17 April 2007

1. "PKK commander warns Turkey his group might abandon cease fire", a Kurdish rebel commander warned Turkey Monday that if it does not negotiate with the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, the group will stop abiding by a cease fire it declared unilaterally and resume cross-border attacks.

2. "Turks argue over next president", the Turkish parliament has begun the process of electing a new president, in what is already proving a highly controversial contest.

3. "Report: Islamic-rooted Turkish prime minister hints he will run for president", Turkey's Islamic-rooted prime minister has given strong hints that he intends to run for president, newspapers reported, as the process of nominating candidates for the post formally opened on Monday.

4. "Police Raids Magazine Critical of the Army", around 50 police officers raided the offices of weekly Nokta following consecutive publications which revealed anti-democratic predispositions in the army, namely allegations of coup plans by ex-generals. Journalists associations protest the action.

5. "Germany's Merkel says Turkey's EU membership talks likely to make headway", the EU could open two more chapters in Turkey's accession talks, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday, following talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Hanover.

6. "Bill Clinton Says US Government Should Protect Kurds From External Attacks", the former US President Bill Clinton said that the US administration must protect Kurds from any external attacks. He added that a possible Turkish military operation into Southern Kurdistan would bring "a disaster" to the region, the London-based Arabic language daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported today.

1. - AP - "PKK commander warns Turkey his group might abandon cease fire":

SULAIMANIYAH / 16 April 2007

A Kurdish rebel commander warned Turkey Monday that if it does not negotiate with the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, the group will stop abiding by a cease fire it declared unilaterally and resume cross-border attacks.

Haval Jangawer, a PKK commander speaking by telephone from Qandil Mountains on the border with Turkey, said Iraq's northern neighbor has massed about 60 tanks, artillery pieces and thousands of soldiers near the border with Iraq.

His comments came amid fighting between Turkish troops and PKK fighters, as well as increasing tensions between Turkey and Iraq's Kurds who recently warned their northern neighbor not to interfere in Iraq's affairs or face retaliation from the PKK.

Last week, Turkish chief of the armed forces Gen. Yasar Buyukanit said "an operation into Iraq is necessary." He said the military was conducting several "large scale" offensives against Kurdish rebels in the predominantly Kurdish southeastern region.

The announcement comes as Turkey has been intensifying pressure on Iraq and the United States to crack down on the rebels who launch raids from bases in northern Iraq. Turkish troops were not expected to cross the border, although they did on several occasions before the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Jangawer said Turkey "will either have to accept our unilateral cease-fire and solve the Kurdish problem through negotiations or we will start fighting again." PKK fighters have held a cease-fire since Oct.1, but the Turkey military has ignored it, vowing to continue fighting until all rebels are killed or surrender.

Nearly 40,000 people have died in fighting since autonomy-seeking rebels of the PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984.

In Turkey, local officials said Monday that Turkish troops killed 12 armed Kurdish guerrillas in a clash in southeast Turkey. One Turkish soldier was also killed.

The clash occurred in the predominantly Kurdish province of Tunceli when a group of rebels opened fire on the soldiers, ignoring calls for them to surrender, the state-run Anatolia news agency said. Twelve guerrillas were killed in the clash that began on Sunday night, local authorities said.

The deaths bring to 29 the number of guerrillas killed in the past 10 days in clashes in Turkey's southeast. Eleven soldiers have also been killed in fighting in the same period.

2. - BBC - "Turks argue over next president":

ANKARA / 16 April 2007 / by Sarah Rainsford

The Turkish parliament has begun the process of electing a new president, in what is already proving a highly controversial contest.

More than 300,000 people took to the streets of the capital at the weekend to pressure Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan not to stand.

His opponents accuse him of having an Islamic agenda - a charge he denies.

Turkey has been a republic since 1923, with a strict separation of religion and the state.

'Turkey is secular'

Mr Erdogan is now under intense pressure not to run for president.

The protest on Saturday was the biggest here for many years.

Police say at least 370,000 people turned out. They chanted: "Turkey is secular and will stay that way!"

The prime minister and his party have their roots in political Islam. If he is elected president, his wife would be Turkey's first-ever First Lady to wear the Islamic headscarf.

That is a deeply divisive symbol here. Last week, Turkey's most senior general warned that the next president must be wholeheartedly loyal to the secular system - a thinly veiled warning to Mr Erdogan.

The prime minister has said he has no intention of pushing a pro-Islamic agenda. There is very little evidence to suggest otherwise, but the country's powerful elite just does not trust him.

The president here has a veto on all laws and appoints many senior figures within the establishment.

With a large majority in parliament too, in theory Mr Erdogan would have the power to try to transform the republic.

The prime minister is the country's most popular politician and has the full support of his party to become president. Many people though warn that could spark further tension here. They are pushing him to nominate a compromise candidate in his place.

3. - AP - "Report: Islamic-rooted Turkish prime minister hints he will run for president":

ANKARA / 16 April 2007

Turkey's Islamic-rooted prime minister has given strong hints that he intends to run for president, newspapers reported, as the process of nominating candidates for the post formally opened on Monday.

Pro-secular president Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who has been a brake on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Islamic-rooted government, is stepping down on May 16. Many secular Turks fear that Erdogan may replace him, challenging Turkey's secular principles and inching the country toward Islamic rule.

Erdogan has not yet said if he will run for president. His party commands a majority in parliament and whomever it nominates is expected to be elected. Erdogan has said his party could decide on a possible candidate during a party meeting on Wednesday, but was not likely to make an announcement until just before nominations close.

Daily Sabah and several other newspapers reported that Erdogan — who has so far refused to be drawn in on whether he will run — dropped strong hints that he wants to become president, while speaking to reporters during a flight to Germany.

Asked how his party would fare in the next general elections if he became president, Erdogan replied: "Let them say our leader is dead and may the successor lead the party forward." Erdogan also said the new president would share a private jet with the prime minister and would travel more. His words were widely interpreted as showing Erdogan's intention to stand for president.

Erdogan, who has pushed predominantly Muslim Turkey toward European Union membership, has denied any Islamic agenda. He has, however, stoked secularist concerns by speaking out against restrictions on wearing Islamic-style head scarves in government offices and schools and taking steps to bolster religious institutions. He also tried to criminalize adultery before being forced to back down under intense EU pressure. Some party-run municipalities have also taken steps to ban alcohol consumption.

On Saturday, more than 300,000 people took to the streets of the capital Ankara to protest against Erdogan's possible bid, in the country's largest demonstrations in decades. Protesters chanted: "We don't want an imam as president! and "Turkey is secular and will remain secular."

Turkey's parliament is expected to hold a first round of presidential elections on either April 26 or May 3, after the process of nominating candidates closes at midnight on April 25.

If Erdogan runs, another pro-Islamic official could then be selected for the premiership.

Sezer, the outgoing president, said in a speech last week that the threat Islamic fundamentalism posed to the country was higher than ever — a warning clearly directed at Erdogan.

Earlier, in a statement interpreted as a warning to Erdogan not to stand for president, Chief of Military Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit said: "We hope that someone who is loyal to the principles of the republic — not just in words but in essence — is elected president."

The fiercely secular generals staged three coups between 1960 and 1980, and in 1997 led a campaign that pressured a pro-Islamic government out of power.

Although largely ceremonial, the presidency has become a symbol for secularism under Sezer. A former Constitutional Court judge, he has vetoed a record number of laws he deemed to be in violation of the secular constitution and has blocked efforts to appoint hundreds of reportedly Islamic-oriented candidates to important civil service positions.

4. - Bianet - "Police Raids Magazine Critical of the Army":

Around 50 police officers raided the offices of weekly Nokta following consecutive publications which revealed anti-democratic predispositions in the army, namely allegations of coup plans by ex-generals. Journalists associations protest the action.

ISTANBUL / 16 April 2007

Security forces have raided the offices of weekly Nokta following the magazine's publication of alleged military coup plans by retired generals.

About 50 police officers took the journalists by surprise on last Friday, confiscating all computers at the offices to search for the source of the news article, which gained vast public attention.

While the investigation is told to relate to recent publications, Nokta workers say the limits of the public prosecutors' search warrant exceeds that and enables the police to search for anything or everything.

The magazine rooted the allegations on alleged diaries by ex-commander of Turkish marine forces, Adm. Özden Örnek. The texts, which consist of more than 2 thousand pages include detailed plans by ex commander of the gendarmerie to seize power.

Örnek denied that the diaries belonged to him. While an investigation has been launched against Nokta weekly on allegations of "disinclining the public from military duty" and "promoting unrest among army members", the judiciary failed to investigate military coup plans revealed by the weekly.

Army chief questions

Turkish army chief Gen. Yasar Büyükanit questioned the authenticity of the diaries during an unexpected press conference on Thursday.

"We can't avoid asking ourselves if the texts published in this magazine are authentic. I can sit in front of a computer and write some diaries and claim that those belong to a journalist.

The editor-in-chief of that magazine said that there would be evidence at General Staff archives. I ordered a through search at the archives and there are no signs of any coup plans", he said.

Journalists react to police raid

Hours after police raided Nokta's offices in Istanbul, several journalists' associations and rights organizations decried the action.

Around 200 journalists gathered in front of the magazine's offices on Friday night and expressed solidarity with their colleagues. And on Sunday, they sold Nokta on Istiklal Street, heart of the city as a protest against police action towards the magazine.

5. - Southeast European Times - "Germany's Merkel says Turkey's EU membership talks likely to make headway":

The EU could open two more chapters in Turkey's accession talks, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday, following talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Hanover.

16 April 2007

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hold a news conference Sunday (April 15th) in Hanover, Germany.

Less than three weeks after the EU restarted membership talks with Turkey, German Chancellor Angela Merkel indicated on Sunday (April 15th) that the process could be further stepped up before Portugal replaces her country at the helm of the Union on July 1st.

"Under the German presidency of the EU, two more chapters could probably be opened if things go well," the German leader told reporters in Hanover following talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "We are looking ahead but the outcome of this process remains open," she added, stressing the need for Turkey to normalise ties with Cyprus.

In December, the EU decided to suspend talks with Turkey on eight negotiating chapters because of its refusal to open its ports and airports to traffic from Cyprus, whose Greek-run part joined the Union in May 2004. Ankara says it will do so only after the 27-nation bloc makes good on its promise to end the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots. Their breakaway state is recognised by Turkey alone.

A signal of a thaw in the process of Turkey's membership negotiations came at the end of March, when the EU agreed to open talks with Ankara on enterprise and industrial policy -- the second of all 35 chapters a candidate country must complete to join the Union.

"There is no question that Turkey and Europe have to move closer together," the AP quoted Merkel as saying at her joint press conference with Erdogan on Sunday. "The entire process is a long one and its result is open."

Ankara "would value Germany's contribution in spurring a revival [of the talks] very highly", the Turkish leader said, a day after criticising Berlin for the lack of progress in his country's EU negotiations.

Media reports quoted Erdogan as saying in an interview with German news magazine Der Spiegel, published on Saturday, that he "had seriously expected more" from Germany's six-month EU presidency, which began on January 1st. "We would like a clear idea of a date, a roadmap, a calendar for negotiations," he told the magazine, viewing "2014 or 2015" as a possible date for EU accession.

Turkey's accession talks are widely expected to take at least ten years to complete.

Erdogan also reproached Germany for its "big mistake" in not inviting him or other Turkish officials to take part in celebrations marking the EU's 50th anniversary in late March.

Speaking at Sunday's press conference, he defended his comments as "legitimate", but stressed that they were not directed at Merkel personally.

"One cannot attack a lady," said Erdogan. "We are on a long, narrow road and we have to be patient," he added, saying also that he hadn't been aware that the arrangements for the festivities were made before Germany took over the EU presidency.

Before heading the German government, Merkel, who is also the leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union, suggested that Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country of more than 70 million people, should be offered a "privileged partnership" with the bloc rather than full-fledged membership. As part of an agreement with her coalition partner, the centre-left Social Democratic Party, she has agreed to back entry talks with Ankara.

Merkel and Erdogan met before the official opening of the Hanover Trade Fair, where Turkey is a guest nation this year.

6. - Kurdistan Observer - "Bill Clinton Says US Government Should Protect Kurds From External Attacks":

16 April 2007

The former US President Bill Clinton said that the US administration must protect Kurds from any external attacks. He added that a possible Turkish military operation into Southern Kurdistan would bring "a disaster" to the region, the London-based Arabic language daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported today.

"America should deploy its troops in Iraq in Kurdistan and regions neighboring Kurdistan, The troops to be deployed would prevent Turkey from entering the region, thus helping to protect Iraqi Kurds from external forces. Although Turkey has all along been an ally for us and Israel, it should not be let to enter Iraqi lands. Turkey's incursion into the region will bring disaster to the region," Clinton said.