6 March 2006

1. "Kurdish militants claim Turkey bomb attack", a radical Kurdish group claimed responsibility Sunday for a bomb attack targeting a police building in western Turkey, leaving one person injured. In a statement posted on its website, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) said Saturday's attack in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir was a response to the government's treatment of its Kurdish minority and warned of fresh attacks.

2. "Turkish Journalists Accused Of Helping Kurd Rebels", a Turkish court heard charges on Friday that nine journalists and human rights workers, including a reporter for Reuters, had given help to Kurdish rebel fighters. The reporter for Reuters, Turkish national Ferit Demir, who is based in the eastern town of Tunceli, and other defendants were detained last August while observing the handover of a soldier abducted by Kurdish rebels to a human rights group.

3. "Turkish general under investigation over Kurd killing", the general commanding Turkey's land forces is under legal investigation over allegations of a lethal bomb attack in an area largely populated by Kurds, the restless minority seeking independence, newspapers reported here Monday. In a development reported to have angered the military, General Yasar Buyukanit and several subordinates are accused of having set up a criminal organisation and of abuse of power, according to the newspapers Hurriyet and Sabah.

4. "Semdinli commission finds Susurluk report censured", Van Public Prosecutor’s Office files charges against Semdinli suspects seeking life imprisonment.

5. "Parents of Kurdish activist killed", on 2 March 2006, the parents of the chairmen of the Kurdish Institute Brussels, Ferho & Fatim Akgül were killed by special assassins and village guards in the village Mizizah (near Merdin) in North-Kurdistan. According to the Kurdish institute, they were killed because of the “anti-Turkish” activities of their son Derwich Ferho.

6. "Bittersweet Women's Day in Turkey", women's groups around Turkey have started to hold protest rallies on the eve of the March 8 Women's Day, with the memories of last year's violent police action and the continuing “honor killings” tainting the proceedings.

1. - AFP - "Kurdish militants claim Turkey bomb attack":

ANKARA / 5 March 2006

A radical Kurdish group claimed responsibility Sunday for a bomb attack targeting a police building in western Turkey, leaving one person injured.

In a statement posted on its website, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) said Saturday's attack in the Aegean coastal city of Izmir was a response to the government's treatment of its Kurdish minority and warned of fresh attacks.

"We will pursue our heroic struggle against the fascist Turkish state and its institutions which insist on their dirty policies against the valiant Kurdish people," the statement said.

A 54-year-old man sustained slight injuries and several buildings were damaged in the blast, which police said was caused by plastic explosives loaded onto a street vendor's cart and tied to gas canisters.

Witnesses quoted by the NTV news channel said unidentified assailants rolled the cart down a hill towards the police building, but the cart hit a parked van before reaching the building and exploded.

TAK has also claimed responsibility for two bomb attacks in Turkey's biggest city Istanbul in January which killed one person and injured 30.

Turkish officials say TAK is a cover group for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) although the PKK denies any link.

About 37,000 people have been killed since the PKK took up arms for self-rule in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast.

Tension has escalated in the southeast since June 2004 when the group called off a unilateral ceasefire.

2. - Reuters - "Turkish Journalists Accused Of Helping Kurd Rebels":

TUNCELI / 3 March 2006

A Turkish court heard charges on Friday that nine journalists and human rights workers, including a reporter for Reuters, had given help to Kurdish rebel fighters.

But Judge Murat Tekmen said there were faults in the case and set June 2 for the next hearing, saying those involved needed more time to prepare their testimony.

The reporter for Reuters, Turkish national Ferit Demir, who is based in the eastern town of Tunceli, and other defendants were detained last August while observing the handover of a soldier abducted by Kurdish rebels to a human rights group.

The men were then released pending investigations.

The gendarmerie, a paramilitary force overseeing security in rural areas, asked state prosecutors to open a case against the men. If found guilty, the nine face up to three years in jail.

Defence lawyers said on Friday the charges should be dropped because the gendarmerie had not provided evidence to back up their claim that the nine had spread propaganda on behalf of Kurdish rebels.

They also said the fact that the gendarmerie had brought the charges amounted to "military pressure" on the court which they said violated their clients' right to a fair trial. Journalists have often fallen foul of Turkish authorities over coverage of the Kurdish conflict in the impoverished southeast that has cost some 30,000 lives since 1984.

Demir also works for the private Turkish news agency, Dogan, and has reported for Reuters from Tunceli, one of the most volatile regions in eastern Turkey, for 12 years.

Turkey's government has eased curbs on the media and on Kurdish language and culture as it seeks European Union membership, but the security services and judiciary are seen as conservative forces often hostile to the human rights reforms.

In its indictment, the Tunceli prosecutor's office accused the nine journalists and human rights workers of using the kidnapped soldier, Coskun Kirandi, to promote the cause of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The nine deny the accusations.

PKK rebels held the soldier captive for nearly four weeks in a remote region of the southeast before releasing him.

3. - AFP - "Turkish general under investigation over Kurd killing":

ANKARA / 6 March 2006

The general commanding Turkey's land forces is under legal investigation over allegations of a lethal bomb attack in an area largely populated by Kurds, the restless minority seeking independence, newspapers reported here Monday.

In a development reported to have angered the military, General Yasar Buyukanit and several subordinates are accused of having set up a criminal organisation and of abuse of power, according to the newspapers Hurriyet and Sabah.

Newspaper reports quoted military sources as saying the state attorney who drew up the indictment had abused his powers and that the army might retaliate by filing a complaint against him to the justice ministry in Ankara.

The reports could not immediately be officially confirmed. The justice ministry declined to comment, saying the matter remained confidential during investigations.

The charges follow a bomb attack last November 9 in which one person was killed and six injured in a bookshop in Semdinli in southeastern Turkey, an area with a large Kurdish minority.

Kurds saw the attack as a provocation by elements in the army allegedly out of control, and the region was engulfed in renewed violence.

The Turkish armed forces had previously conducted a protracted campaign over 15 years to subdue armed Kurdish insurrection.

General Buyukanit is second in line in the country's military hierarchy and was due to be promoted to the top job this summer.

In a military which remains a powerful force in Turkish politics, he is perceived as a hawk who sees himself as a strict guardian of Turkey's secular principles, a major tenet of public life in this Muslim society.

The media have reported that the indictment in which he is identified is being seen as pretext to discredit him at a time when an Islamic party, the AKP, is in government.

Buyukanit was quoted by Hurriyet in an interview as saying that if required he would appear in court. "I would be proud to be tried," he was quoted as saying.

The indictment also calls for life imprisonment for two non-commissioned officers and a former member of the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) charged with participation in actions aimed at smashing national unity, and with murder and attempted murder.

Between 1984 and 1999, southeastern Turkey was the scene of bloody conflict between the country's armed forces and the PKK.

More than 37,000 victims died in the violence.

4. - The New Anatolian - "Semdinli commission finds Susurluk report censured":

Van Public Prosecutor’s Office files charges against Semdinli suspects seeking life imprisonment

ANKARA / 6 March 2006

A Prime Ministry report on the Susurluk scandal -- which revealed secret links between mafia, the security forces and the government -- recently sent to Parliament's Semdinli commission was found to have been edited.

The Semdinli commission was established to shed light on mysterious bomb explosions and resulting unrest in the southeastern towns of Semdinli and Yuksekova in Hakkari in November and testimony taken has suggested that the state security forces may have been involved.

As some commentators have drawn similarities between the Semdinli and Susurluk incidents -- for revealing secret dealings between state officials -- the Semdinli commission asked the Prime Ministry for its report on the Susurluk incident.

A car crash in Susurluk, Balikesir in November 1996 turned into a corruption scandal exposing links between the world of organized crime and government officials. In the car were Abdullah Catli, an ultranationalist fugitive; Huseyin Kocadag, a top police official; Sedat Bucak, a deputy; and Catli's girlfriend. The deputy was the only survivor.

The Prime Ministry's report on the incident at the time included information on secret operations for which the state employed Catli and other mafia members.

After the Semdinli probe commission received the report, commission members realized that some parts were missing, such as the section indicating that Catli had been used in operations against the terrorist Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA).

In related news, over the weekend Van Public Prosecutor’s Office completed its indictment of noncommissioned officers Ali Kaya and Ozcan Ildeniz as well as former terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) member-turned-informer Veysel Ates who are alleged to have been involved in the Semdinli incidents.

The indictment seeks life imprisonment for the suspects on charges of “activities aiming to disturb the unity of the state and integrity of the country, murder, and setting up organized gang to commit a crime.”

The charges have been filed with Van High Criminal Court.

5. - Kurdish Media - "Parents of Kurdish activist killed":

LONDON / 4 March 2006 / by Vladimir van Wilgenburg

On 2 March 2006, the parents of the chairmen of the Kurdish Institute Brussels, Ferho & Fatim Akgül were killed by special assassins and village guards in the village Mizizah (near Merdin) in North-Kurdistan. According to the Kurdish institute, they were killed because of the “anti-Turkish” activities of their son Derwich Ferho.

The aged couple were threatened for at least a month by the Turkish authorities. They were told, that their sons Medeni Akgül and also Derwich M. Ferho had to stop with their anti-Kurdish activities. Ferho is fighting for the rights of Kurds for several years.

The aged persons were killed on a horrible way, by special trained teams and local village guards.

The Kurdish institute concludes that the Turkish authorities aren’t planning to live in peace with Kurds, but to continue to oppress the Kurdish people.

6. - Turkish Daily News - "Bittersweet Women's Day in Turkey":

ISTANBUL / 6 March 2006

Women's groups around Turkey have started to hold protest rallies on the eve of the March 8 Women's Day, with the memories of last year's violent police action and the continuing “honor killings” tainting the proceedings.

As rallies were held, news came that a Turkish court handing down reduced prison sentences to the brother and two cousins of a victim of a gruesome honor killing, sparking angry protest from campaigners working to end the practice of honor killings.

Rights campaigners on Saturday said that penalties like those decided by a southeastern court on Friday failed to discourage the slaying of women by relatives in a traditional act to "cleanse" family honor.