·  TALABANI SUPPORTS "UNITY", "FUNDAMENTAL,
DEMOCRATIC  CHANGE" IN IRAQ. Jalal Talabani, head of the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), one of the two principle
parties of Iraqi Kurdistan, expressed his support for democratic change of
the Iraqi regime, stating he was "concerned" for the unity of that country
in the event of an extension of the American anti-terrorist struggle. "We
are in favour of a united, democratic and independent Iraq. We support
strengthening the unity of Iraq and are opposed to its division".

Indicating that he had talked to the Turkish Under-Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, Ugur Ziyal, about "shared concerns" regarding the unity
and stability of Iraq, Mr. Talabani indicated t6hat his party would welcome
foreign support for a "fundamental democratic change" of the Iraqi regime
through the countries progressive forces but would oppose "conspiratorial
plots". "If you want to replace one dictator by another, we are against it"
he said, stressing that "We are firstly Iraqis, and then Iraqi Kurds". In
reply to a question, Mr. Talabani also indicated that Iraq should not
threaten the security of Turkey, Iran or its other neighbours.

Last month the US President, G.W. Bush identified Iraq as one of the three
components of an "axis of evil" (along with Iraq and North Korea) that
continued to threaten world peace. Turkey, the only Moslem country that is
a member of Nato and a US ally, fears that an attack against its Southern
ally would aggravate its crisis ridden economy and the destabilisation of
Iraq would allow the creation of an independent Kurdish State in the North
of the country.

Mr. Talabani, who arrived in Ankara Monday evening is also due to meet the
Deputy Prime Minister, Mesut Yilmaz.
 
 

· GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES NEW BILL ON "REPENTANTS" INCLUDING
CERTAIN PKK COMMANDERS.  On 4 March, the Turkish government announced that
it was drafting a new Bill on repentants with the aim of encouraging the
Kurdish fighters to surrender to the security forces. "A law on repentants
is due" declared the government spokesman, Tunca Toskay, before the Press
at the end of a Cabinet meeting.

Questioned as to whether this Bill would also cover commanders of the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Mr. Toskay refused to comment, limiting
himself to saying that its scope would be determined in the light of future "evaluations".

In 1999, Premier Bulent Ecevit's coalition government had passed a similar
law which, however, excluded the PKK chief, Abdullah Ocalan, sentenced to
death for "treason and separatism" in June of the same year, and the
commanders of his organisation, considered "terrorist" by Ankara. This law
provided for reductions in the sentences of those fighters who had
surrendered  to the security forces and who had not taken part in any armed actions.

The Bill now being drafted again aims at the disintegration of the PKK,
which abandoned armed struggle in 1999, after the sentencing of its chief.
Fighting weight the Army have practically ceased since. According to a
communiqué published in the Kurdish daily Ozgur Politika, the PKK
considered this Bill "insufficient". It demands again a general amnesty and
equal rights for the Kurds in Turkey. the new "repentants law", discussed
in the cabinet this week, will be as ineffective as the previous one,
warned the presidential council of the organisation, which wants to
transform itself into a new political party. The PKK demands a "special
law" granting a  general amnesty for the "Kurdish liberation movement" and
the end of all the discriminations directed against at the Kurds, continues
the communiqué. This law would make Kurds "free citizens of Turkey"stressed
the presidential council. It reaffirms that the PKK, at its next congress
would take "positive decisions" in the direction of a "peaceful solution"
to the Kurdish problem.
 

· EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTS RESOLUTION CALLING FOR END OF
PROCEEDINGS AGAINST HADEP. On 28 February, on the initiative of the GUE/NGL
(United European Left/Northern Green Left) Group passed a resolution "on
democratic rights in Turkey and, in particular, the situation of HADEP"
calling for an end to the proceedings against the People's Democratic Party
(HADEP) "considering that it is acting  in favour of the granting of civic
rights to those of Kurdish origin in Turkey    (and that it) denies any
organic links with the PKK or any other terrorist organisation". The
European Parliament "calls on the Turkish  government to respect and
protect all parties that use democratic means, respectful of the rule of
law, to promote their political objectives, whatever their attitude to
government policy". The resolution "(also) expresses its concern at the
increasing frequency of the banning of activities and political parties in Turkey ".

On 1 March, the President of HADEP, Murat Bozlak, defended his party,
threatened with banning, before the Turkish Constitutional Court. Arriving
with six of his assistants, he himself defended his party before the Court,
meeting in closed session, for over an hour. "The proceeding against us had
been started in an atmosphere of conflict three years ago, and they lack
any legal basis" he considered speaking to the Press at the end of the
hearing. He said he was "convinced" that they would be rejected by the Court.

The European Parliament, moreover, stressed that "the status being of a
country applying for membership gives Turkey increased responsibilities and
commitments regarding the European Union". It "welcomes the amendments to
the Constitution which should lead to a partial lifting of restrictions on
the use of the Kurdish language", "insistently calls for this action be
promptly followed by other measures leading to  a broad acceptance of the
cultural aspirations of the Kurdish people and to the solution to the
social, economic and political problems in South-Eastern Turkey, hopes that
the Turkish State will shortly guarantee the legitimate rights of all the
minorities in Turkey". Furthermore, this resolution "pressingly calls on
the Turkish authorities to cease all other actions against the students who
have asked that the Kurdish language be amongst the subject taught and
release those who have been arrested".
 

· POLICE DEMAND MINISTRY OF CULTURE BAN AWARD WINNING FILM.  
The Turkish High Control Committee of Films, Video and Music decided, on 28 February,
to ban the film that had been most highly praised and received the most awards of the
year ­ on the demand of the Police Directorate. The grounds are "attacks on
the territorial and national integrity of the country". "Büyük adam, küçük
ask"(Great man, little live" has been showing for over five months and had
won awards in five classes, including that of Best Film, at the Golden
Orange Festival, (the Turkish equivalent of the Cannes Film Festival). The
film had also won a grant from the Turkish Ministry of Culture of 20,700¤
and a credit of 16,600¤ from the same Ministry. it is also amongst the
favourites as Turkey's entry for the Oscar.

The report of the Police Directorate, dated 26 December 2001, notes that
"the film shows extrajudicial executions by the police, displays a
chauvinist attitude to the Kurdish identity and language, undermines the
feeling of confidence in the security bodies and shows parallels with
separatist propaganda".

Questioned by the press, Istemihan Talay, Minister of Culture, declined all
responsibility for it, stressing that it was due to the High Committee,
composed of seven members, including a member of the General Secretariat of
the National Security Council (MGK), a representative of the Ministries of
the Interior, National Education and Culture, while recognising that the
representative of his own Ministry had voted for  banning the film. The
President of the Authors' Copyright Bureau, Güney Görmez, on the other
hand, recognised that the fact that the film, in its foreign export version
is called "Hejar", the Kurdish first name of the film's main character, was
one of the reasons for the Ministry's irritation.

"Hejar" (Poor) is the story of a little girl who only speaks Kurdish, and
who is looked after by a family in a big city after the execution of her
parents by the Turkish police. The film tells the story of the sympathy and
tenderness of a retired Turkish public prosecutor and Hejar.
 

· TURKEY: DRUG TRANSHIPMENT, MONEY LAUNDERING CENTER.
According to the Turkish daily Milliyet, of 3 March, the 2001
report of on International Strategy for Narcotics Control of the American
State Secretariat describes Turkey as the country through which the drug
traffic from South-West Asia to Europe transits, with about six tons moving
through per month. The report, which also designates Turkey as the centre
for laundering dirty money, stresses that 5.1 tonnes of heroin, 10 tonnes
of cannabis, 1.7 tonnes of synthetic drugs were seized by the Turkish
police in 2001.
 

· KURDISH  NAMES ON TRIAL. After the pacification of Kurdistan, the
Turkish authorities are now engaging in the purification and the
"Turckisation" of the registry office records. Kurdish first names might
endanger the fragile "Turkish national unity"!

According to the daily Ozgur Politika of 3 March, on the basis of a
complaint dated 21 December 2001 by the Gendarmes of Dicle, attached to the
Diyarbekir High Court, seven Kurdish families have been ordered to
"Turkify" the Kurdish first names, considered to be "inappropriate",  of
their 23 children, aged between one and 15 years of age. Thus, on the basis
of a circular from the Turkish Ministry of the Interior, the commander of
the Dicle gendarmerie screened all the Registry Office records from 1985 to
2001, to weed out all the incriminating first names : Berivan ( milkmaid),
Zilan (valley), Rojda (luminous), Baver (confident), Welat (country),
Serhat ( border), Kendal (hill), Zinar (rock), Hebun (to exist), Baran
(rain), Rojhat (dawn), Agit (brave), Zelal (clear), Zozan (mountain meadow).

The Dicle Public Prosecutor, Alpaslan Karabay, accepting the gendarmerie's
argument that these first names were being used as code names by PKK
fighters, and based himself on Article 1587 clause 16 of the Civil Register
Code that lays down that "the child's first name is given by the parents.
But names that endanger our national culture, morals, or customs or offend
public opinion cannot be given".

"People called Deniz (Editors Note : reference to a leader of an extreme
Left organisation, hanged in 1972) and Alpaslan (Editors Note : reference
to Alpaslan Turkes, founder of the extreme Right, neo-fascist party, and
also, incidentally that of the Public Prosecutor in question) have managed
to live together peacefully. Let's hope that  Turkish law frees itself of
this shameful paranoia about names  " wrote Enis Berberoglu in the Turkish
daily Radikal of 4 March. "The Court of Appeals, in two different rulings
dated 1989 and 1992 respectively, had invalidated decisions to cancel the
first names of Berfin, in one case, and Rojda in the other" recalls for his
part Turgut Tarhanli in the 5 March issue of the same paper.
 

·  ANNUAL US STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT HIGHLIGHTS VIOLATIONS OF
HUMAN RIGHTS IN KURDISH REGIONS OF TURKEY. According to the Turkish
daily Milliyet of 6 March, the State Department's annual report on Human
Rights is, this year, stressing the use of torture in Turkey. "The security
forces have, on the whole , continued to practice torture, beating up, and
to breach other rights " stresses the report. "According to Human Rights
observers and medical specialists, the Turkish security forces, instead of
beating detainees with truncheons or their fists, beat them with heavy
sacks, or instead of applying electric shocks directly to parts of the
body, use metallic chairs to deliver the electric shocks ­ briefly they opt
for methods of torture that leave the least traces in the body" indicates
the report. It also stresses the fact that the police and armed forces
implicated in cases of torture are rarely found guilty or else receive to
such light sentences as to aggravate the situation. The US State Department
reveals the fact that violations of Human Rights are more intense in
Kurdish regions, stressing that violations of freedom of expression and
association are particularly intense in these regions. "The Turkish
Constitution does not recognise the Kurds as a national minority, ethnic or
racial minority though, in fact, the Kurds constitute the largest ethnic
and linguistic minority in the country. In the civil service and in
politics. those who wish to identify themselves as Kurds and who support
the public use of the Kurdish language are threatened by censorship,
pressure of all kinds, harassment and legal proceedings" concludes this
report, which is submitted to the American Congress to clarify its foreign
policy choices.

For a long time militarily and strategically allied to Washington, Turkey
knows from experience that these criticisms on the human rights situation,
expressed regularly for over ten years, have hitherto had no effect on
Turco-American relations.