From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Wed Aug 3 14:37:24 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 03 Aug 1994 14:37:24 Subject: Iraq/Iran: Union Against the Kurds? Message-ID: <5U8fwgegNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## author : msaosu at magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu ## date : 02.08.94 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Views expressed on MSANEWS do not necessarily represent those of MSANEWS, the Ohio State University or any of our associated staff and "WATCHERS". MSANEWS is a medium of exchange of news and analyses (standard and alternative) on Muslim World affairs. Information provided for "fair use only." _______________________________________________________________________________ Intelligence Newsletter May 26, 1994 SECTION: OPERATIONS; No. 241 HEADLINE: Iraq/Iran: Union Against the Kurds Several meetings between Iranian and Iraqi intelligence officers took place during the first part of May in Meched (east Iran) and Karbala (south of Bagdad). These meetings were intended to permit the two countries to "coordinate" their operations in Iraqi Kurdistan. These include encouraging the bloody infighting over the past few weeks between the two major Kurd parties: the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of Jalal Talbani and the Democratic Partyof Kurdistan (DPK) of Massud Barzani. For Iran the destabilization of Iraqi Kurdistan is of major importance because it considers this enclave to be a staging ground for American espionage against its strategic military installations in the northwest. During a meeting in Karbala with Ali Akel Mohammadi, head of the Iraqi office of the Iranian Savama, Iraqi officers who are members of General Saber al-Duri's General Intelligence service asked as a proof of good faith that Iran withdraw the "Badr-9 Army Corps", the armed extension of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), from the border area. Bagdad is in fact worried about pacifying the Bassorah region where frequent incursions of SCIRI elements have resulted in numerous deaths and major material damage. The commanding officer of Badr-9, Abu Ali al -Basri, protested vigorously against the decision to transfers his troops but without results. In the current battle between the two major Kurd factions, Bagdad and Tehranare backing Barzani because they consider his rival, Jalal Talbani (who currently lives in Damascus), to be an agent of the CIA and the Turkish intelligence services. After massing troops near the Kurd enclave, Saddam Hussein's army succeeded infiltrating men who joined up with Barzani's Peshmergas in the regions of Sulemanieh, Rawandiz and Kirkuk where the most violent battles between the two Kurd factions were taking place. On their side, the Iranian Pasdarans crossed the border and are ready to militarily back the Kurd fundamentalist groups such as the Islamic League of Kurdistan and the Kurd Hezbollah who are also fighting against Talbani troops alongside the Peshmergas of the DPK. On the other hand, Talbani has received support from the Turkish army which has been ordered by Ankara to back the PUK. Turkish soldiers are also stationed in the 20 km by 200 km strip along the border inside the Kurd enclave. But it isnot certain tha> t this "aid" will be sufficient for Talbani. I.N.- Despite their agreement on Kurdistan, Iran and Iraq are still engaged in a bloody secret war. Bagdad's increasing political and military influence in Iraqi Kurdistan is accompanied by a major infiltration of Iraqi opposition movements based in Iran. The murderous infighting between different clans withinthe Iranian regime has facilitated Bagdad's task. Indeed, Pasdaran intelligence took before the revolutionary courts on 7 May a dozen Iraqi opposition members accused of spying for the Iraqis. Among them was the person responsible for statistics with the Badr-9, Abu Ala. The head of Iraqi affairs at the Iranian president's office, Ali Mohammadi, was present on 18 May at the execution of tenmilitants members of the Al-Daua party accused of working for Bagdad. The explosion early this month of a car bomb in the center of Teheran was attributedto the Iraqi services and their "local correspondents" in the Islamic Block ofthe Iraqi opposition. Interior minister Ali Bicharati, who recently denounced "the Trojan horses hidden behind the facade of Iraqi opposition", decided to reinforce police checks in the Al-Daua party, the Al-Amal al-Islami organization, the Islamic Movement in Iraq, the Islamic Movement of Kurdistan, and clean out the Badr brigade which is "rotten with Bagdad agents". From tonyfletch at gn.apc.org Mon Aug 8 18:30:25 1994 From: tonyfletch at gn.apc.org (tonyfletch at gn.apc.org) Date: 08 Aug 1994 17:30:25 +0000 (GMT) Subject: Cyprus\kurds Message-ID: Has anyone any information, especially documentary references, regarding the treatment of Kurds in northern Cyprus? Any suggestions regarding useful contacts on this issue would be appreciated. Regards Tony Fletcher From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Wed Aug 10 09:53:30 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 10 Aug 1994 09:53:30 Subject: Greece on Kurdish Trials Message-ID: <5Ua235URNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## author : trh at NETCOM.COM ## date : 08.08.94 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Athens News Agency Bulletin Greece reiterates 'must' for Euro standards in Kurdish MPs trial ------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, 05/08/94 1994 (ANA): Greece reiterated yesterday that issues such as the trial of the six Kurdish members of parliament facing treason charges should be dealt with in the framework of European legal standards and respect for democratic freedoms and human rights. "It is within this framework that the Greek government acts," government spokesman Evangelos Venizelos said. The six MPs are facing treason charges for alleged ties to separatist rebels. The court case, which began in Ankara on Wednesday under tight security and close scrutiny from human rights groups, has attracted wide attention as a test case of Turkey's commitment to democracy. The spokesman also categorically denied reports that the US had lodged a demarche with the Greek government over an article by ruling PASOK party Executive Bureau member Michalis Charalambidis in which he condemned the Turkish action against the six Kurdish deputies and the Kurdish people. From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Sat Aug 13 11:25:41 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 13 Aug 1994 11:25:41 Subject: THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM IN TURK Message-ID: <5UmEbEIgNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## Original in: /HRNET/EUROPE&MIDEAST ## author : apakabar at clark.net ## date : 12.08.94 --------------------------------------------------------------------- DATE= AUGUST 14, 1994 TYPE= EDITORIAL NUMBER= 0-06012 TITLE= THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM IN TURKEY CONTENT=THIS IS THE ONLY EDITORIAL BEING RELEASED FOR BROADCAST AUGUST 14, 1994. ANNCR: NEXT, AN EDITORIAL REFLECTING THE VIEWS OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. VOICE: THE KURDISTAN WORKERS PARTY, OR P-K-K, CONTINUES ITS WAR OF TERRORISM AGAINST TURKEY. ESTABLISHED IN THE MID-1970S, THE P-K-K IS COMPOSED PRIMARILY OF TURKISH KURDS SEEKING TO ESTABLISH A MARXIST STATE IN SOUTHEASTERN TURKEY. IN CONJUNCTION WITH ITS INSURGENCY IN EASTERN TURKEY, THE GROUP ENGAGES ROUTINELY IN RUTHLESS ACTS OF TERRORISM. IT HAS FREQUENTLY MURDERED CIVILIANS IT CONSIDERS PRO-GOVERNMENT, AS WELL AS THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS. THE P-K-K HAS TARGETED THE TURKISH TOURISM INDUSTRY BY BOMBING HOTELS, RESTAURANTS AND MARKETS, KIDNAPPING WESTERN TOURISTS, AND PLANTING GRENADES ON MEDITERRANEAN BEACHES. IN 1993, THE P-K-K COORDINATED DOZENS OF ATTACKS ON TURKISH DIPLOMATIC AND COMMERCIAL FACILITIES IN WESTERN EUROPE. THE GROUP HAS RECEIVED AID AND SAFE HAVEN IN SYRIA, IRAN, AND IRAQ, AND HAS USED TRAINING CAMPS IN LEBANON'S SYRIAN-CONTROLLED BEKAA VALLEY. RESPECT FOR TURKEY'S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY AND VIGOROUS COOPERATION AGAINST TERRORISM ARE LONGSTANDING UNITED STATES POLICIES. WHILE THE U.S. FIRMLY SUPPORTS TURKEY'S MILITARY EFFORT AGAINST THE P-K-K TERRORISTS, THE U.S. BELIEVES THAT EFFORT MUST BE CONDUCTED WITH RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS. IT SHOULD ALSO BE COMPLEMENTED WITH INITIATIVES TO INCREASE FREEDOM OF POLITICAL AND CULTURAL EXPRESSION FOR TURKISH KURDS. THE GOVERNMENT OF TURKEY HAS INDICATED ITS WILLINGNESS TO MOVE IN THAT DIRECTION. ANNCR: THAT WAS AN EDITORIAL REFLECTING THE VIEWS OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. 12-Aug-94 11:12 AM EDT (1512 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Tue Aug 16 18:27:09 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 16 Aug 1994 18:27:09 Subject: Turkey Gambles With Its Future Message-ID: <5UyOKzhwNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## Original in: /HRNET/EUROPE&MIDEAST ## author : DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org ## date : 16.08.94 [This article has been excerpted.] The European 12-18 August 1994 TURKEY GAMBLES WITH ITS FUTURE [Ankara's hopes of being treated as a modern European state are being put at risk by a stubborn streak, writes Louise Hildalgo) The trial of six Kurdish members of Turkey's parliament charged with treason has revived debate about Turkey's democratic credentials at a time when it is...again pushing hard for membership in the European Union. The six - five former MPs from the Democracy Party, outlawed in June, and an independent sitting deputy - are accused of promoting Kurdish separatism and of having links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, the PKK. They face the death penalty if found guilty, although no one has been executed in Turkey for ten years. European politicians are vexed that the Turkish government has pursued the prosecutions knowing...well of the West's disapproval. The Council of Europe, of which Turkey is a member, has accused Ankara, which stripped the MPs of their parliamentary immunity, of failing to live up to its claim to respect human rights. The European Parliament and European Union foreign ministers...urged Turkey to reconsider the case. ...Ankara has set its face against the critics and staged a trial that could become a showplace for its own human rights record in its fight against Kurdish separatists in the contested southeastern region. International human rights activists, diplomats and journalists jostled for position in a crowded Anakara courtroom to hear the reading of a 453-page indictment against the MPs, who sat...in the dock. The MPs, all of whom represent mainly Kurdish constituents, have not been accused of violence. They are...charged with acting as the political wing of the PKK, a Marxist group that has been labelled "terrorist" by Britain and the United States, and is banned in France and Germany. State prosecutors claim they have evidence of taped telephone conversations recording the dupties taking orders from the PKK's Damascus-based leader, Abdullah Ocalan. A 200-strong team of defence lawyers has sought testimony from Jalal Talabani, head of the Iran-based Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, to determine "yes or no if these deputies are responsible to the PKK". Talabani attended several meetings that some of the leaders held last year with Ocalan. ...it is not the strength of the evidence but the nature of the crime that most worries Turkey's European allies. Under the country's restrictive penal code, the non-violent expression of political dissent remains a punishable offence, even if it appears within the sanctuary of parliament. Turkey's ambassador to the United Nations, Inal Datu, says that the law is...being reviewed. But meanwhile, Turkey's critics claim, it is being used to prosecute an increasing number of intellectuals for daring to talk about the conflict. Prime Minister Tansu Ciller,...subject to bitter criticism at home for her handling of the economy, appears paralysed, and...improvements - such as the unbanning of the Kurdish language in 1991 - achieved by her predecessor, Turgut Ozal, who died last year, are at risk. Ciller's defiant remarks during a recent visit to France, in which she accused the West of being brainwashed by PKK propaganda, have done little to ease European concerns that, rather than seek a political solution, the violence that has already claimed 11,000 lives over the past decade is set to escalate. In an interview with The European shortly before his arrest, Selim Sadak, one of the Democracy Party MPs now on trial, accused the state of forcing...Kurds to take sides in a war many would prefer to ignore. A quiet...man in his early fifties, he put his case slowly and methodically, reading a list of more than a dozen villages in the Sirnak region that he used to represent and which he claimed had been destroyed. "The state's attitude seems to be that are either with us, or you are our enemy - there is no room for debate," Sadak said. His allegations could be more easily dismissed if they were not supported...in part, by leading human rights organizations. Amnesty International is warning of a "dramatic escalation of serious human rights violations" and has urged the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe to send a mission immediately to southeast Turkey to investigate. The conflict is one that Turkey can ill afford. A record number of people have died this year as the PKK and the security forces fight each other to a bloody stalemate. Some estimates put the toll on the ailing economy at $7 billion a year. Recent attacks on tourists in the west of the country (where two foreign visitors have been killed, two kidnapped and several injured) have rocked Turkey's tourist industry to the delight of its old adversary...Greece, and suggest that the conflict may yet overflow into the contested southeast region. For the old guard, such outrages are further proof that the PKK are terrorists who must "surrender or die". They are convinced that any concessions to Kurdish ethnic rights will open the way to a...division such as that which appears to be happening in northern Iraq. For Europe, Turkey is a trusted ally, a pillar of NATO and a vital buffer against Islamic expansion in the Middle East. Barring upsets, a customs union with the European Union is...to start in 1995. Now is the time for Europe to use this trust, as well as Turkey's desire for full EU membership, to urge a peaceful end to the conflict. The next few months - not the least the reconvening of the trial of the MPs in September - will be a significant test for both the EU and the Turkish government in their efforts to keep Ankara's European ambitions on track. The Kurdish question could yet be the rock on which it founders. From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Tue Aug 23 18:42:19 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 23 Aug 1994 18:42:19 Subject: Nations Discuss Kurdish Safety Message-ID: <5VPk82fRNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## Original in: /HRNET/EUROPE&MIDEAST ## author : trh at NETCOM.COM ## date : 22.08.94 --------------------------------------------------------------------- [This article has been excerpted.] DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- Foreign ministers of Turkey, Iran and Syria met Sunday to discuss ways to counter Kurdish attempts at greater autonomy. Turkish Foreign Minister Mumtaz Soysal told reporters that he and foreign ministers Ali Akbar Velayati of Iran and Farouk Al-Sharaa of Syria would focus on ``the situation in northern Iraq.'' About 17 million Kurds live in Turkey, Iran, and Syria. The three governments have been wary of the U.N.-backed experiment at Kurdish autonomy in northern Iraq, which followed the...Gulf War. The Iraqi Kurdish enclave is protected by U.N. guards and U.S., British and French warplanes based in Turkey. Full statehood for the 3 million Kurds in northern Iraq could encourage their brethren elsewhere to push for...self-rule or independence. Turkey has fought a 10-year guerrilla war against Kurdish insurgents. At their last meeting in February, foreign ministers of the three neighboring nations opposed any division of Iraq. ...Sunday, Soysal said all three governments wanted to see a halt to the inter-Kurdish strife that has beset Iraqi Kurds and reportedly left scores dead. Attempts at a cease-fire in recent months have apparently failed. From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Wed Aug 24 00:14:53 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 24 Aug 1994 00:14:53 Subject: WRI: Review: The Kurdish Tragedy Message-ID: <5VPl7NCBNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## author : peacenews at gn.apc.org ## date : 23.08.94 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Gerard Chaliand The Kurdish Tragedy trans Philip Black, Zed Books London 1994, GBP 10.95. Reviewed by RUDI FRIEDRICH. <*> Gerard Chaliand's The Kurdish Tragedy, published in French in 1992, is now available in English. The book looks at the history of the Kurdish community in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. It describes the behaviour and policies of these governments towards the Kurdish population, and the numerous Kurdish rebellions. In the case of Turkey, Chaliand describes both Turkish government policy and the resistance of the PKK and the Kurdish parties as "nationalist", and then concludes, "Islamic ideology is today the only alternative to the nationalist Kemalist model which dominates Turkish political life." This is perhaps a rather over-simple and questionable conclusion. You will find little information here about the strategy of the Turkish military, for instance, the establishment of village-militias. The Turkish military try to set up Kurdish militias in Kurdistan as a way of achieving control. Kurdish militias have to participate in military action against other Kurdish villages, and must be loyal to the Turkish military. The goal is to divide the resistance to the Turkish military in Kurdistan. This is a very important Turkish government strategy which goes almost unmentioned by Chaliand. A related issue is the destruction of over 1,300 Kurdish villages by the Turkish military in recent years. There is nothing about this in Chaliand's book. This is startling, since the systematic destruction of villages began in 1985. Yet, at the same time, Chaliand says "Of all minorities that have suffered repression over the last sixty-five years, the Kurds have undoubtedly been amongst those who have paid the highest price." I see no sense in setting the sufferings of different groups off against each other as this sentence seems to do. All repression must be rejected. And, in any case, it is not obvious that Chaliand's claim is correct. Chaliand also doesn't describe the non-governmental resistance in the Turkish community. There is a reason that there are about 200,000 draft evaders in Turkey. The greater part of these young men do not want to participate in the war against the Kurds nor to fight on either side. For Chaliand this resistance might seem unimportant. But it suggests that there are alternatives beyond just demanding United Nations condemnation and sanctions against Turkey. What you can find in this book, however, is a historical overview of the presumed origin of Kurdish identity, the situation of the Kurdish community in different countries, and legal measures and practices against the Kurdish language, music and culture.