Awkward Subjects in Final National Security Council Meeting Prior to Deadline 

The Turkish National Security Council (MGK) have met for the last time prior to the deadline for im-plementation of the short-term criteria within the EU’s entry partnership document.
Expected to be on the agenda was the abolition of the death penalty, education in Kurdish, the politici-zation of the PKK and the publication of Emails from the EU representative Karen Fogg. Assessment of developments at home and abroad were on the official agenda. This would include an assessment of the monthly report on PKK activity, an assessment of the situation in Afghanistan, the violence in the Middle East, the Cyprus issue and possible US action against Iraq. (Source: Cumhuriyet, 27.02.02)
 

Turkish Minister Supports PKK’s Conversion to a Political Party 

For the first time a Turkish governmental minister has spoken out in support of the conversion of the banned PKK into a political movement. Customs Minister Mehmet Kececiler said that it would be bet-ter for PKK members to be part of the political world rather then underground fighters in the moun-tains. This led to furious reactions from other governmental politicians as well as newspaper colum-nists. For months they, and military officials have been warning against a PKK attempt to politicize itself following its military defeat against Ankara. This should not be allowed. The PKK themselves have often let it be known of their intention to break with their past as a rebel organization and to be-come a political movement for the Kurds. They are also prepared to give up their name. (Source: afp, 25.02.02)
 

45 Arrests in Istanbul for Campaigning for Education in Kurdish 

A total of 45 people were arrested who had traveled to Cagaloglu to submit formal requests to the Istanbul Provincial Authority for National Education for Kurdish education in primary schools.
Because of similar such action police had imposed strict security controls in several districts of Istan-bul. Parents who wanted to go to the National Education Authority at around 14:00 hours were stopped by the police. The 45 who were arrested, with 18 women amongst them, were placed against the walls of the Iraqi consulate and were then searched. They were then taken to the police station in Eminönü. 
A total of 200 people have been arrested and detained in various prisons for campaigning for native language education. (Source: Cumhuriyet, 27.02.02)
 

Children Questioned for Taking Part in Writing and Painting Competition on Human Rights 

The Ministry of National Education has initiated an investigation into 20 children and 40 art and litera-ture teachers who participated in a writing and painting competition as part of an IHD Human Rights Week from 10.12.2001-17.12.2002 in Diyarbakir. Children aged between 7 and 12 from various schools took part in the competition which had “Human Rights” as a  theme. They completed a total of 150 pictures and 140 essays. A prize giving ceremony was held on 15.12.2002 in Diyarbakir’s theater for the 10 best pictures and essays. 
On 01.02.2002 the Ministry sent 2 inspectors to Diyarbakir to undertake an investigation. Four of the 20  winners were not questioned because they were only just 7 years old. The inspectors asked the children who had encouraged them to participate in the competition, how they had found out about the competition, whether they had taken part in the prize giving ceremony and if Kurdish had been spoken there. The children had to sign forms with details about themselves and their parents. 
The 40 teachers were, amongst other things, asked why they hadn’t encouraged their pupils to take part in the previous week’s competition organized by the governor’s office.
IHD committee member and lawyer Muharrem Erbey said that it was incomprehensible that children who had done nothing other than to draw matchstick men, suns and trees could be assumed to have had other motives. He could also not understand how children between 7 and 12 could be interviewed, left hanging around in corridors and made to feel that they had done something wrong and that they should spy and inform on their teachers. He said that the children could not take part in the governor’s competition because they hadn‘t been informed about it until it was too late. He indicated that it was also unlawful to question them about non-participation.
The head of the trade union for education in Diyarbakir (Egitim-Sen), Hayrettin Altun, said that investi-gations by the Governor’s office had been initiated against those who had sent flowers to the con-gress. (Sources: Radikal, afp, 18.02.02)
 

Historical Step Taken by Turkey and Syria 

In Damascus, Turkish and Syrian generals have drawn up what is being seen as an historical agree-ment on military cooperation. The agreement is to be signed in April in Ankara by the general staffs of both countries. The agreement includes an exchange program for military academy students and offi-cers. Syrian officers are to be trained at military academies in Ankara and Istanbul. Turkish officers will have the opportunity to train at military academies in Damascus and Aleppo. There will also be the possibility in the long-term for combined field exercises and cooperation and within the defense indus-tries.
Normalization between both states commenced following Syria’s extradition of Öcalan. (Source: Milliyet, 25.02.02)
 

Compensation Payments to Anfal and Halabja Victims

Legislative proposals by the regional government in Kurdistan to provide monthly financial assistance to the victims of the Anfal campaign and the poison gas attack on Halabja, have been welcomed as just and appropriate by the Kurdish general public.
The payments will be made to victims of Iraq’s notorious Anfal campaign whereby 250,000 Kurds were killed and more than 4,000 villages destroyed in the 1980s. There will also be compensation for the victims of the poison gas massacre in Halabja by the Iraqi army in 1988 in which 6,000 people suf-fered harrowing deaths. (Source: Kurdistan Newsline, Sulaimania, 22.02.02) will also be compensated
 

New Dam in Northern Iraq 

According to a report in the Iraqi-Kurdistan newspaper Rebazi Azadi, Iraqi authorities have allegedly begun the construction of a new dam in the region of Zab-Sherqat. Arab families there have been requested to leave the area and to resettle in the Kurdish regions of Makhmur, Salai, Debs and She-wan. The Iraqi authorities have compensated these families and have offered them financial incentives to settle in the Kurdish regions. 
A reporter from the paper confirmed that leaders of the Arabic Al-Jubur clan, who live in the region, have resisted the Iraqi request and refused the offers from the Iraqi authorities. They did not want to participate in the Arabisation of Kurdish regions. (Source: Kurdistan Newsline, Sulaimania, 05.02.02)
 

Annan wants to Persuade Baghdad to allow Weapons Inspectors into the Country 

At the forthcoming meeting with the Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri, UN General Secretary Kofi An-nan wants to persuade Iraq to allow weapons inspectors into the country. In this way, Annan will at-tempt to avert any military confrontation. The inspectors would, in particular, be on the look out for nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. 
According to UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarri, Annan intends to ward off any Iraqi resistance to his request by concentrating on a number of key issues at the talks on 7.03.2002. These include permis-sion to enter the country by the weapons inspectors and the whereabouts and situation concerning several hundred missing Kuwaitis.
US officials have made it clear to Annan that he is not to make any concessions whatsoever to Iraq to allow the inspectors into the country. (Sources: afp, 25.02.02; Washington Post, 26.02.02)
 

Kurdish Cabinet Secretary Imprisoned 
Khatami Receives List of Demands from Kurdish Politicians 

Iranian hardliners have sentenced Abdollah Ramazanzadeh, Khatami’s Cabinet Secretary and former governor of the Kurdish province, to 6 months imprisonment for his liberal views. His imprisonment is being seen as a political decision.
Jalal Jalalizadeh, one of the 6 Kurdish members of parliament who threatened to resign because of Ramazanzadeh’s imprisonment, said that he was dismayed that such a courageous and honorable member could receive such a punishment, just for having the views he had. Ramazanzadeh had been critical that votes for the presidential elections from the Kurdistan province had been deemed invalid by the Revolutionary Council for being illegible. Reformers would have received the majority vote.
The resignations were rejected by the Council of Custodians because they were seen as an opposi-tion campaign against the regime. Individual resignations would, however, be accepted.
A month after their resignation attempts, the members of parliament visited Iranian President Khatami demanding equal rights and justice. They accused the Khatami government of “double standards”. In a letter to the Minister of the Interior they wrote that Kurds were being discriminated against and did not have the same rights as other ethnic groups within Iran. They pointed out that Kurds in Iran did not pursue independence or separatism but just demanded their fundamental rights as Iranian citizens, which were guaranteed under the Islamic constitution. (This news has only just reached us. We wanted to publish it despite the delay. Sources: Reuters, 15.12.01; KurdishMedia.com, 16.12.01; Gulan, 07.11.01)
 

Democratic Party of Kurdistan-Iran (PDK-I) Activist Executed in Mahabad

On 24.01.2002, the Islamic Republic of Iran executed the Kurdish activist Karim Toujhali in Mahabad. His body has been handed over to his family.
Toujhali (35) had been active in the PDK-I since 1982. He ended his political activity in 1996 to flee to another state, via Turkey, to seek protection. The UNHCR gave Toujhali refugee status and wanted to refer him on to a third state. In 1998 he was handed over to the Iranian secret service by the Turkish police. This was not the first time that Turkey had deported freedom activists to the Islamic Republic and thereby carry responsibility for their imprisonment and execution. It has become known that Tou-jhali had been tortured in prisons in Mahabad, Sardasht and Urumieh prior to his execution.
The PDK-I expect Iran, freedom activists, human rights organizations and international humanitarian organizations to take up the case and to demand a stop to such criminal activity by the Iranian regime. They should use their influence to stop Turkey being a stooge for the Iranian regime and to end the deportation of refugees to a certain death.
The Iranian regime need to know that neither prison nor torture nor the massacre of opposition mem-bers and intellectuals will deter freedom fighters from opposing the regime. (Source: Statement from the Politburo of the PDK-I, 25.01.02)
 

Iran Intends to Execute a Further 15, mainly Kurdish, Political Prisoners 

On 29.01.2002, it was made known that the Iranian regime intend to execute more political prisoners. This raises the concern that this could be the beginning of a mass execution of political prisoners as in 1988 when the regime executed 10000 prisoners within a 3 month period.
To bring attention to this threat, and as a protest, the PDK-I and the Kurdistan Freedom’s Committee  demonstrated before the Finnish parliament in Helsinki on 21.02.2002. Kari Uotila, a Finnish member of parliament and head of the Human Rights Group within the Finnish Parliament, spoke at the dem-onstration. He gave support to the Kurds’ demands and promised to take action within the Finnish EU Group. (Source: PDK-I Press Statement, 23.02.02)
 

Turkish Refugee Suffocates in Container 

A refugee from Turkey has suffocated in a container of animal feed on a crossing to northern Italy. The young man had hidden himself in the container as it was being loaded in the Greek port of Patras onto a ship bound for Venice. Police said that a truck driver discovered the body while unloading his vehicle in Modena. The victim is suspected of being a Kurd. A year ago 6 illegal immigrants had also died of suffocation in southern Italy. The smugglers had dumped the bodies onto the road and then driven over them to avoid any identification.
Italy is seen as a central point for human trafficking into western Europe from the Balkans and Turkey. In 1999 the bodies of 58 Chinese were discovered in the British port of Dover. The illegal immigrants had suffocated in a refrigerated container. (Source: dpa, 25.02.02)
 

Dear Readers, 

Note: The German station WDR is showing Michael Engers film about Hasankeyf on 16.03.2002, which will be an extended version of that shown on Arte. Michael Engers film is also available on video, including the new GAP brochure for DM 5.00. 
The long delayed Environmental Impact Assessment Report is now available on CD-ROM. The report is in English.

Further articles of interest are available on our Web Site. We would like to point out that the articles on our Web Site are not our opinions but rather reflect the current discussions concerning the issues we deal with. Visit our site at www.kurden.de.

Thanks for the positive reactions to our campaign for “500 Solidarity Subscribers or Sponsors by the end of March 2002”. We are unfortunately still far from our target – so please support us.

With Best Regards,

The Editorial Team

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