15 March 2007

1. "Two youths probed for pro-Kurd comments in SE Turkey", Turkish prosecutors launched an investigation on Wednesday into two teenagers for allegedly making Kurdish separatist comments and insisting an ancient festival celebrated this month is Kurdish, not Turkish.

2. "DTP members arrested ahead of Newroz", Turkey is bracing for a new wave of trouble with potential problems ahead in the spring festival of Newroz on March 21, used in the past by Kurdish demonstrators to provoke rallies supporting the armed campaign of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

3. "US warns Turkey against military action inside Iraq", while the US firmly opposes any cross-border military action by Turkey, Turkey asserts its right 'under international law' to act against the PKK as required by its military.

4. "Another Article 301 Case to a Journalist", journalist Uçar will be tried with the infamous article 301 of the Penal Code following criticizing the prosecution of a colleague for a book about a "disappeared journalist". He'll stand trial on March 14 for "insulting state institutions".

5. "Turkish prosecutors charge professor with 'insulting Ataturk legacy'", a Turkish prosecutor officially filed charges against political science professor Atilla Yayla Tuesday for "insulting the legacy" of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey.

6. "Proposed genocide resolution naming Turkey risks damage to U.S. security, says Rice, Gates", the U.S. secretaries of state and defense contend that the security of the United States is at risk from proposed legislation that would declare up to 1.5 million Armenians victims of a genocide on Turkish soil almost a century ago.

1. - Reuters - "Two youths probed for pro-Kurd comments in SE Turkey":

DIYARBAKIR / 14 March 2007

Turkish prosecutors launched an investigation on Wednesday into two teenagers for allegedly making Kurdish separatist comments and insisting an ancient festival celebrated this month is Kurdish, not Turkish.

They could be charged under an article of Turkey's penal code that forbids the "incitement of hatred and enmity among people", a court official said.

The two students, aged 17 and 18, allegedly contradicted an army officer teaching a class at their school who said the Newroz festival was Turkish and had been celebrated by the Turks since they moved westwards from Central Asia many centuries ago.

The official quoted the boys as saying: "Newroz is a Kurdish festival. At the moment we celebrate Newroz under your (Turkish) flag, but the day will come when we will celebrate it beneath our own flag".

The teenagers have denied making such a comment, he added.

Kurdish nationalism remains a highly sensitive issue in the European Union candidate country, where security forces have been battling armed Kurdish insurgents since 1984 in a conflict that has claimed more than 30,000 lives.

Turkey has eased some restrictions on the Kurdish language and culture as part of its efforts to join the EU. But Brussels says Ankara needs to do more to boost freedom of expression.

Newroz, which means "new day" in the Kurdish language, is an ancient rite marking the arrival of spring and is widely celebrated in Turkey, Iran and Central Asia.

Newroz, or Newroz in Turkish, is not a public holiday in Turkey and the biggest celebrations take place in the mainly Kurdish southeast of the country, where people wear brightly coloured clothes and jump over bonfires.

The festival has long been a rallying call for Kurdish nationalists. Public celebrations were illegal in Turkey before the capture of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999. He is now serving a life jail sentence on an island near Istanbul.

This week, Turkish officials have urged Kurds to avoid violence during this year's Newroz celebrations on March 21.

In a further sign of political tensions, Turkish prosecutors have recently brought charges against a number of officials from the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) for allegedly praising Ocalan and his outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

2. - Today's Zaman - "DTP members arrested ahead of Newroz":

14 March 2007

Turkey is bracing for a new wave of trouble with potential problems ahead in the spring festival of Newroz on March 21, used in the past by Kurdish demonstrators to provoke rallies supporting the armed campaign of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The Newroz Preparation Committee in Izmir protests the detention of DTP members around Turkey.
The festival is mainly marked by Kurds in Turkey who gather to celebrate in various towns. Turkey's past Newroz experience has shown that such rallies often degenerated into violence.

This year's Newroz comes amid court verdicts against Kurdish leaders and an uptick in insurgend activity near the Iraq border, since the PKK recently resumed its violent campaign after a short-lived ceasefire announced October 2006 last year. Members of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) have faced a number of charges in the past few months.

Arrests, interrogations and trials continued with 22 people detained earlier for chanting slogans in support of the leader of the PKK during a demonstration in the city of Van on March 10. They were brought to court Tuesday under heavy security measures.

Offices of the DTP, which is often suspected to have links with the rebel organization, have been raided since mid February. During a raid into the Van office on Feb.18 , the police found publications supporting the cause of the PKK. DTP Van branch head Ibrahim Sunkur and a member of the party's youth council were also arrested by a Van court Tuesday. Meanwhile, the party's Diyarbakir, Batman and Mardin branch heads were also arrested by local courts on Tuesday for charges related to earlier statements.

In addition to the arrests bringing up the total number of local branch heads of the DTP to four, the head of the party's Izmir branch was held by Turkey's anti-terror teams on Tuesday along with 13 other individuals during a raid to the DTP office.

DTP says Öcalan poisoning tests not convincing

The DTP Tuesday expressed doubt about a recent announcement from Turkey that tests on Öcalan's hair, urine and skin samples showed no signs of poisoning, despite allegations by his lawyers.

However, a statement from the DTP demanded that an international delegation of experts look into the claims, saying Çiçek's announcement was not convincing. The statement accused the justice minister of pressuring the team of doctors from the Forensic Medicine Institution. Öcalan's lawyers in Italy had earlier claimed that an analysis of his hair showed large amounts of strontium and chromium, both of which are toxic in high doses.

3. - Turkish Daily News - "US warns Turkey against military action inside Iraq":

While the US firmly opposes any cross-border military action by Turkey, Turkey asserts its right 'under international law' to act against the PKK as required by its military

WASHINGTON / 14 March 2007 / by Umit Enginsoy

The United States made it clear on Monday that it "certainly" opposed any Turkish military action inside northern Iraq to fight the Kurdistan Workers Party's presence there.

A top Turkish military commander at the weekend reaffirmed Ankara's right under international law to send troops into northern Iraq to attack the PKK hiding there if it saw fit. "Under international law, Turkey can always take measures against the rebel organization in northern Iraq if our military needs require it," Army Commander Gen. Ilker Basbug told reporters in Diyarbakir in the Southeast, the main scene of the PKK activities. But U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said that Washington certainly did not want to see any Turkish military operation in the Iraqi-Kurdish controlled northern Iraq. "We believe in the territorial integrity of Iraq," Casey told reporters. "We certainly are working well with the government of Turkey, as well as with the government of Iraq, to try and enhance our cooperation in combating the PKK." Clarifying the U.S. stance on cross-border military actions, Casey said, "In terms of any cross-border actions or other kinds of things, we've spoken before about this, and again we certainly do not wish to see any kind of military actions taken on the part of Turkey in northern Iraq."Casey's remarks were the strongest public U.S. statement opposing potential Turkish military intervention in northern Iraq.Military analysts say that a full Turkish invasion of northern Iraq is highly unlikely, but do not rule out small special force operations or bombing of targets by fighter aircraft.

The PKK attacks Turkish targets from its bases inside Iraq. Hundreds of Turkish security force members have been killed since the summer of 2004, when the PKK intensified its attacks. Efforts to put an end to the PKK's military presence in that region have so far failed.

Turkey's military accuses Iraqi Kurds of providing the PKK with shelter, arms and logistics. Ankara also criticizes Washington for failing to find a solution to the issue. Turkey's potential military operations inside Iraqi territory have been an on-and-off issue since mid-2005, and the United States has been voicing its opposition to such action. However, at a time when Turkey is gearing up for presidential elections in May and nationwide legislative elections in November, the public is very sensitive on the PKK matter and wants action.

The United States urges Turkey to resolve the issue mainly through cooperation with the Baghdad government and Iraqi Kurds.

4. - Bianet - "Another Article 301 Case to a Journalist":

Journalist Uçar will be tried with the infamous article 301 of the Penal Code following criticizing the prosecution of a colleague for a book about a "disappeared journalist". He'll stand trial on March 14 for "insulting state institutions".

ISTANBUL / 13 March 2007 / by Erol Onderoglu

Journalist Irfan Uçar will be tried with the infamous article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code for an article where he criticized the prosecution of another writer with the same article.

Proprietor of Aram Publishing House Fatih Tas has been convicted because of a book on "disappeared" journalist Nazim Babaoglu. Uçar criticized the verdict.

He'll stand trial on March 14 at the Beyoglu 2nd Court of First Instance in Istanbul.

Commenting on the notorious article 301, which is thought to be reworded following Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink's murder on January 19, Uçar said a precondition of Ministry of Justice's permit for trials on the article wouldn't solve the problems.

He's accused of "insulting the National Assembly, the judiciary and state security forces" in his article.

"(...)A journalist disappears in Turkey. 11 years passes. A publisher brings out a book on the incident and gets convicted on article 301. Security forces, judges of this country don't feel responsible of what has happened to the disappeared journalist, Nazim Babaoglu. Those who 'loose' Nazim walk free but those who write about it gets prosecuted (...)" wrote Uçar in the article in question.

Aydin Engin parries trial

On another account, public prosecutor's office won't file a case to journalist Aydin Engin for his words in an article published in the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos.

"I'll go to France and say that the Armenian Genocide didn't happen. Then I'll come back to Turkey, step on a stone at Güvenpark in Ankara and say that the Armenian Genocide happened", wrote Engin, which wasthen subjected to an investigation.

5. - The Jurist - "Turkish prosecutors charge professor with 'insulting Ataturk legacy'":

14 March 2007

A Turkish prosecutor officially filed charges against political science professor Atilla Yayla Tuesday for "insulting the legacy" of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. The professor is being prosecuted for a November 18 speech, in which he stated that Ataturk's rule from 1925 to 1945 was not as progressive as some believe. Yayla faces up to three years imprisonment if convicted. A trial date has yet to be set. AP has more.

Last week, a Turkish court imposed a ban on popular video-sharing website YouTube because of videos allegedly insulting Ataturk. The ban was lifted two days later. Insulting Ataturk and "insulting the Turkish identity" are both serious crimes under the controversial Article 301 of Turkey's penal code. Critics say Turkey has used Article 301 to silence government critics, which has presented a stumbling block to the nation's proposed ascension to the European Union.

6. - AP - "Proposed genocide resolution naming Turkey risks damage to U.S. security, says Rice, Gates":

WASHINGTON / 14 March 2007

The U.S. secretaries of state and defense contend that the security of the United States is at risk from proposed legislation that would declare up to 1.5 million Armenians victims of a genocide on Turkish soil almost a century ago.

In joint identical letters to the speaker of the House of Representatives and two other senior members, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the resolution also could inflict significant damage on U.S. efforts to reconcile the long-standing dispute between the West Asian neighbors.

The appeals went to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Rep. John Boehner, leader of the House's Republican minority; and Rep. Tom Lantos, the Democrat who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of one of the letters Wednesday. It was dated March 7, two days after Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian was in Washington to visit Rice and said afterward that "Turkish lobbying at a government level" threatened to scuttle the resolution.

A Democratic aide said Pelosi, who controls the House agenda, has no plan to bring the proposal before the House soon. The aide spoke anonymously because final plans have not been approved.

A congressional staff aide, also speaking without attribution, said it is understood that Lantos, whose committee would deal with the resolution, was awaiting word from Pelosi. Both the speaker and Lantos have been supporters of the legislation.

The dispute involves the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Armenians during the waning years of the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of the Turkish state. Armenian advocates contend they died in an organized genocide; the Turks say they were victims of widespread chaos and governmental breakdown as the 600-year-old empire collapsed in the years before Turkey was born in 1923.

The bipartisan resolution was introduced on Jan. 30.

Passage of the resolution would harm "U.S. efforts to promote reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia and to advance recognition by Turkey of the tragic events that occurred to ethnic Armenians under the Ottoman Empire," the letters said.

They said the United States is encouraging "our friends in Turkey to re-examine their past with honesty and to reconcile with Armenia, as well as security and stability in the broader Middle East and Europe."

Rice and Gates reminded the lawmakers of repercussions from a vote in the French National Assembly last October to criminalize denial of Armenian genocide. "The Turkish military cut all contacts with the French military and terminated defense contracts under negotiation," the letters said.

Similar reaction against passage of the House resolution "could harm American troops in the field, constrain our ability to supply our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and significantly damage our efforts to promote reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey at a key turning point in their relations."

Turkey has NATO's second-largest army. The U.S. Air Force has a major base in southern Turkey near Iraq, which it has used for operations in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Between the Persian Gulf War in 1991 and the Iraq war, warplanes from Incirlik Air Base enforced a flight ban in Northern Iraq against the Iraqi air force.