Month: August 2008

Q&A: SOUTH OSSETIA DISPUTE

By Guardian Unlimited
8/12/2008

The history behind the breakaway region’s push for independence

Why has fighting broken out?

The South Ossetians and Georgians have been sniping at each other for
several weeks, and patience on both sides has finally snapped. Along
with Georgia’s other breakaway region, Abkhazia, South Ossetia has
enjoyed de facto independence since the early 1990s, but Tbilisi
has never recognized the loss of its territory. The dispute between
Georgia and the two regions was called "the frozen conflict" because
the issues remain unresolved, but there was no fighting. The heat
began to rise this year when the west recognized Kosovo, against
Russia’s advice. The South Ossetians and Abkhazians argued that if
Kosovo could be independent, then so could they.

What is the basis of the region’s claim to independence?

The Ossetians are descendants of a tribe called the Alans. Like
the Georgians, the Ossetians are Orthodox Christians, but they have
their own language. In Soviet times, the Ossetians had an autonomous
region within Georgia. The Georgians say the Ossetians cooperated
with the Bolsheviks and tended to be more pro-Soviet. Their ethnic
kin live across the border in the Russian region of North Ossetia,
so today they feel more drawn to Russia than to Georgia, and many
have Russian passports.

Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast, was also an autonomous region
of Georgia in Soviet times. It has a mixed population of Abkhaz,
Mingrelians, Greeks, Armenians, Russians and Georgians, and a small
but significant Muslim minority. Thousands of ethnic Georgians fled
their homes in Abkhazia during the civil war in the early 90s and
now live as refugees in Tbilisi and Moscow.

Why did Georgia attack in South Ossetia?

On Thursday, Georgian forces launched a surprise attack and briefly
took the South Osssetian capital, Tskhinvali. Georgia said it had
made the assault in order to stop separatist fighters attacking
civilians. The attack followed months of what Georgia described as
Russian provocation, including the firing of Russian missiles at
Georgian territory. Russia also cut off air service and mail between
the two countries, and refused Georgian exports.

Georgia may have hoped that with Vladimir Putin, the prime minister,
away in Beijing, it could successfully reassert control of Ossetia
with a minimum of fuss. If so, it was a colossal miscalculation: the
Russians retaliated with massive force and the tiny Georgian army
was soon forced to pull back from South Ossetia as Russian forces
pressed home their advantage to penetrate Georgia proper.

Russia says it has stopped all operations, but there are still reports
of military activity.

Why did Russia react so strongly?

Russia says it cannot stand aside because many of the people in the
breakaway regions are its citizens. Resorting to apocalyptic rhetoric,
Russia has accused Georgia of committing genocide, drawing comparisons
with Srebrenica, in the former Yugoslavia, where 8,000 Bosnian Muslims
were massacred by Serbs during the Bosnia war.

Georgia, for its part, accuses Russia of meddling in its internal
affairs and supporting the separatists, although Russia’s peace keepers
are supposed to be in a neutral role. Georgia also accuses Russia of
double standards in brutally suppressing its own separatist rebellion
in Chechnya while encouraging separatists in Georgia.

What does Russia want?

In the short term, Russia has made no secret of its desire for
"regime change". Moscow wants a more pliant leader in Tblisi than the
US-educated Mikhail Saaskhasvili, America’s staunchest ally in the
region, who is determined to take Georgia into Nato. He also came
into office pledging to reassert control over Georgia’s breakaway
provinces. More generally, Russia is sending a signal to its neighbors
? which include Ukraine ? that they are still within the Russian sphere
of influence, and that there are clear limits to their rapprochement
with the west. The line in the sand for Russia is that it does not
want Nato in its back yard. Russia has been equally vociferous in
resisting the stationing of parts of a US missile shield in Poland
and the Czech Republic.

What are the wider implications?

The short war has highlighted US impotence in the region, despite its
strong verbal support for Georgia. The EU -and particularly the French
president, Nicolas Sarkozy – has taken the diplomatic lead, leaving
the Americans on the sidelines. Meanwhile, Russia has forcefully made
the point that it is not to be trifled with in its own backyard. More
broadly, South Ossetia highlights the fact that the world community
cannot agree on rules governing the independence of small regions.

AFP/GETTY IMAGES
James Morrison

Washington Times
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
DC

As Russian troops raged through Georgia, the country’s tiny diplomatic
corps in Washington mounted a round-the-clock offensive to tell
Georgia’s side of the story to administration officials, congressional
contacts and journalists.

"The embassy has been working 24 hours a day," Tamta Kupradze,
the political officer, told Embassy Row on Tuesday. "We’ve made
phone calls, held meetings, contacted the media to counter Russian
propaganda."

Georgian Ambassador Vasil Sikharulidze, who is also Georgia’s envoy
to Canada, gave interviews to anyone who would listen, from Fox News
to CNN to Canadian television.

He met with a U.S. government task force on Georgia and maintained
regular telephone contacts with the State Department, Miss Kupradze
said.

"There’s been no time to go home. We’ve been sleeping in the embassy,"
she said. "These are the toughest days of my life."

Miss Kupradze, who has been filling in for a vacationing press
spokesman, said much of the early media coverage was biased because
reporters were relating Russia’s version of the conflict that started
over the breakaway, pro-Russian South Ossetia region of Georgia.

Of the embassy’s 10 diplomats, three returned earlier this summer
for a vacation in Georgia and cannot get out of the country to return
to Washington.

HOPE IN SUDAN

The U.S. special envoy to Sudan expressed a measure of hope Tuesday
that the United Nations will meet its commitment to deploy an adequate
number of peacekeepers to stop what President Bush has called the
"genocide" against black Africans by Arab militias.

Washington remains disappointed by the current level of peacekeepers,
but "we have reason to be encouraged and hopeful that the pace of
the past will be reversed," envoy Richard Williamson told reporters
in Khartoum after meeting with Foreign Minister Deng Alor.

"The current trickle of added peacekeepers is very disappointing,"
Mr. Williamson said. "Unfortunately, performance has not been
acceptable to date. Unfortunately, the responsibility rests both here
[in Sudan] and also with the United Nations."

More than 8,000 troops and 1,700 police officers are operating in
Sudan, which is far below the authorized level of 19,500 soldiers and
6,500 policemen, according to a U.N. spokesman. He said a vanguard
of 350 Ethiopian soldiers is due next week to prepare for an entire
battalion of about 1,000 troops.

The United Nations estimates that 300,000 people have been killed
and 2.2 million displaced from their homes because of fighting in
the Sudanese region of Darfur since 2003.

Mr. Williamson added that "the developments in 2008" have
brought a "new focus and attention" to dispute within the Sudanese
government. The most important of those developments was the World
Court indictment of President Omar Bashir on war crimes charges.

"But let me emphasize, and this is terribly important: If we’re going
to get a sustainable peace in Darfur, in the end the sovereign state
of Sudan will have to address this issue," Mr. Williamson added.

ARMENIA BOUND

Career diplomat Marie L. Yovanovitch is due to arrive in Armenia next
month as the U.S. ambassador the Eurasian nation.

Miss Yovanovitch, who won Senate confirmation Aug. 1, is the former
ambassador to Kyrgyzstan. She also has served as senior adviser to
the undersecretary of state for political affairs and as deputy chief
of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine.

RUSSIA MAY TURN FOCUS TO PRO-U.S. UKRAINE AFTER BEATING GEORGIA
By Henry Meyer

Bloomberg
Aug 13, 2008

Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) — Now that Russia has humiliated Georgia with a
punishing military offensive, it may shift its attention to reining in
pro-Western Ukraine, another American ally in the former Soviet Union.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s
first order of business likely will be to try to thwart Ukraine’s
bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

"The Moscow authorities will use this opportunity to remind Ukraine
of the damages of allying itself with NATO," said Geoffrey Smith at
Renaissance Capital investment bank in Kiev.

The U.S. has long seen Georgia and Ukraine as counterweights to
Russia’s influence in the region. Opposition leaders in the two
countries came to power after U.S.-backed popular protests in 2003
and 2004. Their ascension advanced an American strategy of expanding
NATO to include both countries and securing energy routes from the
Caspian Sea that bypass Russia. The BP Plc-led Baku- Tbilisi-Ceyhan
oil pipeline to Turkey runs through Georgia.

The future effectiveness of that policy is now in doubt, with Georgia’s
U.S.-educated President Mikheil Saakashvili, 40, weakened by a five-day
blitz that his American patrons were powerless to halt.

Medvedev, 42, and Putin, 56, say Russia began the offensive in response
to a drive by Georgia to restore control over the breakaway region
of South Ossetia. Now Russia has ousted Georgian forces from there
and from Abkhazia, another separatist region, and destroyed much of
the central government’s military.

Less Confident

"Georgia will be enormously more careful in its actions in the future,
and much less confident of its relationship with the United States,"
said U.S.-based geopolitical advisory group Stratfor in a research
note.

NATO is due in December to review the two countries’ bids to join the
Western military alliance. NATO leaders in April promised Ukraine
and Georgia eventual membership while declining them fast- track
status. Russia, which has also denounced U.S. plans to station
missile defense sites in former Soviet satellites Poland and the
Czech Republic, says the expansion of the Cold War-era alliance to
its borders is a security threat.

NATO should affirm the potential of Georgia and Ukraine to become
alliance members in the face of Russia’s incursion into Georgia,
senior U.S. officials said yesterday in Washington.

"Russia may find it convenient to raise the level of tension with
Ukraine in the run-up to the December NATO review," Citigroup
Inc.’s London-based David Lubin and Ali Al- Eyd wrote in a note to
clients. "If the conflict with Russia decelerates or reverses Georgia’s
integration with the West, a similar fate could also affect Ukraine."

Divided Country

Ukraine has a large Russian-speaking population in the south and
east that opposes NATO entry and looks to Moscow. Russian officials
warn that if President Viktor Yushchenko pushes Ukraine into NATO,
the nation may split in two. Russia has made its displeasure with
Ukraine clear in recent years, cutting off gas supplies to the country
in 2005 and reducing deliveries earlier this year.

The military operation in Georgia will serve "as a warning" to
Ukraine that it should desist from petitioning for NATO entry,
said Janusz Bugajski, director of the New European Democracies
Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in
Washington. "Otherwise, Moscow may intervene to protect the allegedly
threatened interests of the Russian population."

Too Aggressive

An overly aggressive move by Russia against Ukraine might invite a
backlash, said Renaissance Capital’s Smith.

"If it reacts too violently against Ukraine, then it risks provoking
the reaction it least wants: trade and investment barriers for its
companies, a more antagonistic approach to energy transit, and above
all, it risks scaring Ukraine into seeking western protection,"
he said.

Germany and France opposed NATO entry for Georgia and Ukraine because
of the Georgian separatist disputes and opposition to membership among
some Ukrainians. They now will feel their concerns have been justified,
said Cliff Kupchan of New-York based Eurasia Group a political risk
consulting firm.

"Considering both European reticence and possible fears about Ukraine,
I think it is very much on the slow track," he said, referring to
NATO membership for both states.

The assault by Russian artillery, tanks and bombers inflicted
significant damage on Georgia’s armed forces, which last month
increased their size to 37,000 soldiers. Russia’s military has 1.13
million personnel. The U.S. trained and equipped Georgia’s military
and in 2006 approved almost $300 million in aid over five years.

Army Regroups

"A substantial part of our military power has been destroyed," said
Georgian National Security Council chief Kakha Lomaia. "However,
we did preserve the core of our army, and have managed to regroup it
close to the capital."

An airbase in Senaki was destroyed and three Georgian ships blown up
in the Black Sea port of Poti, he said.

A month ago, about 1,000 U.S. soldiers joined 600 Georgians and 100
from Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Armenia in joint exercises at the Vaziani
military base near Tbilisi. Russia repeatedly bombed the base during
this month’s war.

"The American role in the region has been weakened," Jan Techau,
a European and security affairs analyst at the German Council on
Foreign Relations in Berlin, said in a telephone interview. "It’s a
reassertion of Russia’s dominant role in the region."

Ian Hague, a Bank of Georgia board member and fund manager with
$1.8 billion in the former Soviet Union, said the attack on Georgia
discouraged Western investments in energy infrastructure by raising
the risk premium.

"It’s somewhat reminiscent, in 1939, when Stalin attacked Finland,"
former U.S. national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski told
Bloomberg Television. "I think this kind of confrontation is the best
kind of answer as to why they are seeking to be members of NATO."
From: Baghdasarian

SHAMS ON US TOUR

Iranian.ws
Persian Journal
Aug 12, 2008
Iran

Iran’s Shams ensemble, accompanied by international musicians, is
scheduled to go on a multi-city concert tour in the United States.

Headed by Keikhosrow Nazeri, the group will perform in Los Angeles,
San Francisco, New York and Washington.

Shams ensemble will be the first Iranian group to perform at Lincoln
Center, one of the world’s leading performing arts center in New York.

The concerts will be held in two parts, featuring Sama, the trancelike
dance of Sufi dervishes, and musical pieces played on the traditional
Persian instrument Tanbour.

The ensemble will also perform songs adapted from the works of Mowlavi,
accompanied by musicians from Turkey and Armenia.

The Shams ensemble will begin its US tour in October 2008.

CONTENT OF HARMFUL SUBSTANCES RECORDED IN ARAX RIVER IN LINE WITH POLLUTION STANDARDS

Noyan Tapan

Au g 12, 2008

YEREVAN, AUGUST 12, NOYAN TAPAN. The 10th meeting of the
Armenian-Iranian working group on study of pollution of the Arax River
was held in Yerevan on August 12. The working groups of Armenian and
Iranian experts were set up in 2005 in accordance with provision 4
of the Memorandum of Mutual Understanding between the RA Ministry
of Environmental Protection ad Iran’s Environmental Protection
Department. The working groups conduct joint studies in order to
find the causes of the Arax River’s pollution and to prevent the
consequences.

In the words of Alfred Nersisian, head of the Ministry’s Water
Resource Management Agency, every month the Armenian working group
takes samples in Meghri-Iran interstate section adjacent to the Arax
River. The samples are taken in the observation points determined in
advance. These are places where sewage of industrial enterprises flows
into the river. A. Nersisian assured those present that the content
of harmful substances recorded in the Arax River is in line with the
pollution standards and does not pose any danger to the environment.

Ali Maleki Milani, the executive official of the Water Resource
Management Agency of the Iranian province of Atrpatakan, stated
that the waters of the Arax River have become quite clean thanks to
bilateral coopeartion.

According to him, the governments of the two countries attach special
importance to the joint struggle for cleanness of the Arax.

It was stated that hydrological obsevations, as well as collection
and analysis of data on the river basin will be carried out under the
Strategy and Action Plan of the RA National Water Program. Besides,
it is envisaged to update the geographical map of the Arax River,
the plans of the river basin which were developed in the Soviet time,
and the transborder agreements on management of water quality and
water resources.

GEORGIA: WAKE UP EUROPE
by Diane Francis

National Post
August 12, 2008, 7:19 PM
Canada

Energy, Russia, U.S. Politics, Middle East

The BTU pipeline route is in the way of Russian energy ambitions.

Oil prices did not jump after Russia attacked Georgia even though
this is all about oil and pipeline locations and will result in
higher prices in the long run. The strategy here is to discipline
uppity nation-states, like Georgia, in the "near abroad" that used
to be part of the former Soviet Union.

This is why crude continued its downward price trend, thanks to
a push-back by consumers worldwide against high prices, but the
Russian stock market and Ruble tanked. Investors don’t like bullies
who threaten their competitors as well as customers which is what
this exercise was all about.

The bullying Bear The Russians have been exerting their economic
muscle throughout the region, shutting down pipelines temporarily,
hiking prices unilaterally and generally making mischief. But they
have been playing hardball with Georgia because it is small with
only 4.4 million people and has a minimal diaspora to make a fuss
worldwide. Moscow has financed separatist leaders and guerrillas in
that country and there are now two breakaway provinces.

Last Friday, Saakashvili sent in his troops, with Israeli military
advisors, to one of these provinces despite the existence of Russian
peace keepers. This drew a devastating and rapid counter-attack,
underway as Putin sat in the bleachers at the Beijing Opening Games
Ceremony.

Georgia claims there were plenty of provocations, but facts are that
they sent troops in first, it appears, and then Russia reacted with
might quickly.

All that’s a sideshow The real game here is about the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTU) pipeline which just opened last year and
pumps one million barrels a day from offshore Azerbaijan to Turkey
via Georgia. The line cost $3 billion, is 1,100 miles long and was
built by a consortium of oil giants which includes the Azerbaijani
government. Key here is that this line could pump 10 million barrels
a day, or Saudi levels of production, by hooking up with other Central
Asian oil producing countries so they can bypass Russian pipelines.

But that’s not all that involved here. Moscow’s over-reaction was
clumsy and unnecessary if only Georgia were involved. That’s not
the case. Giving Georgia a good hiding sends a message to all of the
former Soviet "near abroad" states – from Tajikistan to Kazakhstan,
Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Don’t build big pipelines, say the Russians, that bypass our pipelines
and oil.

Specifically, Russia is opposing another proposed lines from Tajikistan
or other oil-producing "stans" directly to markets in Europe, Asia
or internationally through ports, as the newly-minted BTU does.

Russia’s long-term strategy is to become as much of a monopoly supplier
to the wealthy and oil impoverished European Union or Ukraine and
others as possible.

All that should be worrisome for Europe and world oil markets
which translated into a drop in confidence in the Russian market
and currency. Strong-arm, bully-boy tactics may have won Russia the
battle to deal with the uppity Georgian President, but it will lose
the long-term economic war as companies, entrepreneurs and nations
shrink from involvement or investment there.

The young president Russia is threatening to take Georgia’s President
Saakashvili to the World Court for war crimes after his troops invaded
South Ossetia, the breakaway province. This is predictable.

I met Saakashvili and his wife in Davos shortly after his Rose
Revolution. He was charming, witty and disarmingly American. He grew
up in the U.S. and became a New York attorney when he was plucked by
New York financier George Soros, as well as the CIA, to help bring
about Georgia’s independence after the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991.

Despite his country’s vulnerability, he has been fiercely and
tauntingly pro-American and pro-Israel.

Here’s where it gets very interesting.

Reports that the BTU line was targeted by the Russians are out there
but mostly unconfirmed. And a group of Kurdish terrorists exploded
the BTU inside Turkey which will shut it down for a couple of weeks.

So here you have a provocation by a pro-American Saakashvili, helped
by Israel, and a terrorist attack in Turkey by Kurds who are also
very pro-American.

It’s all very byzantine which makes it all the better for the spooks
and others in the shadows of this mini-war.

As things now stand, the Russians have called off the invasion of
Georgia and think they have accomplished exactly what they wanted to
which was to frighten its oil-producing or oil-consuming neighbors.

At the same time, the CIA and Israelis (and French) may believe they
have also accomplished their mission. Their proxy, in Georgia, sucked
Russia into a dramatic and frightening invasion, thus underscoring
the fragility of the BTU line and Europe’s current energy procurement
policies.

Maybe the Germans and other Euros will now realize they had better
block Moscow’s energy strategy, thanks to Saakashvili’s boldness,
coupled with sabotage by CIA-supported Kurds.

And maybe that was somebody’s plan to do so. Or maybe not.

LOCAL REFUGEES REACT TO RUSSIAN/GEORGIAN CRISIS
Morgan White, [email protected]

WBKO
Aug 12, 2008
KY

As tension between Russia and Georgia continues, area refugees react
to the violence.

The women we spoke with came to the U.S. in the 90’s, but say the
violence in Eastern Europe still hits close to home.

"It’s a nightmare because we are talking about more than three thousand
people who have been killed in 24 to 48 hours, and most of them are
women and kids," says Evelina Gevorgiyan who came to the U.S. as a
refugee eleven years ago and has since made Bowling Green her home.

"Bowling Green is a small town, but we love this town," she says. "It’s
quiet, especially if you have kids."

Evelina lived in Armenia in Southern Russia, and says coming to a
new country has had it’s challenges.

"Everything is new for you as immigrants here in the U.S. It’s a new
culture, new language, and everything is new. But people are very,
very nice," Evelina says.

Among those who have befriended Evelina is Oksana Barko who came to
the U.S. as a refugee in 1995. She says news of the Russia / Georgia
conflict hits close to home.

"I was shocked. It was terrible, and I cried because I feel so
sorry for all those people who lost their lives at the horrible,
horrible event."

Evelina has been in the U.S. since 1997, but her sister and mother are
still in Eastern Europe which makes the hostility there particularly
difficult for her to watch as the situation unfolds.

"It’s just hard to explain the way you feel," Evelina says. "It’s
just not right, and I wish there’s going to be someone who is held
responsible for all of this."

Both Oksana and Evelina say watching news coverage of the Russian /
Georgian conflict is difficult. They’re also receiving opposing facts
from family members still living in Eastern Europe.

STATE DEPARTMENT URGING AMERICAN CITIZENS TO LEAVE COUNTRY OF GEORGIA

WBKO
Aug 12, 2008
KY

State Department Urging American Citizens to Leave Country of Georgia

The state department is urging all American citizens to leave the
country of Georgia as soon as possible.

The call comes amid reports of ongoing Russian operations against
Georgian military and civilian sites.

Officials are organizing a third evacuation convoy for Americans that
want to leave the war-torn country and head to neighboring Armenia.

Nearly 200 Americans have fled Georgia since Sunday.

The U.S. Embassy remains open in Georgia’s capital.

BLACKLISTING BY STATE FORBIDDEN, LEGAL PROTECTION LACKING

Today’s Zaman
13 August 2008, Wednesday
Turkey

A list found at the house of Ergenekon suspect Fikret Emek shows
that the TSK Special Forces blacklisted 914 individuals in Ä°stanbul
between 1999 and 2000.

Evidence acquired through a probe into the Ergenekon terrorist
organization, a crime network accused of plotting to overthrow the
government, has revealed that the state is once again blacklisting
citizens based on personal information it has gathered even though
laws exist to prevent this.

The European Union accession process prompted Turkey to introduce
measures to prevent the blacklisting of individuals by the state or
other establishments, but more needs to be done. However, despite all
these shortcomings, blacklisted citizens do have some rights and can
fight any charges brought against them.

The evidence in question shows that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK)
Special Forces blacklisted 914 individuals in Ä°stanbul between 1999
and 2000. The list classifies the individuals according to alleged
political links or leanings and religious identity. It also indicates
that some of the individuals are linked to the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers’ Party (PKK), various religious groups or the extreme left
or right.

The list was found at the house of Ergenekon suspect Fikret Emek,
who said blacklisting is "routine business" for the TSK Special
Forces. He compiled the list just before retiring.

The list brings to mind the events of Sept. 6-7, 1955. Following
rumors that the house in which Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of
the Turkish Republic, was born was bombed in Thessaloniki, Greece,
riots erupted in Ä°stanbul. The mob targeted the Greek minority,
the Jewish population and the Armenians, all noted on a list whose
owner is unknown.

The first laws making gathering information on private citizens more
difficult came into effect as part of the new Turkish Penal Code
(TCK), which was implemented on June 1, 2005. "The new TCK prohibits
gathering personal data and enshrines the protection of life in a
principle. Laws regulating this were for the first time introduced
with the new TCK, which also indicates that if a civil servant is
involved in the said information gathering, the penalty is greater,"
Fikret Ä°lkiz, a lawyer, says.

Ä°lkiz also notes that another law, known as the "right to acquire
information," enables citizens to ask the Interior Ministry and the
TSK if a record has been kept on him or her. If such a record exists,
the citizen in question has the right to seek reparations.

This may be the case in theory, but when Ahmet Aydın, the deputy
governor of Diyarbakır, filed a case against the gendarmerie,
claiming he was blacklisted, the court ruled against him. The
gendarmerie forces in Diyarbakır denied blacklisting Aydın.

Aydın claimed that personal information kept about him was sent to
him in letters by anonymous senders. He used these documents to prove
his case in court and in July demanded YTL 100,000 in compensation.

"We as citizens have more rights to protect us against blacklisting
today than we did in the past," Ä°lkiz points out, but adds that
further regulations are needed to protect personal data, noting
that this has been a requirement of the EU accession process since
2003. The draft bill for this is ready but has not yet been discussed
by Parliament. According to Ä°lkiz, apart from being an economic and
trade arrangement, this bill defines what constitutes personal data
and is something new in Turkish law.

Under the bill, no agency will have the authority to gather information
about an individual’s race, political opinions, philosophical beliefs,
religion, denomination or other types of convictions, membership in
an association, foundation or a union, health condition or private
affairs. It also introduces tough restrictions on the handling of
police and criminal records. The bill allows the gathering of personal
information only when the interest of the public good necessitates
such information gathering — and only as long as there is legislation
in place ensuring the confidentiality of such data. The bill entails
citizens’ right to know whether at any point personal information
about them has been recorded, the right to review any such data
and demand correction in cases of erroneous, mistaken or inadequate
data. Data collection shall not take place without the permission
of the relevant individual, with the exception of cases where legal
obligations might be involved, the bill proposes.

Yusuf AlataÅ~_, a lawyer and the former chairman of the Human
Rights Association (Ä°HD), points out that this bill introduces some
regulations but gives the impression that it was prepared to please
the EU.

"When you read the draft carefully, you can see that the main idea is
to protect the state but to also give some rights to citizens. In a
country like ours, where the human rights record is poor, the mentality
should be to expand the rights of citizens. ‘Public interests’ and
‘state security’ should be strictly defined," he says.

Ä°lkiz and AlataÅ~_ also note that the Code on Criminal Procedure (CMK)
and the Law on Police Powers regulate data gathering, too. For example,
the CMK regulates under which conditions surveillance is allowed. Under
the Law on Police Powers, the state may gather information on
individuals who commit offenses that carry long prison terms, offenses
against public security and property, smuggling or vagrancy, those
who work in brothels, as prostitutes and their procurers and those
who prosecutors or courts of law ask to be investigated.

AlataÅ~_ says when the Ergenekon evidence brought to light the
blacklisting of citizens, some comments suggested that the state had
the right to collect data on its citizens for its interests but that
the data gathering in Ä°stanbul overstepped the limits.

"The real danger is this mentality. To say that the judiciary is
taking care of this crime is not enough. The government has to devise
and implement strict measures to regulate this matter," he says.

–Boundary_(ID_BIMqsNquivzu/ki+J0l94g)–

UK NEWSBRITONS FLEE RED ARMY’S BATTLE ZONE
By Mark Reynolds and Will Stewart

UK Express
Wednesday August 13,2008
UK

A terrified group of British tourists found themselves directly in
the path of the advancing Russian army, it emerged yesterday.

As Russian president Dmitry Medvedev called a halt to military action,
it was revealed how the Britons, on a walking holiday in Georgia,
had to flee for their lives from the Red Army.

The 11 men and women, aged between 31 and 59, were finishing a 10-day
mountain trip on Saturday and were completely oblivious to the outbreak
of a war that has cost more than 2,000 lives.

As they descended from a mountain, the party suddenly came into mobile
phone contact from people in the city of Kutaisi – and were stunned
to learn the entire Red Army was fast heading their way.

Jonny Bealby, of travel company Wild Frontiers, said: "Sometimes we
have to get people out of tricky situations – but I’ve never had to
deal with a full advancing army before."

One of the group, engineer Ross Bishop, 31, from Preston, Lancs,
told how their phones started ringing as they reached a remote village.

He said: "When we drove towards the border we saw military transport
carrying troops. It’s a new one for me, being on holiday in a war
zone."

They were driven through the mountains in 4x4s and a minibus then
took them to safety in Armenia. Most flew home yesterday.

Mr Bealby said: "The party would not have known much about the war
until they got to Kutaisi. At that stage the fighting wasn’t as
serious as it became. But we knew from our experience of that region
that the city of Gori was a possible target.

"As it turned out the party was literally 48 hours in front of the
Russian army – and directly in its path."

Gori later came under heavy Russian bombardment, causing hundreds of
Georgian families to flee.

Two Britons – David McDowell, a teacher at Fettes College, in
Edinburgh, and his friend Gavin Adams – refused to break their holiday
in Georgia.

They had travelled to Gori to see the birthplace of Joseph Stalin. Mr
McDowell said: "We’ve paid for this holiday and we’re going to
enjoy it."

Last night the Foreign Office said about 350 Britons were still trying
to escape the war-torn country and it was providing coaches from the
capital Tbilisi to help the evacuation.

A group of the most vulnerable, mostly the elderly and children,
was last night due to be flown to Paris.