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02/16/2005
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1) Haigneré Says Turkey Should Not Take Referendum Personally
2) Violence Mars Turkish Kurd Rally on Sixth Anniversary of Ocalan Capture
3) Putin, Aliyev Satisfied with Cooperation, Increased Trade
4) Turkish Entry to EU Could Produce ‘Truly European Neighbor’

1) Haigneré Says Turkey Should Not Take Referendum Personally

(Combined Sources)–The French Minister Delegate for European Affairs Claudie
Haigneré, expressed support for a French parliamentary decision that will
require a referendum prior to the entry of any new members into the European
Union (EU).
Though the law would impact Turkey and its hopes to join the EU, Haigneré
dismissed claims that the move was a “discriminatory” measure aimed at Turkey.
Speaking at a joint press conference late on Monday following her meeting
with
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, Haigneré emphasized that the French
Parliament’s
decision, which is likely to be finalized by the French Senate, was not a
“double standard” directed solely towards the Turkish people.
“It’s not possible to discriminate against any potential EU partner,”
Haigneré
was quoted as saying by the Anatolia news agency. She added that a referendum
would be held prior to Croatia’s admittance and that Britain’s EU membership
had also been voted on in a referendum in the past.
A member of the Turkish Parliamentary Adjustment Commission Onur Oymen said,
“a referendum is something against Turkey. We understand France’s internal
policy requirements, but Turkey does not want to pay the cost. The referendum
will affect negatively Turkey’s membership [to the EU], as well as
Turkish-French friendship.”
Oymen also revealed that while in France earlier this week, he was told by
many that, “if Turkey does not recognize the Armenian genocide, it will not
join the EU. This may affect Turkey-France relations negatively,” he said.
Haigneré stressed that the idea of holding a referendum was initially
suggested by French President Jacques Chirac, as it paved the way for him
to be
able to support the Dec. 17 EU decision to open entry talks with Turkey on
Oct.
3 in the face of opposition to the idea in France.
Chirac, who is known to favor Turkey’s EU entry, has been facing political
isolation in his own country as he has been confronted with strong opposition
from both the public and his own center-right Union for People’s Movement
(UMP)
party for his support of Turkey’s EU membership hopes.

2) Violence Mars Turkish Kurd Rally on Sixth Anniversary of Ocalan Capture

Turkish rights group seeks protest violence probe

At least 15 people injured and 20 others detained in Diyarbakir in
southeastern
Turkey after police clash with protesters on the anniversary of a Kurdish
rebel
leader’s arrest.

ISTANBUL (AFP/Reuters)–A Turkish rights group, on Wednesday, called for a
probe into what it called excessive use of force by police in breaking up
protests marking the sixth anniversary of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah
Ocalan’s capture.
Riot police sprayed tear gas and wielded batons on Tuesday to disperse
hundreds of pro-Ocalan protesters in Istanbul and Diyarbakir, the main city in
the largely Kurdish southeast.
Local police said they were investigating the death from apparent gunshot
wounds of a 19-year-old man in the southern port city of Mersin, where
protesters threw rocks at police. There were also smaller clashes between
police and demonstrators in the Aegean city of Izmir and the eastern town of
Van.
Ocalan, serving a life sentence in a Turkish prison after special forces
captured him in Kenya in 1999, still commands support among sections of the
Kurdish population.
The Human Rights Association (IHD), a leading Turkish rights group, called on
the Interior Ministry and prosecutors to launch administrative and judicial
investigations into those responsible for Tuesday’s violence.
“We in the Human Rights Association condemn this mode of operation which is
based on violence, pressure and obstructing the exercise of rights,” IHD
Chairman Yusuf Alatas said in a statement.
A police spokesman said police had not yet issued a statement on the
allegations of excessive force.
Turkish special forces brought Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Ocalan
back to Turkey from Kenya in 1999 after a three-month chase around Europe and
Africa.
Before his capture, Ocalan had been searching for a safe haven. Syria threw
him out of Damascus under Turkish military pressure in November 1998. He
failed
to find long-term refuge in Italy, Russia, the Netherlands and other European
countries.
He was sentenced to death for high treason on June 29, 1999, but the verdict
was later commuted to life imprisonment once Turkey abolished the death
penalty
as part of a European Union-inspired rights reform drive.
The PKK launched a fight for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984.
More than 30,000 have died in two decades of conflict. Violence dwindled after
his capture but revived after the group called off a unilateral ceasefire last
June.

3) Putin, Aliyev Satisfied with Cooperation, Increased Trade

MOSCOW (Itar-Tass)– After talks in the Kremlin on Wednesday, Russian
President
Vladimir Putin and Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev said they were satisfied
with
the developing cooperation between their two countries, as well as the trade
growth rate.
“Trade turnover reached a record high last year, increasing 50 percent, to
about 800 million US dollars. Our trade will soon reach one billion U.S.
dollars,” Putin said. “I’m convinced that we’ll reach it shortly.”
Aliyev said that Azerbaijan could not have imagined that the rate of trade
would expand so rapidly. “The goal is to double trade in the future and today
this appears to be realistic,” he noted.
Pointing to the speed with which projects were implemented during the past
year, Aliyev said that the two countries clearly hold mutual interests for
mutual benefits.
“It would be impossible to reach such figures without effective political
contacts,” Aliyev said.
Putin revealed that Russian companies are ready to invest in Azerbaijan,
noting that there exist “concrete projects.”
According to Azerbaijan, 10.9 percent of its 2004 overall import-export was
with Russia–second only after Italy.

4) Turkish Entry to EU Could Produce ‘Truly European Neighbor’

YEREVAN (RFE-RL)–Defense Minister Serge Sargsian looks forward to the
start of
membership talks between Turkey and the European Union (EU), saying that
Armenian could–for the first time, have a “truly European neighbor” as a
result.
In an online news conference earlier this week with readers of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation’s (ARF) “Yerkir” weekly, Sargsian argued that the
prospect of EU membership could lead Turkey to reopen its border and establish
diplomatic relations with Armenia.
“It is my conviction that the start of membership talks between Turkey and
the
EU has a purely practical significance for us and will further contribute to
the resolution of issues mentioned by you,” he said in response to a question
about Ankara’s continuing refusal to normalize ties with Yerevan without
preconditions.
Sargsian added that Armenia wants Turkey to “develop progressively… in
accordance with European values and standards.” Armenians should therefore be
encouraged by the “possibility of having a truly European neighbor in 15-20
years’ time,” he said.
The remarks represent the most positive assessment yet by a senior Armenian
official of the EU’s decision late last year to open accession talks with
Ankara by the end of 2005.
Official Yerevan’s initial reaction to the move was far more negative, with
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian accusing the EU of turning a blind eye to the
Turkish blockade. “We believe that Turkey did not deserve to get the right to
begin accession talks with the European Union at this point,” he said in
October.
However, Oskanian struck a more positive tone in December after receiving
assurances from European leaders that they will raise Armenian grievances with
the Turks during the accession process.
Sargsian’s comments contrast even more sharply with the position of the ARF,
as well as a number of Diasporan organizations in western Europe and France.
They have for months campaigned against admitting Turkey into the EU, saying
that Ankara must first stop denying the genocide of 1915, which claimed the
lives of 1.5 million Ottoman-Armenians.
But Sargsian stressed that Armenia and Armenians worldwide can continue to
work for genocide recognition, even while Turkey knocks on the EU’s door.
“As a
statesman, I very much hope that the recognition of the Armenian genocide by
Turkey will greatly contribute to the security of our state,” he said.
During the online conference, Sargsian did not shy away from questions
dealing
with his relationship to the ARF, which he stated deserved its “due respect.”
“I don’t think that anybody has reason to consider me an ardent supporter of
Dashnaktsutyun [ARF],” he told one of Yerkir’s readers.

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