19 March 2007

1. "PKK open to peace deal with Turkey", Kurdish rebels say they have enough weapons to defend themselves against Turkish raids on their bases in northern Iraq but remain open to a political settlement with Turkey that recognizes Kurdish national identity.

2. "U.S. Acting Against Kurdish Rebel Group", the United States is dealing with Turkish complaints about Kurdish rebels operating in northern Iraq and has not ruled out military action against the rebels, the U.S. official assigned to handle the problem says.

3. "22 held in Kurdish new year clashes in Turkey", Turkish police on Sunday held 22 people for questioning during a violent protest in Istanbul organized several days before the Kurdish new year, the Anatolia news agency reported.

4. "Kurdish politican indicted for 'inciting hatred': prosecutor", a Turkish prosecutor Friday indicted a senior politician from the country's main Kurdish party, demanding a jail sentence of up to three years over remarks that allegedly threatened violence, court officials said. The charges against Hilmi Aydogdu, the provincial chairman of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) in Diyarbakir, came after the media quoted him as saying late last month that Turkey's Kurds would "consider a Turkish attack on Kirkuk as an attack on Diyarbakir."

5. "Orthodox patriarch 'confident' Turkey will improve religious freedom", the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians expressed confidence yesterday that Turkey will improve religious freedom for non-Muslims, who complain of persecution and discrimination.

6. "UNHCR deny arms found in Kurdish Mahmour Camp", the US Special Envoy to combat 'terrorism' Joseph Ralston said that ammunition was found at Mahmour in northern Iraq, despite previous statements denying that any cache had been uncovered.

1. - AP - "PKK open to peace deal with Turkey":

IN THE QANDIL MOUNTAINS / 16 March 2007 / by Yahya Barzanji

Kurdish rebels say they have enough weapons to defend themselves against Turkish raids on their bases in northern Iraq but remain open to a political settlement with Turkey that recognizes Kurdish national identity.

Turkey is pressing Iraq and its American ally to crack down on rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, who launch attacks on Turkey from bases in northern Iraq. The group has been waging a bloody war in southeast Turkey since 1984 in a conflict that has claimed 37,000 lives.

The Turks have not ruled out military incursions into Iraq to hunt PKK fighters, despite U.S. fears that such a move could lead to tensions with Iraqi Kurdish groups, important allies of the U.S. in Iraq.

During an interview last week with the a PKK mountain stronghold, a spokesman for the PKK insisted that the rebels have the weapons to resist any Turkish incursion.

"Our fighters are training very hard since we heard the Turkish threats," Rustam Jawdat said. "We have enough fighters to defend ourselves."

He added that the PKK was open to a deal - but on its terms.

"We want to solve the problem with Turkey peacefully. We have simple weapons. If we have guarantees to recognize Kurdish national identity, we would not need to carry weapons," he said.

The interview occurred in a PKK base in the rugged mountains of northern Iraq. Access to the camp was on foot, and the fighters would not allow photographs of the area for security.

Jawdat indicated the rebels are more confident now because they believed Kurdish politicians would put pressure on the United States, and by extension Turkey, to avoid any armed incursion.

"Now the Iraqi Kurdish leaders are against any Turkish interference to the Iraqi territories," Jawdat said. He noted that both Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and the leader of the Kurdish self-ruled administration in Iraq, Massoud Barzani, had spoken out strongly against any Turkish move into Iraq.

On Thursday, Retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Joseph Ralston, a special envoy tasked with countering the PKK, said in Washington that the U.S. is addressing Turkish complaints about PKK activity and that reducing the PKK threat to Turkey would go a long way toward improving U.S.-Turkish relations.

"As the snows melt in the mountain passes along the Turkish-Iraqi border in several weeks, we will see if the PKK renews its attacks and how the Turkish government chooses to respond," Ralston said.

Jawdat said the PKK was willing to work with the Americans and Europeans to resolve the conflict with Turkey.

"America and the European Union should know that we will not give up our weapons as long as (the Turks) do not accept our rights and do not recognize our national identity," Jawdat said. "It is impossible to get the right of self-determination in the Middle East without using armed struggle."

2. - The Guardian - "U.S. Acting Against Kurdish Rebel Group":

WASHINGTON / 15 March 2007 / by Desmond Butler

The United States is dealing with Turkish complaints about Kurdish rebels operating in northern Iraq and has not ruled out military action against the rebels, the U.S. official assigned to handle the problem says.

Retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Joseph Ralston, a special envoy tasked with countering the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, said Wednesday in an Associated Press interview that U.S. pressure has resulted in moves against the group's operations by Iraqi and European authorities.

Turkish officials repeatedly have accused the United States of insufficient efforts to prevent attacks into Turkey from Iraq by the PKK, which has waged a guerrilla war for autonomy since 1984 at a cost of 37,000 lives. Turkey also has threatened military incursions into Iraq against the rebels, which the United States fears would alienate Iraqi Kurds, the most pro-American ethnic group in the region.

Ralston said the United States has not yet met Turkish demands for the capture of PKK operatives and destruction of a rebel base in a mountainous area of Iraq near the Turkish and Iranian border. He said, however, that the United States would consider options against the group available to a U.S. military stretched by many challenges in Iraq.

``All options are on the table,'' he said. ``The PKK is a terrorist organization and needs to be put out of business.''

Ralston, a former Supreme Allied Commander in Europe who is to testify on U.S.-Turkish Relations in a congressional hearing Thursday, stressed the importance of resolving the deep-seated Turkish worries about the PKK. Turkey, a crucial NATO ally, provides vital support to U.S. operations in Afghanistan and Iraq through Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, one of the most important U.S. military assets in the region.

``This is a country that has suffered greatly at the hands of the PKK,'' Ralston said. ``We ought to be working with our ally to try to solve this problem.''

Ralston said negotiators from the United States, Turkey and Iraq are close to a deal to close a Kurdish refugee camp in northern Iraq that Turkey says is a haven for the PKK. In late January, U.S. and Iraqi forces searched the camp, known as Makhmur, and found artillery shells they believe belonged to the PKK, Ralston said.

He said PKK fighters have held a cease-fire since October that was arranged by Masoud Barzani, leader of Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdish region, after a discussion with Ralston.

``We would prefer the PKK announce they are laying down their arms and renouncing violence,'' Ralston said. ``But on the good news side, to my knowledge there have not been major incidents since that time.''

Under pressure, the Iraqi government legally banned the PKK in January from operating in Iraq and closed its offices. Ralston said some of the offices had reopened under different names. U.S. and Turkish pressure, he said, also led this year to the closure of PKK fundraising operations in France and Belgium and arrests there of more than a dozen Kurds accused of supporting the PKK.

Officials from Turkey, Iraq and the United Nations will meet next month to resolve a few remaining issues preventing the closure of the Makhmur refugee camp. Ralston said negotiators need to agree on arrangements for repatriating refugees to Turkey and what to do about those who do not want to go.

3. - AFP - "22 held in Kurdish new year clashes in Turkey":

ISTANBUL / 18 March 2007

Turkish police on Sunday held 22 people for questioning during a violent protest in Istanbul organized several days before the Kurdish new year, the Anatolia news agency reported.

More than 150 people carrying effigies of jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan gathered in the European side of the city, before the crowd began throwing stones at the police who encircled them, Anatolia said.

Several police officers were slightly wounded in the clashes, which are not unusual around Newroz, the Kurdish new year celebrated on March 21. Turkish Kurds often use the celebrations of Newroz to demand their rights.

The festival is also often characterised by demonstrations in support of the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). In 1992, about 50 people were killed in bloody confrontations between the banned group and Turkish security forces.

4. - AFP - "Kurdish politican indicted for 'inciting hatred': prosecutor":

DIYARBAKIR / 16 March 2007

A Turkish prosecutor Friday indicted a senior politician from the country's main Kurdish party, demanding a jail sentence of up to three years over remarks that allegedly threatened violence, court officials said.

The charges against Hilmi Aydogdu, the provincial chairman of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) in Diyarbakir, came after the media quoted him as saying late last month that Turkey's Kurds would "consider a Turkish attack on Kirkuk as an attack on Diyarbakir."

The indictment asked for up to three years in jail for Aydogdu on charges of "openly inciting hatred" on the basis of racial differences.

Aydogdu was jailed pending trial on February 23 during the course of the prosecutor's investigation.

His lawyer said he expected the trial to begin next month.

Turkey has issued harsh warnings over the future of the ethnically mixed, oil-rich city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, which the Iraqi Kurds want to incorporate into their autonomous region.

The city is also home to Arabs and Turkish-backed Turkmens.

Ankara is worried that Kurdish control of Kirkuk's oil reserves will boost what it sees as Kurdish aspirations to break away from Baghdad.

Kurdish independence, it fears, could further fuel a bloody Kurdish insurgency led by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in adjoining southeast Turkey, which has already resulted in more than 37,000 deaths.

Aydogdu's remarks provoked a harsh reaction here at a time when Iraqi Kurds are accused of supporting the PKK, whose militants have long taken refuge in the mountains of the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq.

The DTP is frequently accused of supporting the PKK. Several of its members have been prosecuted for links with the group, which is blacklisted by Ankara, the United States and the European Union.

5. - AP - "Orthodox patriarch 'confident' Turkey will improve religious freedom":

ISTANBUL / 15 March 2007

The spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians expressed confidence yesterday that Turkey will improve religious freedom for non-Muslims, who complain of persecution and discrimination.

Patriarch Bartolomeos I said in a speech at the papal nuncio, the Vatican's mission in Vienna, that the Turkish government and most political parties were showing "goodwill" in answering calls from the West for greater religious liberties.

"We are confident and do not give up hope that in the immediate future, ways will be found to solve the problems, which threaten our existence," said Bartolomeos, who is based in Istanbul.

Christians have frequently complained of discrimination and persecution in Turkey, most of whose 70 million people are Muslim. An estimated 65,000 are Armenian Orthodox Christians, 23,000 are Jews, 20,000 Roman Catholic and 3,500 Protestant, mostly converts from Islam. Around 2,000 are Greek Orthodox.

Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said on Tuesday after meeting with Bartolomeos that her country would step up pressure on Turkey to improve freedom of religion and enhance the protection of religious minorities.

Bartolomeos said on Wednesday that the Orthodox hierarchy "emphatically endorses and expects" Turkey's eventual membership in the European Union, adding that religious freedom should continue to be a precondition for EU entry.

6. - NTV/MSNBC - "UNHCR deny arms found in Kurdish Mahmour Camp":

The US Special Envoy to combat 'terrorism' Joseph Ralston said that ammunition was found at Mahmour in northern Iraq, despite previous statements denying that any cache had been uncovered.

ISTANBUL / 16 March 2007

A spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has denied claims that weapons were found at a refugee camp in northern Iraq that Turkey says houses members of the PKK.

Speaking on television station NTV Friday, UNHCR spokesman for Turkey Metin Corabatir said that a search of the Mahmour Camp last month by US and Iraqi troops had not found any arms or ammunition.

However, some shells without fuses had been found well away from the camp in remote areas.

“It was the refugee children from the camp that showed that location,” Corabatir said.

The observer representing the US at the tripartite meetings held in Geneva to discuss Mahmour had confirmed the civilian nature of the camp, he said.

Corabatir added that they were looking into finding sustainable solution for refugees in order to be able to close down the camp.