mainstream news

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

By Hidir Goktas

ANKARA, Turkey (Reuter) - Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's government
Monday proposed easing a freedom of expression law that could clinch a trade
deal with Europe just ahead of early elections it plans for December.

The government put forward a bill to parliament to soften the anti-terrorism
law's tough article 8, often used against peaceful advocates of Kurdish rights.

European Parliament members have urged changing or scrapping the law in
exchange for them ratifying a customs union pact between Turkey and the EU. A
vote on the lucrative deal is due by the end of the year.

Ciller's True Path Party (DYP) and the social democrats sent a joint bill to
parliament suggesting general elections on Dec. 24, ahead of polls scheduled
for next October, Anatolian news agency said.

The anti-terrorism bill, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, proposes
that the penalty for "separatist propaganda" be decreased to a maximum of
three years from the current five. It also leaves the door open for jail terms
to be suspended or converted into a fine and for sentences to be applied
retroactively. It was unclear whether the proposed changes would be enough to
satisfy the rights-conscious European Parliament.

The catch-all article has been used to imprison scores of writers and
journalists for their comments on the country's Kurdish problem.

Its definition of separatist propaganda includes perceived support for Kurdish
cultural and political rights and criticism of the fight against Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas. The article 8 bill might be debated within a
week, parliamentary sources said, but there was no immediate indication of
whether it would be approved.

The election date proposal is to go before parliament's constitution committee
Tuesday, Anatolian said.

Ciller's right-wing minority government, which lost a vote of confidence eight
days ago, is still in power on a caretaker basis. She has agreed with the
social democrats to revive their right-left coalition which collapsed last
month after a row about domestic security and human rights.

"The (coalition) preparations are going well. Hopefully we'll shake hands at
the end of it," social democrat leader Deniz Baykal told the ATV television
station. The two parties have virtually agreed to the terms of a new alliance
to take the country to early general elections.

(3) Iraqi Kurds Claim PKK Defeated

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) -- A major Iraqi Kurdish guerrilla faction claimed Monday
it has routed rival Turkish Kurds in heavy mountain fighting in northern Iraq
that killed nearly 750 people in two months.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party said in a statement that its forces were
continuing to assault areas held by the Kurdish Workers' Party, or PKK.

The PKK is a Turkish separatist faction which has been using the Kurdish
self-rule enclave in northern Iraq as a springboard for attacks in southeastern
Turkey.

The Turkish Kurds launched an offensive against the Iraqi Kurds on Aug. 25,
seeking to undermine a U.S.-brokered cease-fire in a 17-month-old conflict
between the Kurdish Democratic Party and its main rival in northern Iraq, the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

The truce had jeopardized the Turkish Kurds' ability to exploit the chaos in
northern Iraq to intensify their own raids into Turkey.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party claimed Monday that over the last six weeks its
fighters have killed more than 550 PKK guerrillas, wounded hundreds more and
taken 90 prisoner. It said 105 of its fighters and 90 civilians were killed.

It said it has driven the PKK out of Dahok province, which borders Turkey, and
on Sunday launched a major offensive with 2,500 men in the Sidakan-Khakork
region to the east where the borders of Iraq, Iran and Turkey converge.

By Monday, the communique said, six PKK mountain bases had been overrun along
with food and arms dumps. "PKK resistance has collapsed after they sustained
heavy casualties," it said.

There was no independent confirmation of the claims. But if they are correct,
it would indicate a serious defeat for the Turkish Kurds. The United States,
seeking to reconcile the feuding Iraqi Kurds to maintain pressure on Saddam
Hussein's regime in Baghdad, mediated a cease-fire between the two Iraqi
Kurdish groups in August. That truce has held, despite efforts by Turkish
Kurds to wreck it.

(4)

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Oct 23 (Reuter) - Turkish troops killed six rebels of the
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in overnight clashes in the southeast, security
officials said on Monday.

The emergency rule governor's office in Diyarbakir said in a statement that
soldiers had killed three PKK rebels in Sirnak province and one each in the
provinces of Bingol, Tunceli and Diyarbakir in separate clashes.

It gave no military casualties.

More than 18,000 people have been killed in the PKK's 11-year fight for
autonomy or independence in southeast Turkey.

(5)

ANKARA, Oct 23 (Reuter) - A Turkish security court will ask a leading professor
to explain an academic report he wrote urging better treatment of Turkey's
Kurds, the court's chief prosecutor said on Monday.

Nusret Demiral, chief prosecutor of Ankara state security court, told Anatolian
news agency that the court would seek a statement from Dogu Ergil about a
report he produced in August on the southeast, scene of an 11-year Kurdish
insurgency that has taken more than 18,000 lives.

The report, commissioned by an influential Turkish business grouping, included
a rare poll of more than 1,200 Kurds, most of whom said they would choose
autonomy or being part of a federation if they could change Turkey's political
structure.

The court has been examining the report with an eye to prosecution under
Turkey's laws on freedom of expression, which have been criticised by the West.

Demiral said Ergil would be called to give a statement this week or next. Then
the court would decide whether to investigate and charge him for transgressing
anti-terror laws, he said.

Many conservative politicians, journalists and security officials condemned the
report's findings on its release. Most Turkish establishment figures refuse to
see the Kurdish problem as anything but one of internal security. But the
opposition and many of the media have suggested the report was influenced by
Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller in a bid to pave the way for democratic
reforms. Her office has denied this.

The report said support for the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas would
weaken if Ankara heeded Kurds' social and economic grievances and tolerated
pro-Kurdish sentiments.


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 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)