30 July 2001

1. "Soldiers march in eastern Turkish city a day after unrest", hundreds of soldiers marched through the mainly Kurdish city of Tunceli in eastern Turkey on Saturday in the wake of clashes between police and protestors which left 12 people injured, local sources said.

2. "Baghdad condemns new Turkish incursion into northern Iraq", Baghdad Sunday condemned a new Turkish incursion into northern Iraq and called on the Arab League to intervene with Ankara to halt it, the state INA news agency said.

3. "Let's invalidate Lausanne", Ocalan said that the Lausanne Treaty was not legitimate, adding, "There is no example like this even in the period of brutality. Therefore, as the Kurdish people, we must invalidate Lausanne with every type of democratic action."

4. "European Court to rule on Turkish ban of Islamist party", the European Court of Human Rights will rule Tuesday on whether a decision by Turkey to dissolve the pro-Islamist Refah party in 1998 was legitimate.

5. "IMF praises Turkey", the International Monetary Fund on Sunday praised Turkey's efforts to heal its battered economy under a tough economic program, but urged caution over high interest rates and worn confidence.

6. "Turkey's Sezer supports military modernization", Turkish President Ahmet Sezer supports the military's efforts for continued modernization amid the nation's fiscal crisis.

1. - AFP - "Soldiers march in eastern Turkish city a day after unrest":

DIYARBAKIR

Hundreds of soldiers marched through the mainly Kurdish city of Tunceli in eastern Turkey on Saturday in the wake of clashes between police and protestors which left 12 people injured, local sources said. "Everything is for the country, I would sacrifice my life for the country," chanted the soldiers as they walked through the centre of the city accompanied by armoured personnel carriers, the sources said.

The march, which ended without incident, comes a day after eight police and four protestors were injured when some 1,500 people clashed with police during a local festival. The disturbance began when authorities refused to allow the chairman of the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party, Murat Bozlak, to deliver a speech on the grounds that it was not included in the festival program. Anger mounted over a banner hung in the stadium, the festival venue, which thanked the leader of the government's far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) for its contributions to the organization of the event.

The MHP is the chief political opponent of Kurdish demands for cultural autonomy. Police intervened when angry protestors stoned the car of a local army commander and police vehicles. Security measures were boosted in Tunceli after Friday's clashes.

2. - AP - "Baghdad condemns new Turkish incursion into northern Iraq":

BAGHDAD

Baghdad Sunday condemned a new Turkish incursion into northern Iraq and called on the Arab League to intervene with Ankara to halt it, the state INA news agency said.In a message to the general secretary of the Arab League, Amr Mussa, the deputy prime minister of Iraq, Tareq Aziz, said that "Turkish forces carried out a new armed aggression against northern Iraq, on the pretext of chasing down operatives from the Kurdistan Workers' Party -- the PKK.

Aziz added that "special Turkish forces were parachuted in from helicopters in the Jar Jala area, just inside Iraq's northern border." The three northern provinces of Arbil, Suleimaniyeh and Dahuk have since the 1991 Gulf War been controlled by rival Kurdish factions in defiance of Baghdad, and fall under the protection of the US and British imposed no-fly
zone. The Turkish army has launched frequent operations in northern Iraq against rebels from the PKK, who have been using the area as a base since the end of 1991.

3. - Kurdish Observer - "Let's invalidate Lausanne":

Ocalan said that the Lausanne Treaty was not legitimate, adding, "There is no example like this even in the period of brutality. Therefore, as the Kurdish people, we must invalidate Lausanne with every type of democratic action."

PKK Council of Leaders member Osman Ocalan said that the was no other treaty in history based on the denial of a people that could be found, adding, "In this sense, the Lausanne Treaty is illegitimate and we do not recognize it."

Speaking by telephone on the Kurdish-language "Rews" program the other evening on MEDYA TV, Ocalan made a comprehensive evaluation of the Lausanne Treaty. Ocalan said that the large European states, especially England, had drawn up the Lausanne Treaty in order to, beyond splitting up Kurdistan, to distance Turkey from Soviet Russia and secure that it gave up on Mosul and Kirkuk, even at the price of closing their eyes to the denial and annihilation of the Kurdish people.

Ocalan recalled that the Lausanne Treaty had been signed as the result of some very delicate accounts between Turkey and European countries, adding, "With Lausanne, a two-sided and intermingled international sovereignty and a sovereignty of the regional states was established over our country. There is no example like this even in the period of brutality. Therefore, the Kurds cannot recognize the validity of this agreement."

The struggle is not sufficient

Ocalan said that 28 Kurdish rebellions against Lausanne had developed before the rise of the PKK, noting that even though the Kurds suffered great harm, the sovereign powers did not secure much gain either. Ocalan stressed that the international conspiracy developed against PKK President Abdullah Ocalan was a continuation of the denial and destruction foreseen by Lausanne, and continued to say the following: "Every Kurdish individual must shout that he does not recognize Lausanne and that it doesn't have his signature. Every Kurdish individual must reject this agreement carried on to the 21st century and struggle against it. The struggle carried out by intellectuals, politicians, and revolutionary forces is not enough. We must invalidate Lausanne with every type of democratic action."

We are ready to debate

Ocalan called on the regional states and people to therefore live in brotherhood, continuing to say the following: "We want to carry out the democracy struggle on the basis of 'Neither division nor slavery' because it is in everyone's interests. The Kurdish people never stabbed in the back. The Kurds defend the unity of the country they live in in freedom."

Ocalan additionally recalled that they were presenting the powers that played a role in the international conspiracy, especially Britain, the US, Germany, and Russia, to correct their historical and current errors. Ocalan stressed the following: "Despite everything, both our party and the Kurdish people are ready to meet and debate for a solution with all world powers. Let's find a solution that is in everyone's interests."

Recommendation for Iraq-Turkey conference

PKK Council of Leaders member Osman Ocalan said that the intensifying relations between Turkey and Iraq these days were not serving for a solution, adding, "Turkey and Iraq must solve the Kurdish problem in order not to come under pressure from outside." Ocalan pointed out that international forces were intervening in Iraq militarily and in Turkey economically. He added that Turkey and Iraq had formed a relationship on the basis of denial of the Kurds and that, through this, they wanted to bring the Kurdish organizations up against each other. Ocalan indicated that it was necessary for Turkey, Iraq, and the other countries to hold a conference and find a solution among themselves, adding the following: "Turkey and the other backward forces in the region are insisting on the old style. Even the US is saying that Turkey will not be able to go forward with the old methods. Relations other than those based on a search for a solution in a democratic framework won't bring results."

4. - AFP - "European Court to rule on Turkish ban of Islamist party":

STRASBOURG

The European Court of Human Rights will rule Tuesday on whether a decision by Turkey to dissolve the pro-Islamist Refah party in 1998 was legitimate. The court has already condemned Turkey for human rights abuses on three previous occasions for having banned Marxist or pro-Kurd political groups.

The latest case, which opened in January, was brought by Refah's leader, 74-year-old former prime minister Necmettin Erbakan together with the party's former vice-chairmen Sevket Kazan and Ahmet Tekdal. The party was in power at the time of its dissolution and Erbakan along with his two deputy leaders were stripped of their parliamentary seats. The trio challenged the legitimacy of a decision by Turkey's constitutional court to dissolve Refah on January 16, 1998, on the grounds that it had become "a centre of activities against the principle of secularism" thereby undermining democracy.

They accused Turkey of having violated the right to freedom of religion, expression and association and the right to free elections -- as well as property rights because the party's assets were seized and handed over to the treasury. Also the three said the Turkish court had not followed its own rules for the dissolution of political parties, but had decided under pressure from the country's military. A Turkish government lawyer maintained that the Refah party threatened the secular values of Turkey, a Muslim country, and accused the party of having hidden "anti-democratic and fundamentalist aims". The state has a right to protect itself against Islam's tendency "to settle not only religious and moral questions, but legal questions and to a certain extent the political order of the state," he said.

"It (the Refah party) would have been tolerated if it had remained on the fringes," the lawyer said. But when the plaintiffs' lawyer Laurent Hincker was questioned by the judges on Refah's political aims, he said it did not in any way resemble the radical Islamic movement Hezbollah. Hincker maintained that Turkish democracy was merely a front, and that its constitutional court had dug up old speeches by Erbakan in a bid to justify the ban of his party. Erbakan, along with Kazan and Tekdal are seeking damages and interest of 3,322 dollars (3,800 euros) for lost pay after being ousted from parliament. They are also claiming 58,000 dollars worth of lost assets. Refah came to power under Erbakan in June 1996 at the head of a coalition formed after parliamentary elections the previous year. Aside from being stripped of their parliamentary seats, Erbakan and his two deputy leaders were barred from establishing, joining or leading any new olitical party for five years.

5. - The International Herald Tribune - "IMF praises Turkey":

ANKARA

The International Monetary Fund on Sunday praised Turkey's efforts to heal its battered economy under a tough economic program, but urged caution over high interest rates and worn confidence.
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"Turkey has made very impressive progress in implementing the ambitious program," Stanley Fischer, the first deputy managing director of the Fund, said after two days of talks with officials and business leaders.
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He called Turkey's economic strategy "viable," but said its success depended on "restoring confidence and reducing interest rates."
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Turkey started implementing a program of economic recovery in April, with a multibillion dollar aid package from the IMF and the World Bank. The move came after a government decision to float the Turkish lira in February caused the currency to slump massively against the dollar. Mr. Fischer ruled out any modification to the floating currency regime, which he said was "essential."

6. - Middle East Newsline - "Turkey's Sezer supports military modernization":

ANKARA

Turkish President Ahmet Sezer supports the military's efforts for continued modernization amid the nation's fiscal crisis.

Sezer has expressed the need for Ankara to maintain military upgrades and procurement of new weapons despite the current budget shortfall. The president has been regarded as a leading critic of the military's dominance of the nation's political life.

But in a rare pronouncement, Sezer said Turkey's strategic location requires a strong defense. The president was speaking on Wednesday during a ceremony in which the navy obtained eight new vessels. One of the vessels will be delivered to Kazakhstan.

"The Turkish Armed Forces which has been successfully undertaking the duties of defending our country and protecting its territorial integrity, should continue to modernize itself in parallel with political, social and technological developments of the 21st century," Sezer said.

Sezer's support for military procurement comes as Ankara is under pressure from the International Monetary Fund to curb the military budget and influence on the government. This includes the reduction of military control over the flagging Turk Telekom monopoly.