12 January 2007

1. "USA military fails in Iraq but Turkish military will win in Kurdistan", USA military fails in Iraq but Turkish military will win in Kurdistan.

2. "Turkey's concerns", of the problems that have beset the U.S.-Turkey relationship since the war in Iraq and the toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003, one of the most intractable centers around Turkey's fight against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). U.S. policy in Iraq directly contradicts Turkish interests: The United States recognizes the threat that PKK activities poses to Turkey and thoroughly condemns the group, but has firmly opposed cross-border operations by the Turkish military against PKK facilities in Northern Iraq.

3. "Foundations bill be reviewed in light of ECHR ruling", the government, prompted by a Strasbourg court decision on behalf of non-Muslim minority foundations, will review its controversial foundations bill, said deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin yesterday.

4. "EU group reiterates opposition to Turkey", the new chairman of the European Parliament's most powerful political group said yesterday that Turkey should not be offered full membership of the European Union.

5. "Erdogan: We Won't Stand By Quietly As Kirkuk Turns Kurdish", Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Wednesday that his country would not stand by idly as attempts were being made to assimilate the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk into the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, the Turkish daily Hurriyet reported.

6. "'Chemical Ali' says ordered executions in villages", Saddam Hussein's cousin told a court trying him for genocide on Thursday he had ordered troops to "execute" all those who ignored government orders to leave villages during a military operation against Kurds in 1988.

1. - Kurdish Media - "USA military fails in Iraq but Turkish military will win in Kurdistan":

11 January 2007 / by Abdul Rahman Mawlood

USA military fails in Iraq but Turkish military will win in Kurdistan. How is that for a joke!

In this short comment I would like to bring to the readers’ attention how the blind nationalism by Turkish leadership in Ankara prevent them from thinking. Since this leader ship, openly and form time to time calls for military intervene in Kurdistan and they never missed an opportunity in pervious years to intervene in the Kurdistan internal affairs or stand against any Kurdish effort for prosperity.

The fact that after close to four years from the “Operation Iraqi Freedom” USA still facing a great difficulty in stabilizing this county and may be they never could. Also, the latest decision by Bush’s administration committing more troops to Iraq if unveil anything it is the fact that the foreign troops chance for the success in the foreign land is near to zero, this is more correct if the foreign troops does not have support of any fraction from foreign society.

Now the question is, when the Turkish government says that they will not allow Iraqi Kurdish to be independent, the will not allow Kirkuk to be part of Kurdistan, they will intervene military in Kurdistan etc they are biding on what?

A quick review to the Turkish society will tell us that this country has a corrupted government with corrupted military, their economy is bankrupt, the foreign relation with their neighboring county is in a big trouble etc. In other words, the Turkish statue is fare away to be compared to the USA position military, economically and foreign relations yet, USA fails but Turkish will win, what absurd joke!

It’s left to mention that a high percentage of the Turkey’s citizens are Kurdish and they bring Turkey on its head if the Turkish nationalists attack their dream and the dream of their brother and sisters in the south. Not mentioning the pride and the dignity “Iraqi Kurds” poses, similar to any respected nation in the world, in resisting foreign troops on their land.

2. - Washington Post - "Turkey's concerns":

11 January 2007

Of the problems that have beset the U.S.-Turkey relationship since the war in Iraq and the toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003, one of the most intractable centers around Turkey's fight against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). U.S. policy in Iraq directly contradicts Turkish interests: The United States recognizes the threat that PKK activities poses to Turkey and thoroughly condemns the group, but has firmly opposed cross-border operations by the Turkish military against PKK facilities in Northern Iraq.

This continued estrangement could hardly come at a worse time. With the European Union accession process on the skids, Turkey's Western anchors are allowing the country's political alliance -- and, indeed, its own identity -- to shift dangerously into an unfriendly and Islamist Middle East.

Washington has so far been able to walk this delicate tightrope with a series of diplomatic initiatives. In an effort to show Turkey that the United States takes its PKK concerns seriously, the State Department in August created the position of special envoy for countering the PKK. The Turkish leadership, however, has expressed doubts about the actual effectiveness of the coordinated effort: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently criticized the lack of progress in confronting the PKK and said last week that "we expect concrete results more than abstract results."

The concrete actions that Turkey wants -- Ankara threatened military raids on PKK camps in Northern Iraq -- are actions that the United States cannot take while working toward a unified and stable Iraq. While some observers have suggested that either U.S. forces or Kurdish authorities make a series of high-profile PKK arrests, the United States should be reticent to jeopardize Kurdish support by pushing for military operations.

Turkey's immediate concern with stopping PKK activities is exceeded by its long-term concerns about the effect that a Kurdish separatist movement, fueled or at least emboldened by an autonomous or even semi-autonomous Kurdish state in Northern Iraq, will have on Turkey's territorial integrity. Many in the large Kurdish population in Eastern Turkey feel that they lack compelling reasons to feel Turkish -- the region is poorer and far less developed than Western Turkey. Since 2003, Turkey has worried that the Kurds would come to control the oil resources of Northern Iraq, which was reason enough for the Turkish parliament to vote against granting U.S. troops access to Iraq. This concern has intensified.

The elections in 2007 add a sense of urgency for Mr. Erdogan, who is widely expected to nominate himself for president, and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Much like the stalling EU accession process, increased the PKK fuels Turkish nationalism and shifts votes to the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) at AKP's expense. The challenge of holding these two irreconcilable diplomatic positions will be an even tougher test during Turkey's election cycle.

3. - The New Anatolian - "Foundations bill be reviewed in light of ECHR ruling":

ANKARA / 11 January 2007

The government, prompted by a Strasbourg court decision on behalf of non-Muslim minority foundations, will review its controversial foundations bill, said deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin yesterday.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Turkey on Tuesday to return the property of an ethnic Greek charity in Istanbul that was seized under a law passed in 1974. This was the first ruling by the ECHR condemning Turkey on matters concerning foundations owned by non-Muslim minorities, a hot issue due to the controversial foundations bill vetoed last year by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer.

The bill was passed amid fierce debates particularly between the ruling and main opposition parties, with the latter claiming the bill would destroy the status quo guaranteed by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, one of Turkey's founding documents.

The ECHR verdict on two pieces of real estate of the Fener Greek Boy's School Foundation set a precedent and thus forced the government to rework its approach to the bill, said Sahin, but added that he doesn't personally share the president's rationale for the veto.

The ruling orders Turkey to return the property within three months or pay the foundation compensation of 900,000 euros. Failure to comply with the ruling within the three-month deadline means that penalty interest rates will apply to the sum of the indemnity for every day of delay.

Sahin also said that the issue will be discussed at the Cabinet meeting next Monday.

Failure to harmonize the bill in line with the court decision may lead Turkey to pay significant amounts of compensation, said the minister.

4. - Reuters - "EU group reiterates opposition to Turkey":

BRUSSELS / 11 January 2007

The new chairman of the European Parliament's most powerful political group said yesterday that Turkey should not be offered full membership of the European Union.

French lawmaker Joseph Daul, a close ally of French Interior Minister and presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy, was elected on Tuesday as chairman of the European People's Party (EPP), which includes government parties from France and Germany.

Daul, a member of France's ruling UMP party, said he favours "privileged partnership" rather than full membership of the 27-member bloc for mainly Muslim Turkey.

His views echo those of his predecessor.

"Turkey is not ready for EU membership and the EU is not ready to absorb Turkey. If this happens, then they both will lose," Daul told reporters. "I accept that negotiations will continue and we should have a partnership, but this should be a privileged one."

This was also the view of outgoing EPP chairman Hans-Gert Poettering, set to be elected president of the European Parliament next week. Poettering is a key supporter of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The EU assembly, dominated by the centre-right EPP, holds joint responsibility with the EU's council of member states for deciding on a number of the Union's key policy areas, including enlargement.

5. - Media Line - "Erdogan: We Won't Stand By Quietly As Kirkuk Turns Kurdish":

11 January 2007

Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Wednesday that his country would not stand by idly as attempts were being made to assimilate the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk into the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, the Turkish daily Hurriyet reported.

The new Iraqi constitution calls for a census and a referendum to take place in Kirkuk sometime during 2007, to determine if the city will be assimilated into the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

Turkey is increasingly worried that a strong Kurdish autonomy to the south of its border with Iraq will elevate separatist feelings within its own Kurdish population.

"We cannot stand back and watch this happen," Erdogan said during a speech to his ruling party AKP yesterday in Ankara. Erdogan added that the execution of Saddam Hussein and the referendum in Kirkuk "may spark some very dangerous developments in the region."

Exactly one month ago Turkey's Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul called on Iraq to avoid imposing an "unrealistic" future on Kirkuk. He said Turkey would not sit idly by and watch the city fall under the control of the Kurds. In response, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hushyar Zibari, a Kurd, warned Turkey not to meddle in Iraq's internal affairs.

6. - AFP - "'Chemical Ali' says ordered executions in villages":

BAGHDAD / 11 January 2007 / by Ahmed Rasheed

Saddam Hussein's cousin told a court trying him for genocide on Thursday he had ordered troops to "execute" all those who ignored government orders to leave villages during a military operation against Kurds in 1988.

"Yes, I gave my instructions to consider these villages as prohibited areas and I gave orders to the troops to catch anyone they find there and execute them after investigating them," said Ali Hassan al-Majeed, known as "Chemical Ali."

Majeed, on trial with five other former senior Baath party officials for their roles in the 1988 Anfal (Spoil of War) military campaign, spoke out after prosecutors played tapes they said were of him talking about the need to purge "Kurdish saboteurs" from villages.

"The saboteurs are depending on the scattered villages to get support, ammunition and tips," a voice which prosecutors identified as Majeed's was heard on the audiotape.

Majeed, considered the main enforcer of a campaign in which prosecutors say 180,000 people were killed, many of them gassed, then asked the judge for his right to reply.

Looking calm, Majeed, who faces a possible death sentence if found guilty, stood up from the front-row seat in the dock once occupied by Saddam in the heavily fortified courtroom and said:

"I'm responsible for the displacement and I took this decision on my own, without going back to the High Military Command or the Baath Party commander. I say that before your court and before God."

Saddam, who was hanged after an earlier trial for crimes against humanity, was also a defendant in the Anfal trial. The judge formally dropped genocide charges against Saddam after his Dec. 30 execution, but proceedings against the others continue.

During Anfal, thousands of villages declared "prohibited areas" were razed and bombed as part of a scorched-earth campaign. Thousands of villagers were forced to flee.

Majeed, who had shaved the white stubble he sported during his last court appearance on Monday in a sign of mourning for Saddam, referred once to his cousin and former leader with the words "martyr, have mercy on his soul".

In another tape, he is heard saying he had received a letter from veteran Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani offering concessions on condition that Saddam's military stop destroying villages.

Talabani is now Iraq's president.

The defendants have said Anfal had legitimate military targets -- Kurdish guerrillas in northern Kurdistan who had sided with Iran during the last stage of the Iraq-Iran war.

The judge adjourned the trial until Jan. 23.

To conclude, I wonder if the Turkish government learns any lessens for the current situation in Iraq. I doubt that they are learning any thing from Iraq; it seems to that their blind nationalism prevent them from thinking that is if there any thinking at all.