16 January 2006

1. "Kurd conference in Norway", Kurd leaders want their talks on a plan for negotiations with Turkey to take place in Bergen.

2. "Norway says it doesn't recognize 'terrorist organizations list' of EU", the Norwegian government has announced that it does not recognize the European Union list of "terrorist" organizations, which also includes the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), NTV television reported yesterday.

3. "Turkish press outrage at Agca release", Newspapers in Turkey are angry at the release from jail in Istanbul of Mehmet Ali Agca, the man who tried to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981.

4. "World Bank official calls for education reform", an education reform would help Turkey resolve its deep-rooted unemployment problem and boost its labor competitiveness in the European Union, which Turkey aspires to join, a top World Bank official has said.

5. "New party Seeks To Unite Kurds In Eastern Kurdistan", Iranian Kurds plan to unite and resume the struggle for the rights which they say are denied them in the Islamic Republic, says the founder of a new Kurdish movement. Kurds, who live mainly in Iran's western provinces, make up seven percent of a population of 68 million. "There is little freedom in the Kurdish-populated areas, while Iranians and especially Kurd, see democracy as a primary need," Bahaeddin Adab, of the new United Kurdish Front, told Adnkronos International.

6. "Iraq’s Kurds hold keys to new government", in historic reversal, minority group is arbiter between Shiites and Sunnis.

1. - TV2 - "Kurd conference in Norway":

16 January 2006 / by Silje Bergum Kinsten

Kurd leaders want their talks on a plan for negotiations with Turkey to take place in Bergen. The plan is to gather Kurd actors in Turkey to negotiate a strategy in the struggle for independence.

The initiative to arrange the conference, in which the forbidden Kurd Labour Party, PKK, wants to take part, is taken by the human rights group the Rafto foundation.
The initiative has been met with enthusiasm by Kurd leaders and organisations in Turkey, and the expectations are high, say Karianne Westerheim and Henriette Sinding Aasen from the Rafto foundation.

Sinding Aasen, leader of the foundation, says PKK is an obvious participant at the meeting.

Anne Grethe Strøm Eriksen, mayor of Bergen, is encouraged by the fact that the conference is taking place in Bergen.

2. - Turkish Daily News - "Norway says it doesn't recognize 'terrorist organizations list' of EU":

ANKARA / 16 January 2006

The Norwegian government has announced that it does not recognize the European Union list of "terrorist" organizations, which also includes the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), NTV television reported yesterday.

“This does not mean that we do not cooperate with the EU on the fight against terrorism, but accepting the organizations on the list as 'terrorist organizations' will prevent Norway's efforts in certain peace processes,” according to a statement released by the Norwegian government as reported by NTV.

The Norwegian Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued earlier this month, “Following an overall assessment, the government has decided that Norway will no longer acknowledge any other list than that issued by the United Nations.”

“The reason for this decision is that a continued acknowledgement of the EU list could cause difficulties for Norway in its role as neutral facilitator in certain peace processes. Norway's role could become difficult if one of the parties involved was included on the EU list and opportunities for contact were thus restricted,” the statement added.

“Norway is making an important contribution to international peace and security through its involvement in peace processes. These efforts have won the recognition of the international community, including the EU and the United States,” Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in the statement. “The government wants to intensify these efforts and we must therefore avoid a situation that makes it more difficult for us to have contact with any of the parties to a conflict.”

“The international legal obligations that form the basis for Norway's efforts to combat international terrorism will remain the same. There should be no doubt that Norway clearly condemns all forms of terrorism. The decision does not imply any other change in our cooperation with the EU on measures against terrorism. There is a high degree of agreement and solidarity between Norway and the EU countries. We are engaged in the fight against international terrorism together with the EU,” Stoere added.

The EU list is based on the Common Position that was adopted for the first time in December 2001 in connection with implementing U.N. Security Council resolution 1373, which specifically calls for measures to combat the financing of terrorism. The Common Position has since been revised several times, and new persons and groups have been added to the list.

“As Norway is not a member of the EU, it does not take part in the internal assessments that lead to revisions of the EU list. The most recent revision was made on Dec. 21, 2005,” the statement said.

3. - BBC Monitoring - "Turkish press outrage at Agca release":

13 January 2006

Newspapers in Turkey are angry at the release from jail in Istanbul of Mehmet Ali Agca, the man who tried to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981.

But their outrage is directed at what they see as leniency towards Agca over another of his crimes - the 1979 murder of the editor-in-chief of the Milliyet newspaper, Abdi Ipekci.

A Milliyet commentary says Agca's release is intended to "intimidate the press", while another paper says Abdi Ipekci has been "killed for a second time".

MELIH ASIK IN MILLIYET

Mehmet Ali Agca, the assassin of Abdi Ipekci, is being released today. He was in prison in Italy for 19 years for attempting to kill the Pope; and only served five-and-a-half years in Turkey for two abductions and the murder of Abdi Ipekci. Leaving the Ipekci murder... in darkness is not just a sign of weakness. It is deliberate. On the one hand, it aims to intimidate the press; on the other hand, it means that, behind the trigger, there are intelligence agencies that are stronger than our attorneys-general.

ALI SIRMEN IN CUMHURIYET

12 January 2006 will be remembered in future as the date Mehmet Ali Agca got his 'freedom', and Abdi Ipekci was killed for the second time, this time by the system.

KORAY DUZGOREN IN YENI SAFAK

After being in prison for 25 years, 20 in Italian jails, Mehmet Ali Agca is being released... Nukhet Ipekci [Abdi Ipekci's daughter] says 'Agca is the murderer not only of my father, he is our [nation's] murderer', but this is incomplete. If she had said 'Agca is a tool who was appointed by someone at the heart of the state to be our murderer', the picture could be said to be more realistic.

OKTAY EKSI IN HURRIYET

Even if everybody - apart from his lawyer and the man himself - opposes it, the shameful murderer Mehmet Ali Agca may already be free while you are reading these lines. Because the officials multiplied, divided, added and subtracted... and decided that the time he spent in prison covers the punishment he got.

BEKIR COSKUN IN HURRIYET

They say that Agca... will be released as a result of benefiting from an amnesty. Of course he is being released... because the system needs him.

SEMIH IDIZ IN MILLIYET

'The EU [harmonization] laws' are on the one hand being used to discomfort intellectuals; on the other hand, they are being used to rescue our 'national murderers' like Mehmet Ali Agca, as Nukhet Ipekci has said.

4. - Turkish Daily News - "World Bank official calls for education reform":

ANKARA / 16 January 2006

An education reform would help Turkey resolve its deep-rooted unemployment problem and boost its labor competitiveness in the European Union, which Turkey aspires to join, a top World Bank official has said.

“Turkey would be one of the leading countries in the EU if it carries out an education reform hand-in-hand with the overall EU reform process,” Andrew Vorkink, the World Bank's Turkey director, was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency.

Vorkink said the World Bank was ready to provide financial and technical assistance for Turkey to advance its education reform efforts.

Turkey is a candidate to join the EU and has carried out reforms in its education system to modernize curriculum in state schools.

Vorkink said Turkey's education sector and labor markets were not yet ready for integration with the EU. He stated that a comprehensive education reform would help Turkey have a better-educated and skilled labor force and prepare its labor force for competition in the EU.

According to the World Bank official, Turkey has a labor force that is cheaper than that of EU countries but this same labor force does not have sufficient training and skills. “A skilled and trained labor force from Turkey will be on high demand in Turkey's EU process,” he said.

Grand strategy:

Vorkink also warned Turkey against the disadvantages of introducing a piecemeal strategy in reforming its education system and said the changes should be carried out as part of a comprehensive strategy, overhauling the entire education system.

“Turkey has all the necessary assets, but it lacks a clear education strategy,” he said.

According to the World Bank official, the debate in Turkey over education reform misses the main points that should be focused on.

“There have been emotional debates in Turkey on a number of issues, ranging from the status and powers of the Higher Education Board [YOK] to religious imam-hatip high schools. But these are debates that are outside the strategic education vision, which is what should be focused on,” he said. “Turkey should focus on the education reform. It should focus on school and student quality.”

Vorkink also lamented that a very low number of children were attending pre-school, noting that the level of attendance was lower even that of Morocco and Indonesia. In EU countries, the attendance rate is around 80 percent, four times higher than that of Turkey.

He said the number of girls attending school was still not sufficient despite recent efforts to encourage them to go to school and that added changes were needed in the current university entrance system, which he said was forcing youngsters to make a key choice on their career at the age of 16.

5. - AKI - "New party Seeks To Unite Kurds In Eastern Kurdistan":

TEHRAN / 13 January 2006

Iranian Kurds plan to unite and resume the struggle for the rights which they say are denied them in the Islamic Republic, says the founder of a new Kurdish movement. Kurds, who live mainly in Iran's western provinces, make up seven percent of a population of 68 million. "There is little freedom in the Kurdish-populated areas, while Iranians and especially Kurd, see democracy as a primary need," Bahaeddin Adab, of the new United Kurdish Front, told Adnkronos International.

The Front is "an effort to end the current divisions and individualism which is taking us nowhere and allows the Tehran government to repress us and reject dialogue," said Adab.

"Equal rights is our most pressing request, because it is not acceptable that our people continue to suffer discrimination in every field, from society and politics, not to mention the economy," he said.

He complained that "the Kurds do not have national representation in line with the fact that it controls four regions and is seven per cent of the population." Most Iranian Kurds are Sunni Muslims, an aggravating factor in their relations with the Shiite central authorities in Tehran.

"The negligence of the current government and its predecessors towards minorities is without precedent" he said “This situation has generated mass depression which has put the Kurdish zones at the top of the list for suicides, drug dependence and general disorder.

For Adab, the uprisings and the violent clashes witnessed last summer in many Kurdish cities are a worrying signal of the malaise in the country. In Mahabad, the historical capital of Iranian Kurdistan, the killing of a young Kurd by security forces led to fierce clashes and scores of arrests. The revolt spread within a few days to major cities like Baneh, Sanandaj, and Sardasht.

"Rejecting dialogue for violence is pointless and it just raises the wall that separates people from the government," he said. Over recent weeks, various political activists, journalists and human rights campaigners in Iranian Kurdistan have been arrested and are awaiting trial on charges such as "attacking the Constitution" and "Counter revolutionary activity" that carry heavy penalties.

Adab is convinced that speaking with once voice to the central government will get results. But his optimism is not shared by some other Kurdish activists.

Mohammad Sadegh Kabudvand, president of the Organisation for Human Rights in Kurdistan, is sceptical that any Kurdish demands can be met in the near future.

"Adab says he wants to act within the law. Well, the law states that the languages of ethnic minorities can be taught in schools, but for 25 years, Kurds have been denied that right," he recalled, saying the government lacked the political will to implement many laws.

"I fear that the new Front will be a simple vehicle, pulled by ingenuous Kurds, to carry Adab and his friends to the capital and provide them a seat in parliament.

"It is difficult to conceive that Kurds may be able to enjoy their human and ethnic rights, as democratic rights are not granted to the entire population," concluded the activist.

6. - AP - "Iraq’s Kurds hold keys to new government":

In historic reversal, minority group is arbiter between Shiites and Sunnis

BAGHDAD / 15 January 2006

Once an oppressed minority under Saddam Hussein, the Kurds of Iraq’s north are now the kingmakers, hosting a string of visiting politicians from Sunni Arab and Shiite Muslim factions for consultations on shaping a future government.

The Dec. 15 national elections gave a lead role to the largely secular and independence-minded Iraqi Kurds because a two-thirds majority is needed to control parliament and no group is expected to come close to that.

Accounting for about 15 percent of the country’s people, the pragmatic Kurds say they will work with anyone willing to offer them something in return. Independence is their ultimate prize — even if the politicians don’t say it publicly.

Final election results may be released in the coming week, and the Kurds are set to win about 55 seats in the 275-member parliament and will likely mediate between the majority Shiites and minority Sunnis in cobbling together a coalition government.

The current governing religious Shiite bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance, is expected to have as many as 130 seats, but that is far below the 184 needed to rule on its own. Sunni groups are heading for around 50 seats, while former Prime Minister Ayyad Allawi’s secular bloc could get 25.

Right now, religious Sunnis and religious Shiites are not happy with each other.

The Sunnis boycotted the first post-Saddam election last Jan. 30 and they complained of electoral fraud and voter intimidation in last month’s vote.

Shiites say the Sunnis complain too much about the election and should be concentrating on the politics of forming a government.

“The (Sunni coalition) Accordance Front has been making threats of violence to change the results,” Hussain al-Shahristani, a senior official in the United Iraqi Alliance and deputy speaker in the outgoing parliament, told The Associated Press. “They must understand that they cannot use violence to force their way into government.”

Important part of political equation

Ending the deadlock is where the Kurds come in.

“Kurds in Iraq are an important part of the Iraqi equation,” said Kamran al-Karadaghi, chief of staff to Jalal Talabani, the first Kurd to be Iraq’s president and leader of one of the two main Kurdish political parties.

“After Saddam’s fall, Iraqi Kurds abandoned their semi-independence to become part of a new Iraq ... a very effective part of it,” al-Karadaghi said.

Following the election for an interim legislature a year ago, Talabani helped broker often bitter negotiations between the Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni communities, leading to the government of current Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who is a Shiite.

“Of course the Kurds are an important factor now ... They will occupy a big chunk of the assembly,” said Nassir al-Ani of the Accordance Front, the main Sunni Arab coalition.

He and two colleagues from his group met at year’s end with Kurdistan regional President Massoud Barzani in Irbil to talk about the shape of a future government.

Brokering a deal

Al-Ani said his delegation asked Barzani to “put pressure on other parties” to meet Sunni demands for greater minority rights.

The Sunnis are demanding that voting be held again in some provinces, including Baghdad — the country’s largest with 59 seats in parliament.

Sunnis also are seeking Kurdish help in pressuring Shiites to accept amendments to the constitution adopted by national referendum in October, including a provision that keeps the central government weak in favor of strong provincial governments.

However, the leader of the fundamentalist Shiite religious bloc, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, insisted Tuesday that Shiites would not allow any substantive constitutional changes.

Al-Jaafari, the prime minister, also visited Barzani for talks as did al-Hakim, who also met with Talabani.

Al-Hakim’s talks in the north focused on who should get the top 12 government jobs, including Cabinet posts. The meetings were also widely seen as part of an effort to force Sunni Arab groups to come to the bargaining table.

The Shiite bloc needs the Kurds to form a government.

Balance among powers

The Kurds may want Shiites to agree to more powers for the president as a counterbalance to Shiite strength. The constitution gives nearly all executive powers to the prime minister, and Talabani has indicated he is not interested in a second term if the presidency is not given more authority.

“All the main political groups, especially the alliance, is talking about Talabani as a president for the next four years. If they really want him to be president, they should accept” his condition, al-Karadaghi said.

Kurdish leaders say privately that they do not favor al-Jaafari remaining as prime minister. Talabani and al-Jaafari did not get along in the eight months of the interim government. Talabani, in particular, felt al-Jaafari sought to monopolize power and threatened him with a “no confidence” vote in the interim legislature.

Talabani said recently that there was an agreement in principle on a forming national unity government with representatives of all the factions, but that striking a deal would be harder than after last year’s election. “The devil is in the details,” Talabani told reporters.

Kurdish politicians say they enjoy good relations with both Shiite Muslims and Sunni Arabs, even though for decades the Kurds — who are mostly Sunnis — suffered under the brutal regime of Saddam, also a Sunni.

Lingering distrust

But Kurdish leaders still have grievances. The Iraqi constitution allows their region autonomy close to independence, but not — for the time being — the oil city of Kirkuk. However, the Kurds can drill for oil and own any newly discovered reserves.

Distrust of both Sunnis and Shiites persists among the Kurdish population, a majority of whom want independence, not federalism. More than 2 million people favored independence in an unofficial referendum last January.

Iraq’s neighbors, notably Turkey, fear such a move would inspire their own Kurdish populations to renew separatist struggles.

For 13 years after the end of the 1991 Gulf War, Kurds lived in a semiautonomous region under the protection of Western warplanes, and Kurdish language and customs flourished.

Many Sunni Arabs, who comprise an estimated 20 percent of Iraq’s population and have long opposed Kurds’ aspirations, are beginning to accept the notion of a Kurdish federation in the north — as long as the rest of the country doesn’t follow their example.

“We don’t want to carve up the country into different parts,” said al-Ani, the Accordance Front official. “But the Kurdish federation is a fact on the ground. Kurds have their own ethnicity, customs and traditions.”