Torture Still Prevalent in Turkey According to Lawyers 
Lawyers have recently declared that torture in Tur-key is still normal, with more elaborate methods being used, despite Ankara’s efforts at human rights reforms towards gaining EU membership.
EU leaders agreed to a summit in December if Turkey had achieved the human rights criteria by then.
Following a visit at the end of December and beginning of January by the Paris based FIDH (Internal Association for Human Rights), they stated that the Turkish authorities continued to breach the law.
Torture and abuse by the police and military have not declined but remain prevalent and are system-atically used during imprisonment and police detention. Evidence of torture is usually only detectable by advanced medical methods which are not normally available.
Victims of such abuses are mainly members of ethnic minorities such as gypsies and Kurds.
In November of last year Turkey lifted a 15 year old state of emergency in the country’s south east. This was supposed to end a conflict which had enabled security forces to attack Kurdish separatists resulting in the loss of more than 30,000 lives.
The FIDH also expressed concern over the continued threats and persecution towards lawyers, journalists, doctors and other critics of the government.
Reforms from February and August of last year were to have been initial steps by Turkey to bring their legislation in line with European and interna-tional standards. (Source: Reuters, 09. 01.03)

Rise in Number of Book Bans in Turkey in 2002 
The Commission for the Freedom of Publication, a sub-committee of Turkey’s Union of Publishers (TYB), has revealed in a report that in the year 2002 legal action had been taken against 77 books, 57 writers and 38 publishers.
The commission’s spokesperson, Ragip Zarakoglu, also said that compared to the previous 2 years there had been an increase in the persecution of publishers, writers and publications: “Particularly books on Kurds or in Kurdish have been subjected to reprisals”. In 2002 other cultures in Anatolia had become targets of the judiciary. Such acts of perse-cution contradict Turkey’s efforts at convergence as part of the commencement of EU entry negotia-tions. (Özgür Politika, 06.01.03)

Turkey Abolishes Use of Death Penalty in Peace Time
Under pressure from the EU, Turkey recently signed a protocol on abolishing the death penalty in times of peace. Further progress has therefore been made towards democratic reforms, enabling open-ing talks on possible EU membership. (Source: Reuters 12.01 03)

EU Welcome Therapy for Turkish Police
The Turkish government has called for the police to undergo regular monthly psychological therapy sessions in order to relieve stress as part of the efforts to stop torture in a country yearning for EU membership. 
Participants are also to have the new reforms, the harsh anti-torture legislation and prisoner rights explained. 
The justice department and the newly elected “Party of Progress” have said there will be zero tolerance towards torture, a main obstacle towards EU entry.
Turkey is the slowest amongst the 13 new candidate states. Its progress will be monitored up to Decem-ber 2004 prior to any decision being made. (Source: AFP, 17. 01.03) 

Compensation for Unlawful Detention 
Mersin’s 2nd criminal court has awarded the trade unionist Mithat Fahriogullari compensation of 13.7 billion TL (ca. 8000 EUROS), because he spent 116 days in detention without any charges being brought for being an organizer of a Newroz celebra-tion. (Source: Radikal, 18.01.2003) 

Judgement in MLKP Case
Ankara’s state security court has passed judgment in a case against 23 alleged members of the MLKP. Münevver Iltimur (from Atilim in Ankara), Arif Dönmez, Ekrem Erdil, Sule Eylem Erdogan, Elvan Kelebek, Mustafa Naki Dogan, Celal Yesilyurt, Erol Dogan and Sirin Gürkan were each imprisoned for 45 months for supporting an armed gang under § 169 TPC. The former distributor of Atilim, Hüseyin Ögretmen, was imprisoned for 13.5 months. Thirteen defendants were found not guilty. The court also imprisoned the student Onur Gülbu-dak for 45 months. He allegedly supported the TIKKO. (Source: Atilim, 21.01.2003)

Manisa Case
The chief public prosecutor of the court of appeal has requested that a judgment from Manisa’s crimi-nal court from 16.10.2002 be upheld. Police had been sentenced to between 5-10 years for the tor-ture of youths from Manisa. (Source: Cumhuriyet, 22.01.2003) 

Death in Prison 
At a press conference in the IHD in Istanbul, Celal Sakyen revealed that his brother, Erdal Sakyen, hanged himself on 26th December with bed sheets in the psychiatric hospital in Elazig. He had been in prison since 1993 for being a member of the PKK and still had 8 months to serve. He had been in several different prisons and had been held in isola-tion for 10 months in Afyon’s prison. After 45 days on hunger strike he was transferred to Elazig. However, the family have still not received any information on why he had been taken to the psychiatric institution on December 5th. (Source: Özgür Gündem, 22.01.2003) 

Student Found Not Guilty 
The student Fethi Gültepe, who had been arrested on 15th October 2002 because he had wanted to set up a Pontist state in the Black sea region, has been found not guilty at an initial hearing before Istanbul’s state security court on 21.01.2003. The defendant said at the hearing that he had been to Greece to study but had been unable to complete his studies. He had been deported twice but had not been connected to any organization. At the airport he had at first been accused of being a PKK activist then as a drugs courier. He had not been mentally tortured but his mother had been verbally abused. He had therefore admitted the accusations. (Source: Özgür Gündem, 22.01.2003) 

Deportation from Syria to Turkey 
According to the lawyer Hüseyin Cangir, Hamdi Çiçek was deported from Syria to Turkey on 01.01.2003 as a suspected member of the PKK /KADEK. He had been apprehended on 16.08.2002 with 11 friends between Derik and Kamisli. He had then allegedly been tortured. He had been put in a solitary cell and tortured with electric shocks and hangings. After being deported over the border station of Cilvegözü (Hatay) he was held for one day in police custody. He had not been physically tortured at this time, but he had made confessions concerning incidents from the 1990s while under psychological pressure and threats. His son Suat said that his father had been repeatedly arrested and tortured in 1993. He had gone to Syria following the deaths of three brothers. (Source: Özgür Gündem, 22.01.2003) 

No Body Searches on Lawyers 
The head of Denizli’s lawyers’ association, Mehmet Yildirim Aycan, has been found not guilty by Denizli’s criminal court on allegations of resisting state authority. He had refused to undergo a body search during a prison visit. The court determined that according to Article 58 of the lawyers’ legislation, lawyers can only be hand searched in situations of “imminent danger”. (Source: Evrensel 23.01.2003) 

Skirmish Near Lice
According to information from Özgür Politika,  NCO Irfan Yayla and 5 other soldiers were killed in skirmishes near Lice between 14-17th January. The names of KADEK militants killed were given as  Kadir Çiçek, Fikret Demir, Sevket Ergül, Mehmet Kaplan, Mehmet Ergül, Veysel Arar Yilmaz Özlü, Hikmet Yakut, Mehmet Ogur, Ethem Sakir, Kemal Kurnat and  Xasif Qaradag. (Source: TIHV, 23.01.2003) 

Compulsory Shaving is Torture 
Concerning an incident in the district of Sebinkara-hisar, the 8th chamber of the court of appeal has determined that the compulsory shaving of beards or moustaches is not only an offense of ill treatment (§ 245 TPC), but also of torture (§ 243 TPC). 
A court in Sebinkarahisar had passed sentence under § 243 TPC. The case will not be reheard. (Source: Radikal,  24.01.2003) 

Sentence Upheld Against Journalist 
The court of appeal has upheld a 15 year prison sentence against Memik Horuz, former chief editor of Isçi Köylü. Ankara’s state security court had imposed this sentence on him on 12.06.2002 for being a member of TIKKO. Memik Horuz alleg-edly made a report with TIKKO militants. Because of these interviews more cases are to be brought before other courts, including a case against Ali Kemal Kahraman, the chief editor of Özgür Gele-cek, which also published the interview. (Source: TIHV, 24.01.2003) 

KDV Activist Detained 
Mehmet Bal, who recently refused  to do military service, was detained in Izmir on 22.01.2003. The lawyer Bahattin Özdemir said that he had only been allowed to speak with his client for 5 minutes. (Source: Cumhuriyet, 24.01.2003) 
 
Ankara Adheres to European Judicial Standards - 
Turkish Kurd Politician to have Retrial 
Judicial committee recommends investigation of cases criticized by  human rights court (from Chris-tiane Schlötzer)
Istanbul – the Kurdish politician Leyla Zana, who has been awarded international prizes and has been imprisoned in Turkey for the past 8 years, is to be given a retrial. A parliamentary judicial committee in Ankara has now made the way free for a package of legislation on convergence with the European Union. This would include the EU requirement on recognition of decision by the European Court of Human Rights. The cases affected should be dealt with in Turkey within 1 year. A precondition is that the parliamentary plenary accept the amendments package.
Yusuf Alatas, lawyer for the former member of parliament told the Süddeutschen Zeitung, “We will then request the immediate release of Leyla Zana”. Zana had been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in 1994 by a Turkish court for treason. The judg-ment was later reduced to membership of the illegal Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK). In 1991 Zana was the first politician to speak Kurdish in Ankara’s parliament and to wear a headband with the tradi-tional Kurdish colors of yellow, green and red. In July 2001, the human rights court judged the court case against Zana as “unfair”. Zana had been awarded the European parliament’s Sacharov prize in 1995. Ferai Salman, spokesperson for the Human Rights Association in Ankara, said on the recogni-tion  of the European court’s judgments: “We have been waiting for years for this”. In  a constitutional committee debate the parliamentary member of the governing AKP party, Mahmut Durdu, was critical that the retrial was to take place before the same court which made the initial judgment, “It will be impossible to get a different judgment from the same judge”. However, the social democratic oppo-sition said that by recognizing the European court’s judgments Ankara was abandoning its “national judiciary”. Justice minister Cemil Cicek denied this and said that the majority of Turks wanted entry to the EU but did not seem to be aware of what this means to them. The judicial committee has disap-pointed the Islamic basis of the AKP. Members of parliament have rejected any amnesty for female students who had been expelled from universities for wearing head coverings. The lawyer Gülden Sönmez from the isalmic leaning human rights organization Mazludmer said, “Prior to the elections they came to us wanting our votes and now they’re not keeping their promises”. (Source: Süddeutsche Zeitung, 22.1.2003)

Turkey Attempts to have Kurds Deleted from the World’s Most Extensive Web Directory 
(Open Directory Project Dmoz.org) 
The influence on people’s lives from the develop-ment of the Internet is increasing from day to day. The virtual disappearance of national boundaries and the worldwide exchange of information has led to major advances. In the past Kurdish web sites have been blocked and now the Turkish telecom is resorting to hacker methods to deny any access by Kurds in Turkey and in Turkish Kurdistan. Legal action against employees on Kurdish internet projects is an example of the Turkish state not tolerating any rights for the Kurds, not even on the Internet. At the same time attempts are being made to have Kurdish web sites completely deleted from web directories by claiming that they contain evi-dence of terrorist groups. Helin Welat, responsible for Kurdish sites, emphasized the importance of the project and the technical victory for the Kurds, which was worth fighting for. (Source: KurdishMe-dia.com, 16.01.03)

Human Rights Court Inundated With Complaints 
The number of complaints to the European Court in Strasbourg continues to increase. This was revealed by the Swiss president of the court, Luzius Wild-haber, to journalists in Strasbourg. Last year 33,400 complaints were registered, 2,100 more than in 2001.
The 44 judges made 844 judgments. The year before they had made 889. More than 17,900 com-plaints (nearly 50%) were rejected or were settled out of court.
Top of the list for judgments was Italy (325), followed by France (61) and then Turkey (54). According to Wildhaber Rome and Paris were often before the court because of over-long court cases. Turkey was mainly being judged against for private property violations and rights to freedom and secu-rity. (Source: dpa, 28.01.03)

Legal Action Continues Against
German Foundations in Turkey 
The court case continues in Ankara against the German foundations in Turkey for alleged conspir-acy. Representatives of the Konrad-Adenauer-, Friedrich-Ebert-, Heinrich-Böll- and Friedrich-Naumann-Foundations as well as the German Ori-ent Institute are liable to 15 years imprisonment. They and their Turkish co-defendants, have been accused of “conspiring against the security of the Turkish state”. They are alleged to have promoted opposition against the mining of gold using poisonous cyanide. In a recent visit to Istanbul, the German foreign minister Joschka Fischer rejected the allegations as being “completely unfounded and absurd". (dpa, 29.01.03)

Turkey Strengthens Troops on Border to Iraq 
Turkey has recently begun strengthening its troops on the border to Iraq. This was revealed in Ankara by the military leadership. They further said that units would therefore be ready for “possible devel-opments” in the region. The transport of arms and equipment should not however be interpreted as an imminent war against Iraq or that Turkey was to participate in such. (dpa, 29.01.03)

Verheugen Sees Power Struggle
in Turkey Over Cyprus 
In the opinion of the EU’s enlargement commis-sioner, Günter Verheugen, the Turkish military and government are involved in a power struggle con-cerning the future of Cyprus. This struggle has not yet been concluded, Verheugen told the Europe committee of the German parliament recently in Berlin. While the newly elected Turkish government are for a loose alliance between the two Turkish partitions – i.e. the Turkish north and Greek south – the military want to maintain the Turkish Cypriot Republic, which has never been internationally recognized.
Verheugen did not want to make any prognosis on whether the negotiations being organized by the UN would be successful in the current EU enlarge-ment phase. Verheugen named 28th February as a deadline. Irrespective of this he did say that Cyprus would become a member of the EU on May 1st 2004 – if necessary with a special clause for the Turkish part until reunification.
Verheugen recommended that the EU set up an international benefactor conference to take on the burdens of a Cypriot reunification. This would mainly involve the financing of resettlements. (dpa, 29.01.03)

Turkey Announce Judicial Reforms 
As part of its efforts towards EU membership, Tur-key  has announced reforms to its unwieldy judicial system. The government recently submitted pro-posals for legislation whereby regional courts of appeal would be able to relieve Ankara’s supreme court of appeal and thereby speed up the processing of cases. "Delayed justice is no justice ", said the deputy prime minister Abdullatif Sener. Ten mil-lion cases are currently awaiting a judgment in the Turkish judicial system. According to Sener a judgment takes on average two and a half years. Five hundred thousand cases a year are referred to the supreme court of appeal. (AFP, 29.01.03)

Press Statement from “Association for Human Rights in Iran“
Dr. Abdullkarim Lahiji, head of the Association for Human Rights in Iran, in a press statement on be-half of the association, has severely criticized an Islamic Revolutionary Court’s judgment against 3 Kurds. The following are extracts from the state-ment:
“On 13.01.03, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court in the Kurdish town of Sanandadj sentenced to death Sassan Al Kenaan (35) and passed 10 year prison sentences on Osman Moradi (30) and Adnan Qaderi (25). They were accused of cooperating  with the Kurdish organization KOMALA against the regime. The latter 2 must serve their sentences in exile (outside Kurdistan) in the towns of Minab and Chorramanbad. The work the 3 defendants carried out with KOMALA was restricted to mak-ing available foodstuffs, vehicles and means of escape. Military cooperation could not be proven.
The Association for Human Rights in Iran call on all international human rights organizations and the United Nations to join in on an Urgent Action and to pressurize the Iranian regime to revoke the court’s unjust decision. “Those in power in Teheran must also abide by international legal principles and agreements to which they have signed up”. (Source: Press Statement KOMALA, 18.01.03)
 

Conscription in East Kurdistan 
According to reliable sources Iranian security forces have recently begun conscripting in East Kurdistan.  “Defense of the Nation” is the reason for random conscription. One eye witness from the Kurdish town of Sanandadj reported on mass ar-rests and the taking away of many youths and young men from the town district of Farah on the pretext that they were being arrested. They were taken to the Persian speaking town of Qazwin and held under guard.  (Source: Pressebericht KOMALA, Nr.96, 11.01.03) 

Swedish Foreign Ministry’s Annual
Report on Human Rights Situation in South Kurdistan 
The Swedish foreign ministry is optimistic about improvements in the human rights situation in So-outh Kurdistan. In its annual report the lifting of the Iraqi “Ghossl and Ar Legislation” by the Kurdish parliament was seen as something positive. Under this law, which is still in force in Iraq, the abuse and even murder of women is not prosecuted when this concerns the upholding of family honor. Ac-cording to the report there has also been improve-ments in press legislation, women’s rights  and the health and care systems. Freedom of the press and freedom to organize exist in Kurdistan like in no other Middle eastern country. There are numerous women’s organizations and associations. Women can be active in all departments and institutions including the police and armed forces. There is a ministry for human rights, something which also does not exist in other states in the region.
The report also refers to the failure of the interna-tional community towards the Kurdish regional administration. Huge areas of Kurdistan have for years contained minefields which were laid mainly by the Iraqi but also the  Iranian regimes during the war. These remain a major risk to the lives of the people there and have cost to date the lives of thou-sands of Kurds. This is also a major obstacle to farming and the raising of animals. There are some regional organizations and NGOs involved in mine clearing but their capabilities are limited when faced with such an immense number of mines (an estimated 20-25 million). The report also refers to the situation of the Kurds living in regions under the control of Saddam Hussein. The regime regu-larly makes brutal attacks against non-Arabs, mainly Kurds. Kurds, Turkmen, Assyrians and Yezidiens are systematically persecuted, dispos-sessed and expelled. To date a half a million Kurds and other minorities have been expelled from the autonomous regions. (Quelle: Birayeti, Nr. 3894, 18.01.03) 

Investigations Into Three New Cases of Iraqi Arms Trading 
The public prosecutor from the German town of Mannheim has begun investigations into three fur-ther cases of illegal arms trading with Iraq. The number of German firms who have supplied Iraq with illegal materials is, according to media reports,  double that as previously thought. 
According to the ARD TV programme "Report München", this was confirmed recently by a spokesperson for the authorities in Mannheim. A case is currently being heard before the state court against 2 German businessmen who are alleged to have dodged the Iraqi embargo. One of the new cases is connected with this case. The other 2 cases are separate. 
Those charged are a 59 year old engineer, who was last residing in Pforzheim, and a 54-year old former company manager from the Lower Saxony town of Achim. The two are alleged, along with 2 further accomplices, to have traded deep drilling equipment worth around 200,000 Euros. According to experts such equipment can be used to drill 10 meter long barrels for chemical and bacterial weapons. Deliv-ery of the equipment was made over Jordan. 
The TV programme reported that the participation of German firms in arming Iraq prior to 2000 was more extensive than previously believed. During research into gaps in Iraq’s official weapons report  at the UN, the programme discovered the involve-ment of further German firms. The number of Sad-dam’s German helpers has therefore risen to 109, more than double that from all other countries. The programme also said that customs officers were also to provide the German government with the results of an assessment of the Iraqi weapons re-port. 

Shipments also to Iran 
Mannheim’s public prosecutor recently revealed that illegal deep drilling equipment had allegedly also been delivered to Iran. Under suspicion is the company from Lower Saxony who also dodged the Iraqi embargo. 
The main defendant said at the beginning of the court case that he was not aware that weapons could be made using the equipment supplied. A judgment had been expected on 31st January. (Source: Financial Times Deutschland, 27.1.2003) 

Iraq Again Suspends Oil Supplies to North Kurdistan 
This is being seen as a response to the massive build up of American troops in the Gulf. The sus-pension of oil supplies to the so-called autonomous zone has again shown Baghdad’s lack of any goodwill. By imposing a no-fly zone in northern Iraq after the Gulf War of 1991, the USA and England had enabled the region to have a certain autonomy. Except for small oil reserves in the east, the 3 million Kurds in this region are entirely dependent on oil deliveries from Baghdad. Prices have meanwhile quadrupled and petrol stations have had to close because of the lack of fuel.
After a USA invasion, Iraqi Kurds, along with other opposition groups, want to topple Saddam’s regime.
Iraqi Kurds played a leading role at a recent meet-ing in London of opposition political parties and are to be the host of the next meeting in Arbil. (Source: Reuters, 12.01.2003)

Whole Village in North Iraq Flee from Islamists 
Tapeh Kori is a small village in the center of the idyllic countryside of northern Iraq. Not so long ago 400 people lived there. Now all of them are gone. There are hundreds of heavily armed Pesh-mergas (Kurdish fighters) surrounding the village. The peaceful Tapeh Kori now forms part of the front line against the Ansar al-Islam (Followers of Islam), an Islamic group who allegedly belong to Al-Qaeda.
Colonel Schafigh Chubin, known as “Blue Eyes” by the other Peschmergas because of his blue eyes, has already fought against Saddam’s troops. He now has to defend a region from Schahre Sur to the Schinerwe mountains from more than 700 islamists. "We could over run them within a few hours but because of geopolitical considerations we have to wait ", said Blue Eyes. Ansar bases are on the bor-der to Iran and therefore the Peshmergas do not have a free hand.
Despite heavy denials from Teheran, the Kurds allege that the Iranians are giving the militants logistical support. Ansar also allegedly receive financial support from Saudia Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The Peshmergas are annoyed that Ansar are cold bloodily exploiting the restraint shown by the Patri-otic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). They consider the laying of mines in the region by the Islamists as being particularly cowardly.
More than 50 Peshmergas have lost their lives over the past 5 weeks. The number of casualties on the islamist side is higher, said the colonel.
Because of the world’s focus on Iraqi Kurdistan, no great weight has been given to the Islamic move-ments in northern Iraq. Even Baghdad barely take notice of them. Groups such as Echwan al-Moslemin (Brotherhood of Muslims) or the Islamic Union, because of their religious ideologies, have not been able to make progress with the Kurds. A turning point came in 1988 with the chemical weapons attack at Halabdja, a small town in the same region, which not only killed 5,000 people but also pushed the whole region into poverty.
"Islam is the logical consequence of poverty here, because nobody is easier to brainwash than needy people ", said Bestun Kamal, a representative of the Communist Party of Kurdistan. At least in northern Iraq nobody’s talking about Palestine, Zionists or hatred of America. "Keep the people full and the Islamists will also be kept at a distance ", said Ka-mal.
Only a few of the Islamists in this region are Kurds. The majority are Arabs of various nationalities, who have links to Al-Qaeda and who have had military training in Afghanistan, said commander Scheich Dschafar who leads the Peshmergas in the region. The Ansar leader, Nadschmeddin Faradsch Ahmad alias Mullah Krekar,who was recently de-ported to Norway, was previously a committed Marxist. "They change fronts so easily”, remarked the commander ironically. (Source: dpa, 21.01.03)

Federalism in South Kurdistan 
Dr. Barham Salih, prime minister of  the regional government (PUK’s sphere of influence), who had been visiting the USA including meetings with Dick Cheney, the American vice president, said in a radio interview that South Kurdistan had been in-dependent for the past 10 years and that Iraq had therefore been partitioned. “Federalism could unite Iraq. But if our neighbors persecute and terrorize us we will defend ourselves. We Kurds demand our rights” said Dr. Salih.
When asked about American aid for the Kurds and whether he might be the next Hamid Karzei, he said, “I have been prime minister in Kurdistan without any help from America”. He also referred to the Iraqi Arabization of the Kurdish towns of Kirkuk, Kanaqin and Shangar. 
Kurdish electioneers are concerned by PUK and KDP attempts to unite South Kurdistan with Iraq.
Kurdish intellectuals were to meet to discuss an alternative political agenda. (Source: KurdishMedia, 18.01.03)

Iraqi Opposition Intend to Elect
Leadership - Kurdish Villages
Destroyed 
The opposition in Iraq want to elect a leadership trio at a conference in mid February in the Iraqi Kurdish regions. The trio should comprise a Kurd, a Sunnite Arab and a Shiite Arab. According to an opposition spokesman in the northern Iraqi town of Suleimanijeh the meeting, already postponed on several occasions,  would take place in Salaheddin near Erbil. This is located within the no fly zone which is patrolled by American and British aircraft.
Massud Barsani’s Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP) said that the Iraqi army had destroyed 5 villages in the north of the country. The villages had been surrounded by tanks and the 500 inhabi-tants – Kurds and Arabs – were forced to leave their homes. They had to leave all their goods and prop-erty behind and their homes were then bulldozed into the ground. A spokesperson from the second largest Kurdish parliamentary party the Patriotic Kurdish Union (PUK) said in Cairo, “The Iraqi leadership possibly wanted to scare us along the lines of`, ‘See what we can do’”. 
There have been various explanations as to why the first meeting of the 65 member coordinating com-mittee of the Iraqi opposition, set up in London in December, has been continually postponed. A sec-tion of the opposition say there have been security problems and visa difficulties concerning the neighboring countries of Iran and Turkey. Others say that the US government want to postpone the meeting until the beginning of a possible war so as not to allow the opposition to decide alone on who should take over power in Iraq. PUK spokesperson Hazem el Jusri said that the leadership trio was not “to be a government committee” for the period following  the fall of Saddam but rather a commit-tee that might be able to steer the fate of the Iraqi people  during any possible war. (Source: dpa, 27.01.03)

Turkey Expect 1 Million Refugees in Iraq War 
In the event of a war against Iraq, Turkey are ex-pecting up to 1 million people fleeing from its neighboring country. The Turkish media said that this figure was mentioned during a meeting of Turkish foreign office representatives with a US delegation. Plans to deal with the refugees have just about been decided upon. These include the setting up of 18 reception camps in Turkey’s southeast and Iraq’s north. (Source: AFP, 29.01.03)
 
 
New Publication

Dear Friends,

The IMK e.V. would like to inform all those involved in refugee work about the dissertation by Mehmet Bayval on “Psychosocial Development of Child Refugees”. 

The dissertation studies the conditions under which child refugees live in Germany. It looks at aspects of psychology, sociology, ethnology, politics and law.  
· The first part of the dissertation deals with definitions, refugee causes, statistics and interna-tional and national law. The issues referred to are the right to stay, residency and procedures concerning entry.. 
· The second half focuses on actual living situations, psychosocial development of child refu-gees,– e.g. in the areas of accommodation, education and identity, and outlining measures which would influence the living conditions of young refugees. 

The dissertation is available (in German) for the sum of 6,-- Euro ( incl. post). 
 

As before, please let us know your e-mail address. E-mail is faster and cost effective.
We would also like to refer you to our Web page where the following interesting articles are available:
· IMK e.V press statement from 07.01.2002 (German and English)
· Comments of German Foreign Office’s State of Affairs Reports (German)
· Open Letter to German Government on possible Turkish EU entry (German)
· Thoughts on the subject of Iraq I and II, by Alexander Kauz (German)
· Campaign against impunity - “Justice Heals” (German)
· “Squaring the Circle”, by Ofra Bengio (German and English)
· A joint press statement from the GfbV, KOMKAR, Kurdish Communities in Germany and the IMK e,V, from October 24th (German)
· A report from the Turkish Daily News on the village guard system (German and English)
· IMK e.V press statement on the 40th anniversary of Syria’s racist census (German)
· An analysis of the behavior of the Turkish media during the German general elections (German) 
· An annual report from the PSK on developments in Turkey and north Kurdistan (German and English)
· IPPNW-Report on the actual situation in Turkey and Kurdistan (German)
· An article byAshiti Amiron on Syria and Syrian Kurdistan (German)
· PSK statement on Turkish Parliament’s “EU Compliance Package” (German and English)
· The Article “Kurds and Kurdistan” by Shahin Sorekli from Australia (English)
These do not necessarily reflect our opinions but do concern the current debates on the issues we deal with. Visit us at www.kurden.de
Best regards,
The Editorial Team
 

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Rise in Number of Book Bans in Turkey in 2002 
Turkey Attempts to have Kurds Deleted from the World’s Most Extensive Web Directory 
Turkey Strengthens Troops on Border to Iraq 
Conscription in East Kurdistan 
Swedish Foreign Ministry’s Annual
Report on Human Rights Situation in South Kurdistan 
Whole Village in North Iraq Flee from Islamists