20 July 2001

1. "Turk official warns PKK destabilizing north Iraq", Expansion by separatist Turkish Kurds in northern Iraq could spark renewed fighting in the enclave protected by U.S. air patrols, a senior Turkish security official said on Thursday.

2. "Lawyer: Man who shot pope in 1981 to be released earlier under Turkish amnesty", Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turk who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981, could serve seven years in prison instead of 17 under a broadened amnesty for prisoners, his lawyer said Thursday.

3. "HPG: We are the force to protect the line", te People's Defense Forces (HPG) held its first conference in mountains of South [Iraqi] Kurdistan. The 15-year guerrilla war was assessed at the conference, while a number of decisions were also made from the perspective of the guerrilla process.

4. "Status of DEP deputies sparks controversy", ECHR verdict that DEP deputies' trial was not fair leads to argument.

5. "Belgium considers easing Genocide law", Immunity planned for serving heads of state.

6. "Turkey Financial Markets Recovering", Financial markets gained ground Thursday after the resignation of a minister who had opposed an IMF-backed strategy aimed at pulling Turkey out of its economic malaise.

1. - Reuters - "Turk official warns PKK destabilizing north Iraq":

TUNCELI

Expansion by separatist Turkish Kurds in northern Iraq could spark renewed fighting in the enclave protected by U.S. air patrols, a senior Turkish security official said on Thursday.

The United States has pushed for peace among feuding Kurdish factions in northern Iraq, hoping to unite the region against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Hussein has not controlled the north of his country since just after the 1991 Gulf War.

The official warned that expansion by rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) into areas controlled by Jalal Talabani, head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), could spark new fighting.

"The PKK has taken over 46 villages in northern Iraq that had been aligned with Talabani's forces," the official told Reuters. "Fighting between the PKK and PUK could break out at any time in the region because of this." PUK officials in Ankara declined to comment.

Turkey has said it provides Talabani and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) "technical assistance" to fight the PKK, which has fought an armed campaign for self-rule in southeast Turkey.

Turkish soldiers regularly pursue PKK fighters across the border into northern Iraq. U.S. air patrols protect the region from Iraqi forces.

The PKK has largely withdrawn from Turkey to bases in northern Iraq, straining the fragile balance of power between the PUK and KDP.

The parties have jointly administered a regional government in the breakaway enclave since 1992, but have not yet fully implemented a U.S.-brokered cease-fire signed in 1998.

PKK vow to rebuild forces

Meanwhile, the Europe-based Ozgur Politika newspaper, often used by the PKK leadership to make statements, said on Thursday the guerrillas had begun efforts to rebuild their forces.

The high council of the PKK's People's Defense Forces (HPG) held talks in northern Iraq this month, it said on its Web site.

"One of the important decisions made (during talks) was to enlarge the HPG to meet the criteria of a professional and modern army," it said.

The PKK's 16-year-long armed struggle for autonomy in Turkey's mainly-Kurdish southeast has killed more than 30,000 people, but fighting has largely dropped off since rebel commander Abdullah Ocalan was sentenced to death in 1999.

"If our leader suffers any kind of physical harm, every HPG member will fight at the highest level with his entire heart and soul," the council said in a statement.

Ocalan, the lone inmate on a Turkish island prison, now awaits a European Court of Human Rights ruling on his death sentence.

He has called on followers to leave Turkey and instead seek cultural rights through political means for the country's 12 million Kurds.

Turkish authorities dismiss Ocalan's peace overture as a ruse to escape the gallows.

2. - AP - "Lawyer: Man who shot pope in 1981 to be released earlier under Turkish amnesty":

ANKARA

Mehmet Ali Agca, the Turk who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981, could serve seven years in prison instead of 17 under a broadened amnesty for prisoners, his lawyer said Thursday.

Turkey's highest court ruled Wednesday that prisoners already serving reduced sentences may also benefit from a prison amnesty bill that came into effect last year. The amnesty reduces sentences by 10 years.

Agca -- pardoned by Italy after nearly 20 years in prison for the attack on the pope -- is now serving 10 years for the 1979 murder of a newspaper editor in Turkey and another seven years for robbing an Istanbul soda factory the same year.

His lawyer, Can Sevket Ozbay, said Agca would qualify for the amnesty and would have his sentence reduced by 10 years. He has served one year of his sentence and would remain in prison another six years.

"The constitutional court decisions are binding, Agca qualifies," Ozbay said.

Authorities must review each prisoner's case, however, and reports said relatives of the editor would appeal against Agca's early release.

Italy extradited Agca to Turkey last year after pardoning him for the attack in St. Peter's Square, which left the pope gravely wounded.

He shot the pope after escaping a Turkish prison where he was being held in the editor's killing. Turkey later convicted him in absentia and sentenced him to death.

A 1991 amnesty cut reduced that sentence to 10 years in prison. Turkey has introduced dozens of prisoner amnesties over the years to help ease conditions in tense, overcrowded prisons.

3. - Kurdish Observer - "HPG: We are the force to protect the line":

The People's Defense Forces (HPG) held its first conference in mountains of South [Iraqi] Kurdistan. The 15-year guerrilla war was assessed at the conference, while a number of decisions were also made from the perspective of the guerrilla process. A statement from the conference said that, "The HPG is the force to protect the gains made by the past struggle, the National Leadership, and national values, and the line of peace and democracy."

MURAT SARAC/S. KURDISTAN

The first conference of the People's Defense Forces was held in the mountains of South Kurdistan with the participation of 194 top-level commander delegates and over 50 commanders and guerrillas as observers. Great debates were carried out at the conference, which was held between June 28 and July 12.

The opening speech at the conference was made by PKK Council of Leaders member Murat Karayilan, after which the conference moved on to its heavy agenda of evaluating the role of the HPG in the line of legitimate defense following the change in strategy experienced in the Kurdistan National Democratic Struggle, tactical approaches in the new process, organization in the new period, what will be the style of action, and similar topics.

In his speech, Karayilan said: "Our guerrilla army will fulfill the role that befalls it in the development of the democratic struggle and a political solution. In this connection, the duty to protect the line of democratic political struggle adopted at the PKK's Extraordinary 7th Congress belongs foremost to our army."

Force for peace and democracy

All the developments of the 15-year armed struggle, along with its deficiencies and inadequacies, were appraised at the conference. The debates on the intense agenda of the conference platform coalesced around the line determined at the PKK's 7th Congress, the line of the new period. In accordance, the HPG forces will be positioned as "the force of protection of National Leadership, national values, gains of the past struggle, and the line of peace and democracy."

Among other important decisions made at the conference was to expand and develop the HPG in accordance with modern, professional military criteria. One of the most striking and important decisions reached at the conference, however, that that concerning PKK President Abdullah Ocalan. The decision in question stressed that "every HPG member will be ready for an utmost struggle with a self-sacrificial spirit in the case of any physical action whatsoever aimed against our Leadership."

'Our army is the antidote to denial'

Taking the podium again at the conference, PKK Council of Leaders member Murat Karayilan completed his talk with the words, "Our army is the antidote to denial."

Afterwards, all the delegates attending the conference went to pay respects at the cemetery in which Mahmet Karasungur, a former member of the PKK leadership cadres, is buried. The delegates dispersed after writing in the visitors' book located at the cemetery and holding a moment of silence in respect. Among what was written in the visitors' book was the following: "We have today realized the 1st HPG conference upon your labor which was given with heroic resistance, struggle, and blood. We, as conference delegates, give our word in your presence that we will remain loyal to the decisions of the conference and carry them out until the end."

4. - Turkish Daily News - "Status of DEP deputies sparks controversy":

ECHR verdict that DEP deputies' trial was not fair leads to argument

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has sparked off a controversy in Turkey after ruling that former deputies of the defunct and pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP), seen by some to be the forerunner of the Peoples Democracy Party (HADEP), were not given a fair trail. In interviews given with pro-PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party separatist terrorist organization) newspaper Ozgur Politika, Motherland Party (ANAP) deputy leader Mustafa Tasar, former deputy leader of the now Islamist and now defunct Virtue Party (FP) Veysel Candan (conservative), European Parliament deputy Feleknas Uca, former DEP deputy Zubeydir Aydar and HADEP deputy leader Ahmet Turk all called for the ECHR verdict to be acted upon.

The recent decision taken by the European Court of Human Rights relating to the imprisoned deputies of the Democracy Party (DEP) will pave the way for their release, the attorney of the imprisoned deputies told the Turkish Daily News.

The DEP deputies attorney Yusuf Alatas, made reference to the decision of the European Court defining the State Security Courts (DGM) as "partial and dependent."

"We think that the trial should be reopened," said Alatas.

However, Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk, when asked by the TDN, ruled out such a possibility.

"The Court asked for compensation to be paid, but the release of the deputies is not on the agenda," said the minister, stating that he has seen the press reports, but the official declaration had not been made yet.

According to Ozgur Politika's article, officials from ANAP, the defunct FP, the KNK and HADEP together with EP Member of Parliament Uca, who have evaluated the ECHR verdict, have called for the dissolution of the DEP to be prevented and the DEP deputies to be released from prison. They maintain that ECHR verdicts are binding according to international conventions and Article 10 of the Turkish Constitution. They call for the DEP deputies to be released and to be given a fresh trial. Their statement also underscored putting an end to political party closure.

Former DEP deputy Zubeydir Aydar said: "We filed four lawsuits with the ECHR in connection with the DEP. One of them concerned being kept in police custody for too long. The verdict was binding and required Turkey to pay compensation. Two separate cases are still in progress concerning the dissolution of the party and the revoking of parliamentary deputy status. The case bound by Tuesday's verdict is in connection with the arrest, trial and imprisonment of DEP members. According to the verdict, our DEP colleagues, who have been in prison for years now, should be released and given a retrial. However, Turkey is not acting in compliance with this verdict. It wants to get away with just paying compensation. The ECHR is the highest authority. Its verdict was that the trial was not a fair one. If the ECHR had the power to release prisoners, our colleagues would have had to be released immediately. Turkey should act in compliance with this."

HADEP deputy leader and former DEP deputy Ahmet Turk said: "The revoking of our parliamentary immunity from prosecution and our being thrown out of Parliament were all carried out at the wishes of the military at that time. Our colleagues had been taken into custody even before we had completed our legitimate defense in Parliament. By means of this verdict, the ECHR has vindicated what we were saying all along. Turkey recognized ECHR verdicts. Now it has to amend the Constitution and the law in accordance with these verdicts. Besides, according to Article 90 of the Constitution, Turkey has to comply with international agreements yet Turkey is violating this."

EP Member of Parliament Feleknas Uca said: "The verdict passed by the ECHR in connection with the imprisonment of DEP deputies Layla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Orhan Dogan and Selim Sadak means support for peace and democracy. I hope this verdict will be a bulwark in front of the illegal trial of parliamentarians that had been duly and democratically elected in Turkey. At the same time, this verdict has historical significance in that it supports the efforts of those EU countries that are demanding Turkey comply with European standards of democracy. Following this verdict, deputies of Kurdish origin should all be released."

ANAP deputy leader Mustafa Tasar Said: "The dissolution of political parties on whatever grounds should not be taken as a democratic viewpoint. ECHR verdicts are binding, yet we in Turkey have only just begun to make the necessary changes to the Constitution and laws. As for the release of Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle and other DEP deputies in prison; that is for the judiciary to decide."


Former deputy of defunct FP conservative wing Veysel Candan: "According to international agreements, ECHR decisions are constitutionally binding. They cannot be said to be in violation of the Constitution. They have to be applied. However, out government is not doing this. In which case it is not possible to say that democracy is fully settled in Turkey."

5. - Frankfurter Rundschau - "Belgium considers easing Genocide law":

Immunity planned for serving heads of state

BRUSSELS

The Belgian government's plans to change the nation's law on genocide have gotten a hostile reception across the country.

The Belgian judiciary has so far been able to try cases involving serious breaches of the Geneva Convention against genocide even when those charged are not Belgian citizens and the offences did not take place in Belgium. The proposed amendments would exempt serving heads of state from such proceedings in the future.

The Belgian law on genocide has already been used to try four Rwandans who fled to Belgium - a politician, a businessman and two nuns - for their participation in the genocide against the country's Tutsi minority in 1994. All four were eventually given prison sentences.

Belgium is the only country in the world which has legislation that allows victims of grave breaches of the convention against genocide to go to court in Belgium as plaintiffs.

The law has caused numerous problems for Belgian diplomacy. For example, the legislation enabled 23 survivors of a massacre carried out by so-called Christian Phalangists in 1982 in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in Lebanon to institute legal proceedings in Brussels against the then Israeli defence minister, Ariel Sharon. Sharon, the current Israeli prime minister, chose not to visit Brussels on his recent trip to Europe because of that.

Since the law came into effect, 500 applications for criminal prosecution have been made including: Iraq's head of state, Saddam Hussein, Iran's former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former leader of the Khmer Rouge Kieu Sampan, and the Ivory Coast's President Laurent Gbagbo. In April 2000, a Brussels investigating judge issued an international arrest warrant against the Congolese minister for foreign affairs, Abdoulaze Ndombasi Yerodia, accusing him of inciting the genocide against the Tutsis.

Belgium's diplomats have been performing a remarkable balancing act since then. On one hand, they can hardly be expected to show up either their own judiciary or a law which is a source of pride for a large part of the Belgian population. On the other hand, it is difficult to understand how Belgium can pursue a former Congolese minister while still maintaining - as the Belgian foreign ministry maintained - that that shouldn't be considered "an unfriendly act against Congo".

Belgium has set up a government commission to consider revising the law. The commission's aim, according to the Belgian newspaper La Libre Belgique, is to tone down the law. There is already talk that serving heads of state or government and foreign ministers are to be given immunity, and that the options for victims who wish to file charges are to be restricted. This would mean that Sharon would first have to either resign or be fired before the Belgian authorities could pursue him further.

Is this a case of kowtowing to realpolitik, as La Libre Belgique and apparently several members of the commission fear? A step backwards, was how the proposed changes to the law were described by the daily Le Soir: "The Rwanda trial improved our judiciary's image." The introduction of "functionaries' immunity", as they point out to Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, would contradict the basic ideas behind the legislation introduced in 1993.

So far, the commission, high-ranking officials from the foreign and justice ministries, prime ministerial advisers and independent experts have been unable to agree on revising the legislation. However, they are supposed to have agreed on one thing: whatever comes out of their deliberations should come into power immediately and be implemented in cases ongoing at that time.

That would mean that Sharon would no longer have to make lengthy detours around Belgium. As his case presently stands, however, there is no sign of an arrest warrant being issued with his name.

6. - Washington Post - "Turkey Financial Markets Recovering":

ISTANBUL

Financial markets gained ground Thursday after the resignation of a minister who had opposed an IMF-backed strategy aimed at pulling Turkey out of its economic malaise.

The lira, which had fallen to its lowest ever rate of around 1.55 million to the dollar amid market panic Tuesday, closed at around 1.33 million Thursday.

Long-term interest rates dropped nearly 5 percentage points Thursday to 96 percent, though analysts warn that further falls are necessary to ease Turkey's debt burden. High interest rates have prompted fears that Turkey could default on its debt.

Istanbul's benchmark share index rose 6.7 percent to close at 9,715 points.

Thousands of firms have gone bankrupt or halted production since the economic crisis began in February, while an estimated 600,000 Turks have lost their jobs.

The panic that gripped markets began to ease with the resignation of Enis Oksuz, the minister for transport and communications and a key opponent of Turkey's IMF-backed recovery program.

The International Monetary Fund, together with the World Bank is lending Turkey $15.7 billion this year to fund the recovery program.

IMF officials are in Ankara this week for talks on Turkey's progress in implementing the program.

The government is also considering more radical changes to the Cabinet, including a reduction in the number of ministers, Turkish newspapers reported Thursday.
Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said Thursday the government was considering "technical measures" which he said "would ease the pressure on markets." He did not specify what measures would be taken.

Turkey's largest business group, the Turkish Union of Chambers, called Thursday for a "radical restructuring" of the government, cutting the number of ministers from 38 to around 22, together with sweeping changes to laws governing political parties and elections.