18 January 2006

1. "Kurdish Rebel Leader's Solitary Confinement Prevents Meetings: Lawyers", lawyers representing jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan protested Tuesday that they were unable to meet their client after authorities increased his isolation on a prison island in northwestern Turkey.

2. "Susurluk accused Bucak to be retried", Sedat Edip Bucak, a key name in the Susurluk case will be retried following the overturning of his acquittal. Istanbul Second High Criminal Court overturned Bucak’s acquittal ruling yesterday. Bucak will be retried on charges of “forming a gang to commit a crime” in the Susurluk case.

3. "277 laws to be revised", after reviewing current legislation in effect, a Prime Ministry commission decided that 277 laws should be updated.

4. "Turkey says no turning back from EU goal", Turkey admitted shortcomings today in its reform drive to join the European Union but said there could be no turning back from the goal of full membership.

5. "Political Attacks In Kirkuk Leave Two Dead", masked gunmen killed two people in separate attacks today on election headquarters and a Kurdish political party office in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. About one mile away, just 30 minutes later, four gunmen fired on the headquarters of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, killing one person and wounding two others, said police Captain Ahmed Hamawandi.

6. "Kurds Challenge Baghdad Over Oil-Exploration Rights", the Kurdish government has begun drilling for oil at a new field near the northern city of Dohuk, a direct challenge to Baghdad's control over the nation's resources.

1. - AFP - "Kurdish Rebel Leader's Solitary Confinement Prevents Meetings: Lawyers":

ISTANBUL / 17 January 2006

Lawyers representing jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan protested Tuesday that they were unable to meet their client after authorities increased his isolation on a prison island in northwestern Turkey.

Irfan Dundar, speaking on behalf of all lawyers representing Ocalan, told a press conference here their client, who was jailed in 1999, had been sanctioned with a 20-day-long confinement in a cell, a disciplinary measure which bars him from meeting his lawyers.

A group of lawyers planning to visit him last week were prevented from travelling out to the Imrali prison island for that very reason, Dundar said.

"We believe it necessary to underline that this new illegal and arbitrary practice which Ocalan has been subjected to... is a decision that could lead to very serious social tensions and conflicts," Dundar said, reading out a press statement undersigned by several pro-Kurdish associations.

Dundar called on authorities to release information on the health and welfare of Ocalan, whom they have not been able to meet since November 30.

Last year, Ankara introduced restrictions on Ocalan's meetings with his lawyers, whom it accused of carrying orders from the rebel leader to his militants who have recently stepped up their armed campaign.

2. - The New Anatolian - "Susurluk accused Bucak to be retried":

ANKARA / 18 January 2006

Sedat Edip Bucak, a key name in the Susurluk case will be retried following the overturning of his acquittal.

Istanbul Second High Criminal Court overturned Bucak’s acquittal ruling yesterday. Bucak will be retried on charges of “forming a gang to commit a crime” in the Susurluk case.

The crash of an armored Mercedes into a truck near the southwestern town of Susurluk on a cold night in November 1996, which killed three of the car's four passengers, provided the clearest indication of links between mafia, police and state officials. What began as a routine police investigation into the accident showed that the Mercedes' passengers included an ultranationalist fugitive, a top police official, a member of parliament and the fugitive's girlfriend, a former beauty contest winner. True Path Party (DYP) Deputy Sedat Bucak was the only survivor.

Bucak’s legal immunity was lifted for the Susurluk investigation and he faced charges of “hiding the wanted Abdullah Catli and not informing the authorities of his whereabouts”, “forming a gang to commit a crime” and “carrying an illegal weapon”, filed by the State Security Court Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Bucak faced 11 to 20 years of imprisonment.

As Bucak was re-elected as Sanliurfa deputy on Apr. 18, 1999, the trial was suspended and the file was sent to Parliament requesting the lifting of his immunity on May 3, 1999.

On failing re-election in the November 2002 elections, Bucak’s file was sent to Istanbul Second High Criminal Court as the State Security Court was no longer authorized to hear cases related to Article 313 and 314 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

The court ruled in favor of Bucak’s acquittal on June 26, 2003 in relation to the charge of “forming a gang to commit a crime” and postponed hearing the other charges.

Reviewing the original decision, the Court of Appeals ruled that the reason given for his acquittal didn't agree with the contents of the file and overturned the ruling. The Court also warned that Bucak shouldn't’t be tried as a gang member but as a gang leader due to his position.

3. - The New Anatolian - "277 laws to be revised ":

ANKARA / 18 January 2006 / by Cem Ceren

After reviewing current legislation in effect, a Prime Ministry commission decided that 277 laws should be updated

213 of laws to be updated will be in accordance with the new (TCK) and Criminal Offense Law

The Prime Ministry is going to take steps to update and revise 277 laws that are currently in effect.

The legislation commission under the directive of the Prime Ministry is going to revise 213 laws to in accordance with the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which came into effect on June 1 of last year, and the Criminal Offense Law.

The review of laws in the current legislation became necessary as the new TCK stipulates that general legal clauses of the laws will be used for specific laws. The effective date of Article 5 of the new TCK, which stipulates general legal clauses of the laws will be used for specific laws, was postponed to the end of 2006. Therefore, amendments to these laws will be passed by Parliament until the end of 2006.

The commission, which was set up by the Prime Ministry to eliminate outdated and unenforceable clauses, unify clauses regulating the same issue, correct contradictory clauses and clarify the clauses’ language, finalized its work in November.

The Prime Ministry sent a letter, which was sent out at the end of November demanding a response within 45 days, to the related public institutions, signed by Prime Ministry Undersecretary Omer Dincer, requesting their opinions on the laws to be revised. According to the letter, signed by Prime Ministry Undersecretary Omer Dincer, the commission proposes the revision of 277 laws.

According to the commission, 213 of these laws stipulate fines and prison sentences. A large majority of them differ from the sentences stipulated by the new TCK and the Criminal Offense Law, which leads to confusion as to which law should be implemented.

The commission proposed that 108 laws conform to the new TCK, 55 laws conform to the Criminal Offense Law and 50 laws conform to both to the new TCK and the Criminal Offense Law. These legal adjustments will prevent unfair practices.

This legislation is particularly important for financial and property fraud, which led to thousands of people being imprisoned every year on the charge of not declaring property. The article of the new TCK that stipulates the postponement of prison sentences for two years or less will also apply to fraud.

The former TCK article stipulated postponing prison sentences up to one year but this clause didn't apply to fraud. Therefore, those who were convicted with 10 days of their arrest had to go to jail.

4. - Reuters - "Turkey says no turning back from EU goal":

ANKARA / 18 January 2006

Turkey admitted shortcomings today in its reform drive to join the European Union but said there could be no turning back from the goal of full membership.

Turkey began its long-delayed EU entry talks last October but has recently drawn sharp criticism over its human rights record and over its refusal to recognise EU member Cyprus under the internationally accepted Greek Cypriot government.

''We do not say and we cannot say that implementation (of our reforms) is perfect. The reforms have to be refined,'' Turkey's EU chief negotiator Ali Babacan, who is also economy minister, told parliament.

''Turkey's future lies in the EU. There may sometimes be a slowdown or a pause (in the reforms). Sometimes our morale may suffer a lot, but our direction is certain,'' said Babacan.

''This is a process in which there can be no going back.'' Babacan's comments are the most positive made recently by a senior government official in public about Turkey's EU bid, and come as some European officials speculate that Ankara may have lost its appetite for reforms.

Ankara has especially annoyed Brussels by allowing the trial of best-selling novelist Orhan Pamuk to go ahead over remarks the writer made about Turkey's treatment of its Armenian and Kurdish minorities. Critics say the case raises questions over Turkey's commitment to freedom of expression.

Turkey is also under pressure to recognise Cyprus, which joined the EU in 2004. Ankara backs a breakaway Turkish Cypriot enclave in the north of the ethnically divided island.

Babacan cited a series of cuts in interest rates over the past year as an example of the concrete gains Turkey's EU bid has brought. Economists say the opening of EU talks has given investors greater confidence in Turkey's economic prospects.

5. - AP / AFP - "Political Attacks In Kirkuk Leave Two Dead":

17 January 2006

Masked gunmen killed two people in separate attacks today on election headquarters and a Kurdish political party office in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

The first attack happened at about 7am local time on the offices of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, or IECI, in southern Kirkuk, said police Captain Farhad al-Talabani.

Four gunmen strolled into the offices and fired randomly at employees, killing one official and wounding another.

About one mile away, just 30 minutes later, four gunmen fired on the headquarters of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, killing one person and wounding two others, said police Captain Ahmed Hamawandi.

Two of the gunmen fired from a stationary car while two others got out of the vehicle and shot at party employees as they entered their offices at the start of the working day, Hamawandi said.

“Police suspect that the first attack on the IECI headquarters and the second attack on the party headquarters might have been conducted by the same group of gunmen,” al-Talabani said.

Also in Kirkuk, a roadside bomb exploded this morning by a police patrol, wounding two policemen in the Qassab Khan area of eastern Kirkuk, Hamawandi said.

6. - The Washintgon Times - "Kurds Challenge Baghdad Over Oil-Exploration Rights":

IRBIL / 14 January 2006

The Kurdish government has begun drilling for oil at a new field near the northern city of Dohuk, a direct challenge to Baghdad's control over the nation's resources.

Many Kurdish sources are reluctant to talk about the exploration near Dohuk and at two other sites, where security is tight and access by visitors restricted.

But Per Thorsdalen, a member of the advance party for a Norwegian firm involved in oil operations, confirmed the fields' existence and locations. Norwegian oil company DNO is the main contractor for the Dohuk operation.

Published reports indicate Kurdistan's oil fields are smaller than those in southern Iraq and near the contested city of Kirkuk.

The regional government claims that its oil reserves total 45 billion barrels, versus 200 billion for all of Iraq, but this figure derives from outmoded methods of estimating field size. The true size of Kurdistan's reserves could be much lower or much higher.

Still, Kurdish officials are optimistic that the region's oil will prove a major source of income.

"Kurdistan is rich in oil," said Adnan Mufti, speaker of the Kurdistan regional assembly. He described the Dohuk field as "only a jump-start."

Regional financing has long been a challenge in Kurdistan. In 1994, a dispute over finances between the two dominant Kurdish political parties sparked a four-year civil war that killed thousands.

Oil revenue could head off another such conflict and solidify the parties' current alliance. Since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, Kurdistan has been free of much of the violence that has beset Sunni- and Shi'ite-dominated areas.

But there are political obstacles to the regional government's oil ambitions, most notably Baghdad's reluctance to surrender control over any of Iraq's natural resources.

All major industries in Iraq are owned by the state. The central government in Baghdad doles out revenue to provincial governments and to Kurdistan's regional government. But Kurdistan's autonomy, the result of a successful uprising in the wake of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, complicates revenue sharing.

"Any contract for exploration or production of oil and gas without the consent of the federal ministry of oil is contractually void," Hussain al-Shahristani, deputy speaker of the national assembly, told Dow Jones Newswires in December.

Mr. Mufti contests that assertion. "The [new] constitution is allowing the region to produce its own oil," he said.

But specific legislation to facilitate independent oil production is pending, and Mr. Mufti is impatient for progress. "This should be regulated by law," he said.

The oil fight is only one battle in a broad campaign by the Kurdistan government to gradually increase its independence. At the heart of the campaign is the regional government's claim on the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, which lies just south of Kurdistan's de facto border.

Currently, Kirkuk is pumping out almost a million barrels of oil per day.

Efforts by Kurdistan's disproportionately large Baghdad delegation, including Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, resulted in the inclusion of a controversial article in Iraq's new constitution.

Article 136 requires a 2007 referendum in Kirkuk to determine whether the city and its oil will come under Baghdad's or Kurdistan's control. To tilt the vote in its favor, the Kurdistan regional government has been paying Kirkuk-born Kurds who were forcibly removed by Saddam Hussein's government to return to the city and file suit to reclaim their old properties.

"Saddam said ... he would never give Kirkuk to Kurdistan because it would be the first step to Kurdish statehood," Mr. Mufti said.

Asked whether independence from Iraq is Kurdistan's goal, Mr. Mufti said that Kurds support a federal Iraq.