Author: Hovhannisian John

from the June 29, 2007 editio

woeu.html < .html>

Why Turkey’s Kurds are ever more edgy

While Kurds are testing the limits of legal reforms that grant more freedoms, an uptick in attacks from separatists threaten to erode gains made by the ethnic minority.

By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Diyarbakir, Turkey

Mohammad Isiktas, only 13 years old, is prepared to take on the
Turkish state so he can legally use his Kurdish middle name.

He is still forbidden from having Demhat, which means "the time has
come," on his ID card. His younger brother will also go to court, to
use his Kurdish name, which means "freedom."

While Turkey’s Kurds have seen some limited reforms, this family’s
pending fight is emblematic of the legal limits the ethnic minority
still face.

Application of new laws that permit limited use of Kurdish, such as
ending the ban on Kurdish names and allowing 45 minutes of Kurdish TV
broadcasts a day, are being challenged by zealous state prosecutors
fearful that such minority rights will undermine the Turkish republic.

So change has come only fitfully to southeast Turkey, where separatist
guerrillas of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) and Turkish forces
fought a vicious war throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

"I want peace between Turkey and Kurds, between police and the PKK,"
says Mohammad, his dress shirt buttoned to the neck. "For that reason
I want both names, Mohammad and Demhat, as a combination of these two:
the [Turkish] police and [Kurdish] fighters."

"In the past, because of high pressure, we were afraid of learning our
own culture," says Makbule Tanriverdi, the boys’ mother. "But now we
are more self-confident and brave because of that hard struggle
period."

Still, after five years of relative peace, expanding self-rule, and
easing language restrictions, there has been a resurgence of PKK
attacks and Turkish military action, which threatens to spill into
northern Iraq and erase these modest changes.

The PKK is increasing attacks on Turkish soldiers and is blamed by
officials for a string of bombings against civilians. Public support
is high for a military invasion against PKK bases in northern Iraq –
the US and their Iraqi Kurdish allies are accused by Turks for giving
the PKK safe haven.

The US and European Union labels the PKK a "terrorist" group for
targeting civilians. Turkey has backed up threats by boosting troop
strength along the border.

But even as Kurds test the limits of EU-inspired legal reforms that
grant more cultural rights, they say the renewed bloodshed stems from
a lack of creativity on both sides.

The PKK, for example, did not disarm after the 1999 capture of its
leader, Abdullah Ocalan, who vowed in court to "give up the armed
struggle" and "dedicate my life to bringing Kurds and Turks together."
Earlier this month, the imprisoned PKK leader warned that invading
Iraq would spark a broader Turk-Kurd war and risk "losing all Turkey."

For its part, the state ended a brutal state of emergency marked by
extrajudicial killings, destruction of villages, and torture. "They
did not internalize those changes, so they were token moves," says
Osman Baydemir, the mayor of Diyarbakir. Like local Kurdish officials
across southeast Turkey, home to some 15 million ethnic Kurds, he is
facing a number of legal cases.

Still, a Kurdish political party exists with many PKK sympathizers
among its ranks, and some 30 members hope to be voted into Turkey’s
parliament in July 22 elections.

Development and other economic projects have borne little fruit or not
materialized, however, leading to 60 percent unemployment in this city
alone, and feeding what Mr. Baydemir counts as the 29th Kurdish
rebellion – the one launched by the PKK in 1984.

"From the end of 2005 onwards, there has been a remarkable regression
of cultural rights," says Baydemir, whose broad desk is watched over
by a portrait of Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. "Currently
there is no trace of the positive atmosphere from 2000 to 2005."

The result is clear in the number of legal court cases brought against
local officials and Kurds, who daily test the limits of the law. The
mayor and municipal council of Diyarbakir’s Sur district, in the old
city, were recently sacked for voting to use Kurdish to spread
information about local services ranging from tourism to trash
cleanup.

Baydemir’s most recent case is prosecution for printing New Year cards
in Turkish, English, and Kurdish. Some non-Kurdish officials who
received them sent them back. The case was not brought because Kurdish
is banned, the prosecutor explained, but because the letters X, W, and
Q exist in Kurdish but not Turkish, so their use violates a law
protecting Turkish letters.

The mayor responded, in court, that the prosecutor also must violate
the law every day, when he logs into the Justice Ministry website,
tapping the URL address that begins www.

"In the last four years, many new laws passed parliament and as a rule
they are not bad – the same as in European countries," says Tahir
Elci, a human rights lawyer who spent time in detention in the
1990s. "But in practice, the problems continue because prosecutors and
judges haven’t changed their minds."

Broad Kurdish disillusion means more than 50 percent of Kurds believe
the PKK "represents their rights," estimates Mr. Elci, though only 10
to 20 percent support killings.

"Kurdish people are not happy with the violence – they want peace and
don’t support these attacks," says Elci. "But also they are not happy
with government policy, because the Kurdish problem is not
solved…. Kurds in Turkey don’t believe this state represents them,
or belongs to them."

Indeed, unity was the key message of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan at an election rally in Diyarbakir on Sunday. In this
long-neglected region, Mr. Erdogan listed his Islamist Party’s
achievements, including claims of opening 1,500 new classrooms
already, and 500 more by the end of the year.

"What did we do in Diyarbakir? You’ll tell everyone what we did!"
Erdogan told the chanting crowd. "We just want to win your hearts and
emotions. We don’t want any hate or conflict."

Still, Mr. Erdogan has sought to take a tough line against
"terrorists" and says he would approve a military push into northern
Iraq when "necessary." But he also says that 5,000 PKK activists
inside Turkey – his numbers – should be dealt with before crossing
into Iraq.

Turkish generals Wednesday repeated their call for a cross-border
operation into Iraq, estimating that 2,800 to 3,100 guerrillas are
based there. "Turkey prefers security to democracy, [and] if you
prefer security to democracy, then you will have a violent reaction,"
says Ali Akinci, head of the Diyarbakir branch of Turkey’s Human
Rights Association.

Turkish military operations have stepped up since 2004 and surged in
the past six months, during which time 214 people died on both sides,
says Mr. Akinci. His predecessor was hit with 46 court cases from
state prosecutors; the office was shut down between 1997 and 2000 for
saying that "a Kurdish nation exists in Turkey."

A breaking point, observers here say, came during riots in Diyarbakir
in March 2006, when protestors at the funerals of PKK militants
clashed in the streets with Turkish soldiers for several days. A total
of 10 people died in the gunfire, including a boy watching from a
balcony; the Human Rights Association is handling 350 cases of the 600
people arrested.

"The latest conflicts will increase nationalism [on both sides] and
will make things worse than ever before," says Sezgin Tanrikulu, chair
of the bar association in Diyarbakir. "Kurds are becoming more
radical, and I believe their trust in the system is going to be
weaker."

A call by Turkey’s top general on June 8 for Turks to "show their
reflex action en masse against these terrorist acts" amounts to a
"declaration of internal war," says Mr. Tanrikulu, winner in 1997 of
the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award.

PKK attacks also have some Kurds angry. "Lots of people are shouting
against them, ‘Why are they using such violent methods?’ " asks
Tanrikulu. "Especially operations against civilians. People don’t
support this."

He is handling a string of cases at the European Court of Human Rights
in Strasbourg, France, where decisions often go against Turkish
authorities. Locally, Tanrikulu is now defending Baydemir, the mayor,
who has been charged with "aiding and abetting the terrorist
organization PKK," and faces 10 to 15 years in prison for trying to
calm demonstrators during the riots last year with the words: "We
share your pain deep in heart."

"In Turkey, we have lived almost everything that could be lived; war
and torture…." says the mayor. "The war concept was consumed to its
limits. But there is only one way we have not tried: negotiations,
peace, and talking.

"Dialogue and compromise are inevitable [to end] this conflict," adds
Baydemir. "We need to show Turkey the path of reason. But now there is
an eclipse of reason."

Copyright © 2007 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved.

BRITISH DIPLOMAT SAYS YEREVAN A SPORTSMAN WITHOUT LUNGS

Panorama.am
18:14 27/06/2007

Richard Hide, British deputy ambassador to Armenia, has said "Yerevan
is like an Olympic sportsman without lungs" in a discussion today on
Armenian forests.

"Yerevan’s air is polluted," he said comparing Yerevan with a sportsman
that is forced to smoke 10 packs of cigarettes. Unlike Armenia, in
Britain candidates include environmental issues in their election
campaigns, Hide said.

STRESSES MOUNT FOR BUREAUCRATS
James Travers

Toronto Star, Canada
June 28 2007
Ottawa

Stephen Harper’s frustration is only one sign of rising tension
between Conservatives and civil servants. Just two weeks before the
Prime Minister railed privately at resistant bureaucrats, Defence
Minister Gordon O’Connor publicly embarrassed his top general for a
policy failure.

The cases are different in detail. Harper accused headstrong mandarins
of opposing recognition of the 1915 murder of some 1.5 million
Armenians as genocide, while O’Connor said Rick Hillier had failed
to ensure families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan are adequately
compensated for funeral costs.

But the similarities are deep and instructive. Each probes the
relationship essential to the effective operation of intricate
government machinery and exposes the pressures now pulling it apart.

In theory, non-partisan mandarins advise and ministers decide.

Equally important, bureaucrats are anonymous while politicians reap
the rewards in good times and accept responsibility in bad.

In daily practice, the lines are blurring and the system breaking
down. Bureaucrats paid to provide sound policies feel ignored by an
ideologically certain cabinet and are understandably angry when held
publicly responsible when things go wrong.

That’s an accelerating trend, not a new phenomenon. For decades
ruling parties concentrated power at the centre and made scapegoats of
bureaucrats. Liberals are living proof. Lest anyone forget, politicians
escaped essentially unscathed from the Quebec sponsorship scam and
from the human resources grants fiasco while bureaucrats were charged
or ridiculed.

Conservatives remain commendably clear of similar scandal. Still,
what should have been a supportive partnership has only deteriorated
since Harper took a wild pre-election swipe at everyone he considers
Liberal hacks.

Much of the trouble tracks to arguably the most insular modern
prime minister. Blinded by the beauty of Conservative solutions,
Harper relies on his intellectual strength and ideological intuition
while closing the door to all but a clique of officials, ministers
and deputies.

There’s more to it than a private, often prickly, personal style.

Conflicting pressures squeeze the Prime Minister between relentless
demands for top-down decisions and the equally pressing need to solve
problems that sweep across departments.

On a consultant’s graph, the prime minister is the high point of the
vertical command-and-control axis, while the public service spreads
across the horizontal policy axis. The result is a push-me, pull-you
structure failing under impossibly heavy loads.

When that happens, this prime minister bashes the bureaucracy for
resisting changes in political direction and his defence minister
blames the top soldier. Rare now, those ugly incidents will increase as
stresses mount on a minority government and on bureaucrats struggling
to respond innovatively to complexity.

Pillorying bureaucrats who can’t defend themselves increases resentment
and makes it more difficult for those charged with steering and rowing
the state to constructively hold a course.

But structural reconstruction is also urgently needed. The critical
relationship between politicians and public servants is cracking as
Ottawa struggles to make timely, often controversial decisions that
overwhelm the capacity and accountability of a system that is isolated
from modern realities and evolving too slowly.

BSEC FMS COORDINATE RESULTING DECLARATION OF ISTANBUL SUMMIT

PanARMENIAN.Net
25.06.2007 18:30 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The sitting of the BSEC Council of Foreign Ministers
presided by Turkish FM Abdullah Gul has finished in Istanbul. The
parties coordinated the resulting Declaration of the Summit of BSEC
leaders to be adopted upon completion of the summit. Foreign Ministers
from Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Russia, Georgia, Albania, Serbia, Romania,
Bulgaria, Greece, Moldova and Armenia participated in the sitting.

Recognition of the BSEC leading role in boosting economic cooperation
and deepening of friendly and neighborly relations between the member
countries is likely to become the basic point of the Declaration.

The document will also include expansion of cooperation in energy,
transport, environment, science, telecommunications, trade and tourism
as well as war on terror and organized crime.

One of the most promising projects of the organization is the
construction of ring-road around the Black Sea, the RBC reports.

Azerbaijan, Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Moldova,
Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine are members of the BSEC. 13 states,
including Belarus, Germany, U.S. and France, have the status of
observer.

November 1, 2207 Ukraine will assume presidency in the organization.

THREE MIGRANTS FROM IRAQ DETAINED

Prime News Agency, Georgia
June 25 2007

Tbilisi. June 25 (Prime-News) – The border Guards have detained
5 suspects of illegal crossing of the State Border in groups and
smuggling of migrants over the border near Sarpi border sector.

Prime-News was told at the Border Guard Police that three of the
detainees are the citizens of Iraq of the Armenian origin: Aram Akop,
Ana Makhran and their child, the rest two suspects are the citizens
of Georgia: Ramaz Khorava and Levan Orbelashvili.

At present the detained Iraqis do not explain how they arrived
in Georgia.

Criminal case has been launched against the above-mentioned fact.

PM: BANKING SYSTEM WINS CONFIDENCE OF ARMENIAN SOCIETY

ARKA News Agency, Armenia
June 25 2007

YEREVAN, June 25. /ARKA/. The Armenian society has more confidence
in the banking sector, which is rather stable now, said Armenia’s
Prime Minister Serge Sargsyan during the annual meeting of the Union
of Banks of Armenia.

"The advance growth of indices of the banking sector to the
GDP testifies to that, and it is accounted first of all by the
implementation of the principles of corporative management, as well
as by formation of institutes, strengthening the safety of credit
infrastructures, such as deposit guarantee fund, credit bureau,
as well as unified payment system," he said.

According to Sargsyan, Armenia’s banking system integrates into the
world banking community with rapid steps, as well as accepts and
implements the best international standards.

"Together we passed a long way of reformation, the structures, that
did not withstand the competition and constantly violated the rules
of market relations thus creating problems both for the system and
the country as a whole, had to quit the banking system," he said.

Sargsyan pointed out that there is a great field for activity in the
banking sphere.

"The indices of financial mediation are still low, and the unit weight
of credits in the GDP structure does not exceed 10%, which testifies
to the fact that the participation of banks in the development of
Armenia’s economy is not enough," he said.

He pointed out that it is necessary to strive for credit means to be
accessible for every businessman.

"The country’s every citizen should have a possibility to improve his
housing conditions by means of mortgage credit, and the accessibility
of credits for the young generation should contribute to their getting
education," Sargsyan said.

NATO SEC. GEN.’S SPECIAL REP. IN SOUTH CAUCASUS TO ARRIVE IN YEREVAN JUNE 20

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.06.2007 16:53 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative
in South Caucasus Robert Simons will arrive in Armenia with a 3-day
visit. During his visit Robert Simons will meet RA President Robert
Kocharian, Speaker of National Assembly Tigran Torosyan, Prime
Minister Serzh Sargsyan, Defense Minister Michael Haroutyunyan and
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian. On June 22 NATO Sec. Gen.’s Special
Representative will participate in the session of the commission on
realizing NATO-Armenia Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP),
RA MFA Press Office reports.

Los Angeles Daily News
Injustices continue after Turkish-Armenian editor’s slaying
BRIDGET JOHNSON, Columnist
06/18/2007

"HOW real are these threats? To be honest, it is impossible for me to know
for sure," Turkish-Armenian editor Hrant Dink wrote in his last column on
Jan. 10. "…2007 will probably be an even harder year for me. The court
cases will continue, new ones will be initiated and God knows what kind of
additional injustices I will have to face."
Nine days later, Dink was gunned down in broad daylight outside the Istanbul
office of his weekly newspaper, Agos. At the time of his slaying,
prosecutors were preparing the third instance of "denigrating Turkishness"
charges against Dink; he’d previously been convicted once. Dink’s "crime"
was writing about the hotly contested and controversial subject of the
Armenian Genocide.
One can safely say that these prosecutions against Dink’s free expression
helped inflame the ire of Turkish nationalists. On July 2, 18
ultra-nationalists go on trial in Dink’s killing. The alleged trigger man,
Ogun Samast, who faces various charges including "murder with premeditation"
and "membership of a terrorist organization," reportedly quickly confessed,
but the net grew much wider.
Ultra-nationalists Erhan Tuncel, a university student, and Yasin Hayal, who
served time for the 2004 bombing of a McDonald’s, are charged with planning
the crime and terrorist-group membership. But the slate of defendants
reaches up into the political ranks, including Yasar Cihan, chairman of a
localized branch of the Islamist-nationalist Great Unity Party, who is
accused of giving money to Hayal after the shooting.
Yet when Dink prophesized in that last column that additional injustices
would arise, he could have been speaking not only of his cold-blooded
killing but of the trials that would follow.
First, it was revealed that hearings for his alleged assailants will be
closed to the press, and journalists won’t even be given reports of the
trial. Reporters Without Borders states that this is because the alleged
shooter, Samast, is 17 years old. How convenient for those who may be
wanting to shield the extent of the currently 18-strong conspiracy – and
what an ironic blow for the principles of press freedom for which Dink
ultimately gave his life.
And in a slap to all Armenians and all who value the democracy, free speech
and justice ideals furthered by Hrant Dink, his son, Arat, now editor of
Agos, has been charged with "insulting Turkish identity" and appeared in
court last week.
Arat Dink simply reprinted an interview where his father recognized the
Armenian Genocide. For this, prosecutors are urging that Arat spend six
months behind bars. "The most absurd and dangerous (thing) is the fact that
describing a historical event as `genocide’ is perceived as insulting
Turkishness," Arat Dink said.
Like father, like son, the charges fall under Article 301, which stipulates
penalties of up to three years in prison for denigrating Turkishness or the
government, and increases penalties by a third for such offenses committed
by Turkish citizens in other countries. "If a reasonable proposal is made,
we may work on it," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in May
of amending Article 301. The arrest of Arat Dink shows that this hollow
promise is too little, too late.
"Article 301 killed Hrant," Mehmet Ali Birand wrote in the Turkish Daily
News back in January. "This is the reason why, if we would like to make a
change as a society, we need to change Article 301. This is the only way we
can ask for Hrant Dink’s forgiveness."
Turkey has a fleeting chance to ensure that justice is done for Dink and for
all journalists who shouldn’t have to live in fear of coming under the thumb
of the government – and possibly staring down the chamber of an assassin’s
gun. Not only should transparency be paramount in the trial for the killers
of Hrant Dink by granting full media access, but Article 301 charges should
be immediately dropped against Arat Dink and other Agos staff members.
As it stands now, things aren’t getting any better. Agos staff have been
threatened by the Turkish Vengeance Brigade, and the group threatened
Istanbul-based Ozgur Radyo in March: "If you do not stop betraying Turkey,
your end will be the same as the others. Your destiny will be the same as
that of the other traitors."
As Hrant Dink would say now, God knows what kind of additional injustices
the Turkish media will have to face.

WASHINGTON CONCERNED OVER YEREVAN-TEHRAN RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPMENT

PanARMENIAN.Net
15.06.2007 15:24 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The U.S. is concerned about expansion of relations
between Armenia and Iran, said Anthony Godfrey, U.S. Charge d’Affairs
in Armenia.

"The U.S. informed the Armenian authorities of the issue. We welcome
the fact that Armenia builds its relations by the principle of
transparency and announces about further development of relationships
with Iran," he said adding that the U.S. administration seeks to
convince Armenian authorities "to urge Iran to stand by commitments
to the international community."

When touching upon Vladimir Putin’s proposal on joint use of the Gabala
radar station, Mr Godfrey noted "it’s hard to say whether the program
will become a part of the united system or not," IA Regnum reports.

Armenia Solidarity
British-Armenian All-Party Parliamentary Group
Nor Serount Publications
The Armenian Genocide Trust

c/ o The Temple of Peace, Cardiff, Wales
[email protected] (and [email protected] or
[email protected])
07876561398 07718982732

Number of UK Members of Parliament recognising the genocide rises
three-fold

Another milestone was passed on the road to UK Recognition today
when the 132nd Member of Parliament signed "Early Day Motion" 357
recognising the Armenian Genocide. This is three times the total for
2006, (when 46 MPs signed the motion by Jeremy Corbyn). It is also more
than double the previous highest total of 63, which was acheived in
2003.

It is expected that many more will sign around the 27th june when a
major speech on "Darfur and Armenia" will be delivered by James Smith,
Chief Executive of the Aegis Trust, in Committee Room 10, of the House
of Commons at at 5 p.m. on that day. The new Prime Minister Rt Hon.
Gordon Brown, himself a historian, will be challenged on "Genocide
Denial and the UK government’s Ethical Foreign Policy" at this event.

Parliament will also be lobbied on the 20th of june
Armenians who wish to help with the lobbying are invited to contact us
urgently as parliament will break-up for the summer in five weeks time.

More details from the contacts above