IMAGE OF POLICE FORCE DEBATED AFTER GANG TERROR IN ISTANBUL

Sunday’s Zaman
Dec 7 2008
Turkey

A recent kidnapping in which the culprits disguised themselves as
police officers sparked discussions on the image of Turkey’s police
forces and security problems in Ä°stanbul. Five men wearing police
vests raided a restaurant in Ä°stanbul’s Avcılar district last
weekend, arriving in a car equipped with police lights.

When they entered, they attacked the people inside the restaurant with
nightsticks and checked IDs. The gang attacked a woman who was working
at the restaurant and dragged her outside by the hair. During the
incident, the gang did not face any resistance. They kept the woman
for six hours and raped her. After they let her go, she went to the
real police. Two members of the gang were subsequently captured. Human
rights organizations and women’s rights activists have argued that
if the image of Turkey’s police forces had not deteriorated so badly,
such an incident would never have happened. In the meantime, Ä°stanbul
Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah announced that not everyone who wears
a police uniform and has police lights on their vehicle is a police
officer. "Citizens should be careful about this. Police officers have
identity cards," he warned. "Citizens should ask people who introduce
themselves as police officers for their police identity cards first."

Nov. 29

Thousands of people protested the latest layoffs resulting from the
ongoing economic crisis in Ankara during a rally organized by workers’
unions and leftist parties. The demonstration’s slogan was "We will not
pay the price of the crisis." The rally, held by the Confederation of
Revolutionary Workers’ Unions (DÄ°SK) and the Confederation of Public
Sector Trade Unions (KESK), took place at Ankara’s Sıhhiye Square.

Nov. 30

A considerable segment of the Turkish nation prefers the old version
of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been criticized for
deviating from his pro-freedom, democratic and reformist line, to the
new Erdogan, the latest results of a monthly opinion poll showed. The
Ankara-based MetroPOLL Strategic and Social Research Center conducted
a survey on the new direction of Turkish politics and the impact
of the global financial crisis on Turkey. According to the survey,
45.9 percent of those polled miss the old Erdogan, saying they
are not pleased with his current "short-tempered" style. Out of all
respondents, only 16.8 percent said they like the current incarnation
of the prime minister. Around 14 percent replied that they like both
versions of Erdogan, while 18 percent said they don’t like either.

Dec. 1

Six people were injured after a bomb exploded in front of the ruling
Justice and Development Party’s (AK Party) Ä°stanbul headquarters in
the Sutluce district.

Three people were killed and 17 others were injured after a natural gas
leak caused an explosion at the Alikahya municipal building in Kocaeli.

Bilateral problems between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Russia and Georgia,
and Turkey and Armenia need to be resolved in order to maintain
stability in the Caucasus region, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said
in Baku. "We cannot leave the resolution of problems to the next
generation. Peace and stability in the region needs to be maintained,"
Babacan told reporters at a joint press conference following his
talks with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, pointing
to dialogue as the key to the resolution of regional problems.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa arrived in Ankara behind
schedule for a three-day official visit at the invitation of his
Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul. "I’m looking forward to improving
our relations with Turkey. I believe that these relations will continue
at the highest level via my visit," Rajapaksa said in an interview
with the Cihan news agency ahead of his departure from the Sri Lankan
capital of Colombo.

The 22nd hearing in the Ergenekon trial, in which suspects stand
accused of being part of a clandestine and illegal organization
allegedly plotting to overthrow the government, was held. Forty-one
suspects out of the 45 who were jailed pending trial were brought to
the hearing. The chief judge, Köksal Å~^engun, did not show up for
the hearing because of a death in the family. The trial was heard at
a makeshift courtroom on the grounds of Silivri Prison.

The next hearing of the trial of two noncommissioned officers in the
gendarmerie in Trabzon on charges of negligence, which is alleged to
have contributed to the death of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink, was set for Feb. 4, at the request of lawyers representing the
Dink family.

Dec. 2

Turkey has made no effort to ease tensions with Greece despite Athens’
attempts to defuse a long-running territorial dispute and other
differences, Greece’s foreign minister said in an interview. Dora
Bakoyannis said as Turkey reaches a decisive phase in its bid to join
the European Union next year, the time is ripe to make concessions
in talks to reunite Cyprus and over disputed waters in the eastern
Mediterranean. "While we made a conscious effort from the Greek side —
such as the Greek prime minister’s visit to Ankara — Turkey did not
reciprocate," Bakoyannis told Reuters. "We have not had the improvement
we hoped for this year."

The Turkish military announced that its warplanes had struck targets
of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) inside northern Iraq
on Monday, while stating that it had taken the utmost care to ensure
that no civilians were harmed. The statement said all planes returned
to their bases safely and described the operation as "effective." There
was no information on casualties.

The Supreme Military Council (YAÅ~^) convened to make decisions on
dismissals and promotions within the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).The
meeting was attended by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Chief
of General Staff Gen. Ä°lker BaÅ~_bug, Defense Minister Vecdi Gönul
and other YAÅ~^ members.

A terrorist organization that was previously not widely known in Turkey
claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on Monday afternoon on the
ruling AK Party Ä°stanbul headquarters in the Sutluce district. The
terrorist organization, called the Revolutionist Headquarters,
announced on its Web site that it was behind the bomb attack on the
AK Party headquarters.

Dec. 3

According to a report issued by the Prime Ministry’s Directorate for
the Disabled for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, 68
percent of the disabled in Turkey are given no assistance in overcoming
limitations resulting from their disability. Only 3.1 percent of
those with a speech impediment, 3 percent of the physically disabled,
2.6 percent of the visually impaired and 1.8 percent of the mentally
challenged said they face no barriers to fully participating in life.

James Jeffrey, the new US ambassador to Turkey, presented his
credentials to President Abdullah Gul. As he did when speaking to
reporters upon his arrival in Ankara on Sunday, Jeffrey spoke in
Turkish while presenting his credentials.

The Supreme Military Council (YAÅ~^) unanimously decided to dismiss
24 staff members from the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), according to a
statement posted on the General Staff’s Web site. According to the
statement, 19 were dismissed on grounds of drug use and "immoral
relations" and the remaining five were accused of anti-secular
activities. The statement also said members of YAÅ~^ discussed threats
to Turkey’s domestic security and the measures to be taken against
these threats.

Dec. 4

Six million more people will be eligible to vote in the March 29,
2009 local elections than in the July 2007 general elections, thanks
to a new address-based registration database known as AKS, being
used for the first time to confirm voter registration, the Supreme
Election Board (YSK) announced.

A recent report prepared by the parliamentary Human Rights Commission
on the much-debated death of Engin Ceber stated that the activist
was mistreated by gendarmes and prison guards at Ä°stanbul’s Metris
Prison. Zafer Uskul, the head of the commission, delivered a speech at
Parliament. "Our commission is of the opinion that Ceber was mistreated
by gendarmes and prison guards starting from the moment he was admitted
to the prison; however, there is no way the commission can prove that
he was subjected to torture," stated Uskul.

A Turkish court sentenced pro-Kurdish politician Leyla Zana to 10
years in prison for "committing crimes on behalf of a terror group,"
court officials said. She is expected to appeal the decision at the
Supreme Court of Appeals. The Diyarbakır 5th Higher Criminal Court
also revoked Zana’s right to vote and run for political office as
well as other political rights. Zana was a potential candidate for
a mayoral nomination from the Democratic Society Party (DTP) in the
upcoming local elections in March.

The White House announced that US President George W. Bush had
thanked his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul, by telephone for
his efforts to promote greater cooperation between Afghanistan and
Pakistan. "President Bush thanked President Gul for his commitment
to a stable and secure Iraq as well as his ongoing work to promote
cooperation between the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan,"
White House National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe
told reporters.

Dec. 5

More than 18 percent of the Turkish population lived below the poverty
line in 2007 while around 0.5 percent lived below the hunger line,
according to a recent statement released by the Turkish Statistics
Institute (TurkStat). According to the study, posted on the TurkStat
Web site, 18.56 percent of the Turkish population lives below the
poverty line, which refers to the minimum amount a family needs
in order to pay its rent and meet its basic needs, such as food,
transportation, clothing and education.

Amid rising tension between New Delhi and Islamabad in the aftermath
of last week’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai, President Abdullah Gul
hosted a trilateral meeting with the presidents of Afghanistan and
Pakistan in Ä°stanbul for talks aimed at boosting cooperation between
the neighbors.

A suspect who was detained on Wednesday as part of an investigation
into a Monday afternoon bomb attack on the ruling AK Party Ä°stanbul
headquarters was jailed.

Fourteen people accused of having of illegally transferred funds from
various bank accounts to their own after obtaining account information
from Russian hackers were captured in an operation staged by Ä°zmir
police in the Aegean cities of Ä°zmir and Antalya.

President Abdullah Gul, who was planning to visit Diyarbakır next
Monday on the first day of Eid al-Adha (the Feast of the Sacrifice),
has postponed his visit due to a relapse of an ear infection preventing
him from traveling by airplane for about two weeks.

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