21 March 2007

1. "Intellectuals Urge the End of Violence", more than 170 journalists, academics, artists and rights activists declared a petition, expressing their fear of the rising wave of violence in the country and urging all parties to act responsibly before the traditional Kurdish Newroz spring festivities.

2. "Turkey declares zero tolerance to illegal demonstrations by Kurds during spring festival", Turkish authorities said Tuesday they would not tolerate illegal demonstrations by Kurdish activists during an upcoming spring festival, while reinforcing security around the country against possible trouble.

3. "Turk court sentences mayor for PKK membership", a court in southeast Turkey has sentenced a mayor to seven years in jail for belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and saying that the group is "not a terrorist organisation".

4. "DTP leader concerned the party is being used for other agendas", what bothers Ahmet Turk, the president of the Democratic Society Party (DTP), is that some people are making an effort to turn Newroz into a day of tension. He is also concerned that political parties engaged in jockeying over the upcoming presidential election are trying to use the DTP.

5. "Turkish army invaded Northern Iraq", the Turkish army invaded bordering regions of Nothern Iraq preparing a large scale operation against Kurdish guerillas, one of Iraqi internet web-sites close to Patriotic Union of Kurdistan reported on Thursday. “The Turkish army with large forces invaded Haftanin, Sineht and Pirbila districts in Northern Iraq, where armored equipment and “commandos” of Special Forces are stationed, Iraqi media reports.

6. "Terrorism war guise for minority crackdown - report", Pakistan, Turkey and Israel are using the U.S.-led war on terrorism as an excuse to crack down on minority groups, a rights group said on Tuesday. A study by Minority Rights Group International also found that minority peoples living on the front lines for the war on terrorism were among the world's most-threatened, with Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan ranking in a global top 10.

7. "Round Up: Two Months After Dink's Murder", the investigation and the trial on the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink will have decisive consequences regarding the integrity and the trustfulness of the judiciary system in the eyes of people in Turkey, says joint attorney Fikret Ilkiz.

8. "Turkey pressures U.S. against 'genocide' bill", inside the tomblike confines of the Armenian Genocide Museum, a haunting narrative of images and words unfolds. A list is posted at tour's end of nations that have officially recognized the tragedy, minus one major endorsement: the United States.

+++ NEWROZA WE PIROZ BE !!! +++ HAPPY NEWROZ !!! +++
+++ NEWROZA WE PIROZ BE !!! +++ HAPPY NEWROZ !!! +++

1. - Bianet - "Intellectuals Urge the End of Violence":

More than 170 journalists, academics, artists and rights activists declared a petition, expressing their fear of the rising wave of violence in the country and urging all parties to act responsibly before the traditional Kurdish Newroz spring festivities

ISTANBUL / 20 March 2007

More than 170 journalists, academics, artists and activists declared their fear from the rising wave of violence and urged that the Newroz spring festivities on March 21 marks the end of this cycle.

In consequence, the petitioners demanded all parties to stay calm during the festivities, which causes controversy each year since it's been politicized with the rise of the Kurdish insurgency movement during the last 20 years.

Newroz festivities are mainly a Kurdish tradition in Turkey.

"Extradition of arms and violence from politics, removal of the burden of arms over politics is a must for a democracy to function" they said.

The petitioners urged the government to act responsibly, without giving in to nationalist provocations and on the other hand they urged the parties and local administrators in the southeastern Turkey -where the Kurdish population is dense- to actively work to overcome the tension.

The petitioners also declared their criticism of the pressures on the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP).

2. - AP - "Turkey declares zero tolerance to illegal demonstrations by Kurds during spring festival":

ANKARA / 20 March 2007

Turkish authorities said Tuesday they would not tolerate illegal demonstrations by Kurdish activists during an upcoming spring festival, while reinforcing security around the country against possible trouble.

The Nowruz festival on Wednesday is celebrated largely by the country's Kurdish population, and is traditionally used as an opportunity to highlight demands by Kurdish rebels.

Past festivities have ended in riots that claimed dozens of lives. Tensions are high this year, in particular, because of the arrests of dozens of pro-Kurdish politicians on charges of ties to Kurdish rebels.

Authorities in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the Kurdish-dominated southeast, on Tuesday banned chanting of some outlawed slogans.

Local authorities expected a turnout of about 100,000 people in Diyarbakir. Organizers said they hoped the event would be peaceful. Police in Diyarbakir were planning to deploy 2,500 officers, while Kurdish organizers were planning to field an equal number of people in charge of security.

"I hope Nowruz will be celebrated in Diyarbakir in peace, with no one's nose bleeding," said Seyhmus Diken, an adviser to Diyarbakir's pro-Kurdish mayor, Osman Baydemir.

Police reinforcements were moving into the southern city of Mersin, and time off for officers in the eastern city of Van was canceled, reports said.

In Istanbul, Gov. Muammer Guler said authorities would not tolerate any illegal action.

"No one should tend toward actions that would disrupt public order," Guler told a news conference. "The disruption of peace and order in Istanbul will never be allowed."

Guler said violators would have to pay the price of their actions.

Pro-Kurdish activists urged calm, but authorities still expected some trouble by supporters of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, formed by the imprisoned rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan.

Lawyers for Ocalan recently claimed that he was poisoned in prison, though Turkish authorities said last week that tests on hair, urine and skin samples from Ocalan showed no signs of poisoning.

Kurds celebrate Nowruz — the Farsi word for new year — on March 21, along with people in Iran and many Central Asian Turkic republics.

For Kurds, the festival is an occasion to assert their cultural identity. They sing songs and jump over the flames of burning car tires, symbolically burning away the impurities and memories of the past.

"This fire does not symbolize the fury in souls but love and friendship. I invite everyone to be foresighted and careful," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday.

However, Murat Karayilan, a Kurdish rebel commander, said the celebrations should serve as a reminder of the unity of the Kurdish people in the face of what he called "an attack against Kurdish leader Ocalan," the pro-Kurdish Firat news agency reported Tuesday.

Karayilan warned that Turkey would be responsible for a "mad war" that would develop if it did not agree to rebel demands, and called on Kurds to relay this message during the Nowruz celebrations.

In the latest violence, two Turkish soldiers were injured Tuesday when they stepped on a mine believed to have been planted by rebels near the southeastern city of Bitlis, authorities said.

The Kurdish group has been fighting for more than two decades for autonomy in Turkey's southeast in a war that has left some 37,000 people dead.

3. - Reuters - "Turk court sentences mayor for PKK membership":

DIYARBAKIR / 20 March 2007

A court in southeast Turkey has sentenced a mayor to seven years in jail for belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and saying that the group is "not a terrorist organisation".

Ankara blames the PKK for the deaths of more than 30,000 people, mostly Kurds, since the group launched its armed struggle for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.

Officials said that the court in Van sentenced Metin Tekce, mayor of Hakkari near the Iraqi border, in absentia late on Monday after it found him guilty of being a member of a "terrorist organisation" and making propaganda on its behalf.

Tekce had told a parliamentary commission "the PKK is not a terrorist organisation" and later reaffirmed this view.

He did not attend his trial and officials said he was currently in France. It was not immediately clear whether he would return to Turkey to appeal against the verdict or serve out his sentence.

The verdict comes amid a rash of charges brought against officials of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) for allegedly praising the PKK or its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan.

It also coincides with preparations for the biggest Kurdish festival of the year, Newroz (Nevruz in Turkish), which marks the advent of spring.

Newroz has often been a flashpoint for clashes between security forces and Kurdish demonstrators. Turkish officials have appealed for calm in the leadup to this year's festival, which is celebrated on Wednesday.

4. - Turkish Daily News - "DTP leader concerned the party is being used for other agendas":

What bothers Ahmet Türk, the president of the Democratic Society Party (DTP), is that some people are making an effort to turn Newroz into a day of tension. He is also concerned that political parties engaged in jockeying over the upcoming presidential election are trying to use the DTP.

ISTANBUL / 20 March 2007 / by Taylan Bilgic

The New Year for many peoples throughout the Middle East begins tomorrow with Nevroz, and the president of the Democratic Society Party (DTP), Ahmet Türk, stressed in an exclusive interview with the Turkish Daily News that this day should be one of freedom and peace, ensuring the brotherhood of peoples. Nevroz isn't just a holiday that Kurds celebrate, he stressed, but one that is also celebrated throughout the Middle East and the Caucasus.

“We are approaching this Nevroz rationally and we want to celebrate it rationally, said Türk. “We wish for the brotherhood of the peoples in the Middle East and also, our country to solve its problems with its inner dynamics. This is the purpose of our efforts.”

The DTP, known as a pro-Kurdish party, held a discussion as to whether Nevroz should be held under the auspices of the party or “be left to the people.” The decision taken was to celebrate Nevroz without any tension, thus the events should be controlled.

“Our decision was completely directed at lessening tensions. This is our party's attitude. So we created arrangement committees. We are exerting efforts for the ‘Day,' in which our party assembly will send a message of brotherhood of peoples in the region.”

Using the DTP for presidential elections:

What bothers Türk is that some people are making an effort to turn Nevroz into a day of tension. He points out that political parties are engaged in jockeying over the upcoming presidential election and using the DTP in calculating their accounts. As part of that tension, he said, many DTP officials have been taken into custody and party buildings have been raided over the last month and a half.

The DTP wants to enter the elections and “as a last resort” will rely on independent candidates. Türk claims they could have 30-35 members in Parliament, a significant figure if the race does not result in one political party gaining a majority.

Asked about the pressure being exerted on the DTP in recent weeks with party leaders arrested and serious pressure put on the pro-Kurdish “Gündem” newspaper, Türk pointed out that the DTP has been engaged in constructive efforts, including working towards the cessation of all violence. The party also contributed to a “cease-fire” he said, and supported mutual methods for bringing the democratic forces in the country together through a conference that would provide answers to problems.

This effort wouldn't just rely on Kurdish ethnic identity but would be carried out with Turkish intellectuals, he noted. “The status-quo forces did not want the DTP's unification with the intellectuals in Turkey,” Türk said.

evelopments in the Middle East are observed carefully by the DTP. Türk pointed to the fact that Kurds in Iraq are achieving federal status. “After they embraced this status, the DTP became a target here in Turkey. When we look today at many of our provinces, party officials and chairmen have been arrested. At the moment around 70 of our officials are inside [prison],” he said.

“There is no legal basis to these arrests. Most of the cases opened carry penalties from six months to one year. When we look at the law on the methods of a trial, these people have no way to temper with evidence, no chance of escaping. According to the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), in cases that require an arrest and call for fewer than seven years, the accused should be tried without being imprisoned. But our party officials have been arrested in one day. The judiciary has been politicized.”

“But we've never carried out an action or even spoken with the intention to incite people to hatred,” Türk continued. “We are very sensitive in this issue; we are not creating anger and hatred, because we want brotherhood and unity.”

Other side of the coin:

The leader of the DTP then pointed to the other side of the coin: “The president of the Motherland Party (ANAVATAN), Erkan Mumcu, in a speech in which he talked about Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani, characterized them as ‘the dogs of imperialism.' A military official, implying that he was talking about DTP officials, used the word ‘creatures.'”

“Why aren't these people considered to be creating anger and hatred inside the community?” he asked. “When we say it's not right for the military to invade northern Iraq, we are perceived as if we are guilty of opposing the state. But prosecutors close their ears to the real words of incitement and hatred. I propose the following to the government: please give us a list of whom it is free to call ‘Sir' in this country and who can be blamed or sworn at, so we won't become involved in something criminal.”

Türk regards the cases opened against them as “the result of a concept.”

“If it weren't so, the immediate decision to arrest people over such basic claims wouldn't have been taken,” he notes. “However, nearly every day a provincial office of the DTP is being attacked, our officials are being arrested. Such a country cannot be named democratic.” The country at the moment is getting closer and closer to the presidential election with the atmosphere becoming increasingly tense. “We see that in such an atmosphere, pressure against the DTP creates difficulties for the government,” he observes. “Tension-creators don't have the right to use the DTP as fodder in the presidential election. They want to create a tense atmosphere and thus, push the government into a corner. We see that such a scenario will encourage the nationalists and force the Justice and Development Party (AKP) to retreat.”

5. - PanARMENIAN.Net - "Turkish army invaded Northern Iraq":

20 March 2007

The Turkish army invaded bordering regions of Nothern Iraq preparing a large scale operation against Kurdish guerillas, one of Iraqi internet web-sites close to Patriotic Union of Kurdistan reported on Thursday. “The Turkish army with large forces invaded Haftanin, Sineht and Pirbila districts in Northern Iraq, where armored equipment and “commandos” of Special Forces are stationed, Iraqi media reports. The Turkish general staff has not made any comments concerning this message, RIA “Novosti” reports.

Earlier in its parts Turkish media reported about transfer of a 20-thousand division to the border with Iraq. “Elements of Turkish armed forces created security zones along the border with Iraq in order to prevent penetration of terrorists of Workers’ Party of Kurdistan (PKK), CNN-Turk reports citing military sources.

The longstanding conflict of Turkey with PKK, which aims at establishing a independent Kurdistan on Turkish territory, resulted in deaths of more than 37 000 people. Turkish authorities refuse to carry on a dialogue with separatists and are going to forcefully put an end to PKK.

6. - Reuters - "Terrorism war guise for minority crackdown - report":

UNITED NATIONS / 20 March 2007 / by Michelle Nichols

Pakistan, Turkey and Israel are using the U.S.-led war on terrorism as an excuse to crack down on minority groups, a rights group said on Tuesday.

A study by Minority Rights Group International also found that minority peoples living on the front lines for the war on terrorism were among the world's most-threatened, with Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan ranking in a global top 10.

"Some governments around the world are pinning their hopes on the fact that if they are allies with the United States then it will allow them to do certain things against minority communities within their own borders," Ishbel Matheson, spokeswoman for the London-based advocacy group, said.

"I think that is completely unacceptable and the United States should be alive to it and condemn it, unfortunately I don't think that's what they do," she told a news conference.

The group's report "State of the World's Minorities 2007" singled out Pakistan, Turkey and Israel for "intensified repression of particular ethnic communities in 2006."

It ranked Pakistan No. 8 on a list of countries where minorities are most under threat and said Islamabad oppressed groups including Ahmadis, Hindus, Baluchis, Mohhajirs, Pashtuns and Sindhis.

Turkey came in at number 39 for its treatment of Kurds and Roma, while Israel was ranked 54 for its behavior toward Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and Israeli Palestinians.

"U.S. allies have managed to barter their support for the war on terror in return for having their human-rights record ignored," Mark Lattimer, the director of Minority Rights Group International, said in a statement.

"The debate continues to rage about whether the 'war on terror' has made the world a safer place for the West, but it has certainly made it a much more dangerous place for minorities," he said.

The report said the war of terrorism had also given rise to Islamophobia throughout Europe, with some governments adopting laws that curb the rights of all citizens but particularly target Muslim communities, leaving them feeling increasingly "intimidated and persecuted."

Somalia, Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan, Burma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Pakistan, Angola and Russia make up the top 10 countries identified by the report as places where minority peoples are most under threat.

African states make up half the report's top 20 list.

The biggest jump in the list was by Sri Lanka, which soared 47 places to be ranked 14 in the 2007 list of some 70 countries after fighting between the Liberation Tiger of Tamil Eelam, who want an independent state in the country's north and east, and the government intensified during the past year.

Three countries fell out of the report's top 20 -- Indonesia, where an Aceh peace agreement has so far held, and Liberia and Algeria, which both continue to recover from devastating wars during the 1990s.

7. - Bianet - "Round Up: Two Months After Dink's Murder":

The investigation and the trial on the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink will have decisive consequences regarding the integrity and the trustfulness of the judiciary system in the eyes of people in Turkey, says joint attorney Fikret Ilkiz.

ISTANBUL / 20 March 2007 / by Erol Onderoglu

It's been two months since the cold-blooded murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink by a young nationalist gunman in front of the offices of his newspaper Agos in Istanbul.

That was the first killing of a journalist in Turkey since 1999. Following day the alleged killing suspect was caught. So far, the investigation enlargened; more than 30 people has been interrogated and 11 got arrested.

"The consequences of this investigation must assure every citizen of the trustfulness and the integrity of the judiciary system in turkey" says Dink family lawyer Fikret Ilkiz, talking to bianet.

Noting that it's now time for the investigation to lead to charges so a trial can begin, Ilkiz criticized the lack of debate in public around the National Assembly Commission for Investigating Unidentified Political Murders in Turkey.

"No democracy, no one living in Turkey deserves to live in a country left half in darkness. This cardinal investigation is more important for the judiciary in a sense to prove its functioning. I believe all politicians, the government and judges are keen to succeed in this case".

The most important thing was to catch the suspects as soon as possible according to Ilkiz and that has been accomplished. Now the public prosecutors must press forward with charges and a fair trial must proceed.

"Journalists and intellectuals of this country have put forth their lives and wrote so all can live where no one is murdered for their thoughts. Their words must be regarded as it's due".

Allegations of negligence

Dink has been murdered on January 19.

While the investigation continues, Dink family lawyers urged the prosecution to assess the crime as an organized action committed by a group, which aims to terrorize the public.

They have also demanded investigation into public servants and officials who disregarded their duties before and after the murder.

It was claimed that a police informant has warned the authorities four times about the suspects' plans to murder Hrant Dink but no precautions were taken in return.

In another account, the images of police officers posing and pampering the main killing suspect upon his arrest caused wide controversy.

8. - The Washington Times - "Turkey pressures U.S. against 'genocide' bill":

YEREVAN / 20 March 2007 / by Jason Motlagh

Inside the tomblike confines of the Armenian Genocide Museum, a haunting narrative of images and words unfolds. A list is posted at tour's end of nations that have officially recognized the tragedy, minus one major endorsement: the United States.

U.S. lawmakers have introduced nonbinding resolutions in Congress that would declare up to 1.5 million Armenians victims of genocide at the hands of Turkish forces almost a century ago.

Support is reported to be strong enough in the House to pass the measure if it goes to a vote; the Senate introduced a similar resolution last week with 21 co-sponsors.

Historians and analysts here in the Armenian capital say recognition from Washington is long overdue because evidence validating the case for genocide is "clear-cut, more than factual, and very obvious."

But Turkey's priority status as a vital strategic ally in a troublesome region stands in the way.

"Although Turkey needs the U.S. more, the U.S also needs Turkey right now ... so it's not realistic to think the government will formally acknowledge [the genocide]," said Hagop Avedikian, editor of Azg newspaper.

He noted that every April 24, a day of observance, President Bush "highlights the genocide and explains it without using the word."

In the past month, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, Chief of the General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit and a parliamentary delegation have met with U.S. lawmakers and Bush administration officials in an attempt to derail the resolution.

Mr. Gul was quoted as saying the delivery of a U.S. genocide resolution would inflict "lasting damage" on bilateral relations.

Such statements were not lost on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who last week wrote a joint letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, and other senior members warning that the measure would hurt national security interests.

Passage of the House resolution, they wrote, "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."

Incirlik air base could be casualty

Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried has warned that Turkey might respond by closing Incirlik air base, used for operations in nearby Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Turkish military severed all ties with the French military and terminated defense contracts after the French National Assembly voted in October to criminalize the denial of genocide.

The Israeli Knesset killed a motion to discuss recognition earlier this month, fearing a political crisis with Ankara.

Failure to pass the resolution would be "too bad because it could be a very catalytic moment for rapid recognition by other states," said Hayk Demoyan, director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute.

Several Western countries have recognized the massacre in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire as a genocide, some making genocide denial a punishable offense.

An ethnic Turkish politician, Dogu Perincek, received a $2,500 fine and a suspended prison sentence from a Swiss court on Friday for calling Armenian genocide an "international lie" at a political rally two years ago.

The dispute is over whether hundreds of thousands of Armenians who died between 1915 and 1923 were part of systematic eradication campaign by Ottoman Turkey.

Armenians contend mass killings and forced deportations amount to genocide, while the Turkish government insists the deaths were the result of chaos at the time.