18 February 2005

1. "Encourage Women For More Active Participation", CEDAW calls Turkish state encourage more active women participation in politics as well as new regulations in discriminatory laws. Regional disparities in regard to education and health services should also be removed.

2. "French Minister Calls On Turkey To Admit The Fact Of Genocide", Claude Haignere, French minister for European Affairs, demanded Turkey to put up with the fact of the Genocide. Participating in the February 14 program of CNN-Turk, he answered questions concerning the Armenian Genocide put by Mehmet Ali Birand, well-known Turkish journalist.

3. "Weapons being distributed to Iraqi Turkomans", the claim has been made that Turkey, which incites its own public in terms of Kirkuk, has been distributing arms to Turkomans in Kirkuk. It is also claimed that, while the United States has been pointing out that an internal conflict is going to take place in Kirkuk, it has also been conducting a military buildup in South [Iraqi] Kurdistan.

4. "Iraqi Kurds stir Turkish fears", a leading Iraqi Kurd has warned Turkey not to meddle in Iraq’s affairs, saying that any military intervention aimed at stalling the creation of a Kurdish state will end in “disaster.”

5. "Shiites and Kurds clinch key victories in provincial elections", Shiites and Kurds, already poised to dominate Iraq’s parliament after the January 30 election, also notched up crucial wins in the provincial polls held the same day.

6. "Leaving Kurdistan, like leaving a country", the only question now is where the borderline will be drawn, and whether Kurdistan will include Kirkuk, which Saddam ethnically cleansed of Kurds in the 1970s and 1980s.

1. - Bianet - "Encourage Women For More Active Participation":

CEDAW calls Turkish state encourage more active women participation in politics as well as new regulations in discriminatory laws. Regional disparities in regard to education and health services should also be removed.

ISTANBUL / 17 February 2005 / by Burcin Belge

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)releases its recommendations on Turkey after its report on Turkey and the Shadow Report (Golge Raporu) by the women's organizations.

The committee expects "further steps" and wider participation of women in politics to end the gender discrimination.

Critique on the "lack of information"

The Report underlines that women cannot benefit social services and actively participate in politics and labor force. Committee recommends the state party launch campaigns to end violence against women and increase public awareness on the issue.

The Committee board also demands an increase in the number of shelters for women and criticizes "the lack of information in the report on the situation of women-asylum seekers in the state party."

Committee demands a better definition of "discrimination against women" in the Constitutional Law on the grounds that Turkish Penal Code (TCK), Civil Code and the Constitution contains discriminatory articles.

Media to be encouraged for a better woman image

CEDAW recommends media be encouraged to draw a "positive image of women" to emphasize the gender equality in line with the public and private responsibilities of individuals.

The Committee asserts factors that lead to "early or forced marriages and polygamy" are "patriarchal fabric of the society, cultural stereotypes and traditions." Committee suggests cooperation with women's organizations.

Discrimination in laws prevails

Some highlights from the committee's report:

*The state should initiate campaigns to raise the public awareness on discrimination against women; it should launch necessary programs to educate prosecutors and judges.

*TCK should make clear that women's consent is the sole precondition for genital and virginity tests.

*"Custom killing" instead of "honor killings"can still result in "less vigorous" prosecution for those who committed the crime. Committee recommends both be classified as "aggravated homicide."

*Constrains on "sexual relations among youth between 15 and 18" impact women worse because of the "patriarchal attitudes."

*Joint ownership of acquired property in the Civil Code should apply to the past cases too.

*Domestic violence prevails and women are unaware of their rights and protection mechanisms provided by the state.

*The number of shelters for women is inadequate: state should ensure whether the Municipalities have the necessary resources to increase this number after the responsibility to construct shelters is delegated to the local administrations with the new Municipal Law.

Special measures needed

*State should introduce special temporary measures in order to decrease the under-representation of women in labor force, parliament, public institutions and Foreign Service. Temporary special measures are also needed to diminish the pervasive illiteracy among women and to encourage them for further education.

*New regulations should address the regional disparities of the girls especially in rural areas. State should also implement further policies to resolve the problems of those whose mother tongue is not Turkish. State should also determine the number of the students with headscarves banned from their schools.

Discrimination in office to be ended

*The committee demands the state to give provide place for "integration of a gender perspective in its economic planning" in the reports it sends to the committee.

*Women participation in the labor force is inadequate.Women earn lower wages in both public and private sector. They also engage in the underground economy and work unpaid in rural areas which leave them socially insecure.

*State should adopt temporary special measures which include pre-school education for children and awareness raising campaigns to end the cultural stereotypes drawn for women.

*Greater amount of resources is needed for women health, in particular for the maternal and infant health.

2. - Armenian Daily - "French Minister Calls On Turkey To Admit The Fact Of Genocide":

16 February 2005 / by Hakob Chakrian

Claude Haignere, French minister for European Affairs, demanded Turkey to put up with the fact of the Genocide. Participating in the February 14 program of CNN-Turk, he answered questions concerning the Armenian Genocide put by Mehmet Ali Birand, well-known Turkish journalist. According to the Turkish Sansuruz Internet newspaper, Haignere showed the possibility of reconciliation on the example of France and Germany, the EU has a plan of reconciliation no matter how deep the unsolved historic issues are. "Refreshing the memory is an inevitable step in the process, as Europe was built on that very principle," he added.

Emphasizing the necessity of reconciliation, the French minister said that Turkey is to take first steps in the Genocide issue. At the same time, he reminded the law "On recognizing the Armenian genocide" adopted in France in 2001. "We still have enough time. Refreshing of the memory sometimes may last rather long. As you know, the French-German reconciliation lasted 50 years. Progress is needed for reconciliation. Though we don’t mean imposing deadlines, the membership of the candidate states to the EU can be possible only within the framework of reconciliation process," he added.

It means that the recognition of the Armenian Genocide will be a precondition for Turkey’s membership to EU.

3. - Ozgur Politika - "Weapons being distributed to Iraqi Turkomans":

The claim has been made that Turkey, which incites its own public in terms of Kirkuk, has been distributing arms to Turkomans in Kirkuk. It is also claimed that, while the United States has been pointing out that an internal conflict is going to take place in Kirkuk, it has also been conducting a military buildup in South [Iraqi] Kurdistan.

KIRKUK / 16 February 2005 / translated by KurdishMedia.com

It has been claimed that Turkey, which constantly brings up Kirkuk and creates tension there, has been distributing weapons to the Turkomans in Kirkuk. While Captain Mitch Smith, serving in the US military, said that there is concern about violent incidents in Kirkuk, it has been revealed that the United States has been building up its troops in South Kurdistan against any intervention by Turkey. After the Kurds emerged victorious in Kirkuk in the local elections held in South Kurdistan, Turkey’s efforts to incite tension in the city have continued. It has been claimed that, in the recent past, Turkey has provided weapons to the Iraqi Turkoman Front. One official of the Kirkuk Police Department who provided information to MHA [Mesopotamia News Agency] claimed that the Iraqi Turkoman Front, which is supported by Turkey, has acquired a great many weapons recently. Attention was also drawn to the distribution of weapons last week to Arabs who had been settled into the city in the post-Saddam period, and it is stated that the weapons were brought into the city from Mosul.

According to the information obtained, it is believed that the weapons in question were brought into Syria via Turkey, and then to Mosul and from there to Kirkuk. Kurdish officials in the city, pointing out that the Turkoman Front, supported by Turkey, is in an alliance with the Arabs, stated that the city will not be permitted to turn into a war zone.

US drew attention

US officials, taking note of the statements made by Turkish officials regarding Kirkuk, particularly within the last month, have compared Kirkuk to a bomb about to explode. The United States, considering that clashes could break out in the city following the arming of the Turkomans, has stepped up security measures in Kirkuk to the highest level.

Captain Mitch Smith, of the US military, which is worried about acts of violence taking place in Kirkuk, said that “Prior to the elections, attacks were carried out against the coalition forces and the Iraqi security forces, but I think that the focus of the violence may have changed. The various groups in the city could clash among each other.”

While the demonstrations of jubilation by Kurds continued after the announcement of the election results, the fact that Kurds took 59 percent of the votes in the regional assembly election was met with concern by some Turkomans and Arabs who had been settled in the city during the Saddam period.

Buildup underway in South [Kurdistan]

Meanwhile, Great Britain’s respected “The Guardian” newspaper reported that Turkey has moved a portion of its military forces to the region for a possible intervention in South Kurdistan. The newspaper, which reported that Turkish ministers have given “indications of a renewed military intervention”, also gave space to the comments of an unnamed Turkish diplomat.

The diplomat said that Kirkuk was like Jerusalem for Turkey, and described it as a potential powder keg. The diplomat, whose name was not given, said that Kirkuk was a “red line” for Turkey, and that “Kirkuk is the number one security issue and public concern right now. Kirkuk is a potential powder keg. For us it has special status.”

The newspaper wrote that the United States and the European Union would frown on an intervention by Turkey in South Kurdistan, and that as a precaution, “US military bases in northern Iraq are reportedly being discreetly reinforced.”

4. - Vermont Guardian - "Iraqi Kurds stir Turkish fears":

ANKARA / 17 February 2005

A leading Iraqi Kurd has warned Turkey not to meddle in Iraq’s affairs, saying that any military intervention aimed at stalling the creation of a Kurdish state will end in “disaster.”

Turkey is alarmed at what it sees as a drive by the Kurds of northern Iraq to cement their autonomy and possibly seek independence, Reuters reported. The fear is that such moves could re-ignite separatist activism in southeast Turkey.

Turkey is especially concerned that the Kurds may wrest control of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk at the expense of local Arabs and Turkish-speaking Turkmen. Thus, Ankara reserves the right to take action to protect its interests.

“Turkey should not intervene in our domestic affairs,” Masoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, told CNN. “The result of such an intervention would be a disaster for all parties.”

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and other officials have stepped up criticism of the Kurds since the Iraq elections, saying Ankara could not stand idly by if Kirkuk fell into Kurdish hands. Hurriyet, Turkey’s top-selling daily, alleges that Iraqi Kurdish authorities ferried Kurdish voters into Kirkuk to boost their vote.

In an informal referendum held alongside Iraq’s parliamentary elections, Iraqi Kurds voted almost unanimously for independence. This prompted Barzani to say Kurdish self-rule was inevitable if not imminent.

The issue has badly strained traditionally warm ties between the United States and Turkey.

5. - AFP - "Shiites and Kurds clinch key victories in provincial elections":

BAGHDAD / 17 February 2005

Shiites and Kurds, already poised to dominate Iraq’s parliament after the January 30 election, also notched up crucial wins in the provincial polls held the same day.

Lists presented by the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq triumphed in eight out of 18 provinces, mainly in the Shiite-dominated southern and central regions, according to official results released Thursday,

"We obtained a majority in five provinces, including Baghdad, in the Council’s name alone and in three other provinces where we had alliances," said SCIRI official Reda Jawad Takki.

"Two-and-a-half million Iraqis voted for the Council," he said, out of just over eight million voters.

The two main Kurdish parties, who took second place in parliament with 75 seats, claimed victory in the three Kurdish provinces of Arbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah.

But they also won in the provinces of Tamim and Nineveh, upsetting the balance and possibly leading to further tensions in the ethnic tinderbox of northern Iraq.

The alliance of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdish Democratic Party obtained 58 percent of votes in Tamim, home to the multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk.

Kurds claim Kirkuk as the capital of their region after it was heavily Arabised under Saddam Hussein.

The city’s Arab and Turkmen inhabitants have vociferously protested a decision by the electoral commission that allowed thousands of displaced Kurds to return to the city to vote, effectively tilting the balance in their favour.

With their absolute majority, the Kurds will be able to take decisions at the provincial level without needing to consult fellow Arab and Turkmen council members, raising fears of possible armed confrontation.

"The situation has reached boiling point for Arabs, because they’ve been patient for a long time," said the leader of the Arab Gathering, Ghassan Mezher al-Assi, apparently referring to Kurdish moves to retake power in the area since the US-led invasion almost two years ago.

Nineveh has traditionally been controlled by Sunni Arabs, although it is also home to several Kurdish areas. Kurdish parties do not hide the fact that they would like those areas to be part of their autonomous region.

Sunnis, who largely boycotted the vote, won only two provinces: the rebel heartland of Al-Anbar west of Baghdad and Salaheddin, where Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit is found, north of the capital.

Voter turnout for the provincial ballot in these areas was extremely low, around 28 percent in Salaheddin and barely one percent in Al-Anbar.

The Iraqi Islamic Party, which dropped out of the electoral race, obtained 71 percent of votes in Al-Anbar.

"Officially, the party only took part in local elections in Diyala province. Iraqis nevertheless voted for us in Al-Anbar in order to express their support for the party," said Iyad al-Samarrai, who leads Iraq’s main Sunni party.

In the mixed province of Diyala, a Shiite alliance led by the Dawa party obtained 40 percent of votes, while the Islamic party got 26 percent.

"Our decision to withdraw from the elections only concerns the national vote and we have no objection to running a provincial council, even if this question has not been raised since results were announced," said Samarrai.

6. - IPS - "Leaving Kurdistan, like leaving a country":

ZAKHO / 17 February 2005 / by Aaron Glantz

One of the best ways to understand the political dynamics at play in Northern Iraq is to hop into a taxi and travel north towards the Turkish border.

Once you reach the multi-ethnic oil-rich city Kirkuk, every checkpoint is manned by peshmerga guerilla fighters loyal to one of the two Kurdish political parties. And they are on the lookout for one thing: Arabs.

I knew this, of course, even before departing Iraq Tuesday. Traveling from Ranya near the Iranian border towards the provincial capital Arbil a few days earlier I had been forced to disembark my bus a half dozen times for grilling by local peshmerga. They were concerned my American travel documents were false -- because I have vaguely Semitic features, speak some Arabic and do not speak Kurdish.

But this was nothing compared to the grilling that a middle-aged businessman from Baghdad was given. As we approached each checkpoint in our communal taxi, the peshmerga would politely ask if there were any Arabs in the car.

”No we’re all Kurds,” the driver would answer to quicken our trip.

But the more persistent among the peshmerga were never satisfied. They would stick their head inside the driver’s side window and peer around the car. When they saw the man from Baghdad in the back -- with a full beard and skin slightly darker than that of his neighbours in the north -- they would ask the driver to pull over to a side, and demand that everyone get out. At that point, a full search of the man’s bags and a long grilling were in order.

”You’re from Baghdad?” the peshmerga would ask. ”Yes,” he would say, ”but I’m Kurdish,” as if his language skills were not enough. He would be forced to produce piles of paper showing he had traveled many times to Kirkuk, Arbil, and Suleymania, and only then would we be allowed to continue on our way.

This, I thought, is the future of Northern Iraq. A new bunker semi-state, terrified that the violence and terrorism that has engulfed much of Iraq will spread North.

Already, Kurdistan has its own flag, its own police force and its own budget -- all this was guaranteed in the Jan. 30 election. Kurds scored 26 percent of the vote and secured the second largest block in Parliament. Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani is front-runner for the presidency of Iraq.

The only question now is where the borderline will be drawn, and whether Kurdistan will include Kirkuk, which Saddam ethnically cleansed of Kurds in the 1970s and 1980s.

Kurds seem certain to take control of the city following the Jan. 30 election. Arab parties boycotted the election after refugees from the city were allowed to vote in the municipal election. As a result, the Kurdish slate won a 58 percent share of votes in Kirkuk. The city’s Turkomen community (northern Iraqis of Turkish descent) came in second with 16 percent.

”The election was very good for Kurds,” a passenger says as we near the Turkish border. His name is Sardar, and he holds an EU passport. ”We won in Kirkuk, and Talabani will be the president. This is all we could ever hope for.” Like an increasing number of Kurds who fled during Saddam’s regime, he now lives much of the year in the city of his birth. In December, he opened a shop in Suleymania selling floor tiling.

Like most Kurds, Sardar does not think much about allegations of irregularities in the election, which include allegations of stolen ballot boxes in Haweija, missing ballot boxes in Mosul, and the failure to deliver any ballots at all to Christain and Arab areas west of Mosul, where an estimated 150,000 voters were not able to vote.

Like the peshmerga manning the checkpoints on the road towards Turkey, he sees most Arabs as terrorists.

Indeed, by boycotting the election, most Arab groups in Northern Iraq have limited their options for non-violent speech. In the predominantly Arab Ninevah province, which includes the third largest city Mosul, only 17 percent of the voters participated in the National Assembly race, and just 14 percent voted in the provincial council contests.

Most of those who voted were Kurds, pushing the border of peshmerga control farther west into traditionally Arab lands.

”Mosul is divided into two parts,” Arbil’s deputy governor Tahir Authman told me before I left. ”There is the east side of the city which has a large Kurdish population, and the west side which is the Arab side. The (foreign military) coalition asked us to control the western half of the city.”

Will this not increase tension between the two groups, and violence against Kurds, I ask? ”It might,” he conceded. ”But we have to defend Kurdistan.”