16 February 2006

1. "Kurds Stage Violent Protests in Turkey", Kurdish protesters armed with firebombs and stones battled with Turkish police Wednesday to mark the seventh anniversary of guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan's capture.

2. "Activists urge renewed probe over remains of missing Kurdish villagers", Human rights activists on Monday called on authorities to renew their probe into the 1993 disappearance of 11 villagers in the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey after tests confirmed that remains found two years ago belonged to the missing people.

3. "Writer Hrant Dink Acquitted", Hrant Dink, editor of the Armenian language magazine "Agos" -who was among eight writers, journalists and publishers accused of "insult" and "interference in the judiciary" was acquitted. International PEN is still concerned.

4. "Turkish court drops one charge in minorities report case", a Turkish court decided on Wednesday to halt the trial of Prof. Ibrahim Kaboglu and Prof. Baskin Oran on charges of degrading Turkish identity.

5. "Turkey's nuclear ambitions", Turkey plans to join the club of nuclear power producers, by building a nuclear power plant on its Black Sea coast.

6. "U.S. military decides Turkey no longer reliable ally", the U.S. military is quietly preparing to withdraw its forces from Turkey.

1. - AP - "Kurds Stage Violent Protests in Turkey":

ANKARA / 15 February 2006 / by Selcan Hacaoglu

Kurdish protesters armed with firebombs and stones battled with Turkish police Wednesday to mark the seventh anniversary of guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan's capture.

Dozens of demonstrators threw rocks and firebombs at riot police who tried to disperse the demonstrators in the southeastern town of Cizre in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast. Police fired tear gas and warning shots in the air to disperse them.

TV footage from the Dogan News Agency showed demonstrators pelting an armored police car with rocks. Police detained at least seven protesters in Cizre, reports said.

The protesters in Cizre were particularly angry over news that Ocalan's lawyers were not allowed to see their client on Wednesday.

In other violence elsewhere, Kurdish protesters smashed the windows of a city bus and clashed with police in the Mediterranean port city of Mersin.

A small bomb exploded outside a military housing complex in the southeastern town of Batman. No one was injured in the blast.

Militants believed to be linked to Ocalan's autonomy-seeking Kurdistan Workers Party have claimed responsibility for two bombings in the past week that killed one person and wounded 30 in Istanbul, Turkey's largest city.

In Sanliurfa, a city in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, at least 500 demonstrators marched to protest Ocalan's imprisonment, chanting slogans in support of the rebel leader. The demonstrators unfurled banners of the outlawed group and carried posters of Ocalan. The group dispersed when riot police showed up.

Ocalan was captured in Kenya after he was forced to leave a Greek diplomatic mission there in 1999. Ocalan was later sentenced to death for leading an insurgency in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast that has claimed some 37,000 lives since 1984. His sentence was later commuted to life in prison, which he is serving out as the sole inmate on a prison island near Istanbul.

Elsewhere in Turkey's southeast, shopkeepers shuttered their stores in the cities of Van, Hakkari, and the town of Dogubayazit in protest Wednesday, the Anatolia news agency said.

Kurdish protesters also staged sit-ins in the Mediterranean port city of Mersin and the southeastern city of Sirnak.

On Tuesday, more than 1,000 Kurds marched in the streets of Diyarbakir, the largest city in the southeast. Using Ocalan's nickname, they shouted, ``Long Live Apo!''

Ocalan's rebel group, which the U.S. and European Union have branded a terrorist organization, has been fighting Turkish troops for Kurdish autonomy in the southeast since 1984.

Turkey continues to fight the rebels and does not recognize the country's sizable Kurdish population as an official minority.

The fighting in the southeast tapered off after a rebel truce in 1999. But there has been a resurgence of violence since June 2004, when the rebels declared an end to the cease-fire, saying Turkey had not responded in kind.

2. - AFP - "Activists urge renewed probe over remains of missing Kurdish villagers":

DIYARBAKIR / 13 February 2006

Human rights activists on Monday called on authorities to renew their probe into the 1993 disappearance of 11 villagers in the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey after tests confirmed that remains found two years ago belonged to the missing people.

"Following the results of the DNA tests, the prosecutor's office must launch an investigation against military authorities in office at the time," Sezgin Tanrikulu, the head of local bar association, told a press conference in the regional capital of Diyarbakir.

"In my opinion, there is no place to hide for the prosecutor in the face of the technical evidence," he added.

The 11 men from the village of Akarca, some 90 kilometers (about 56 miles) northeast of Diyarbakir city, went missing after they were detained during a security operation by a commando unit against Kurdish rebels in October 1993.

An investigation which began shortly after upon a demand by relatives was never concluded and left pending.

In October 2004, the villagers discovered human bones, pieces of clothing and empty shells near their settlement in what they described as a "mass grave".

Tanrikulu said DNA tests carried out on the remains had determined that they belonged to the missing villagers.

Officials have not yet disclosed the results of the tests.

A report, penned in 2004 by a parliamentary commission looking into the incident, blamed local authorities for failing to properly investigate the disappearance of the villagers.

Some 37,000 people have been killed in Turkey's southeast since 1984 when the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) picked up arms for self-rule in the region.

The bloody conflicts also displaced thousands and led to allegations of gross human rights violations on both sides, including extrajudicial killings.

3. - Bianet - "Writer Hrant Dink Acquitted":

Hrant Dink, editor of the Armenian language magazine "Agos" -who was among eight writers, journalists and publishers accused of "insult" and "interference in the judiciary" was acquitted. International PEN is still concerned.

10 February 2006

Hrant Dink, editor of the Armenian language magazine "Agos" -who was among eight writers, journalists and publishers accused of "insult" and "interference in the judiciary" have been brought before the courts since 6 February 2006, in four separate trials- was acquitted.

The other cases were all postponed and the defendants are destined for more weeks - if not months - of waiting in uncertainty.

In a public statement International PEN expresses deep disappointment that "lessons were not learned from the case of Orhan Pamuk, against whom trial proceedings were dropped last month. It will continue to protest against the many trials and other acts of judicial harassment against writers, journalists and publishers, and to call for the quashing of laws that breach the right to freedom of expression in Turkey."

The statement follows as:

"In the last three days, eight writers and journalists have been brought before Turkish courts, accused of "denigration of the Turkish State" under Penal Code Article 301 and of "interference with the judiciary" under Article 288, used against journalists who have criticised the outcome of trials. Hearings against several other journalists tried on other charges were also held in recent days, most of them also adjourned to later dates.

"International PEN is delighted that, on 9 February at a court in Urfa, Hrant Dink was acquitted of "insult" charges, charges which derived from his having claimed discrimination against the Armenian minority in Turkey when speaking at a conference in December 2002 on human rights and multi-culturalism.

"However, Dink, with three other "Agos" journalists, faces another trial, this time on charges under Article 288, for an article that criticised the six-month suspended sentence served against Dink in October 2005, again for his writings.

"The trial of five journalists, charged for having written articles critical of a decision to ban an academic conference on the mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th Century, ended with a postponement on 7 February. The journalists - Ismet Berkan, Erol Katirciolgu, Murat Belge, Haluk Sahin and Hasan Cemal - all work for mainstream newspapers. All are accused under Article 288, and all but Berkan also under Article 301.

"Proceedings in their trial were halted temporarily when a fight broke out between the prosecuting lawyers and police; the presiding judge demanded the troublemakers be removed for haranguing observers. It was reported that the complainant's lawyers shouted such slogans, as "There are foreigners here They occupy a Turkish court! They have settled in the Turkish courts like black clouds!" Ruling that there had been insufficient time to consider all the evidence presented by the defence team, the presiding judge ordered that the court be adjourned until 11 April.

"Eugene Schoulgin, Board Member of International PEN, as well as members of the Norwegian, English and Canadian PEN Centres, were present at this trial, as was the Chairman of the European Parliament's Turkey Delegation, Joost Lagendijk, and other observers.

"Two others charged under Articles 288 and 301 of the Penal Code went to court this week and had their cases adjourned. On 8 February, Murat Yetkin, journalist for Radikal, had his case postponed to a later date. He has been charged under Article 288 for an article criticising the trial against Orhan Pamuk, whose case under Article 301 was subsequently dropped. Also on 8 February, Fatih Tas, of Aram Publishing House, stood trial under Article 301 for publishing a Turkish translation of US academic John Tirman's "Spoils of War: the Human Cost of America's Arms Trade." Tas is accused of insulting the army, the Turkish state, "Turkishness", and the memory of Kemal Ataturk. His case was adjourned to 18 April.

"On 15 February, another high profile defendant, charged under Article 301, will appear in court. Ragip Zarakolu, a publisher with Belge Publishing House, will appear for proceedings on two separate cases of insult to the Turkish state. The first is based on the publishing of George Jerjian's book "History Will Free All of Us/Turkish-Armenian Conciliation." The other, on the publishing of Dora Sakayan's "An Armenian Doctor in Turkey: Garabed Hatcherian: My Smyrna Ordeal of 1922." It is believed that the final verdict on charges relating to the second book will be announced at this hearing."

4. - Cihan News Agency - "Turkish court drops one charge in minorities report case":

15 February 2006

A Turkish court decided on Wednesday to halt the trial of Prof. Ibrahim Kaboglu and Prof. Baskin Oran on charges of degrading Turkish identity.

The same court ruled for the continuation of the legal process against the two professors on charges of inciting violence.

The first hearing in the trial of Prof. Ibrahim Kaboglu and Prof. Baskin Oran took place in Ankara on Wednesday.

Prof. Kaboglu is the former chairman of the Prime Ministry Human Rights Advisory Committee. He was responsible for the drawing up of a report on minorities in Turkey while he was chairman.

1.5 to 6 years imprisonment has been sought for the two men on a charge of "inciting the people to hatred and "publicly degrading the judicial organs of the state".

The report on minorities in Turkey, which both men were involved in producing, had drawn a strong reaction from some circles in Turkey and was torn up by some protestors.

Kaboglu and Oran are charged with putting forward propositions tainted with treachery in the indictment prepared by Ankara Prosecutor.

5. - Hurriyet - "Turkey's nuclear ambitions":

15 February 2006

Turkey plans to join the club of nuclear power producers, by building a nuclear power plant on its Black Sea coast. The decision has been a result of rising fuel prices in order to create a more independent supply of energy. Turkey suffered earlier this year from a dip in natural gas supply when Russia cut supplies to Ukraine, as well as a registered decrease in natural gas from Iran two weeks ago. Turkey had talked of building a nuclear power plant almost 30 years ago, but shelved plans in the face of opposition from environmental groups coupled with difficult building conditions as the country is prone to earthquakes.

''The prime minister's office and the energy ministry have decided to build the nuclear plant at Sinop, taking into account such factors as geological faultlines and cooling water,'' an energy official told Reuters.

Energy officials have said Turkey's National Security Council; the president, top politicians and army generals, will discuss the issue of building nuclear power plants at its next meeting on February 28.

The country has no nuclear power plants at present, but a preliminary study envisages the construction of between three and five plants with a total capacity of 5,000 megawatts. the first plant is slated to be online by 2012.

6. - Insight - "U.S. military decides Turkey no longer reliable ally":

15 February 2006

The U.S. military is quietly preparing to withdraw its forces from Turkey.

Government sources said the military and Defense Department have concluded that Turkey is no longer a reliable military ally. The sources said that by 2008 the United States would have no more than a token military presence in Turkey.

"For two years, the Pentagon waited for a turnaround in Turkey," a source said. "That hasn't happened and the Pentagon will be looking elsewhere for basing and deployment."

The Bush administration was deeply disappointed by Ankara's refusal to host U.S. troops in 2003 as part of plans to form a northern front against the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq. Last year, despite numerous pledges, Ankara blocked another U.S. effort to expand its military presence and use of Turkish military installations.

As a result, the Pentagon has been changing its deployment in Turkey and ended incentives for U.S. soldiers to be based in that country, which is also a member of NATO. The Pentagon has also terminated Turkey's certification as an area in direct support of the U.S. military operation in Iraq.

On Dec. 31, the Pentagon ended most incentives for U.S. soldiers to be based in Turkey, an area deemed as high risk amid rising anti-American sentiment during the war in Iraq. The Pentagon ended the exemption of U.S. soldiers from federal taxes in an arrangement known as combat zone tax exclusion.

U.S. soldiers in Turkey began receiving this benefit in January 2003 in anticipation of the war in Iraq. But in a review in late 2005, U.S. European Command determined that Turkey no longer fulfilled combat zone requirements.

Officials said the U.S. military will continue to retain a token presence in Turkey, particularly in the air force base at Incirlik. Those serving in Turkey would obtain the imminent danger pay benefit, which amounts to another $225 a month.

The Pentagon envisions a long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq, particularly in the autonomous Kurdish zone in the north. The United States has built several military bases and airports in the north, which could serve as a launching pad for reconnaissance or attack missions against neighboring Iran.