12 June 2003

1. "Karasu: The deadlock leads to abyss", KADEK Presidential Council member Mustafa Karasu stated that the policy of deadlock led Turkey to cul-de-sac and abyss, saying, „It is clear that in case that Turkey does not develop a new policy it will use up itself.“

2. "Turkish government to submit human rights reforms this week", the Turkish government plans to submit to parliament this week a package of human rights reforms to boost the country's European Union membership bid, despite objections of the nation's powerful
military.

3. "Council of Europe says Turkish reforms are faltering on the ground", Turkish authorities are failing to properly implement recently-adopted democratization reforms, a senior Council of Europe official said in Diyarbakir Wednesday.

4. "The condition Turkey puts forth to withdraw from northern Iraq", Iraq will be the most sensitive subject to be dealt with in Turkey-U.S. relations in the coming days.

5. "EU Messages to Turkey: The Ball is at Your Court", European Union (EU) term president Kostas Simitis, who is also the Greek prime minister, and European Commission President Romano Prodi give Turkey little hope for good news concerning the upcoming Thessaloniki Summit.

6. "Ankara must adhere to EU rules", Athens yesterday kept up its criticism of the behavior of Turkish warplanes in the Aegean, with Prime Minister Costas Simitis warning Ankara that it had to conform to EU principles if it wanted to join the Union. The Turkish military denied the charge that two of its warplanes had passed close to an Olympic Airways airliner on Monday, claiming that Greece was making excuses to complain to the EU.

1. - Kurdish Observer - "Karasu: The deadlock leads to abyss":

KADEK Presidential Council member Mustafa Karasu stated that the policy of deadlock led Turkey to cul-de-sac and abyss, saying, „It is clear that in case that Turkey does not develop a new policy it will use up itself.“

MHA/FRANKFURT / 10 June 2003

Participated in the „Demokratik Cozum/Democratic Solution“ program on Medya TV, KADEK Presidential Council member Mustafa Karasu stated that Turkey was in a process in which it must introduce new political developments. “A general has said that sometimes a deadlock is a solution too. He has said they can wait for a suitable time for a solution. They pass for a patriot but they will take a place in history as those who have made Turkey lose time, led it to abyss and have not loved their homeland. They used to play with time, to think that time would give them new opportunities. It is a very bad self-deceit,” said Karasu.

„Forces of democracy must feel responsibility“

Attracting attention that the present situation in Turkey was convenient to set the forces of democracy into action, Karasu stressed that there must be a new Turkey strategy. The council member said that it would be made possible only by forces of democracy. He underscored that leftists and forces of democracy must feel responsibility and democracy is a matter of unity, alliance and front. Karasu drew attention that social democracts must support them and continued with words to the effect:

“The next 4 months must be used wisely”

* There is no such force in the world that acts alone and wins democracy. Therefore the common denominator of democracy is the solution point of all problems in Turkey. Aither there is a revolution and problems are solved or there is a democratic milieu for the solution.

* Forces of democracy must cease to be only a force of opposition. Now they have the chance to come to power. They must approach with a power perspective in hand. All of them can agree on a program and alliance and come to power.

* Sections of society must debate, politicians, workers and all responsible forces in Turkey must discuss the matter and start a new process that will take steps towards democratization and resolution to the Kurdish question. Otherwise politics does not admit deadlock and delays. Otherwise we might start to act to make the solution possible or show the grave consequences of the deadlock. We have not got such a preference. And to avoid it forces of democracy have responsibility on their shoulders.

* Forces of democracy have not utilized the last 4 years, they must at least use the next 4 months wisely.

2. - AFP - "Turkish government to submit human rights reforms this week":

ANKARA / June 2003

The Turkish government plans to submit to parliament this week a package of human rights reforms to boost the country's European Union membership bid, despite objections of the nation's powerful military.

The proposals aim to reinforce freedom of speech and expand cultural rights of Turkey's Kurdish minority, changes that the EU has said are necessary before Ankara begins accession talks with the bloc.

But Turkey's powerful army, which considers itself a guarantor of secularism in the Muslim country, fears the proposals would encourage Kurdish separatists who led a 15-year insurgency against Ankara until 1999.

The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which is viewed with suspicion by the country's secularist establishment due to its Islamist roots, made a concession in the package by giving up a proposal that would have allowed worship places to open in residential buildings.

In a television interview Wednesday, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said the government had decided to give up the article because of "prejudice."

On Tuesday, Cicek had said the amendment had been designed to facilitate and regulate the activities of non-Muslim missionary groups, but was taken out of the draft in order to "prevent misunderstandings."

Asked about the influence of the armed forces on the reform package, Cicek said the country's army "is the only non-governmental institution in Turkey that is taking the time to analyze these questions in detail and give an opinion."

If approved, the bill will allow private radio and television stations to air programs in the Kurdish language and lift restrictions on the country's largest minority to give their children ethnic names.

It would also abolish an infamous article on "propagating separatism," which has been widely used to jail advocates of Kurdish rights. Even though the Turkish army, which wields significant influence in politics, officially supports the country's EU membership bid, some generals are said to be opposed to certain reforms on the grounds that they could play into the hands of Kurdish separatists and radical Islamists.

A report by a senior general voicing opposition to some reforms was recently leaked to the press, triggering doubts on whether the army is genuinely in favor of EU membership.

The European Union will assess Turkey's democratization progress in December 2004 before deciding whether to open accession talks with the predominantly Muslim country.

On Wednesday, a senior Council of Europe official warned that Turkey would have to do more than simply pass reforms. "There are the laws on one hand and their implementation on the other," Alvaro Gil-Robles, human rights commissioner for the pan-European rights watchdog, said in Diyarbakir, Turkey.

"The real problem is in implementing the laws and more efforts are needed for this," he said, following visits to prisons and police stations in the main city of the predominantly Kurdish southeast.

3. - AFP - "Council of Europe says Turkish reforms are faltering on the ground":

DIYARBAKIR / 11 June 2003

Turkish authorities are failing to properly implement recently-adopted democratization reforms, a senior Council of Europe official said in Diyarbakir Wednesday.

There are the laws on one hand and their implementation on the other...The real problem is in implementing the laws and more efforts are needed for this," Alvaro Gil-Robles, human rights commissioner for the pan-European rights watchdog, told reporters.

Gil-Robles, who was in Turkey to assess the country's democratization process, was speaking following visits to prisons and police stations in Diyarbakir, the main city of the predominantly Kurdish southeast.

He will meet with Turkish officials in Ankara Thursday. Since last year, Turkey has adopted a series of reforms to boost its struggling bid to join the European Union but the country has come under fire -- both at home and abroad -- for failing to fully enforce the laws it adopts.

4. - Hurriyet / Turkish Daily News - "The condition Turkey puts forth to withdraw from northern Iraq":

12 June 2003 / opinion by M. Ali Birand

Iraq will be the most sensitive subject to be dealt with in Turkey-U.S. relations in the coming days.

Turkey has still not been able to formulate a definite policy on Iraq. Some bitterness, a certain disappointment, is being experienced. A certain uneasiness is being felt in the face of America's stance.

That uneasiness stems basically from the fact that there are some 3,000 PKK militants in northern Iraq. The future of these militants who live at the camps set up along the Iran-Iraq border, is uncertain.

Americans say they will not permit terrorist activities in northern Iraq and that the PKK will leave the region.

Turkish security officials are complaining, saying that these words have not been translated into action. The American forces in northern Iraq are not touching the PKK camps. They remain a bystander.

America, on the other hand, is upset by the Turkish troops' continued presence in northern Iraq. It has repeatedly relayed to Ankara that uneasiness -- which stems from the Kurds.

What we are experiencing is something like a vicious circle.

America wants Turkey to withdraw its troops, Turkey will not budge until the PKK threat disappears entirely.

Due to the "coming home" bill to be passed by the government in the coming weeks a significant part of the PKK-KADEK militants are expected to lay down their arms and return to their homes. If success can be achieved on this issue it will be easier for the Turkish Armed Forces to withdraw from Northern Iraq.

How will Turkey view Iraq and the Kurds?

There is another issue the U.S. considers "most important" as part of its medium and long term expectations from Turkey: How exactly Turkey will view northern Iraq, that is, the Kurds, and Iraq in general?

The U.S. is wondering how Ankara will arrange its relations with both its own Kurds and the Northern Iraqi Kurds. Will Kurds will be seen as a group that always creates a security risk? Or will a new kind of relationship be born? For example, how will the great economic possibilities the whole of Iraq would provide for Turkey, be pushed into the foreground?

Ankara is expected to provide the answers to these questions. Ankara, meanwhile, is expecting Washington to clarify what kind of approach it will adopt towards the PKK.

EU issue coming to the foreground

At the point Turkey-U.S. relations have reached, curiously, the European Union is coming to the foreground more and more. Also, the U.S. influence on the EU is rapidly changing.

Let us focus on the first factor first.

For the Bush Administration, Turkey's becoming an EU full member is still an issue as important as in the past. The way the Turkey-U.S. relations have cooled off due to the Iraq issue, especially, seems to have increased all the more the strategic value of Turkey's "dropping anchor in the EU waters". This issue is being assessed especially from the standpoint of Turkey's relations with the West and Turkey's position in the world.

One hears the following comment frequently: "If Turkey received 'No' as an answer from the EU the regional balances would make an extremely negative effect on the regional balances."

The aspect that hits my eye is the influence Washington exerts over the EU countries on the Turkey issue, has grown signficantly since the EU's Copenhagen summit, especially in the aftermath of the Iraq War.

Drawing attention to the fact that President Bush's lobbying efforts in Turkey's favor had backfired at the Copenhagen summit, European observers say that this time the situation has started to change.

They stress that Washington will be supporting Turkey's EU bid not to make Turkey happy but because of the U.S. interests in the region and for the sake of the U.S.-EU relations.

US-EU come closer to one another

Though we may be viewing this issue differently, the process of rapprochement in general -- and of acting together on basic issues -- is gaining momentum.

France and Germany are sending off signals that indicate that the frictions are coming to be forgotten. Also, they are closing their ranks in the common fight against terrorism.

If Turkey manages to complete the harmonization with the EU bills in the next few months solves the Cyprus problem, Turkey will obviously not be alone this time either in its efforts to obtain a date from the EU for the start of the accession talks.

Washingon's stance -- of ensuring that Turkey not be pushed away from the EU -- is taking shape with every passing day.

5. - Zaman (Turkey) - "EU Messages to Turkey: The Ball is at Your Court":

BRUSSELS / 12 June 2003 / by Selcuk Gultasli

European Union (EU) term president Kostas Simitis, who is also the Greek prime minister, and European Commission President Romano Prodi give Turkey little hope for good news concerning the upcoming Thessaloniki Summit.

In a gathering yesterday in Brussels to discuss the preparations and draft decisions of the summit, to be held June 20-21, Simitis and Prodi requested Ankara not to have great expectations from the EU and to put the reforms into practice as soon as possible. The two leaders gave the message that the ball is absolutely at Ankara's court.

Following yesterday's meeting, Simitis said, "The EU doesn't have to reach a new decision related to a candidate country once every three to six months." Simitis' statement was in response to Zaman's question, "Will the Thessaloniki Summit's decision concerning Turkey's admission schedule be more concrete than the [one in] the Copenhagen [Summit]?"

Simitis pointed out that a clear decision concerning Turkey was given in Copenhagen and that new information pertaining to the scheduling of discussions would be given at the end of 2004. Prodi confirmed Simitis' statement, saying: "Everyone knows what he needs to do. Everything is obvious." When a journalist said, "There is resistance to reforms in some sections of Turkey. What would you say to the Turkish government?" Prodi responded: "I recommend that the AKP government work very quickly and very intensively." Prodi emphasized that the EU expects the reforms to be put into practice in daily life as soon as possible.

The speculations at the building corridors for some time that the EU would give a message to Turkey at the Thessaloniki Summit that would be more concrete than the message at Copenhagen Summit, thereby supporting the reform will of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government. The National Programme and the sixth adaptation package have recently increased tensions between Athens and Ankara.

6. - Kahtimerini - "Ankara must adhere to EU rules":

12 June 2003

Athens yesterday kept up its criticism of the behavior of Turkish warplanes in the Aegean, with Prime Minister Costas Simitis warning Ankara that it had to conform to EU principles if it wanted to join the Union. The Turkish military denied the charge that two of its warplanes had passed close to an Olympic Airways airliner on Monday, claiming that Greece was making excuses to complain to the EU.

The verbal salvos followed weeks of tension in the Aegean, with Athens charging that Turkish warplanes are continually violating its air space and ignoring regulations in the Athens FIR.

“If they want to become members of the EU they must keep in mind that there are principles of International Law and all countries must adhere to them,” Simitis said while on a visit to The Hague as leader of the country holding the EU presidency. “If you do not go by the rules there is always the risk of a dangerous situation arising, which we must avoid,” Simitis added.

Foreign Minister George Papandreou raised the issue with the EU’s commissioner for enlargement, Guenter Verheugen, who keeps an eye on countries that want to join the EU. The two also discussed Cyprus, the Balkans and the agenda of next week’s EU summit.

Turkey’s military yesterday denied that two of its F-16s had harassed an Olympic Boeing 717 flying from Athens to Istanbul. The plane took evasive action when the proximity of the Turkish planes triggered its collision-avoidance system.

“This news is totally false and a provocation. Flying 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) away from a civilian plane is neither a violation nor harassment,” Turkey’s General Staff said in a statement. “The fact that Greek officials are constantly accusing Turkey even though all international rules, agreements and NATO regulations justify Turkey’s position, leaves the impression that the Aegean disputes will be brought to the EU agenda,” it said.

Greek Defense Minister Yiannos Papantoniou commented that any policy aimed at marginalizing Turkey “in the international community and the EU would increase its aggressive instincts further and make it a more dangerous neighbor than it is today.”