13
February 2003
1. "The lack of visits is a political decision", KADEK President Abdullah Ocalan’s lawyers Aysel Tugluk and Bekir Kaya who have not been able to see their client on the grounds of “bad weather conditions” for 11 weeks relate their opinions on the matter.
2. "Turkey denies British troops role on border", tension raised by conflict with Kurds.
3. "Presence of Turkish troops unsettles Iraq Kurds", by Gareth Smyth .
4. "War's Fog, Democracy's Light", it's a messy business, building a war coalition. In the process, democratic principles can get trampled, and, sadly, Turkey is a prime example of how this can happen.
5. "Former French president opposed to EU membership for Turkey", former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing, in charge of writing a future European constitution, reiterated late Tuesday his opposition to Turkey's membership in the European Union.
6. "Pressures for a Cyprus deal", pressure is growing to find a way of reuniting Cyprus so that both sides can join the European Union together in 2004.
1. - Kurdish Observer - "The lack of visits is a political decision":
KADEK President Abdullah Ocalan’s lawyers Aysel Tugluk and Bekir Kaya who have not been able to see their client on the grounds of “bad weather conditions” for 11 weeks relate their opinions on the matter.
ISTANBUL / 12 February 2003 / by Cengiz Kapmaz
We talked to lawyers Aysel Tugluk and bekir Kaya on the subject
of lack of visits with their client for 11 weeks.
-You have not been able to see your client Abdullah Ocalan for 10 weeks. What is the inside story of it?
Bekir Kaya: I can say that the so-called technical problems do not reveal the truth. For me there are political approaches behind it. Within the last 4 years serious steps towards democratization and peace have been taken. Opportunities to solve the Kurdish question peacefully, without violence have been presented. But these steps have not been turned into a change of mentality, into an account of armed conflicts. After steps taken by Mr Ocalan the Turkish state had to take some steps but it was not a main change in policies. Our client said the following to us: “The lack of visits is a political decision. It arises from the development of the democratic line launched by us. Forces making the international conspiracy do not want this line to develop. They will bring a different policy into the agenda for it. Capital punishment is abolished on the paper but there may be policies that tries to erase me from memories, to cut my bonds with the society.”
-Will the isolation continue?
Aysel Tugluk: Mr Ocalan made a striking statement at the visit on November 27: “They may not allow me to see you from now on.” At the same meeting he stated that the 4-year-old process had completed its mission, from now on a new process would begin. But he also underscored that he would play a role for peace and democracy once again. He stress that he would explain the details of the process at the next meetings.
-Was the new process seen as annoying by someones?
It is of course striking that he has a foresight at the time. Therefore it is not true to think the isolation as arising from violations, it is a decision with international dimensions. It is very important to see that it has corresponded to the possible war in Iraq. I think that they try to create provocation and violence through his solitary confinement.
Reactions are not efficient enough
-What efforts did you make against the isolation?
B.K.: We applied to Public Prosecutor of Bursa, Ministry of Justice and General Directorate of Prisons, then we requested to meet with state officials, Parliamentarial Human Rights Commission and AKP administrators but most of them were turned down. The last week we went to the Parliament with signatures of 250 lawyers in hand and met with Human Rights Commission Chairman. We also met with the Turkish Bar Associations’ Union and submitted a dossier on the matter as well as the signatures. Again we met with Deputy Prime Minister Ertugrul Yalcinbayir and visited all embassies, not forgetting all non-governmental organisations.
-How are the reactions of the non-governmental organisations?
A.T.: They are all like-minded. All of them said that the isolation was contrary to the democracy. But Mr Ocalan is mentioned everybody stops at one point. Non-governmental organisations have not been able to make a powerful drive to solve the problem. The reactions were undersized.
-You related the matter to Justice Minister Cemil Cicek? What did you talk at the meeting?
B.K: We requested to change the laws on equality, just trial and discrimination, and to ensure our weekly visits to Imrali. We said that there were extreme worries about his health. We said that our client had been a determining factor for the peace climate but the solitary confinement in which he was being kept threatening it. The Minister answered, “It is not true to take it as a matter creating tension.” He said, “You have not been able to see it on the grounds of bad weather conditions. Have not you yet finished your debates about the case when 4 years have passed?” When we asked his opinion about to secure a suitable vehicle for the visits he did not give an answer. Generally he did not reply our questions directly but said he would take our requests into consideration.
“No reply to our demands”
-They say because of “bad weather conditions” you cannot go to Imrali. Is it true?
A.T: If they assign the other boat that transport food, supplies and doctors to the island, then bad weather conditions cease to be a problem.
-About a thousand men are said to be in charge of the island. Did you investigate how their needs are supplied?
B.K: It is supplied by a boat called Imrali 10. There are security boats strong enough to every bad weather conditions.
-Did you make efforts to solve the boat problem?
A.T: We applied to every officials from public prosecutor to the ministry itself time and again.
-What did they replied?
B.K: They did not answered directly but said that they would take the matter into consideration.
-Your lack of visits put the isolation into the agenda again. How is it dealt with in national and international laws and agreements?
A.T: As far as the domestic laws are concerned, people have the right to access their legal consultant and it should be confidential. Again the Constitution has an article about right to defence. For international law there are articles to use right to defence effectively. The present situation constitutes a serious right violation as far as right to just trial is concerned.
-Ocalan’s case is taken to ECHR. Have you applied ECHR?
B.K: We have informed ECHR. We requested from it to intervene the situation. The court officials stated that they would take the problem into consideration when they make the final verdict.
-After the latest amendment to the Anti-Terror Law, relatives and lawyers have the right to communication by telephone. Did you apply to enjoy the right?
A.T: We requested it both verbally and on paper. But our demand was turned down by the General Directorate of Prisons saying that the right could be granted only on certain conditions.
-Could you describe the room in which Ocalan lives?
B.K: The room is 12 square meters. It includes a bath and toilet. It includes a bed, a table and a chair.
-Does he have the opportunity to speak someone?
A.T: He can speak with the prison officials technically and with doctors when they go to the island. He has no other social communication.
-How is the prison administred?
B.K: Imrali Prison is ruled by a special Imrali Closed Prison Regulations. It is officially administred by the Justice Ministry. But its security is in the authority of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and military units. Unfortunately we do not have much information.
“What makes me live is the bond with my people”
-How do you go to the island?
B.K.: We go to the island on Wednesdays. On Tuesday we send the list of names to Gemlik Communication Bureau. We are ready at the bureau at 07.00 a.m. on Wednesday. We are seached and then we board the boat “Imrali 9” and go to the island. There we are searched once more, then taken to the building in which our clients are waiting. All procedures and searches are done again. Then we are taken to the room for the visit.
-Do you see him face-to-face?
A.T.: Yes, we do.
-Can you touch him?
A.T: No, it is banned. We are warned before the visit. Touch with hand is banned, any trade is banned. We cannot take anything to the room anyway, we do not have the right to take even a pencil. There they give us papers and pencils. After the meeting they are taken back. If they consider the papers harmless they give them back.
-Could you describe the room? Do you sit at a table or is there a glass partition between you and your client?
B.K: There is no glass partition there. There is a long table in the middle of the room. There are chairs at the two ends of the table. At one Mr Ocalan and at the other lawyers sit. Between us there is a distance about 2 meters.
A visit for an hour…
A.T: Our visit is limited by an hour, if we exceed the limit they intervene. After an hour they take us outside and him to his room.
-You have been visiting Ocalan for about 4 years. Have you noticed any change in your client physically and psychologically?
B.K: At the beginning he lost a considerable weight but after a while it stopped. There is a loss of weight but it is not unhealthy. As for the psychological aspect, he has said that his conditions are very grave. He has said that those who do not have a powerful belief cannot live even a day there. He has stated that a day there is like 6 months. “I renew myself here everyday, I produce my cells again and again, therefore I survive,” he has said. Mr Ocalan has stressed that there is a powerful bond between himself and his people and that it is the driving force that makes him survive.
People are curious about his health
A.T: He does not want his special condition to be put into the agenda. He has stated that he suffers from an allergic cold due to humidity. But he has also said the following: I can control my health by myself. My health is related with the developments. Of course all information are based on our visit 10 weeks ago. As we do not know under which conditions he is being kept for the last 10 weeks it is not possible for us to deliver an opinion on his health condition.
-How does Ocalan pass his days?
B.K: He wakes up early. He has a right to go open air
for an hour, he makes exercises. Then he eats his breakfast and reads.
After the lunch he make exercises for an hour again, then reads till
evening and sometimes writes. In the evening he reads the newspapers.
Then he sleeps. He sleeps for 4-5 hours a day. 
2. - The Guardian - "Turkey denies British troops role on border":
Tension raised by conflict with Kurds
BRUSSELS / 13 February 2003 / by Owen Bowcott and Ian
Black 
Turkey is withholding permission for the deployment of British troops
in support of American ground forces preparing a northern front against
Saddam Hussein's regime. A formal request made three weeks ago has still
not been answered.
News of the delay emerged as Turkey's foreign minister, Yasar Yakis,
flew to Washington to smooth its troubled military cooperation with
the US. The row within Nato over deploying troops to the Turkish border
with Iraq last night also remained deadlocked.
One Istanbul newspaper has reported Turkish military sources as saying that senior officers are reluctant to accept British troops because they fear the British "are trying to influence the Iraqi Kurds to create distrust for Ankara".
The formal request was made in late January when the chief of the defence staff, Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, met his Turkish counterpart, General Hilmi Ozkok and visited the Turkish airbase at Incirlik, where a British squadron of Jaguars enforces the no-fly zone over northern Iraq. The 16 air assault brigade, several thousand strong, consists of two battalions of the Parachute regiment as well as commando units, helicopters and engineers.
The delay reflects growing anxiety about the turmoil which might erupt in northern Iraq in the event of a war. Washington insists Turkish forces in northern Iraq should be under the command of American generals; Turkey, which has up to 15,000 soldiers in the Kurdish semi-autonomous enclave, has dismissed the request.
There are fears of clashes between Turkish forces and Kurdish groups. Turkish soldiers are likely to begin search and destroy missions against the last mountain refuges occupied by Kadek, formerly known as the the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
The threat of Turkish military intervention has already triggered a threat from Kadek - on ceasefire for the past three years - that it may resume its terror campaign. Earlier this week Osman Ocalan, the brother of the group's jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan, said militants would reinfiltrate Turkey if Turkish troops entered the region.
"If Turkey sees the issue as a vendetta and starts an annihilation war, the [Ankara] government will seal its own end," Ocalan said. "The armed resistance will be carried out in the widest possible area."
In Brussels, Nato's 19 ambassadors met for the third day of a crisis that has shaken the alliance to its foundations and risked rendering it irrelevant as the US loses patience with its European allies.
France appeared determined to block a possible compromise over the issue of defending Turkey in case of attack by Iraq despite proposals by the secretary general, George Robertson, to drop earlier requests that European al lies replace US troops serving in the Balkans. France, Germany and Belgium vetoed the original proposals on Monday. The view in Brussels is that they are unlikely to budge until after the chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, reports to the security council tomorrow.
Turkey, invoking Nato's protection in anticipation of war with Iraq, has formally requested the deployment of Awacs early-warning planes, Patriot anti-missile batteries and specialised infantry units trained to resist attacks by chemical and biological weapons. Some commentators suggest Nato's deployments could be used for offensive as a well as defensive operations.
Along the Turkish border with Iraq, householders have begun putting plastic sheeting over doors and windows or creating sealed, safe rooms to protect them against possible Iraqi gas attacks.
Mr Yakis's talks in Washington will focus on Turkey's
request for extra cash for agreeing to open its bases to US forces.
The Turkish parliament will vote next Tuesday on whether to formally
authorise military cooperation.
3. - The Financial Times - "Presence of Turkish troops unsettles Iraq Kurds":
BARMERNI / 13 February 2003 / by Gareth Smyth 
A group of Turkish soldiers played football yesterday on a disused Iraqi
airfield, with around 20 tanks parked at the edge of the tarmac or dug
in nearby.
A dozen kilometres from the border with Turkey and overlooked by peaks
rising to over 2,000 metres, Bamerni was built for Iraqi government
campaigns against Kurdish guerrillas and last used by fixed-wing aircraft
in 1991.
Local Iraqi Kurds are unsure whether to regard the Turkish presence there as a hangover from old conflicts or the bridgehead to a new one.
Turkish troops came into northern Iraq in the 1990s to fight the guerrillas of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers party), the militant group that fought for independence for Turkey's 15m Kurds.
These incursions were made largely with the agreement of the Kurdistan Democratic party (KDP), the Iraqi Kurdish group that took control of this part of northern Iraq when Saddam Hussein withdrew his forces in November 1991 after the US imposed a "no fly" zone. But today, the villagers see no reason for Turkish forces to stay.
"The PKK have gone, so the Turks should go," said Ozan Sayyed, a shopkeeper who fought the PKK. "This is not their territory."
The Iraqi Kurdish leadership agrees. It is resisting a Turkish proposal to enhance its forces inside northern Iraq to provide "aid and assistance" for refugees during any US war with Iraq.
"We oppose any Turkish unilateral military intervention, whatever the pretext," says Hoshar Zebari, a senior KDP official.
Three days of talks were held in Ankara late last week, bringing together officials from the two main Iraqi Kurdish parties, Turkey and Zalmay Khalilzad, US president George W Bush's special envoy. They appear, however, to have failed to reach agreement on Turkey's proposal.
The Iraqi Kurdish leadership does not expect a repeat of the 1991 refugee crisis, when hundreds of thousands of Kurds fled into Turkey and Iran as Saddam crushed the Kurdish uprising following the Gulf war.
"If we want the Turks{'} humanitarian help we'll ask for it," said Mr Zebari. "Iraq is our country, not theirs. Since 1991, we have rebuilt the villages of northern Iraq, and people will not try to flee over any borders."
Turkish troops, he said, would not fight Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader, and increasing their numbers in Iraq would only inflame tension. "Turkish intervention would prompt intervention from Iran, and would excite opposition from local people. We [the KDP] have not yet decided whether we would [militarily] confront the Turkish presence."
The KDP claims some 1,500 Turkish troops are currently inside northern Iraq, deployed in the remote mountainous area north-east and east of the city of Dohuk.
Turkish officials are adamant that Iraq's territorial integrity should be maintained. But Ankara is anxious also to guard against Kurdish separatist ambitions, including a resurgence by the PKK. While taking at face value reassurances by Iraqi Kurds that they have no such plans, Ankara says that the Iraqi Kurds, as one official puts it, "will have to match their words with deeds on the day after".
Last week's meeting with the Iraqi Kurdish opposition parties was, one Turkish official says, "an occasion to reiterate the principles on which parties agree, such as the maintenance of Iraq's territorial integrity and sovereignty. Nobody has any problems with that."
The Iraqi Kurds, for their part, claim Turkey plans to occupy a strip of land inside Iraq. "We don{'}t know whether they mean 5km, 10km or 15km," said a Kurdish official. "It could be enough to cut us off from Syria and Iran, as well as Turkey. And we don{'}t know how long it would last."
Kurdish officials believe Turkey wants to exert pressure on them not to "land-grab" the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, which is just outside the current Kurdish zone, and to which Turkey intermittently asserts a claim based partly on the citýs large Turkomen population.
Mr Zebari warns that the Kurds are "keeping all options open" over Kirkuk. While the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the other main Kurdish group, lack the weaponry to resist Turkish armour and aircraft, they are masters at mountain warfare.
Crucially, they realise any clashes would embarrass the US and complicate their intervention. Privately, Kurdish officials admit the US has told them it will seize Kirkuk before the Turks can - while telling the Turks it will seize the city before the Kurds can.
But the Kurds, like the rest of the Iraqi opposition, stress their opposition to any US "occupation" of Iraq. Underlying the growing mistrust between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds is a wider lack of co-ordination between Washington's nominal allies.
Turkish border police have this week prevented members
of the 65-member Iraqi opposition co-ordinating committee crossing to
northern Iraq for a broad-based conference due to start within the next
week. Despite the four-day Eid al Adha, the Muslim world{'}s most sacred
holiday, participants are gradually gaining clearance to enter northern
Iraq through Iran and Syria. Additional reporting by Leyla Boulton in
Ankara.
4. - The Christian Sience Monitor - "War's Fog, Democracy's Light":
11 February 2003
It's a messy business, building a war coalition. In the process,
democratic principles can get trampled, and, sadly, Turkey is a prime
example of how this can happen.
Last week, the Turkish parliament voted to allow US military engineers
into their country to upgrade bases and ports. The work is necessary
to prepare for a possible attack on Iraq by US troops waiting to be
deployed to Turkey, which shares a 218-mile border with northern Iraq.
By moving ahead with preparations, the parliament rightly contributed to the only condition that ever prompts Saddam Hussein to back down - the threat of real force. And by allowing for the opportunity of a US invasion from the north, Turkey is making a two-pronged attack on Iraq possible - a strategy that could well shorten a war and help secure victory.
But how the parliament carried out this vote represents a step backward for a country eager to show its democratic credentials even as it seeks European Union membership: The parliamentary debate and vote were closed to the public and will remain secret for the next 10 years.
"You are afraid of the people!" yelled one legislator, amid desk banging from the opposition. Indeed, opinion polls show 80 percent of Turks oppose war with Iraq. Yet if the leadership of Turkey's governing party can make a case to its lawmakers, it can make a case to the people. Too bad it was only after the secret vote that Turkey's prime minister addressed the nation, explaining it was better for Turkey to be involved in war planning than to be shut out from it.
Lawmakers in the US Congress can also duck accountability - through voice vote. But floor debate is rarely closed (usually only for consideration of classified material), and objecting lawmakers can demand recorded votes. In Turkey, the opposition - about a third of parliament - had no such right, and the subject can hardly be described as classified.
Despite its democratic failing, Ankara came out on the right side of the issue. By turning to its parliament at all, it also showed more commitment to representative government than American friends like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt.
Yet what is Turkey's reward for even this halfway step? A slap in the face from its NATO allies Germany, France, and Belgium, which at the last hour yesterday blocked a proposal to start planning the alliance's defense of Turkey, in case it's attacked by Iraq.
The trio says such a decision would force the "logic of war," but Turkey correctly counters that it's merely contingency planning. With NATO built on the idea of collective defense, it is hard to dispute the US defense secretary's characterization of the blocking action as a "disgrace."
It's not too late for improvement. On Feb. 18, Turkey's
parliament votes on allowing US troop deployment. That debate should
be open, and votes recorded. NATO, meanwhile, was considering Turkey's
case as the Monitor went to press. If the vote has not been reversed,
there's still time.
5. - AFP - "Former French president opposed to
EU membership for Turkey":
WASHINGTON / 12 February 2003
Former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing, in charge of writing
a future European constitution, reiterated late Tuesday his opposition
to Turkey's membership in the European Union.
"Obviously, they are not Europeans at the moment and they will not be members for the next five, seven years," Giscard d'Estaing said here at a conference organized by former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger. "I don't want to attack, underestimate Turkey. It is a great country, they have a great culture," the former president continued. "Are they fully Europeans? No."
Last December, Giscard D'Esgaing said in an interview that Turkey's admission would spell the end of the European Union. An EU summit held in Copenhagen that same month decided that the union would consider the issue of Turkey's membership in 2004, based on reforms implemented in the country by then.
Commenting on a row within NATO sparked by the decision
of France, Germany and Belgium to block contingency planning for Turkey
in the event of a war in Iraq, Giscard D'Estaing said that NATO "has
to rethink its full purpose, its role."
6. - BBC - "Pressures for a Cyprus deal":
13 February 2003 / by Tabitha Morgan 
Pressure is growing to find a way of reuniting Cyprus so that both sides
can join the European Union together in 2004.
The leaders of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities have been given until the end of February to make a decision on a UN plan drawn up by Kofi Annan to end the island's 28-year partition.
But the chances of reaching an agreement are complicated by growing dissatisfaction amongst Turkish Cypriots in the north with their leader Rauf Denktash, and by presidential elections in the south.
For Turkish Cypriots, the priority over the past few years has been making enough money just to buy essentials.
Struggle 
Their economy has suffered because Northern Cyprus trades solely
with Turkey - the only country which recognises it.
For businessman Fikri Toros, it is a struggle to compete in the mainland
Turkish market.
"It has been extremely difficult to run a business," he said. "The goods and services are all directed to Northern Cyprus via Turkey, and all these not only cause tremendous inconvenience, but also a very high cost which makes us less competitive."
Tens of thousands of Turkish Cypriots have taken to the
streets in recent weeks to voice their dissatisfaction with the state
of the economy and the leadership of Rauf Denktash.
They blame him for refusing to agree to Kofi Annan's plan to reunite
the island and allow them a share in the benefits of EU membership.
Opposition politician Mehmet Ali Talat believes Mr Denktash has been surprised by the strength of public opinion.
Sticking point
"He is alienated from the community," he said. "It is the first time in Cyprus that both the labourers and the businessmen are all together... and they want a solution."
All Turkish Cypriots will agree that they want a solution.
But many reject the idea of Greek Cypriot refugees returning to their homes in Northern Cyprus and living alongside them again.
Vedat Celik, a retired senior diplomat, said: "Was there ever confidence in the strict sense? Imagine two major communities here who have shared this island for 500 years and there are no inter-marriages.
"Does that give you a hint? There is no Cypriot national anthem. There is no allegiance to Cypriotism.
"Now, all of a sudden, Annan comes and wants to make us Cypriots and make a Cypriot nation. Well, I think this is too ambitious, to say the least."
In the southern part of the island, opposition to the plan is led by the influential Greek Orthodox church. Here, the search for peace is complicated by presidential elections in February.
The choice is between the current president - the more conciliatory Glafcos Clerides and hardliner Tassos Papadopoulos.
Political analyst Sofronis Sofroniou believes the rejectionists have the upper hand.
Common ground
"The rejectionist camp has really distorted the plan, presenting it as worse than it is," he said.
"Clerides gave instructions to all government officials not to discuss the plan in order not to reveal negotiating positions, and so there has been silence on the part of one side that accepts the plan, and there's been a lot of rhetoric and commotion by the rejectionist camp."
The hope is that in just over a month from now, the leaders of the two communities will have found enough common ground to accept the Annan plan.
If they don't, there may not be another opportunity to
reunite the island for a generation or more.