25 July 2005

1. "Turkish military helicopter shot down by HPG", a Turkish Sikorsky military helicopter used in transporting troops has been shot down by Kurdish HPG guerrillas in the rural areas of the Cukurca district of Hakkari in northern Kurdistan (southeastern Turkey).

2. "Kurdish Rebels Ready To Release Kidnapped Turkish Soldier", the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) is ready to hand over a Turkish soldier it kidnapped two weeks ago if the government provides security guarantees, a pro-Kurdish news agency reported Sunday.

3. "Don't pursue PKK rebels in Iraq, Zebari tells Turkey", Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari warned Turkey on Sunday not to let its troops cross into northern Iraq to hunt Kurdistan Workers' Party rebels.

4. "Turkey can never be European, German politician says", Turkey should never join the EU because it lies mostly outside Europe geographically and accession talks should not start on 3 October unless Ankara first recognises the sovereignty of Cyprus, according to the vice president of Germany's CDU/CSU party, Wolfgang Schauble.

5. "HPG staged attacks against Iranian military bases", according to a statement from HPG Press and Liaison Center two separate attacks were conducted against Iranian military bases in eastern Kurdistan. "The attacks is a answer to the oppression against our patriot people in Mahabad and Serdesht". (..) 10 Pasdarans were killed and 6 Pasdarans were injured.

6. "Martial law declared in Mahabad, tension is striking high", 13 days after the killing of Shivane Qadri, demonstrations are raging on in the city of Mahabad in eastern Kurdistan (northwestern Iran). Two more Iranian soldiers have been reported killed by demonstrators.

1. - MHA - "Turkish military helicopter shot down by HPG":

KURDISTAN / 22 July 2005

A Turkish Sikorsky military helicopter used in transporting troops has been shot down by Kurdish HPG guerrillas in the rural areas of the Cukurca district of Hakkari in northern Kurdistan (southeastern Turkey).

"During Turkish military operations in the Gare, Bilican, Guzares ridges, Ertus and the Talisa areas, a clash occurred this morning [July 22] at 09:00 (9 am EEST) between Turkish forces and the HPG guerrillas. A Sikorsky helicopter that tried to drop down troops at the Talisa ridges was shot down by the guerrillas. The helicopter with the troops inside was annihilated. The wreck of the helicopter is still at the Talisa ridges", the HPG Press and Liaison Center (HPG-BIM) reports.

2. - AFP - "Kurdish Rebels Ready To Release Kidnapped Turkish Soldier":

ANKARA / 24 July 205

The rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) is ready to hand over a Turkish soldier it kidnapped two weeks ago if the government provides security guarantees, a pro-Kurdish news agency reported Sunday.

The decision was taken after calls from "democratic organisations including Turkish and Kurdish intellectuals" for the soldier, Coskun Kirandi, to be set free, said a statement by Koma Komalen Kurdistan, an umbrella Kurdish group which also includes the PKK.

The statement, published on the Internet site of the Germany-based MHA news agency, offered to hand the soldier over to representatives of the groups which asked for his release.

"We have completed the preparations to hand over Kirandi safe and sound on the condition a delegation comes to the region and a secure environment is in place," it added.

The statement did not specify which organisations the PKK deemed fit to hand over the kidnapped soldier.

The 21-year-old Kirandi was kidnapped while on furlough on July 11 by PKK rebels who set up a roadblock in Tunceli province.

The rebels led the soldier into the nearby mountains, triggering a huge security operation by hundreds of troops, backed by helicopters.

The clashes continues and Cobra attack helicopters are randomly strafing the area.

3. - Reuters - "Don't pursue PKK rebels in Iraq, Zebari tells Turkey":

AMMAN / 24 July 2005 / by Khaled Yacoub Oweis

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari warned Turkey on Sunday not to let its troops cross into northern Iraq to hunt Kurdistan Workers' Party rebels.

Zebari told Reuters that U.S. forces in Iraq were poised to capture the rebels, who have been waging a violent campaign against Turkey for decades to win Kurdish self-determination, and have bases in northern Iraq.

"They are in regions outside the control of the central and Kurdish government. If they move, the American forces can arrest them," said Zebari, himself an Iraqi Kurd.

"We have an obligation to Turkey, and to control all non-Iraqi armed groups and prevent activities against neighbouring countries."

"We reject any regional military interference in Iraqi affairs, whether Turkish, Iranian or Arab, because it destroys confidence and shifts the focus when our priority is finishing the political process, improving the security situation and providing basic services."

General Ilker Basbug of the Turkish General Staff said last week the United States had given orders for the capture of PKK rebels in Iraq, adding that Turkey had a right to enter Iraqi territory to attack them if no action was taken.

Ankara has repeatedly pressed the United States to act against the PKK in Iraq, where the Turkish military says about 3,000 militants operate in the northern mountains, in a part of Iraq designated as Kurdish-ruled.

PERSECUTION

Although Zebari welcomed U.S. moves to pursue PKK leaders, the rebels command sympathy among Iraqi Kurds, who see Turkey as having persecuted its own Kurdish population. Iraqis are also wary of what they regard as Turkish territorial ambitions, especially in the oil centre of Kirkuk, which was once mostly populated by ethnic Turkmens, and was included in Iraq as part of a colonial deal between Britain and France.

Zebari said the Iraqi government was not yet capable of pursuing the PKK using its own forces and had to rely on the United States.

"We have to be content with this arrangement until we complete the build-up of our own security forces to control the situation," he said.

Turkey's General Staff says the rebels have crossed into Turkey more frequently and in larger numbers in the past year. It has said they now number nearly 2,000 inside Turkey, carrying out attacks on military targets in the mainly Kurdish southeast.

Under Saddam Hussein's rule, Turkey had a tacit agreement with Iraq that it could pursue the PKK into northern Iraqi territory.

Turkey has urged Iraq and its neighbours to tighten border security because of rising violence since the PKK ended a unilateral ceasefire in June last year.

More than 30,000 people have been killed in the conflict since the PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 with the aim of carving out an ethnic homeland in the southeast.

4. - EUobserver - "Turkey can never be European, German politician says":

25 July 2005 / by Andrew Rettman

Turkey should never join the EU because it lies mostly outside Europe geographically and accession talks should not start on 3 October unless Ankara first recognises the sovereignty of Cyprus, according to the vice president of Germany's CDU/CSU party, Wolfgang Schauble.

Mr Schauble made the remarks in the Polish daily, Rzeczpospolita, on Monday (25 July) following Germany's decision last week to push for elections on 18 September, which are widely expected to sweep the centre-right CDU/CSU group into power.

"The EU should not extend beyond the boundary that we call the European continent. Otherwise people will stop identifying with it. And if so, Turkey, the vast part of which lies outside Europe, cannot belong to the union", he said.

Mr Schauble explained that the 3 October membership talks could go ahead with Ankara as planned, "if by this time Turkey formally recognises the sovereignty of our European partner Cyprus".

But he added that Ankara should be made aware the negotiations are open-ended and could lead to a privileged partnership status rather than full membership.

The vice president in charge of foreign affairs and justice brushed aside worries that blocking Turkish entry might send a hostile message to the Islamic world and annoy Washington, which has pressed for Turkish accession in recent years.

Mr Schauble indicated that Ankara's NATO membership and the fact that 20 million muslims live in the EU "Is proof that we, christians and muslims, can live together sharing the same fundamental values".

"The US will agree that it is us, the Europeans, who know best which institutional form to give to our relations with Turkey", he added.

5. - DozaMe.org - "HPG staged attacks against Iranian military bases":

KURDISTAN / 24 July 2005

According to a statement from HPG Press and Liaison Center two separate attacks were conducted against Iranian military bases in eastern Kurdistan. "The attacks is a answer to the oppression against our patriot people in Mahabad and Serdesht". HPG also encouraged the Kurdistani youth in eastern Kurdistan to join the ranks of HPG and take part in the resistance.

On July 20, HPG forces conducted an operation against a minor military base on the road between Merîwan and Banê in eastern Kurdistan. Guerrillas from the People's Defence Forces (HPG) approached the military base and carried out an attack from close range with automatic rifles and rocket propelled grenades. As a result of the attack 6 Pasdarans were killed and 8 Pasdarans were injured. The base was demolished along with its military vehicles.

On July 21 another attack was conducted by the HPG forces against a military base in the Pîranshar-Mahabad-Serdeshtêye triangle. Once again the HPG forces conducted an attack from a close range with automatic rifles, grenades and B-7 rockets. 10 Pasdarans were killed and 6 Pasdarans were injured.

"These attacks is an answer to the oppression of our patriotic people in Mahabad and Serdesht and the murder of two of our patriots."

HPG also wrote that the youth of eastern Kurdistan should join the ranks of HPG as an answer to the inhuman acts and atrocities against the people of Kurdistan.

"The Kurdistani youth ought to join the ranks of HPG for a legitimate defence [of the Kurdish people] in the spirit of Commander Agit and Beritan, in order to the defend our people and our values of liberty. This path is an obligation and a right."

Four HPG guerrillas were martyred in the two attacks. Indentities of the martyred guerrillas will be published later.

6. - DozaMe.org - "Martial law declared in Mahabad, tension is striking high":

KURDISTAN / 22 July 2005

13 days after the killing of Shivane Qadri, demonstrations are raging on in the city of Mahabad in eastern Kurdistan (northwestern Iran). Two more Iranian soldiers have been reported killed by demonstrators.

The Iranian government has now declared martial law and curfew in the Kurdish city. Demonstrators who defy the curfew are still protesting on the streets. A clash on July 18 between Kurdish demonstrators and Iranian soldiers has left two soldiers killed.

For the first time after 10 years, the Iranian military is now setting up bases inside the city. Bases have been set up at the Independence Square, who has historically witnessed many popular revolutions, and at Shivane Qadris home district of Pisttep.

Clashes between people and military are increasing and there is no more tranquility in the city, Kurdish news agency MHA's war correspondent Sherko Mehabadi reports. Iranian soldiers have unsuccessfully tried to clamp down on the protesters, leading to tens of protesters and tens of soldiers injured.

Iranian security forces have also cut off the water in the Fergengiyan district and the gas in the Teppey-Qazi district, local sources report. Security forces have until now arrested more than 200 demonstrators and few who have been released report intensive torture of arrested protesters, including themselves.

Iranian soldiers and police are now patrolling the streets in hunt for demonstrators. Groups of more than three are being scattered brutally and during curfew, which starts at 22:00 (10 pm) every evening, groups more than three are being arrested.

Eastern Kurdistan has not felt this tension since the 80ies. This has led to the governor of Mahabad threatening the Kurdish people in radio and TV statements saying, "Stop the demonstrations! You don't want the 80ies back, I assure you".