24 April 2001

1. "'A tragic event' but not Genocide", German government considers its position on Armenian killings.

2. "Iran's Armenian community commemorates Turkish genocide with rally", around 4,000 members of Iran's Armenian community commemorated the 1915 Turkish genocide of their people on Tuesday with a rally in downtown Tehran.

3. "Those with prohibitions cannot produce", Ocalan pointed out that countries in which languages and cultures were banned were bound to experience crisis and said that this would lead to crisis in Turkey as well. Ocalan said that the current crisis could only be overcome with a democratic state of law.

4. "Turkey expected to retain U.S. defense firms", Turkey's military is expected to retain U.S. firms deemed as frontrunners in at least two major defense projects.

5. "Amnesty calls for end to isolation in Turkish jails", Human rights group Amnesty International on Tuesday called for an end to solitary confinement in Turkish prisons. In a statement released in London, Amnesty said isolation regimes were being imposed in new "F-type" prisons.

6. "South-Kurdistan (North-Iraq): PUK-KDP to reduce military strength", the PUK and KDP decided in a military meeting to undergo mutual reduction in military forces in the former conflict zone. PUK leader Talabani asked for support in a meeting of the party leaders.

1. - Frankfurter Rundschau - "'A tragic event' but not Genocide":

German government considers its position on Armenian killings

BERLIN

Crises and protests, hungerstrikes, the leadership's decline of authority, the Kurdish problems, Cyprus and the tussles over European security policy - German diplomats are not short of areas where even a cursory glance at EU-candidate Turkey raises a raft of concerns.

It is understandable, therefore, that they would prefer to steer clear of the thorny issue of the Armenian genocide. Unfortunately for them, the topic is now well and truly in the arms of the government in the form of a petition from the lower house of parliament, or Bundestag.

Joschka Fischer's Foreign Office will be in receipt of the petition in the coming days. The appeal by 16,000 signatories is aimed at encouraging the government to condemn as genocide the deportation and extermination of Armenians during the first world war. In this, the petitioners are seeking to follow the example of France's National Assembly, the European Parliament and Pope John Paul II in so describing the attacks by Young Turks against the Armenians in 1915 - and are appealing to the government in Ankara to do the same.

But Ankara - in common with large swathes of the Turkish public - sees the fate of the Armenian subjects of the Ottoman Empire as a "tragic" and "war-occasioned event". Into the bargain, they refute claims by the Armenian side of 1.5 million deaths, insisting that a maximum of 600,000 lost their lives. Paris's genocide declaration was greeted in Turkey by angry reactions and a boycott of French goods.

The Bundestag committee charged with dealing with such appeals unanimously decided to pass the petition on to the Foreign Office after examination, although with several clear riders. In the accompanying letter from parliament there is no talk of genocide as such - the Bundestag prefers to use the formula "tragic events". The reason it gives is that "wounds ought not to be reoponed, but healed." And yet: "The viewpoint shared by a large part of the German population must be clarified within the framework of Turkish-German diplomatic relations." Fischer's ministry is due to make a statement on the petition within six months.

Uwe Hiksch, a deputy for the Party of Democratic Socialism (formerly East Germany's Communists), seeks to go several steps further. The draft of a cross-party resolution he has penned contains the word "genocide" and a demand that recognition of the mass killings be made a "condition" of Turkish entry into the European Union. But Hiksch's proposal goes further, recommending that the Bundestag make an official apology for the "support and knowing acceptance" of the atrocities committed by Germany under the Kaiser.

Hiksch is hoping to rally 40 to 50 supporters from all parties to enable him to raise the motion in parliament. However, the right of victims to recognition of their pain and suffering should not be the prelude to a campaign of anti-Turkish sentiment, he says, adding that a "cautious process within a parliamentary framework" will require "three to four years".

2. - AFP - "Iran's Armenian community commemorates Turkish genocide with rally":

TEHRAN

Around 4,000 members of Iran's Armenian community commemorated the 1915 Turkish genocide of their people on Tuesday with a rally in downtown Tehran. Chanting slogans such as "Down with Turkish facism," and "Turkey is the apostle of imperialism," the crowd marched from the Armenian church in central Tehran to the United Nations office to demand formal recognition of the genocide.

On Monday, an Armenian deputy in the Iranian parliament called on MPs to formally recognise the genocide "in line with other foreign parliaments such as in France and Italy," a sensitive issue that could further strain Tehran's ties with Ankara.

Turkey refuses to accept the term genocide for massacres which it says left 300,000 to 500,000 dead and which the Armenians say took 1.5 million lives. In January, the French National Assembly recognised that a genocide of Armenians took place under the Ottoman empire in 1915, prompting retaliatory trade measures by the Turkish authorities. Iran and Turkey already have somewhat strained relations over Ankara's close ties with Israel.

3. - Kurdish Observer - "Those with prohibitions cannot produce":

Ocalan pointed out that countries in which languages and cultures were banned were bound to experience crisis and said that this would lead to crisis in Turkey as well. Ocalan said that the current crisis could only be overcome with a democratic state of law.

PKK President Abdullah Ocalan said that is was natural for crises to be experienced in a country which forbids languages and cultures. "Those who prohibit cannot produce. This will open the path to loss in Turkey also," Ocalan said. He added that the present crisis would either be overcome with the democratic state of law or that it would end in chaos.

Ocalan relayed a message through a meeting with his attorneys the other day, saying that the economic crisis being experienced in Turkey was a problem of creating a democratic state of law, and he evaluated the role of the Kurds in this problem.

I am not making cheap peace literature

PKK President Abdullah Ocalan drew attention to the forces which wish to restructure Turkey on the basis of a democratic state of law and underscored that their pains could only be ended if their struggles achieved success. Ocalan said that he would make whatever contributions he could on this matter and that, if there was cooperation, Turkey would level out. "I'm not making cheap peace literature. Those who don't take this seriously are doing Turkey the greatest evil," Ocalan said, pointing out that there were circles who wished for hot conflict to begin again. Ocalan continued to say the following: "There are the Hizbullah, Gaffar incidents; they could provoke some conflicts. They are trying to push us into conflict again. They want conflict for profiteering. The efforts of the state to see and deactivate these out-of-control organizations is positive."

Either democracy or chaos

PKK President Abdullah Ocalan said that it was essential for Turkey's political parties to undergo change and said that those which insisted on the old methods had no chance of survival. Ocalan said the following on the potential results of the current crisis in Turkey: "The crisis being experienced in Turkey could end in either of two results: Either the crisis will deepen and continue and chaos will be the result - and that is not our position - and circles which want conflict could enter the picture and increase violence. Or, it will evolve towards democratization with restructuring on the basis of a democratic state of law."

My defense is comprehensive

Ocalan said that his defense in the European Court of Human Rights would be taken up in a comprehensive fashion, adding, "I am going to develop a great democratic initiative for Turkey and develop the democratic line. I will expand on this in my defense."

No one can detain restructuring

Touching on the role of the Kurds in the democratic republic, Ocalan said the following: "No one can detain the restructuring of the democratic republic. It is necessary to further develop the process of peace and democracy. The line of the democratic state of law must be developed in a manner in which the Kurds may also participate. When they talk about Turkification, there are Kurds to be considered as well. Kurds will play their own role, as they have done throughout history. What the Kurds want is freedom of language and culture. We will expand our borders, not contract them. This is an advantage. If one-third of a mass is unemployed, has no language, has no culture, and cannot talk because its language is forbidden, one cannot expect him to possess honor and dignity. If language and culture are banned, such crises are to be expected. Those who prohibit cannot produce. This will lead to loss for Turkey."

4. - Middle East Newsline - "Turkey expected to retain U.S. defense firms":

ANKARA

Turkey's military is expected to retain U.S. firms deemed as frontrunners in at least two major defense projects.

Defense sources close to the military said that Ankara will not scuttle projects in which the U.S. frontrunners have already been named. They said the aim is to retain U.S. administration and congressional support for the up to $12 billion requested by Turkey for its economic recovery.
So far, Turkey's military has announced a delay in 32 procurement projects worth $19.5 billion. But the military did not specify which project would be shelved.

The two projects to be retained by Turkey are the attack helicopter project. Bell Textron has been named as the frontrunner in the $4.5 billion coproduction project. Turkish sources said the military appears to support a plan that would delay production in Turkey and instead purchase 50 King Cobra helicopters.

5. - AFP - "Amnesty calls for end to isolation in Turkish jails":

LONDON

Human rights group Amnesty International on Tuesday called for an end to solitary confinement in Turkish prisons. In a statement released in London, Amnesty said isolation regimes were being imposed in new "F-type" prisons.

The Council of Europe on Monday called for an end to hunger strikes in Turkish jails, saying young prisoners choosing self-inflicted death should understand their cause was not worth dying for. The strikes, in protest against introduction of smaller, more easily-controlled cells in prisons, have resulted in 17 deaths. Since October 2000, more than 1,000 political prisoners have taken part in hunger strikes, according to Amnesty. At present up to 800 people are on hunger strike.

The new arrangements for Turkish prisons replace existing large dormitories which the authorities have blamed for much of the frequent hostage-taking and riots in Turkey's unruly prisons. Amnesty said: "Many prisoners have allegedly gone without human contact for days, apart from roll-calls, which are said to be frequently accompanied by violence." "Prolonged isolation can in itself amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and can facilitate torture and ill-treatment. The Turkish government must immediately stop such abuses," Amnesty added. The Council of Europe appealed Monday for an end to the hunger strikes in Turkish jails, saying young prisoners choosing self-inflicted death should understand their cause was not worth dying for.

6. - Ozgur Politika - "South-Kurdistan (North-Iraq): PUK-KDP to reduce military strength":

The PUK and KDP decided in a military meeting to undergo mutual reduction in military forces in the former conflict zone. PUK leader Talabani asked for support in a meeting of the party leaders.

ERBIL / SULEYMANIYA

During a period in which Turkish military forces are increasing their intelligence activities against the PKK in South [Iraqi] Kurdistan, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Kurdistan Democrat Party (KDP) reached the decision at a meeting of the Military Committee to reduce their military forces along the mutual border of the two regions. Top-level military officials of the two parties who came together at a meeting in recent days in Hewler (Arbil) said that they had taken this decision so that the military units could return to their basic duties.

An official participating in the meeting also noted that the decisions made at the meeting foresaw reducing the military force at military stations along the highways between military centers and cities. It was also decided to work together on the subject of lifting military control of cargo trucks on the main highways. A military official from the PUK, on the other hand, relayed that they were ready to completely withdraw military forces from the border as of the beginning of the month. The same official said that the PUK had withdrawn their forces except for a few small units following the previous decision to withdraw the military forces from the old conflict zone. The decision to withdraw soldiers from the region in question had been reached during earlier political discussions.

Talabani searching for allies

Meanwhile, PUK leader Jalal Talabani held a meeting with other local party leaders in the region to ask for support. Meeting with 11 party leaders, including leaders of Islamic, Assyrian, and Turkmen parties, Talabani asserted that he was seeking domestic peace. Domestic problems in the region were the major topic of discussion at the meeting which was held at the PUK politburo office in Qala Cholan. Talabani said that he wanted to reach an understanding with the KDP and bring the region to a position of a model for peace. He also said that a delegation from the PUK and KDP had had contacts in the US and had asked for projects in South Kurdistan to be speeded up.

Talabani additionally gave the party leaders information concerning the PUK-KDP meetings. Talabani said that the Iraqi administration was obstructing UN officials who were working on projects to meet the electric needs of the region and to clear the mine fields, saying that specialists who wanted to come to the region to inspect the projects were not able to do so. Talabani also had the following to say: "Millions of dollars appropriated for Kurdistan in the oil-for-food program are still being held up in banks. But Kurdistan should be using this money to strengthen the infrastructure that was destroyed in the war." The leaders asked for the KDP to participate in the meetings in question.

Jakub Yusuf, leader of the Assyrian Democratic Movement, suggested that the continuation meetings in which the KDP was to participate be held in the city of Hewler.

These meetings foresee activation of the Kurdistan Front, which was established in 1988 but dispersed afterwards due to disagreements which arose.

Local elections on May 26

Meanwhile, the local elections planned in the KDP region are to be held on Saturday, May 26. Local elections in the PUK region were held in recent weeks.