From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Fri Jun 3 14:55:51 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 03 Jun 1994 14:55:51 Subject: Kurdish Ceasefire Message-ID: <5QAWR.4RNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## Original in: /HRNET/EUROPE&MIDEAST ## author : trh at NETCOM.COM ## date : 01.06.94 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [This article has been excerpted.] KURDISH LEADERS WELCOME CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT By Issam Hamza DAMASCUS, May 31 (Reuter) - Iraqi Kurdish leaders...Tuesday welcomed an agreement they say will end a bloody confrontation among rival Kurds in northern Iraq and said a truce appeared to be holding... ...one of the groups, Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), accused neighbouring Iran of fuelling the conflict by providing weapons and support to rival factions and urged the international community to pressure it to stop. Talabani described the agreement reached in Turkey on Monday as one "not only to put an end to fighting but to return things to normal." A spokesman for the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), led by Massoud Barzani, said the agreement signed by PUK and KDP leaders in the border town of Silopi was holding... Previous truce agreements have failed to halt fighting which has claimed several hundred lives in parts of northern Iraq. A U.N. official in Baghdad said...Monday that fighting had spread to Irbil, the regional capital and seat of a Kurdish parliament for the first time since the clashes began on May 1. Northern Iraq has been under the protection of Western allies since the Gulf War and the PUK and KDP have shared control of the area since Iraq's defeat in 1991. Turkish-based planes of a U.S.-led coalition patrol northern Iraq to deter attacks by the Baghdad government. Talabani said he was returning to northern Iraq within the next...days through Turkey and that he would meet with Barzani "to reinforce the agreement." Talabani, who has been in Syria since the latest flareup, told Reuters he had been unable to go back earlier as security was not guaranteed... The PUK leader said the Kurdish regional government should remain in power but hinted some ministers should be changed and portfolios given to Arabs. "A serious reconsideration of the whole...programme in the area should be conducted by the PUK, the KDP and the Iraqi National Congress to adopt a new policy that would reinforce stability and democracy." Talabani said there was no need to rush for new elections as polls would be held in July, 1995. He praised Syria and Turkey and said they "were good mediators who wanted to put an end to fighting" but he accused Iran of "interfering to support the revolutionary Hizbollah party and the Islamic movement in Iraqi Kurdistan." A PUK statement later said Iran...helped the KDP. [...] It urged the international community "to put pressure on the Islamic Republic of Iran to stop interfering in the domestic affairs of Iraqi Kurdistan." He said he understood Turkish sensitivities about Kurdish relations with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). More than 11,800 people have been killed in Turkey since 1984 when the PKK began its armed struggle for an independent Kurdish state in the southeast. "It is natural that our Turkish friends are sensitive about any relationship between the PKK and any Iraqi movement," he said. "We understand this but since the PKK is not interfering in the internal affairs there should be no Turkish fear." From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Fri Jun 3 20:52:06 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 03 Jun 1994 20:52:06 Subject: MRG: The Kurds Message-ID: <5QAW.9lBNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## Original in: /HRNET/MINORITY-RIGHTS ## author : DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org ## date : 03.06.94 Minority Rights Group Sales Department 379 Brixton Road London SW9 7DE, United Kingdom Tel: +44 0 71 978 9498 Fax: +44 0 71 738 6365 An international human rights organization, Minority Rights Group has been publishing material on minority issues and minority rights since 1970. Titles listed are available in English only, unless otherwise specified. Postage: For up to five items UK: 15% Overseas: 20% Airmail: 25% 6 items or more UK: 10% Overseas: 15% Airmail: 20% Please indicate clearly when choosing airmail postage. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE KURDS: A NATION DENIED by David McDowall Forward by John Simpson "(An) essential contribution to the public discussion" -The Times Literary Supplement "Should be in the hands of anyone trying to understand what has been going on along the frontiers of Iran, Iraq and Turkey" -The Guardian In this book David McDowall traces the histroy of the Kurds of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and elsewhere, examines the growth of Kurdish nationalism and focuses specifically on the massive human rights abuses suffered by the Kurds. Up to date to mid-1991, and based on the highly acclaimed MRG report on the subject, this is a clearly written, objective and accessible guide to the complexities of the Kurdish situation. David McDowall is a freelance researcher and has written extensively on Middle Eastern peoples and politics. 1992 160 pages 5 Maps 13 Photos Tables Paperback 1-873194-15-3 Price: 7.95 British pounds 17.95 US dollars Hardbound 1-873194-30-7 Price: 26.00 British pounds 49.95 US dollars From ahgan at igc.apc.org Thu Jun 9 14:45:33 1994 From: ahgan at igc.apc.org (Ahmet Yazgan) Date: Thu, 09 Jun 1994 06:45:33 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Committee on Kurds Message-ID: Does anybody have any information on a committee about Kurds or Kurdistan in the US Congress or anywhere else? Thanks. From antennae at gn.apc.org Sat Jun 11 23:09:42 1994 From: antennae at gn.apc.org (antennae at gn.apc.org) Date: 11 Jun 1994 22:09:42 +0000 (GMT) Subject: Committee on Kurds References: Message-ID: There is a British House of Commons group that meets with the purpose of supporting democracy and the democratic process in Kurdistan. I understand that Mr. Jeffrey Archer is also interested in furthering his work with the Kurdish people. If you have any questions either for the HoC group, or for Mr Archer, we will be happy to pass them on for you, if you are unable to make direct contact. Best wishes Indra Sinha Antennae Communication From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Sun Jun 12 19:25:36 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 12 Jun 1994 19:25:36 Subject: Iraqi Kurds: ON the latest clash be Message-ID: <5Qk2Db4gNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## Original in: /HRNET/EUROPE&MIDEAST ## author : msaosu at magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu ## date : 11.06.94 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mideast Mirror June 9, 1994 SECTION: THE ARAB / ISLAMIC WORLD; Vol. 08, No. 109 HEADLINE: KDP sticks to its call for UN 'protectorate' in Iraqi Kurdistan Masoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) appears to be sticking by its leader's call for Iraqi Kurdistan to be turned into a UN protectorate, despite the objections of its allies in the Iraqi opposition. Pan-Arab al-Hayat Thursday quotes a KDP spokesman as urging Kurdish and Iraqi opposition factions, as well as the international community, to debate Barzani's proposal as a way of bringing stability to the Western-protected enclave and also improving its economic prospects. Barzani suggested earlier this week that the UN should take direct control of northern Iraq following the clashes there last month between his forces and those of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) with which it shares power. He said the fighting had shown that Kurdish administration in the enclave had failed. The idea was firmly opposed by the Iraqi National Congress (INC), the opposition coalition to which both the KDP and PUK belong, and which helped mediate an end to their conflict. The KDP spokesman said Barzani was talking only of a temporary UN takeover of the Kurdish area, bolstered by the deployment of international peacekeeping forces, which would come to an end once President Saddam Hussein's government inBaghdad had been overthrown. He said the enclave was at present living in a legal vacuum, while UN trusteeship or protection would give it a recognized status in international law. This would enable foreign powers to deal directly with the elected Kurdish administration which has been paralyzed by the KDP-PUK rivalry. "There is an urgent need for a stable political situation in northern Iraq,"he said, adding that under Barzani's proposal, the UN would also disarm fightersin the enclave. The KDP spokesman said UN trusteeship would also strengthen the case for theenclave to be exempted from the economic sanctions imposed on Iraq as a whole, and oblige the international community to "adopt more serious measures" in this respect. He said Barzani and PUK leader Jalal Talabani would be discussing "alternatives to the experiment" in Kurdish self-rule in a forthcoming series ofmeetings aimed at resolving their disputes. () FIGHTING: Meanwhile, the KDP has said that it was not involved in the latest inter-Kurdish clashes reported in the southeast of the enclave on Monday and Tuesday. They said the fighting around Qala-Dizeh near the Iranian border pitted PUK fighters against those of the Kurdistan Islamic Movement. Earlier reports had maintained that KDP and Iranian forces fought alongside the Islamists. The PUK for its part has denied losing control of Qala-Dizeh and another of its strongholds, Penjawin, to the Islamists, as claimed by the Iranian news agency IRNA on Wednesday. () NEGOTIATE: The London-based Palestinian daily al-Quds al-Arabi Thursday urges the Kurds to try to reach an accommodation with Baghdad by resuming the talks they held after the Gulf war in 1991, but broke off the following year. The renewal of inter-Kurdish clashes this week suggests there is no end in sight to the rivalry and little prospect of a lasting cease-fire taking hold, itargues in an editorial. The Kurdish administration has been an economic and political failure, and the mistrust between its two dominant components has led to a sense of despair in the enclave. This is the worst thing that could have happened to the Iraqi opposition, asit destroys the "rosy image" which it has been trying to present to the West, and shatters the hopes pinned by the Western powers on the Kurds and the INC. When a veteran nationalist like Barzani pronounces Kurdish self-rule a failure and warns of civil war on the Afghan model, he should be taken seriously. "Another Afghanistan in northern Iraq would mean endless foreign interference and the splitting of the region into little fiefdoms controlled by gangs or militias, each with its foreign links," the paper writes. But rather than seeking their salvation in further foreign involvement, the Kurds need to revert to the search for a solution within a united Iraq, albeit one which respects their rights and national aspirations. "Our hope is that the Kurdish leadership will return to Baghdad and resume the suspended dialogue, building on the positive aspects of the progress made earlier as they relate to the creation of a democratic Iraq that embraces Arabs and Kurds alike," it says. () SANCTIONS: Baghdad is reported Thursday to be planning to renew its campaign to secure an easing of economic sanctions based on its compliance with UN disarmament demands Al-Hayat says Deputy Prime Minister Tarek Aziz has asked for a meeting with UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali in Geneva to discuss the matter. Meanwhile, Rolf Ekeus, head of the UN Special Commission on Iraq, is expected in Baghdad later this month. He is also reportedly planning to visit the U.S., Britain, Russia and France to try to bridge differences between them over the terms Iraq must meet to secure permission to resume exporting oil. The paper says Russia and France want the oil export ban lifted in accordance with an agreed timetable once Ekeus certifies that Baghdad has complied with UNSCOM disarmament requirements. But the U.S. and Britain, while opposing such a move, have not spelled out what they want Baghdad to do before they permit it to resume oil sales. In a separate report, al-Hayat says the U.S. could be poised to put "fresh cards" on the table, such as human rights issues or the war crimes charges against Baghdad, in order to block any easing of sanctions. It says this transpired from recent meetings in London on the subject between senior Russian and U.S. officials. The Russians reportedly came away with the impression that the U.S. was willing to use its veto, if necessary, to block any attempt at the Security Council to ease the embargo. France and Russia, for their part, and not preparedto enter into a confrontation with the U.S. over the matter. But al-Hayat says Russia in particular is angry at the U.S. attitude, and also at Washington's blocking of Russian exports of "humanitarian" goods to Iraq, on the "baseless" grounds that they could help it rebuild its war machine. They contrast Washington's support for Turkey in its quest for permission toempty Iraq's Kirkuk-Yumurtalik pipeline of oil, with its persistent refusal overthe past year and a half to allow Russia to resume construction of the al -Yousefiah thermoelectric power-station in Iraq. Moscow complains that the equipment used in the project, which was suspended at the outset of the Gulf crisis in August 1990, has been gathering rust near the Jordanian port of Aqaba ever since, as a result of the UN sanctions. From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Tue Jun 14 08:24:05 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 14 Jun 1994 08:24:05 Subject: Kurds clash again ... and Turkey si Message-ID: <5Qo4uY9gNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## Original in: /HRNET/EUROPE&MIDEAST ## author : msaosu at magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu ## date : 11.06.94 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mideast Mirror June 8, 1994 SECTION: THE ARAB / ISLAMIC WORLD; Vol. 08, No. 108 HEADLINE: Iraqi Kurds clash again Fierce clashes have resumed in Iraqi Kurdistan between rival local forces just days after they ended a month-long power struggle which resulted in hundreds of deaths and dealt a severe blow to the credibility of the Kurdish administration of the Western-protected enclave. The pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reports Wednesday that fighters loyal to Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) chief Jalal Talabani came to blows on Monday and Tuesday near the Iranian border. It quotes PUK sources as charging that KDP fighters, supported by troops of the Kurdistan Islamic Movement and Iranian forces, attacked the PUK stronghold of Qala-Dizeh, some five kilometers from the Iranian frontier, at dawn on Tuesday. They said Iranian Revolutionary Guards helped by shelling PUK units from across the border in Saradosht, but that the PUK eventually retook the town. They added that the KDP, Islamists and Iranians earlier launched an assault against the towns of Sayed Sadek and Penjwin east of the city of Suleimaniya, Talabani's key power-base, but were also repelled. No other details were published, but al-Hayat says the fighting could lead to the collapse of the cease-fire negotiated between Talabani and Barzani's followers last week which the opposition Iraqi National Congress (INC) helped broker. () PROTECTORATE: The INC is meanwhile playing down suggestions by Barzani that the Kurdish enclave in northern Iraq should be turned into a UN protectorate policed by international peacekeepers. Barzani made his remarks while briefing Western reporters on Monday, stressing that he was merely voicing a "personal opinion." He said the KDP-PUK clashes showed that the Kurdish experiment in self-rule had failed, and suggested that the UN should take control of the area until the problems of Iraqas a whole had been resolved. He also blamed Talabani for starting last month's fighting, saying the PUK went on the military offensive to prevent the calling of fresh elections in the enclave to end the disputes caused by the KDP-PUK power sharing arrangement agreed after the disputed 1992 elections. But the INC's Hassan al-Naqib, a former Iraqi army colonel, warned that handing over the enclave to UN control would only exacerbate its problems, pointing to the failure of UN peacekeeping efforts in Somalia and Yugoslavia. "Any international trusteeship over any part of Iraq will not resolve internal problems. It could complicate them," he was quoted as saying by al-Hayat. Naqib appealed to the rival Kurdish factions to observe restraint and appreciate that "the main struggle is against the dictatorial regime (in Baghdad) and takes precedence over any secondary conflicts." Peace and order in Kurdistan could best be achieved by establishing a democracy in all of Iraq that enjoyed international and regional backing, and which could secure equality and full rights for the Iraqi Kurds, he said. () TURKEY: Separately, Turkey's parliament Tuesday renewed for another four months the state of emergency that has been in force in the Kurdish southeast since 1987 to help the authorities combat the 10-year-old insurgency by the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). () ALLIANCE: Turkey is meanwhile reported by al-Hayat to be considering the prospect of an "alliance" with Egypt and Israel ostensibly aimed at combating "terrorism" in the Middle East. It quotes Ozden Sanberk, undersecretary of the Turkish foreign ministry, as saying in Washington that while no official proposal for such a partnership has been made, Ankara "would be happy" to consider the prospect. Al-Hayat's Kurdish affairs specialist Kamaran Karadaghi writes that Israel first came up with such a proposal last year, when Turkish-Israeli relations blossomed. Turkey had originally suggested a bilateral pact, under which Israel would help it combat the PKK in exchange for Kurdish assistance in Israel's campaign against the Lebanese pro-Iranian Hizbollah movement, which leads the resistance against Israeli forces in their occupation zone in South Lebanon. But Israel declined "diplomatically," preferring not to be seen to be adopting an anti-Kurdish posture and doubting Ankara's ability to provide it with useful assistance against Hizbollah. Karadaghi says the Israelis instead proposed a tripartite agreement involving Egypt, which would seek to combat terrorism in the Middle East with particular emphasis on "religious extremism." Sanberk said Turkey and Israel enjoyed "excellent" relations and were poisedto sign a number of agreements soon, which he did not detail but said would "strengthen stability in the region." From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Tue Jun 14 20:51:40 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 14 Jun 1994 20:51:40 Subject: Turkey Closes Border to Kurds Message-ID: <5Qs9Lu9wNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## Original in: /HRNET/EUROPE&MIDEAST ## author : trh at NETCOM.COM ## date : 12.06.94 ------------------------------------------------------------- [This article has been excerpted.] Turkey closes border to stop exodus of Turkish Kurds: report SALAHUDDIN, Iraq, June 12 (AFP) - Turkey has started closing its border to Iraq to Turkish Kurds to prevent them from fleeing to Iraqi Kurdistan, a UNHCR official said here Saturday. "People from Turkey have told us that the Turkish army has begun cordoning off the border region to stop a new exodus," Ayman Ghrabieh, a Jordan official of the High Commissioner of Refugees in Iraqi Kurdistan, told AFP. Thousands of Turkish Kurds have fled fighting in southeast Turkey between government forces and the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) over the past months to settle in...Iraq. Ghrabieh said the daily number of refugees from Turkey had...diminished but described the trend as "not very significant." "Eight people were killed Friday when Turkish artillery shelled a group of refugees about to cross the border," according to the Democratic Party of Kurdistan which is in control of northern Iraq. The attack was seen as another bid by Turkish authorities to stop would-be refugees. The UNHCR official did not confirm the report. Turkish officials accused the PKK last month of masterminding the exodus of thousands of Kurdish civilians from Turkey to northern Iraq to make "the...public believe that Kurds were fleeing Turkish oppression." ...Tuesday, the Turkish government approved a four-month extension effective July 19 to the state of emergency introduced in southeastern and eastern Turkey in July 1987. These regions are the principle fighting grounds of Kurdish rebels in...conflict with the Turkish authorities that has left more than 12,900 dead in the past 10 years. From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Wed Jun 15 15:12:14 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 15 Jun 1994 15:12:14 Subject: Rival Kurds Talk Message-ID: <5QwCZ3tgNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## Original in: /HRNET/EUROPE&MIDEAST ## author : trh at NETCOM.COM ## date : 13.06.94 ----------------------------------------------------------------- [This article has been excerpted.] RIVAL IRAQI KURD LEADERS HOLD TALKS IN TURKEY By Alistair Lyon ANKARA, June 13 (Reuter) - Iraqi Kurdish leaders met in Turkey...Monday to try to stop a feud which has killed several hundred people in northern Iraq, the foreign ministry said. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ferhat Ataman said Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), met in a Turkish gendarmerie barracks at Silopi on the Iraqi border. There was no immediate word on the outcome. Ataman said earlier that Ankara had arranged the meeting, but was not mediating between the rival Kurdish leaders. "We told them that we felt the fighting was doing considerable damage and that the situation might be better resolved if they talked in Turkey," he said. Kurds took control of much of northern Iraq after U.S.-led coalition forces created safe havens there to allow the return of Kurds and other Iraqis who fled to Iran and Turkey after a failed post-Gulf war revolt against Baghdad in 1991. The KDP and PUK have shared power equally in a regional government set up after elections in 1992, but tensions...erupted into violence on May 1. Sporadic clashes have continued despite several ceasefire agreements. In their war against Turkish Kurds, government troops and planes backed by 2,000 Kurdish militiamen attacked guerrilla positions in the southeast...Monday, Anatolian news agency said. The attacks were concentrated in the mountains around the city of Hakkari and in the Sirnak province. The regional governor's office said the operation was part of a continuing assault on the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The Kurdish militia, armed and paid by the government, was...organised to protect villages from PKK attack but village guards sometimes join in army operations. Since the start of this year Turkish security forces have increased operations against the PKK, which in 1984 launched its fight for control of the largely Kurdish southeast. Prime Minister Tansu Ciller and military chiefs have pledged to wipe out the PKK inside Turkey by the end of this year. PKK officials say the guerrillas are gaining ground. The fighting has killed close to 12,000 people. Iranian Interior Minister Ali Mohammad Besharati held separate talks with Turkish leaders...Monday, covering bilateral and regional issues sure to have included Iraq. Anatolian said Besharati...delivered a message from Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to his Turkish counterpart Suleyman Demirel in the...city of Izmir. Turkish Interior Minister Nahit Mentese told reporters that Turkey and Iran shared views on the PUK-KDP conflict and that Turkey and Iran backed Iraq's territorial integrity. The PUK, locked in conflict with an Islamic Kurdish faction as well as the KDP,...accused Iranian revolutionary guards of taking part in recent fighting near the Iraq-Iran border. The KDP...denied any Iranian involvement but foreign relief workers said Iranian forces had made a brief incursion into the border town of Penjwin last week. Mentese said Iran and Turkey would cooperate in fighting what he called terrorism. Ankara has...sought Tehran's help in denying sanctuary to the Turkish Kurd guerrillas. He said Iran had accepted that the PKK was a "terrorist organisation." -------------------------------------------------------------------- Iraqi Kurdish leaders meet in Turkey ANKARA (JUNE 13) DPA - The leaders of the Iraqi Kurdish factions Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) met in the Turkish town of Silopi Monday to discuss ways of bringing an end to their rivalry. Fighting between the groups has cost hundreds of lives in fighting last month, the Anatolia news agency reported. Turkish foreign ministry and military officials were present at the meeting between PUK leader Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani who heads the KDP, although the foreign ministry spokesman Ferhat Ataman stressed there was no question of Turkish mediation between the sides, according to Anatolia. He said Turkey had just been instrumental in bringing the sides together. Barzani and Talabani, who are holding their second talks since meeting last week in the Northern Iraqi town of Arbil, were also expected to discuss elections in the region scheduled to take place in July. dpa ba --------------------------------------------------------------------- From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Thu Jun 16 09:21:59 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 16 Jun 1994 09:21:59 Subject: Sweden: Kurdish Refugees Message-ID: <5Q.Gk1MRNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## Original in: /HRNET/REFUGEES&MIGRATION ## author : Jaak.Vilo at cs.Helsinki.FI ## date : 13.06.94 -------------------------------------------------------------- E-LIST(1432) News 8,9 Jun 1994 Fishing boat with 48 refugees intercepted off ... STOCKHOLM (JUNE 8) DPA - The Swedish coastguard during the night intercepted a Latvian fishing cutter off the coast of the Baltic island of Gotland with 48 mainly Kurdish refugees, authorities said Wednesday. The cutter, which was escorted to the port of Farosund, was described as being in a dilapidated condition. Three of the refugees - there were 20 children among them - had to be taken to hospital. The captain of the cutter was arrested on suspicion of involvement in illegal immigration. Since 1992, about 10 ships containing asylum seekers have been intercepted en route from the Baltic republics - which the refugees reached via Moscow - to Sweden. dpa ur -------------------------------------------------------------------- [This article has been excerpted.] RUSTY LATVIAN SHIP LANDS REFUGEE KURDS IN SWEDEN STOCKHOLM, June 8 (Reuter) - A barely seaworthy Latvian trawler brought 48 mainly Kurdish refugees across the Baltic Sea to the Swedish island of Gotland early...Wednesday. Swedish coastguards patrolling the sea for smugglers said they spotted the fishing vessel during the night, boarded it and escorted it into the...harbour of Farosund. It was the eighth craft to complete a refugee run across the Baltic to Sweden since...1992, and the sixth to arrive in Gotland. "The ship was in very bad condition, the worst that has come here yet with refugees," coastguard officer Peter Samuelsson told national television news. Pictures showed the boat's rusting hull with corroded holes in its sides just above the waterline as it lay by the quay. "We have arrested the ship's captain..." a police officer in the island's main town of Visby told Reuters. The 48 asylum-seekers including around 20 children, were...mainly Kurds, and a smaller group from Bangladesh. Many had no identity papers. Three adults suffering from seasickness were taken to Visby hospital. The strait between Gotland and Latvia to the east is less than 90 miles wide at its narrowest. About 700 refugees have now come to Sweden via the Baltic route, according to National Immigration Bureau calculations. One family from Iraqi Kurdistan told Gotland radio they had escaped to Turkey via Saudi Arabia, paying $8,500 for a "ticket" for two adults and two children to Sweden from Turkey. They were unsure which countries they had passed through...but said the final Baltic Sea crossing had taken 25 hours. From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Fri Jun 17 22:21:35 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 17 Jun 1994 22:21:35 Subject: Turkey Oil Affected by Kurds Message-ID: <5R3Jz0gBNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## Original in: /HRNET/EUROPE&MIDEAST ## author : trh at NETCOM.COM ## date : 17.06.94 -------------------------------------------------------------- [This article has been excerpted.] TURKEY STATE OIL OUTPUT AFFECTED BY KURDISH REVOLT By Suna Erdem ANKARA, June 14 (Reuter) - Turkey's state-run oil company expects crude output to show no increase in 1994,...due to a Kurdish revolt in the southeast, the main oil-producing area. "We expect production in 1994 to be about the same as last year at just under three million tonnes -- no fall but...no rise," Sitki Sancar, general manager of Turk Petrolleri Anonim Ortakligi Sirketi (TPAO), told Reuters. Most of Turkey's oil wells are in the southeast, where Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas have been fighting for an independent state for the past 10 years. "It would be wrong to say it is entirely due to the PKK," Sancar said of TPAO's difficulty in raising production. "...they are certainly a factor...There have been a couple of sabotage actions against our facilities, but no direct battacks on staff. ...the security forces have more control of the area, conditions have returned to normal." U.S. Mobil Corp suspended operations in the southeast in September, citing PKK attacks and extortion. [...] ---------------------------------------------------------- Turkey and Iran reaffirm mutual stance against PKK and Mujahedin ANKARA (JUNE 14) DPA - Turkey and Iran on Tuesday reaffirmed their commitment to mutual action against the separatist militant Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) and the dissident Iranian group Mujahedin Khalq. Iranian Interior Minister Ali Mohammed Beshareti, who arrived in Ankara Monday for two days of talks with his Turkish counterpart Nahit Mentese, told reporters "Iran's borders are closed to the enemies of Turkey." There are no members of the destructive and separatist PKK on Iranian soil," he said. "As a minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, I can tell you that Turkey does not have a closer and more genuine friend in the region than Iran. We are showing all effort possible to strengthen ties with Turkey," Beshareti stated. Mentese assured his guest that Turkey would not allow activities against the Iranian regime to take place in the country. Last week Turkey refused asylum and detained 16 Iranians said to be members of the People's Mujahedin. Mentese said he had discussed with the Iranian interior minister the possibility of extraditing the detainees to Iran. "We cannot shelter any person that can harm Iran," he said. Turkey and Iran last year reached agreement to cooperate against terrorism by undertaking to take measures against the PKK and the Mujahedin. Until then, Turkey had frequently accused Teheran of allowing the PKK to launch cross border attacks against Turkey from Iran. From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Mon Jun 20 19:09:25 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 20 Jun 1994 19:09:25 Subject: Ankara's Kurdish 'thunderbolt' Message-ID: <5RFSXXNgNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## Original in: /HRNET/EUROPE&MIDEAST ## author : msaosu at magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu ## date : 19.06.94 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mideast Mirror June 16, 1994 SECTION: TURKEY, IRAQ; Vol. 08, No. 114 HEADLINE: Ankara's Kurdish "thunderbolt" News that Turkey is pressing for a reconciliation between Baghdad and the Iraqi Kurds will hit the latter and the rest of the Iraqi opposition like a "thunderbolt," but nevertheless they would do well to heed Ankara's advice, the Palestinian daily al-Quds al-Arabi writes Thursday. The paper was commenting on the revelation that Ankara had urged feuding Iraqi Kurdish leaders Masoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani to resume the dialogue with the Baghdad government of President Saddam Hussein about the future of Iraqi Kurdistan which was held after the Gulf war but collapsed in 1992. Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Ferhat Ataman said Tuesday that Turkish officials had offered that advice at a meeting in Silopi in southeast Turkey Monday with the two Iraqi Kurdish leaders, called to resolve outstanding problems after a month of clashes between their forces during May. Despite the truce between Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the two sides' fighters came to blows again on Monday, when at least 14 people were killed in a gunbattle that erupted during the funeral of a KDP guerilla in the PUK stronghold of Suleimaniya. Ataman said Ankara proposed reviving the talks with Baghdad out of concern for Iraq's territorial integrity, in light of the recent Kurdish infighting. "Solutions to normalize the situation in northern Iraq must be sought inside Iraq. So we see advantages in the establishment of dialogue between Baghdad and northern Iraq," he said. Ataman also said Turkey was opposed to the idea of calling fresh general elections in the Western-protected Iraqi Kurdish enclave in which the KDP and PUK share power. The question of elections has been central to the KDP-PUK power struggle, with Barzani's group reportedly favoring a resort to the ballot box as a way of resolving the rivalry between the two groups, but Talabani apparently opposed. Kamaran Karadaghi, pan-Arab al-Hayat's authoritative Kurdish affairs specialist, Thursday quotes Kurdish sources as saying the question of elections was not raised directly at the Silopi meeting, and is not really an issue as theKurdish leadership has not yet decided whether to call another poll before the present Kurdish parliament's mandate expires in May 1995. Karadaghi's sources add that the Turkish officials at the meeting did not directly request Talabani and Barzani to resume talks with Baghdad, but merely "expressed the view" that if they did, they would be in a better position to wring concessions Saddam than in 1991-1992 because of the weakness and isolationof his regime. Al-Hayat said Talabani and Barzani replied that while not opposed to dialogue in principle, they were not prepared to cut a deal with Baghdad "at ny price" and were committed to consultations about the subject with the Western members of the Gulf war coalition as well as Turkey. Al-Quds al-Arabi says for its part that Ankara's opposition to Kurdish elections and the policy of no talks with Baghdad will have come as a shock bothto the Kurds and the rest of the anti-Saddam opposition "which has staked much on Turkish support for the status quo in northern Iraq." They mistakenly imagined that Turkey would allow the Kurds to secede from Iraq or remain in a state of rebellion against Baghdad, forgetting both its anti-Kurdish record at home and the fact that the Gulf war coalition has disbanded. The U.S. is too busy with domestic problems and crises in places like Korea to pay much heed to the situation in Iraq or other remnants of the Gulf war. Turkey is obviously acting out of self-interest in light of the KDP-PUK conflict. It wants to stabilize Iraqi Kurdistan so the enclave cannot be used byits own separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and to be able to resume its once-lucrative commercial links with Iraq. However, the Iraqi Kurds must surely be regretting their decision in 1992-1993 to join forces with Turkey against their fellow Kurds in the PKK in the hope this would ensure Ankara's support for their enclave's survival. Turkey's backing has now been revealed as pure opportunism dressed up as pragmatism. Not that the Iraqi Kurds need Ankara to tell them about the benefits of an accommodation with Baghdad. Barzani in particular, a more far-sighted politicianthan his rival Talabani, has long favored such a dialogue aimed at securing equality for Kurds and some measure of democratization in Iraq. But the 1992 dialogue was thwarted by foreign powers, who ensured the failure of the talks bygetting their clients in the Iraqi Kurdish movement -- an apparent reference to Talabani -- to put forward "debilitating demands," such as insisting that oil-rich Kirkuk be incorporated into the Kurdish area and that the lion's share of its abundant petroleum resources be earmarked for exclusive Kurdish use. While Ankara's motives may be dubious, its advice is nonetheless sound, al-Quds al-Arabi concludes. The pattern of alliances in the region has shifted in recent months. Ankara and Baghdad are cosying up and the Western powers are not concealing their irritation at the deteriorating situation in Iraqi Kurdistan. () ANTI-KURDISH RECORD: Turkey's anti-Kurdish record at home was underscoredThursday, when a Turkish court jailed a sociologist and researcher on Kurdish issues for four years on charges of making separatist propaganda in two books he wrote. Anatolian news agency said Ankara State Security Court sentenced Ismail Besikci to two years imprisonment on two different counts, adding that he would serve "a total of four years." His publisher Unsal Ozturk was also sentenced to one year for his role in disseminating the so-called propaganda. Besikci, who is not a Kurd, has been tried dozens of times for most of the last two decades and has spent years in prison for his writings on Turkey's 10 million Kurds and their problems. Another 13 writers and editors who worked for a now-closed pro-Kurdish dailynewspaper went on trial in Istanbul on Tuesday on charges connected with Kurdishseparatism. Five of the defendants are charged with being members of the PKK, which is waging a separatist battle for control of southeast Turkey. The others are accused of aiding the guerillas. The prosecutor at Istanbul State Security Court has demanded sentences of 22years for the alleged PKK members, and four-and-a-half years for the others. The defendants were arrested last December after police raided the offices of the newspaper Ozgur Gundem and detained over 100 people. The newspaper was later ordered shut by a court on charges that it was publishing "separatist propaganda." During their appearance in court, all the defendants revoked the statements they gave to police, saying they had been under pressure or tortured while in detention. Ten of the defendants appeared in court. Two others were apparently out of the city and another, Yasar Kaya, fled to Europe a few months ago. Kaya, the newspaper's former publisher, is also a former chairman of the pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP). All the accused in court read statements in which they charged that the government was waging a political battle against the newspaper. They said the government was angered because Ozgur Gundem published interviews with PKK leaders and detailed alleged human rights abuses by the armyagainst Kurds living in the southeast. Ozgur Gundem's editor Gurbetelli Ersoz, who along with Ali Riza Halis, the newspaper's general manager, has been detained since the December 10 raid, told the court the newspaper only reported the news. "Other newspapers only give the opinion of the Turkish state, but we have tried to tell the truth about the burning of Kurdish villages and the Kurdish activists who are murdered," said Ersoz. The court adjourned until September 1 and ordered Ersoz and Halis released from prison, although the charges against them were not dropped. The prosecutor has submitted to court documents which he said detailed relations between the newspaper and the PKK. After the paper closed in April, former Gundem journalists opened a paper called Ozgur Ulke, which is still publishing. From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Mon Jun 20 23:18:49 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 20 Jun 1994 23:18:49 Subject: Turkey: KURDISH MPS FLEE CRACKDOWN Message-ID: <5RFTqxNBNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## Original in: /HRNET/EUROPE&MIDEAST ## author : msaosu at magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu ## date : 19.06.94 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [This article has been excerpted.] The Guardian, June 18, 1994 HEADLINE: KURDISH MPS FLEE TURKISH CRACKDOWN By: Jonathan Rugman FIVE Kurdish-born members of Turkey's parliament have fled to Belgium after the constitutional court in Ankara voted to close the pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP). The closure vote by 11 judges was unanimous and did not come as a surprise to the party's lawyer, Hasip Kaplan, who said he would take the case to the European Court of Human Rights. " Turkey's friends feel growing concern about a deterioration in the protection of certain . . . fundamental freedoms," the European commissioner, Hans van den Broek, said during a visit to Ankara yesterday. The Democracy Party was founded just over a year ago to replace another banned Kurdish party, and claimed to be campaigning for the human and cultural rights of Turkey's estimated 5-10 million Kurds. The Turkish armed forces, fighting a bloody war against separatist forces ofthe Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), alleged that the DEP was the political wing of the rebels, and demanded the removal of the Kurds from parliament. Legal action against the party centred on speeches made by its former leader, which were judged a threat to state unity. One of those who fled, Remzi Kartal, vice-president of the Democracy Party, said in Brussels yesterday: "There will be no means of political platform for us as long as democracy is not established and the current...system has not been changed in Turkey. "So, we will pursue our cause abroad . . . We are representatives of the people . . . they can't ban us with this kind of decision." Turkey's chief prosecutor, Nusret Demiral, overseeing the case against the Kurdish deputies at the state security court, said yesterday he would ask for their extradition. "They are terrorists. We know how to bring them back. We can ask for their return based on international treaties," he said. The court decision...expelled 13 members of the Democracy Party from parliament. Under Turkish law, deputies lose their parliamentary membership when their parties are banned. Although the DEP's history was brief, it was not without incident. Party members alleged that a state-sponsored hit squad was responsible for the death of Mehmet Sincar, a Kurdish deputy murdered in the mainly Kurdish south-east last September. In February, the party's headquarters in Ankara were bombed. A month later the DEP pulled out of local elections, claiming that more than 70 of its members had been killed in mysterious circumstances over the last three years. The Islamic Welfare Party made sweeping gains in the DEP's absence. Five of the DEP's 13 Kurdish deputies are...in jail awaiting trial on charges of associating with PKK separatists. "We don't have an organic bond with the PKK," one DEP deputy, Selim Sadik, said in a recent interview. "But the PKK gets its power from Kurdish people, and we get our political power from the people as well." Mr Sadik and one other deputy are remaining in Turkey, where they face arrest. Five deputies have fled to Belgium, while another is living in Germany. "We don't recognise this anti-democratic decision," the five told a news conference in Brussels yesterday. "We will carry on our work as we were elected by the people." The United States House of Representatives has voted to suspend 25 per cent of US military aid to Turkey pending a state department report on the country's human rights record. But Ankara is apparently adamant that any threat to national security...will be severely dealt with by the courts. "Why should the Turkish government talk to criminals?" President Suleyman Demirel said when asked about the imprisoned Kurdish MPs... The DEP's closure has brought the number of empty seats in parliament to 21. If two more members resign, then by law by-elections may be called. Islamic revivalists are expected to take the majority of seats once occupied by Kurdish nationalists. From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Wed Jun 22 15:23:02 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 22 Jun 1994 15:23:02 Subject: Turkish News: 20 June Message-ID: <5RN.Q..BNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## Original in: /HRNET/EUROPE&MIDEAST ## author : trh at NETCOM.COM ## date : 20.06.94 ------------------------------------------------------------------- EU: Turkey not in second place to Eastern Europe ANKARA (JUNE 17) DPA - European Union foreign affairs Commissioner Hans van den Broek on Friday assured Ankara that Turkey does not take second place to Central and Eastern Europe in the EU's concerns. "The countries of the Mediterrenean and Turkey in particular, are as much of our neighbours as the countries of Central and Eastern Europe," Van den Broek told reporters at press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hikmet Cetin. He said when the EU is prepared to discuss further enlargement of the EU, each country would be considered on its own merit. "Each country is required to fulfill a number of political and economic conditions for membership," he said. The commisssioner said the EU fully supported economic austerity measures the government is implementing to steer the Turkish economy out of trouble. "We are gratified to note the commitment to the customs union is not being affected by the present economic situation." Turkey in 1990 agreed to establish a customs union with the EU by 1995. The customs union foresees the lifting of tariff and quota restrictions and the introduction of common external tariffs. Once these are achieved, Turkey will be the only non-member country to have a customs union with the EU. "Once the customs union is in place, then further steps can be taken regarding economic integration. There are many in-between steps in the path that leads to full integration," he said. The EU in 1990 deferred Turkey's application for membership, saying the country was not ready, but agreed to step ahead with the customs union instead. Van den Broek, whose two-day visit comes as the EU prepares for its summit in Corfu, Greece, also repeated the EU's desire to see a solution to the Cyprus question. The island has been divided into two parts since 1974 since Turkey sent in troops, following an Athens backed coup by Greek Cypriots. The issue, which has strained Turkey's relations with EU-member Greece, has remained unsolved for over 20 years and is approaching a new deadlock over confidence-building measures proposed by the U.N. "The absence of a solution is a burden on our bilateral relations." van den Broek said, adding also that the disputes also constituted an obstacle for Cyprus' membership of the Union. The Mediterranean island has been told that it cannot start negotiations until its de facto division has been solved. "Cyprus has been a hostage to the Cyprus problem," van den Broek said. Greece has blocked a EU financial aid package worth around 600 million dollars to Turkey since the early 1980's, and has made its release conditional on a settlement of the Cyprus issue. -------------------------------------------------------------------- [This article has been excerpted.] EU WORRIED BY TURKISH HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD & CYPRUS By Ayse Sarioglu ANKARA, June 17 (Reuter) - The European Union told Turkey...Friday that Ankara's human rights record and the Cyprus dispute were...obstacles to better relations with the EU. EU Commissioner Hans van den Broek said Turkey had made considerable progress on human rights since it returned to democracy from three years of military rule in 1983. "But today...Turkey's friends feel growing concern about a deterioration in the protection of certain human rights and fundamental freedoms," he said in a speech. "Reports about the ill-treatment of persons taken into detention and the arrest and imprisonment of writers and politicians for expressing critical opinions are disquieting." Van den Broek was speaking a day after the constitutional court dissolved the pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP), a move which will mean at least 13 Kurdish MPs lose their seats in parliament and may face prosecution on charges of separatism. "It is well understood in the EU that a society exposed to terrorism must protect itself. Nonetheless...we all agree that a democracy cannot fight terrorism by military means alone," said van den Broek, who arrived in Turkey...Thursday. Van den Broek said the dispute over Cyprus, divided since a Turkish invasion in 1974, had complicated ties between Turkey and the EU and required a...solution. Agreement on U.N. plans designed to build trust between Greek and Turkish Cypriots would be "a stepping stone towards a...comprehensive solution," which would benefit Cyprus, Turkey and the EU, he told a news conference in Ankara. Van den Broek said after talks with President Suleyman Demirel, Prime Minister Tansu Ciller and Foreign Minister Hikmet Cetin that Turkey and the EU should deepen political dialogue. [...] Van den Broek said the EU welcomed democratisation measures proposed by the government and suggested that Turkey could benefit from decentralisation to allow people to take decisions at a local level within a framework of national unity. Most accusations of human rights abuses in Turkey stem from the government's handling of its 10-year-old battle with the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the southeast, in which more than 12,000 people have been killed. [...] He said the EU had blocked Turkey's 1987 bid for community membership on political and economic, not religious criteria. "Turkey's Islamic culture is an asset in a continent which has always sought unity in diversity and which wishes to improve relations with the Moslem world," he declared. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [This article has been excerpted.] TURKISH COURT JAILS AUTHOR FOR KURDISH RESEARCH ANKARA, June 16 (Reuter) - A Turkish court...Thursday jailed a sociologist and researcher on Kurdish issues for four years on charges of making separatist propaganda in two books he wrote, the Anatolian news agency said. Ankara State Security Court sentenced Ismail Besikci to two years imprisonment on two different counts, the agency said, adding that he would serve "a total of four years." His publisher Unsal Ozturk was...sentenced to one year in prison for his role in disseminating the so-called propaganda. Besikci was...fined the equivalent of $16,000 and his publisher half that amount. "Because I am on trial for my ideas, I do not see myself guilty. Therefore I do not demand acquittal," Besikci told the court. Besikci, who is not a Kurd by origin, has been tried dozens of times for most of the last two decades and has spent years in prison for his writings on Turkey's Kurds and their problems. His sociologist's view of the country's over 10 million Kurds and research on their past, fall foul of the penal code. Under this, saying or writing that Kurds are ethnically separate is interpreted as advocating separatism. Turkey's Western critics and its own liberals condemn the laws under which a university professor and a labour leader have been jailed this year for their writings on the Kurdish issue. Turkey has been battling a Kurdish separatist campaign in the southeast since 1984. ...more than 12,000 people have been killed. From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Wed Jun 22 15:23:03 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 22 Jun 1994 15:23:03 Subject: Kurdish News 20 June Message-ID: <5RN.R1hwNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## author : trh at NETCOM.COM ## date : 20.06.94 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Iraq - Barzani, Talabani Meet To Boost 'Reconciliation' (JUN. 16) MIDDLE EAST INTELLIGENCE REPORT - London-In a surprise step, the two Iraqi Kurdish leaders Mas'ud Barzani and Jalal Talabani moved to Turkey yesterday and held a bilateral meeting in the city of Silopi near the border with Iraq. Kurdish sources have told AL-SHARQ AL-AWSAT that the meeting, in which Turkish military and security officials participated, was arranged by Ankara. Iraqi opposition sources see the meeting as evidence of the difficulties still facing the two Kurdish leaders regarding normalizing conditions in north Iraq after the fighting that broke out between Barzani's party and Talabani's party. Sources from the opposition "(Unified) Iraqi National Congress" told AL-SHARQ ALAWSAT over the telephone from the congress' offices in the Kurdish city of Salah al-Din that the Turks are interested particularly in consolidating the reconciliation between the two Kurdish leaders and preventing fighting from breaking out between them again. Fighting would affect security conditions on the border area between Iraq and Turkey, which Ankara says is being used as a staging post for attacks against the Turkish forces stationed in the mainly Kurdish southeastern provinces by the separatist Workers' Party of Kurdistan, which is launching a guerrilla war against the Turkish state. (passage omitted) >From London AL-SHARQ AL-AWSAT in Arabic Date 14 June 1994 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- KURDISH-BASED PARTY ORDERED TO CLOSE DOWN IN TURKEY ANKARA,(JUNE 17) XINHUA - THE TURKISH CONSTITUTIONAL COURT HAS ORDERED A PERMANENT CLOSURE OF TURKEY'S KURDISH-BASED DEMOCRACY PARTY(DEP), THE TURKISH DAILY NEWS REPORTED TODAY. ACCORDING TO THE ORDER ANNOUNCED LATE THURSDAY, THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE DEMANDED THE DEP'S CLOSURE MAINLY ON GROUNDS OF PAST SPEECHES MADE BY THE PARTY'S FORMER CHAIRMAN YASAR KAYA AND A COMMUNIQUE TITLED "AN APPEAL FOR PEACE" ISSUED BY THE PARTY'S EXECUTIVE BOARD. JUDICIAL SOURCES HERE SAID THE DETAILED COURT VERDICT WOULD HAVE TO BE WRITTEN DOWN AND PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL GAZETTE BEFORE LEGAL ACTION COULD BE TAKEN AGAINST THE DEP DEPUTIES WHO WILL THEN LOSE THEIR PARLIAMENT SEATS AND THEIR JUDICIAL IMMUNITY. THE DEP HAS 17 DEPUTIES IN THE 450-SEAT PARLIAMENT, AND FIVE OF WHICH, INCLUDING DEP CHAIRMAN HATIP DICLE, HAVE BEEN IN PRISON SINCE MARCH 2 THIS YEAR. THE CLOSURE OF THE DEP OPENED A WAY FOR JUDICIAL ACTION AGAINST AT LEAST EIGHT MORE ELECTED MEMBERS OF DEP IN THE PARLIAMENT. IN ADDITION, THE STATE SECURITY COURT IN ANKARA IS EXPECTED TO LAUNCH AN IMMEDIATE INVESTIGATION INTO THE EIGHT DEPUTIES SUSPECTED OF INVOLVEMENT IN SEPARATIST PROPAGANDA. SECURITY FORCES HAVE ALREADY BEEN PLACED TO PREVENT THEIR ESCAPE, THE REPORT SAID. IT QUOTED STATE SECURITY COURT PROSECUTOR NUSRET DEMIRAL AS SAYING THAT AS SOON AS THE CLOSURE DECISION WAS RELAYED TO THE PARLIAMENT SPEAKER'S OFFICE, HE WOULD ORDER FOR THEIR DETENTION. From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Wed Jun 22 15:23:04 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 22 Jun 1994 15:23:04 Subject: Turkish News 20 June 1994 Message-ID: <5RN.T.OBNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## Original in: /HRNET/EUROPE&MIDEAST ## author : trh at NETCOM.COM ## date : 20.06.94 --------------------------------------------------------------- TWO FORMER TURKISH DEPUTIES TO BE ARRESTED ANKARA, JUNE 20 (XINHUA)-- NUSRET DEMIRAL, CHIEF PROSECUTOR OF THE ANKARA STATE SECURITY COURT, SAID TODAY THAT HE HAD ISSUED A DETENTION ORDER FOR TWO FORMER KURDISH DEMOCRACY PARTY (DEP) DEPUTIES, SELIM SADAK AND SEDAT YURTTAS. SADAK AND YURTTAS TOLD REPORTERS IN A JOINT STATEMENT TODAY THAT THEIR PARLIAMENT IMMUNITY WAS STILL VALID SINCE THE COURT'S VERDICT HAD NOT BEEN PUBLISHED IN THE GAZETTE. DEMIRAL SAID IF SADAK AND YURTTAS DID NOT LEAVE PARLIAMENT, HE COULD SEND AN ORDER TO GET THEM. BOTH DEPUTIES ARE REPORTED TO SPEND THE NIGHT IN THE PARLIAMENT BUILDING FOR FEAR OF DETENTION. ON JUNE 16, THE KURDISH CONSTITUTIONAL COURT CLOSED DOWN THE DEP. THIS HAS ALREADY AROUSED DISPUTES IN THE COUNTRY. TURKISH PARLIAMENT SPEAKER HUSAMETTIN CINDORUK ARGUED THAT SINCE THE COURT'S RULING HAS NOT YET BEEN PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL GAZETTE OR RELAYED TO THE PARLIAMENT SPEAKER AS REQUIRED BY LAW, ALL OF THE 13 DEP DEPUTIES STILL RETAIN THEIR PARLIAMENT STATUS. HOWEVER, DEMIRAL BELIEVES THAT THE DEPUTIES LOSE THEIR PARLIAMENTSHIP AS SOON AS THE COURT'S DECISION IS FIRST MADE KNOWN TO THE PARLIAMENT. IT IS ALSO REPORTED THAT SIX DEP DEPUTIES FLED ABROAD BEFORE THE COURT'S VERDICT LAST WEEK. DEMIRAL SAID HE WOULD ASK FOR THEIR EXTRADITION FROM THE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES WHERE THEY HAD SOUGHT REFUGE. From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Sat Jun 25 08:11:44 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 25 Jun 1994 08:11:44 Subject: Greece on Kurds Message-ID: <5RVgcqVgNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## Original in: /HRNET/EUROPE&MIDEAST ## author : trh at NETCOM.COM ## date : 23.06.94 ------------------------------------------------------------------- President replies to Demirel letter, rejects Kurd training claims Athens, 16/6/1994 (ANA): President of the Republic Constantine Karamanlis yesterday rejected claims that Kurdish rebels had been trained in Greece, stressing Greece opposed all forms of terrorism. Informed sources said Mr. Karamanlis made the statement in a letter of response to his Turkish counterpart Suleyman Demirel. According to the sources, in his letter Mr. Karamanlis expressed surprise at Mr. Demirel's persistence on such allegations which Greece had categorically denied. Mr. Karamanlis, the sources said, stressed the need to avoid the "creation of new problems." The sources added that in his letter Mr. Karamanlis underlined the "huge domestic problems faced by countries in our region" adding that "insecurity prevailing in the international scene makes such problems more threatening." The sources said also the president urged his Turkish counterpart to encourage instead efforts aimed at narrowing differences and creating a climate of "mutual trust and understanding." "Such an effort would serve the people of Greece and Turkey who should live in peace, even if they cannot solve their problems," the letter added, according to the sources. President Demirel wrote President Karamanlis earlier this month, referring to arrested Kurdish rebels in Turkey who claimed they had been trained in Greece. Athens strongly denied the allegations saying the so-called confessions of the Kurdish separatist rebels were made under duress. Meanwhile, Mr. Demirel "warned" Greece against presenting Turkey "with a fait accompli the consequences of which it cannot face," an ANA dispatch from Istanbul said yesterday. He was referring to Greece's right to extend its territorial waters to 12 miles in the Aegean Sea. According to the dispatch, Mr. Demirel said he did not "mean it as a threat." "That is not the case," he said. "The case is that Turkey is determined to solve its problems with Greece through peaceful means." Acknowledging that there are long-running disputes between the two countries, President Demirel said there were certain issues calling for agreement, namely the territorial waters, the continental shelf and the Flight Information Region (FIR). "If Greece expands its territorial waters to 12 miles in the Aegean, Turkey will be cut off by way of sea and will not even be able to use the Dardanelles sea route," Mr. Demirel said, explaining Turkey's "extreme" sensitivity on the issue. "But whatever the problem it should be solved through peaceful means," he added. Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller was quoted by the Turkish daily "Milliyet" last week as saying that "extending Greek territorial waters to 12 miles in the Aegean would be treated as casus belli by Turkey." "Should Greece be crazy enough to extend its territorial waters to 12 miles in the Aegean, I will have troops landed on the (Greek) islands within 24 hours." From DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org Mon Jun 27 09:01:50 1994 From: DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org (DEBRA at OLN.comlink.apc.org) Date: 27 Jun 1994 09:01:50 Subject: Germany: To Stop Kurdish Rally? Message-ID: <5RcoBdqRNMB@oln-f06.oln.comlink.apc.org> ## Original in: /HRNET/EUROPE&MIDEAST ## author : trh at NETCOM.COM ## date : 24.06.94 ------------------------------------------------------------------ [This article has been excerpted.] GERMANY TO PLUG BORDERS AHEAD OF KURDISH RALLY BONN, June 23 (Reuter) - German Interior Minister Manfred Kanther has ordered tight border controls to prevent Kurds from other European countries joining a mass demonstration in Frankfurt...Saturday. The interior ministry said Kanther had called up an extra 800 border police to patrol Germany's western border crossings and turn back suspected demonstrators heading for the rally,...to protest against "routine genocide" of Kurds. A spokesman for the rally organisers, who include humanitarian aid groups Medico International and Oxfam, said more than 50,000 people were expected to attend. Frankfurt police said they expected the rally to be the largest demonstration in the city's post-war history and that they expected it to pass peacefully. [...] In March, Kurds protesting against German arms sales to Turkey, which has been waging a war in its southeast against the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), set themselves on fire and clashed with police in several days of violence. The PKK was outlawed in Germany last year after a series of coordinated raids against Turkish targets throughout Europe. Saturday's demonstration aims...to highlight the plight of the Kurdish population in Turkey, the spokesman said. The organisers hope to spur debate about finding a political and peaceful solution to Ankara's war with the PKK, a conflict in which some 12,000 people have died since 1984.