27 th March 2001

1. Middle East Newsline - "Turkey, Pakistan plan to bolster defense ties":

ANKARA

Turkey and Pakistan have agreed to develop defense cooperation.

Details of the agreement are sketchy. Pakistan said the agreement will include joint training and exchange of intelligence. Turkish officials said the agreement essentially maintains the current level of defense cooperation.

The agreement was reached during the visit to Islamabad over the weekend by Turkish Chief of Staff Gen. Huseyin Kivirkoglu. The military chief met Pakistani ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
Pakistani officials said the agreement signed by Kivrikroglu included cooperation in military training and other undisclosed fields.

Musharraf expressed the hope that Pakistan's relations with Ankara would flourish.
Kivirkoglu also met Pakistani naval chief Admiral Abdul Aziz Mirza and and air force commander Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir.

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2. - Anadolu Agency - "From implementation of the F-type prisons":

ANKARA

Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said on Monday that there is no return from the implementation of the F type prisons.

Responding to questions of reporters, Turk noted that dormitory system will be replaced with room system in 78 prisons by the end of the year.

Upon a question on latest developments regarded with the draft Civil Code, Turk said that this code concerns everybody and that compromise has to be reached in the parliament.

Turk noted that the regime of participation in acquired properties is an important element of the family law.

After other articles of the draft are discussed, this chapter will be re- debated, Turk said.
Turk stated that they have to change the Civil Code in accordance with the requirements of the new era.

Similar property regimes exist in Germany, France and Switzerland, Turk pointed out.
Upon another question, Turk said that the hunger strikes and death fasts continue in some prisons and that a teenager died due to these protests. He expressed deep sorrow over the death of the inmate.

Turk said that the inmates who continue hunger strikes and death fasts are kept under medical treatment 24 hours a day.

Thirty-six inmates, whose health conditions are serious, have been taken under medical treatment in hospitals in Ankara, Turk stressed.

Turk continued, ''we are saying since the very beginning: nobody can reach his target by hunger strike or death fast. There is no return from the F type prison implementation. Dormitory system will be replaced by room system in 78 prisons by the end of the year. The F type prisons comply with the United Nations (U.N.) and Council of Europea (COE) standards.''

The article 16 of the Anti-Terror Law will be amended, Turk said, noting that the draft laws which foresee the prison supervisory boards and execution judgeship will be opened to the signature of the Council of Ministers in the possible shortest time.

Turk said that the Council of Ministers will debate the regulation which enables communication through telephone in the prisons soon.

Firstly, the communication through telephone will be started in Ankara and Istanbul, the two pilot regions, Turk noted.

Turk stated that the communication will be held once a week at first and in the future, this number can be increased or the restriction can be totally lifted.

Turk called on the inmates on hunger strike and death fast to end their protest.

Defining the hunger strikes and death fasts as ''committing suicide'', Turk said that the Article 454 of the Turkish Penal Code foresees imprisonment terms between three to ten years to those who incite people to commit suicide.

Turk said, ''that is, inciting people to commit suicide is a crime. The prosecutors will take action to reveal those who incited inmates to such protests.''

When asked whether or not the doctors who opposed to make medical intervention to the inmates on death fasts and hunger strikes without the consent of the inmates are within this scope, Turk said that there are differences in points of views of doctors.

Turk noted that some doctors defend that medical intervention is necessary because human life is worth everything while some doctors claimed that it is impossible to treat an inmate without his or her consent.

Emphasizing that the ethical discussions of doctors only concern themselves, Turk said, ''we will include articles about this issue in the new punishment execution law''.

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3. - Kurdish Observer - "Let no one forget":

Karayilan said that the 2001 Newroz celebrations had shown what level the Kurdish people had reached in their national democratic struggle, adding, "Along with the thousands who sacrificed themselves and their great labor, there is the great labor of President APO in this development. No one should forget this."

PKK Council of Leaders member Murat Karayilan said the celebration of Newroz 2001 was like a people's congress.

Speaking by telephone on the Rews program on Medya-TV the other evening, Karayilan said that the celebrations were "a great development in the national democratic struggle" and continued to say the following: "Along with the thousands who sacrificed themselves and their great labor, there is the great labor of President APO in this development. No one should forget this. 19 years ago, in 1982, only one person, Cagdas Kawas Mazlum Dogan celebrated Newroz in the Diyarbakir dungeon with his life. Today in that same city, a half a million people celebrate. Whatever has been done since that day, the results became obvious on this Newroz."

The tactic is serhildan

Karayilan said that this contained a message for everyone, especially Turkey, continuing as follows: "Turkey has carried out a policy of denial and assimilation for 80 years. This year's Newroz celebrations showed that this policy has been bankrupted. It has not been able to destroy this people. Turkish officials must see this reality also."

Karayilan said that the Newroz celebrations and the slogans the people had chanted had spoiled the conspiracy that led to the captivity of PKK President Abdullah Ocalan, adding: "The conspiracy cannot achieve results after this either. The celebrations were like a people's congress. Our people said, 'Neither denial nor separation; [we want] a Democratic Republic.' This is the strategy. And serhildan (popular uprisings) is the tactic."

Excitement and hope

Feleknas Uca, a Kurdish deputy in the European Parliament and member of the PDS party, also took part in the program for Newroz celebrations in Amed (Diyarbakir), which over 500,000 people participated in. Uca said that what she had experienced there had made her rather excited and filled her with hope, expressing her feelings as follows: "A person can't know what to say about the scene at Amed. Slogans of devotion to PKK President Abdullah Ocalan and demands for peace and brotherhood were shouted from the beginning to the end. The mark left on the celebrations by the traditional clothing of the women and children was especially eye-catching."

Zubeyir Aydar, member of the Leadership Council of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK), said that Newroz 2001 had opened a brand new page, adding, "All the Kurdish parties and institutions should take this new situation as a foundation, and plan and carry out their works accordingly."

The NP must be changed

Murat Karayilan said that the matters presented in the National Program presented by the Turkish government last week were contrary to Turkey's realities, and made the following comments on the program: "Nothing will be solved with this program. There is denial and demagogy. The program has the same meaning as signing the Lausanne Treaty once again with Europe's hand. There are no serious steps in the subjects of democratization, human rights and freedom, and the death penalty." Karayilan said that the NP was deficient but they did not view it as of key importance, saying the following: "We are not of the opinion that this program will lock up the European Union process. We are not approaching it like that. Some things could come out in practice. It is necessary to see the situation of the power in Turkey. When these realities are evaluated, one shouldn't be surprised at such a program. We find this program insufficient but we also do not see it as being of key importance. The Kurdish people explained their own program. We hope that it will be debated and revised."

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4. - Ozgur Politika - "NP under the microscope":

Top EU officials at the summit of EU leaders in Stockholm, answering questions for Ozgur Politika, stressed that Turkey's path would become more difficult if it did not fulfill the economic and political criteria.

STOCKHOLM

Important messages were given to Turkey at the European Union (EU) leaders summit which ended Saturday in the Swedish capital of Stockholm. Top-level EU officials stressed that Turkey's path to the EU would be more difficult if it did not overcome the economic crisis it is going through, and added that they would begin an intensive dialogue process after all the relevant EU organs had examined the National Program to see whether or not its contents conformed with those of the Accession Partnership Document. Kurdish diplomatic sources in Scandinavia, for their part, criticized EU term president Sweden for not fulfilling its responsibilities on the Kurdish question.

The Prime Minister of EU term president Sweden, Goran Persson, and Finance Minister Bosse Ringholm answered questions for Ozgur Politika.

In discussing the National Program, Persson said that they wanted Turkey to fulfill all the EU norms contained in the Copenhagen criteria, including those concerning minority and human rights, adding, "I have not yet examined the National Program, but there are things expected of Turkey. Turkey can only be a member of the European Union after it achieves full harmony with the Copenhagen criteria."

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, for his part, evaluated Turkey's preparation of the National Program as real progress. Blair said that the Helsinki decisions had been a turning point in Turkey-EU relations and that they wanted to see this continue.

One of the important ministers of EU term president Sweden, Finance Minister Bosse Ringholm, said that Turkey could only overcome the economic crisis it is going through by conforming to the EU's economic and political criteria. Ringholm had the following to say: "I hope that the economic crisis will be overcome after the government's latest economic program. The IMF will also contribute to the Turkish economy straightening out. There will be intense debates with the IMF in this process in the weeks ahead." Ringholm said that there would be difficulties in Turkey's process of EU candidacy if the economic plan was not successful, and gave the following message: "We EU Finance Ministers debated the economic situation in Turkey and the new economic plan that the government presented. We will watch Turkey step by step. As the first step, we will look at the measures of the IMF and other institutions and how successful they will be." Ringholm added that there would be intense debates between Turkey and the EU over the National Program process.

Commissioner in charge of EU finances Pedro Solbes also said that they had discussed the economic crisis in Turkey and that they hoped that the government would be successful. Otherwise, he said, Turkey's process of membership in the EU would be made more difficult. Solbes sent the message, "They must overcome the crisis and then continue on."

Kurds uneasy

Kurds, on the other hand, find the approach of the EU to the Kurdish question to be insufficient. Kurdish circles in Stockholm said that Turkey had not presented the criteria necessary for solving the Kurdish problem in the National Program, and were critical of EU term president Sweden. Kurds following the summit said that Turkey had deliberately presented the National Program prior to a summit in which Turkey would not be discussed and said that Turkey's not being on the agenda was a reflection of Swedish state policies. The same sources had the following to say: "Before it was term president, Sweden was one of those who criticized Turkey the most on the subject of the Kurdish question and was asking for an immediate solution. As Kurds, we evaluated this with good intentions at first. When Sweden becomes term president, it will bring these onto the agenda, we thought. But unfortunately, the practice of the past three and a half months shows that a step has not yet been taken on this subject. Circles we have met with say that 'Our expectations from Turkey and our demands for the Kurds are still the same.' But it is thought-provoking that they have not kept them on the agenda during their own term presidency."

The same sources said that Turkey did not want to have too much to do with the EU during Sweden's term presidency and Sweden had been asked through various channels to bring the Kurdish question to the agenda during its term presidency.

EU chief Commissioner Romano Prodi said that pre-membership discussions were continuing in a number of areas with Turkey and that they continued their works for a number of agreements.

Intense dialogue process

An intense dialogue process will begin after the National Program presented to the EU Commission has been examined. After the Commission evaluates the document, it will be evaluated in the Council and Parliament and Turkey will be informed of the deficiencies in it.

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5. - AP- "Turkish hunger strikers in critical condition, doctors warn":

ISTANBUL

A monthslong hunger strike that has already caused the death of one Turkish prisoner could claim more lives soon, doctors warned Saturday.

After the death of Cengiz Soydas on Wednesday, another 31 hunger-striking prisoners face "a risk of sudden death that not even their doctors will be able to foresee," the Ankara Chamber of Physicians said in a statement.

The chamber's Human Rights Commission visited the prisoners in two Ankara hospitals on Friday.

Prisoners linked to the armed Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front began a hunger strike campaign in November to protest plans to transfer them from their dormitory-style wards to new prisons of one- or three-person cells, where they fear abuse by guards.

Soldiers raided 20 prisons in December to end the hunger strike and transfer some 1,000 inmates to the new prisons. Thirty inmates and two soldiers were killed in the clashes. Other prisoners later joined the hunger strike after their transfer.

Prisoners are suffering complaints including impaired vision, falling blood pressure and weak pulse, the chamber's statement said. One female prisoner is in a particularly critical condition, it added.

The chamber said nine prisoners have allowed doctors to treat them. The prisoners' group Ozgur Tayad, however, said all prisoners were refusing treatment.

Turkey's government says the new prison system is key to ending frequent riots, hostage-taking and hunger strikes by inmates linked to leftist, Kurdish and Islamic militant groups.
The Council of Europe on Friday urged Turkey to reform its prisons and investigate allegations of abuse of prisoners.

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6. - Kurdish Observer - "Every month on the 25th...":

Two months have passed since the disappearance of HADEP Silopi District Chairman Serdar Tanis and District Secretary Ebubekir Deniz. HADEP has decided to demonstrate every month on the 25th to protest the disappearance of the two while in custody. For its part, the Turkish government said in the defense it presented to the European Court of Human Rights that it was continuing its investigation.

No news has yet been heard of Serdar Tanis and Ebubekir Deniz, who were last seen after they were called into the Silopi district Gendarmerie headquarters on January 25. There is still no clear information on their fate, despite all the initiatives of their relatives, various political parties, intellectuals, and journalists, the European Court of Human Rights, Amnesty International, and nongovernmental organizations and the investigation initiated by the Interior Ministry.

HADEP district and provincial organizations, in accordance with a central headquarters decision, will arrange various activities every month on the 25th starting this month until Tanis and Deniz are found. The activities will include sit-in demonstrations in front of party headquarters and fax campaigns to the Interior Ministry. HADEP Deputy General Chairman Kemal Pekoz said that they were worried about similar incidents occurring since the disappearance of Tanis and Deniz, but that no new incidents had occurred because of the sensitivity shown by society on this subject.

Tantan is manipulating

Pekoz said that pro-violence circles would be encouraged in more provocative actions if society lost its sensitivity towards these types of incidents. He reacted against statements by Interior Minister Sadettin Tantan indicating that "there is activity suggesting they are alive," saying that Minister Tantan was trying to manipulate the public opinion. "If what he said is true, then he must use his authority to find our friends immediately and reunite them with their families," Pekoz said.

Inspectors have returned

Meanwhile, one Colonel and two inspectors who went to Silopi have completed their investigation and returned to Ankara. The inspectors received conflicting testimony about the time Tanis and Deniz had arrived from two soldiers stationed at the Silopi Gendarmerie command, and decided to continue the investigation in secret after this information leaked to the press.

Turkey: Investigation continues

The European Court of Human Rights asked Turkey for a defense after the court was applied to concerning the disappearances. It has been learned that the Turkish government presented a 4-page defense on March 2. Turkey said in its defense that the two missing HADEP members had gone to the Gendarmerie base, but that this had not been a detention. It sufficed with saying that the investigation was continuing. Attorney Tahir Elci, who is representing the families of the missing HADEP members, asked, in a communication he sent to the European Court of Human Rights after the government had presented its defense, for the court to take the threats Tanis and Deniz had received before they disappeared into consideration.