29 April 2005

1. "Nationalist Hysteria Covers-up US Cooperation", in spite of discrepancies regarding US occupation of Iraq, Ankara inks military agreement of USD 1.1 billion value with Washington for upgrading 117 war planes. "Ankara covers up collaboration with the aggressor with manipulated nationalism" critics say.

2. "Armenian journalist on trial in Turkey for 'insulting Turks'", a Turkish court on Thursday began hearing a case against a journalist of Armenian descent on charges that he insulted Turks in remarks at a conference three years ago, the Anatolia news agency reported.

3. "Courage prize for cartoonist Musa Kart", Turkish daily Cumhuriyet cartoonist Musa Kart, the target of a recent suit by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was awarded the Courage Prize yesterday by The Cartoonists Rights Network (CRN).

4. "NGO warns of rising violence against religious minorities in Turkey", Ayhan Bilgen, chairman of the Organization for Human Rights and Solidarity of Oppressed People (Mazlum-Der), yesterday condemned an attack against a Protestant church in Kecioren, Ankara last Thursday, and urged officials to investigate the incident immediately.

5. "US: PKK seeks democratic Kurdish state", the U.S. State Department praised Turkey as a “long-standing, staunch, counter-terrorism ally” and said it continued to provide strong support in the global war on terrorism. But in a novel description likely to raise eyebrows in Ankara, it said the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) aimed to establish “an independent, democratic Kurdish state.”

6. "After decades as nonpersons, Syrian Kurds may soon be recognized", Saleh Osso, a Kurdish plumber, has tried to live as far outside the reach of the Syrian government apparatus as possible. Since Mr. Osso, 34, is stateless - one of perhaps 200,000 Kurds living in Syria who are denied citizenship - that has been fairly easy to accomplish.

1. - Bianet - "Nationalist Hysteria Covers-up US Cooperation":

In spite of discrepancies regarding US occupation of Iraq, Ankara inks military agreement of USD 1.1 billion value with Washington for upgrading 117 war planes. "Ankara covers up collaboration with the aggressor with manipulated nationalism" critics say.

ISTANBUL / 28 April 2005

Military agreement with the US of USD 1.1 billion dollar value for the modernization of 117 Turkish air force F-16 war planes, sparks public debate regarding Turkey’s strategic relations.

Filiz Koçali, head of the Socialist Democracy Party skeptically points out the coincidence of the recent surge of nationalist hysteria and the military agreements concluded with the US.

“Whilst public attention was channeled into the ongoing nationalism frenzy, first the government decree providing broader US use of the southern Incirlik air base is was issued to be followed by the F-16 upgrading agreement.

“A mutual trade-off: Bush refrains from pronouncing the word ‘Armenian genocide’, and gets Incirlik and 1,1 billion in return”.

A joint US-Turkish military installation in the Incirlik district of the Southern town of Adana, Incirlik air base has been a major US facility during the Cold War. Its operation for major military undertakings, by a 1979 “Defense and Economic Cooperation Agreement” (DECA) between the US and Turkey, is conditioned with special Turkish parliament decisions. Turkish parliament in March 2002 refused involvement in the US war on Iraq, thus closing Incirlik base for US air force flights directed at Iraq.

A recent Turkish government decree, introducing a more liberal interpretation of the DECA, provides legal framework for broader usage of the base for US forces operating in Iraq.

Some analysts, like Koçali, are of the opinion that, the abrupt upsurge of nationalist hysteria across the country, particularly after official denouncement by Chief of Staff General Hilmi Özkök of burning of a Turkish flag during, the Kurdish New Year, Newroz celebrations by kids in the Mediterranean port city of Mersin has distracted public attention from fundamental issues.

Military analyst Serdar Sen is of the opinion that the recent tightening of ties with the US should be interpreted within the Bush government’s scheme of “Cooperation for a Mutual Future and Progress for the Extended Middle East and the North Africa” (CMFPEMENA).

Formerly dubbed as “Greater Middle East” project the initiative was designated by the Bush government as a reply to the 9/11 events for ‘introducing peace and democracy’ to the Muslim world, then reassessed to include North Africa as well.

Meanwhile, Cengiz Aktar an expert on the European Union integration process, says that the relations between Turkey and the US cannot be viewed in the same context since the beginning of negotiations with the European Union for membership.

Strategic attitudes never changed!

Recalling that the Turkish Armed Forces’ modernization continues for some time now, Sen believes that a recent speech by Gen. Özkök at the Military Academy provides significant insight for Ankara’s attitudes. Sen affirms that Turkey assumes a vital role in the “Greater Middle East” scheme and the claims that Turkey was giving the cold shoulder to the US is nullified with Özkök’s latest speech.

“When we levy the main theme of the speech, we can say that Turkey is moving ahead towards globalization through regionalism. This firmly fits the US strategy of the Greater Middle East project. The US, through this strategy via the military reinvents its historical relations with Turkey once more.

If Turkey is to become the ‘fairy tale land’…

For Turkey to become a strong country asserting its might in the Middle East and Caucasus, “its military infrastructure must be complete and made comprehensive” says Sen, and adds, “If Turkey is going to be the fairy tale land anticipated in the project, it will require such mighty infantry”.

Sen points out that CMFPEMENA project is not totally “peaceful”, but foresees a certain dose of conflict. He views this dose as mostly ‘armed deterrence’, but not war. According to Sen’s point of view, Turkey is the most suitable candidate for warding off possible threats in the framework of its new defense plan, which the US formulates as a remedy for combating terrorism and security issues.

Underlining Turkey’s role in the process of integrating Syria and Iran to the world market, Sen says that “If this course of action cannot succeed as planned, the use of force might come into the agenda. Hence, the modernization of the Turkish Armed Forces might have critical importance in intervening to a possible chaos arising in the Caucasus and the Caspian region”.

There are no problems between the US and Turkey

The leader of the Socialist Democracy Party (SDP) Filiz Koçali states that the “The course of events shows that, just as the Chief of Staff Özkök says, we do not have any problems in our relations with the United States.

“First the government decree on Incirlik is issued, and now the F-16 issue is on the agenda. This is mutual trade-off. In return for opting out of saying the word “Armenian genocide’, Bush gets Incirlik base and 1,1 billion dollars”.

In Koçali’s perspective, Turkey does not stick to peaceful policies in neither its domestic nor foreign policy.

“There are secret agreements between Turkey and the US. For example, the Incirlik decree will not be published in the Official Gazette. Among the topics these secret handshakes concern, there is not only Armenian question, but the Kurdish one as well. We demand such clandestine agreements become public”.

Turkey cannot step back from the EU path

"The relations between Turkey and the US, which commenced in 1918, could not continue along the same trail, as negotiations with the European Union began in 1999.

If Turkey would retain its position a prime US ally, it would not have gained the support of the European countries. The EU would not tolerate another Britain within its boundaries” analyzes the European Union integration process expert Cengiz Aktar.

Articulating that Turkey must have another look at its foreign policy priorities, Aktar appraises that the US is not a country that one can ignore. However, Turkey must maintain fine balances between the two foremost sources of global power he believes.

In Aktar’s opinion, the new circumstances arising out of Incirlik and the modernization of F-16’s, are of a “tactical” not a “strategic” nature. Turkey does not have strong arguments for shifting towards any other target than the European Union membership, he told bianet.

In reply to the question regarding Turkey’ presumed role in the Greater Middle East project and prospective increase in its military strength, Aktar says: “Could Turkey ever have uphold its political and economical stability by such policies in its history? How can it do so now? The Turkish Armed Forces and successive governments must have realized this reality by now”.

Arms purchases from Israel

In the wake of the F-16 modernization agreement of USD 1,1 billion dollar value with the US, Turkey is reported to conclude a USD 200 million dollar accord with Israel for purchasing unmanned war planes. The agreement will reportedly be signed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May when he pays an official visit to this country.

2. - AFP - "Armenian journalist on trial in Turkey for 'insulting Turks'":

ANKARA / 28 April 2005

A Turkish court on Thursday began hearing a case against a journalist of Armenian descent on charges that he insulted Turks in remarks at a conference three years ago, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Hrant Dink, editor of the Armenian-language weekly Agos, could face up to three years in prison if found guilty by the court in the southeastern Turkish city of Sanliurfa where the conference on minorities and human rights was held.

Dink, who was not present at the hearing, told AFP from his office in Istanbul that he believed the suit stemmed from his reponse to a question on what he felt when, at primary school, he had to take an oath with which elementary school days begin in Turkey.

The patriotic verse which all students in Turkey have to memorise and recite begins with the lines: "I am a Turk, I am honest, I am hardworking".

"I said that I was a Turkish citizen but an Armenian and that even though I was honest and hardworking, I was not a Turk, I was an Armenian," Dink explained.

He said he also criticised a line in the Turkish national anthem that speaks of "my heroic race".

"I said I did not feel like singing that line because I was against the use of the word 'race', which leads to discrimination," Dink said.

Dink is on trial with Seyhmus Ulek, deputy chairman of the Mazlum-Der Human Rights Association, who is accused of insulting the Turkish Republic and could also face upto three years in jail if convicted.

"At the conference, I raised objections against the Republican project of creating a one-nation country," Ulek told AFP.

Expanding minority rights is one of the issues Turkey must address before it can join the European Union, with which it is scheduled to start membership talks on October 3.

Under the 1923 Lausanne Treaty, the founding accord of modern-day Turkey, Turkey recognises Greeks, Jews and Armenians as religious minorities, but any attempt to put ethnic identity forward is still largely untolerated.

3. - The New Anatolian - "Courage prize for cartoonist Musa Kart":

ANKARA / 28 APril 2005

Turkish daily Cumhuriyet cartoonist Musa Kart, the target of a recent suit by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was awarded the Courage Prize yesterday by The Cartoonists Rights Network (CRN).

"Your courage and determination against lawsuits and threats proves that you're among the pioneers of cartoonists who fight against oppression around the world. Many cartoonists experience similar oppression and censure in Turkey. We expect you to accept the prize in the name of all these Turkish cartoonists," said the CRN in a letter.

Speaking with reporters yesterday, Kart expressed his surprise and honor at receiving the accolade, saying that the litigious hoopla surrounding his cartoon shows that Turkey does not yet appreciate the principle of freedom of expression. "Everyone, not only brave people, should be allowed to express their opinions. People in civilized countries aren't given such prizes simply for their writings or drawings," Kart said.

Kart has been invited to the CRN's award ceremony to be held in California on June 9, news channel NTV reported yesterday.

Early this year, Kart was sued by Erdogan for portraying the premier as a cat entangled in a ball of wool. An Ankara court in February found Kart guilty of "publicly humiliating the prime minister" for his cartoon in Cumhuriyet, and fined him 5,000 YTL (about $4,000).

Following Kart's fine, many cartoonists, newspapers and some politicians were outraged, saying that Erdogan is overly sensitive to criticism.

Earlier last month, Erdogan sued a weekly cartoon magazine which had poked fun at him in protest of his lawsuit against the cartoonist.

Eight cartoonists from the weekly humor magazine Penguen caricatured Erdogan in their drawings for the magazine to demonstrate their opposition to Kart's penalty.

In a show of defiance and solidarity with Kart, Penguen printed drawings on its cover featuring Erdogan's head attached to a variety of animals' bodies, including an elephant, giraffe, monkey, camel, frog, snake, cow and duck, under the headline "World of Tayyips."

Erdogan, who was once imprisoned for reciting a poem that was deemed to be anti-state, sued Penguen on the grounds that the cartoons offended him, seeking 40,000 YTL in compensation.

4. - The New Anatolian - "NGO warns of rising violence against religious minorities in Turkey":

28 April 2005

Ayhan Bilgen, chairman of the Organization for Human Rights and Solidarity of Oppressed People (Mazlum-Der), yesterday condemned an attack against a Protestant church in Kecioren, Ankara last Thursday, and urged officials to investigate the incident immediately.
Members of a group calling themselves the Turkish Vengeance Brigade attempted to assault churchgoers in Kecioren and vandalized the church.

Bilgen issued a written statement saying that Turkish people are victims of many such assaults, and that they have recently reached an all-time high.

He stressed that discrimination and intolerance against minorities and other sectors of society shouldn't be tolerated. To protect society and human rights, officials should implement measures immediately to prevent a further reccurrence of such acts by violent groups against NGOs and religious minority groups, Bilgen concluded.

5. - Turkish Daily News - "US: PKK seeks democratic Kurdish state":

ANKARA / 29 April 2005

The U.S. State Department praised Turkey as a “long-standing, staunch, counter-terrorism ally” and said it continued to provide strong support in the global war on terrorism. But in a novel description likely to raise eyebrows in Ankara, it said the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) aimed to establish “an independent, democratic Kurdish state.”

“The PKK's goal has been to establish an independent, democratic Kurdish state in Southeast Turkey, northern Iraq and parts of Iran and Syria,” the State Department's Country Reports on Terrorism said.

U.S. officials assured, however, that there was no change in Washington's position on the terrorist group and that Washington considered the PKK as a terrorist organization because it used terrorist methods, irrespective of what its goals are.

6. - The New York Times - "After decades as nonpersons, Syrian Kurds may soon be recognized":

RAS EL AIN / 28 April 2005 / by Katherine Zoepf

Saleh Osso, a Kurdish plumber, has tried to live as far outside the reach of the Syrian government apparatus as possible. Since Mr. Osso, 34, is stateless - one of perhaps 200,000 Kurds living in Syria who are denied citizenship - that has been fairly easy to accomplish.

He has no right to own property, to travel abroad or to send his four children to high school. Officially, Mr. Osso scarcely exists.

It was a surprise, therefore, when the mayor of Mr. Osso’s district visited him at home two weeks ago and began to ask probing questions about his family.

"He asked how many children I had and about whether my brothers were married or not," Mr. Osso recalled. "He stayed for about half an hour, asking so many questions and writing everything down.

"I finally asked him, ’Why are you counting us?’ " Mr. Osso continued. "He said, ’It’s so that you people may become citizens.’ "

Though there has been no official announcement, and Syrian officials would not comment on the subject, speculation that President Bashar al-Assad is planning to do something about the "Kurdish problem," as the issue of Syria’s stateless Kurds is known, has been circulating widely in recent weeks. It has generated discussion among foreign diplomats and human rights activists and cautious hope among the nation’s marginalized Kurdish population.

Now, reports that government officials in the heavily Kurdish northern province of Haseke on the Turkish border have been quietly taking a census of stateless families seem to be adding heft to the rumor.

Stateless Kurds in three towns inHaseke - Ras el Ain, Tell Tamir and Amude - told a reporter that government agents had been going from house to house in recent weeks, gathering information about Kurdish residents’ registration status. In some cases, stateless Kurds said, there have been two visits: one from a local official collecting census data, followed days later by a visit from a political security agent who verified the information.

The reports come at a moment when international pressure has pushed Syria into withdrawing its troops from Lebanon and the United States is challenging it, along with other Arab governments, to be less autocratic.

Meanwhile, Kurds across Syria’s eastern border, in Iraq, are coming into political power in the new government there, while Kurds to the north, in Turkey, are being granted new rights under pressure from Europe.

About 1.5 million Kurds live in Syria as the country’s largest ethnic minority, and also its most historically troublesome. Their very difference presents a living challenge to the militant Arabism of the dominant Baath Party.

Kurdish parties, although illegal, are among the country’s best-organized opposition groups, a fact that became clear in March of last year when, within hours, the parties organized a series of demonstrations across Syria to protest what they called police brutality against Kurds demonstrating in the northeastern town of Qamishli.

In 1962 the government stripped thousands of Syrian-born Kurds of their citizenship. They and their descendants carry laminated orange identity cards that testify to their statelessness. International human rights groups estimate their numbers at 200,000; tens of thousands of other Syrian-born Kurds lack even the orange cards and are known as maktoomin (those who are muted).

But the estimates are rough. Syrian Kurdish leaders say the total number of stateless Syrian Kurds is about 300,000. The government says the number is about 150,000.

In the past the government has repressed expressions of Kurdish identity in a variety of ways, forbidding the publication of books or newspapers in Kurdish, for example, and jailing Kurdish leaders without trial.

But recently Syrian policy has seemed to ease.

On March 30, 312 Kurds who were imprisoned after the demonstrations last year in Qamishli were released under a presidential amnesty. On April 6, when the Iraqi Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani was chosen as president of Iraq, Kurds living in Damascus played the Kurdish national anthem without official interference in a street celebration, an act that Syrian Kurds say would have been unthinkable a year ago.

But giving citizenship to stateless Kurds would be far more meaningful. Some experts on Syria believe that President Assad may be contemplating doing so as a good-will gesture, a way to partly pre-empt the international pressure to democratize that is likely to follow Syria’s withdrawal from Lebanon.

"There are people close to the president who would like to see the Kurdish problem resolved quickly," said Joshua Landis, a history professor at the University of Oklahoma who is living in Damascus. "They know it makes Syria look bad."

The Syrian state is clearly doing its research first, because giving citizenship to the stateless Kurds could open up a host of practical problems. Kurds who were denied degrees because of their stateless status, for example, or whose family property was seized in 1962 might well begin clogging the courts to seek compensation.

But Ammar Abdulhamid, the director of the Tharwa Project, an organization based in Damascus that monitors minority rights issues in the Arab world, said he had conducted a survey and believed that most Syrian Kurds were willing to accept a clean-slate approach: citizenship without immediate reparations.

"The Kurds just want basic rights," Mr. Abdulhamid said. "They’re not thinking about accountability for the past. Ideally, along with citizenship, the government would set up a committee that would systematically look into some of these other demands."

Despite the possibility of technical problems, Mr. Abdulhamid added, the Syrian government has compelling political reasons to offer citizenship to stateless Kurds. The government fears that a domestic Kurdish separatist movement may be growing, he suggested, and that disenfranchised Kurds could be manipulated by outsiders to destabilize Syria.

"The situation for the Kurds has really eased in Iraq and Turkey," a Western diplomat said. "The Assad regime probably realizes that the best way to weaken any separatist sentiment is to give the Kurds more of a stake in the country."

But according to Faisal Badr, a Kurdish lawyer based in Damascus whose wife is stateless, most Syrian Kurds harbor no separatist ambitions and, citizenship decree or no, their leaders will continue to push for change within Syria.

"The vast majority of us want our problems to be solved within the framework of the Syrian nation," Mr. Badr said. "Giving citizenship to the Kurds would be a positive step, but it’s still very partial. We want to see democracy in Syria."