edition. "We have not cut the diplomatic relations because my country believes in building bridges, not burning them."

The dispute over the 12 cartoons, one of which shows the prophet wearing a bomb-shaped turban, has fuelled a tense standoff between Western defenders of free speech and Muslims who find images blasphemous.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice repeated today that violent protests last week in Iran and Syria had been drummed up by state authorities to inflame anti-Western sentiment, and warned that such outrage could "spin out of control".

"Certainly, if governments do not act responsibly, we could face a sense of outrage that spins out of control, and particularly if people continue to incite it, it could spin out of control," she said on US television.

Fogh Rasmussen said he agreed with Rice.

"I think she has a point. It's obvious to me that certain countries take advantage of this situation to distract attention from their own problems with the international community, including Syria and Iran," Fogh Rasmussen said.

Rice dismissed comments by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan that he had no proof of Iranian or Syrian involvement in the protests, which led to assaults on Danish diplomatic missions.

"I can say that the Syrians tightly control their society and the Iranians even more tightly," she said. "It is well known that Iran and Syria bring protesters into the streets when they wish, to make a point."

In one of the largest protests to date, more than 50,000 people shouting anti-Danish slogans rallied in the south-eastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir today following a call by Islamic groups.

In Turkey's largest city Istanbul, 4,000 people gathered following prayers, chanting slogans hostile to Denmark, the United States and Israel, while a group of around 150 nationalist Islamists pelted the French consulate with eggs, crying out "God is Great" and "Revenge! Revenge!"

Police in Denmark said about 25 Muslim graves have been vandalised at a cemetery in Esbjerg, Denmark's fifth biggest city.

The vandals pushed over headstones and smashed several of them into pieces at the cemetery.

The attack came as a Danish publisher said the 12 cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed are to be used as a teaching aid in Danish schools and may also be displayed in a museum.

"What is happening at the moment has so great a significance that you cannot brush them under the carpet," Peter Mollerup, head of the academic section of the Danish publisher Gyldendal, told the newspaper Politiken.

"It is essential that future generations know about these drawings," he said.

He said it was not Gyldendal's intention to provoke Muslims, and the cartoons would be displayed in the context of a painstaking study of the whole affair.

Meanwhile a prominent Iranian newspaper has opened an international competition seeking cartoons about the Holocaust in what it said was a test of whether the West would be as supportive of freedom of expression over the Nazi genocide as it was with caricatures of Islam's prophet.

Hamshahri, a Tehran-based paper, published a call for cartoons under the title: "What is the Limit of Western Freedom of Expression?" on its website.

Davood Kazemi, executive manager of the contest, said the newspaper would not accept any insulting cartoons in the contest.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for dialogue to calm the uproar over the cartoons.

"Right now there's megaphone diplomacy," Annan told Denmark's national broadcaster DR.

"And I think we should turn off the megaphones and begin to talk quietly to each other."

Annan condemned the drawings, first published in a Danish newspaper, as "insensitive and rather offensive".

Worldwide protests over the cartoons' publication, which have left 13 people dead, have abated in recent days, although peaceful rallies were held yesterday in European cities including Paris, London, Oslo and Berlin.

But observers in Denmark warn that the country has yet to navigate its way out of the crisis.

"We are not out of trouble yet," said Toeger Seidenfaden, editor of the leading Danish newspaper Politiken, although he voiced hope that the most violent protests may be over.

"It seems increasingly that political and religious leaders are imposing or advising peaceful demonstrations - that is encouraging," he said.

In the latest such call, Arab League chief Amr Mussa called for East and West to work together to end the row, calling the controversy a "vicious flame".

"This is not the time for a clash between East and West," Mussa said in an address to an economic forum in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah .

"We Muslims who want positive relations with the West, let's put our hands into the hands of our like-minded brothers in Europe and America - and they are many - so that we can put out the vicious flame."

Commentators say the row could not have come at a worse time, set against turmoil in the Middle East peace process and escalation of the Iran nuclear crisis.

The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana is preparing for a Middle Eastern tour aimed at limiting the diplomatic fallout from the crisis.

Several European leaders including French President Jacques Chirac have condemned the cartoons' publication as needlessly offensive, while Muslim officials have accused the Danish government of mishandling the crisis.

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has apologised for any harm the drawings may have caused but not for the satirical sketches themselves, citing his country's tradition of a free and independent press.

Polls suggest the Danish public backs Rasmussen's firm line, and that a majority blame the crisis on the country's Muslim clerics, who are accused of whipping up indignation in Arab countries.

A recent survey also indicated that the far-right Danish People's Party has seen its voter support boosted as the crisis fans tensions with the country's Muslim minority.