12 December 2003

1. "Turkey is a European asset, and the EU should realize it", Last month’s terrorist attacks in Istanbul triggered a much-needed European debate over Turkey’s prospects for joining the European Union. According to one view, mostly defended by the continent’s Christian Democrats, integrating Turkey would amount to bringing Middle Eastern problems into a peaceful Europe.

2. "E.U. Brussels Summit: Ankara still has 'Cultural' Problems", a two-day E.U. summit commencing in Brussels today could be extended, as was seen at the Nice summit, as the parties attempt to iron out controversial and contentious issues in the E.U. constitution.

3. "No Military Action against PKK in Near Future", U.S., that does nothing against PKK fighters based in the Mount Kandil in Southern Kurdistan, decided to expel “Champions of People" which is the number one enemy of the mullah regime in Iran, from Iraq, reported the Turkish daily paper Hurriyet yesterday.

4. "Turkish Cypriot opposition says election victory will help Turkey's EU bid", the pro-EU Turkish Cypriot opposition said Friday a victory for their movement in Sunday's general elections will help Turkey's struggling bid to join the European Union.

5. "Cypriot hard-liner dismisses Turk fears", Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash said yesterday that he is in no rush to negotiate for the unity of this divided island and dismissed concerns that his hard-line position could undermine Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

6. "Turkey: using AIDS education as a form of inoculation", despite a comparatively low rate of infection, country’s growing sex sector has health experts worried.

1. - The Daily Star (Lebanon) - "Turkey is a European asset, and the EU should realize it":

12 December 2003 / by Omer Taspinar

Last month’s terrorist attacks in Istanbul triggered a much-needed European debate over Turkey’s prospects for joining the European Union. According to one view, mostly defended by the continent’s Christian Democrats, integrating Turkey would amount to bringing Middle Eastern problems into a peaceful Europe.

Others disagreed, however. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fisher argued that the EU, now more than ever, had to extend its hand to Turkey. The Turkish republic, they suggested, was attacked because it is secular, Muslim, pro-Western and democratic. They pointed out that Europe, by not embracing this unique example of stability and moderation in the Middle East, would display considerable shortsightedness.

Though not a European player, there is no doubt the United States also perceives Turkey in the same positive way. Washington has traditionally been a firm supporter of Turkey’s entry into the EU. The transatlantic rift, on the other hand, is complicating American efforts on Turkey’s behalf, and even at the best of times Europeans have been resentful of American meddling in their affairs. Now, with the polarization between Washington and the Franco-German couple over Iraq, American lobbying in Turkey’s favor would surely backfire.

Ultimately, it is not Washington, but an expanded 25-member EU, that will have the final word on Turkey. In exactly one year the EU will have to decide whether to start accession negotiations with Ankara, or to once again postpone them and offer kind words but no calendar for full membership. Turkey has been waiting for 40 years and has no patience left. Europe is fast approaching a turning point in its relations with Turkey. The country is a gigantic challenge, and the direction the EU will take next year will have crucial implications for Europe’s own identity, stability and foreign policy.

Let’s start with identity. Is Europe a Christian club? EU member-states can discuss the secular nature of a European constitution all they want, but at the end of the day it is not intellectual and legalistic debates that will determine how truly secular the continent has become, but whether Turkey is allowed in or kept out. The mirror image of the same identity question is multiculturalism. Europeans may think they are already multicultural thanks to the nearly 15 million Muslims living in their midst. Yet only if a major Muslim country is included in the EU will Europe become officially multicultural. Turkish membership, therefore, represents the ultimate litmus test that Europe can embrace a truly secular, multicultural identity.

What about stability in Europe? Can the Balkans, Turkish-Greek relations, Cyprus and the Caucasus be really stable if Turkey is antagonized? There is a good reason why Greece, Turkey’s traditional rival in Europe, has turned into one of the most ardent backers of Ankara’s entry into the EU. The Greeks have come to realize that a European Turkey is the best neighbor they could have. Without the prospect of EU membership, the Turkish political and economic systems could easily go off track on liberalism and democracy. An unstable Turkey could wreak havoc in the region and this should be the last thing Western Europeans let happen.

Finally, a third reason for including Turkey in the EU is foreign policy. Can Europe pretend to have a Middle East policy if it sidelines Turkey? Thanks to its good relations with the Arab world and Israel, Turkey presents an ideal European venue to jump-start Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Since it borders Syria, Iraq and Iran, Turkey is also a frontline democratic model the EU should embrace and promote. Such a positive and constructive European vision for Turkey would also significantly improve transatlantic relations and create the desperately needed multilateral synergy required for a democratic and prosperous Arab world.

Seldom has a country had the ability to play such a crucial role in shaping the identity, security and foreign policy of an entire continent. Turkey, luckily, presents such a case. It is high time the Europeans started thinking about Turkey as an asset rather than a liability.

*Omer Taspinar is co-director of the Turkey program at the Brookings Institution and a professor at Johns Hopkins University, SAIS, in Washington. He wrote this commentary for THE DAILY STAR

2. - Zaman - "E.U. Brussels Summit: Ankara still has 'Cultural' Problems":

BRUSSELS / 12 December 2003 / by Selcuk Gultasli

A two-day E.U. summit commencing in Brussels today could be extended, as was seen at the Nice summit, as the parties attempt to iron out controversial and contentious issues in the E.U. constitution.

Prior the summit, Turkish representatives Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul attended a luncheon for liberal party leaders hosted by Belgium Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt. Gul met with E.U. Commissioner for Enlargement Günther Verheugen and Erdogan had contacts with his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi, the current E.U. term president and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, the next E.U. term president, to seek support for Turkey's accession. Erdogan and Gul later attended a dinner hosted by Turkish Ambassador to the E.U. Oguz Demiralp.

Poland Threatens to Veto

On the eve of the summit, in a meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski threatened to veto proposed constitutional amendments. Poland and Spain complain that the constitution draft lessens the powers given to them at the Nice summit. Britain strongly opposes proposals that decisions on foreign policy be reached by way of absolute majority. Apparently, if the leaders cannot reach concensus, the matter could be postponed.

The second issue the leaders are trying to reach concensus on is whether there should be ascription to Christianity in the E.U. constitution. Gathering in Brussels earlier this week, E.U. foreign ministers had failed to concur on the subject, and left the decision to the leaders. France and Belgium oppose ascription. Turkey is in the very interesting position of being the only Muslim candidate country.

A draft of the post-summit report states that Ankara has edged closer to the E.U. with the reforms it has made. The statement calls on Turkey to put more effort into finding a solution in Cyprus and indicates that a solution would greatly bolster Turkey's membership prospects. While acknowledging the ground Ankara has covered in fulfilling the Copenhagen economic criteria, the draft suggests: judicial independence and more effective execution; providing fundamental freedoms, normalizing military-civilian relations; improving the situation in the south-east, guaranteeing cultural rights; and addressing macro-economic problems.

Ankara's 'Cultural' Problem

In a statement at Demiralp's dinner, Erdogan said he did not foresee any changes to the policy on Cyprus in the post-summit report.

However, the Prime Minister said that the report reflected discussions about taking strong steps to guarantee cultural rights in south-east. He stressed that Turkey would continue its reforms and pointed out that the reforms were not the E.U.'s, but Turkey's. Confident that Christianity would not be given preference in the E.U. constitution, Erdogan is also hopeful that Turkey will be given a date to start membership negotiations. He added that it would not be the end of the world if a date was not given.

After talks with Commissioner Verheugen, Gul said that Verheugen referred 'cultural matter' in the draft is added in mistakes. Turkish side stated that an E.U. warning of taking strong steps for 'solution of macroeconomic issues' in the draft also disturbed Ankara.

3. - Kurdish Observer - "No Military Action against PKK in Near Future":

12 December 2003

U.S., that does nothing against PKK fighters based in the Mount Kandil in Southern Kurdistan, decided to expel “Champions of People" which is the number one enemy of the mullah regime in Iran, from Iraq, reported the Turkish daily paper Hurriyet yesterday.

The Iraqi Interim Governance Council, under U.S. control, announced that the decision would be implemented by the end of the month. There are rumors that the main reason for this rather rapid decision was a kind of Al-Qaeda bargain between Iran and U.S., said the source.

In a press conference, Eric Edelman, U.S. Ambassador to Ankara, told journalists that U.S. President Bush promised to terminate Iraq’s position as a base for terrorism. Edelman said; PKK is also included in this.

However, the U.S. official said no military operation against PKK organization is planned to take place in the near future.

4. - AFP - "Turkish Cypriot opposition says election victory will help Turkey's EU bid":

NICOSIA / 12 December 2003 / by Sibel Utku

The pro-EU Turkish Cypriot opposition said Friday a victory for their movement in Sunday's general elections will help Turkey's struggling bid to join the European Union.

Mehmet Ali Talat, whose Republican Turkish Party (CTP) hopes to win the polls, also voiced confidence that his bitter political rival, Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, would not dare deny him the mandate to form a government as he had repeatedly threatened.

The polls in the tiny self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) carry unprecedented importance. The opposition, in case of victory, has promised to revive the stalled peace process in long-divided Cyprus and work for the island's reunification ahead of its accession to the EU next year.

"Our victory will be to the benefit first of Turkish Cypriots and then of Turkey," Talat told AFP at his party headquarters in the divided capital Nicosia.

"Otherwise, Turkey's European perspective ... will darken," Talat, 51, said. The CTP and two other opposition parties pledge to resume peace talks with the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot side on the basis of a UN plan to reunite Cyprus ahead of its EU accession. Denktash rejected the plan in March.

Brussels says failure to resolve the conflict will undermine Turkey's own aspirations to join the EU and leave the Turkish Cypriots outside the enlargement process. Turkey has maintained some 30,000 troops in the TRNC since 1974 when it occupied northern Cyprus in response to an Athens-engineered coup aimed at uniting the strategic Mediterranean island with Greece.

Cyprus' Turkish and Greek communities have remained divided since despite numerous international peace efforts. The europhobic Denktash has threatened to deny Talat the prime minister's mandate, even if he wins, on the grounds that his policies are against national interests.

Talat dismissed such a prospect, but warned of social unrest if it happened.

"People will not just sit down and wait for Denktash ... This is not a game; this is something serious," he said."

But Denktash will not be able to resist international pressure and the pressure of Turkey because Turkey has made it clear it will work with the elected government. "He will succumb at the end of the day," Talat said.

Public opinion polls in the TRNC are generally unreliable, but surveys suggest a neck-and-neck race between the opposition and the pro-Denktash ruling parties.

"If the Cyprus problem is not resolved there is no way for Turkey to get a date" for accession talks with the EU, said Mustafa Akinci, head of the second opposition party, the Peace and Democracy Movement.

"It is high time for Turkey to cooperate for a solution," he said. Turkey has for years backed Denktash's hardline policies. But Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who came to power last year, has criticized the veteran leader and advocated a settlement in Cyprus to facilitate Turkey's progress towards EU membership.

Even though Erdogan has since backed away from openly critizing Denktash, his position in favor of a solution has encouraged the Turkish Cypriot opposition, which believes his zig-zagging is the result of pressure from hardliners in the Turkish army and foreign ministry.

"For the first time the interests of a Turkish prime minister and the Turkish Cypriots have merged," said Ali Erel, a businessman-turned-politician who already hangs the EU flag in the office of his Solution and EU Party, the third opposition force running in Sunday's elections.

5. - AP - "Cypriot hard-liner dismisses Turk fears":

NICOSIA / 12 December 2003 / by Louis Meixler

Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash said yesterday that he is in no rush to negotiate for the unity of this divided island and dismissed concerns that his hard-line position could undermine Turkey's bid to join the European Union.

Denktash added that he will go down in history as the man who did "not allow Cyprus to become a Greek island." He called on Turkey, which maintains troops on the island, to guarantee the north's security "forever."

Turkish Cypriots go to the polls Sunday for crucial parliamentary elections. They will be asked to choose between parties that support Denktash's hard-line stance and parties that back quick negotiations according to a United Nations plan.

The vote occurs before a May deadline after which the European Union will admit Cyprus as a member, either as a divided or reunified island.

If the island enters divided, EU laws and benefits will apply only in the Greek Cypriot south. The 40,000 troops that Turkey has in the north technically will be occupying EU soil, which could harm Turkey's bid to join the bloc.

EU members also want Turkey, which subsidizes the northern economy, to help solve the divisions before it can become a member. That pressure will be applied as Turkey, the only Muslim nation in NATO, plays a critical role in the war on terrorism.

Turkey has peacekeepers in Afghanistan, has volunteered peacekeepers for Iraq, and recently was targeted by suicide bombers who killed 61 people in Istanbul.

Washington has strongly pushed for closer ties between Turkey and Europe.

Denktash dismissed concerns that his hard-line position could jeopardize Turkey's EU bid and said that UN-backed talks for reunification would lead to domination by the wealthier and larger Greek Cypriot south. "Turkey is not going to be received as a member for 10 to 15 years, they tell Turkey," he said. "So why pressure Turkey to let go of Cyprus?

"All this hurry, `finish it by date so and so otherwise the next day will be calamity' hasn't worked in the past," said Denktash, who has led the Turkish Cypriot community since the 1960s. He added he wanted "effective Turkish guarantees" for the security of Cyprus.

"We need it forever," he said.

Polls indicate that the electorate is deeply divided, with two pro-EU parties and two other pro-Denktash parties splitting most of the vote and none having an outright majority. There are also three smaller parties.

6. - The Daily Star - "Turkey: using AIDS education as a form of inoculation":

Despite a comparatively low rate of infection, country’s growing sex sector has health experts worried

ISTANBUL / 12 December 2003 / by David O’Byrne

As AIDS spreads unchecked among Turkey’s huge unregulated sex sector, NGOs hope that a new education campaign in schools can encourage young people to adopt safe sex habits, and change deeply engrained attitudes to “sex workers.”

On the surface AIDS would seem to present a comparatively minor problem in Turkey. Since recording its first case of infection in 1985, the disease appears to have spread far more slowly than in many of its European neighbors.

According to the latest official figures published in June this year, only 1,601 Turks have been found to be HIV positive, of whom currently only 90 are being treated for the full-blown disease.

“Of those known to have become infected with HIV around 60 percent are believed to be through heterosexual contact, 10 percent through intravenous drug use and 10 percent from homosexual contact. The other 20 percent, though, don’t know how they became infected, which is worrying,” says Aygen Tumer, head of Ankara’s Hacetepe University AIDS Treatment and Research Center.

The center, Turkey’s first dedicated AIDS center, is currently treating 30 patients with full-blown AIDS using combined drug therapy and has also been at the forefront of trying to educate the Turkish public about the dangers and realities of the disease.

“But the official statistics only tell a very small part of the story,” said Tumer.

“The disease takes eight to 10 years to show itself, and many people don’t realize they are infected until they become ill.”

But while Tumer urges caution on trying to estimate the real number of HIV infections, others are warning of an impending epidemic.

“The real figure should be somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000,” says Muhtar Cokar, head of the Human Resources Development Foundation, a Turkish NGO which has been working to spread the word about the dangers of AIDS.

Cokar points to Turkey’s huge unregulated sex sector as the medium by which he believes the infection is being spread.

“In Istanbul there are 100 registered sex workers who have medical check-ups twice a week and are tested for HIV every three months, but according to our research the number of unregistered sex workers in the city may be a high as 30,000. They are a major factor in the spread of AIDS.”

But far from blaming the prostitutes themselves for the spread of the disease, Cokar cautions that they in fact are the hidden victims.

“Unregulated sex workers are not themselves the cause of infection, it’s the un-safe sex behavior,” said Cokar, explaining that a high percentage of those working illegally are illegal migrants from former Soviet-bloc countries or are from marginal social groups such as transvestites or drug addicts.

“They are usually controlled by minders and don’t have the power to negotiate safe with their clients,” said Cokar.

“It’s almost impossible to reach them,” agrees Tumer, “They have no education about the dangers of unsafe sex, and they rarely use condoms.”

Dubbed “Natashas” by the Turkish media, migrant sex workers have been regarded as a problem in Turkey since their first appearance in the country following the collapse of the Soviet empire.

Turkish police have scored numerous success in tracking down illegal brothels and deporting their employees with planned raids often being broadcast live on TV in an effort to convince the public that they are tackling the issue.

But Cokar warns that such tactics are counterproductive in the fight against the spread of AIDS.
“Many of them are forced to come here and work. The more restrictive the environment, the more underground the trade becomes, and the more difficult it is to educate both the sex workers and their clients about the need to adopt safe sex practices,” said Cokar.

“Unfortunately, there is currently is no program aimed at the clients,” he added, explaining that the client base is already shifting, as many migrant sex workers are forced out of the bigger cities to work in Turkey’s coastal resorts.

“Sex tourism already exists and will be a big problem in the future,” said Cokar. “Not just men looking for East European sex workers, but also older Western women looking for young Turkish men. The perception seems to be that Turkey is a country with a low incidence of AIDS, this will not be the case for long.”

Indeed, as two-thirds of registered AIDS cases in Turkey are heterosexual males aged 20-49, Western sex tourists already seem particularly at risk.

“It’s very important that tourists take the same normal precautions they should take at home,” said Cokar.

But while the struggle to reach Turkey’s sex workers and their clients is one that currently looks like a lost cause, Cokar is hopeful that a new health program being introduced by the normally very conservative Ministry of Education may help to stem the epidemic.

“The inclusion of a sex education component in the new health education program in high schools is really a good beginning,” said Cokar, explaining the the lessons ­ which will cover far wider issues than just sexual health ­ will be given to all children aged 11 and older.

Changing patterns of sexual behavior is not just a matter of good health for the Turkish public, there is also a strong economic imperative.

“The cost of treatment for AIDS victims is borne by the state,” explained Tumer. “Currently patients get the best therapy available, but its very expensive. If the number of patients increases drastically, we don’t know whether that will still be possible.”