28 August 2003

1. "Turkish troops in Iraq: Not wanted", Turkish troops are not wanted in Iraq or South [Iraqi] Kurdistan. Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, Armenians, and Turcomans, stating that the arrival of the Turkish military in Iraq would hinder democratic change and transformation in the region, conveyed the message No to the Turkish military.

2. "Kurds gives US a lesson in efficiency", Sulaimania is bustling with life and more confident than ever before. Streets filled with security forces don’t give the impression of a police state, but testify to vastly improved safety for residents.

3. "Analysis: U.S.-Turkish Troubled Relations", the United States has asked Turkey to provide 10,000 troops to help rebuild and stabilize Iraq, but Ankara is taking its time in giving Washington an answer. It's a bad time in relations between two strategic partners who need each other.

4. "Iraqi Kurds, ethnic Turks sign agreement to prevent clashes", an Iraqi Kurdish faction and an ethnic Turkish group in northern Iraq have signed an agreement aimed at preventing ethnic violence after clashes left 11 people dead last week, an Iraqi Kurdish official said Thursday.

5. "Ozkok signals radical changes in army", just days after strong-worded criticisms of outgoing top generals on the government practices, Chief of Turkish General Staff Hilmi Ozkok, who is known for his reformist character, signalled a radical change in the army saying, "We should get rid of those who merely copy the past, march on the spot without becoming aware of the change."

6. "Turkey issues arrest warrants for Uzan family members", a Turkish court on Thursday issued arrest warrants targeting two members of the Uzan family, who are wanted by police on suspicion of fraud at their privately-owned Imar Bank, Anatolia news agency reported.

1. - Ozgur Politika - "Turkish troops in Iraq: Not wanted":

Turkish troops are not wanted in Iraq or South [Iraqi] Kurdistan. Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, Armenians, and Turcomans, stating that the arrival of the Turkish military in Iraq would hinder democratic change and transformation in the region, conveyed the message No to the Turkish military.

ZAKKHO / 28 August 2003 / by Mehmet Yaman / translated by KurdishMedia

Debate over the possibility of the Turkish army moving into Iraq as a peacekeeping force has met with a negative reaction on the part of the people living in South Kurdistan. The people, pointing out that the arrival of Turkish troops in Iraq would sabotage the efforts at restructuring and democratization, ask What has the Turkish military, which has been in South Kurdistan for years, done for the regions peace, stability, security, and harmony, that it could contribute anything to Iraq?

Local forces opposed to Turkish military

All the various political parties, institutions, and organizations in South Kurdistan are agreed that Turkish troops should not come to Iraq. The general view is that the Turkish troops would not be coming for harmony in Iraq, but rather in order to destroy the rights that the Kurds have already won there. PUK [Patriotic Union of Kurdistan] officials say, "We do not want Turkish troops to come to Iraq. It is clear what they want to do in Iraq, and world public opinion sees this." At the same time, KDP [Kurdistan Democratic Party] officials summarize their position in opposition to such an arrival by saying, "Our position has been known for a long time. KDP leader Masud Barzani, who before the war had said "We will turn Iraq into a graveyard for Turkish soldiers," made statements after the war to the effect that "Our greatest success was that Turkish troops did not come into Iraq."" As for the public, they note the relations that the local forces have had in the past with Turkey and call upon them to stand behind their words.

The Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, Armenians, and Turcomans that MHA [Mesopotamia News Agency] spoke with in Dohuk and Zakho are opposed to the Turkish military, which favors the continuation of the status quo and is opposed to change, coming to Iraq under the name of a peacekeeping force. Kurdish shopkeeper Ramazan Ali said, "I do not want Turkish troops to come to Iraq under any circumstances whatsoever." Ali, stating that Iraq is not Afghanistan, and the Turkish military will not behave themselves in Iraq, warned that the troops would create unrest among the various peoples living in the region. Drawing attention to the Turkish military’s provocations against the Kurds, Ali said, "Turkey will want to have an impact on the political rights that the Kurds have won in the region. Turkey should first establish peace and stability at home before coming into Iraq."

Arab merchant Hamid Sadir Said is also against the Turkish army coming into the region, adding, "We are well acquainted with Turkey since Ottoman times, and the same mentality continues there." Said claimed that what the Ottomans did with swords, Turkey wants to do with cannons and rifles, pointing out that the Ottomans had caused quarrels among the Arab dynasties, Said said he was worried about clashes between brothers breaking out. Said commented that the Turkish military is a friend to Israel; they have an alliance. In the eyes of the Arabs, for Turkish troops to come to Iraq would mean the same thing as Israeli troops coming to Iraq. The Arab and Iraqi people will not accept this. He concluded by warning, "With the Turkish military settling in Iraq, the Turkish-Arab contradiction will deepen, and relations will be harmed."

We do not want an army that is opposed to democracy

Assyrian Marsis Davud said, "We had heard that the Turkish troops in South Kurdistan were going to go back home. What has happened now that the United States is bringing Turkish troops into Iraq?" adding, "I do not approve of the Turkish military coming into Iraq, no matter under what conditions. Whoever comes can come, but not the Turkish military. It is opposed to change. It recognizes no one other than itself, and does not accept others. We do not want such an army."

Retired Kurdish civil servant Shahin Adir said that as soon as the debate over Turkish troops coming to Iraq began, he had lost his faith of Iraq being able to turn into a democratic and free structure. Adir, saying that Turkey is a serious obstacle to Iraq’s pluralistic structure and democratization, declared, "I am against a country that is itself opposed to freedom and democracy coming into Iraq. Pointing out that Turkey, which favours the status quo, will seek to sabotage the changes in Iraq, Adir conveyed the message that Turkey will castrate the democratization process in Iraq. If the United States wants democracy in Iraq, and if it has the intention of spreading this to the entire region, it must not bring the Turkish army into the region.

Turcoman driver Ahmed Kemal Said as well is of the view that there can be no logical justification for trying to carry out change with a force that does not want change. Said, saying that Turkey should first put its own house in order, noted, "I have gone to Turkey and seen it. Economic crisis prevails. There is no equality, freedom, or democracy. They are even behind Iraq. What are they going to bring here?" Stating as well that Turkey uses the Turcomans for its own political and economic benefit, Said added, "Let them let go of us Turcomans. We want to live like brothers with the Kurds and the Arabs in Iraq.

We have no peace due to the Turkish troops

Husayn Ismail Gevda, calling upon Turkey to withdraw its forces in South Kurdistan rather than come into Iraq, said, "Because of the Turkish soldiers, we are constantly clutching our hearts; we are not at ease. We are worried about their engaging in provocations and plots. For these things are indeed being experienced" adding, "Why is the United States, despite the fact that it is aware of these things, giving permission for the Turkish army to be included in the peacekeeping force? In my view, the United States is trying to draw Turkey into a conflict. The Turkish people should be sensitive toward this." Saying that the Turkish military would be the Trojan horse for the reactionary and pro-status quo forces in the region, Gevda conveyed the message, "Not only would the Turkish military hinder change in the region, but it would also deliver political blows against the United States itself. It would hamper change in Iraq. We appeal to everyone to show sensitivity on this topic."

Armenian real estate agent Melku Zavin Yakuphan also said that the Turkish military would seek to turn the United States against the Kurds. Declaring his opposition to the Turkish military being stationed anywhere in Iraq, Yakuphan stressed that all the various peoples in the region should unite under one umbrella: Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, Armenians, and Turcomans should act in concert in a free and democratic front for democracy and stability in the region. They should form a unified force for a democratic Iraq.

Source: Translated from Turkish by KurdishMedia.com; originally published in Ozgur Politika newspaper, 23 August 2003

2. - Ha`aretz - "Kurds gives US a lesson in efficiency":

27 August 2003 / by Zvi Bar`el

Sulaimania is bustling with life and more confident than ever before. Streets filled with security forces don’t give the impression of a police state, but testify to vastly improved safety for residents.

Old brown houses packed closely together, overlapping terraces, unpaved roads where children’s running feet raise huge clouds of dust, laundry flapping in the breeze next to ancient additions to old buildings - this is the Jewish quarter in the Kurdish city of Sulaimania. No Jews remain, but the name lingers on: A white sign with blue lettering at the entrance to the main street announces in Kurdish that this is the Street of the Jews. Even the little wadi where people now dump old auto parts is called the Jewish dump.

The good memories linger on, too. My companions, from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, headed by Jalal Talabani, tell of their grandparents who enjoyed friendly relations with their Jewish neighbors, and of family ties between Jews and non-Jews. Every single one of these companions has, or had, a close or not so close relative whose father or mother, or maternal or paternal grandfather or grandmother, once married a Jew.

The word "Israel" evokes an immediate response here. The local people seem to know the Kurdish community in Israel better than Israeli Kurds do. "Can I get a visa? Will they let us visit our neighbors in Israel, even though our passports say we’re Iraqis?" asks Shilan Khanaka, the woman who runs the PUK’s public relations office with an iron hand. Shilan was born in Kerkuk; her parents, both from large and distinguished families, own a lot of property in the city. Her family is waiting for the moment when they can get it all back, and resume life as they knew it before Saddam Hussein came to power.

Six-day campaign

The interior minister for the independent Kurdish region of the Talabani faction, Fereydun Abd al-Qadir, will do everything to restore the Khanakas’ property to the family. Fereydun is a very busy man these days. He is not merely in charge of police and internal security in Sulaimania; he is a member of the PUK politburo and may also be asked to step in and bring order to parts of Baghdad.

This is the start of a flurry of appointments to the interim Iraqi government: The foreign minister will be a Kurd, evidently Hoshyar Zibari, a trusted colleague of Massoud Barzani; and the Iraqi Interior Ministry will apparently be given to long-time opposition leader Ahmed Chalabi. Chalabi himself will not assume the post of interior minister, but will name someone else.

"I hope he has the brains to appoint a Kurd," says Fereydun, and the suitable Kurdish candidate of the moment appears to be Fereydun himself, long-time commander of the Peshmerga (the Kurdish militia) of the Talabani faction.

The crucial test for Fereydun - whose subordinates enter his office, salute, and speak in whispers while standing at attention - came when the Kurdish forces entered Kerkuk. By all accounts, his own and those of others, he restored order to the city within six days, and not merely by force.

"I brought in 60 doctors and 120 other medical personnel, engineers and technicians from Sulaimania. There were no medical services because all the Ba’ath-affiliated doctors had fled. There was no electricity or water. To begin with, I ordered that all the banks be guarded, and used the money to pay the technical and medical teams. It worked because I had full authority. I told the Americans that I’m willing to come to Baghdad and restore order, on condition that they don’t interfere.

"I can’t run a city that just came through a war using overly democratic methods - asking everyone for their opinion on how things should be done. I know how to give orders and make sure they’re carried out. Everything has fallen apart in Baghdad, but the situation could still be saved."

Fereydun interrupts the interview only to talk with Prime Minister Dr. Barham Salih, give orders to his aides, or settle disputes among groups of citizens who seek his help. Everything is done quickly and efficiently; and he’s offering the same efficiency to fix things in Baghdad.

"I would set up civil guards in the neighborhoods, with each group required to do just one thing in its area - to protect homes and shops. I would have my officers supervising them, and order would be kept. But the Americans like to do things their way, to be in
control of every development."

The Kurd’s most liberated city

He drops everything to receive his visitor from Israel. Fereydun asks for two business cards, one for himself and the other for his wife, "who would like very much to visit Israel."

The women of Sulaimania are freer and more independent than before. At the wedding of the bride, Chiya (the name means mountain), and the groom, Reykkawt (opportunity), which we attended, and not by coincidence, many women were present. The wedding took place outdoors, in a garden; and the bride and groom sat on an elevated stage. In the large open area before them, many men and women danced, together and separately, in a lively manner reminiscent of a debka. This dancing goes on for hours, until the energetic vocalists take a brief break; and then it resumes. Everyone wears colorful, glittering, Iranian-style clothing or the darker garb of Sulaimania - the men in broad trousers. Some of the young women wore tight pants. There were 400 or 500 guests at this wedding, which will cost the young newlyweds no ore than about $200, including the food.

Men and women dancing together? "Yes, it’s not a problem," says a friend who joined the party. "Until a year ago, women were forbidden from being seen on the streets with men other than their husbands. The government [but not the religious elements] decided to do away with this prohibition."

In the lovely Azadi (Freedom) Park, one could see men and women embracing; they seemed unconcerned about being seen by strangers or having relatives tattle on them.

"There are no more arranged marriages," says my guide. "Young men and women meet everywhere; and if they fall in love, they get married."

Shilan says that Sulaimania is the most liberated and open place in Kurdistan. It seems she isn’t exaggerating. At the city’s church, there’s a white statue of a woman, her arms raised high - a statue saluting women’s liberation. In this city, as in many other Kurdish cities, it’s not the leaders who are honored on street corners or bulletin boards, but Kurdish writers and poets. The same goes for street names.

This city is bustling with life, more so than any other Kurdish city I’ve seen. The markets are full of goods from Turkey and Iran; the cinemas and theaters are open; and there’s even a local Hyde Park of sorts where people can stand and speak out against the regime. Democracy, it would seem, is not a foreign notion here.

The streets are full of soldiers and police who keep the city safe ("In Iraq, they guard against the religious fanatics," says Fereydun), but there’s no sense of a police state. Here, where safety was absent for so many years, people are grateful for a safe city.

3. - United Press International - "Analysis: U.S.-Turkish Troubled Relations":

WASHINGTON / 27 August 2003

The United States has asked Turkey to provide 10,000 troops to help rebuild and stabilize Iraq, but Ankara is taking its time in giving Washington an answer. It's a bad time in relations between two strategic partners who need each other.

Turkey is important to the United States for many reasons. First of all, it occupies a pivotal role in Central Asia. It controls the Bosphorus and helps to keep the Black Sea stabilized. It counters Russian influence in the Caucasus and serves as a land bridge to the Caspian Sea and its hydrocarbon resources. And Turkey is one of the rare Muslim countries that is a democracy.

For the past six months, relations between Turkey and the United States, which have been close for more than half a century, have taken a battering.

On Monday, Turkish Justice Minister Cemil Cicek, speaking after a Cabinet meeting, said the government would make a decision about the American request in due time after the necessary evaluations have been made. The request was made on July 18 when Gen. John Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command, and Gen. James L. Jones, NATO's supreme allied commander, met with Turkey's senior generals in Ankara.

Negotiations over the request are stalled, apparently by Turkish demands the United States finds unpalatable. According to Prof. Stephen Blank of the Strategic Studies Institute at the U.S. Army War College, Ankara is said to be demanding that Paul Bremer, the U.S. civil administrator in Iraq, appoint a Turkish deputy, and that Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the U.S. military commander, appoint a Turkish general as his second-in-command.

Blank, in an article on the web site of the Caucasus and Central Asia Institute of Johns Hopkins University, also reports the Turks are demanding that Iraqi-Kurdish militias be disarmed and that the Turkmen be given special privileges and protection, something the U.S. military is unlikely to do.

Soner Cagaptay, who directs the Turkish program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told United Press International that Cicek's remarks also reflect the effect of the bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Iraq last week. The attack, he believes, undercut what had been a growing momentum to agree to the U.S. request.

The bombing made the Turkish leadership realize, Cagaptay says, that it was likely there would be casualties if Turkish troops were deployed in Iraq. Prior to the bombing, there had been talk of holding an extraordinary session of the Turkish national assembly to approve the deployment. That talk has stopped. It will be October before the assembly reconvenes and it is possible for it to take a decision.

Whether the assembly will give its approval when it reconvenes is moot.

Bulent Aliriza, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, who has just returned from Turkey, told UPI that an answer to the request for 10,000 troops is stalled by many factors. One of them is that members of the ruling Justice and Development Party, known as the AKP, recently visited the Sunni triangle, the area of the most intense resistance to the United States, and came back recommending that Turkish military not be sent there.

Another factor is a split in the AKP over whether to send troops to Iraq. Aliriza reports most of the party opposes doing so. More surprisingly, the military leadership, which habitually speaks with one voice, has also split with one senior officer coming out publicly against deployment of Turkish forces in Iraq.

Abizaid and Jones' visit was seen as part of an effort to ease a crisis in relations between the two countries that began on March 1. On that day, the Turkish national assembly failed to adopt a motion allowing U.S. forces to use Turkish territory as a springboard to invade Iraq from the north. In July, relations took another blow when U.S. forces intercepted a clandestine operation in northern Iraq and treated the Turkish soldiers involved like criminals.

The national assembly vote in March reflected Turkish public opinion. Ninety percent of Turks opposed the war on Iraq. In addition, the Turkish elite's sensibilities were offended by what was seen as American bullying in negotiations over the proposal. For their part, U.S. officials were infuriated by what they perceived as foot-dragging by the Turks.

In the months that followed, both governments sought to patch up relations with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell traveling to Ankara and Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul coming to Washington. The Bush administration provided a balm for Turkey's deeply troubled economy with a grant of $1 billion earlier this year. It was a kind of consolation prize for the much-bigger aid Turkey would have received had it allowed in the U.S. troops.

Now more U.S. aid is on offer. The U.S. Treasury said Monday it hoped an $8.5 billion loan would be signed when U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow and Turkish Economy Minister Ali Babacan meet at an international Monetary Fund get together in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, late in September.

Cagaptay points out the loan going through is contingent on two things: Ankara's commitment to economic discipline and cooperation over Iraq.

The trouble the Turks have with cooperating with the United States in Iraq was indicated by a remark Cicek made last week to visiting Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The United States, Cicek said, should not ignore its 57-year old friendship with Turkey for the friendship of two tribal leaders.

The derisive reference was to the two men who between them exercise authority in Iraqi Kurdistan. They are Masud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

The Turks have an intense, perennial fear that Iraqi Kurdistan might become a prosperous entity separated from the rest of Iraq. Hence their officials say over and over again the territorial integrity of Iraq must be maintained. In other words: no breakaway Iraqi Kurdistan. No amount of protestations by the Iraqi Kurdish leaders that all they want is autonomy within a federal Iraqi republic can shake the Turks' belief that if the Kurds get a chance, they will seek independence.

Were the 4 million or so Iraqi Kurds to become independent, or even prosper under their own rule in a federal Iraq, the Turks fear this would feed the separatist ambitions of their own 12 million or so Kurds who make up about one-fifth of the Turkish population.

Turkish Kurds have repeatedly risen up against the Ankara government during the 80 years the Turkish Republic has existed. A Kurdish separatist insurgency that began in 1984 went on for 14 years at a cost of some 35,000 lives and the devastation of large parts of southeastern Turkey. The conflict still flickers. Last Thursday, Turkish forces spotted 17 guerrillas in Batman province. In the ensuing firefight, seven guerrillas and two soldiers were killed.

The American view of the Kurds is very different. Barzani and Talabani put their militias at the disposal of U.S. forces, fighting alongside them in ridding the region of Saddam Hussein's presence. The Iraqi Kurds regard the Americans as friends and the U.S. command in Iraq feels the same way about them.

The political effect has been to enhance the authority of the two leaders and their parties. For Turkish hardliners, enhancement of Kurdish self-rule is intolerable and they have sought to weaken Kurdish authority in the region by promoting their own cousins, the Iraqi Turkmen, as a countervailing force. Hence, Ankara's support for the Iraqi Turkmen Front.

Although the Turkmen are the third-largest ethnic group in Iraq after the Arabs and Kurds, they probably number about 500,000 and not the 2 million or 3 million they claim. A focal point of the rivalry between the Kurds and the Turkmen, with the Turks standing behind them, is the oil center of Kirkuk. The Kurds are determined it must be the capital of their region in a federal Iraq. The Turkmen claim the city as their own and assert they are the majority of its population.

The potential for violent confrontation in this rivalry materialized last weekend. On Thursday, someone blew up a newly restored Shiite Turkmen shrine at the town of Tuz Khurmatu, near Kirkuk. In the rioting that followed, five Turkmen and three Kurds died. On Saturday, Turkmen staged protests in Kirkuk. Kurdish police killed three more Turkmen. To round off the weekend, grenades were fired on Sunday at statues in Kirkuk of two Turkmen heroes. The damage, this time, was negligible.

As to be expected, each side blames the other for unleashing the violence. Some Kurds suspect the disorder was the work of outsiders, possibly Turks. There is no evidence to support such suspicions. However, there is evidence of disturbing Turkish activities on other occasions.

In April, U.S. troops nabbed Turkish Special Operations soldiers trying to smuggle grenades, night-vision goggles and dozens of rifles, along with ITF banners, into Kirkuk. The Turks were politely escorted back to the border and their homeland.

Then on July 4, U.S. military again arrested Turkish Special Operations troops in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya. This time they were handcuffed, had hoods stuck over their heads and were bundled off to a U.S. military prison in Baghdad before being sent back to Turkey. Found with the Turks was a large quantity of explosives and weapons. Also found was a map of Kirkuk with the house of its Kurdish mayor, Abd al-Rahman Mustafa, marked on it.

So for the second time Turks were caught in what looked like a mission to destabilize Iraqi Kurdistan, using the ITF and perhaps providing an excuse for the Turkish military to intervene directly in Iraqi Kurdistan in the name of protecting the Turkmen. In recent days U.S. forces have twice raided the front's offices, setting off outcries in Turkey.

The conflict between Turkish fears of what is perceived as a major threat from the Iraqi Kurds and an American interest in maintaining the support of the Kurds as a stabilizing force in Iraq looks as if it may bedevil the U.S.-Turkish partnership for a long time to come.

4. - AP - "Iraqi Kurds, ethnic Turks sign agreement to prevent clashes":

ANKARA / 28 August 2003

An Iraqi Kurdish faction and an ethnic Turkish group in northern Iraq have signed an agreement aimed at preventing ethnic violence after clashes left 11 people dead last week, an Iraqi Kurdish official said Thursday.

The agreement was signed between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Iraqi Turkmen Front in the city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, said Bahros Galali, the Ankara representative of the Kurdish group.

Kirkuk is home to a potentially explosive mix of Kurds, ethnic Turks and Arabs. Kurds and ethnic Turks both have claims to the city, which is now ruled by a town council divided between ethnic groups. The Kirkuk region produces slightly less than half of Iraq's oil.

"We need peace and stability in the region," Galali said.

Ethnic Turks have blamed the PUK for the two days of fighting, but the Kurdish group has said it was the work of Saddam Hussein's sympathizers.

Under the agreement, the sides established a joint committee to bring the culprits to justice and emphasized the right of all groups to "live in peace and in a brotherly manner."

The sides promised financial assistance to the families of those killed and agreed to maintain a dialogue.

5. - Turkish Faily News - "Ozkok signals radical changes in army":

'We are following the great change taking place in our age and we are shaping our new security concepts accordingly. We are compelled to keep up with the change and with the speed -- and this can be achieved with qualified, intellectual personnel' says Ozkok

ANKARA / 28 August 2003

Just days after strong-worded criticisms of outgoing top generals on the government practices, Chief of Turkish General Staff Hilmi Ozkok, who is known for his reformist character, signalled a radical change in the army saying, "We should get rid of those who merely copy the past, march on the spot without becoming aware of the change."

"The new security climate requires that the personnel are more mature intellectually," stated Ozkok Tuesday, speaking at a ceremony, in which he gave honour medals to Land Forces Commander Aytac Yalman and Gendarmerie Forces Commander Sener Eruygur.

Recently many outgoing generals issued warnings for the Justice and Development Party government at the handover ceremonies.

National Security Council (MGK) Secretary-General Tuncer Kilinc, had said at the handover ceremony that there are some who currently quest for the caliphate and for Shariah, whereas they should be maintaining the secular republic and the one state, one nation, one language, one flag ideal.

In order to bring the argument triggered by the speeches made by outgoing generals to an end, Ozkok said he, his deputy and his secretary-general would speak on behalf of the army, and he branded the speeches as the personel views of the generals.

Ozkok said, the army should get rid of those who merely copy the past, march on the spot without becoming aware of the change.

"We are following the great change taking place in our age and we are shaping our new security concepts accordingly. We are compelled to keep up with the change and with the speed -- and this can be achieved with qualified, intellectual personnel. We must gain the personnel intellectual depth," he added.

Analysts say most of the outgoing generals are opposed to sending troops to Iraq or stipulate that first the "international legitimacy" condition be met, adding for that reason as of Aug. 30 a more harmonious group of commanders that would speak in one voice will be on duty.

The Turkish government recently considering sending peacekeepers to Iraq in an aim to fix ties with the United States and to have say in the restructuring of the neigboring country.

6. AFP - "Turkey issues arrest warrants for Uzan family members":

ANKARA / 28 August 2003

A Turkish court on Thursday issued arrest warrants targeting two members of the Uzan family, who are wanted by police on suspicion of fraud at their privately-owned Imar Bank, Anatolia news agency reported.

The warrants target the family patriarch, Kemal Uzan, and his brother Yavuz Uzan, the report said, adding that the younger son, Hakan Uzan, and another family member, Bahattin Uzan, were not currently threatened with arrest.

The Uzan family and several dozen senior figures from Imar Bank have been called to testify concerning allegations of financial irregularities at the bank, which was seized by the state in early July. Nine of the bank's former leaders were detained last week.

Turkey's banking watchdog this month uncovered a deficit of 2.2 billion euros (2.4 billion dollars) at the flagship bank. Turkish authorities have already taken a number of other measures against the family, including freezing their assets, spread across dozens of companies.

Police earlier this month launched a vigorous manhunt for Kemal and his son Hakan -- raiding several companies controlled by the family as well as a farm, an island hideaway in the Mediterranean and a yacht -- but have so far failed to locate them.

Cem Uzan, the eldest son, who launched his own political movement, the Youth Party, a year ago, has accused the government of hounding his family because of his party's rising popularity.

The Uzan empire includes energy and construction companies, several television networks as well as Turkey's second-biggest mobile phone company, Telsim.