11 May 2006

1. "Turkish, Iranian Armies Build Up Forces Along Iraq's Only Quiet Area", the Kurdish provinces of northern Iraq are the country's most stable and prosperous area. But to neighboring Iran and Turkey, both with large Kurdish minorities, they are something else: an inspiration and a support base for the Kurdish militants in their own countries. So Iran and Turkey are sending troops, tanks and artillery to the frontier to seal off the borders and send a message: If the U.S.-backed Iraqi government doesn't clamp down on Kurdish guerrillas who use Iraq as a base, they could do it themselves.

2. "Turkish court says calls for minority rights are not 'inciting hatred'", a Turkish court ruled Wednesday that the authors of a government-ordered report on minorities were not guilty of "inciting hatred and enmity" when they said Turkey should grant more rights to Kurds and other minorities.

3. "Turkey Protests Anti-Terror Bill Today", the campaign starts at noon as Parliament Justice Commission begins debating new Anti-Terror Bill. Activists using phone and mobile networks to lodge protests to Commission members and MPs. 5-minute protest over 11 provinces may mark major civil action.

4. "Intellectuals Defy Turkish Penal Code", seven of 20 intellectuals who willingly violated the "restrictive" articles of Turkish Penal Code plead "guilty" before the public prosecutor. They testify that they admitting the results have undersigned a 31 point text to violate the articles.

5. "Turkey and France clash over Armenia genocide", Turkey has recalled its ambassador to France in protest against a French bid to criminalise denial of the alleged Turkish genocide of Armenians in the early 1900s.

6. "Kurd groups in the north take political union at ‘face’", a political union agreed upon last week that, at least on paper, has merged two long-feuding Kurdish factions in Iraq’s north has yet to convince Kurds the marriage is more than a show.

1. - AP - "Turkish, Iranian Armies Build Up Forces Along Iraq's Only Quiet Area":

ANKARA / 10 May 2006 / by Louis Meixler

Hundreds of Kurds had to flee their homes in the mountain village of Razqa, Iraq, when artillery shells came whistling down from Iran early this month, blowing apart their homes and livestock.
In Turkey, meanwhile, armored personnel carriers and tanks rumble along its remote border with Iraq's Kurdish zone. Turkey has sent tens of thousands of fresh soldiers in the last few weeks to beef up an already formidable force there.

The Kurdish provinces of northern Iraq are the country's most stable and prosperous area. But to neighboring Iran and Turkey, both with large Kurdish minorities, they are something else: an inspiration and a support base for the Kurdish militants in their own countries. So Iran and Turkey are sending troops, tanks and artillery to the frontier to seal off the borders and send a message: If the U.S.-backed Iraqi government doesn't clamp down on Kurdish guerrillas who use Iraq as a base, they could do it themselves.

That has left the United States in a quandary. If U.S. forces take action, they risk alienating Iraqi Kurds, the most pro-American group in the region. And if they don't, they risk increased tensions – and possibly worse – with two powerful rivals.

Just listen to Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.

“We would not hesitate to take every kind of measures when our security is at stake,” Gul said when asked whether Turkish troops might cross into Iraq. “The United States best understands Turkey's position. Everybody knows what they can do when they feel their security is threatened.”

Iran's artillery barrages could be warning shots, a crackdown on Kurdish guerrillas now as a factor in the wrangling with the United States over Tehran's nuclear program.

Kurds, who make up 14 percent of Iran's population, have long complained of discrimination in Iran. Iraq's Kurds backed the U.S. invasion of their country. Would the Kurds of Iran take the American side if tensions escalated there?

“The Iranians are clearly very concerned over the mobilization of their own Kurdish minority,” said Toby Dodge, an Iraq expert at Queen Mary College, University of London.

And Tehran may also be flexing its muscles to remind the United States that it shares a long border with Iraq, and could cause serious problems there for the United States.

The Iranians' policy is to warn that “we have the potential to run you out of Iraq if you don't give us some slack over the nuclear issue,” Dodge said.

The traditional Kurdish region spans Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria and the guerrillas are based in a mountain range of northern Iraq that stretches into Turkey and Iran. They seem determined to keep up their decades-long struggle.

Kurdish guerrillas of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan, or PEJAK, have called on Kurds in western Iran to begin a campaign of civil disobedience. In clashes with Iranian security forces last year, dozens of PEJAK fighters and about a dozen Iranian soldiers were killed, according to official Iranian reports.

This year, more than a dozen members of Turkish security forces in southern Turkey have been killed fighting Kurdish guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which is closely allied with PEJAK.

After Iran shelled a village used by Kurdish guerrillas, the PKK warned that it was “capable of responding to these attacks with more strength then ever.”

The attacks, which heat up in the spring when snow-covered mountain passes clear, have led to the military buildups along the borders. Turkey and Iran have both rushed tens of thousands of troops to the area.

Iran has twice shelled Iraqi Kurdish villages believed to be harboring PKK militants.

As the Iranians bombarded Razqa on May 1, hundreds of people fled. The shelling killed some farm animals but there were no reports of human casualties. Several homes could be seen severely damaged and holes from shells cratered the streets.

Olla Hamad, a villager, said most of the guerrillas are hiding in the mountains.

“PKK militants do not care about the bombings,” he said, pointing toward the heights near the village. “They hide in safe rocky places in the mountains.”

A Western diplomat said Turkish officials have hinted to the United States that they are considering a large-scale military operation across the border.

In a visit to Turkey in late April, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned against any major strike.

“We want anything we do to contribute to stability in Iraq and not to threaten that stability or to make a difficult situation worse,” Rice said at a news conference with Gul.

The Western diplomat said Iranian troops on the border are not front-line combat troops and Washington does not believe there will be any Iranian cross-border operations. The diplomat agreed to discuss the situation only if granted anonymity because of the subject's sensitivity.

Some analysts say that besides sealing off their borders to the guerrillas, both Iran and Turkey may be trying to intimidate Iraqi Kurds. The Iranians and Turks fear Kurdish success in creating an autonomous region in northern Iraq, and the prosperity of their enclave, could encourage their own Kurdish minorities.

“The Iranians and the Turks do not want a free Kurdistan there,” said Nazmi Gur, vice president of Turkey's pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party. “They are saying to the Kurds 'We are here.'”

2. - The Daily Star - "Turkish court says calls for minority rights are not 'inciting hatred'":

Professors had faced five-year terms

ISTANBUL / 11 May 2006

A Turkish court ruled Wednesday that the authors of a government-ordered report on minorities were not guilty of "inciting hatred and enmity" when they said Turkey should grant more rights to Kurds and other minorities.

Professors Ibrahim Kaboglu and Baskin Orhan had faced up to five years in prison after their report angered nationalists, who feared recognition of minority rights could lead to Turkey being broken up along ethnic lines.

A state prosecutor had demanded that the professors, who both worked for the state Human Rights Advisory Council, be punished for their "inflammatory" remarks. The 2004 report urged the government to change its policy and recognize Kurds as a distinct minority.

The European Union has demanded that Turkey improve its treatment of minorities.

Kaboglu and Oran's report also suggested that Turkey give equal rights to non-Muslims, who are barred from jobs in the police and Foreign Ministry, and from becoming military officers.

The court also dropped charges against the two professors for allegedly insulting the judiciary when they criticized the charges brought against them.

In a separate development, Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer vetoed an International Monetary Fund-backed pension-reform bill on Wednesday, saying it cut already low pensions and that the new retirement age of 65 was too high.

The bill is part of a package to overhaul Turkey's bloated social security system, which the IMF wanted Parliament to pass before it carries out a review to release the next tranche of a $10 billion loan package.

Sezer last month blocked another IMF-backed bill that would have unified three social security bodies under one roof to cut costs and deficits.

Analysts did not see any immediate threat to the IMF program but said the vetoes could exacerbate tension between the staunchly secularist president and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which grew from Islamist roots.

An IMF team started its third formal review talks in Ankara on Monday after Parliament passed the reform bills on April 13. Both the previous IMF reviews - and the related release of IMF funds - were delayed by slow reforms. The bill raises the retirement age gradually to 65 from the current 58-60 and introduces universal health insurance.

But a statement from Sezer, who has a record of vetoing key official appointments and laws put forward by the AKP, said a retirement age of 65 was too high in a country with an average life expectancy of 66.

"If it is considered that the present pensions are far from providing a minimum standard of living worthy of human dignity, then it is obvious that the new rule which lowers these payments is not fair, reasonable and moderate," the president added.

And in a development that will likely further fuel Turkey's detractors in Europe, the AKP is to sue an 82-year-old who attacked its policies in a message Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan found stuck in the visitors' book at the home of the state's founding father, press reports said Wednesday.

Erdogan ripped out the two-page criticism written by retired worker Mehmet Fathi Dorduncu when he came across it in the book during a visit to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's home in the northern Greek city of Salonika.

Dordonuc accused the AKP of "exploiting the religious feelings" of Turks and encouraging a pro-Islamic trend. He also branded Erdogan a "slave" of the United States and the European Union.

3. - Bianet - "Turkey Protests Anti-Terror Bill Today":

The campaign starts at noon as Parliament Justice Commission begins debating new Anti-Terror Bill. Activists using phone and mobile networks to lodge protests to Commission members and MPs. 5-minute protest over 11 provinces may mark major civil action.

ANKARA / 10 May 2006

Human rights activists throughout Turkey are launching a nation-wide campaign today to peacefully protest the government's new controversial Anti-Terror Bill as it goes before the Parliament Justice Commission to be discussed for approval.

National telephone and mobile networks are planned to be used in at least 11 provinces to lodge protests to members of the commission as well as members of parliament to appeal to them for a withdrawal of amendments that are widely believed to be an about-turn from the country's previously announced democratization plans in line in with European Union accession talks.

Appeals have been made by various organizations, human rights groups and unions to rights and freedom activists nation-wide to volunteer and use the national phone and mobile networks to make simultaneous telephone calls to members of the Commission and MPs saying "stop the terror bill" at exactly noon on Wednesday.

The campaign, that is scheduled to last 5 minutes in total, aims to bring together activists primarily in larger cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Bursa and Diyarbakir to first make a phone call to commission members and MPs and then send text messages against the Anti-Terror Law amendment to members of parliament.

"We do not need a new Anti-Terror Law" the phone messages are to say. "There was no need for the old one either. The Penal Code already brings excessive punishment. The new draft is full of traps that will see everyone and every opinion as criminal. This law will not stop terror but will incite it. Renounce it".

SMS messages to the 550 elected deputies of parliament are part of the campaign target depending on finding 55 volunteers from various cities who will send 10 SMS messages each to different members of parliament. These brief messages are to say "Renounce this Draft".

Participants have also been invited to send separate SMS messages targeting members of the Commission who will be debating the draft with details of their phone numbers published at various sites,

16 of the Commission members are from the ruling Justice and Development Party, 7 from the main opposition Republic Peoples Party (CHP) and 1 from the Motherland Party (ANAP).

4. - Bianet - "Intellectuals Defy Turkish Penal Code":

Seven of 20 intellectuals who willingly violated the "restrictive" articles of Turkish Penal Code plead "guilty" before the public prosecutor. They testify that they admitting the results have undersigned a 31 point text to violate the articles.

ISTANBUL / 9 May 2006 / by Erol Onderoglu

A group of Turkish intellectuals who organized a civil disobedience act on March 28 demanding the withdrawal of Penal Code articles restricting the freedom of thought, have appeared before an Istanbul prosecutor on Friday where they owned up to their actions and said they “knowingly and willingly” carried it out.

The civil disobedience group, totaling 20 intellectuals, had undersigned a 31-point text which violated anti-democratic articles of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) before filing a complaint against themselves for their action.

Seven of 20 involved in the violations appeared in front of Prosecutor Nurten Altinok at the Sultanahmet Justice Hall where their identical statements consisted of the sentence “the signature belongs to me, I participated in this knowingly and willingly. I have nothing else to say”.

Initiative Against Thought Crime spokesman Sanar Yurdatapan said in a statement he made at the Justice Hall that they were fighting the obstacles in front of the freedom of opinion and expression and criticized the new Anti-Terror Law that is being debated at Parliament.

Author Sema Kaygusuz, journalists Perihan Magden, Abdurrahman Dilipak, Pinar Selek, musician Sanar Yurdatapan, Mazlumder Chairman Cevat Ozkaya were among those who testified Friday.

Attorney Gulden Sonmez, Oya Baydar, Ece Temelkuran and Mahir Günsiray who could not go to testify will do so on May 15.

The civil disobedience act targets the abolishment of the crimes "Insult of principle national interests” article 305, "Degrading Turkishness, the Republic, institutions and organs of the state” article 301, "Inciting hatred and enmity among the people and insult” article 216 and "Attempting to influence a fair trial" article 288.

5. - EU Observer - "Turkey and France clash over Armenia genocide":

9 May 2006 / by Teresa Küchler

Turkey has recalled its ambassador to France in protest against a French bid to criminalise denial of the alleged Turkish genocide of Armenians in the early 1900s.

Turkey has always rejected claims by international historians that 1.5 million Armenians died between 1915 and 1923 as a result of systematic genocide while modern-day Armenia was under Turkish Ottoman control.

A spokesperson for the foreign ministry in Ankara said on Monday (9 May) that the ambassador was recalled for a short time to discuss what Ankara calls the "baseless allegations of Armenian genocide" in France.

Later this month French parliamentarians are set to discuss and vote on a law that would make denial of the so-called Armenian genocide a crime.

The law would mirror existing French legislation against holocaust-denial, carrying a sentence of up to five years' prison and a €45,000 fine.

"The adoption of these texts will provoke irreparable damage to Franco-Turkish relations," a Turkish government spokesperson said, according to French media.

Ankara recognises just 500,000 Armenian deaths during "the Ottoman war," and rejects the "genocide" tag saying both sides suffered severe losses, with Armenia allied to Russia at the time.

Brussels MEPs, acting on a French initiative late last year, also demanded that Ankara recognises the genocide of Armenians as a "prerequisite for accession to the European Union."

The European Commission's translation database, IATE, defines genocide as "harmful acts...committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group."

A commission official told EUobserver that Brussels' enlargement unit avoids using the word because "the commission is a forward-looking institution."

Trade sanctions mooted

The head of the Turkish parliament's foreign affairs commission, Mehmet Dulger, said this weekend that Turks could boycott French products and French firms could lose lucrative contracts if the legislation is passed, according to Reuters.

"Turkey will not accept becoming a toy in the French election campaign," Dulger said, with a nod toward the French presidential race in 2007.

He added that he would lead a group of Turkish lawmakers to Paris this week to lobby against the bill.

In 2001, Turkey cancelled multi-million euro deals with French enterprises after the French parliament officially recognised the genocide.

Turkish lawmakers are also preparing a rival law accusing France of committing genocide during its colonial rule in Algeria.

The legal proposal has also come under fire from less politicised voices, with Turkish and French intellectuals protesting over the "inflation of laws of memory" and criticising the government's "promulgation of official truths."

Meanwhile, an open letter to "our French friends" signed by nine groups of Turkish entrepreneurs and trade unions, published in several French daily newspapers, said "it is not up to the law to describe history."

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations and closed borders, with the landlocked country keen for Turkey to open up highways for trade to western Europe.

"We are too small to have enemies," an Armenian diplomat said.

6. - Gulf Times - "Kurd groups in the north take political union at ‘face’":

ARBIL / 11 May 2006

A political union agreed upon last week that, at least on paper, has merged two long-feuding Kurdish factions in Iraq’s north has yet to convince Kurds the marriage is more than a show.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), whose peshmerga militias fought a bloody civil war from 1994 to 1998, last Sunday made official what they had long promised.

Kurdistan’s parliament on Sunday unanimously voted to unify the KDP-controlled Arbil and Dohuk provinces with the PUK-controlled Sulaimaniyah province forming one government and making Arbil the capital of both areas.

Critics of the government, however, regard the unification as little more than a facade and suspect that little of the day-to-day running of affairs will change.
“Of course all power will stay in the hands of the political parties,” said Sardar Mohammed, an independent journalist in Sulaimaniyah, adding that with the opposition weak to non-existent, the parties reign supreme.

Security forces, for instance, remain loyal only to their respective leaders while other key issues in the power sharing government stand unresolved leaving many Kurds wondering what, if anything, will change in their lives.

“They’ve joined on the face of it but things will stay the same. They haven’t done anything for the people until now,” said Ali Omar, a sceptical police officer who said he continues to draw his pay from the PUK’s coffers in Sulaimaniyah.

Since 1998, rivalries between the two formerly warring Kurdish factions had prevented repeated attempts to set up a joint administration and the landmark session was attended by a host of Iraqi leaders and international officials led by US ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad.

In Arbil, Karim Saeed, a shoe merchant, was hopeful that the decision would bring real results.

“The union will bring more security and stability to the region and to Iraq in general,” he said.

In contrast to local squabbles, the PUK and the KDP, led by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Kurdish regional president Massud Barzani respectively, have co-operated admirably well in national politics.

The single administration is expected to reaffirm Kurdish territorial claims, especially for the ethnically mixed oil-hub of Kirkuk that Kurds consider their own, which is located just south of their autonomous region.

But things have not been so simple at home in the north where control over four key cabinet posts, the defence, interior, finance and justice ministries - the main points of contention during drawn out negotiations - are still a sticking point.

Asked why the posts weren’t agreed upon ahead of unification, Imad Ahmed, deputy prime minister of Kurdistan in Sulaimaniyah said: “Give us more time, we haven’t had democracy for long,” adding that he expected differences to be ironed out over the next year”.

Speaking just ahead of the unification ceremony Ahmed said “the change will be huge, there will be one government in Kurdistan”.

Independent observers said that given Kurdistan’s fratricidal past and each party’s jealously guarded powers, there will be little change.

“The disagreement has always been over the four ministries. If they couldn’t agree on that, what does the union change?” said Mohamed, the Sulaimaniyah journalist.
“The problem is, neither of these two parties will ever accept a role in the opposition. They both always want to be winners, which is why the civil war started in the first place,” he added.
Mohamed complained that the union had created “one of the greatest bureaucracies known to man,” because no one in either administration was willing to give up any power.
Of Kurdistan’s 111 parliamentarians, 45 have been given cabinet posts with 42 of those in the rank of minister.

Their inability to co-operate has long made daily life difficult for ordinary Kurds.

Telecommunications between the two Kurdish regions, for instance, are notoriously difficult because PUK and KDP controlled mobile telephone companies, the only ones available, have yet to allow their clients to phone each other.

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a rebel group founded in Turkey which sees itself as the backbone of the Kurdish independence movement in Kurd areas throughout the region sees the union in Iraq as a little too late.

In an interview in a rebel hide-out in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan, PKK commander Cemil “Cuma” Bayik said “the union is a good step but it comes too late. It is just on the surface. It is not real.”

Kurds, who at over 5mn make up around 20% of Iraq’s population, are estimated to number between 25 and 35mn people and are mostly spread throughout Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq.