HEAD-0415: FOREIGN
Bombs kill 18 in surge of violence in Iraq (Friday, April 15, 2005)
BAGHDAD - Reuters: Twin suicide car bombs killed at least 18 people during the morning rush hour in central Baghdad on Thursday, cutting short what had appeared to be a lull in violence since elections in January.

Two other bombs were found in the area and were detonated by controlled explosions that caused no casualties, said U.S. Captain Jeff Dirske. Reporters at the scene had earlier said that a third bomb killed one person.

The suicide bombs detonated in quick succession near an Interior Ministry building on a crowded street, destroying 15 cars and scattering debris over a wide area, witnesses said.

An Interior Ministry official said at least 18 people, including children, were killed and the death toll could rise. Officials at nearby hospitals reported more than 30 wounded.

Police officer Abbas Khudier was riding in a nine-car police convoy making its way through a traffic jam when the blasts went off. He said he thought the bombers had targeted his convoy.

"We were cutting through the traffic when a car in the middle of the street blew up," he told Reuters. "We crossed over to the other side and another car followed. It tried to cross the median but flipped over and then blew up."

Casualties from the first blast were much worse because the bomb went off in the middle of blocked traffic, he said.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq, a group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for two of the blasts in a statement posted on the Internet.

"Two lions from the martyrs' brigade ... launched themselves -- one attacked an apostate police patrol guarding the office of the apostate minister while the second hit the rear end of a nine-car patrol," the statement said.

The blasts came a day after a series of explosions around the country that killed 15 people. Together they constitute one of the deadliest spates of guerrilla activity in six weeks. 

HEAD-0415: DOMESTIC
A?ar: Government is incompetent (Friday, April 15, 2005)
The DYP leader says Turks are not ready for the retrial of PKK leader Ocalan 

ANKARA - TDN Parliament Bureau: True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet A?ar accused Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of not understanding recent incidents that had occurred in Mersin and Trabzon, claiming that the government is both incompetent and has an exaggerated sense of its worth.

Speaking at a parliamentary press conference on Thursday, A?ar said there was no security in the country, adding: �gThe government's reaction to increasing theft, muggings and street violence is very weak.

He said he believed the common sense of the people would eventually prevent violence from getting out of hand, stating that the DYP, not the government, was listening to the people on the street.

Ocalan retrial: 
When asked what he thought about the possibility of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK/Kongra-Gel) leader Abdullah Ocalan's retrial, he said: �gI can't understand the insistence on the retrial of this separatist terrorist. The Turkish people are not ready for such a development. Turkey's stability and order are the most important matters. Turkey has never governed by a government that was so vulnerable to pressure. I want the government to follow an alternative policy on this issue.�h 

He said terrorism and violence in the East and Southeast were intensifying and noted that one of the most important objectives for Turkey is security. "The government will deal with this matter, but I can't comprehend a government policy calling on the United States to take care of the terrorists."


HEAD-0415: DOMESTIC
Aksu: Human rights violations end with use of IT (Friday, April 15, 2005)
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News: Interior Minister Aksu said on Thursday that the use of the latest information technology by the police had played a significant role in eliminating complaints of human rights violations, adding, however, that despite all its benefits IT developments can also bring certain disadvantages.

Speaking at the Second Police Information Symposium held at the Ankara Sheraton, Aksu said criminals have started to utilize the latest technologies in perpetrating their crimes, requiring the police department to follow likewise to counter such efforts.

He said these days police have access to a nationwide network of information, adding: "Our policemen are doing their job better by respecting the rights and freedoms of people. The use of information technology has played a very important part in the eradication of human rights violation complaints."


HEAD-0415: SPORTS
Ustundag sex scandal hearing (Friday, April 15, 2005)
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News: The trial of Mehmet Ustundag on charges of sexual harassment of female weightlifters during his period as coach of the national team continued with a hearing at the Ankara 7th Criminal Court.

The court heard testimony from former lifter Incinur Sahin who alleged that she was harassed and that Ustundag personally provided team members with banned performance enhancing substances.  Sahin claimed that she had reported this to the Turkish Weightlifting Federation which took no action.  
A sworn statement by another former lifter Nurcihan Gonul was read to the court.  Gonul was unable to be present in person because she is abroad at the moment.  

In her statement she referred to serious sexual molestation of herself and Sule Sahbaz, one of the women who filed criminal charges against Ustundag.


HEAD-0415: DOMESTIC
Three soldiers killed by PKK (Friday, April 15, 2005)
Three officers are martyred in a clash between PKK members and security forces. Reports say more than 20 terrorists are killed in the firefight

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News: Three officers, one first lieutenant and two senior sergeants were killed on Thursday during a firefight with Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK/Kongra-Gel) terrorists in ??rnak's Pervari municipality. Reports suggest that more than 20 PKK terrorists were killed during the clash. 

The operation against the terrorists in the region, said to be the area through which PKK infiltration from Iraq takes place, is continuing.

Two Turkish Armed Forces brigades and 2,000 temporary village guards are involved in the operation against terrorists hiding in the Cudi Mountains.

Officials note that approximately 1,500 terrorists are located in the region. In a prior clash, one senior sergeant was martyred, but the operation uncovered tens of storehouses along with a considerable amount of equipment.


HEAD-0415: DOMESTIC
Demolition teams fended off, 8 injured (Friday, April 15, 2005)
Municipal teams and police encountered stiff resistance to efforts to demolish 15 houses built on Treasury land in Istanbul's Avc?lar district and were forced to withdraw from rock-throwing locals. 

ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News: Municipal teams and police encountered stiff resistance to efforts to demolish 15 houses built on Treasury land in Istanbul's Avc?lar district and were forced to withdraw from rock-throwing locals.

Some locals staged a sit-in in front of police tanks to stop them from advancing further while others chanted slogans and waved Turkish flags. Five security officers and three locals were reported injured during the scuffles. A previous attempt to demolish the homes on March 29 was also postponed after protests.


HEAD-0415: BUSINESS REPORT
LexisNexis says there may have been another data breach (Friday, April 15, 2005)
US Senate probes companies that collect and sell personal information ... ERICA WERNER

WASHINGTON - Associated Press: A LexisNexis executive said Wednesday there might have been an earlier security breach of consumers' personal data that was not made public by the firm.

The disclosure came at a Senate hearing a day after London-based Reed Elsevier, parent company of LexisNexis, revealed that hackers might have had access since January 2003 to computer files containing the personal information of over 310,000 people. That in itself was a tenfold increase from the 32,000 people the company initially said were put at risk. LexisNexis said the fraud involved the improper use of IDs and passwords.

"I believe there may have been a security breach in LexisNexis prior to 2003 that involved personal data and we did not make notice," Kurt Sanford, LexisNexis' president and chief executive for U.S. corporate and federal markets, said in response to questioning at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. 

Sanford gave no details. LexisNexis spokesman Sean C. McCabe explained that Sanford was referring to more than one past breach, but he could provide no information about how many there were, when they took place or how serious they were.

"It's unclear if any sensitive information was accessed, or if any consumers were impacted," McCabe said in an interview.

Sanford's disclosure came in response to questioning by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, about whether companies that sell consumers' personal data may have had security lapses prior to 2003 that were not disclosed. 

A California law took effect in 2003 that required such notification. That law, the only one like it in the nation, forced ChoicePoint, Inc. to make a recent disclosure about a security breach involving 145,000 Americans. ChoicePoint also recently acknowledged a data breach in 2002 that it did not reveal at the time. 

The string of recent breaches has drawn national attention to the loosely regulated industry that collects information on consumers -- from Social Security numbers to medical records -- and sells it to insurance companies, prospective employers, law enforcement agencies and others.


HEAD-0415: BUSINESS REPORT
AMD plans IPO for lagging memory unit (Friday, April 15, 2005)
While AMD's computer chip business has racked up record sales and is seen as an increasing threat to rival Intel Corp., their flash memory chip business has been hindered by fierce price competition ... Daniel Sorid and Kiyoshi Takenaka

TOKYO/SAN FRANCISCO - Reuters: Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) said its struggling flash memory chip business had filed for a $600 million initial public offering (IPO), a move cheered by investors who saw the unit as distracting from the company's primary focus on making PC processors.

The business, called Spansion, is a joint venture between AMD and Japan's Fujitsu Ltd., with AMD holding a majority 60 percent stake.

The planned IPO plans come after a $1 billion market debut by Japanese DRAM chip maker Elpida Memory Inc. last year and ahead of a stock listing in Hong Kong this year of Huahong NEC Electronics, a Shanghai-based contract chip maker owned 21 percent by Japan's NEC Corp.

"This is a step in the right direction for them, given robust growth in flash memory demand," Yukihiko Shimada, an analyst at Japan's UFJ Tsubasa Securities, said on Thursday. "It would allow Spansion to make capital investments in a timely manner, which is necessary for any chip maker to stay on top of the competition."

AMD's loss was $17.4 million, or 4 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $45.1 million, or 12 cents a share. Analysts had been expecting a profit.

Sales eased to $1.23 billion from $1.24 billion in the same period last year and the company said its microprocessor business would see sales stay flat or decline slightly in the current quarter.

It was the second consecutive quarter that AMD singled out its flash memory business, which supplies chips for cellular telephones, networking equipment and other electronic products, for a poor performance.

Fierce competition: 
While AMD's computer chip business has racked up record sales and is seen as an increasing threat to rival Intel Corp., the memory chip business has been hindered by fierce price competition. 

Spansion is the largest stand-alone maker of flash memory, an increasingly popular silicon technology that can store data even when power is shut off. Spansion had 2004 net sales of $2.3 billion and has 7,500 employees worldwide.

AMD Chief Executive Hector Ruiz said AMD was "prepared to do whatever it takes" to turn around the flash business.

On a conference call with analysts on Wednesday, Ruiz said the IPO would allow AMD to pursue the PC chip business with a singular focus and referred to "the need to enable completely different business models in each of our two businesses."

Citigroup and Credit Suisse First Boston will manage the IPO for Spansion, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Spansion plans to list its shares on Nasdaq under the symbol "SPSN." 

Ben Lynch, an analyst with Deutsche Bank, said the public offering could boost AMD's stock price and reduce the company's exposure to fierce memory chip competition with Intel. "It would eliminate some of that risk for them," Lynch said.

The Sunnyvale, California-based AMD takes in about 60 percent of sales from its personal computer microprocessor business. It had record sales in the first quarter and total company sales were just above the average analyst estimate of $1.21 billion.

Ruiz said AMD planned to introduce next week a new generation of computer chips called "dual-core," which essentially combine two microprocessors into one.

He also said AMD expected to benefit from changes to Intel's discounting and rebate practices in Japan, which AMD has long called unfair and which were recently called illegal by Tokyo authorities.

"From this point forward we are expecting a much more balanced, competitive playing field in Japan, and we're hopeful that regulators and business leaders around the world will follow suit," he said.

 
HEAD-0415: FOREIGN
Sharon says Israel will not attack Iran (Friday, April 15, 2005)
In other developments, Israeli soldiers kill militant, straining truce; Gaza settlers appoint a team of lawyers to negotiate Sharon says Israel will not attack Iran

JERUSALEM - The Associated Press: Israel will not mount a unilateral attack aimed at destroying Iran's nuclear capability, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in a CNN-TV interview.

Sharon said that he did not see unilateral action as an option. He said Israel did not need to lead the way on the Iran nuclear weapons issue, calling for an international coalition to deal with it.

Iran is years away from possessing a nuclear weapon, Sharon said, but warned that Iran is only months away from solving "technical problems" toward building a nuclear weapon.

Sharon said, "Once they will solve it, that will be the point of no return." He did not give details about the technical issues or how he drew his conclusions.

Israel has warned for years about the dangers of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. Sharon said a nuclear Iran would threaten not only Israel but also Europe and other countries. Therefore, he said, Israel did not need to tackle the matter by itself.

Most dangerous adversary: Israel regards Iran as its most dangerous adversary, saying the Islamic Republic is committed to Israel's destruction and accusing Tehran of backing Palestinian militants. While Israeli officials have never publicly threatened a pre-emptive strike against Iran's nuclear installations, officials routinely say that Israel knows how to defend itself.

Iranian officials did not immediately react to Sharon's interview. But Iran has denied it is developing nuclear weapons, explaining that its reactors would be used for peaceful purposes like producing electricity.

Israeli media reported that in his meeting Tuesday with U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, Sharon aides presented evidence, including satellite reconnaissance, about the Iranian nuclear program, but the Americans did not see anything that would influence them to stick to diplomatic efforts to control Iran.

Asked about Israel's own nuclear weapons program, Sharon repeated decades-old Israeli claims: "Israel will not be the first one to use or to possess a nuclear weapon."

He said that Iran should be prevented from acquiring such arms, because "One should avoid development of nuclear weapons by irresponsible countries."

During the funeral for Pope John Paul II at the Vatican on Friday, Israeli President Moshe Katsav shook hands with the presidents of Syria and Iran, but Sharon dismissed the gestures.

Iran and Syria continue to be enemies of Israel, Sharon said.

"If the moderates there (in Iran) speak about the elimination Israel as the Jewish nation, we don't see any changes," he said. "Syria continues to (sponsor) Hezbollah on the Lebanese border, so I don't see any change there."

Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas fought a bloody war in south Lebanon until Israel's withdrawal in 2000 behind a U.N.-drawn border. However, Hezbollah charges that Israel is still holding a piece of Lebanese territory and periodically attacks Israeli forces there.

Israel charges that Syria and Iran provide weapons, training and guidance for the Hezbollah forces, which control much of south Lebanon.

Gaza withdrawal:
Meanwhile, Gaza Strip settlers have appointed a team of lawyers to negotiate details of their evacuation from the area this summer, settler leaders said on Thursday, the strongest sign yet that they are coming to terms with the upcoming pullout.

In another indication the plan is moving forward, a government spokesman said the first compensation payments to uprooted settlers have gone out, after months of delays.

Also on Wednesday, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas -- under growing pressure by Israel and the United States to rein in militants -- ordered the disparate Palestinian security services to come under the authority of a unified command.

Israel and the United States have repeatedly demanded Abbas unify and reform the more than dozen Palestinian security branches, which have operated as independent fiefdoms and contributed to lawlessness in the West Bank and Gaza.

Palestinian militant killed: In the West Bank, Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian militant from the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a group linked to Abbas' Fatah party, the latest signs of strain in a recent cease-fire.

Circumstances of the shooting in the Balata refugee camp were in dispute. The army said its soldiers shot the man after coming under fire. Balata residents said the forces entered the area and opened fire without provocation. The local Al Aqsa branch threatened to retaliate for the killing.

Israel wants the cease-fire to remain intact until it complete its withdrawal this summer of all Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements. Fearing fierce settler resistance, Israel wants to ensure Palestinian militants don't open fire on security forces and settlers during the evacuation.

Sharon prefers leaving Gaza houses for Palestinians:
Israel hopes to leave most of the buildings in its Gaza settlements intact after its summer pullout, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said, but that depends on coordination with the Palestinians.

Sharon told CNN-TV before leaving the United States at the end of a three-day visit. As he spoke, settlers in Gaza were stockpiling tents, sleeping bags and food for an expected influx of thousands of opponents of the pullout.

An Associated Press reporter on Wednesday saw piles of hundreds of tents, sleeping bags and cans of food in a Gaza warehouse, and settlers said more is on the way.

Removal of the 21 settlements from Gaza and four from the West Bank is shaping up as one of the toughest and most traumatic social episodes in Israel's history. There are warnings of opposition, even armed resistance, against thousands of police and soldiers who are to take down veteran settlements in those territories for the first time.


HEAD-0415; 
Syria visit relief for all (Friday, April 15, 2005)
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News: President Ahmet Necdet Sezer apparently managed to tip a delicate balance by paying a visit to Syria despite concerns voiced by NATO ally the United States that this could send the wrong message to Damascus.

  The visit plans were long in the making, with the primary goal being strengthening cooperation after decades of enmity. But mounting international pressure on Syria to withdraw from Lebanon has forced Ankara to act with the utmost care while formulating the messages to be conveyed in Damascus.

On the two-day visit that wrapped up yesterday, Sezer both moved to deepen cooperation with Syria and pressed Syrian authorities to abide by their commitment to pull out troops from Lebanon in line with what the U.S.-led international coalition is pushing for.

Facing growing isolation for months, Syria welcomed Sezer warmly, with officials describing the trip as Sezer's arrival in his �gsecond homeland."

In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher avoided expressing concern over the Sezer visit, saying, �gAnybody that's talking to Syria about how it could play a more harmonious role in the region is giving the right message,�h although he emphasized that the question was no longer the message but rather how Syria acts on the message.

HEAD-0415: DIPLOMACY
Armenians seek EU platform for disputes with Turkey (Friday, April 15, 2005)
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News: Armenian lawmakers, during a European Union-Armenia interparliamentary meeting at a European Parliament gathering yesterday, pressed for the inclusion of Armenian-Turkish disputes on the agenda of Turkish-EU bilateral talks.

A resolution that urges Turkey to launch diplomatic ties with Yerevan and open its border with Armenia was expected to be passed by European and Armenian deputies during the gathering, reported CNN-Turk on its Web site.

Turkey is scheduled to start accession talks with the 25-nation bloc in early October, and its disputes with Armenia is not part of the negotiation schedule. Amid mounting efforts by the Armenian Diaspora to win parliamentary recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide, a claim Turkey strongly denies, Ankara made a gesture earlier this month and permitted an Armenian airline to initiate flights between Yerevan and the Mediterranean city of Antalya.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and main opposition leader Deniz Baykal sent a letter to the British Parliament on Wednesday as the start of a united campaign against the Armenian genocide allegations. The participants of the European Parliament meeting observed "one minute's silence" in an earlier gathering in memory of the alleged Armenian genocide which occurred under Ottoman Empire rule at the beginning of the last century. CNN-Turk said the Armenian deputies requested it and the European Parliament did not object, bringing to mind a 1987 resolution that recognized the killing of Armenians last century as �ggenocide."

Turkey denies the allegations, which have already been recognized as truth by national parliaments in many European countries, saying that the killings came as the Ottoman Empire was trying to quell civil unrest sparked by an Armenian revolt during World War I.


HEAD-0415: OPINIONS
A tale of two Edelmans and one case of 'Rorschach Journalism' (Friday, April 15, 2005) ... DAVID JUDSON

I learned over the past week that Turkey, like other places, is subject to a phenomenon I call �gRorschach Journalism.�h This refers, of course, to the famous �ginkblot test�h developed in the 1920s by the clinical psychologist Hermann Rorschach. In newspapers as in inkblots, different people see the same thing in different ways.

In advance of this column, I shared the inkblot example you see on this page with reporter Ay?egul Sakarya and asked her what she saw. She saw two giant smiling faces. I continued the experiment with our writer Metin Can. Metin saw a mustache in the inkblot. When I got to Tamer Cetin, an editor on the Referans foreign desk and a psychology major from college, he saw a pair of shoes. What do you see in the inkblot?

I mention this as background to a story I wrote last week in Referans under the headline �gWhat is Edelman trying to market?�h It quickly turned into an acute exercise in Rorschach Journalism. I spent a good part of the day the story appeared in conversation with a train of angry readers demanding a �gcorrection.�h The story focused on the matter of Turkey's image abroad and a dinner given in the honor of U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman. At that dinner was Richard Edelman, who has no relation to the ambassador and is chairman of an international public relations firm. I also mentioned in the story, as was widely discussed at the dinner and announced to a crowd of several hundred guests, that the two -- upon introduction -- discovered a common ancestor but had no substantial acquaintance.

I wrote about the interesting research that Richard Edelman (the PR man) had conducted on Turkey's image and the results of that endeavor. Based on my years as a reporter in Washington, I estimated that an Edelman public relations campaign would probably carry a price tag of roughly $1 million. I described the views of a member of the European Parliament on Turkey's external image and his recommendations. I noted that Turkey is hardly alone, that even Canadians complain about their image in the U.S. media. Then I ended my article with a reference to the singer Sertab Erener, among the few Turkish artists well known in Europe. Alas, another story complete.

Or so I thought. The next day Rorschach Journalism began with a vengeance. The first to call was Gonca Karaka?, owner of the PR firm EFFECT and Edelman's (the PR man) Turkish partner. Among the threats she issued was one that she would never invite me to a dinner again and a second that gave vague reference to Turkish Press Law No. 5187. What she saw in the inkblot was �gan exaggerated price�h and �gunresearched journalism.�h She explained the PR proposal being submitted to the Turkish government was �gfar more reasonable�h but declined to share that reasonable price. I told her that I didn't dream up my cost estimate, that this is what Washington PR/lobbying campaigns normally cost. By law, these costs are public information. For example, if you go to the Web site of the U.S. Department of Justice, www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fara, you can examine the PR/lobbying contracts in America of every foreign government. The most recent report for Turkey is 2002 and it reveals that four PR/lobby firms billed Turkey a total of $3,097,519. I might also mention that I recently had the chance to spend some time with Sukru Elekdas, Turkey's former ambassador to Washington. He reminded me that back when Doug Feith, currently No. 3 at the Pentagon, was working for him the annual tab was $800,000. This is the market.

The second telephone call came from Halin Neyzi, head of the Association of Turkish-American Companies. He saw in the inkblot a risk to continuing efforts in bringing foreign investment, principally American investment, to Turkey. He didn't so much want a correction as he wanted to blow off steam. It seems he was getting at least 10 times the complaint traffic as me. Our conversation turned to the matter of foreign investment, a subject to which we give great importance at Referans. We agreed to get together at the earliest opportunity to discuss ways we might lend support to his various initiatives.

I heard next by e-mail from Joseph S. Pennington, spokesman for Edelman (the diplomat). His boss' view of the inkblot, he explained, reflected a concern that it might appear as if the ambassador were trying to help out a relative's business interests. He wanted a correction. I answered him that we would naturally correct any errors but I asked for a clarification because the account of the two Edelmans discovering a common relative in a comparison of family trees made the rounds at the dinner. I didn't hear back so the next day I called the embassy in Ankara. Mr. Pennington explained that he had shared my e-mail with the ambassador and he explained that the common relative story was simply a joke. "Well we are hardly going to subject the two Edelmans to a DNA test," I quipped. "We'll correct the misunderstanding." Mr. Pennington laughed at my own joke and we made plans to have dinner the next time he is in Istanbul. Under the circumstances, dinner will be on me.

The only person mentioned in my original story that saw nothing in the inkblot and who did not call is the famous singer Sertab Erener. Alas, Rorshach Journalism is heartless.


HEAD-0415: OPINIONS
Why is a retrial bothering us? (Friday, April 15, 2005)

The possibility of the European Court of Human Rights deciding on a retrial for Ocalan is bothering Ankara. Why? Didn't everybody know this already? Didn't the government add that exception to the Fourth Harmonization Package for Ocalan, knowing it would cause us trouble in the future? Wasn't it the same government that put an article in the Constitution which contradicted the exception? Why are we so nervous now? ... Mehmet Ali BIRAND

We are a weird society. 
In the next few days, the European Court of Human Rights will announce its decision on the fairness of the trial of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK/Kongra-Gel) leader Abdullah Ocalan. 

Tension in Ankara is building up as announcement day nears. 

Opposition parties, realizing that they could extract some political capital from this issue, are putting pressure on the government. They are trying to portray the possibility of Ocalan's retrial as a cause for tension, pressure to solve the Kurdish issue and the government's inability to take a stance. You may have noticed some groups chanting, �gEurope will force us to try Ocalan once again�h during the protests against the flag desecration, even though the two matters were not related at all. Some commentators are even going beyond that, formulating wild conspiracy theories, claiming, �gEurope will take Ocalan from us, retry him and find him not guilty.�h 

We are now suffering from �gretrial syndrome.�h 

Even if we say the opposition is behaving like this because it is in their interests, what's happening with the government? What's their fear? Why is Ocalan's retrial bothering society so? Do we fear Ocalan will be found not guilty by courts in his retrial? 

I don't understand the behavior of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). They are the ones who knew about all the developments. They are the ones who made the small legal amendments in the Fourth Harmonization Package. So why are they getting angry now? 

  1. Didn't we add an exception for Ocalan to the article on European Court of Human Rights retrial decisions in the Fourth Harmonization Package in 2003? Didn't we know this exception wouldn't work and would cause us trouble one day? We knew it, but the government inserted this exception to appease the AKP and the opposition. Actually, it was a very childish thing to do, but it was good enough for the government at the time. 

  2. Didn't we realize that this exception would cause trouble when we amended Article 90 of the Constitution? The article is very clear: �gEuropean Court of Human Rights decisions take precedence over Turkish national laws.�h So I ask you: What's all this discussion about? Why are we taking a step backwards? What will happen if Ocalan is retried? Let's now look at the matter from a different perspective and find an answer to this question: What will happen if the European Court of Human Rights recommends Ocalan's retrial and the Turkish government adheres to it? 

Nothing will happen. 

It will dominate the agenda on the day it is announced. The same old statements at the beginning of the trial will cause a public stir and then the courts will make the same decision as before. What about this scenario is scary?  Playing useless games, causing tension among Kurdish citizens and creating doubt in Europe in order not to implement the European court decision is not in the interest of Turkey. There are some things that cannot be pushed too far. If you do, it takes you down with it. Come out and show Europe that you will fulfill the promises you made. At least show how serious you are. Let's not waste time with useless chatter and create problems.

Ecevit did not know US's Ocalan decision (!):
I was engrossed in an interview with former Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit that was published in daily Sabah on Wednesday. In the interview conducted by Balcicek Pamir, Ecevit said he did not know about the reasons behind the U.S. decision to hand over Abdullah Ocalan to Turkey in Kenya. �gWe don't know their reasoning. They didn't tell us anything. Neither did they ask for anything in return,�h he said.

I couldn't believe what I read. He must have forgotten. Maybe he just didn't notice, despite the fact that everybody else knows. If Ecevit had watched the "Man?et" program on CNN-Turk in 2002, he would have learned about the reasoning of the Clinton administration. The statement of former U.S. National Security Council official Anthony Blinken, who was at the meeting where former President Bill Clinton made up his mind, was very clear. Blinken said the decision was Clinton's and that he wanted to see Turkey as a rising beacon of light in the region. He said Clinton believed if Turkey freed itself from the pressure of the Kurdish problem, it would be the beacon Clinton desired. 

"There are certain conditions attached to Ocalan's handover. One was that Ocalan cannot be a victim of an 'accident'; the second was Ocalan receiving a fair trial; and lastly, Turkey granting Kurds their natural rights to resolve the Kurdish problem."

Everybody, especially Ecevit, needs to know and understand these facts. I also would like to note that all three conditions were satisfied. 


SCAN-0415 ... Turkish press yesterday (Friday, April 15, 2005)
Tension in the Aegean between Turkish and Greek coast guard boats, the foreign ministers of the two countries conveying warm messages to each other and President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's visit to Syria made the lead stories in Turkish dailies yesterday. The dailies also focused on a discussion of the Armenian issue during a meeting in Washington and newly elected Iraqi President Jalal Talabani saying that an independent Kurdish state is not possible.

____________________
Turkish-Greek comedy 
Daily Radikal featured the tension between Greek and Turkish coast guard boats near the Kardak (Imia) rocks in the Aegean as Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and Greek Foreign Minister Petros Moliviatis agreed to improve relations between Greece and Turkey. 

Radikal reported that the coast guard boats from both countries faced off for about 24 hours after the Turkish coast guard warned a Greek fishing boat away from the rocks. 

Both sides have blamed the tension on the other, Radikal said. A Greek government spokesperson declared that the tension had arisen due to the Turkish side's violation of Greek territorial waters. The Turkish Foreign Ministry immediately responded with a statement to the Anatolia news agency saying that it was the Greek side that had violated the agreements and was causing tension.  

The daily said the positive atmosphere between the countries following a statement made by Parliamentary Speaker Bulent Arinc hinting at the annullment of a parliamentary declaration characterizing any Greek attempt to extend Greece's territorial waters to 12 miles as a �gcasus belli�h had been enhanced by the Greek foreign minister's arrival in Ankara.
  
_____________________________________________
A man of his word and an honorable president: 
Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer was greeted warmly in Syria by both his Syrian counterpart, Bashar Assad, and the general public, said dailies yesterday. 

Daily Hurriyet reported that Syrians waited in lines to see Sezer on his way from the airport to downtown Damascus, holding banners that read, �gA man of his word and honorable president�h and �gSyria will never forget you, Mr. President.�h 

Milliyet reported that Sezer's advice to Assad to complete the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon by the end of this month was received positively. The Syrian president said forces in Lebanon would be completely pulled out in accordance with the relevant U.N. Security Council resolution.

Sezer was extensively applauded by the Syrian press for visiting despite the unease of the United States about the trip. U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman urged Ankara back in March to reconsider in light of current international pressure on Syria. Milliyet reported official Syrian newspaper Teshreen covered the visit under the headline, �gSezer in his second homeland."
  
_________________________________
Insolent priest insulted Ataturk:
Posta reported that Armenian Orthodox Church representative Vertanes Kalayjian, in a reference to the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, said: �gKemal was regarded as a hero. In my opinion, he was a butcher, too,�h at a conference held in Washington hosted by the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission -- an independent U.S. government agency.

Upon hearing this, Fatih Yildiz, a diplomat at the Turkish mission in Washington, said it is not possible to take such an insult against the honor of his nation, reported the paper.

Posta quoted Barry Jacobs from the American Jewish Committee as saying: "The 25,000 Jews in Turkey are free to worship. No discrimination among the religious communities takes place in Turkey."
  
___________________________________________________
Talabani: Independent Kurdish state cannot survive: 
Daily Hurriyet reported that Kurdish leader and new Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said an independent Kurdish state could not survive. �gDreaming is one thing and reality is another thing,�h said Talabani during an interview with French daily Liberation, as reported by Hurriyet. 

"Even if our neighbors don't attack us and only close their borders, that will mean an independent Kurdistan that cannot survive,�h as Talabani was quoted as saying in Liberation.

=======================================================
SCAN-0415 ... From the columns (Friday, April 15, 2005)
Turkish columnists focused yesterday on various issues including political unrest amongst the Turkish public, tension between Turkish and Greek coast guard boats in the Aegean and the anticipated retrial of terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan.

_____________________________
People in Trabzon and others: 
Radikal's Nuray Mert focused on the incidents occurring in Trabzon last week and says unfortunately the root problem was not resolved and that such events are likely to break out again.

Mert says it is not surprising that such events flared in the Black Sea city of Trabzon but that such reactions are not peculiar to that city. 

"This type of reaction in Trabzon has something to do with the history of the city. However, the incident can't be explained simply by saying many Turks are inclined to engage in overzealous reactions, or with some group's pressing of a button,�h says Mert.

Mert also says the violent mob was mistaken in thinking that what they were trying to defend could be defended with punches and kicks. In conclusion she stressed that no one would support the collective logic and conscience of a group of hundreds trying to beat four people.

____________
Lost values: 
Hurriyet's Bekir Coskun said he has strong nationalist sentiments but the fact that some nationalist groups have turned into organizations simply trying to gain financial benefits through the groups they established has discouraged him. �gSo not to be counted among such groups, I ceased to discuss my sense of nationalism,�h says Coskun. 

Coskun follows with the same line of logic regarding Islam and says he has the love of God in his heart but that religious fundamentalists are trying to lead the country into darkness at every opportunity. �gAs a result, I stopped verbally sharing my love of God and religion,�h says Coskun, adding, �gThey took our religion from us and twisted its teachings to control sentiment.�h 

In conclusion, Coskun says, �gJust take a look at television news reports and you will see a society decaying as the result of injustice and within which might is always right."
  
__________________________
Uncertainty in the Aegean:
Hurriyet's Oktay Eksi comments on Turkish-Greek relations and highlights recent incidents as well as statements made by Turkish and Greek officials.

Eksi says he is confused by seemingly contradictory developments between Turkey and Greece. On the one hand you see Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and Greek Foreign Minister Petros Moliviatis smiling for the cameras, and on the other hand there are reports of military tension in Aegean waters and skies.

He says as the foreign ministers were busy signing agreements, the Athens News Agency reported that Turkish warplanes entered Greek airspace nine times and violated air traffic rules 13 times.

Eksi commented on Gul's changed attitude towards Parliamentary Speaker Bulent Arinc's proposed scrapping of the official Turkish policy declaring any Greek attempt to extend Greece's territorial waters from six to 12 miles as a casus belli. Eksi says Gul first said he had no objection to Arinc's suggestion, then subsequently said Turkey has no intention of changing its current policy.

__________________
Retrial of Ocalan:
Milliyet's Taha Akyol writes about the anticipated retrial of Ocalan and says there is a tacit agreement between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) not to exploit the issue for political purposes.

Akyol says the main objection Ocalan's attorneys submitted to the European Court of Human Rights was �gthe illegality of Ocalan's capture in Kenya.�h In the unlikely case the court ruled his capture was illegal, it can legally order the terrorist leader's release from prison. 

Akyol lists points that were presented as violations of law during Ocalan's arrest and trial. �gThe points were the extensive detention period of Ocalan, a military judge who was among the judges on the bench during the first phase of the trial and the obstacles that the defense attorneys faced during the trial."

Akyol concludes by writing that if Turkey refuses to obey the ruling of the European court, it will become a rallying cry for the terrorist PKK to continue fighting Turkey.









koko
==================================================================================================
HEAD-0429: DOMESTIC
Erbakan eludes prison sentence and criminal record (Friday, April 29, 2005)
Former prime minister escapes a one-year jail stint after a court rules that his previous deeds are no longer considered a crime 

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News: A court ruled to annul a one-year prison sentence and erase the criminal record of former prime minister and now-defunct Welfare Party (RP) leader Necmettin Erbakan, reported the Dogan News Agency yesterday. 

The Diyarbakir State Security Court (DGM) sentenced Erbakan for a speech delivered in Bingol in 1994. He was tried under Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code, which prohibits incitement of racial, ethnic or religious enmity. 

Erbakan's lawyers filed a lawsuit and demanded a reversal of the original decision, which they argued could become invalid because of recent amendments made to the penal code in keeping with European Union harmonization efforts.

The court's rule was based upon the rationale that the prison sentence given to Erbakan was under the previous form of the article, which was then amended where Erbakan's deeds would not have been a crime.

Despite Erbakan's sentence being upheld by the Supreme Court of Appeals three years ago, Erbakan didn't go to jail due to a postponement in the enforcement of the ruling. 

Previously, another court didn't allow Erbakan to participate in the national elections on Nov. 3, 2002. That court ruled that, despite amendments to Article 312, Erbakan's terminology in the 1994 speech couldn't be considered under the freedom of expression.

In his controversial 1994 speech before the local elections, Erbakan described the rulers of the country as, �gexploiters,�h �gdividers,�h and �gimitators of the West."
   

HEAD-0429: FEATURE
One ostrich egg makes 18 omletes (Wednesday, April 27, 2005)
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News: Attorney Hasan Unal raises ostriches in his lovely garden in Avanos-Nevsehir, and added that it was possible to make 18 omelets from one ostrich egg, reported the Dogan News Agency.

The eggs weigh between 1-1.5 kilograms, and he often gives them away to families in need. Ostriches can lay from 50-100 eggs in one season. Unal said: �gI believe ostriches will be the most valuable animal in the 21st century and contribute to our country's meat output in the future. One ostrich egg, which has an incubation period of 42 days, can cost between 5-30 euros at market. Some buy just the egg shells for decoration purposes. I raise these beautiful birds as a hobby and not for commercial purposes, so I personally do not sell their eggs but give them to poorer families living in my neighborhood."

HEAD-0429: DIPLOMACY
US: PKK seeks democratic Kurdish state (Friday, April 29, 2005)
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News: The U.S. State Department praised Turkey as a �glong-standing, staunch, counter-terrorism ally�h and said it continued to provide strong support in the global war on terrorism. But in a novel description likely to raise eyebrows in Ankara, it said the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) aimed to establish �gan independent, democratic Kurdish state."

"The PKK's goal has been to establish an independent, democratic Kurdish state in Southeast Turkey, northern Iraq and parts of Iran and Syria,�h the State Department's Country Reports on Terrorism said.

U.S. officials assured, however, that there was no change in Washington's position on the terrorist group and that Washington considered the PKK as a terrorist organization because it used terrorist methods, irrespective of what its goals are.

HEAD-0429: FOREIGN
Iraq government formed at last (Friday, April 29, 2005)
BAGHDAD/ANKARA - Reuters and TDN: Iraq formed its first democratically elected government in more than 50 years on Thursday, ending three months of political stalemate that has crippled efforts to tackle violence.

Turkey welcomed approval of the new transitional government in Iraq, saying this constituted a step in direction of establishment of a democratic order in the neighboring country.

The 275-seat parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Cabinet proposed by Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, ending a power vacuum that has existed since Jan. 30 elections.

Applause broke out in the assembly after the speaker of parliament declared the vote had passed by 180 votes to five.

Chalabi in Cabinet: The acting oil minister, a position crucial to Iraq's economic revival, will be Ahmad Chalabi, a Shiite once close to the Pentagon, and the acting defense minister will be Jaafari. 

The appointment of Chalabi, one of the most unpopular politicians in Iraq according to surveys, is likely to dismay many Iraqis. But he promised no abrupt changes.


HEAD-0429: FOREIGN
President Karzai: Afghanistan could be al-Qaeda haven (Friday, April 29, 2005)
Afghans mark the 13th anniversary of mujahideen defeat of the communists 

KABUL - The Associated Press: President Hamid Karzai on Thursday appealed for a long-term partnership with the United States, warning that Afghanistan could slide back into the anarchy that made it a haven for al-Qaeda unless international aid is sustained.

Karzai renewed his appeal at a military parade marking the 13th anniversary of the triumph of U.S.-backed rebels over Afghanistan's former Soviet-backed government -- a victory quickly spoiled as rival factions plunged the country into civil war.

"Our nation has seen very bad days in the past 20 years," Karzai said in a speech before foreign diplomats and former mujahideen rebel leaders. "To avoid facing the same thing again, we need long-term assistance ... We want an undertaking and a guarantee of help from the international community and America."

Afghan and U.S. officials say they're discussing a long-term "strategic partnership" covering military, political and economic ties. Ministers say the talks are in their infancy, and it remains unclear if a deal would include permanent American military bases in Afghanistan.

Karzai inspected hundreds of marching troops from the Afghan National Army, a U.S.-trained force that's replacing the feuding militias and warlord armies who helped American forces drive out the Taliban in 2001.

Since then, about 50,000 former militiamen have been demobilized under a U.N. disarmament program supposed to ensure that deep ethnic and factional divides won't boil over into more large-scale fighting.

The parade marked 13 years since the government of former President Najibullah, a one-time secret police chief who held on to power for more than three years after the withdrawal of Soviet troops, formally surrendered to rebel leaders on April 28, 1992.

Four years of civil war left the feuding mujahideen factions too weak to resist the rise of the Taliban, who triggered the American invasion by refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.


HEAD-0429; FOREIGN
Abbas may use `iron fist' against militants (Friday, April 29, 2005)
JERUSALEM - The Associated Press: Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas threatened to use force against anyone who violates a cease-fire with Israel, his toughest warning against Palestinian militants since taking office in January.

In a speech to Palestinian police, Abbas also pledged to ensure quiet during the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip this summer. "We have to give them a calm departure," he said, according to a summary of the speech published Thursday by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

In the West Bank, meanwhile, thousands of Israelis streamed into a Jewish settlement to rally against the withdrawal plan.

Abbas has been under heavy pressure from Israel and the United States to rein in Palestinian militants, who had a relatively free hand under Abbas' predecessor, the late Yasser Arafat. But so far, Abbas has preferred to negotiate with the armed groups.

Most of the militants have agreed to observe a truce with Israel. There has been a sharp drop in violence since the cease-fire was declared in February, but militants have fired several rockets at Jewish settlements in Gaza and an Israeli border town in recent days.

One salvo landed near a large gathering of Israeli demonstrators in a Gaza settlement on Wednesday, lightly wounding a soldier. On Thursday, Palestinian militants fired an anti-tank missile at a settlement and attacked army posts with gunfire and a mortar shell in Gaza, causing no injuries, the army said.

Abbas said such violence cannot be tolerated.

"Whoever wants to sabotage [the truce] with rocket fire or shooting must be stopped by us even if that requires using force," Abbas said. "There is a national consensus regarding the calm, and whoever leaves this consensus will be struck by an iron fist."

In his speech, Abbas did not single out any specific militant group. No one has claimed responsibility for the recent rocket attacks, although a tiny group, the Popular Resistance Committees, has said it opposes the cease-fire and is suspected by Israel of being behind some of the violence.

The biggest militant groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have largely honored the truce. Hamas appears to be focusing its efforts on Palestinian legislative elections scheduled in July, though earlier this week it rejected Abbas' call to give up its weapons after the vote.

Israeli military commanders fear Gaza militants will step up attacks as the pullout approaches, trying to show that they are forcing the Israelis to leave.

Tens of thousands of Israelis opposed to the withdrawal plan demonstrated in Gaza's largest bloc of Jewish settlements Wednesday, a lower-than-expected turnout.

About 10,000 people attended a similar demonstration Thursday in Homesh, one of the four West Bank settlements slated for evacuation. Armored buses packed with demonstrators streamed into the windy hilltop settlement of 55 families, which overlooks a pair of Palestinian villages.

Etti Rosenblatt, a spokeswoman for the settlement, said she opposes withdrawal but is coming to terms with it. "I'm happy that all of the people have come today. But really it's too late," she said.

Israeli authorities fear opposition to the withdrawal could turn violent, particularly in the West Bank, which has special significance for religious Jews. Seventeen religious families have moved into Homesh since Sharon announced his plan to resist the withdrawal.

At Wednesday's rally in Gaza, lawmaker Arieh Eldad had called for stiff resistance to the withdrawal. The remarks drew widespread condemnation on Thursday, with officials accusing the legislator of incitement and encouraging violence.

Meanwhile, Israeli troops clashed with hundreds of protesters in the West Bank village of Bilin, slightly wounding more than 20 people, including an Arab-Israeli lawmaker and an AP photographer. Witnesses said two Palestinians and three Israeli protesters were arrested. Israel recently begun construction of its West Bank separation barrier at the site.

The army said it opened fire with "non-lethal" means to disperse the crowd after demonstrators ignored orders to disperse.


HEAD-0429: OPINIONS
April 24 has passed, go back to sleep... (Friday, April 29, 2005)
Just like every other year, Ankara and Yerivan exchanged harsh statements, digged their trenches a little deeper. Armenians didn't get what they wanted, but still scored a few points. ... Mehmet Ali BIRAND

We have been watching the same old movie for the past 60 years. 

Every April 24, people rise and start making great speeches, but soon afterwards, everything is forgotten. We go back to sleep and Armenians continue with their efforts

This April 24 was a little different. 

We started to take the matter a little more seriously, either because it was the 90th anniversary, or it had finally dawned on us that if we didn't do something soon, we would suffer. We realized that on the international genocide recognition issue, we were left behind.

We at last realized that statements like "It was Armenians who killed us," together with efforts to show the discrepancy in the body count would get us nowhere.

We belatedly realized what was happening, but still don't know how we would overcome this problem. There are no signs that Ankara has a huge plan to resolve this affair.

We are still saying, �gWe opened our archives, you should do the same.�h The Armenians are not that naive. They worked so many years and made 15 parliaments recognize the genocide as a fact. They also convinced the Western media. Would you expect them to start a discussion on it now?

They, just like us, are digging their trenches even deeper and defending themselves: "No. The genocide is a fact recognized by the international community. We won't debate that fact. Let's talk about our bilateral relations without any preconditions."

Ankara, meanwhile, is not altering its stance.

The prerequisites for starting the negotiations for developing bilateral ties are Armenia's renouncement of the genocide allegations, recognizing Turkey's national borders and withdrawal from Azerbaijan's land it occupies and signing a peace treaty are still there. All these prerequisites actually tell Armenians that Turkey is not ready to sit down at the negotiation table yet.

That's why I say both sides are in the trenches.

The balance of 90 years:
If we look at everything that has been done over the past 90 years, we see that Armenians did not get what they want, but they scored a few major points. 

They are still yet to get the U.S: president to say the word "genocide." They didn't get the U.S. Congress to pass a bill on the genocide. However, they secured the passage of similar bills from the Russian and Polish Parliaments, which were considerable achievements. The number of parliaments that recognize the genocide is 15.

It is obvious that they want all European Union members and the U.S. Congress to pass similar bills before the centenary.

Turkey, on the other hand, seemed to be waking up only this year.

The most important thing is what happens next. 

If things continue as they are, if we forget everything that was said and done before April 24 and go back to sleep, the cause is as good as lost. The world will see us as a country that talks to itself and it will then be impossible for us to save ourselves from this genocide crisis.

Only time will tell.

___________________________________________
Where did the Greek-Pontus state come from? 
According to a report in the daily Hurriyet, the Office of the Chief of General Staff prepared a report about the National Security Document. The daily says the Office of the Chief of Staff is warning against efforts to establish a Greek-Pontus Empire.

The report is either incomplete, or we are facing something no one knows. Are Greeks trying to establish a Greek-Pontus Empire in Turkey? Where did that come from? What is this group doing to achieve their objective? 

Conspiracy theorists have been talking about this for many years, claiming some groups were buying properties along the Black Sea coast. However, hearing similar things from one of the most serious state institutions confused us.

The Office of the Chief of Staff doesn't note something that doesn't exist. We are all wondering what is at the root of the matter. I guess they will soon inform us of what's happening. 


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SCAN-0429 ... Turkish press yesterday (Friday, April 29, 2005)
The prime minister's remarks on foreign affairs, including Turkey's relations with the European Union and the United States, made the headlines in almost all the dailies yesterday. The dailies also featured two bombs that were successfully defused in Istanbul, the new National Security Policy document and the demonstration of a group of women wearing headscarves in which they protested against Turkey's top judge's remarks concerning the ban on wearing headscarves in public institutions and university campuses.

_________________________________
Turkey will not forget US support 
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan conveyed warm messages to Washington towards which he had pursued a chilly policy since the beginning of the U.S. intervention in Iraq, reported Milliyet. 

Expressing his disagreement with the views that regard Turkish people as anti the United States, Erdogan said that Turkish people would not forget the backing of the United States with regard to Turkey's EU membership drive and its fight against terrorism.

"The United States is the basic axis," read yesterday's banner headline in the Radikal daily. Erdogan said that commentaries published on the relationship between the United States and Turkey do not always represent the facts while at the same time exaggerating and thus distorting certain other points.

Reporting on the same issue daily Cumhuriyet said that Erdogan had called on the United States for support in order to eradicate the disappointment felt by Turkish people on the issues as the Cyprus problem, the struggle against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Armenian genocide allegations. Erdogan said that such a support from the United States could only enhance their relationship.

While praising the United States, Erdogan adopted a critical standpoint towards the EU and said European friends should see Turkey as a prospective member, a partner, not a country that is on the opposite side of the table,' Milliyet reported.

"Even the opponents of our government couldn't deny the fact that bilateral relations have never been better," said Erdogan, adding, "Our government will never abandon its aim to present our people with the best living standards. We made Turkey's aspiration to become a EU member something that could be realized," reported daily Radikal.

Concerning the issue of Cyprus and the EU's attitude towards the problem, Erdogan said that the EU had failed to show any long-term commitment to cease the unfair treatment of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), reported Milliyet. "It is our right to expect the EU to approve direct trade with the KKTC," Milliyet quoted Erdogan as saying.
  
______________________________
Information prevents calamity:
Acting on a tip-off from citizens, Istanbul police found an unexploded bomb under the Halic (Golden Horn) Bridge, reported Sabah. 

Bomb disposal experts successfully defused the 20-kilogram plastic explosive, said Zaman. 

While Sabah reported that Istanbul Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah said the bomb was not powerful enough to collapse the leg of the bridge it was attached to, Zaman reported some police authorities as saying the bomb was strong enough to do major damage.

Another bomb was discovered near the intra-city bus terminal in ?kitelli, Istanbul. Police said the two bombs were very similar.

___________________________________________
National security document defines threats: 
Cumhuriyet reported that a new National Security Policy Document prepared by the Office of the Chief of General Staff includes the Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchy's efforts to open a seminary as among the domestic threats facing Turkey.

The paper said the document would be presented to the powerful National Security Council (MGK) in June and indicates religious fundamentalism, separatism and organized crime as among the important domestic threats.

A difference from previously issued documents is that this new security document doesn't include �gaction plans�h against countries threatening Turkey. The concept of outside threats was changed in accordance with Turkey's prospective European Union membership.

________________________________________________
Women protest headscarf ban and top judge Bumin: 
Statements by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok and Constitutional Court Chief Judge Mustafa Bumin, all of which concern secularism in Turkey, comprised the lead stories in Yeni Safak and Tercuman. The dailies reported on the protest demonstration by a group of women wearing headscarves staged in front of the Constitutional Court.The papers commented that the statements of these top officials increase uneasiness.  

=======================================================   
SCAN-0429 ... From the columns (Friday, April 29, 2005)
The headscarf ban, which has been widely debated following the statements made by Constitutional Court Chief Judge Mustafa Bumin, still dominated the columns of Turkish dailies yesterday. Turkish columnists also featured the nomination of Turkish Parliament member Kemal Dervis to an important United Nations job.

_____________________________
Headscarf ban will be lifted: 
In his column titled, �gSooner or later,�h Yeni Safak's Ahmet Ta?getiren focuses on the headscarf ban and discusses the issue with regard to judge Bumin's statements delivered by the judge during the 43rd anniversary of the founding of the Constitutional Court.

Ta?getiren argues that the ban on wearing headscarves in public institutions and on university campuses cannot be maintained long. �gThe will of the public will succeed in lifting the ban,�h said Ta?getiren.

"Those who advocate the headscarf ban will always be battling the popular will of the people. Resisting the people's wishes is anti-democratic, a position that cannot be maintained by any institution, either armed or unarmed,�h says Ta?getiren.

The headscarf ban could be lifted by holding a national referendum, which is a constitutional right. The majority of people will definitely vote for the lifting of the ban, argues Ta?getiren and asks those supporting the ban, �gWhat will you do if the government launches a referendum process on the issue?"

Ta?getiren also claims that the ban on headscarves is maintained thanks to a court ruling, "but it is in fact illegal."

All other courts refer to the ruling of the Constitutional Court as a limitation of people's will, Ta?getiren says, adding, "In this context, the Constitutional Court not only acted as the legislative authority, but also limited the authority of the legislative body itself, Parliament."

Finally, Ta?getiren also claims that in the case of a referendum proposal, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) would go hand in hand with the oligarchic body and would resist a referendum.

_______________________________________
Headscarf as an expression of identity: 
Radikal's Ismet Berkan talks about the headscarf ban and comments on the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights with regard to the issue.

Berkan says that following the interview with prominent French sociologist Alain Tourain, he began to look at the headscarf issue from a different perspective.

"The European Court of Human Rights backed the rulings of the Turkish court on the headscarf ban, in two separate cases, which were dealing with the issue from the perspective of the limitation of freedom of belief and the right to receive an education," says Berkan and adds, "However, no one has filed a suit in the European Court concerning the headscarf issue on the grounds that this ban is limiting their freedom of expression."

Berkan says that the headscarf is also a means for people to express themselves. To the extent that you do not allow people to wear headscarves, means that you limit their freedom of expression.

Berkan says that drawing a limit to the freedom of expression is a very complex issue, since some people could say that they are expressing themselves by participating in social life naked.

Yes, headscarf is a symbol 
Hurriyet's Ahmet Hakan also chooses to comment on the headscarf issue and says that headscarves could be viewed as a symbol for many things.

It could be regarded as a symbol indicating the aspirations of a high official to maintain his post, for instance. His/her statements against the headscarf could be a means for him/her to extend his/her term in office. 

It could also be a symbol for an academic to take advantage of to become a professor. The academic could make use of the university's sensitivity on the headscarf ban and he/she could earn a good academic carrier by portraying him/herself as being against headscarf wearing.

What the headscarf discussion brings to mind:
Milliyet's Mehmet Y. Yilmaz also focuses on the headscarf issue and says that Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor Nuri Ok earlier warned that religious fundamentalists have infiltrated state positions.

Yilmaz argues that if Bumin, who said that any attempt to lift the ban on the headscarf would be in violation of the Turkish Constitution and rulings of the European Court, wished to convey his personal views, why didn't he wait two months and deliver his speech after his retirement.


=============================================================================================
HEAD-0430: FEATURE
Photograph exhibit on Armenian killings (Saturday, April 30, 2005)
An AKP deputy and HASVAK jointly open a photo display of the atrocities committed on Turks in 1915-1916 

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News: A photo exhibition depicting atrocities inflicted by Armenians in eastern Anatolia during 1915-1916 was opened by the Bal?kesir deputy of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Turhan Comez, and the Turkish State Hospitals and Patient Aid Foundation (HASVAK) on April 25, 2005. 

The exhibit gathers photographs from the Prime Ministry's Archives Office, which are on display in the foyer of the Vakifbank General Directorate. Comez spoke at the opening and said, �gThis humble exhibit shows pictures of history that break our hearts.�h 

Comez explained that the 1915-1916 Armenian uprising, provoked by the Russians and British, against the Ottoman state led to the killings of 554,000 Muslim Turks. He said decisions to relocate some Armenians were made after great losses. �gUnwanted events were seen during this period. No country in the world dealt with the losses suffered by the Muslim Turks.�h 

Comez said the world media was preoccupied with the Armenian genocide allegations and the exhibit organizers wanted to light a spark in the collective world's mind. Some 30,000 activities take place annually in regards to the Armenian diaspora. �gIt is sad for Turkey to have difficulties in having its voice heard on a subject where it is right.�h 

When asked by press members what he thought about California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announcing April 24 as the Armenian Genocide Day, he replied: �gIf he had done some research and found out the truth he would not make such a decision. I do not think he is aware of the reality.�h 

The president of the Turkish Industrial Businessmen's Association (TUS?AV) Veli Saritoprak, and the president of HASVAK Engin Ozturk joined by other nongovernmental organizations, said they decided to boycott Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. Saritoprak said they all would work together against the Armenian genocide allegations so the truth can be heard.

Ozturk said they heard about the Armenian atrocities from their grandfathers and fathers but that the youth today is ignorant on this subject. He then invited everyone to see the exhibit, adding that it would be on display in other cities of the country.  


HEAD-0430: FOREIGN
Priest says took money but denies spying on pope (Saturday, April 30, 2005)

ROME - Reuters: A Polish priest accused of spying on the late Pope John Paul said he had taken money provided by a suspected secret service agent, but denied he had been a spy.

"I was never an agent. You can call me foolish or naive, but not a spy," Father Konrad Hejmo said in comments published in Italian newspaper La Repubblica on Friday.

A Polish state agency overseeing communist-era files said that Hejmo, who looked after Polish pilgrims coming to the Vatican for some 20 years and had access to John Paul, informed on the Polish-born pontiff during the 1980s.

Hejmo said a Polish agent based in Cologne, Germany had come to Rome shortly after John Paul became pope in 1978 and had befriended a number of Polish priests.

"This agent also gave me money via the priests," Hejmo told La Repubblica, adding that the agent had died of cancer.

Hejmo did not specify why he thought he was given the money. The paper quoted him as saying he was hard-up and "there were kind-hearted priests who gave me money".

The Vatican has declined comment on the affair.


HEAD-0430: FOREIGN
Bombers hit Iraqi forces, kill 24 (Saturday, April 30, 2005)

In a pattern of violence that has raised concerns over sectarian tensions, insurgents also struck in the town of Madaen, where police say tit-for-tat kidnappings and killings between Shiites and Sunnis have been on the increase 

BAGHDAD - Reuters: A string of car bombs killed at least 24 people in Iraq on Friday, ramming home to the new government in Baghdad that insurgents are as strong as ever.

Al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq appeared to make the same point in an audio tape, purportedly made by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi last month, in which the Jordanian vowed more suicide attacks.

Nine car bombs targeted Iraqi security forces in Baghdad and the nearby town of Madaen, a bloody display of capabilities one day after a new government was formed. The top U.S. general said this week the rebels were as strong as they were a year ago.

Insurgents emboldened: Eighty-nine people, mostly police and National Guardsmen, were also wounded, underscoring the security challenge facing Iraq's new leaders after three months of post-election wrangling that appears to have emboldened the insurgency.

Hours after four bombs killed at least 13 people in the Aadhamiya district of the capital, insurgents struck in the New Baghdad area, killing two people with the increasingly common tactic of following one strike with another.

After a first car bomb hit a National Guard convoy, police who had gathered at the scene were struck by a second car bomb.

In a pattern of violence that has raised concerns over sectarian tensions, insurgents also struck in the town of Madaen, where police say tit-for-tat kidnappings and killings between Shiites and Sunnis have been on the increase.

Three car bombings killed at least nine Iraqi soldiers and wounded 35 in attacks near a checkpoint, at a hospital and at the post office in the town south of Baghdad, police said.

Zarqawi's group claimed responsibility for the Madaen violence.

"Your brothers from the martyrs' brigades ... attacked four posts of the apostate pagan guards in Madaen," Al Qaeda Organisation for Holy War in Iraq said, adding that four suicide bombers had carried out the attacks.

In the relatively tranquil Kurdish city of Arbil, insurgents blew up a bomb disposal expert as he tried to defuse a roadside bomb, police said. The blast also killed a civilian.

Elected government: Although Iraq's first democratically elected government in more than 50 years was a relief for Iraqis who endured three decades of iron-fisted rule under Saddam Hussein, they want their new leaders to quickly deliver on promises of stability.

But that will not be easy. Washington's military commander said this week that insurgents are just as capable as they were one year ago and were mounting up to 60 attacks a day.

The 275-seat parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of a Cabinet proposed by Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a devout Shiite Muslim, ending a power vacuum that had served to dissipate much of the optimism created by the Jan. 30 election.

But Jaafari failed to name permanent ministers to five key portfolios, including oil and defence, and a top Sunni Muslim official criticised the new government as sectarian. Two deputy prime minister posts are also left vacant in the Cabinet.

Iraq's new leaders said the government reflected its ethnic and sectarian diversity, a theme politicians frequently stressed in a country where Shiites and Kurds are the new powers and Sunnis, who dominated under Saddam, have been sidelined.

Iraqi officials accuse the Sunni Muslim Zarqawi of mounting suicide bombings designed to spark civil war.

Officials believe capturing Zarqawi, who has a $25 million U.S. bounty on his head, would weaken the insurgency. But he remains elusive, despite frequent U.S. and Iraqi government claims that forces have been hot on his trail. 

WARNING TO BUSH
The latest Zarqawi tape posted on the Web warned U.S. President George W. Bush that his troops would face more danger.

"We promise God that the dog ... Bush will not enjoy peace of mind and that his army will not have a good life as long as our hearts are beating," the speaker said. "We are coming."

Zarqawi also warned fellow insurgents against taking up any offer of negotiation from the Americans or their Iraqi allies.

The four car bombs in Baghdad shook the Aadhamiya district, where insurgents are active. One struck a restaurant crowded with security force personnel eating breakfast, police said.

"Why are they killing innocent Iraqis? Why are they trying to set Sunnis and Shiites apart?" asked onlooker Adnan Aziz Salman, inspecting the destruction of one of the car bombs.

"They should go and kill our occupiers. We don't care who our leaders are. We just want security."

Reuters Television footage showed Iraqi police and U.S. military vehicles gathered at one of the bombings in Baghdad. Minutes later a second car bomb exploded nearby.

(Additional reporting by Omar Anwar and Michael Georgy) REUTERS 1235 290405 GMT

HEAD-0430: FOREIGN
Islamist internet posting stirs bin Laden mystery (Saturday, April 30, 2005)
The unidentified author seems to be trying to draw readers to his posting with a headline that bin Laden is dead

DUBAI - Reuters: A posting on an Islamist Web site stirred speculation over the fate of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and prompted a flurry of denials on Friday that the world's most wanted man was dead.

The entry on www.islam-minbar.net Web site began by saying there was news bin Laden had died but went on to say he was alive but, as a human being, could die any time and that Muslims should be prepared for that when it happens.

The unidentified author seemed to be trying to draw readers to his posting with a headline that bin Laden was dead.

London-based Islamist activist Yasser al-Serri who monitors Web sites said bin Laden is alive and was believed to have recently recorded a new video tape which may be on its way for broadcasting.

"The headline of the posting did create confusion, but I believe the person who posted it wanted to urge Muslim youths to continue jihad (holy war) even if bin Laden died," Serri told Reuters by telephone from London.

Western diplomats in Islamabad cast doubt on the reports, apparently circulating on more than one Middle East Web site.

Western intelligence officials usually say they believe bin Laden is holed up somewhere in the mountainous frontier region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In March, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf told the BBC that interrogations of captured al-Qaeda members and electronic surveillance had led Pakistani security forces to believe they "knew roughly the area where he possibly could be ... maybe about 10 months ago".

But Musharraf said the trail had since gone cold.

The most recent video of bin Laden appeared on Oct. 30, four days before the U.S. election. The Saudi-born militant derided President George W. Bush and warned of a new Sept. 11-style attack.


HEAD-0430: DIPLOMACY
Sezer approves government decision on Incirlik (Saturday, April 30, 2005)
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News: President Ahmet Necdet Sezer approved yesterday a government decision to allow an annual extension of Turkish permission for the use of the Incirlik air base, officials said.

The government says the decision would meet a U.S. request to use the base as a cargo hub for U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Turkish and U.S. military officials held technical talks this week in Ankara to discuss details of the U.S. request. The U.S. request to use Incirlik as a cargo hub includes blanket diplomatic clearance for participating cargo planes landing at and taking off from the base in an effort to streamline the flight and cargo clearance process. The U.S. side assured that the request does not include transportation of troops or ammunition and that the transported material would be used in Afghanistan and Iraq only.

HEAD-0430: OPINIONS
The Armenian Metamorphosis (Saturday, April 30, 2005) ... Ayse Ozgun
When my father was assigned as the naval attache to Washington D.C. in 1955 some of our friends in Istanbul told us to get in touch with the Bogasyan family who would help us. This family welcomed, embraced and helped us more than our own parents ever could. Asot Bogasyan found a house for us to live in. His sister Esther placed my brother and I in school. The father helped us buy a car. What can I say? I don't think my family has been as grateful to this family as it has to any other.

We spent weekends together on picnics. We went to the Chesapeake beach and swam there. Once a week either they came to us for dinner or vice-versa.  We ate the same type of food. We talked the same language. We had the same sense of humour.

When my father and mother flew down to California to take over a ship that was being delivered to the Turkish Navy from the American Navy, a gentleman by the name of Mr. Moreno (of direct Armenian-Turkish descent) from Hollywood met them at the Roosevelt Hotel, again as if they were the closest of kin, took them over to the Universal Studios to watch Dan Dailey and Shirley Jones rehearse a dance number for a musical, have lunch with Joan Crawford and Rhonda Fleming and personally go around and have pictures of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Rock Hudson, Tab Hunter, Sandra Dee, John Saxon, Esther Williams, Gregory Peck, Audie Murphy (and many more) signed and given to my parents as gifts to your children. As of today my brother and I must be sitting on top of a very valuable bunch of photographs, thanks to Armenian-Turkish-American Mr. Alberto Moreno of Hollywood. 

We have a saying in Turkish I would like to use here: If they are still alive a grateful and a hearty "hello" to them.  If they have passed away, may Allah bless them. 

When I moved to California in 1985, it was a whole different picture. The Turkish consular-general had been shot in the head by an old "trustworthy" Armenian American acquaintance. The Armenian American fathers offered their sons or their friends $500 to beat up the Turkish Ozgun brothers (who are my children!) in high school!

When I set up a lecture and exhibit at my college museum on Ottoman history and cultural artifacts, members of the Armenian Genocide Association literally tried to disrupt the event and threatened me and my children with injury and harm.  I am ever so grateful for the experienced chief of campus police and his courageous team that evening.

They asked for equal representation. They got equal representation. They saw me passing flyers out after they had asked to pass out their flyers. The flyers they passed out had the headline "Genocide of three million Armenians by the Ottomans.�h The Californians attending that evening took one look at their fliers and said: "Look here! Last time you said it was 1.5 million.  Now you have turned it into three million. What is going on here?" and crumpled up those flyers and threw them onto the floor.

What happened?  What changed between the 1950's and the 1980's? I wish I knew!  I wish I knew! 

   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SCAN-0430 ... Turkish press yesterday (Saturday, April 30, 2005)
Turkish newspapers yesterday wrote about various stories ranging from a story of achievement; an exclusive interview held with the prime minister; an annual report released by the U.S. State Department; the appointment of a new government in Iraq and the Turkish government's reactions in this regard.

_______________________________
Shepherd Ahmet becomes futurist 
Here is a story of accomplishment and discovery: Primary school graduate Ahmet Kaplan, 25, was a shepherd who used to tend his flock in the southern province of Mersin, but what made him different from others was that he read a lot. Among the newspapers he bought to read, there was one -- daily Hurriyet's technology supplement -- in which he read an article that changed his life, Hurriyet itself reported.

Ahmet read an article written by Alphan Manas, manager of Technology Holding, on futurists who design products for the future. He rushed into town and sent an e-mail to Manas from an Internet cafe. 

Ahmet impressed Manas with his comments on the past and the future of the country and in the end, Manas employed Ahmet as a futurist.

_________________________________________________
Political relations with Armenia can be sustained   
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that political relations with Armenia could be sustained while historians were working on the Armenian question. 

"I don't say only the historians should work. Both nations should open their archives so that historians, political scientists and experts can study them. On the one side political relations can continue while on the other side studies can be carried out. There is no great wall between us" the premier said, in an exclusive interview with Milliyet.

Touching upon minority rights to property in Turkey, Erdogan said he did not know whether there was a secret circular as regards the property purchases of minorities.

"Secrecy means nothing to me. If the minorities are Turkish citizens, this is a right. Those who are Turkish citizens have the right to property in Turkey in the same way as the Turks in Germany, who have the right to purchase property there," Erdogan said.

______________________________
Controversial US report on PKK
An annual report drafted by the U.S. State Department, which characterized the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as a terrorist organization, claimed that the goal of the PKK was to establish an independent and democratic state, Cumhuriyet reported. 

The report did not refer to the Turkish request from Washington concerning the measures that should be taken against the terrorist organization and the report revealed Iraq's position was unclear among the countries supporting terrorism.

Featuring a similar story, Yeni Safak headlined that the United States extended secret support to terrorism and said the Turkish Foreign Ministry reacted negatively to the U.S. report.

Yeni Safak quoted an official from the Foreign Ministry as saying that it was a contradiction to mention the democratic purpose of an organization included on the list of terrorist organizations.

The report disclosed that the PKK had conducted operations in Turkey, Iraq, Europe and the Middle East and among the countries that supported the PKK from outside were shown as Syria, Iran and Iraq.

Dunden Bugune Tercuman also made similar comments and added that the U.S. report both said that Turkey was a sound ally in the fight against terror and said the aim of the PKK was to establish an independent state in southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq and in some parts of Syria and Iran.

______________________________________________________________
Ankara is happy with establishment of an elected gov't in Iraq   
Ankara was pleased with the establishment of a new government in Iraq and the Foreign Ministry emphasized, in a statement, that all circles in Iraq should participate in the process of drafting of a permanent constitution, Radikal reported.

The Foreign Ministry said an elected government coming to power in Iraq was a step in the direction towards the establishment of a democratic order and wished success for the government that would shoulder the responsibilities.


=========================================================
SCAN-0430 ... From the columns (Saturday, April 30, 2005)
The highlight of yesterday's columns was Turkey's recent relationship with the European Union. Besides that, columnists wrote about the draft National Security Political Document, as well as the headscarf controversy.
  
__________________________________________________________________________
Media should not only concentrate on political issues in relations with EU  
In a reference to daily Hurriyet's Thursday edition whose headline was �gParis criteria,�h Milliyet's Sami Kohen said the news in the paper was published at a time when Turkey's relations with the EU were being discussed and the ways of European allies were being criticized.

He said the French media ignored news about police beating up high school students in Paris during a demonstration on April 13, until it was eventually published in a magazine called Choc. 

"However, neither the French authorities nor the EU showed any reaction to the incident, unlike the attitude they assumed in the face of the female protesters being beaten by police in a demonstration in Istanbul on March 6. �gThe EU strongly reacted to this,�h Kohen said, and mentioned Hurriyet's comments on the issue, claiming that the EU was pursuing a policy of double standards.

"Actually, the practice of double standards is not restricted to only this incident or just European countries. Such treatment is widespread and frequent,�h he said. 

Touching upon the EU Association Council that convened early this week, Kohen said some problems tabled by European partners led to the negative reactions displayed by the Turkish side and the March 6 incident was among the issues brought to the agenda.

Kohen mentioned a conference entitled "Turkey's EU and Negotiating Process" held in Istanbul on Thursday and quoted Secretary-General for EU Affairs Murat Sungar as saying at the conference that relations with the EU only concentrated on political issues such the Cyprus issue and the Armenian question.

"However, there is a wide range of issues from health to education, the environment and financial regulations brought up in the negotiating process with the EU that will impact upon citizens' daily lives,�h Sungar said, stressing that these were the main issues that should be discussed and covered by the media.

We should study talk of EU now   
Radikal's Ismet Berkan said he predicted that news of the EU would decease after the Dec. 17 summit of EU leaders, but he did not think it would decrease very much.

"Why are we talking about the EU less?" he asked. 

He said Dec. 17 was a threshold and that Turkey had managed to clear it. 

"However" he continued "there are other aspects to it. After all, there is a need to dwell upon the technical issues to be able to discuss the EU and to have knowledge of these issues."

"It is easier to talk about political issues. There were even those in Turkey who claimed that the Copenhagen criteria would divide the country,�h he added.

What does Turkey want? 
Sabah's Erdal Safak touched upon the recent efforts to update the National Security Political Document and said the National Security Council's (MGK) civilian Secretary-General Yisit Alpogan, who was informed on the General Staff's recommendations on the issue, was scheduled to complete his studies next month.

He said the draft, which would be tabled in a June meeting of the MGK, would encompass significant amendments when compared to the document dated July 2001, but made it clear that one should not expect serious changes in the essence of the document, which puts an emphasis on the fight against terrorism and fundamentalism.

"However, it's worth mentioning a contradiction displayed by the General Staff. On the one hand, the military is giving the message that Turkey's objective should be full membership, while on the other, it says the new document should contain the existing policies on the Heybeliada Theological Seminary,�h he said, and asked how this attitude would be compatible with EU membership since the European Commission, in the Oct. 6, 2004, report, stressed that the opening of the seminary was a condition in the negotiating process with the EU.

He said there were two ways to remove this contradiction: Either Turkey will give up on its EU dreams or the National Security Political Document will be amended. Which one do you prefer?

Freedoms should not be restricted   
Zaman's Erhan Ba?yurt said Constitutional Court Chief Justice Mustafa Bumin made striking statements regarding the headscarf issue.

"According to Bumin, preventing women who wear headscarves from attending higher education is not an intervention in the right to education or the freedom of faith,�h Ba?yurt said, and expressed his disagreement with Bumin.

Listing his points that prove Bumin wrong, Ba?yurt said all girls who wear headscarves were attending universities in Europe and added a young girl who goes to university had the responsibility of making her own decisions, noting that pressuring those who wear headscarves was inhumane. 

"What's humane and fair is not to restrict the freedoms but to widen them to an extent that will not harm the freedoms of others,�h he said.   


==================================================================================================
HEAD-0501: DOMESTIC
In defense of wine (Sunday, May 1, 2005)
CHP calls for the scrapping of the new luxury tax on wine and policies to improve the overall state of the sector ... KEMAL SAYDAMER

ANKARA - TDN Parliament Bureau: The wine and vineyard development commission, established by the Republican People's Party (CHP), has called on the government to scrap the recently introduced luxury tax on certain goods if it wants to be competitive, while adhering to European Union regulations. The report prepared by the commission noted the tax calculations required in order to be in harmony with EU norms and that the income levels of people should be taken into account.

The commission, chaired by Ziya Diren, the deputy from Tokat, listed the following recommendations to prevent damage to Turkey's production sector:

  (i) Vineyards and wine making needs to be supported. Farmers involved in wine production need to be given low-interest loans.

  (ii) Agricultural engineers need to be employed in vineyards and wine producers need to be educated and be given incentives.

  (iii) In regions where vineyards are concentrated, universities need to be called to cooperate and teach scientific knowledge.

  (iv) Delegations need to be sent to countries with advanced wine making expertise, like France, in order to learn from their advanced techniques.

  (v) Regional producers should be asked to cooperate with each other, with the state holding conferences and meetings.

  (vi) Arable lands freed due to tobacco quota changes should be used for wine making.

  (vii) The state of vineyards and wine making in Turkey needs to be evaluated, with objectives set to improve the current standards. 

  (viii) In land unsuitable for any other agricultural activity, vineyards should be planted in order to prevent erosion.

  (ix) Turkish wines need to be promoted better to tourists as part of the tourism campaign.

  (x) The unfair increase in the luxury tax on wine may cause competitive damage to the sector and policies need to be implemented to prevent harming honest producers.

  (xi) The inspection and control systems developed and being implemented by all Western countries need to be executed in Turkey too. Administrative and legal precautions to prevent the production of illicit products need to be taken.
   

HEAD-0501: DOMESTIC
Dervis steps down gracefully (Sunday, May 1, 2005)
Dervis, the architect of Turkey�fs economic recovery program, former minister and current deputy, was nominated by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to head the UN Development Program ... Kemal Saydamer

TDN - Parliament Bureau: Former Finance Minister and Republican People's Party (CHP) Istanbul deputy Kemal Dervis is to end his role in Turkish politics after being chosen to head the United Nations Development Program, a post suitable to his character.

Among the top 10 most brilliant men in the world:
Former state minister Fikret Unlu, who has known Dervis for years, told the Turkish Daily News that Dervis is a great virtuoso, adding, �gWith the exclusion of artists, Dervis could be counted among the top ten most brilliant men in the world.�h According to Unlu, Dervis couldn't bear the claims blaming him for dividing the left and depicting him as an untrustworthy politician.

He didn't mind waiting in queues: 
During his years in Turkey, Dervis established good relations with everyone he dealt with, ranging from his driver to the tea maker, to the prime minister. He didn't seek special privileges even during his service as a minister and didn't mind waiting in line for lunch alongside his fellow workers.

A very modest man: 
Again according to Unlu, Dervis was humble and steered clear from showmanship. He wasn't materialistic as he was even known to wear 20-year-old shoes. During his term in office as economy minister, Dervis enjoyed jogging in the mornings and starting conversations with the craftsmen and vendors he encountered on the street. He even used to stop by a taxi station to drink tea with the drivers.

Impressive education: 
A graduate of the London School of Economics, Dervis received his doctorate from Princeton University where he also taught economics. He went on to teach in Turkey at the Middle East Technical University and Hacettepe University as an associative professor as well as teaching at the Woodrow Wilson School of Economics. He is fluent in English, French and German.

Entered the World Bank in 1978:
Entering the World Bank in 1978 to perform research duties, Dervis was appointed to the World Bank Global Industry Division's Industrial Policy Strategy Directorate. Four years after this post he become World Bank's chief economist in charge of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Subsequently, he became the World Bank Director for Central Europe from 1987 to 1991 and then become the World Bank Director for North Africa.

A story of success: 
Following this post, he was appointed as the vice president of the World Bank in charge of the Middle East and North Africa. As a vice-president he then worked for the World Bank program for reducing global poverty and was in charge of global communication regarding economic and policy affairs. 

Invited to Turkey during economic crisis: 
Former Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit invited Dervis to Turkey and appointed him finance minister. He became responsible for a series of state institutions related to finance. During his term he secured nearly $30 billion in foreign loans. The deliberate and credible economic program he prepared was of vital importance for Turkey to overcome the 2001 economic crisis.

Unhappy days in politics:
Following an unsuccessful attempt in establishing a party uniting the left with former Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and former deputy Prime Minister Husamettin Ozkan, Dervis joined the Republican People's Party (CHP) and was elected a deputy in Istanbul in the Nov. 2002 elections. Dervis, who is married and has two children, is expected to resign as a parliamentarian to take his post at the U.N.


HEAD-0501: DOMESTIC
An honorable way out (Sunday, May 1, 2005)
The one time savior of Turkey, Kemal Dervis, is elected to head the UNDP, seemingly putting an end to his political career in Turkey ... Kemal Saydamer

ANKARA - TDN Parliament Bureau: Former Finance Minister and Republican People's Party (CHP) Istanbul deputy Kemal Dervis is to end his role in Turkish politics after being chosen to head the United Nations Development Program, a post suitable to his character. 

Former state minister Fikret Unlu told the Turkish Daily News that Dervis was one of the top ten most brilliant men in the world. While in Turkey, Dervis was known as a people person and ignored preferential treatment.

Dervis's superb educational qualifications, coupled with an impressive stint at the World Bank, made him the perfect person to arrive in Turkey after the 2001 economic collapse to steer the country out of the abyss.

After joining the CHP he was elected as a deputy in the 2002 national elections. It later seemed like CHP leader Deniz Baykal was annoyed with Dervis's liberal views on certain issues, and the former savior was pushed aside.


HEAD-0501: FOREIGN
Rocky road ahead for Iraqi gov't (Sunday, May 1, 2005)
BAGHDAD - Reuters: Iraq may have formed a government, after months of negotiations between rival factions, but the challenges that lie ahead are likely to far outweigh what has been achieved so far.

Despite congratulations from U.S. President George Bush, who praised Thursday's announcement of a partial Cabinet, the country remains on a knife-edge.

Tackling an insurgency that mounts dozens of attacks daily, holding the government together, appeasing the Sunni minority, limiting civil service purges that could incite sectarianism and drafting a permanent constitution are just some of the problems.

"It's far too murky to say that a corner has been turned," Rosemary Hollis, director of research at Britain's Royal Institute of International Affairs, told Reuters.

"I don't think we'll know properly how things stand until this time next year ... and between now and then, the whole country could fly apart and descend into civil war," she said.

Civil war may be just the worst of the possible scenarios, but the fact it is even a consideration is a mark of the uncertainty hanging over Iraq.

When the Cabinet was finally unveiled, three months after elections, it emerged that two deputy prime minister posts and five ministries, including the crucial defence and oil portfolios, had not been filled due to continuing disagreements.

Prime Minister-designate Ibrahim Jaafari said he hoped to appoint permanent ministers in a few days, but that is far from certain -- the country's Sunni deputy president wants a veto on the appointments.

In coming weeks, Jaafari must not only complete his Cabinet -- keeping his Shiite constituency and the restive Sunnis happy -- but stop hardline Shiite ministers purging their ministries, set out a program that takes on worsening violence and start writing a constitution.

All that may prove too much for a man that Hollis describes as "thoughtful and credible" but "perhaps not nasty enough".

'No functioning state:'The biggest immediate threat, beyond the likelihood of more squabbling before a Cabinet is finalized, is the insurgency.

Ten car bombs were detonated in the greater Baghdad area on Friday, killing at least 15 people and wounding almost 90, in a brazen display of the militants' ability to strike at will.

Over the past several weeks, as discussions over the government dragged on and the optimism created by January's election faded, insurgents have stepped up their two-year campaign of violence, increasingly targeting Iraqi forces.

America's top general said this week the insurgency was just as strong now as it was a year ago, with up to 60 attacks a day.

An audio tape released on Friday purportedly carried the voice of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, calling for more suicide attacks on U.S. forces and vowing not to let President Bush enjoy "peace of mind".

The hope is that as U.S. forces train up the Iraqi army, police and other security units, these will gradually be able to take over the fight against the insurgency. But there is little evidence so far that they are up to such a huge task.

Toby Dodge, an Iraq expert at Queen Mary College in London and author of a new report "Iraq's Future: The aftermath of regime change", believes the greatest challenge is building a functioning state and then seeing if it can control violence.

"The legacy left to the new Iraqi government by the U.S. occupation is clearly very daunting," he said. "The Iraqi state today does not exist in any meaningful form."

He argues that the government has to develop a strategy to reach out to radicals behind the insurgency, but doubts its Shiite leaders are willing to take such a risky approach.

If the government does not seek some form of negotiation, he expects Iraq's future to be characterized by "a long and very bloody period of continued instability".

But it is not just the insurgency that hangs over Iraq. If the country is to become the stable Middle Eastern democracy that Bush believes is possible, then it has to move forward with fundamental tasks like drafting a permanent constitution.

The deadline for doing that, according to the interim charter Washington helped draw up, is Aug. 15 -- only three and a half months away. It took nearly that long to form a Cabinet.

Discussions over the constitution will focus on the very substance of Iraq, its sectarian and ethnic makeup and the history that lies beneath its divisions, exposing faultlines that were only touched on during the government's formation.

==========================================================================================
HEAD-0501: DIPLOMACY
Current 'genocide' debate is a vicious circle (Sunday, May 1, 2005)
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News: Ankara's recent call to Yerevan for setting up a joint scholarly research committee in order to discuss and investigate the tragic events of 1915 called genocide by Armenians seems to have gained credit and momentum from the international community.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's proposal for a joint study of history has received backing from Europe and the United States. Yet Zaman daily columnist Etyen Mahcupyan pointed out in an interview with the Turkish Daily News that any discussion conducted under the banner of, �ggenocide,�h will lead nowhere, but will serve as a tool for nationalist movements in both Turkey and Armenia. 

"What Turkey has been doing is neither a proper study of history nor is it a real political initiative. Turkey, as a nation state, has the right to deny or accept genocide allegations. But Turkey doesn't have the right to conduct flawed policies that may lead itself into a quagmire,�h said Mahcupyan.  


HEAD-0501 (DIPLOMACY)
Current "genocide" debate imprisons history to legal terms (Sunday, May 1, 2005)
'No party would accept joining a debate where defeat is certain beforehand. Both parties should appropriate a partial defeat as well as a partial predominance for itself,' Mahcupyan said. He emphasized governments should be able to voice loudly that building the future is their business in spite of whatever happened in history ...EMINE KART

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News: The Turkish government has recently taken steps aimed at resolving a matter that has long been a barrier overshadowing its international relations, namely Armenian allegations of genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire during World War I, and called on Yerevan to set up a joint scholarly research committee in order to discuss and investigate events.

It is still unclear whether Ankara and Yerevan will be able to sit around the same table, but both capitals have given positive signals. And yet, Armenia that places �ggenocide�h as a grounds for its own existence doesn't actually want to argue whether genocide actually occurred or not, while Ankara, on the other hand, calls on Yerevan to put to one side its genocide claims in order to create an appropriate environment to start a political relationship.  

Turkey categorically denies Armenian charges alleging that 1.5 million Anatolian Armenians were killed during a genocide campaign between 1915 and 1918; while Armenian diaspora has unleashed its press on the international community to pressurize Turkey to accept their allegations as truth. Turkish proposals for an expert and authoritative research of the relevant history are unacceptable to Armenians who claim that �ggenocide�h is a historical fact and sees debate over the issue as anathema.

Vicious circle around a definition:
Despite an optimistic and confident image -- strengthened by the international community's applause for the recent initiative launched by Ankara -- that Turkey has projected, one cannot keep asking where such discussions may lead to, given that the entire discussion has been revolving around a single definition -- �ggenocide.�h A definition that, of course, is patently indispensable for Armenia, while being totally unacceptable to Turkey.

"The genocide question has become a foreign policy issue and has entered into common parlance in both the nationalistic movements in both Turkey and Armenia, indeed, such a situation shifts the emphasis of the whole issue. However, what Turkey has been doing is neither a proper study of history nor is it a real political initiative,�h Zaman daily columnist Etyen Mahcupyan said in a telephone interview with the Turkish Daily News.

Genocide is a legal term, whereas law is not the only aspect of the issue concerning the tragic events during World War I that took place in Anatolia. Furthermore, there are two more indispensable aspects in discussing such an issue; its impact upon the two nations and the two people's relationship while trying to understand the non-existence of any relationship between those countries and peoples. 

Mahcupyan believes that any discussion conducted under the banner of �ggenocide�h will lead nowhere, but will serve as a tool for nationalist movements in both Turkey and Armenia. Regarding those aspects of the issue, Turkey should develop a policy concerning the aspect in which it really has power, he said.

Focusing on where you have power:
"Turkey, as a nation state, has the right to deny or accept genocide allegations. But Turkey doesn't have the right to conduct flawed policies that may lead itself into a quagmire.�h 

What Mahcupyan perceives as wrong policy for Turkey is �gTurkey trying to create an alternative history, instead of focusing on the essential aspect of the issue of which Turkey has power, namely, its political aspect.�h He suggests that Turkey should conduct a pro-active policy concerning its relations with Armenia by distancing history and politics from each other. 

"No party would accept joining a debate where defeat is certain beforehand. Both parties should appropriate a partial defeat as well as a partial predominance for itself,�h Mahcupyan said. He emphasized governments should be able to voice loudly that building the future is their business in spite of whatever happened in history.

It may as well be the starting point for the individuals of Turkey, noticing that the tragic events of 1915 are not solely a matter related to Turkey's or Armenia's history as the issue is a part of the common history of Turks and Armenians. In Mahcupyan's own words; the tough question in front of Turkey now is whether it will be able to give up �gimprisoning history in legal terms.�h 


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SCAN-0501 ... Last week in perspective (Sunday, May 1, 2005)
On Friday, April 22, German President Horst Koehler played down concerns that the new pope would object to Turkey's pending membership in the European Union and said citizens of the 25-nation bloc should decide the issue.

A Turkish nod to an Israeli consortium for the procurement of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) caused suspicion among U.S. defense industry sources who thought the U.S. contender for the contract was unfairly disqualified. 

The U.S. Embassy in Ankara said there was no agreement between Ankara and Washington regarding a U.S. request for the expanded use of the Incirlik air base.

Dutch Ambassador to Turkey Sjoerd Gosses said nationalist sentiments may spark trouble in sensitive political areas and lead to friction among the different elements of society.

A statement released by Brussels two days before the 90th anniversary of an alleged Armenian genocide urging dialogue and compromise came as a relief to Ankara as Turkey had been facing pressure from the international community -- mostly due to Armenian lobbying.

Parliamentary Speaker Bulent Arinc said the tens of thousands of people gathering during National Sovereignty Day would convey a message that Turkey is a whole with its people coming from different ethnic origins. He said Turkey has never experienced a civil war in its history and never will.

Primary school students in Beyoglu got together for a Love Walk organized by the Beyoglu Municipality on Istiklal Avenue to mark National Sovereignty and Children's Day.

On Saturday, Turkey commemorated the 85th anniversary of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, which began in 1920 during the Turkish War of Independence. The day is simultaneously celebrated as Children's Day.

On Sunday, Armenians across the world took to the streets to commemorate what they say is the 90th anniversary of the start of a genocide campaign at the hands of the late Ottoman Empire against their ancestors in eastern Anatolia.

Pro-reunification leader Mehmet Ali Talat took over the presidency in Turkish Cyprus from veteran Rauf Denktas in a historic ceremony that closed one chapter in the history of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) and opened a new one.

Main opposition deputy and former World Bank Vice President Kemal Dervis, who was nominated as a candidate for head of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), downplayed reports that he and a Norwegian candidate were competing for the post.

Parliament held a special hearing on April 23, National Sovereignty and Children's Day, where opposition party leaders' blasted the government on issues concerning secularism, democracy, lingering socio-political tension and the administration's performance.

Turkey held a ceremony to commemorate the fallen soldiers in Gallipoli nine decades ago during a World War I campaign by the British and its allies aimed at breaking through the Turkish straits to occupy Istanbul.

On Monday, U.S. President George W. Bush fell short of using the word "genocide" in an annual statement for the Armenian lobby and praised Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's proposal to establish a joint commission to study genocide allegations.

Constitutional Court Chief Justice Mustafa Bumin said, on the occasion of the 43rd anniversary of the Constitutional Court, that any attempt to lift the headscarf ban would be a violation of the Turkish Constitution and the European Charter of Human Rights.

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer released a statement congratulating the Constitutional Court on its 43rd anniversary, adding that the body ensures the supremacy of law, the protection of all state institutions, respect for democratic order and basic rights and freedoms.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said the Turkish government had already approved a U.S. request to use the Incirlik air base in southern Anatolia.

Rene van der Linden, president of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), said the EU promised Turkey full membership quite a long time ago and cannot take its promise back.

Prior to his departure for Brussels where he went to attend the Turkey-EU Association Council meeting, Foreign Minister Gul said the occasion would be an opportunity for mutual responsibilities of Ankara and Brussels to be evaluated and discussed.

Turkey delivered a note to Belgium protesting an Armenian demonstration in Brussels where demonstrators burned a Turkish flag.

New Turkish Cypriot President Talat appointed Ferdi Sabit Soyer, a lawmaker and the new leader of Talat's former party, to form a Cabinet in the KKTC.

Thousands of people prayed and sang hymns on the battlefields of Gallipoli at dawn on Monday to mark the 90th anniversary of the devastating World War I campaign.

The Turkish Journalists Federation Presidential Board decided to send a letter to Prime Minister Erdogan, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek and all the deputies, asking them to improve and amend Turkish Penal Code (TCK) articles related to the media.

The Office of the Chief of General Staff said that Turkish Land Forces Commander Gen. Yasar Buyukanit received a letter of apology from his Greek counterpart Lt. Gen. Nikolaos Ntouvas concerning an incident in which Greek officers desecrated a Turkish flag during a goodwill visit by Turkish officers to the Greek War College.

On Tuesday, Yerevan accepted an earlier offer by Ankara to set up a joint research committee on Armenian allegations of genocide but Armenia brought a provision by asking that Ankara not put forward any pre-condition for starting talks.

EU officials, meeting Foreign Minister Gul in the last high-level review ahead of the opening of accession talks in early October, told Turkey to step up its reform efforts, saying there were still concerns in areas of human rights, religious freedom, torture policies and civilian-military relations.

Foreign Minister Gul appealed to the media to support improvement in Turkish-Greek relations and avoid coverage that could discourage politicians in both countries from pursuing conciliation efforts.

A Turkish group uniting hundreds of businesses and organizations demanded that Arnold Schwarzenegger's movies be banned from Turkish television to protest the California governor's use of the term "genocide" to describe the claimed killing of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark's visit to Turkey on the occasion of a dawn service at Anzac Cove marking the anniversary of the World War I Allied forces Gallipoli landings offered a chance for the two countries to recall and review an unfortunate geographical characteristic that the two distant countries have in common, their susceptibility to earthquakes.

Constitutional Court Chief Justice Bumin's remarks -- about the headscarf ban and his claims that certain parties were trying to capitalize upon it while knowing both the Constitution and the European Charter of Human Rights prevented the lifting of the ban -- created some turmoil at the top of the state hierarchy.

A group of 10 females wearing headscarves have filed a complaint against Constitutional Court Chief Justice Bumin, charging him of distorting the idea of secularism in the Constitution.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal urged government members to refrain from making provocative statements on the issue of the headscarf ban.

Turkey and the United States penned a $1.1 billion contract for the upgrade of a batch of 117 F-16 fighter jets.

Parliament approved Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy Cemal Kaya's resignation. 

A bill that authorizes the recruitment of 10,000 additional police officers was passed by Parliament.

On Wednesday, Turkey and Armenia failed to agree on conditions for taking steps to improve their non-existent ties, with Ankara calling for a scientific study of Armenian allegations of genocide nine decades ago while Yerevan insists political relations must be established first.

Both the Turkish Prime Ministry and the Foreign Ministry described the nomination of Turkish Parliament member Kemal Dervis to head the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as a source of pride.

Prime Minister Erdogan said Turkey's European friends should see it as a prospective member and a partner, not a country that is on the opposite side of the table.

Turkey delivered a note of protest to Russia over a State Duma resolution last week condemning an alleged genocide of Armenians at the hands of the late Ottoman Empire; the Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian charge d'affaires to convey Turkish frustration to Moscow.

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said Turkey and New Zealand -- two countries sharing the same view over the situation in Iraq and the Israeli-Palestine conflict -- may lead joint efforts to reach a peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

A group of women wearing headscarves staged a protest in front of the Constitutional Court, blasting Constitutional Court Chief Justice Bumin's remarks.

CHP parliamentary group deputy leader Kemal Anadol blasted the ruling government on issues such as corruption allegations in the energy sector, the related subsequent resignation of a deputy and government members' attitudes towards Turkey's top judge.

Justice Minister Cicek said there was no article in the new penal code that could not be found in any Western country and of which was peculiar to Turkey.

Istanbul police found and defused two bombs before explosion, one located under the Halic (Golden Horn) Bridge and the other near a bus stop in ?kitelli, Buyukcekmece.

On Thursday, Turkey welcomed the formation of an elected government in Iraq after months of political wrangling and called for the fair representation of all Iraqi groups in the upcoming process of creating a new constitution.

The U.S. State Department continued to designate the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as a terrorist organization in its annual terrorist organizations list but, in a departure likely to raise eyebrows in Ankara, said the group was seeking to create, �gan independent, democratic Kurdish state,�h in southeast Turkey.

The Foreign Ministry said Turkey was giving, �gpositive and extensive,�h consideration to a letter sent by Armenian President Robert Kocharian proposing a joint committee.

Members of the Turkish Cypriot Republican Assembly voted on a new coalition government for the KKTC that defines itself as a reconstruction government.

Constitutional Court Chief Justice Bumin said the European Constitution would have considerable influence over national constitutions, adding that one of the most controversial questions would be the extent to which the European Constitution limits national sovereignty.

Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc said Turkey had been constantly and unconditionally supporting the sovereignty, territorial integrity and multi-ethnic structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Reha Denemec, an AKP deputy leader representing Ankara, said that changes in the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) law aims to encourage research and development projects at universities and the private sector, dismissing claims there was political motivation.


=============================================================================================
HEAD-0502: FEATURE
Richness of languages (Monday, May 2, 2005)
Half of the world's known languages face extinction

ANKARA-Turkish Daily News: Dr. Cengiz Tosun, a professor at Cankaya University, said, �gAccording to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), half of the 6,000 languages spoken throughout the world are endangered.�h 

Tosun gave a speech at the Turkish Language Institute on, �gRichness of Languages, Degeneracy and Turkish,�h on April 28. He said with this century's developments in science, technology and art, new words were being included in languages, which are picked up and learned mostly by reading print articles.

The richness of a language depended on the following factors: size of geographical area where it is mainly spoken, existence of ancient documents in that language, high number of people using that language and having many words in its vocabulary. The professor said old documents in languages like Orhun and Gokturk showed the richness of Turkish. He reminded the audience that Turkish is spoken in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and other Turkic republics and that the Turkish vocabulary was extensive.

He later talked about the data obtained from UNESCO. �gUNESCO says that half of the world's 6,000 languages are facing extinction. Every 14 days one language is wiped out from the face of the earth. We should therefore protect our native tongue."


HEAD-0502: FEATURE
Poseidon, the God of the seas, blesses the Mediterranean (Monday, May 2, 2005)
A festival to remember 

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News: The 1st Marmaris International Maritime Festival was well attended by many foreigners who witnessed outstanding ceremonies that were colored by lively panels, contests and shows.

The festival opened on April 27 and ended yesterday, leaving many pleasant memories in people's minds.

The first man to introduce, as it were, the Turks to the sea is considered to be Emir Caka Bey in 1081. His grave is believed to be in Cesme, Izmir. In his honor a fire representing the maritime culture he afforded the Turkish people was lit. They called it the �g Emir Caka Bey Fire.�h The fire was later sent to the Marmaris International Maritime Festival in the form of a tilly lamp for the official opening ceremony.

Concert by Presidential Symphony Orchestra: 
The Presidential Symphony Orchestra and State Polyphonic Chorus performed at the festival a piece entitled, �g A gift to the Turkish Naval Forces�h composed by Turgay Erdener. It was played at the request of the 2004 Naval Force Commander Adm. Ozden Ornek.

Special stamp from the PTT 
An interesting contribution to the festival came from the PTT (Turkish Post Telegram Organization) who issued a special postage stamp to mark the festival that made the philatelists happy. 

Underwater shows attracted much attention 
One of the most fascinating aspects of the festival was an exhibition displaying material related to maritime history. Models of ships, pictures, maps, old boats, books, documents, stamps and other items displayed on the stands received lots of attention from the visitors.

However, possibly the most interesting shows at the festival were the underwater acts. Two of the shows featured the Underwater Assault (SAT) and Underwater Defense (SAS) commandos and divers. The SAT and SAS teams, along with the divers, started their show by detonating limpet mines on the rocks. Then a team of four took a �gsuspicious floating item�h out at sea to the shore and turned it over to the coast guards. Another team scanned the surface of the water with underwater skis. The spectators and tourists watched the shows on a big screen that was set up on the beach.

Sporting contests 
Many contests in swimming, sailing, beach volleyball, water ballet and many other sports were included in the festivities.

The swimming contests started on the second day of the festival in the indoor swimming pool. Swimming teams from Poland, Ukraine, Germany, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Turkey opened the contest.  On the second day of the festival, sailing contests took place in ?cmeler-Marmaris and a water ballet show was performed by the Caddebostan Water Ballet Group. The beach volleyball contests also attracted much of the tourists' attention.

Underwater panel: 
A panel titled "Underwater Archeology" was organized in the scope of the festival. Tourists and locals of Marmaris listened to the panel attentively as Tufan Turanli, the director of the Bodrum Underwater Archeology Institute, gave information on previous and ongoing underwater excavations.

Turkey is an underwater heaven:  
Based on information from Tufan gave, there are about 150 major sunken ruins in Turkey, which is the world leader in underwater excavations. 

You might remember the oldest underwater ruins in the world -- 3,300 years old in fact -- called the sunken ruins of Uluburun: The excavations were completed last year having began on Oct. 23, 1982, and exhibits from the excavation are on display at the Bodrum Underwater Archeology Museum. This is the most important excavation ever undertaken in the history of Turkey. The excavations continued for 11 years and 60 underwater dives were practiced to a depth of 60 meters. Many important items, like 40 tons of copper nugget, 10 tons of tin and the seal of Queen Nefertiti were found.


Head-0502
US names Turkey on pirate goods list (Monday, May 2, 2005)
China, 13 other nations accused of failures to protect intellectual property rights ... MARTIN CRUTSINGER

WASHINGTON - The Associated Press: President George W. Bush's administration said it was putting China and 13 other nations, including Turkey, on a priority watch list, which subjects the countries to special reviews of their efforts to deal with the theft of U.S. copyrighted material such as movies, music and computer software. 

The administration, responding to America's yawning trade deficit, said Friday in its annual report on copyright theft that China must do more to crack down on rampant piracy. 

"China must take action to address rampant piracy and counterfeiting, including increasing the number of criminal (intellectual property right) cases and further opening its market to legitimate copyright and other goods," said acting U.S. Trade Representative Peter Allgeier.

In its report, USTR said that China was being elevated to the priority watch list because of serious concerns about piracy and counterfeiting rates that remain at extremely high levels due to China's inadequate enforcement system.

By some estimates, 90 percent of the movies, music and computer programs sold in China are pirated products. U.S. industry has estimated it is losing between $200 billion and $250 billion (155 billion and 194 billion euros) annually because of copyright piracy around the world, an enormous sum but still well below the record $666 billion (516.08 billion euro) current account trade deficit the country recorded in 2004.

Besides China, the others put on the priority watch list were Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey and Venezuela. 

They face special U.S. reviews and the potential threat of economic sanctions if the United States decides to bring trade cases against them before the World Trade Organization.

Another 36 nations from Azerbaijan to Vietnam were placed on a watch list for special reviews of their efforts to enforce intellectual property rights.

One nation, Ukraine, has been designated as a priority foreign country because of its property rights violations. It is currently subject to $75 million (58 million euros) in U.S. sanctions.

===========================================================
not-yet-bellow seems to be done already including above one
===========================================================

HEAD-0502: FOREIGN
Iraq nabs men over aid worker's death (Monday, May 2, 2005)
The arrests, which may mark a small breakthrough in the effort to bring insurgents to justice in Iraq, come amid a surge in guerrilla activity in the past four days -- since Iraq formed its first democratically elected government in 50 years 

BAGHDAD - Reuters


  U.S. and Iraqi forces raided a town south of Baghdad on Sunday and detained several men believed linked to the death of British aid worker Margaret Hassan, who was kidnapped and killed late last year. 

  Iraqi police said the early morning raids happened near Madaen, a town just south of Baghdad where insurgents have been active in recent weeks. They said 11 people were seized, five of whom had admitted complicity in Hassan's murder. 

  The arrests, which may mark a small breakthrough in the effort to bring insurgents to justice in Iraq, came amid a surge in guerrilla activity in the past three days -- since Iraq formed its first democratically elected government in 50 years.

  Some of the violence has been focused in Madaen, where three car bombs exploded on Friday. At least nine people were killed in car bombings and shootings in Baghdad on Sunday.

  

Reasonable evidence:

  Hassan, a British national who headed CARE International in Iraq, was kidnapped last October. She was killed about a month later after appealing on video tapes made by her abductors for British forces to withdraw from Iraq. Her body was never found. 

  "We are aware that a raid was conducted and that items were recovered that we believe may belong to Margaret Hassan," a spokesman for the British embassy in Baghdad said. 

  "There is reasonable evidence to believe that the items were Hassan's ... it seems likely. But until our police have finished their investigation we cannot say definitively." 

  He said British police, many of whom are based in Iraq and assist training Iraqi security forces, were investigating but could not say when their probe would end. 

  Iraqi authorities said clothing and identification documents belonging to Hassan had been found at the scene, but the embassy official declined to say what the items discovered were. 

  

Insurgent violence: 

  The capture of the men came as militants pursued their bloody 2-year-old campaign on Sunday. Five policemen were shot dead at a checkpoint and a car bomb killed four others in Baghdad. A U.S. Humvee was destroyed in another bomb blast, but it was not immediately clear if any U.S. troops were wounded. 

  The attacks reinforced concerns that Iraqi forces have a long way to go before they can take over from American soldiers. 

  In the three days since Iraq announced the formation of a government -- after three months of negotiations -- insurgents have carried out a furious sequence of attacks, including more than 15 car bombings in Baghdad that have killed dozens. 

  Iraqi officials say militants have capitalized on the months of political haggling over the government's formation to step up their attacks in a campaign that has erased much of the optimism created by the Jan. 30 elections. 

  The political squabbling and renewed violence also appear to have fuelled sectarian tensions, with politicians struggling to balance the interests of Shiites and Kurds, who are the new powers, and the Sunnis who dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein.

  

Battle against insurgency:

  New Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari announced an initiative to coordinate the battle against the insurgency on Sunday, saying a joint operations center combining elements of the interior and defense ministries would be set up. 

  While most of the recent violence has focused on the capital, there were other attacks in hotspots nearby. 

  Guerrillas fired at least seven rockets into the city of Falluja on Saturday, killing three Iraqi civilians and wounding another, the U.S. military said. 

  A U.S.-led military offensive in November killed or captured hundreds of insurgents in Falluja and destroyed a nerve center of the guerrillas. Since then, militants appear to have taken their operations elsewhere. 

  America's top general said this week insurgents were as strong as they were a year ago, mounting up to 60 attacks a day, despite the presence of about 140,000 U.S. troops and more than that number employed in the Iraqi security forces. 

  A U.S. soldier was killed by small-arms fire on Saturday in the town of Khaldiya, about 130 km (80 miles) west of Baghdad, raising to at least 1,206 the number of American soldiers killed in action since the war that toppled Saddam started in 2003. 

  In an audio tape put on the Internet, a person purporting to be Zarqawi on Friday threatened more bombings and bloodshed in Iraq and said U.S. President George W. Bush would not be allowed to "enjoy peace of mind".



HEAD-0502
Pontiff prays for Togo people 
Monday, May 2, 2005


FOREIGN  
 All News �â 
  
�â Iraq nabs men over aid worker's death 
�â Pontiff prays for Togo people 
�â Blair: UK discussed early plan on Iraq 
�â White House says it appears N. Korea tested missile 
�â British Conservatives still can't gain ground on Blair 
�â Taiwan's Chen to send message to China 
�â Egypt detains 200 over Cairo blast, shooting 
�â Millions of workers rally to mark May Day 
�â Syria welcomes Russian Putin's proposal 
�â Palestinians pledge to stop patrols by militants 
�â Palestinians vow to stop patrols militants 
�â  Blair hits back at pre-poll attacks over Iraq 
�â Blair hits back at pre-poll attacks 
�â Millions of workers mark May 
�â NEWSLINE 
  
  
 



VATICAN CITY - Reuters

 
  Pope Benedict made his first Sunday noon appearance and blessing from the windows of his apartment, in a return to a much-loved weekly tradition before a cheering crowd of more than 40,000 in St. Peter's Square.

  Benedict called for an end to fighting in Togo which has been shaken by days of deadly rioting following a disputed election. More than 11,000 people are reported to have fled the tiny West African country in the past week.

  "Today I feel close to the dear people of Togo who are sadly shaken by internal strife," Benedict said. For the people of Togo, and all other people suffering from war, poverty and disease "I pray for harmony and peace", he said.

  In a further sign that he intends to devote his papacy to the search for world harmony, Benedict also greeted Orthodox and Christians who celebrate Easter on Sunday, and said he hoped for unity between Orthodox and Catholic churches.

  Benedict, 78, greeted Catholics from Madrid and Barcelona in Spanish and, in a reference to Labour Day, appealed for respect and dignity for working people around the world.

  Benedict's first address from high above St. Peter's Square came almost a month since Pope John Paul's poignant March 30 appearance at the windows of the same papal apartment, when he was too sick to speak to the crowds below.

  It marked a return to normality at the Vatican after four weeks of mourning, pageantry and the entrance onto the world stage of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog for more than 20 years.

  Benedict appeared stiff and nervous in comparison to the charismatic John Paul, who, he recalled, had made the Sunday noon greeting, usually in several languages "a much loved tradition" around the world.

  "We can still feel his presence, closer than ever," Benedict said, adding that he was grateful for the prayers and the support he had received in his first few days as head of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics.

HEAD-0502
White House says it appears N. Korea tested missile 
Monday, May 2, 2005


FOREIGN  
 All News �â 
  
�â Iraq nabs men over aid worker's death 
�â Pontiff prays for Togo people 
�â Blair: UK discussed early plan on Iraq 
�â White House says it appears N. Korea tested missile 
�â British Conservatives still can't gain ground on Blair 
�â Taiwan's Chen to send message to China 
�â Egypt detains 200 over Cairo blast, shooting 
�â Millions of workers rally to mark May Day 
�â Syria welcomes Russian Putin's proposal 
�â Palestinians pledge to stop patrols by militants 
�â Palestinians vow to stop patrols militants 
�â  Blair hits back at pre-poll attacks over Iraq 
�â Blair hits back at pre-poll attacks 
�â Millions of workers mark May 
�â NEWSLINE 
  
  
 



WASHINGTON/TOKYO Reuters


  White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card said on Sunday it appeared North Korea had tested a short-range missile. 

  "It appears that there was a test of a short-range missile by the North Koreans and it landed in the sea of Japan," Card said in an interview with CNN taped for later broadcast. "We're not surprised by this. The North Koreans have tested their missiles before." 

  Earlier, Japanese media reported that North Korea, embroiled in an international dispute over its nuclear weapons ambitions, may have launched a short-range missile into the Sea of Japan on Sunday. 

  The missile, which had a likely range of around 100 km (60 miles), may have been launched from North Korea's east coast, state broadcaster NHK said, quoting unnamed defense sources. 

  NHK quoted one government source as saying the missile was of "very short range and no danger to Japan". 

  Kyodo news agency, citing unnamed Japanese government sources, said the missile was launched around 8 a.m. Japanese time (2300 GMT Saturday) and the U.S. military had informed Japan of it. It said the Japanese government believes the missile may have been a land-to-ship or small ballistic missile. 

  The reports did not say whether the reported launch was a test. 

  The United States accused North Korea of trying to be "bullies in the world". 

  "They've tested missiles before. This is not the first time of alleged testing of a missile," White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card told U.S. television. 

  Asked what North Korea's intentions were, Card said: "I think they're looking to kind of be bullies in the world. And they're causing others to stand up and take notice."

  A senior South Korean official told Reuters the reported firing could not be confirmed, but added that indications pointed to a possible launch of a very short-range missile with a range of less than 100 km. 

  "There have been indications that North Korea might test a tactical weapon, but whether a launch actually took place is still doubtful," the official said, on condition of anonymity. 

  South Korea's YTN television quoted an unnamed senior government official as saying he understood the North had launched a short-range missile. 

  He added there was no need to give particular significance to the launch because such events are customary in the North. 

  Other South Korean government officials said they could not comment on the report, saying it was an intelligence matter. 

  National Security Council spokeswoman Lee Ji-hyun said the government was checking the situation. 

  South Korea's Foreign Ministry was not available for comment. 

  No one was available for comment at Japan's Defense Ministry or the Prime Minister's office on Sunday. A spokeswoman for the U.S. military in Japan said she could not comment on intelligence matters. 

  

Heightened tensions: 

  The news comes amid heightened tension over North Korea's nuclear ambitions. Six-party talks aimed at ending the reclusive state's nuclear program have been stalled for almost a year, and recent efforts to restart them have shown little progress. 

  Washington warned the International Atomic Energy Agency that North Korea has been preparing for an underground nuclear test since March and could carry it out as early as June, Kyodo said on Saturday, citing diplomatic sources in Vienna. 

  The previous day, the chief U.S. negotiator to stalled talks said Washington believed North Korea might be trying to harvest material for a nuclear bomb from a shut-down reactor. 

  North Korea threatened in March to resume testing, saying it was no longer bound by a 1999 missile test moratorium to which it agreed when it was in talks with the United States. 

  North Korea has occasionally test fired short-range missiles before. In 1998, it fired a long-range missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean, stunning the Japanese government. 

  The North has also tested and deployed a missile with a range of about 1,000 km (620 miles), and the head of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency said recently that North Korea might have mastered the technology for mounting a nuclear warhead on a missile capable of hitting the U.S. West Coast. 

  In the past, the North has resorted to such sabre rattling before returning to dialogue. Analysts said such behavior was intended to bolster domestic support and keep international exposure high in a bid to strengthen its position. 


HEAD-0502
Yerevan unenthusiastic about Turkish PM�fs proposal 
Monday, May 2, 2005


DIPLOMACY  
 All News �â 
  
�â Yerevan unenthusiastic about Turkish PM�fs proposal 
�â Talat calls on UN to resume peace talks 
�â 'Property cases major danger for Turkish Cypriots' 
�â Turkish civilian death toll in Iraq approaches 100 
�â Neighbors regard border security part of Iraq�fs long-term stability 
  
  
 

Prime Minister Erdogan�fs recent proposal for a simultaneous effort of joint research on �egenocide�f and political relationship between Turkey and Armenia, �edoes not contain anything new,' according to Yerevan 

ANKARA - TDN with wire dispatches


  Yerevan reiterated its position on establishing diplomatic relations with Ankara �gwithout preconditions�h in response to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's remarks last week signaling that Turkey could establish political relations with neighboring Armenia while historians study events during 1915 to 1918 in a bid to clarify whether Anatolian Armenians had been subject to a genocide campaign. 

  Referring to Erdogan's proposal verbalized during an interview with daily Milliyet on Friday, Armenian presidential spokesman Viktor Sogomonyan said over the weekend that �gthe proposal does not contain anything new.�h 

  �gWe have proposed to establish diplomatic relations without preconditions, and examine outstanding issues between our two countries within the framework of an intergovernmental commission,�h Sogomonyan said. 

  Erdogan recently sent a letter to Armenian President Robert Kocharian proposing the establishment of a joint commission of scholars to study the tragic events that took place in Anatolia during of the World War I years. However, Kocharian, suggested in his reply an inter-governmental commission that would be tasked with investigating ways to normalize relations between Turkey and Armenia. 

  �gA political relationship can be established on the one hand, while studies continue on the other. There is no great wall between Turkey and Armenia,�h Erdogan said in the interview with Milliyet. 

  Yet, Armenia, which places �ggenocide�h as a grounds for its own existence, refuses to make establishing relations conditional on agreeing to review what it says is fact, while Turkey categorically denies the charges. Armenians say some 1.5 million of their people were killed as the Ottoman Empire forced them from eastern Turkey between 1915 and 1923 in a deliberate campaign of genocide.  

HEAD-0502
Turkish civilian death toll in Iraq approaches 100 
Monday, May 2, 2005


DIPLOMACY  
 All News �â 
  
�â Yerevan unenthusiastic about Turkish PM�fs proposal 
�â Talat calls on UN to resume peace talks 
�â 'Property cases major danger for Turkish Cypriots' 
�â Turkish civilian death toll in Iraq approaches 100 
�â Neighbors regard border security part of Iraq�fs long-term stability 
  
  
 



ANKARA - Turkish Daily News


  Iraqi security forces yesterday announced that a Turkish driver was killed in an attack near Bayji, north of Baghdad, reported the Anatolia news agency. 

  The driver was killed when gunmen opened fire on his truck, the Iraqi officers said. They didn't elaborate on the identity of the driver. The number of Turkish drivers who have been killed in Iraq increased to 93 with weekend's incident, CNN-Turk reported on its Web site.    

HEAD-0502
Neighboring Armenia 
Monday, May 2, 2005


OPINIONS  
 All News �â 
  
�â Erdogan on landmark visit 
(Yusuf KANLI) 
�â Cities and politics 
(Do?u ERGIL) 
�â What does it take to build a knowledge-based economy for Turkey? 
(Mehmet OGUTCU) 
�â Neighboring Armenia 
(Orhan KILERCIOGLU) 
  
  
 

History should not be distorted for the sake of political aims 

Orhan KILERCIOGLU
  Armenian claims of alleged genocide is an ongoing and lingering tale. Our neighbor has long been saying that some of their countrymen were killed in 1915 under Ottoman rule. The Armenians seek to cooperate with terrorist organizations in a bid to take revenge. When we look behind the scenes, we see that the ulterior motive is to serve the longstanding aims of other countries and create disinformation. Armenians are hoping that, at last, they will realize their aims. 

  Their aim is totally political. When we take a look at history, we can see that what the Ottomans did is to transfer Armenians that live in the regions of war to somewhere more secure. An extensive study of history is necessary before arriving at a decision about the issue. 

  The Ottoman Empire had a multinational structure. Peoples of differing national origin lived in peace together for many years. There had been many Armenian ministers, judges and soldiers within the Ottoman state structure. How could the Ottoman Empire ill treat its citizens despite it's adopting a tolerant attitude towards peoples from different national origin? This is very difficult to understand. According to historic records, there were 1.5 million Armenians living under Ottoman rule. One million of them were transferred to more secure places for their own safety. Armenians that were not transferred are still living in the same places. Of course, some people suffered during the transfer but that was mainly due to bad conditions. As for today, Armenians in Turkey are living in peace with the rest of the country. 

  However, from 1862 onwards, Armenians have pursued a policy that they believe could attain them some of their unpleasant aims. 

  After 1862 Armenians that were in office within the Ottoman state structure didn't show the same sincerity as the Ottoman state showed to them and revealed their bad intentions with uprisings against the state. They stabbed the Ottoman forces in the back, used terrorism and damaged villages in Anatolia. These are historical facts and are proven by history. The reason why some Armenians fear an investigation into the actual history is that they know that such an investigation will disprove their claims. How could Ottomans that gave Armenians opportunities to hold high office then kill them? 

  Following the 1789 revolution in France, ideas of nationalism spread through the minds of people in many places of the world. Greeks, Arabs and Albanians all launched their struggle for independence. 

  It is all written in the pages of history what Armenians did when they saw that the Ottoman Empire had became weakened. As Turks try to forget what Armenians did to them, the Armenian movement reminds us of the deeds of the ASALA and Tashnak terrorist organizations. Unfortunately, the great states that used Armenians for their own interests are continuing to use them. As it was in the past, Armenia is still in need of Turkey. Wise people are those who seek reconciliation and take sides with friendship and peace. If we go into detail, we could find many other deficiencies in the Armenian claims. 

  What does the Melkon Armenian Institute do in Greek Cyprus? What did the Armenians in the region do before Turkey's 1974 intervention for peace? 

  If we read a letter of reply sent by Armenian President Robert Kocharian to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, we can see how he tries to distort historical facts. 

  As for Turkey, results of the active policy it adopts against the Armenian allegations can be observed. The style that was used by U.S. President George W. Bush is because of his advisors' extensive knowledge of history. There would be no reason for Turkey not to live in peace with Armenia as long as the Armenians act sincerely. Moreover, the Armenians should apologize to Turks and withdraw from Azerbaijan territories that it holds under occupation. They should allow one million Azerbaijani's to return to their homes. 

   
SCAN-0502 ... Turkish press yesterday 
Monday, May 2, 2005


PRESS SCANNER  
 All News �â 
  
�â Turkish press yesterday 
�â From the columns 
  
  
 




  

Turkish press yesterday: 

  Turkish newspapers yesterday wrote about various stories including a traffic accident caused by a careless driver; a foreign court's decision against the head of the Turkish History Association; the statements made by the prime minister as regards Iraq and the Middle East; an opinion poll evaluating the government's performance and the possible meeting of the Turkish and Armenian leaders to discuss the alleged genocide. 

  

�eTIR'MINATOR:

  The driver of a TIR truck, who is believed to be sleeping at the time, hit a car in Istanbul over the weekend, killing three people, Hurriyet reported. The driver fled the scene and the LPG of the car luckily did not go off. 

  According to Article 455/2 of the current Turkish Penal Code (TCK), drivers who cause more than one person to die face up to 10 years in prison; however, according to Article 85 of the new penal code, which is expected to go into effect as of June, such drivers will face up to 15 years in prison. 

  

Swiss court rules against Halaco?lu:

  A Swiss court launched an investigation against the Turkish History Association (TTK) Chairman Professor Yusuf Halaco?lu, who countered the so-called Armenian genocide claims at a meeting last year in Zurich on the grounds that the denial of the alleged genocide was banned in accordance with a decision made in December 2004, Milliyet said. 

  Now Halaco?lu is wanted by Switzerland, which claimed the statements made by Halaco?lu was a crime.

  In the meantime, Halaco?lu said he did not know about the Swiss court's verdict and added his place was definite, so that those who look for him can find him easily. 

  

Peace in Mideast is Turkey's primary objective: 

  Radikal featured Turkish Daily News' exclusive interview with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said, �gPeace in the Middle East is Turkey's primary objective.�h 

  Erdogan, who is scheduled to begin his official visit to Israel and Palestine over the weekend, said if asked, Turkey would extend its help in this regard and conveyed the message that determined steps must be taken in the Middle East at once for long-lasting peace. 

  �gTurkey attaches considerable importance to peace and stability in the region since the developments in that region have direct implications upon Turkey,�h the premier was quoted as saying. 

  Yeni ?afak quoted the premier's statements during the meeting of Iraq's neighbors as saying that peace and integrity of Iraq were the matter of not only the Iraqis but everyone. 

  �gOur common expectation is the maintenance of a peaceful order in Iraq which is in peace inside, with its neighbors and with the world,�h Erdogan said. 

  

Survey: AKP is not successful:   

  A public survey conducted by the Pollmark Company disclosed that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) was incapable in terms of the fight against poverty and corruption and rural policies, Cumhuriyet reported. 

  The paper said the survey that concentrated on the domestic and foreign policies pursued by the government revealed striking results. 

  Only 29 percent said the government was successful in its Iraq policy, while 37 percent claimed it was not. 

  Forty-seven percent characterized the government's performance in general as poor, while 48 percent they were pleased with the government's policies but 76 percent of those who welcomed the government's policies comprised of AKP supporters. 

  Asked about if the European Union lays down the condition on the recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide by Turkey for integration with the 25-nation bloc, 82 percent said �gno.�h 

  Fifty-eight percent said the alleged genocide should be freely discussed in Turkey, while 29 percent said the opposite. 

  

Erdogan gives signs of potential face-to-face meeting with Armenian president:   

  Drawing attention of the international community with his proposal to discuss the historical claims at a joint commission with Armenia, Prime Minister Erdogan is expected to meet Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, Zaman said. 

  Erdogan and Kocharyan are scheduled to attend the May 9 celebrations in Moscow, marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, and the Council of Europe summit to be held between May 15 and 16 in Warsaw and both leaders are expected to meet in one of these two occasions.  

  According to sources from the Prime Ministry, Zaman said, Erdogan and Kocharyan is to meet in Warsaw but there is a possibility that the leaders may not meet during the summit but if they manage to come together, top-level administrators from both countries will have the chance to discuss the alleged genocide face to face for the first time.


SCAN-0502 ... From the columns 
Monday, May 2, 2005


PRESS SCANNER  
 All News �â 
  
�â Turkish press yesterday 
�â From the columns 
  
  
 




  

From the columns 

  Turkish columnists mostly wrote about Turkey's education problems, as well as the prime minister's landmark visit to Israel and Palestine.  

  

Turkey should not be dragged into debates on coeducation:

  Milliyet's Abbas Guclu mentioned that Prime Minister Recep Taayip Erdogan suggested the re-opening of girls' schools. 

  �gThere were schools which only girls attended. Parents were sending their daughters to these schools with no concerns at all,�h Erdogan reportedly said, at a meeting with daily Milliyet's columnists.   

  Guclu said this was a matter of debate following the headscarf controversy and added nobody should be surprised if Turkey began discussing coeducation and puts the basic problems of education aside.

  �gAccording to Education Law No. 1739,�h he said, �gCo-education consisting of girls and boys at schools is the fundamental principle; however, some schools may go into a division on the basis of the kind of education or the conditions in those schools.�h

  He made it clear that transformation into coeducation in Turkey did not lead to problems as was claimed in the beginning and said Turkey practiced the coeducation model in parallel to the developments in the world despite some protests, adding even some military academies began to recruit female students.

  �gNow showing the coeducation practice in Turkey as a reason for girls not attending school or adopting an approach that if the girls' schools are reopened, then girls will be sent to school is not correct. Indeed, it would not be definite what such a return will cost Turkey and how such a situation will impact Turkey,�h he said. 

  

Schools in villages are empty; no teachers, no students: 

  Milliyet's Gungor Uras believed the campaign �gFather, send me to school,�h launched by daily Milliyet would help girls and boys to attend school but more importantly, he said, this campaign would contribute to the debates on the education problems faced by village children and the efforts for a long-lasting solution to the problems. 

  �gWe're ignoring the education problems faced by the children in villages or we don't care about these problems. Where will the girls and boys in villages be educated? Firstly, the �eVillage Institutes' [a revolution which trained promising boys from rural areas to be village teachers and then the Village Institute graduates went all over Anatolia to forefront rural education and community development, but in the 1950s the institutes were closed because of Cold War apprehensions] and then the schools built in every village during the republic's era were closed,�h he said.

  �gIf the obtained figures are correct, today's school buildings in more than 20,000 villages are empty,�h he said and put an emphasis on the significance of Village Institutes, which were impossible to re-establish.

  

Headscarf issue to be resolved in time: 

  Hurriyet's Ferai T?nc asked whether putting the headscarf issue to a referendum would resolve the lingering problem but then responded to her own question and said this would not help.

  �gThen how will we resolve this issue? I guess the best solution is time. The Turkish Republic has been confronting problems it has ignored for the last 20 years. Possible debates over certain issues were prevented in the past but now we are rapidly heading towards an era in which every idea can be easily discussed. We are learning the significance of listening. This practice [namely, to know to discuss an issue] will eliminate lack of confidence. Also, our democratic institutions will become sounder with the contribution of the EU process. The mentality change will go fast. It is not realistic to wait for a solution to problems without waiting for conditions getting mature,�h she said. 

  

Erdogan's visit to Israel, Palestine may foster Turkish-US relations:   

  Radikal's Murat Yetkin touched upon the significance of Prime Minister Erdogan's visit to Israel and Palestine. 

  He asked why the visit was important. �gIs it because of its timing? Because of the fact that Erdogan will conclude an agreement for cooperation on security and intelligence after the military agreements signed by Erbakan-led coalition government with Israel? Because of the Manavgat water deal?...�h 

  He admitted that all of those mentioned above rendered the visit important but what's more important is the fact that the visit is being paid. 

  He said the premier was expected to deliver two messages during his visit: First, there is no tradition of anti-Semitism in Turkey and second, Turkey's will for rapprochement between Israel and Palestine, along with the importance given to peace and development of the Palestinians.

  Yetkin said Erdogan would concentrate on his visit to the United States after his Middle East tour. �gIstanbul deputy Egemen Ba??? from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has just returned from the United States. Ba???, who was within the AKP delegation who went to Israel last year to mend fences with Israel, says the premier's visit to Israel-Palestine may considerably contribute to the improvement of relations with the United States.�h 

  

Ankara wants to open new era with Israel:   

  Sabah's Asl? Ayd?nta?ba? mentioned Erdogan's official visit to Israel and stressed this would be the most important visit among those that have been paid by him recently.

  �gBut it will not be that easy. Erdogan, the leader of a conservative movement with its party's roots and his personal background, stepping in a Jewish state is more meaningful than a Turkish premier getting on a plane to Israel. Despite a very conservative newspaper's headline �eHow will you [Erdogan] shake Sharon's bloody hand?' yesterday, Erdogan is traveling to Israel,�h she said and added both Israel and Turkey were enthusiastic to heal the chill over the bilateral relations.

  �gIsrael is a friendly country that can be �erough' from time to time. There are two different tendencies in Israel, just like the one in Washington, regarding the relations with the Turkish government; however, what the government needs now is opening a new era with Tel Aviv,�h she added.

==================================================================================================
HEAD-0503
Suspects of flag desecration incident released 
Tuesday, May 3, 2005



DOMESTIC  
 All News �â 
  
�â Managing hard jobs 
�â Lawyers educated on jurisprudence of ECHR 
�â Rain in Turkey until Thursday 
�â Suspects of flag desecration incident released 
�â Anadol says CHP against punishing media 'crimes' 
�â Constitutional Court controversy intensifies 
�â Journalists and deputies discuss new TCK 
�â Parliamentary powers spark debate 
�â Renewable energy on parliamentary agenda 
�â Domestic newsline 
�â Thank you 
  
  
 

Mersin court rules to release juvenile suspects who dragged the Turkish flag during Nevroz celebrations, an event that escalated tension in the country 

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News


  Five suspects who were arrested after they attempted to burn the Turkish flag during Nevroz celebrations on March 20, which stirred up nationalism in Turkey, were released following their first hearing, the Do?an News Agency reported yesterday. 

  The families and the friends of the arrested children, C.S. (12), V.S. (14), F.B. (13), E.B. (13), Sultan Ta? (18) and M.A. (12) rushed to the hearing at the Mersin Criminal Court, which Torlev Ofland from the Norwegian Embassy and Willemijn Van Haaften from the Dutch Embassy attended as observers.

  The police boosted security during the hearing and 13 lawyers registered at the Mersin, Izmir and Diyarbak?r bars defended the suspects.   

  Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Haaften said the case was very important and he would draft a report on this case to notify officials in his country on this. Haaften warmly welcomed the court decision to release the suspects.  

  According to Articles 2911, 145/1 and 312 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), the suspects were facing up to 10 years in prison. In their previous testimonies, the kids said one person gave them the flag during the Nevroz celebrations and they had no intention to desecrate the Turkish flag.

HEAD-0503
Miracles of oregano 
Tuesday, May 3, 2005



FEATURE  
 All News �â 
  
�â Plasterer on construction sites - mother at home 
�â Spring the season to kick the habit 
�â 'We enjoy watching Birds' 
�â Miracles of oregano 
�â They will act for the Black Sea 
  
  
 

A natural miracle herb which protetcs us against cancer, tumors and diabetes... 


  Did you know that oregano, which adds taste to grilled meats, protects us from cancer and cholesterol? 

  Oregano is widely grown in Turkey and used for adding flavor to food. It has a powerful anti-oxidant effect with characteristics of being anti-cancerous, anti-diabetic and anti-cholesterol. Assistant Professor Osman Sa?d?c from the Erciyes University food sciences department said, �gTurkey holds an important position in the world of oregano production. Various species of oregano such as origanum, thymus, thymbra, saturaje, sideritis and salvia are grown abundantly in our country and are very useful for people.�h 

  

Kills bacteria: 

  Based on a study conducted on the various types of oregano, it was determined that these herbs were able to kill bacteria due to the heavy content of phenolic substances found in their cellular structure. 

  Oregano, by connecting the free radicals released from the cells within its contents, is very healthy and improves the body's cell protection system. 

  Oregano prevents the formation of cancer and diabetes and regulates the level of cholesterol. This characteristic prevents tumors and slows ageing of cells. 

  

Natural protector: 

  As we all know, many additives are used to protect food against spoiling. Although scientists believe these chemical additives have no adverse effects on humans when used properly in correct amounts, they still recommend using natural preservatives. This is where oregano comes in. It is even possible to say the miracle of oregano is that, as a natural food preserver, it eliminates the adverse effects and risks that chemical additives have. 

  This group of herb species carrying natural anti-bacterial substances prevents food from spoiling due to microorganisms and oxidants. Oregano is a herb that is frequently used in pharmaceuticals, medicine and cosmetics. Oregano is also found in animal feed. Not only does it protect the quality of the meat but it protects the animal's health as well. When it is consumed as tea it is very good for the health. 

  

Significant contribution to country's economy: 

  Turkey is the third largest country after China and India in growing and marketing herbs. Turkey exports about 30,000 tons of natural herbs a year. It has the most important species of oregano and holds 75 percent of world exports. 

  When put down in figures, Turkey produces nearly 11,000 tons of oregano annually and receives $21 million in revenue. The countries that Turkey exports to are the United States, Australia, Canada and European countries. The species that are most popular to export are origanum onites, origanum minutiflorum, thymbra spicata and origanum majorana. 

HEAD-0503
Lenovo closes IBM PC merger, prepares global move 
Tuesday, May 3, 2005



BUSINESS REPORT  
 All News �â 
  
�â U.S. Federal Reserve seen as moving interest rates up 
�â Lenovo closes IBM PC merger, prepares global move 
�â Australia sees progress in wheat dispute with Iraq 
�â Stanley Fischer takes over as Bank of Israel chief 
�â Turkish and Russian businesses meet to discuss energy projects 
  
  
 



Eric Auchard

SAN FRANCISCO - Reuters


  Lenovo Group Ltd. and IBM on Sunday said they had closed a ground-breaking deal in which China's largest computer company acquired IBM's personal computer business, marking the rising ambition of Chinese companies to create or acquire global brands. 

  The agreement, first announced Dec. 8, had to overcome resistance from U.S. regulators due to Lenovo's ties to the Chinese government. It calls for Lenovo to pay IBM $1.25 billion in cash and stock and assume $500 million of IBM debt. 

  IBM said in a joint statement issued by the companies that it will take a pre-tax gain of about $1 billion when it reports is second-quarter earnings results in July. 

  The combined $13 billion-in-revenue-a-year company brings together Lenovo, which sells roughly one-third of the PCs in China, with IBM, whose ThinkPad brand is popular with business users worldwide, forming the world's third largest maker of PCs. 

  The new Lenovo must fuse executive teams from China and the United States, move its headquarters to New York from Beijing, while it seeks to show that Chinese companies can produce and sell world-class products, not just be low-cost PC makers. 

  "We will increase the pace, not slow down the pace, of innovation and quality around the things that matter to our customers," Stephen Ward, Lenovo's new chief executive and the former head of IBM's PC business, said in a phone interview. 

  The deal catapults, Lenovo, one of China's biggest brands, but little-known outside China, into a global market where it faces bruising competition from PC industry pacesetter Dell Inc., along with rival Hewlett-Packard Co. 

  Lenovo also must face off against a host of established Japanese names and upstart Taiwanese rivals, which are expanding into North American, European and other markets. 

  "Lenovo is a premium Chinese PC supplier," said Roger Kay, a PC industry analyst with market research firm IDC in Framingham, Massachusetts. "They are not a discount brand, which is what people outside China might think," he said.

   


HEAD-0503
Kuwait cannot decide on women's voting rights 
Tuesday, May 3, 2005


FOREIGN  
 All News �â 
  
�â Chirac: EU text boosts cultural policies 
�â Poll says Blair will win election despite Iraq 
�â Kuwait cannot decide on women 
�â Japan urges EU to keep China arms ban 
�â New US trade chief plays down EU plane tensions 
�â Neighbors play down threat of N. Korea missile test 
�â Afghan ammunition dump explodes, 28 die 
�â Israeli soldier, militant die in raid; truce hit 
�â Afghan ammo dump explodes, 28 people killed 
�â Car bombs in Baghdad kill eight 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
  
  
 

If women over 21 are allowed to register in voting, among Kuwait's 950,000-plus citizens, the percent of those who are eligible to vote could rise to 38.9 percent 

KUWAIT CITY - The Associated Press

A push to allow Kuwaiti women to participate in local elections stalled indefinitely Monday when Islamist and conservative lawmakers abstained en masse from a key vote, leaving it short the number needed to for a clear answer either way.
  Sixty lawmakers were present for the vote. Twenty-nine voted to allow women to run for municipal council seats and vote in the local elections, two voted against and 29 abstained. Thirty-three yes or no votes were required for a valid vote, so the speaker said a new vote would be required.

  No date was set, although the matter was expected to be taken up again in Tuesday's parliament session. Senior officials said if or when a second vote would be held wasn't clear.

  "There is no agreement yet on whether there will be another vote or when," Prime Minister Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, told reporters after the session, which included less than an hour of debate before the vote on the issue.

  Sheik Sabah explained that another vote on the bill was possible "because parliament did not decide to reject it but decided to postpone it." But parliament's deputy speaker, Mishari al-Anjari, said he was not sure if there will be another vote.

  "I don't know. The decision is up to parliament," he said.

  Those abstaining included Islamist and tribal conservatives trying to avoid angering the government, which supports the measure, by voting no and to avoid angering constituents with a yes.

  Parliament gave the measure preliminary approval on a 26-20 vote during the April 19 first reading of the draft Municipal Council law, but Monday's second reading of the bill and second vote was required before the measure could become law.

  Only 15 percent of Kuwait's 950,000-plus citizens are eligible to vote. If women over 21 are allowed to register, it could rise to 38.9 percent, according to Al-Shall Economic Consultants estimates.

HEAD-0503
Japan urges EU to keep China arms ban 
Tuesday, May 3, 2005



FOREIGN  
 All News �â 
  
�â Chirac: EU text boosts cultural policies 
�â Poll says Blair will win election despite Iraq 
�â Kuwait cannot decide on women 
�â Japan urges EU to keep China arms ban 
�â New US trade chief plays down EU plane tensions 
�â Neighbors play down threat of N. Korea missile test 
�â Afghan ammunition dump explodes, 28 die 
�â Israeli soldier, militant die in raid; truce hit 
�â Afghan ammo dump explodes, 28 people killed 
�â Car bombs in Baghdad kill eight 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
  
  
 

The term presidency is committed to seeking a solution by June, with EU heavyweights France and Germany leading the drive to remove the ban, despite fierce opposition from Washington 

LUXEMBOURG - Reuters


  Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi urged the European Union on Monday not to lift an arms embargo on China, adding to pressure from the United States to keep the ban in place.

  The EU responded by saying no action it took would undermine stability in the region.

  "I did in fact express our concern. The response was that Japan's concern is very well understood on this question of the arms embargo. The EU, while fully understanding the concerns of Japan, would like to deal with the matter so that it does not lead to a problem," Koizumi told a joint news conference during an EU-Japan summit.

  Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who holds the EU presidency, said he had assured Koizumi that if the EU did decide to lift the ban imposed in 1989, it would enforce other rules to prevent exports that could endanger Asian security.

  "The European Union has explained that it is not at all our intention to take any immediate practical steps in respect of this embargo," he told the news conference. The EU imposed a ban on most arms sales following the suppression of pro-democracy protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, but most EU leaders now consider it an anachronism and an impediment to better relations with an emerging Asian giant.

  The Luxembourg presidency is committed to seeking a solution by June, with EU heavyweights France and Germany leading the drive to remove it, despite fierce opposition from Washington.

  But a recent law passed by Beijing, giving itself the right to use force should Taiwan formally seek to secede from China, has led many EU member states to rethink their position.

  

Tense ties:

  Relations between Japan and China have been prickly for decades, and old rivalries have flared in recent weeks, further adding to Japan's fears of an end to the embargo.

  East Asia is also tense following an apparent North Korean missile test at the weekend.

  "We see it (the China arms embargo) in the context of regional security. We believe it will affect the security situation in East Asia," a Japanese government official told reporters.

  "There is a gap between Japan and the European Union in understanding of the arms embargo to China. For Europe, China is a lucrative market," he added.

  Despite sharp differences over the arms ban, the two sides were at pains to stress their successful economic relationship.

  Juncker said the 25-nation EU, with a population of over 450 million, and Japan together "represent 40 percent of the planet's gross domestic product. They also account for 30 percent of world trade".

  European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the trade in goods and services between the EU and Japan was worth 150 billion euro ($193 billion) in 2004.

  The two sides still appeared deadlocked over a site for the world's first nuclear fusion reactor, in which the EU and Japan are partners with China, the United States, Russia and South Korea.

  The EU wants to see ITER, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, built in France, while Tokyo wants it in Japan. Koizumi was evasive when asked if he could ever support the project going to France.

  "Discussions are proceeding so that an agreement can be produced among the six parties. We agreed that we should engage in efforts so an agreement can be reached as early as possible," he said.


HEAD-0503
Neighbors play down threat of N. Korea missile test 
Tuesday, May 3, 2005


FOREIGN  
 All News �â 
  
�â Chirac: EU text boosts cultural policies 
�â Poll says Blair will win election despite Iraq 
�â Kuwait cannot decide on women 
�â Japan urges EU to keep China arms ban 
�â New US trade chief plays down EU plane tensions 
�â Neighbors play down threat of N. Korea missile test 
�â Afghan ammunition dump explodes, 28 die 
�â Israeli soldier, militant die in raid; truce hit 
�â Afghan ammo dump explodes, 28 people killed 
�â Car bombs in Baghdad kill eight 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
  
  
 



SEOUL/TOKYO - Reuters


   North Korea's suspected missile test at the weekend was not a major worry for the region since it appeared to be a short-range weapon incapable of carrying a nuclear warhead, officials said on Monday.

  But the test would strain efforts to restart talks on Pyongyang's nuclear programs, they said.

  North Korea test-launched what appeared to be a short-range missile into the Sea of Japan on Sunday, U.S. officials said. The test came as Washington officials indicated Pyongyang may be headed toward a nuclear test.

  "Is this the kind of missile that can carry a nuclear warhead? Not really," a South Korean government official said on condition of anonymity, referring to Sunday's test.

  A Defense Ministry spokeswoman in Tokyo said Japan had yet to confirm whether the launch took place.

  "At this point, the missile in question is thought to have flown a very short distance and cannot be described as something that immediately has a particular impact on our country's security," a spokeswoman said.

  Analysts said Pyongyang may have meant to send a jolt to a six-party process aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions, which have been stalled since June 2004.

  Kyodo news agency, citing unnamed Japanese government sources, said the launch occurred around 8 a.m. Japanese time on Sunday (2300 GMT Saturday). Tokyo believes the weapon may have been a land-to-ship or small ballistic missile, the report said.

  The missile, which likely had a range of about 100 km (60 miles), may have been launched from North Korea's east coast, Japanese network NHK reported, quoting unnamed defense sources.

No increase in threat: In June 2004, North Korea was suspected of firing a similar type of missile as officials were gathering in Beijing for the last round of talks that include North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States.

  No meetings have been held since then.

  "This missile launch does not mean that there has been an increase in the threat from North Korea," said Noriyuki Suzuki, chief analyst at Tokyo-based Radiopress, which monitors North Korea.

  Suzuki noted when North Korea fired a short-range missile last year, it was trying to increase its leverage in the talks and added the North may have had a similar intention this time.

  "The overt purpose is an exercise or test, but given the timing there could be an element of provocation, a political element," he said.

  The missile test caused the yen and the South Korean won to fall in early trading on Monday, but had little impact on stocks.

  "For now investors are willing to be calm about the North Korea news and wait for more developments," said Hwang Chang-jung, an analyst at Woori Investment and Securities.

'Mutually assured destruction':The White House called the test a bullying tactic and said there was growing evidence that the North may be working to arm missiles with a nuclear warhead.

  The suspected North Korean missile test came on the eve of a U.N.-hosted conference expected to focus on nuclear proliferation concerns, including North Korea.

  In February, North Korea announced it possessed nuclear weapons. It also recently shut down a nuclear reactor, in a move U.S. officials said could lead to Pyongyang harvesting fissile material that could be used for atomic bombs.

  South Korean analysts see Pyongyang as wanting to build long-range missiles that can hit the United States, which it sees as its main adversary. North Korea already has missiles that can strike South Korea and Japan.

  "The possibility of North Korea's missile programs soon becoming a comprehensive threat is very high," said Chang Myung-soon, an expert on North Korea's military at the Korea Institute for Military Studies.

  The commander of the U.S. military in South Korea, General Leon LaPorte, was quoted by a South Korean parliament member as saying to lawmakers on Monday that North Korea possibly had one or two nuclear bombs and the ability to produce more.

  Another South Korean official said the missile test fell short of attracting repercussions in terms of international efforts to contain proliferation of missile technology.

  "We don't know for certain what North Korea's intentions might have been, but it does not amount to a serious violation of international regimes on missile technology," he said.

  North Korea has test-fired missiles in previous years. It is believed to have fired short-range missiles on four occasions last year, South Korean sources said.

  A 1998 test of a longer-range missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean stunned Tokyo, but Pyongyang has since declared a moratorium on long-range missile testing. In a March statement, however, it appeared to withdraw the moratorium. 


HEAD-0503
Military chief to visit three Arab states 
Tuesday, May 3, 2005


DIPLOMACY  
 All News �â 
  
�â Erdogan: Turkish mediation must be requested 
�â Military chief to visit three Arab states 
�â Turkish Foreign Ministry follows Ataturk�fs peace dictum 
�â Ocalan verdict due on May 12 
�â Papadopoulos: US seeks substantial initiative 
  
  
 
* 
* 

*

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News


  Chief of General Staff Gen. Hilmi Ozkok departed for official visits to three Arab countries this week, the military headquarters said in a statement yesterday. 

  Gen. Ozkok will begin his tour with a visit to the United Arab Emirates and later travel to Yemen and Qatar, the written statement said. He is due to return to Turkey on Friday, it added but gave no more details. 

HEAD-0503
Ocalan verdict due on May 12 
Tuesday, May 3, 2005


DIPLOMACY  
 All News �â 
  
�â Erdogan: Turkish mediation must be requested 
�â Military chief to visit three Arab states 
�â Turkish Foreign Ministry follows Ataturk�fs peace dictum 
�â Ocalan verdict due on May 12 
�â Papadopoulos: US seeks substantial initiative 
  
  
 
* 
* 

*

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News


  The European Court of Human Rights is expected to issue a verdict on May 12 that could make way for the retrial of the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey, the Anatolia news agency said yesterday. 

  The agency, quoting sources at the Council of Europe, said that the Committee of Ministers of the Council would have a discussion on whether Ocalan should be retried by Turkish judges if the court decided that the right of free trial had been violated in Ocalan's case . 

  The committee is supervising the Strasbourg-based court's decisions and a discussion about Ocalan's case is expected to take a long time. The European Court's rulings are binding on all 46 members of the Council of Europe, the continent's top human rights watchdog. 

  The case is being watched closely by the European Union as well, to which Turkey has been aspiring to eventually join at the end of accession talks set to begin in October.  

  Ocalan was arrested in a Turkish commando raid in Kenya in 1999 and is serving out a life term as the sole inmate at ?mrali, an island prison near Istanbul. He took his appeal case to Strasbourg in 1999 after he was tried, convicted and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to life in prison in 2002 when Turkey abolished capital punishment.  

  The matter is controversial for the Turkish government, particularly due to the fact that it wants to live up to European human rights standards while dealing with an escalating discourse of nationalist-conservative sentiment within the country. 

HEAD-0503
Dr.Cuneyt Ulsever: Harsh reactions to my article of last week! 
Tuesday, May 3, 2005


OPINIONS  
 All News �â 
  
�â Powers, privileges and responsibilites 
(Yusuf KANLI) 
�â Mardin ... Mardin 
(Ay?e OZGUN) 
�â Erdogan doesn't want to create a legend 
(Mehmet Ali BIRAND) 
�â Harsh reactions to my article of last week! 
(Dr.Cuneyt ULSEVER) 
�â Look who's talking: France 
(Gunduz AKTAN) 
  
  
 



Dr.Cuneyt ULSEVER
  Last week, I wrote on the same topic both in the Turkish Daily News (April 26) and Hurriyet (April 27). 

  In both of the articles I said: 

  (i) There are rumors in Ankara that allege that in Turkey, squeezed as it is between the United States and its Islamic neighbors and scared that it may be forced to intervene in Syria or even Iraq through its membership of NATO, advisors to the Prime Ministry have proposed that it be �gconsidered�h an option to pull out of NATO if needs be in any such event. 

  (ii) The United States, uneasy with Turkey which is unable to make up its mind, started looking at other �goptions�h for its plans on behalf of NATO. 

  (iii) Given this complicated situation and seeing that Turkish-U.S. relations are severely hurt, there are those shameless people who, under the shady clouds in Ankara, can even consider �gintervening with the government.�h 

  The prime minister made a speech emphasizing the importance of Turkish-U.S. relations the same day my article was published in Hurriyet and his office issued a memorandum the next day, with very harsh imputations, negating the rumor that alleged Turkey might consider pulling out of NATO. 

  The memorandum also said everything I wrote in the same article was a lie. 

  According to the memorandum, I was misinforming the public and I was serving as a puppet to those �gobscure desires�h that aim to demolish Turkish-U.S. relations. 

   The prime minister, in his chat with some journalists, himself also implied that I am a �gtraitor�h working against the benefits of the country. 

  The same day I learned about the denial memorandum from the prime minister's office, I personally called U.S. officials in Ankara and asked them if they wanted to deny any parts of �gmy allegations�h concerning them as well. 

  They said that, on behalf of my articles, they have nothing to deny or refute concerning the sections that talked about the United States (Clause (ii) above). 

  Obviously, they did not know about the rumors. 

  But, it was clear that they felt very uneasy with the Turkish government's ambiguity concerning the Middle East policies of the United States. 

  I would also like to inform the readers of the TDN that the prime minister, who now thinks I may be �ga traitor�h and possibly working for the United States, did not think in that way before when he was accused on similar grounds and put into jail relatively recently. 

   While those columnists with whom he is now very close considered him as �gdangerous,�h it was me who belonged to the very small minority who struggled for his rights and his freedom. 

  It was me who stood by his side. 

  It was also me who was put on various trials demanding imprisonment for protecting his rights. 

  It was my articles that he used in some of his speeches. 

  It was me who interviewed him the first time and published the interview in Hurriyet notwithstanding severe criticism from within my own newspaper. 

  Prime minister, was I a �gtraitor�h then, releasing disinformation under the surveillance of obscure desires or did I become a traitor afterwards? 

  Prime minister, do you wonder why I stand at a distance in your glory days though I stood by you during your hard days?  

   

HEAD-0503
Look who's talking: France 
Tuesday, May 3, 2005


OPINIONS  
 All News �â 
  
�â Powers, privileges and responsibilites 
(Yusuf KANLI) 
�â Mardin ... Mardin 
(Ay?e OZGUN) 
�â Erdogan doesn't want to create a legend 
(Mehmet Ali BIRAND) 
�â Harsh reactions to my article of last week! 
(Dr.Cuneyt ULSEVER) 
�â Look who's talking: France 
(Gunduz AKTAN) 
  
  
 

Turkey has never accepted the allegation that the Ottomans had massacred the Armenians. This is because those members of the security forces that abused the Armenians and the bandits that massacred the Armenians were court martialled and sentenced 

Gunduz AKTAN
  Le Monde devoted more than two pages of its April 24 issue to news reports and articles on the Armenian issue. It also gave a background along the following lines (p. 6): 

  �gWhile the war that led to the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire was taking place the ruling Young Turks Party decided to deport the Armenian population (those in the West as well as those in the East) to Mesopotamia and the Syrian deserts in order to ensure ethnic homogenization and also because it suspected of Armenians cooperation with the Russians. The operation that began on April 24, 1915 put on the road women, children and men over 45 in a way that would lead them slowly but certainly to their death. Males under 45 (?) and the representatives of the (Armenian) elite were arrested and killed. Haroutioun Raymond Kevorkian, a historian, says, �eThe large majority of males over 12 were destroyed by the end of May 1915.' On the basis of the official Ottoman figures that historian says that between July and November 1916 197,000 people were massacred at the concentration camps set up at Zor, Syria. 

  �gTwo million Armenians once lived in the Ottoman Empire. Historians prove, on the basis of the archival documents, including those of the Ottomans, that 1.6 million of these people were deported and that 1.5 million were annihilated in the course of that pre-planned operation. Turkey admits the massacres and the deportation while making references to the war conditions but it lowers the total death toll (to between 250,000-500,000) and rejects the genocide thesis.�h 

  These untruthful allegations were first put forth in 2001 when the French parliament was debating the Armenian genocide bill. Later these came to be repeated on various occasions by the members of media and politicians almost without any change. 

  If the background given by Le Monde had been correct the Armenian incidents would definitely be deemed genocide. However, almost all of the information provided by the newspaper in this issue is wrong. The Armenian population was not two million. The number of those that were forcibly relocated was not 1.6 million. It is not true that 1.5 million people, mostly males, were massacred during the relocation. Not even a single massacre took place at the camps in Syria. And it is a big lie that these pieces of, �ginformation,�h were taken from the Ottoman documents. Why did the Armenians fail to present these documents at the Vienna meeting? 

  Most of the deaths resulted from factors other than the relocation: the main causes of the deaths were the migrations caused by the progress and retreat of the Russian Army, the rebellions, the clashes between groups of civilians and diseases. Although they were not relocated the Turks lost more people due to the same causes during the period in question. 

  There is no doubt that the armed Armenian militiamen were collaborating with the Russians. In fact, did not the Paris Peace Conference grant the Armenians the status, �gone of the warring parties,�h at the instigation of Bogos Nubar Pasha? 

  The forcible relocation of the Armenians was not planned in advance. The relocation was not staged with the intent to destroy. The relocation decision was taken in haste when the Armenian rebels killed some 30,000 Turks in Van and the Ottoman Army met with a disaster at Sarikamis. 

  Forcible relocation and deportation are different things. �gMilitary requirement,�h has always been a legitimate cause for forcible relocation (see Article 17 of the Supplementary Protocol No. 2 of the Geneva Convention). Relocation began in eastern and southern Anatolia and then, after the ground war began in Gallipoli, was extended to Armenians living in some of the western regions as well. 

  Turkey has never accepted the allegation that the Ottomans had massacred the Armenians. This is because those members of the security forces that abused the Armenians and the bandits that massacred the Armenians were court martialled and sentenced. 

  In the April 24 issue of Le Monde Vincent Duclert pointed out that �gthere is a difference between historical research and judicial judgments�h and advised the Armenian diaspora not to persist in using the term, �ggenocide,�h (p. 12). In other words, he is telling them, �gContinue to say anything you like about the past but avoid the law.�h 

  When one looks at the Le Monde of the previous day from the window of the analysis of content method developed by the Historical Psychology school, one discerns the intention of the French thanks to a key sentence: �gChina is exploiting Japan's feelings of guilt.�h The article that had that title brings to mind the possibility that the French are trying to inspire similar feelings in our, �gintellectuals.�h Duclert says that �ggreat novelist�h Orhan Pamuk has taken �gan enormous step�h and that (while all of Turkey is against that) it is an honor for the Turkish intellectuals to admit the Armenian genocide. 

  Bravo, France! 

    


SCAN-0503 ... Turkish press yesterday 
Tuesday, May 3, 2005


PRESS SCANNER  
 All News �â 
  
�â Turkish press yesterday 
�â From the columns 
  
  
 




  

Turkish press yesterday 

  The highlight of Turkish newspapers yesterday was the prime minister's significant visit to Israel and his bilateral talks with his Israeli counterpart. 

  Among the other stories featured by the press was reaction to a Swiss court's ruling against a Turkish historian; an exclusive interview with the German chancellor and May Day festivities across Turkey.  

  

Swiss court's verdict on Halaco?lu draws wrath

  Historians reacted adversely to a Swiss court's verdict against Turkish History Association (TTK) Chairman Professor Yusuf Halaco?lu, who denies the alleged Armenian genocide. The right to deny the so-called genocide is banned in Switzerland.  

  �gThis decision is an intervention in the field of science by politicians and lawyers. It's unacceptable,�h Professor Halil Berktay said. 

  �gIt's not possible for a Swiss court to punish Halaco?lu. Despite this, if the court rules against him, then Halaco?lu can apply to the European Court of Human Rights and get rich,�h former Ambassador Gunduz Aktan said. 

  Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul expressed his anger at the Swiss court's ruling and said the verdict was preventing the freedom of expression. 

  �gHow can you ban statements made by a historian?�h the minister asked, and claimed such an approach adopted by Switzerland was the same as in primitive societies. 

  

Mentality should change   

  German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder conveyed a series of messages by means of daily Milliyet prior to his visit to Turkey, which is scheduled to begin today. 

  �gNegotiations for full membership will open on Oct. 3. This is a political accomplishment, which became possible with the impressive performance displayed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,�h the German chancellor said. 

  �gNow it is necessary to implement the reforms,�h he said, and drew attention to the shift in mentality. 

  He warmly welcomed Erdogan's proposal to set up a joint commission with Armenia to discuss the so-called genocide allegations and added he was aware, as a German, that discussing the sad incidents of the past was a humanitarian duty.   

  

Dialogue with Israel 

  There has been no response from Israel to Turkey's message to act a mediator concerning the problems in the Middle East; however, the prime ministers of both countries will cooperate against terror through a hotline, Radikal reported. 

  While beginning his visit to Israel over the weekend, Erdogan said Turkey could act as a mediator for a settlement to the Middle East problems and that after his talks in Israel Turkey was ready to assist in any peace efforts.  

  Erdogan visited Israel with a crowded delegation consisting of ministers, deputies, bureaucrats and 100 businessmen. Erdogan and his Israeli counterpart, Ariel Sharon, gave messages of friendship and agreed upon �ga direct telephone line�h for constant dialogue. 

  Zaman also featured the meeting between Erdogan and Sharon and quoted the Israeli premier as saying that Erdogan impressed him.  

  Yeni ?afak headlined the statements of Erdogan, who said he was in Israel to contribute to the peace efforts in the Middle East. 

  In the meantime, Israeli Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres said Erdogan's visit showed it was possible both to be a Muslim and to establish friendly relations with Israel, Sabah reported in an exclusive interview. 

  Peres characterized Erdogan as a �glong-distance runner�h and said Erdogan can undertake the mission of being a messenger of peace. �gHe can play a vital role in destroying Islam's taboos as regards the modern world,�h he said. 

  Peres said there were two models in the Islamic world: the model of Turkey and the model of Iran; adding that he considered Turkey as a model proving faith and modern life can co-exist in harmony. 

  

Thousands of workers rush to squares on May Day 

  Cumhuriyet headlined the traditional May Day celebrations throughout Turkey and said that tens of thousands of workers rushed to squares to emphasize that the social and economic policies pursued by the government led to poverty and hunger. 

  The newspaper said the demonstrators in Istanbul chanted slogans against the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), while workers in Izmir called for an improvement in working conditions and for an end to anti-labor policies. 

  Milliyet said the largest demonstration was in Istanbul where more than 50,000 people gathered in Kad?koy while police detained 59 people in Istanbul who illegally staged protests in Taksim. In Van and Adana, police did not allow protestors to provoke the demonstrations. 

    


SCAN-0503 ... From the columns 
Tuesday, May 3, 2005

PRESS SCANNER  
 All News �â 
  
�â Turkish press yesterday 
�â From the columns 
  
  
 




  

From the columns: 

  Turkish columnists yesterday wrote about historic U.S. links to the so-called Armenian genocide claims coming to light as well as the bilateral relations between Turkey and Armenia, which depend on a possible deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the Nagorno Karabakh problem. 

  

Missionary activities play role in creation of imaginary genocide:   

  Hurriyet's Ozdemir ?nce said the United States was on the agenda once again regarding the alleged Armenian genocide, and asked whether President George W. Bush would use the term �gArmenian genocide�h in any statement he may make? 

  ?nce said the Turks were almost used to this. U.S. politicians make pledges of recognizing the so-called genocide to receive the support of the Armenian lobby before the presidential elections and then they don't keep their promises. �gSuch a stance makes the Turks happy, while it makes the Armenians angry,�h ?nce said. 

  He went on to say that Bush did not use the term �ggenocide�h this year but emphasized that the U.S. Senate was on the verge of recognizing the claims. 

  �gAlso, the United States was using the alleged genocide as leverage in negotiations on the use of the ?ncirlik air base and warned Turkey to fulfill its requests. Otherwise, it threatened Turkey that it must recognize the alleged genocide,�h he said, noting that Turkey had bowed to the U.S. request [to use the airbase]. Both countries reached a deal on the issue and ?nce asked, �gWho knows what will happen next year.�h 

  ?nce announced that a comprehensive book entitled �gABD'nin Guney Kafkasya Politikas? Olarak Ermenistan Sorunu, 1919-1921�h (The Armenian Question and U.S. policy on the South Caucasus, 1919-1921) was published by Professor Nur?en Maz?c? and said U.S. involvement in the issue stemmed from the widespread and influential Armenian lobby in the United States. 

  He said Protestant missionaries especially played a key role in the creation of the imaginary genocide and added Maz?c? mentioned the American documents revealing that the missionary activities incited the Armenian rebellions first and then influenced the U.S. administration for the foundation of an Armenian state.   

  

Developments in the Caucasus impact Turkish-Armenian relations: 

  Hurriyet's Ferai T?nc said mutual letters and messages between Ankara and Yerevan did not bring the expected result.   

  Mentioning Turkey's proposal to set up a �gjoint commission�h to research the genocide allegations, she said Armenia placed priority on the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. 

  She said Turkish-Armenian relations should not only be restricted by the genocide, adding that  it was impossible to separate the course of the relations from developments in the Caucasus. 

  �gWhile discussing the genocide issue, we ignored the Caucasian front. What's happening in the Caucasus?�h she asked and touched upon the Nagorno Karabakh dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan. 

  She said tension escalated in the region at a time when Baku and Yerevan were ready for reconciliation and drew attention to a drastic increase in the number violations in the ceasefire border zones determined through an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 1994. 

  She said the upcoming elections in Azerbaijan and Armenia may become an obstacle in the way of possible settlement and concluded that without progress in the Caucasus, one should not expect Yerevan to lend an ear to Ankara's proposals. 

  

Let's become optimistic: 

  Sabah's Ergun Babahan said, as some claimed, Turkey was not proceeding along a dark path. 

  �gAfter the quickest reform process in recent times, Turkey's slowing down is drawing criticism from both inside and outside the country. Of course, every ruling party is criticized but this deceleration process made certain circles in the country even happier,�h he said. 

  He said these circles were assuming an attitude as if they would be happy if the government's plan became abortive, if people remained unemployed and the plants were closed.   

  �gThe summit held last week in Istanbul was a good example. Four or five years ago, our ministers were expressing their contentment at meeting third or fourth-level officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but now both the World Bank and the IMF attend such meetings with their top-level representatives.�h 

  He said insistently putting an emphasis on the shortcomings and problems in Turkey had a bad impact upon investors and entrepreneurs. 

  

Sparring of concepts: 

  Milliyet's Taha Akyol quoted Higher Education Board (YOK) Chairman Professor Erdogan Tezic as saying that the chief justice of the constitutional court had merely expressed a legal fact on the headscarf controversy. 

  �gSome newspapers even ran headlines that read that the chief justice had expressed the �eholy' truth,�h he said. 

  �gAs I attach importance to concepts, I called Mr. Tezic to talk about the issue. He said the word he used as �elegal' was interpreted to mean �eholy' and stressed it was not possible for him to use the word �eholy.' He said the judicial decisions on the headscarf were definite and this was a legal fact, clarifying that the ban [on headscarves] was legal, not holy,�h Akyol said.   

  He said the law was binding and not �gholy�h in the secular system, and added that the headscarf ban was a ban that could be abolished. 


(where are 0504 and 0505)

koko
=====================
HEAD-0506
Insurgents kill 24 in wave of Baghdad attacks 
Friday, May 6, 2005



FOREIGN  
 All News �â 
  
�â NY blast jangles nerves as UK votes 
�â EU, Iran nuclear talks near collapse-diplomats 
�â Abbas's Fatah, Hamas face off in election 
�â NYPD launches probe 
�â Jerusalem Greek church severs ties with Patriarch 
�â Insurgents kill 24 in wave of Baghdad attacks 
�â Berlusconi looks to ease Iraq tensions with US 
�â Pakistan closes net after big al Qaeda catch 
�â NY blast jangles nerves as Britain votes 
�â US says 44 rebels killed in Afghan battle 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
  
  
 

Iraq's new cabinet, formally sworn in on Tuesday, is a move Iraqi and U.S. officials hoped would improve stability but squabbling among competing factions had caused a three-month delay in installing the cabinet after the January polls -- a hiatus exploited by the insurgents 

BAGHDAD - Reuters


  Insurgents killed at least 24 people in a wave of ambushes and bomb blasts in Baghdad on Thursday, the latest attacks in a surge of violence that has overshadowed the formation of a new Iraqi cabinet.

  In the deadliest attack, a suicide bomber strapped with explosives blew himself up at an army recruitment center at a former airfield in western Baghdad, killing at least 13 people and wounding 15. Suicide bombers have repeatedly targeted crowds of Iraqis queuing up to join the security forces.

  Gunmen also ambushed a police convoy, shooting dead 10 policemen and then setting their vehicles ablaze, police said.

  And a car bomb was detonated as the deputy interior minister's convoy drove past, killing one of his bodyguards and wounding six people, police said. The official was unhurt.

  Over the past week guerrillas have stepped up their campaign of violence, defying predictions the insurgency would crumble following Jan. 30 elections and the formation of a new cabinet.

  On Wednesday, a suicide bomber killed as many as 60 people in an attack on a Kurdish political party office and police recruitment center in the northern town of Arbil, and a car bomb in southern Baghdad killed nine Iraqi soldiers.

  Iraq's new cabinet was formally sworn in on Tuesday, a move Iraqi and U.S. officials hoped would improve stability.

  But squabbling among competing factions had caused a three-month delay in installing the cabinet after the January polls -- a hiatus exploited by the insurgents.

  Although a cabinet is finally in place, five portfolios have yet to be filled, including the defense and oil ministries, as rival political blocs continue to bicker.

  Government officials said decisions had already been taken on who would take the oil, electricity and human rights ministries, and the full cabinet line-up would be announced as early as Friday once a defense minister was agreed upon.

  

Controversy for US military:

  In a decision likely to stir new controversy over the U.S. military justice system, the 1st Marine Division said no charges would be filed against a Marine who shot three wounded and unarmed Iraqi prisoners in a mosque in Falluja during a major American military offensive there last November.

  One of the shootings was filmed by an NBC journalist. The footage shows an Iraqi prisoner slumped on the floor of the mosque. After yelling that the man was faking death, the Marine shoots him in the head.

  But the 1st Marine Division said the Marine was acting in self-defense as troops had been warned that some insurgents were feigning death or injury and then attacking.

  Meanwhile one of the allies of the U.S., Bulgaria, is moving ahead with plans to end its unpopular troop deployment in Iraq. On Thursday, parliament approved a government plan to cut troop numbers in Iraq by next month and withdraw the country's 450-strong unit completely by the end of the year.

  Several countries that initially provided troops to Iraq have withdrawn their forces over the past two years.



HEAD-0506
 
 �âTOMORROW  
 
Some Headlines
*Romance in London and
*Mothers deserve the best
*Childless woman named Kayseri Mother of the Year
*Atalay opens 'Turkmen and Turkish Friendship in Art' exhibit
*No rose comes without a thorn
*Honorary German award to Turkish academic
*Salvation through sport
*The last hattat of Kayseri
*Mt. Takkeli provides perfect paragliding venue
*Ci?dem Simavi gallery show
*Diplomacy Newsline
*US firm on easing isolation of Turkish Cypriots
*Turkey, Israel cement defense cooperation
*SCOREBOARD
*Turkish FM urges democratic Kyrgyz elections
*Diplomacy Newsline
*Where is Turkey's full EU membership heading?
*Diplomacy Newsline
*Turkish press yesterday
*Students question censorship of the human body
*FINANCELINE
*Home advantage for Sporting in UEFA Cup final
*Roddick pays price for sportsmanship in Rome
*Newsline
*I am woman, hear me roar
*SCOREBOARD
*SCOREBOARD
*BAR still hoping to keep Button despite ban
*Sezer approves police recruitment, political funding laws
*Canada pass first test with win over US 

 
  Today is Friday, May 6 2005 8:04 pm GMT+2   updated at 12:00 P.M.   
 Welcome akiraAyhan 
[My Account] [Edit Account] [Logout] 
 
NYPD launches probe 
Friday, May 6, 2005


FOREIGN  
 All News �â 
  
�â NY blast jangles nerves as UK votes 
�â EU, Iran nuclear talks near collapse-diplomats 
�â Abbas's Fatah, Hamas face off in election 
�â NYPD launches probe 
�â Jerusalem Greek church severs ties with Patriarch 
�â Insurgents kill 24 in wave of Baghdad attacks 
�â Berlusconi looks to ease Iraq tensions with US 
�â Pakistan closes net after big al Qaeda catch 
�â NY blast jangles nerves as Britain votes 
�â US says 44 rebels killed in Afghan battle 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
  
  
 



 New York police were investigating a predawn blast at the British consulate in midtown Manhattan that shattered some windows but caused no injuries, a spokesman said on Thursday.
  "There was a blast at the British consulate," a New York Police Department spokesman told Reuters of the incident that occurred about 4 a.m. EST/0800 GMT as British voters went to the polls in a general election.

  "There were some shattered windows and there are no injuries. We are investigating it," the spokesman added.

  A second police spokesman said later there was minimal damage to the building, with only a door, window and a nearby car damaged.

  Detective Noel Waters said the explosion was caused by a "small device" in or near a large concrete flower box -- typically used in New York to prevent vehicles from driving into buildings.

  Waters said the improvised explosive device in the flower box blew out a chunk of concrete, causing minor damage to the upscale office block. Police were working to determine if there were two such explosions.

  "It sounded like thunder -- two loud bangs," one witness told WINS radio.

  Police, including bomb squad specialists, and fire department officials blocked off the area, just a few blocks from the United Nations. The building is located at 845 Third Avenue, between 51st and 52nd streets.

  The incident, which briefly upset British financial markets, occurred as polls in Britain were opening for the general election but police said it was not known whether the blast was connected to the consulate.

  British voters have been warned that Britain and its interests could be targeted by terrorists during the election campaign. The British Consulate in Istanbul was attacked in November 2003. That attack, and another against a British bank in the same city at the same time, killed the British Consul and 31 others.

  Europeans also remember the attacks in Madrid that killed nearly 200 people on March 11, 2004, and which directly affected the outcome of the Spanish general election three days later.

  Prime Minister Tony Blair is seeking a third term in office after a short election campaign where he battled public anger against his support of the war in Iraq.

 
 
 
HEAD-0506
This soloist ain't singin' the 'work permit blues' .... 
Friday, May 6, 2005


OPINIONS  
 All News �â 
  
�â Dynamism and versatility 
(Yusuf KANLI) 
�â This soloist ain't singin' the 'work permit blues' .... 
(David JUDSON) 
�â Changed roles in Cyprus 
(ALEXIS IRAKLIDES) 
�â Schroeder is wonderful 
(Mehmet Ali BIRAND) 
  
  
 

So please, loyal officials in the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, take care of the more urgent tasks first. Push my application to the back of the line. All I want to do is pay more taxes. I�fm happy to wait as long as you would like. 

David JUDSON
  As the ongoing work-permit skirmish between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the bureaucracy continues, I'd like to add my own modest anecdote. As the American expression goes, I don't have a dog in the fight. I would, however, be quite happy to more than double the taxes I pay to the Turkish Treasury. If only the Ministry of Labor and Social Security would give me permission.

  Let me explain. I am the managing editor, or �ggenel koordinator�h in Turkish parlance, of Referans, Turkey's business daily. I am an American citizen, all the way back to the House of Burgesses on one side of the family, lineage to the founder of Ali Babacan's alma mater on the other. I am unambiguously a foreigner in the process of securing work documents in Turkey. I've been in and out of Turkey for more than three decades but here pretty much full-time since 2001. First as a consultant to an American university and since September, with the paper. I have a residency permit, (those are essentially for sale these days if you are from what the rules designate as a �gClass 1�h country). And working as a consultant is permitted, as long as you pay the 18 percent value-added tax and manage your money outside the Turkish banking system. So this is how I joined the Do?an Group. Yes, I have this title in the pages of the paper, or on my business card, or when I speak on television. But down on the third floor of this building, in the Human Resources Department, I am on the books as a �gconsultant.�h 

  But it hardly comports with a role as manager of a staff of 80 to pay half the tax rates that are their lot in life and to manage one's money offshore. So the very first week here, we set out to change my status. Which in fact amounts to know more than swapping the word �ggenel koordinator�h for �gdan??man�h on an Excel spreadsheet housed downstairs. As I already have legal permission to work and manage a daily newspaper, the only real effect is to enable the government to collect the typical 40 percent or so of a salaryman's wage instead of the modest 18 percent. And yet what a saga it has been. 

  For while the lone concrete result of a �gwork permit�h will be to at least double my taxes, it has now been some eight months that we have been struggling with this. First the round of documents, from the muhtar registration to marriage certificate. All, of course, have to be translated. This is a cottage industry in itself. That the official translation is scarcely intelligible apparently doesn't matter as long as all the fees are paid and stamps are in place. Time dragged on. An initial set of documents was lost in Ankara. Rediscovered, the process resumed. The phone call chase is a particular novelty. One is asked to call one office, then another until at the end of the exercise one is given a number that no one even bothers to answer. But no problem; I don't have to actually do this myself. 

  And then several months into this process, it was decided my university degree was needed. I actually haven't even seen it since I received it in 1979. In an interesting and successful career in the United States that involved some eight or nine newspaper employers, no one ever asked for it. And the job I do here in Turkey does not require a university degree. If I were seeking to perform open-heart surgery or design an earthquake-resistant building, a demand for my credentials would be understandable. But it is one of the many virtues of the newspaper business that it mandates no formal certification. OK, the Soviet Union used to license journalists, but those days are over. But never mind, for $35 and cargo fees, the University of California produced a duplicate of the original, which is buried in a storage bin someplace in suburban Washington. 

  And then that needed to be translated, too. So far just the little fees, the �gnoter tasti?i�h or the �gresmi tercume�h or yet another photograph have totaled something approaching 400 YTL. And last week I was notified yet another fee had to be deposited in an account at Ziraat Bank: 71.30 YTL. Why not a straight-up 71 YTL or 72 YTL? Alas it is not in my station to question such things. I took care of the bill on Monday. The costs are hardly outrageous. And for that matter they are covered by the company. And perhaps unlike some foreigners, an assistant stalks the ministry and a back-up team of human resources experts and company lawyers checks the fine print in every new batch of paperwork we bundle into a cargo envelope for Ankara. As I say, I am not complaining.  

  So please, loyal officials in the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, take care of the more urgent tasks first. Push my application to the back of the line. All I want to do is pay more taxes. I'm happy to wait as long as you would like.

  *David Judson is the managing editor of Referans, Turkey's leading business and economics daily. Write him at: davidjudson@referansgazetesi.com.


SCAN-0506 ... Turkish press yesterday 
Friday, May 6, 2005


PRESS SCANNER  
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�â Turkish press yesterday 
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  The German chancellor's visit to Turkey, Parliament Speaker Bulent Ar?nc's statements on the headscarf ban and a suicide bomb that killed 60 people in the northern Iraq city of Arbil made the headlines in yesterday's Turkish dailies. 

  Newspapers also featured a new amendment proposal for the new Criminal Procedures Law (CMK) regulating the eligibility of lawyers to represent certain criminals. 

  

Schroeder declares support for Turkish Cyprus: 

  German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said the European Union should take steps to ease the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots, who voted last year in favor of a U.N. reunification plan that was rejected by the Greek Cypriots, reported Radikal. 

  Daily Hurriyet reported Schroeder as saying that Turkey should sign the protocol extending Turkey's Association Agreement with the EU to Greek Cyprus, which Turkey does not recognize. �gThe protocol should be signed before Oct. 3, when the EU is scheduled to open membership talks with Turkey,�h said Schroeder, adding, �gThe EU should do its part to ensure the start of accession talks with Turkey is on time.�h 

  �gThe EU should keep its promise on the issue of Cyprus,�h Milliyet quoted the chancellor under its headline. �gThe Turkish Cypriots who said �eyes' to the Annan plan should not be punished. The EU should keep its promise to provide financial support to them,�h said Schroeder.

  Concerning President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Erdogan's request for support from Germany on the issue of the alleged Armenian genocide, the chancellor said he cannot promise to stop the opposition bid in the German Parliament. Schroeder's citing of a German proverb implying that there was little to do �gon the high seas and in parliaments�h was widely reported by the dailies. 

  Daily Cumhuriyet reported that Schroeder both warned and praised Turkey in its reform process and for keeping the EU standards in mind. Among the issues on which Schroeder issued warnings were police treatment of demonstrators, the limitation of freedom of expression and discrimination against women in Turkey. 

  Reporting on the same issue, daily Yeni ?afak featured the economic aspects of Schroeder's visit and said that big German companies are preparing to launch very important investments in Turkey. 

   

 
 
Turkish press yesterday II 
Friday, May 6, 2005


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Ar?nc speaks again: 

  Parliament Speaker Bulent Ar?nc, in the news again for making controversial comments, said on Wednesday, �gThe deputies and parties that tried to push out Merve Kavakc?, a former deputy of the now-defunct Virtue Party (FP) in 1999, have remained outside of Parliament,�h reported daily Milliyet and Hurriyet. 

  Protests erupted against Kavakc? in Parliament's General Assembly for having attended sessions wearing a headscarf. Deputies from the Democratic Left Party (DSP), which led the coalition government, were first to criticize her. The party was unable to exceed the election threshold in the Nov. 3, 2002 elections. 

  Ar?nc was previously involved in an exchange of words with Constitutional Court Chief Judge Mustafa Bumin, first on the headscarf ban and then on the authority of Parliament and the Constitutional Court. 

  

Suicide bomb kills 60 in Arbil: 

  A suicide bomber struck the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) office in Arbil, which also serves as a police recruiting center, when he walked up to the building and blew himself up, killing 60 and injuring 150, reported dailies. 

  Yeni ?afak featured the news under the headline, �gBarzani hit in his house.�h Massoud Barzani is the leader of the KDP. Iraqi militant group Army of Ansar al-Sunna, which the U.S. State Department has described as having links to Osama Bin Laden's  al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack. 

  Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, condemning the incident, called Barzani to convey his condolences, reported daily Zaman. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Iraqi government has been offered help by Ankara to treat those injured in the attack. 

  In an attack last year the Arbil offices of both the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) were targeted where 117 people were killed, reported Yeni ?afak. 

  

A big mistake: 

  A new amendment proposal for the Criminal Procedures Law (CMK) regulating the eligibility of lawyers to represent certain criminals made the lead story in daily Radikal. According to the amendment, lawyers who are suspected of having committed a crime will not be eligible to represent clients being tried for a similar crime. 

  The daily reported the rationale behind the law as a means of preventing lawyers for terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan from transmitting messages to the organization or to the public. 

   


SCAN-0506 ... From the columns 
Friday, May 6, 2005


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�â Turkish press yesterday 
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  Speaker of Parliament Bulent Ar?nc's recent remarks and verbal exchange with Constitutional Court Chief Judge Mustafa Bumin concerning the headscarf ban and the legal authority of both Parliament and the Constitutional Court dominated the columns yesterday. 

  The controversy was sparked after Bumin said any attempt to lift the headscarf ban is bound to fail because of separate rulings from both the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights. 

  

Mr. 'Capable of Everything' 

  Milliyet's Melih A??k highlights the verbal brawl between Bumin and Ar?nc and says that instead of using the top judge's remarks as an excuse with their voters for their inability to lift the headscarf ban, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the parliamentary speaker, who is also an AKP member, chose to attack Bumin. 

  Replying to journalists' questions, Ar?nc adopted a firm line and challenged Bumin by saying, �gParliament is capable of doing anything,�h reported A??k. 

  Criticizing Ar?nc's challenging attitude, A??k asks, �gCan the parliament you say is capable of doing anything resist enacting laws that were dictated by the European Union, the United States and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)?�h 

  

Quarrel at the top of state 

  Milliyet's Derya Sazak also focuses on the same issue and says Ar?nc kept silent when the headscarf issue created a crisis in the very early days of the AKP tenure. 

  �gHe broke his silence recently when he proposed annuling a parliamentary decision to regard Greece's expansion of its territorial waters to 12 miles as �ecasus belli',�h says Sazak adding that Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, who said the government has no such agenda, didn't back his proposal. 

  Sazak says that Ar?nc wasn't backed by the AKP or Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at his second attempt to intervene. Concerning the parliament speaker's statement on the authority of Parliament and on lifting the headscarf ban, Erdogan said the country and he has no such agenda. 

  Ar?nc's statements are even interpreted as being similar to former Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, who said, �gParliament could install an Islamic regime if that is what the people wanted,�h reports Sazak. 

  The Office of the Chief of General Staff, the Constitutional Court, the Higher Education Board (YOK) and main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal issued statements similar to those issued on the eve of military coups, says Sazak. 

  Sazak added that the ruling AKP is itself composed of a coalition of different forces and says it is unclear which of those forces would take control of the AKP if Erdogan is elected president in 2007.

   

From the columns II 
Friday, May 6, 2005


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'Secularism not issue for discussion': 

  Radikal's Nuray Mert also remarks on Ar?nc's statements and says that the Parliament speaker's remarks were problematic. 

  �gWhat Ar?nc said in defense of �edemocracy' created more problems than benefit,�h says Mert, adding, �gBecause of the use of controversial language and sensitive subject matters, the debate on democracy always comes to a dead end.�h 

  Mert says the concepts of the �grepublic�h and �gdemocracy�h have been creating tension on the streets. Natural tension should be in relation to the concepts of �gsecurity�h and �gfreedom�h or between �gsociety�h and �gindividual,�h says Mert. 

  Touching on Chief Judge Bumin's words concerning the ban on the wearing of the headscarf and the principle of secularism, Mert says she herself does not see any contradiction between wearing headscarves and the principles of secularism. �gHowever, I also believe that the secularist structure of the state is not issue for discussion.�h 

  Mert argues that no one has the right to discuss the fundamental and founding principles of a country whenever he or she wants. �gThis cannot be done either by calling for a referendum for an issue paving the way for discussion of a fundamental issue or in any other way.�h





koko
=============================================================================================
HEAD0508
Anniversary of the Great Victory (Sunday, May 8, 2005) ... Petr STEGNIY
May 8 and 9 have been designated by the United Nations as Days of Remembrance and Reconciliation. These are the dates when, 60 years ago, the Nazis were finally defeated and World War II, the bloodiest war in human history, ended. The celebrations that will be held on this occasion in Moscow are due to be attended by heads of state and governments representing more than 50 nations and leading international organizations, including the Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The upcoming event is to contribute to the strengthening of solidarity among the world's nations in the face of the global challenges of the 21st century.

May 9 -- Victory Day -- has a special meaning in Russia. There is hardly a family in our country that has not been scathed by the flames of that war, known in our history as the Great Patriotic War, a war that took from us more than 27 million lives before victory. It was in the face of these grievous ordeals that the people of the Soviet Union manifested the true greatness of the human spirit and the numerous examples of heroism and true patriotism.

World War II was indeed an event of immense magnitude. It was not only a global battle that exceeded in scale all previous armed conflicts in world history. It was not merely about a collision of interests and even not so much the conflict of ideologies: What it was really about was a clash between opposing, irreconcilable approaches to the definition of the human experience. Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Salaspils and other death camps' gas chambers and crematoria have clearly shown what fascism was about and what kind of future its so-called "new order" had in store for the world.

The main outcome of the war has not just been the victory of one coalition of states over the other. In essence, it was the victory of the constructive forces of civilization over the forces of destruction and barbarity, the victory of life over death.

Our duty to the post-war generations is to comprehend and to tell the truth about this immense tragedy of human history. It is not an easy task. Every nation has quite naturally its own vision of the course and the outcome of the war, as well as the extremely complicated international situation of that time. But the moral lessons of the victory over Nazism are common. The memory of millions soldiers who gave their lives fighting for Europe's liberation is sacred. Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at the Auschwitz memorial near the Polish town of Oswiecim on Jan. 27, 2005, described deeply immoral attempts to re-write the history of the war by treating equally the victims and their hangmen, the liberators and the occupiers.

The logic of history is often tragic, sometimes controversial. Making judgments on the turbulent past according to today's political conjuncture leads nobody anywhere because of many reasons, but mainly because it brings political events out of their historical context. Of course, reassessment of recent and sometimes distant history becomes crucial for national self-identification. In the course of democratic transformation our country reassessed negative aspects of its totalitarian past, including fundamental and impartial condemnation of the Secret Protocols to the Molotov -- Ribbentrop Pact and the Katyn tragedy. But the main criterion for analysis of an historic process has always been its outcome. It should not be forgotten either that most of the states who claim no difference between the Nazi atrocities and Soviet occupation thereafter, exist today within their ethnic boundaries, guaranteed by the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, not in spite of, but rather because of the new Russia that was among the first former Soviet republics to declare its sovereignty on June 12, 1990, and thus paved the road to the independence of others.

The war turned out to be the greatest tragedy for the nations of Europe and the world. Neither did Turkey manage to avoid completely its aftermath. Let me mention just one episode from the memories of the diplomats of the Soviet Embassy in Ankara. S. A. Vinogradov, the then Soviet ambassador to Turkey, was on vacation in Moscow when Hitler's armies invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. It was during these hard days that he had a meeting with Joseph Stalin, who then asked him a single question, "Is it possible that Turkey will enter the war on Hitler's side?" The firm answer of this rather young (then just over thirty years old), yet experienced diplomat who realized the full burden of his responsibility, was "no." History has proved that this answer was indeed based on his deep knowledge of Turkey's internal situation and the international reality of the time. Under the most complicated conditions of the era spanning 1939 to 1945, the Turkish government pursued the policy of neutrality, finally acceding to the Anti-Hitler Coalition in 1945 and thus joining themselves among the founding members of the United Nations. Upon the end of the war, Ambassador Vinogradov was decorated with the nation's highest award -- the Order of Lenin.

The establishment of the Anti-Hitler Coalition can be quite rightfully called the greatest diplomatic breakthrough of the time. The coalition became an example of the states of different ideologies and political systems rallying in the face of a common mortal danger. Today, 60 years on, there is no need for us to simplify or embellish history. Each of the Anti-Hitler Coalition member states pursued its own goals with its own national interests. Their mutual trust was not achieved easily. But still they managed to overcome their differences and put aside all that was non-essential, for the sake of achieving their principal task: the common victory. A common understanding united the opponents of Nazism that evil had to be resisted jointly and that no effort was to be spared for that, allowing no compromises, no concessions or separate deals. This lesson remain no less relevant today.

This experience of such brotherhood-in-arms during the war years has its particular significance today, when humanity is being globally challenged by yet another threat: international terrorism. This new enemy is no less dangerous, no less cunning, no less merciless than the Nazis; thousands of innocent people have already become its victims. The foundations of civilization themselves are once again threatened.

Just as it was 60 years ago, the only way to cope with that kind of threat today is through solidarity and mutual trust. Double standards with regard to terrorists are as unacceptable as the attempts to rehabilitate the fascists' accomplices. Giving terrorists a public platform for stating their man-hating views is as immoral and unnatural for contemporary Europe as the parades of former Waffen S.S. members in the countries claiming adherence to democratic values.

Our primary duty towards those who shed their blood for the salvation of mankind from fascism is to put an end to the further dissemination of the ideas of intolerance, racial, national, religious superiority, which often hide the ambitions for global dominance and provide the ground for new potential threats. The unity among the anti-terrorist nations, the harmonious development of relations between various ethnic and confessional groups, their mutual tolerance and respect, the preservation of cultural diversity, the development of open, constructive dialogue of civilizations -- these are the prerequisites for our victory over the forces of hatred and extremism.

The desire to deliver humanity from the scourge of war for good inspired the nations of the Anti-Hitler Coalition to establish the United Nations as a global mechanism for safeguarding peace and security. Its charter has become a generally recognized basis for contemporary international law and a fundamental code of conduct for states and international organizations. The principles and standards of the U.N. Charter, which stood the test of the Cold War, are today the basis for the emerging new world order of security and justice for the era of globalization.

It is a good old tradition among the nations of the former Soviet Union to meet on May 9 and to raise a toast to the sacred Victory Day holiday and to pay tribute to the memory of those who fought for our countries' independence and for the liberators of Europe from the fascist plague. 

For some people, especially the veterans, this holiday also has a very intimate, personal meaning. Sadly, they are slowly departing from us, and I'd like to avail myself of this chance to express my deepest gratitude to the Turkish companies and nongovernmental organizations that have made the necessary arrangements for a trip to Antalya for a group of Russian war veterans. No doubt this gesture will receive the highest appreciation in the heart of any Russian and it will also be a symbol of the new period in the history of political, economic and humanitarian contacts between our two countries.


(Not-yet-bellow)


HEAD0508 ... DOMESTIC
Turkish science reform for a new age (Sunday, May 8, 2005)
Turkey's top scientific institution is being reorganized 

ANKARA - TDN Parliament Bureau: The long-neglected Science and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) is undergoing a process of transformation to turn it into a force to boost Turkish science. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), soon after awarding the council its biggest budget ever, has passed a bill through Parliament's General Assembly to free it from the administrative deadlock it has been suffering for decades. 

  The bill amending the TUBITAK law was passed on Wednesday and is awaiting President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's approval. The law changes the name of the council to the Science and Technological Research Council of Turkey. The acronym of the institution will remain the same. 

  TUBITAK is placed under the supervision of the Prime Ministry. The council's powers, medium and long-term objectives, fundamental principles and policies, priorities, performance criteria and the strategies that it will have to follow on planning and resource allocation will be set out by the Prime Ministry in three-yearly programs and will be approved by the Science Board. 

  The Science Board that will take the Prime Ministry's recommendations into account will update strategic plans annually. The Science Board will consist of 14 members and a chairman. Three members will be chosen by the prime minister from among scientific and technological experts, three from Turkey Science Academy (TUBA) members with expertise in social sciences, medical sciences and technical sciences, one from among accomplished people with 10 years' work experience in the public or private sectors, one from the Higher Education Board (YOK), three from the Science Board itself and two from the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB). The board itself will choose one member. The Science Board will have a chairman who will also act as the head of TUBITAK. The presence of eight members will constitute a quorum for meetings and the term of membership will be four years, with the possibility of extension by another four. The same rules apply if one membership becomes vacant due to death or resignation. Members who do not attend regular meetings six times in one year or three consecutive times without an excuse will lose their post. When a membership position becomes vacant, the board will propose a replacement within two months and submit the name for the prime minister's approval. If the board fails to do so, the prime minister will choose the new member from among appropriate candidates. 

  

TUBITAK president chosen by prime minister: 

  The Science Board will propose two candidates as chairman, one from among the board members and one from outside, before submitting the names to the prime minister. The prime minister will chose one and then recommend it to the president. This process will need to be completed at least two months before the end of the term of the current chairman. If the Science Board fails to decide on two candidates for chairmanship, the prime minister can chose one person and recommend the individual as the chairman to the president. If the chairmanship becomes vacant, one of the board members will become the acting chairman until the post is filled. 

  YOK and TOBB will submit their members to the prime minister within two weeks after the law comes into effect. If not, the prime minister will pick their members from among the suitable candidates. The chairman in the first meeting will be the eldest member. 

Intellectual rights: 
TUBITAK's annual budget will consist of allocated funds from the Treasury, revenue from private companies, income generated by discoveries, and sales and production revenues. The property rights of all discoveries, industrial designs, integrated circuit topographies and technical knowledge will belong to TUBITAK. The rights of discoveries made in joint projects with other institutions or companies will be determined in accordance with the contracts signed. TUBITAK may sell or start production on its patents and inventions, and at most 50 percent of the income generated by the inventions will be given to the inventor. The law does not include the article that had given the prime minister the right to appoint all of the Science Board members at once because it was rejected by the Constitutional Court. 

  Last month TUBITAK Vice President Omer Cebeci said the institution's 2005 budget was $450 million, the biggest since the institute's establishment 40 years ago. 

  Cebeci had said the 2005 budget was one-quarter of all the money the institute had received in the past 40 years combined, adding that Turkish scientists would finally start receiving the grants they needed. 

  He had said they formed working groups on defense and space technologies, calling on young academics to prepare for the possibilities. He also asked academics to present them with more projects to provide the institute with a broader pool to choose from. 

HEAD0508
Information, technology play key roles in prosperity 
Sunday, May 8, 2005



DOMESTIC  
 All News �â 
  
�â What lays behind recent harsh remarks made by AKP? 
�â Turkish science reform for a new age 
�â Information, technology play key roles in prosperity 
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�â Science getting a facelift 
  
  
 

At the opening Robot Days at ODTU, Industry and Trade Minister Co?kun urges financial support for research and development investments 

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News


  Industry and Trade Minister Ali Co?kun said the maintenance of growth and general welfare depends on information and technology. 

  In a speech marking the opening of Robot Days at the Middle East Technical University's Culture and Congress Center yesterday, the minister said the world has entered an into an �ginformatics era�h triggered by global competition and stressed the necessity to commercialize newly developed technologies.   

  �gWe need to become a highly competitive country. This will only come to pass with an emphasis on quality, productivity and an emphasis on  brand development,�h he said.   

  Drawing attention to the fact that the share put aside for research and development investments constituted 0.64 percent of the gross national product, Co?kun said the government is working to increase this amount and set aside TL 450 trillion for such investments this year. 

  He mentioned that a total of 17 �gtechnology development zones�h where industries and students jointly produce innovative technologies have been established so far. 

  After his speech, Co?kun watched two robots sumo wrestle. 

HEAD0508
'Turkey can't ignore Iran's nuclear bid' 
Sunday, May 8, 2005


DIPLOMACY  
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�â 'We should dig deep into Iran's nuclear ambitions' 
�â EU process going uphill in countdown for talks 
�â 'Turkey can't ignore Iran's nuclear bid' 
�â Reform process toughening 
�â Iran grumbling about �eunfair treatment�f 
  
  
 

Persia must be stopped 

Elif Unal Arslan

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News


  Turkey should assume a new role in building confidence among regional countries as nearby Iran is locked in a standoff with the international community over its efforts to acquire nuclear power that could be used to produce weapons of mass destruction, said the head of the Political Affairs Committee at the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, Abdulkadir Ate?.

  Ate?, also a Turkish opposition deputy, submitted a report to the council late last month over Iran's nuclear activities. He told the Turkish Daily News that if not stopped, Iran would have the capability of producing nuclear weapons within a maximum of two years. 

  �gClearly, Iran perceives a threat from within this region, and that threat should be removed,�h he said, urging the international community to shift through the motives that led Iran to seek nuclear technology. �gIt seems going ahead with the (nuclear) program has become a matter of honor for Iranians,�h Ate? added, while pointing out mounting U.S.-led pressure on Tehran to cease and desist its nuclear aspirations. 

HEAD0508
Reform process toughening 
Sunday, May 8, 2005


DIPLOMACY  
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�â 'We should dig deep into Iran's nuclear ambitions' 
�â EU process going uphill in countdown for talks 
�â 'Turkey can't ignore Iran's nuclear bid' 
�â Reform process toughening 
�â Iran grumbling about �eunfair treatment�f 
  
  
 



ANKARA ? Turkish Daily News


  Months before Turkey and the European Union are to open accession talks, the mood in both Ankara and Brussels is far from bright, with increasing skepticism of each other's commitment to the membership process.

  From the point of view of the Europeans, a change in Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rhetoric, which some describe as increasingly nationalist, is worrying and the Turkish leader is no longer saying the same things he was saying two years ago. 

  The major fault line appears to be an emerging disagreement over the scope of rights that the EU wants Turkey to grant to Kurds. Erdogan has criticized EU's strong interest in Kurdish rights and even accused Brussels of fanning ethnic nationalism in Turkey. For the EU, improvements in the issue are, in the words of a European diplomat, a �gyardstick to measure democratic freedoms in Turkey."

HEAD0508
Blair back in power but for how long? 
Sunday, May 8, 2005


FOREIGN  
 All News �â 
  
�â Russia's security problems expand across the south as it struggles to defeat militants 
�â Donors warn Uganda 
�â Blair faces tougher economic outlook 
�â Blair back in power -- but for how long? 
�â Blair back in power but for how long? 
  
  
 



LONDON - Reuters


  Tony Blair has only just walked back into No. 10 Downing Street -- but already Britons are asking when he will be out the door.

  Voters handed the prime minister a historic third straight term but with a potentially career-threatening handicap.

  His parliamentary majority was more than halved and he won what looks like the lowest share of the vote for a ruling party in modern times -- denting his authority when he needs it most.

  Powerful finance minister Gordon Brown, 54, is hungry to take over as leader of the center-left Labour Party and Blair, 52, has said he will not stand again, a dynamic that risks turning him into a lame duck leader, analysts said.

  Defeat in a planned 2006 referendum on the European Union constitution could trigger the end of the Blair era. Blair shows no sign of quitting but few analysts expect him to be in power more than two years.

  "If that goes very badly then his authority will be fairly damaged and he could go after that. Otherwise I would expect him to go within two years," said Wyn Grant, politics professor at Warwick University.

  "Once people become aware he is being seen as a lame duck, they will start positioning themselves behind Gordon Brown."

  Blair's return on Friday to the prime minister's London home and office was relatively sombre and a stark contrast to the euphoric scenes of 1997 when he swept to power in a landslide as the youngest British leader since the early 19th century.

  Protests over his integrity and support for the U.S.-led Iraq war, combined with disillusionment after eight years under Labour, prompted many voters to switch allegiance -- cutting Blair's majority to less than 70 seats from 161 before.

  By historical standards, it is a respectable margin in the 646-seat parliament but next to Labour's last two landslides and in the wake of endless speculation about the party leadership, Blair could be pushed into a tight corner. 

HEAD0508
Giants draw swords 
Sunday, May 8, 2005


BUSINESS REPORT  
 All News �â 
  
�â U.S. dollar woes polish gold. But for how long? 
�â Sabanc? versus Koc 
�â Istanbul meetings put Turkey on world agenda 
�â Giants draw swords 
  
  
 

Sabanc?�fs newfound wealth may result in more acquisitions, with Koc Holding on the defensive 

Rag?p Erten

ISTANBUL ? Turkish Daily News


  When banker Husnu Ozye?in decided to sell the Gima shopping chain to Sabanc?'s CarrefourSA over Koc's Migros last week, Koc Holding Chairman Mustafa Koc and Sabanc? Holding leader Guler Sabanc? started a public tit-for-tat over the many industries for which these huge holdings compete. The sale of Gima to Sabanc? Holding appears to have ended the long-lasting peace between the two. 

  Although both sides said the spirit of cooperation between them would continue, there are other possible flash points that might push the two groups towards a confrontation. The affair might have further implications on the near-term future of the Turkish economy, according to financial analysts and industry sources with access to new details. 

  Market-watchers said when Akbank, Sabanc?'s financial flagship, decided to buy back its founders shares last week from its parent Sabanc?, this released $257 million for Sabanc? to use for new purchases. This puts Sabanc? in a favorable position to finalize deals. The Gima acquisition was only the first consequence of this newfound wealth. 

  Last week, after losing Gima, Koc's Retail Group head Omer Bozer, when asked if they had a B plan, was quoted in the press as saying: �gOur only plan is to grow fast until 2010. Purchasing Gima was part of that strategy, but there are other alternatives.�h He did not elaborate on what the alternatives were.  

HEAD0508
Sabanc? versus Koc 
Sunday, May 8, 2005


BUSINESS REPORT  
 All News �â 
  
�â U.S. dollar woes polish gold. But for how long? 
�â Sabanc? versus Koc 
�â Istanbul meetings put Turkey on world agenda 
�â Giants draw swords 
  
  
 
Is Sabanc? on a new shopping spree? 
Supermarket trolley war between two giants drives rumor mill 

Rag?p Erten

ISTANBUL ? Turkish Daily News


  Last week the Turkish public watched in amazement as the country's two largest and well known holding companies dueled with each other over new acquisitions, breaking of alliances and denials of backstabbing. 

  The saga reminded some of a corporate soap opera with leading players Koc Holding Chairman Mustafa Koc playing one role and Sabanc? Holding leader Guler Sabanc? playing the other, haggling over the purchase of supermarket chain Gima owned by banker Husnu Ozye?in in a cameo role. 

  When Ozye?in, at the last minute, chose Sabanc?'s CarrefourSA over Koc's Migros to sell Gima and its discount arm Endi too, a previous and separate pact between the giants on a joint bid to buy Turk Telekom was scrapped. 

  As the public saw this move as tit-for-tat, both sides said it was planned before the Gima clash. But rumors continued. When a financial newspaper published on Friday a story of a hostile move by Sabanc? Holding to outbid Koc Group and Koc's Italian partner for Yap? Kredi Bank, it was swiftly denied. 

  Although both sides said the spirit of cooperation between them would continue, there are other possible flash points on the way that might push the two groups towards a confrontation. The affair might have further implications on the near-term future of the Turkish economy, according to financial analysts and industry sources with access to new details. 

  As both groups aggressively plan for expansion in 2005, Sabanc? is said to have a clear agenda to transform its business portfolio with new acquisitions. Market watchers said when AKBANK, Sabanc?'s financial flagship, last week decided to buy back its founders shares from its parent Sabanc?, this released $257 million for Sabanc? to use for new purchases. This puts Sabanci in a favorable position to finalize deals. 

  The first consequence of this bag full of cash was seen in the Gima acquisition. Analysts said new purchases, either from pending privatization tenders or from the market, might follow. One obvious target in the near term might be TANSA?, another large supermarket chain, owned by Do?us Group. CarrefourSA General Manager Luc de Noirmont said last Thursday they were looking into TANSA? but gave no further details. 

  The sale of TANSA? will probably be a turning point in Turkey's retail scene. Apart from obvious contenders CarrefourSA and Migros, British retailer Tesco is also known to be an aggressive prospect. 

  Market analysts expect Migros to bid for TANSA? although the company denied they were looking into it. If CarrefourSA, after securing Gima, purchases TANSA? it will clearly be a market leader. 

  Koc executives are said to have found the asking price for TANSA? too high. Last week, after losing Gima, Koc's Retail Group head Omer Bozer, when asked if they had a B-plan, was quoted in the press as saying: �gOur only plan is to grow fast until 2010. Purchasing Gima was part of that strategy, but there are other alternatives.�h He did not elaborate on what the alternatives were. 

  On the other hand, if Tesco fails to secure TANSA? it would be very difficult for the British company to enter the Turkish market by opening its own stores as they are not familiar with the business in the country. 

  On the Turk Telekom tender front, despite public assumption the move was a reaction to the Gima affair, market analysts say both sides were drawn apart as May 13, the date to finalize consortia for the tender neared. 

  Sabanc? is said to have been uneasy about the status of GSM operator Avea as its price was not certain. Sabanci was also not seeing eye-to-eye with Koc on the choice of a foreign partner in the consortium, analysts said. 

  When Spanish Telefonica, talking to both Koc and Sabanc?, pulled out over Avea concerns, Koc wanted to be partners with Telecom ?talia (TIM). TIM is a major shareholder in Avea and an aggressive bidder for Turk Telekom but market sources said TIM was not keen to be a partner with two Turkish giants. 

  So, when the two Turkish giants said they were no longer acting together in the Turk Telekom tender, Koc is now expected to bid with TIM. 

   

HEAD0508
Russia's security problems expand across the south as it struggles to defeat militants 
Sunday, May 8, 2005



FOREIGN  
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�â Russia's security problems expand across the south as it struggles to defeat militants 
�â Donors warn Uganda 
�â Blair faces tougher economic outlook 
�â Blair back in power -- but for how long? 
�â Blair back in power but for how long? 
  
  
 

Shocked by an attack last June on police posts in Ingushetia, which borders on Chechnya, and the bloody school seizure in Beslan in September, Russian security forces have intensified the hunt not just for rebel leaders but for rank-and-file militants 

JUDITH INGRAM

VLADIKAVKAZ - The Associated Press


  For more than a decade, Russia concentrated its security firepower in Chechnya, and it still has more than 80,000 soldiers and 12,000 police officers there trying to root out bands of Islamic separatists.

  But the search for militants has expanded all across Russian territories in the northern Caucasus Mountains. Hardly a week goes by without news of security sweeps, detentions, skirmishes and killings of alleged militants in the region's villages and towns.

  Shocked by an attack last June on police posts in Ingushetia, which borders on Chechnya, and the bloody school seizure in Beslan in September, Russian security forces have intensified the hunt not just for rebel leaders but for rank-and-file militants.

Special operations:At least 28 suspected militants were killed in eight special operations outside Chechnya during the first four months of this year alone.

  "It's part of one and the same anti-terrorist campaign," said Alexander Cherkasov of the human rights group Memorial. "It's the result of these five years, when everything was limited to Chechnya, and we haven't managed to keep the terrorists inside there and now it's happening all over."

  Extremism is spreading despite harsh anti-terrorist methods, from targeted killings of rebel leaders such as Aslan Maskhadov to the payment of rewards for information to the demolition of houses where suspected rebels have found refuge.

  In one case, security forces used a tank to knock down a house in Makhachkala, capital of Dagestan, after hundreds of soldiers in smaller armored vehicles and a helicopter gunship failed to root out five gunmen holed up inside.

Law enforcement:"We think such measures cannot be considered excessive if first of all they solve the task of putting down terrorists and, the main thing, minimizing losses among law enforcement. Until recently, we were losing several colleagues in the course of liquidating just one terrorist; we can't allow this," said Vladimir Vasilyev, a former Interior Ministry officer who heads the Russian parliament's security committee.

  Nikolai Shepel, Russia's deputy prosecutor general responsible for the northern Caucasus, said radical Muslim groups scattered through the region are small, typically with no more than 15 to 20 members each. But he said they are all working with a single aim.

  "It's terror with the specific goal of splitting off the North Caucasus in order to create an Islamic caliphate," he said in an interview with The Associated Press in the regional prosecutor's office in Vladikavkaz, capital of North Ossetia.

  He said the groups also have links to international terrorist networks.

Arab mercenaries: 

  An assistant clicked on a captured video showing Maskhadov in a forest with Arab mercenaries -- showing what prosecutors say is an indisputable link between the late Chechen leader and international terrorism.

  "We think it is a network of groups in the North Caucasus that act in a conspiratorial way and the film confirms that they were led by" Maskhadov, Shepel said.

  Such videos, produced by the militants with Arabic sound tracks to try to attract financing for the Chechen rebel cause, are not hard to come by. Even in the Chechen capital, Grozny, which is patrolled heavily by Russian troops, the videos can be found in just about any outdoor market.

  But Shepel said this particular video came from the basement hideout of Abu Dzeit, an Arab and alleged al-Qaeda liaison who was killed by security forces in February three weeks before Maskhadov died in a similar raid.

  The prosecutor plunked a plastic bag full of inch-long metal chunks on the desk, and said they also had been found in homemade, plastic-bottle bombs stored in Dzeit's bunker.

  The fight against rebels inside Chechnya is increasingly being turned over to local law enforcement forces largely recruited from former separatist fighters. Critics accuse them of employing the same methods as the rebels, especially abductions - which also are allegedly used by federal forces.

  Rights advocates say that abductions simply create a new pool of victims who are ripe for rebel recruitment and that the authorities' reliance on force across the south ignores the roots of rebellion: persistent poverty and joblessness, government corruption and police brutality.

  "The federal center needs a new concept of a policy on the North Caucasus," said Alexander Dzadziev, an analyst in Vladikavkaz. "It should set its priority, deciding whether it's more important to fight terrorists or work on social and economic problems, or both simultaneously, if it really doesn't want to lose it."

  He said authorities had to communicate with non-mainstream Muslim groups and recognize that the region's disaffected youth have found hope in fundamentalist Islam, since Muslim charities give them financial help for food and clothes and for education.

  "The government doesn't give them anything," he said.

  

HEAD0508
Box- Iran grumbling about �eunfair treatment�f 
Sunday, May 8, 2005


DIPLOMACY  
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�â 'We should dig deep into Iran's nuclear ambitions' 
�â EU process going uphill in countdown for talks 
�â 'Turkey can't ignore Iran's nuclear bid' 
�â Reform process toughening 
�â Iran grumbling about �eunfair treatment�f 
  
  
 
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News


  Iranian officials in Ankara complain that Tehran is being treated unfairly by the international community for its efforts to produce nuclear power despite having the right to use it for peaceful purposes as a signatory country to an international nuclear nonproliferation treaty. 

  Tehran has come under mounting international pressure, led by the United States, to cease its activities in accessing nuclear power that could be used to produce nuclear weapons. Iran insists its actions are for the peaceful use of nuclear energy in a number of fields such as agriculture and electricity generation. 

  �gThe United States is politicizing the matter in the case of Iran because it does not put pressure on other countries that have nuclear power, such as Pakistan or Israel,�h Kemal Amirbeik, second secretary of the Iranian Embassy in Ankara, told to the Turkish Daily News.

  �gThis is unjust treatment of Iran,�h said Amirbeik. He added that his country was hopeful talks with three major European Union countries would produce a compromise among all related parties. 

HEAD0508
Istanbulite pickpockets and Gucci bags 
Sunday, May 8, 2005


OPINIONS  
 All News �â 
  
�â Anniversary of the Great Victory 
(Petr STEGNIY) 
�â The Armenian problem (II) 
(Yusuf KANLI) 
�â Istanbulite pickpockets and Gucci bags 
(Elif SAFAK) 
�â A Bird's Eye View 
(Advena AVIS) 
�â From peshmerga to president: Jalal Talabani 
(YUKSEL SOYLEMEZ) 
  
  
 
Opinion by Elif ?AFAK 


Elif SAFAK
  Recently an American colleague traveled to Istanbul for fieldwork in Gender & Sociology and came back to the United States with most beautiful memories, most beautiful presents and having her money stolen. 

  �gCan you believe this? It all happened while promenading blissfully along the most crowded, most vibrant street in Istanbul. They cut the bottom of my handbag, carved out a huge hole there and gingerly pulled my purse out, and I didn't notice a thing!�h she frowned as she showed me what was once a Gucci leather bag but now a dazzling avant-garde design developed by Istanbulite pickpockets, some sort of a hybrid creation of antagonistic cultures and lifestyles. �gWhat I don't understand is, if they were so professional at what they were doing, why didn't they simply steal the bag?�h 

  That helped me to realize: apparently, the Gucci-something-bag had much more value than all the money inside her purse could ever amount to. 

  �gThey don't need the bag,�h I shrugged. �gWe have just as good imitations everywhere in Turkey. Fake Guccis, fake Pradas, you name it, whichever you fancy, you will find an exact replica.�h

  Gucci, Burberry, Nike, Lacoste, whatever, makes no difference�c Turkish street vendors have them in plenty. Is there a particular brand you were secretly pining for but could not afford to buy, no worries, just take a walk, meet the streets, before long you will find what you were looking for in the hands of a street vendor, at a cost definitely lower than the price tag on the original item, and if you know how to bargain, for even less than that. 

  Hearing the ease with which her bag could be imitated in Turkey seemed to make the professor more distressed than having her purse stolen, so I tried to give a better explanation: �gYou see, it is almost a cultural phenomenon. We are good at this.�h 

  �gYou mean you Istanbulites are good at purse snatching?�h 

  �gNo, no�c well, I guess some of us are good at that too, but what I meant was imitation. You see, imitation is second nature to us. Whatever is produced in the West, we can reproduce it better than the original and then even successfully sell it back to its initial manufacturers.�h 

  We fell quiet for a fleeting moment, as one of the closing episodes of "The Apprentice" appeared on NBC right at that instant, and we couldn't help sneaking a glance. �gYou see we have imitated this too,�h I mumbled. 

  Duplicating and �gnationalizing�h the TV shows on American channels is a pervasive trend all around the world. In Turkey, it is more than that. It's an addiction. Just like an addict would get hold of the item he is addicted to without really pondering why, almost following an instinct, a reflex, the Turks too like to first carefully observe what's going on in the world of Western popular culture and then simply, imitate. 

  Fake Gucci bags might be the area of expertise of numerous swindlers in Istanbul, and they might be pretty good at that kind of imitation. Yet when it comes to imitating Western popular culture (since we tend to act as if we are destined to imitate anyhow) at least, I don't see why we can't be more creative. If they want a real challenge in the Turkish Apprentice, for instance, they should send out all these contestants to the most religious and conservative neighborhoods in Istanbul and have them sell bottled red wine there! 

  Why not? That would be far more creative than this baseless imitation. After all, wasn't �gthe marriage of the East & the West�h the basic motto of Turkish modernizers, what better marriage than an eclectic amalgamation of seeming opposites? One should always fuse the technical material borrowed from the West with the noteworthy features of the domestic culture one operates at. That's what I call a Donald Trump ingeniously alla turca. So he should, for instance, ask the contestants to sell packaged pork in a Muslim neighborhood. Now, that's a challenge. Let's then see those marketing strategies flourish. I stare at the slashed open Gucci bag now lying on the table like a crestfallen kite once happily soaring up in the blue skies. This, I do not confess to my friend but it occurs to me, in some puzzling way, Istanbulite pickpockets have reached a level of aesthetic inventiveness and cultural resourcefulness, which writers and scholars might still need some time to fully fathom.

HEAD0508
From peshmerga to president: Jalal Talabani 
Sunday, May 8, 2005


OPINIONS  
 All News �â 
  
�â Anniversary of the Great Victory 
(Petr STEGNIY) 
�â The Armenian problem (II) 
(Yusuf KANLI) 
�â Istanbulite pickpockets and Gucci bags 
(Elif SAFAK) 
�â A Bird's Eye View 
(Advena AVIS) 
�â From peshmerga to president: Jalal Talabani 
(YUKSEL SOYLEMEZ) 
  
  
 



YUKSEL SOYLEMEZ
  The interim parliament of Iraq has elected the veteran leader of the Kurdish Patriotic Union (KDP), Jalal Talabani, as president of Iraq for a period of eight months until the next election in December 2005. This can be interpreted as a desire for much-needed unity and as a Kurdish intention to work in cooperation with the central authority in Baghdad. 

  In his prison cell Saddam Hussein was especially provided with a TV set in order to remind him, by watching this historic event, that the Saddam Era is over for good, not only in "de facto" terms, but also that his presidency is legally over and finished with "de jure." He is said to have muttered words to the effect that "George Bush has replaced me as president with my worst enemy, a peshmerga Kurd," a true irony of history, as Iraqi politics are completely topsy turvy.

  The Iraqi Kurds, as a minority ethnic group of 4 or 5 million, won 50 seats in the Interim Parliament of 270, more than they warranted. In the horse trading among the leadership, Iraqi Kurds made it a condition for their participation in an interim government that they be given the prestigious position of President of Iraq. It was unequivocally demanded for psychological, political and egocentric reasons to underline Kurdish political prowess, however ceremonial the position may be. 

  Talabani was born in 1933 in the southern Kurdish area of Iraq. At the tender age of 14 he enlisted with the peshmerga led by the Kurdish tribal leader Molla Mustafa Barzani, the father of the present leader, Massoud Barzani. By the age of 18 he had already distinguished himself with his intelligence, hard work and political acumen and was promoted to the leadership cadres of the peshmerga fighters. Molla Mustafa Barzani was his guru in Kurdish politics. He learned the art of double dealing and double standards, the tools of the underdog, but the best lesson he was taught by Molla Barzani was tightrope diplomacy and the balancing act between the opposing powers, Russia and the United States, rather than fighting and taking sides with the strong and mighty. Molla Barzani, who died in the United States, owed his success to fighting for or against Saddam, depending on the circumstances of the time, changing sides with very little notice. After many years of tribal inter-fighting, Massoud Barzani signed a peace agreement in Washington with Talebani in 1998. Eight years later he bargained with Talabani, in exchange for his agreement to the latter's presidency, that he himself should get a more permanent and worthwhile position of president of the Kurdish region in the north in an autonomous state within a state. 

  Talabani, who carried a Turkish diplomatic passport until recently for reasons of convenience, fought against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists of the Marxist-Leninist Abdullah Ocalan. It was through Turkey's mediation that the Barzani clan in the countryside and the Talabani clans in urban areas stopped fighting and joined forces, however temporarily, against the PKK incursion into Turkey, in hit-and-run missions. 

  Now that he is in the highest position, yet without much real political power, judging from his background of 71 years and personal character, he is expected to wield more influence than is stipulated in the provisional Iraqi constitution, which may bring him into confrontation with the Shiite, Sunni and other non-Kurdish elements in the power struggle that will determine the future of Iraq, especially over disproportionate Kurdish demands.

  Talabani has been described by the Iraqi al-Qaeda as the "tail of the United States" and is a moderate Muslim, as opposed to the more conservative Shiite clerics, not to say the fundamentalist Shiite cleric majority forces of Iraq, let alone the substantial Sunni reactionary elements. As such, the semblance of central authority in Baghdad, with little power in their hands, had no choice other than to accept his persistent demand to keep an estimated 100,000-peshmerga tribal army intact instead of dissolving them into centralized Iraqi armed forces in the event a civil war erupts at one point or another among the contending interests in the country. 

  The next eight months will be the litmus test of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, yesteryear's Islamic radical leader, and his precarious government perched on a razor's edge, as they discuss, debate and, if possible, agree on a new Iraqi constitution, while chaos is still the order of the day countrywide and while each and every parochial issue requires preferential treatment with urgency. Massoud Barzani has not taken any position in the interim equation, which is meaningful, preferring to stay cautiously on the sidelines, watching from the gallery to see if Talabani is given enough rope to hang himself. 

  Iraq is still under the occupation of the so-called "coalition of the willing" who are pulling out, one by one, in disapproval of the current state of affairs, kept together by the U.S. armed forces. For the government with a background of U.S. "guidance and authority" to deliver peace and order and create an aura of confidence and respect is a gargantuan task, especially given its limited time constraint.

SCAN-0508
Last week in perspective 
Sunday, May 8, 2005


PRESS SCANNER  
 All News �â 
  
�â Last week in perspective 
  
  
 




  On April 29, only days after Constitutional Court Chief Justice Mustafa Bumin called for reform of the judicial system to cope with the increasing number of cases, Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor Nuri Ok came out saying that top judicial bodies should have the right to propose legal amendments in order to address their needs more efficiently and update laws in a timely manner. 

  Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey could establish political relations with neighboring Armenia while historians study events during 1915 and 1918 in a bid to clarify whether Armenians during the Ottoman Empire were subject to a genocide campaign. 

  President Ahmet Necdet Sezer approved a government decision to allow an annual extension of Turkish permission for the use of the ?ncirlik air base. 

  Iraq and its neighbors opened a two-day meeting in Istanbul, the first gathering since landmark elections in the war-torn country and the formation of an Iraqi interim government. 

  German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said he backed a Turkish proposal to set up a commission of historians to study Armenian allegations of genocide at the hands of the former Ottoman Empire. 

  Police spokesman ?smail Cal??kan said all the necessary security measures would be taken to ensure that citizens could observe May 1 -- World Workers' Day -- in a secure environment. 

  Religious Affairs Director Ali Bardako?lu said the West and Europe were erroneously informed in their understanding of Islam and Turkey should strive hard to present the real basis of Islam, the Anatolia news agency reported. 

  On Sunday, millions of workers around the world took to the streets in largely peaceful May Day rallies and marches to demand improved conditions and to protest against government policies. In Turkey, heavy police presence and calls for peace by union leaders prevented violence during the celebrations, with only around 50 people arrested in Istanbul for holding illegal protests. 

  On a landmark visit to Israel aimed at patching up an alliance strained by a Palestinian revolt and promoting Turkey as a Middle East peacemaker, Erdogan portrayed Turkey as a permanent assurance for the existence of regional peace. 

  Newly elected Turkish Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat asked United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to launch a new initiative for resolving the Cyprus dispute and sending a special representative to the divided island of Cyprus for fresh peace talks 

  Iraq's neighbors who gathered in Istanbul for the first time after the Iraqi elections and the establishment of their government underlined maintaining security in Iraq as the most important issue to be addressed in order to be able to reach stability and keep the country together. 

  Iraqi security forces announced that a Turkish driver was killed in an attack near Bayji, north of Baghdad, the Anatolia news agency reported. 

  Yerevan reiterated its position on establishing diplomatic relations with Ankara �gwithout preconditions�h in response to Erdogan's remarks signaling that Turkey could establish political relations with neighboring Armenia. 

  The Swiss Embassy in Ankara confirmed news reports concerning the opening of a legal procedure in Switzerland against historian Yusuf Halaco?lu, head of the Turkish Historical Society, due to his remarks in Switzerland denying the occurrence of alleged Armenian genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire during World War I. 

  On Monday Erdogan, on the last day of a visit to Israel and Palestine, said Turkey was ready to mediate between the two conflicting parties but, in a sign of trimmed down aspirations to become a key player in Middle East peace efforts, added that Turkey would need the two sides' request. 

  Parliament Speaker Bulent Ar?nc's statement that Parliament had the power to abolish the Constitutional Court if it deemed it necessary to do so has caused a major political controversy, with opposition parties coming to the defense of the court. 

  Schroeder arrived in Turkey for a brief visit during which he was expected to press Ankara to keep up its reform momentum at a time when Erdogan's toughening rhetoric on the European Union raises worries of disorientation. 

  Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos said the United States sought to launch a substantial and conclusive initiative in order to bring an end to the division of Cyprus. 

  Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) Chairman Orhan Erinc and Turkish Journalists' Union (TGS) Chairman Ercan ?pekci met with some Istanbul deputies for a candid exchange of views on the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK), the enforcement of which has been postponed until June 1 in relation to articles restricting freedom of the press. 

  A Mersin court ruled to release juvenile suspects who dragged the Turkish flag through a street during Nevroz celebrations, an event that escalated tension in the country. 

  On Tuesday Erdogan defended his visit to Israel and Palestine in the face of conservative domestic criticism and said his mission was justified by a humanitarian responsibility not to let the Palestinians live in a state that he described as an "open prison.�h 

  Higher Education Board (YOK) Chairman Erdogan Tezic entered the debate over Parliament's power to abolish the Constitutional Court, saying that comments made by Bumin had been referring to legal facts. 

  Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said the government was waiting for the European Court of Human Rights to issue a verdict on terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK/Kongra-Gel) leader Abdullah Ocalan before making an assessment and deciding on a policy to be pursued. 

  The Journalists' Organizations Platform (G-9) called on Turkish authorities to lift current limits on freedom of the press while making sure not to impose new ones. 

  Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said Turkey's fiscal policy was being controlled by the private Albaraka Turk finance company since some government members and the heads of some state institutions were administrators of the company. 

  Speaking at a joint press conference following his meeting with Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov yesterday, Sezer praised Bulgaria's contribution to peace and stability and congratulated Parvanov for signing the EU Accession Treaty as of April 25 that has paved the way for Bulgaria joining the bloc in 2007. 

  A group of rioting inmates started a fire at Umraniye prison in Istanbul, reportedly to protest at disciplinary action taken against one of their fellow inmates. 

  On Wednesday Schroeder, a staunch supporter of Turkey's bid to join the EU, told Erdogan to press forward with reforms needed to open accession talks on Oct. 3, particularly pointing out deficiencies in religious freedoms for non-Muslims and the necessity to sign a protocol extending Ankara's customs union deal with the EU to Greek Cyprus. 

  Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul described the Armenian allegations of genocide as one of the most important foreign policy matters for Turkey while briefing members of Parliament on Turkey's foreign policy agenda. 

  The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the recent wave of violence in neighboring Iraq, including the suicide attack on the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) office that killed dozens of people in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil. 

  Vaclav Klaus, president of EU newcomer the Czech Republic, warned Turkey about some delicate points of the EU accession process, saying that Turkey should not ignore �gdetails�h during negotiations. 

  The government submitted a package of proposed amendments to the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK) and the Criminal Procedures Law to the Parliamentary Speaker's Office. 

  Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli said if Ocalan were to be retried, it would cause a public outcry, adding that the domestic supporters of terrorism would try to incite ethnic provocation. 

  On Thursday, the U.N. General Assembly approved the appointment of CHP deputy from Istanbul Kemal Dervi? to head the U.N. Development Program (UNDP). 

  Gul arrived in Kyrgyzstan's capital of Bishkek for a two-day visit to the central Asian republic to declare Turkey's support for its steps in the direction of democratization and stability ahead of upcoming elections. 

  Talat said Papadopoulos' remarks urging Turkey to withdraw its troops from northern Cyprus in order to get a deal on the reunification of Cyprus actually spelled a �greturn to the pre-1974 period.�h 

  Ar?nc said he maintained his neutral position but felt it necessary to say something when he perceived that the authority of Parliament is challenged. 

  Confederation of Revolutionary Workers' Union President Suleyman Celebi said Ar?nc's statements about the abolition of the Constitutional Court were very unfortunate, adding that such an attitude was inappropriate. 

  Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader Zeki Sezer and CHP parliamentary group deputy leader Haluk Koc, in separate statements yesterday, criticized Ar?nc for his recent remarks, mostly concerning the ban on wearing a headscarf. 

  Parliament's Constitution Commission accepted a constitutional amendment proposal submitted by AKP deputies concerning regulation of the election of the Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTUK) members.


==================================================================================================
HEAD-0509
'Ocalan verdict won't be end of world' 
Monday, May 9, 2005



DOMESTIC  
 All News �â 
  
�â Parliament to discuss incentives for low income provinces 
�â Cicek: Don't exploit Ocalan verdict 
�â 'Ocalan verdict won't be end of world' 
�â Turkey observes Mother's Day 
�â Scores injured in weekend trafic accidents 
�â MGK boss warns against delays in GAP 
�â Domestic newsline 
  
  
 

The issue of the Ocalan verdict can easily be handled if it is not exploited, says Justice Minister Cicek 

YUSUF KANLI - KEMAL SAYDAMER

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News


  Justice Minister and government spokesman Cemil Cicek cautioned against exploitation of an upcoming European Court of Human Rights verdict on an appeal filed by Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and said the issue could easily be handled with a cool-headed approach. 

  Ocalan could be retried in Turkey as a result of the court ruling, but "this won't be the end of the world," Cicek told the TDN in an exclusive interview. 

  Cicek said the issue could be handled without difficulty if it were not exploited. �gThe issue should not be sacrificed to the posturing of certain people who have not adequately thought out the consequences.�h 

  Expressing his confidence in the Turkish judiciary, Cicek said the media has an important task in its coverage of the issue. �gThe media should cover it as an ordinary issue.�h 

  Touching on criticism of the new penal code, especially vis-a-vis its limitations on freedom of the press, Cicek said the media would be held accountable for the allegations it makes. �gIf a journalist accuses a certain individual of committing a crime, he or she will be held responsible for that claim,�h said Cicek, adding that newspapers accusing someone of a crime and presenting documentation to support it is not a crime.  


HEAD-0509
Retiree's pickles pucker world taste buds 
Monday, May 9, 2005



FEATURE  
 All News �â 
  
�â Western Black Sea region a haven for tourists 
�â People and places 
�â Academic concerts on ITU campus 
�â Retiree's pickles pucker world taste buds 
�â A great present for her mother 
  
  
 

Father-in-law teaches Salim I??k how to take advantage of vinegar 

ANKARA ? Turkish Daily News


  A retired civil servant living in Ankara was taught how to make pickles by his father-in-law and now sells his homemade pickle treats to every corner of the globe. Salim I??k makes 20 different kinds of pickles out of yams, grapes, plums, peaches and cauliflower. He grows these greens fresh in his garden. 

  I??k started making pickles with his wife, Hamide, in his off time while he was still a civil servant at Ankara Esenbo?a Airport. He says he learned how to make pickles from his father-in-law, Bilal Ta?kesti, and retired from his job after opening a pickle shop in 1986. 

  I??k grows his own greens and makes homemade pickles with help from 35 employees. �gOur pickles are natural. There are no additives. So, those who love to eat pickles but have stomach problems can easily eat our products.�h 

  He points out a global trend towards natural and organic food products, which helps him promote his brand. I??k said their production capacity is over 1,000 tons and they sell their pickles both domestically and internationally to markets in Russia, Romania as well as Middle Eastern countries. 


HEAD-0509
Iraq Cabinet deal falters as Sunni rejects post 
Monday, May 9, 2005


FOREIGN  
 All News �â 
  
�â Iran set to resume sensitive nuke work 
�â Cabinet list 
�â Iraq Cabinet deal falters as Sunni rejects post 
�â Iran prepares to resume sensitive nuclear work 
�â Bush honors WW2 dead, says democracy means peace 
�â Security tightened after Myanmar blasts 
�â Putin urges ex-Soviet leaders to stick together 
�â Europe celebrates 60 years since Nazi defeat 
�â Iraq Cabinet deal falters as Sunni rejects post 
�â Sharon hardens line on release of jailed Palestinians 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
�â NEWSLINE 
  
  
 



BAGHDAD - Reuters


  Iraq's Parliament approved six new ministers on Sunday hoping to fill the political void that has stoked the insurgency, but one minister turned down the job, leaving the Cabinet still incomplete three months after polls.

  Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari had announced the Cabinet was complete after months of bickering to agree the balance of power between competing sectarian and ethnic blocs, and vowed to crack down on an escalating insurgency.

  But proposed human rights minister Hisham al-Shibli told Reuters he had been picked purely to placate Iraq's restive Sunni Arab minority, and said he was rejecting the post.

  "This post was given to me without anyone consulting me. I was surprised when they nominated me. It was just because I am a Sunni," he said. "This is something I reject completely. I am a democratic figure ... and I am completely against sectarianism."


HEAD-0509
Bush honors WW2 dead, says democracy means peace 
Monday, May 9, 2005



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MARGRATEN - Reuters and The AP

U.S. President George W. Bush paid tribute on Sunday to the soldiers who died to free Europe from Nazi Germany 60 years ago and said a new generation was working to bring liberty to the Middle East.
  Bush joined Dutch Queen Beatrix, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende and hundreds of veterans to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe at a cemetery in the Netherlands, where around 8,000 U.S. war dead are buried.

  Bush and Queen Beatrix laid large floral wreaths in front of a tall stone memorial decked with long U.S. and Dutch flags before a gun salute, a solemn bugle call, the national anthems of both countries and a flyover by seven fighter jets.

  "We commemorate a great victory for liberty. And the thousands of white marble crosses and Stars of David underscore the terrible price we paid for that victory," Bush said. 

  

Georgia visit to celebrate democracy: 

  U.S. president's visit to Georgia within his four-nation tour centered around the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe is billed by the White House as a celebration of democracy's progress and seen by many Georgians as putting some muscle behind the country's efforts to break away from Russia's influence. 

  Bush, who arrives this evening, is expected to spend less than 24 hours in Tbilisi. 

  Bush is to hold talks with U.S.-educated President Mikhail Saakashvili and Parliament speaker Nino Burdzhanadze -- both of whom were key figures in the 2003 Rose Revolution protests that swept the long-entrenched government of Eduard Shevardnadze from power and ushered in the pro-Western opposition. 

  Those protests became a model for last year's Orange Revolution in Ukraine and this year's uprising-sparked change of power in Kyrgyzstan. 

  "This visit is support for our pursuit of democracy and a direct recognition of the role that Georgia, along with Ukraine, is playing in weakening Russia's imperial ambitions," said lawmaker David Berdzenishvili. 

  Bush is scheduled to address the nation on Tbilisi's Freedom Square amid some of the tightest security precautions this nation has ever experienced. 

  The United States has contributed millions of dollars in aide and training to Georgia's fledgling military, and Tbilisi has responded by dispatching troops to serve in the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. The opposition has criticized the deployment, but the public has so far given it little attention - and opposition leaders noted glumly that a meeting with them is not on Bush's agenda.

  Bush is on a four-nation tour centered around the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe but balanced by visits to Latvia and Georgia to stress that for them 1945 marked the start of the Cold War division of the continent.

  Commemorations to mark the end of the war also took place in Berlin, London, and Paris on Sunday. The war in the Pacific ended three months later and the Allies mark victory over Japan on Aug. 15.

HEAD-0509
Putin urges ex-Soviet leaders to stick together 
Monday, May 9, 2005


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The biggest danger comes from Chechen separatists who stage deadly attacks and rarely let Victory Day pass without incident 

MOSCOW - Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday urged leaders of the 12-member club of ex-Soviet states, some of them already shifting to the West, to stick together to fight extremism and terrorism.
  Putin, avoiding controversy as he raised the curtain on three days of summits and parties marking the Allied victory over Nazi Germany, made no mention of the political about-face in four members of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

  But, referring to a U.N. call to fight national extremism, terrorism, racism and xenophobia, he said: "I am convinced the CIS is capable of becoming an effective instrument for such a joint fight."

  Security forces threw a ring of steel around Red Square and the Kremlin -- focal points for today's celebrations that U.S. President George W. Bush and more than 50 other world leaders were to attend.

  The biggest danger comes from Chechen separatists who have staged deadly attacks throughout Putin's five years in power and rarely let Victory Day pass without incident. Russia seeks help from CIS neighbors in efforts to cut their supply routes and end a campaign seen by many here as a threat to Russian unity.

  Ten of the 12 leaders attended the informal summit of the CIS, an ill-assorted alliance of states stretching from Central Asia on the border with China to the edge of the European Union.

  It was an occasion for Putin to reflect on Russia's waning influence, in a region where it once held absolute sway, as former colonies shift their allegiance from Moscow and towards a welcoming and more financially alluring West.

  Georgia's pro-western leader boycotted because of a row with Moscow over Russian bases on its territory. Azerbaijan's president stayed away because of tension with the Armenian leader over a disputed territory.

  But Ukraine's Viktor Yushchenko, elected against Moscow's wishes after a pro-western revolution late last year, was present as was the leader of Moldova who also wants to turn his tiny country away from Moscow towards western Europe.

  But Belarus's Alexander Lukashenko -- described by Washington as Europe's last dictator -- took his place at the round table meeting. Interfax news agency quoted him as saying earlier in Moscow that there would be "no revolutions or bandits actions" in his country in the near future.

  Ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, where the entrenched leadership was swept away in a chaotic, unplanned coup in March, was represented by acting president Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

  The four other autocratic rulers of former Soviet Central Asia were also present, including Turkmenistan's President Saparmurat Niyazov who has built up a bizarre personality cult.

  Most have made plain that they will not ease their grip and allow 'people power' revolutions of the sort seen in Georgia and Ukraine.

  

Putin under fire:

  Putin, under criticism over his democracy record from the United States as well as being at odds with some CIS leaders, hopes the high-profile ceremonies around the 60th anniversary of the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany will lift his international image.

  Bush flied later on Sunday for dinner and what could be tense talks with Putin following the U.S. leader's trip to the Latvian capital Riga.

  In Riga, Bush on Saturday called the Cold War division of Europe after 1945 one of the greatest wrongs of history, angering Russia at a time when it is marking the war in which 27 million Soviet citizens were killed.

  Putin, who earlier this month described the collapse of the Soviet Union as the 20th century's biggest geo-political catastrophe, says the Red Army was a liberator, not an oppressor, of Eastern Europe. 

  He has ignored calls by the Baltic nations for atonement.

  Moscow's city center was awash with Soviet-style hoardings and banners lauding victory over Germany. Police, interior ministry troops and OMON special forces sealed off the Kremlin and Red Square.

  Heavy trucks blocked access roads and officials said military aircraft and helicopters were patrolling the skies around the city to protect leaders arriving on Sunday.

HEAD-0509
Europe celebrates 60 years since Nazi defeat 
Monday, May 9, 2005



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�â Europe celebrates 60 years since Nazi defeat 
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Russian veterans gather in Moscow to prepare for today's celebrations where dozens of foreign leaders were expected to join, including Bush 

LONDON - The Associated Press


  Solemn commemoration services and street parties drew huge crowds on Sunday as Europe celebrated the 60th anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat and the end of the continent's most devastating war.

  Prince Charles laid a wreath before London's monument to the dead of both World Wars, while U.S. President George W. Bush paid tribute to American lives lost in the 1939-45 conflict at a cemetery in the Netherlands.

  "On this day, we celebrate the victory they won and we recommit ourselves to the great truth that they defended: that freedom is the birthright of all of mankind," Bush said at Margraten, Europe's third-largest cemetery for American war dead.

  Thousands of people attended a ceremony at a former Nazi death camp in Austria to mark its liberation, while Russian veterans gathered in Moscow to prepare for today's celebrations where dozens of foreign leaders were expected to join, including Bush.

Highest toll: 

  Russia paid the heaviest price of any nation for Adolf Hitler's aggression, losing some 26 million soldiers and citizens. Around 6 million Jews were murdered during World War II, which cost some 50 million lives in total.

  China and Poland also suffered massive losses, as did Germany, Japan, Britain, the United States and many other countries.

  By comparison, some 10 million people perished in World War I, the previous most bloody conflict in Europe.

  In Berlin, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and President Horst Koehler attended a cathedral service ahead of a wreath-laying ceremony at a memorial to victims of Nazism and war.

  Most Germans consider Hitler's defeat to have liberated them as well as the rest of Europe from the terrors of Nazism.

  But hundreds of supporters of an extreme-right party planned to protest the "cult of guilt" they say was imposed on the nation after Germany's surrender.

  Berlin police stepped up security ahead of the National Democratic Party march which gathered several hundred young men in black with shaven heads, some carrying flags in red, white and black - the colors used by the Nazis and imperial Germany. Organizers said they expected up to 4,000 marchers.

  In London, meanwhile, World War II veterans and hundreds of other spectators watched Prince Charles place a wreath of blood-red poppies at the Cenotaph memorial in honor of some 260,000 Britons who died fighting Nazi Germany and her allies.

  Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, looked on from a nearby balcony in her first major ceremony since marrying Charles last month. Defense Secretary John Reid laid a wreath on behalf of the British government. Queen Elizabeth II will lead national commemorations on July 10, which has been named Britain's main day of commemoration.

  Further north, in the central city of Birmingham, people brought picnics to a street party that evoked memories of the massive street celebrations that broke out across Britain on May 8, 1945, the day an armistice was signed in Berlin.

  The Nazi capitulation was signed the day before in Reims, France, a week after Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker. 

HEAD-0509
Erdo?an to attend ceremonies in Moscow 
Monday, May 9, 2005


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ANKARA ? Turkish Daily News


  Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an was scheduled to head for Moscow yesterday evening to attend Victory in Europe Day ceremonies to be held in the Russian capital today.

  He is expected to return this evening.

  Erdo?an will be one of more than 50 world leaders who will be welcomed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Armenian President Robert Kocharian will also be among the dignitaries in attendance. 

  Turkish news reports earlier suggested that there could be a meeting between Erdo?an and Kocharian on the side but no formal plan has been drawn up for such an encounter.

SCAN-0509 ... Turkish press yesterday 
Monday, May 9, 2005


PRESS SCANNER  
 All News �â 
  
�â Turkish press yesterday 
�â From the columns 
  
  
 




  

Turkish press yesterday 

  The highlight of the Turkish press yesterday was the disgraceful conduct of the head physician from a hospital in Izmir. 

  Among other issues featured by the press were foreign exchange flowing to Istanbul thanks to congress tourism; Turkey's attempt to rush to the help of Iraqis injured in the devastating attacks in Arbil last Wednesday; no alteration to certain controversial articles in the new penal code; and the foreign minister's pledges to continue reforms to realize Turkey's objective of integrating with Europe.   

  

Hospital's promotion draws criticism:   

  The way the Izmir Continental Hospital announced news disclosing that Sibel Deniz, who tried to give birth to septuplets, lost all of her babies during their delivery drew criticism, Hurriyet reported. 

  The hospital's head physician, Ozer Gurbuz, laid the bodies next to one another on a blanket containing the name of the hospital and allowed the media to take photos. 

  Izmir Doctors' Chamber head Zeki Gul said an investigation would be launched into the incident and added that the public had displayed a strong reaction against the hospital's attempt at promotion in such a tragic situation. 

  Milliyet, featuring the same story, characterized Gurbuz's approach as scandalous. 

  �gThere should be respect for the dead,�h the paper quoted Gul as saying. 

  Deniz said she lost her babies because of her religious faith; namely, she said her doctor told her she only had a 20 percent chance of delivering seven healthy babies but despite the low odds she still decided to give birth to all seven. 

  

Istanbul takes advantage of congress tourism: 

  Congress tourism has made Istanbul happy, Radikal reported. Five-star hotels in the city were all full over the weekend and the foreign currency obtained from congress tourism was nearly YTL 36 million. 

  Congress tourism in Istanbul started with an Investment Advisory Council meeting and continued with Forum Istanbul, the Turkish-German Economy Council and the Asian Development Bank meeting. Istanbul hosted almost 10,000 foreign guests. 

  

Turkey treats injured Iraqis: 

  Turkey extended a friendly hand to the Iraqi Kurds once again and undertook the treatment of 21 people who were injured as a result of bloody attacks in Arbil last week, Zaman reported. 

  A Turkish plane transported to Ankara the injured and those who were planning to stay with patients in the hospital. 

  Sefin Dizai, the secretary-general of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), thanked the Turkish government for its friendly approach. 

  

Controversial TCK articles remain unchanged: 

  Certain restrictive articles in the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which will come into force on June 1, remained intact in a proposal package comprising amendments to the law, Yeni ?afak said. 

  The paper went on to say that certain articles obstructing freedoms were not amended and noted there were comments that both the TCK and the Criminal Trial Procedures Law (CMUK) should be re-discussed in Parliament's Justice Sub-commission. 

  

FM Gul says Turkey to continue reforms: 

  Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said in a speech at the European Union-Macroeconomic Policies conference that Turkey would continue implementing reforms on its path towards the EU, Dunden Bugune Tercuman reported. 

  Gul said Turkey had shocked EU countries with the reforms it had implemented before Dec. 17, when EU leaders decided to give an accession date to Turkey and added that the country would continue to shock Europeans with its performance in the economic sphere as well. 

  He said the reforms implemented by Turkey should not be perceived as the fulfillment of demands from the EU, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the World Bank. 

  �gThe government did all of this due to its responsibility to the people,�h the minister said.   


SCAN-0509 ... From the columns 
Monday, May 9, 2005


PRESS SCANNER  
 All News �â 
  
�â Turkish press yesterday 
�â From the columns 
  
  
 




  

From the columns 

  The victory of Britain's Labour Party, the death of the founder of Greenpeace, the �gfreedom�h of an imprisoned terrorist leader and the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II were among the topics featured by Turkish columnists yesterday. 

  

Farewell to the pendulum system 

  Milliyet's Hur?it Gune? drew attention to the historic triumph of Labour Party leader Tony Blair, who has won the elections in Britain three times in succession. 

  He said the swing-of-the-pendulum system has come to an end. 

  �gGenerally, the party in power would change every eight years. After Margaret Thatcher, Blair put an end to this system,�h Gune? added. 

  He said the elections in Britain had three results. �gFirstly, the power of the left was reinvigorated after scoring a victory in the elections. One should not ignore the fact that the Labour Party appears to be successful and reliable on issues such as the improvement of health services, a decrease in crime rates and social security reforms, namely the maintenance of a prosperous state.�h  

  �gSecondly,�h he continued: �gBlair was strongly supported by the media and the business sector. The Times and The Economist, strong and serious conservative publications in Britain, backed Blair. Even tabloid press such as The Sun gave clear support to him. This showed the business world did not favor a change in economic policies.�h 

  Gune? emphasized the economic strides made by the Blair-led government, which surpassed Europe, the United States and Japan in terms of average income per capita. 

  �gThirdly, Blair's pledge to leave office was quite effective. To put it in a nutshell, Blair deserved the title 'the successful transformer of the left' in the political history of Britain. 

  

Environmental protection is of high importance 

  Milliyet's Derya Sazak mentioned the death of Canada's Bob Hunter, 63, who was the founder of Greenpeace and its first chairman. 

  He said Hunter was named one of the leading environmentalists of the 20th century by The Times in the course of its campaign against nuclear tests in Alaska and the Pacific. 

  �gToday Greenpeace, as the most influential environmental organization in the world, has more than 2.5 million members in 40 countries,�h he said. 

  Drawing attention to the world's growing population, contamination, unplanned growth and the consumption frenzy, Sazak said the feeling of protecting the environment was not enough on its own and that there was a need for polices that would preserve the environment as a whole, which he called the �ggreen utopia.�h 

  

Ocalan leads PKK from ?mral?: 

  Hurriyet's Emin Cola?an said in a sarcastic tone that Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), was enjoying a holiday on ?mral? Island, where he is jailed. 

  �gIn every meeting with his lawyers, he gives political instructions to his organization and his sympathizers, and these instructions are immediately made public by means of his newspaper published in Germany and his television station in Europe,�h he said.   

  Cola?an claimed that the PKK was being ruled from ?mrali, that Ocalan's lawyers were acting as couriers and that the state was sleeping. 

  �gThere is no convict in the world like the one in Turkey. The Turkish state puts up with this due to European Union fears,�h he added. 

  �gThere are tens of thousands of convicts in Turkey. Which one of them is benefiting from such opportunities? The man is leading the terrorist organization from his cell,�h he added. 

  Cola?an leveled harsh criticism at the government and accused it of remaining silent in the face of a possible European Court of Human Rights verdict on the retrial of Ocalan that will be announced on May 12. 

  �gThe government is not saying that it will not retry this man,�h he said. 

  

Europe recognizes the value of peace: 

  Radikal's ?smet Berkan touched on the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. 

  �gPeace has prevailed in Europe for only 60 years. Only 60 years�c�h he said. �gSixty years ago the German war machine along with industry and the human resources that created that machine were destroyed. The Soviet Red Army besieged Berlin from the east and also marched toward the West, while the American and British armies were striding toward East Germany, namely Berlin. Hitler committed suicide and his body was burnt,�h he mentioned.  

  Berkan said World War II was the most destructive in history and was fought all over Europe for almost six years, while its effects even spread to South Africa, which was not involved in the war.  

  �gOnly 60 years ago, the industrial infrastructure of Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Italy and even Britain was either completely destroyed or their human resources were exhausted and they were left with no capital. Under such conditions, how did Europe manage to become the largest economic power in the world 60 years later?�h he asked. 

  �gThe old continent [referring to Europe] appreciated the value of peace and skillfully made use of the opportunities brought by peace. Today the EU, the leading peace project of European history, has made headway. I don't know whether I should talk about the importance of Turkey becoming a part of this project.   


==================================================================================================
HEAD-0510
VE Day diplomacy 
Tuesday, May 10, 2005



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Prime Minister Erdo?an discusses his planned trip to the United States with US President George Bush and the Cyprus dispute with UN Secretary-General Annan on the sidelines of the VE Day ceremonies. He shakes hands with Armenian President Kocharian but news reports said the pair did not have a separate meeting 

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News


  Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an yesterday attended Victory in Europe Day ceremonies in Moscow during which he shook hands with Armenian President Robert Kocharian and held informal talks with a number of world leaders including U.S. President George W. Bush, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos. 

  Erdo?an told Bush he was planning to travel to the United States soon when Bush told him he was waiting for his visit. With Kocharian, however, he did not have a conversation, according to news reports. Expectations were high in Turkey for a possible meeting of the Turkish and Armenian leaders in Moscow before Erdo?an departed for the VE Day ceremonies. 

  

Russia marks wartime victory: 

  More than 50 world leaders attended ceremonies in the Russian capital marking the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany that brought World War II to an end. Russian President Vladimir Putin stood shoulder to shoulder with Bush as military and war veterans marched or drove across the cobbled square, once the scene of Cold War displays of Soviet military power, to the strains of stirring martial music.  


HEAD-0510
Russia marks wartime victory 
Tuesday, May 10, 2005



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But Baltic nations say the defeat of Nazi Germany meant for them the beginning of a second tyranny under Soviet communist rule, but Putin has refused their demand for public atonement 

MOSCOW - Reuters

Russia marked World War IIvictory on Monday with an outpouring of patriotic pride for its huge wartime role and Red Square military parades attended by world leaders that ignored tensions in ties with its neighbors.
  World leaders who included U.S. President George W. Bush and China's Hu Jintao, then plunged into informal diplomatic talks among themselves touching on key issues such as terrorism, North Korea and the Middle East.

  Russian President Vladimir Putin stood shoulder to shoulder with Bush as military and war veterans marched or drove across the cobbled square, once the scene of Cold War displays of Soviet military power, to the strains of stirring martial music.

  Putin, for whom the ceremony was a rare high point after a difficult period marked by faltering ties with Washington and ex-Soviet allies, declared that the world owed "great human thanks" to the nearly 27 million Soviet citizens who died.

  "Grief came to every home, every family," he said, in a ringing speech.

  Russian security forces threw a tight security cordon around the city center and sealed off the Kremlin area and Red Square to celebrating Muscovites for fear of attacks by Chechen rebels.

  World leaders later laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the foot of the red-brick walls of the Kremlin, including German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi representing the vanquished nations.

  Bush and others stood on a tribune in front of the marble mausoleum that still holds the mummified body of Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin. It was from atop this tomb that dictator Josef Stalin had greeted victorious Soviet troops 60 years ago. 

  Putin shook hands warmly with Bush whom he entertained on Sunday night at his country retreat west of Moscow. Grey-haired war veterans, their breasts heavy with war medals and decorations and many perhaps observing their last Victory Day, were driven past Putin and Bush in old World War II open trucks, waving bunches of red carnations.

  

Political horizon clouded:Though world leaders paid due homage to huge Soviet war losses, the political horizon was dark with cloud. Leaders of two Baltic nations boycotted the gathering and others pressed for Russia to revise the official view of its Soviet past.

  The Baltic nations say the defeat of Nazi Germany meant for them the beginning of a second tyranny under Soviet communist rule, but Putin has refused their demand for public atonement.

  Putin made no mention of the discord with his neighbors.

  But in his Red Square speech, he said: "Russia is ready to build such relations with our closest neighbors and with all states in the world which are cemented not only by lessons of the past but aimed at our common future."

  World leaders, who include representatives of the six countries trying to negotiate an end to the crisis around North Korea's nuclear ambitions, seized the occasion for separate contacts among themselves.

  China's Hu met Putin in the Kremlin after the Red Square parade and announced he would visit Russia in July.

  Energy-hungry China looks to neighboring Russia as a major potential supplier of oil and is keen to tap into a planned pipeline to take Siberian crude eastwards.

  Hu and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun met on Sunday and their countries later called on North Korea to come back to the stalled talks aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear programs.

  Putin was also due to have one-to-one meetings with Koizumi as well as Schroeder and France's Jacques Chirac.

  Japan wants Putin to visit Tokyo this year to breathe new life into relations which are dogged by a territorial dispute over four Pacific islands that has prevented the two sides putting a formal end to World War II hostilities.

  More recently there have been tensions between Moscow and Washington over Russia's reaction to uprisings in ex-Soviet Ukraine and Georgia that installed West-leaning leaders and drew the countries outside Moscow's sphere of influence.

  Georgia's Mikhail Saakashvili boycotted the ceremonies over failure to reach a deal on the closure of two Soviet-era military bases that house about 3,000 Russian soldiers.

  Bush, who raised the sensitive issue of democracy inside Russia with Putin on Sunday night, headed off to Georgia later on Monday.


HEAD-0510
Glass exhibition sparkles in Eski?ehir 
Tuesday, May 10, 2005



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�â Glass exhibition sparkles in Eski?ehir 
  
  
 



ANKARA - Turkish Daily News


  Three lecturers from the Eski?ehir Anadolu University fine arts faculty's glass department and three glass masters opened a glass exhibition in the State Fine Arts Gallery in Eski?ehir. 

  Eski?ehir Mayor Y?lmaz Buyuker?en, Deputy Governor Da??stan K?l?caslan and invited guests attended the exhibition of lecturers Ekrem Kula, Mustafa A?atekin, Esin Kucukbicmen and glass masters Yusuf Gormu?, Can Bozkurt and Nasuf Comert.  

  Glass department deputy head associate professor Ekrem Kula said in his opening speech that there has been a growing interest in glass blowing in the last few years and added that they want to train new designers. 

  The exhibition can be viewed until May 24. 

   

HEAD-0510EU, Ankara exchange criticism on reforms, nationalism 
Tuesday, May 10, 2005


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FATMA DEM?RELL? & EL?F UNAL ARSLAN

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News


  The European Union expressed concern yesterday about the rising nationalism in Turkey and criticized recent suggestions by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an that the EU would play a role in breaking the country into pieces by insisting on cultural rights.

  �gThe application of essential human rights is the centerpiece of the Copenhagen Criteria and the EU will never compromise on this point,�h Dutch Ambassador Sjoerd Gosses said in a closed-door meeting that brought together Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and EU ambassadors in Ankara. He said he hoped Turkish authorities would firmly renounce these suggestions.

  Gul, on the other hand, warned the EU side of rising skepticism in the Turkish public, a sentiment which grows especially among the country's young who feel that the EU wants too much from Turkey. He also called on EU officials not to bring up the issue of signing a protocol extending Turkey's Customs Union deal with the EU to the 10 new members repeatedly, as if Turkey has not done its part.

  Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with the TDN, Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said instead of concentrating on deficiencies in Turkey's reform process, the failure of the EU to keep the promises it made on the matter of Cyprus should be noted. 

   

HEAD-0510
US troops kill 75 in Iraq offensive 
Tuesday, May 10, 2005



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�â US troops kill 75 insurgents in Iraq 
�â Seven Israeli police injured in clash with Palestinian protesters 
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�â NEWSLINE 
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BAGHDAD - Reuters


   U.S. troops launched an offensive in Iraq's most rebellious province, killing 75 insurgents, following a spate of ferocious bombings designed to undermine the new Iraqi government, the U.S. military said on Monday.

  As U.S. soldiers acted to drive insurgents from the desert in western Anbar province, guerrillas struck again in Baghdad.

  A suicide car bomb exploded at a police checkpoint in southern Baghdad, killing at least three people and wounding eight, police said. A car bomb targeting Iraqi soldiers exploded near the Ministry of Transport, wounding four people.

  News of the American offensive came after a weekend of heavy losses for the U.S. military and with the Iraqi cabinet still incomplete three months after Jan. 30 elections.

  U.S. Marines, soldiers and sailors backed by aircraft launched the operation, a military statement said. It did not say when the offensive started, but said 75 insurgents were killed in the first 24 hours.

  On Sunday, three soldiers were killed in two roadside bomb attacks and one was killed by small-arms fire. Three Marines were killed by a suicide car bomb and a sailor died in small arms fire, the military said.

  Guerrillas have stepped up violence since an April 28 announcement of a number of government posts. At least 300 people have been killed in suicide attacks and bombings.

  Iraqis thought a three-month impasse over naming a full government had ended on Sunday when parliament approved six new ministers, but one minister turned down the job, leaving the cabinet still incomplete.

  Proposed human rights minister Hisham al-Shibli said he had been picked purely to placate Iraq's restive Sunni Arab minority and said he was rejecting the post.

  Iraqi officials say insurgents regrouped while politicians spent three months bickering after the elections. The ferocity of sustained attacks over the last two weeks has fuelled frustrations with politicians who promised stability.

  On a visit to the holy Shiite city of Najaf in southern Iraq, Iraq's new Interior Minister Bayan Jabor said the authorities had captured 40 "terrorists," including a senior one, which will be announced in the next few days.

  Such announcements have done little to ease the anxiety of Iraqis, who braved suicide bombs to vote in the polls, hoping they would be rewarded with leaders who would tackle violence.

HEAD-0510
Why is Turkey under attack? 
Sunday, May 8, 2005


OPINIONS  
 All News �â 
  
�â The TDN is getting stronger... 
(Yusuf KANLI) 
�â Retroactive applicability (2) 
(Gunduz AKTAN) 
�â Mehmet Ali Birand: AKP should recind RTUK decision 
(Mehmet Ali BIRAND) 
�â Please go see 'Kindom of Heaven' 
(Ay?e OZGUN) 
�â Why is Turkey under attack? 
(Abraham H. FOXMAN *) 
  
  
 



Abraham H. FOXMAN *
  I always thought Turkey-hunting season was in the fall. Reading the conservative press of late, however, I guess I had it wrong. The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Times and they New York Sun have all recently published scathing articles about the nation of Turkey. 

  What's going on here? No doubt the Turkish press, as accused, leaves a lot to be desired in terms of its penchant for conspiracies and high-flown rhetoric. No doubt there is continuing tension between the United States and Turkey over the Turkish decision not to allow the United States use of its territory for the invasion of Iraq. No doubt the Erdo?an government of Turkey still pays a price for its Islamist roots. 

  But where is the perspective, particularly from those who support the president's initiative for reform and democratization in the Middle East?

  Let us remember: Turkey is a democratic state that has taken necessary reform measures to qualify for EU membership consideration. Rather than being treated as if it's one of those Middle East countries that need targeting by a world that is tired of authoritarian regimes, Turkey should be viewed as a model for emerging democracies in the region. After all, Turkey like most of the states in the area, has an overwhelming Muslim majority in its population makeup. Unlike the rest, however, it has been and continues to be under the current government, a country that respects the Islamic faith of its citizens but rules by secular, democratic principles.

  Turkey's uniqueness in the Muslim Middle East doesn't stop there. Its manifold relations with the state of Israel make it probably the second most important relationship that the Jewish state has. This relationship benefits the Western world in general and the United States in particular. 

  First, it reassures Israel that it is not impossible for a country that is overwhelmingly Muslim to have normal relations with the Jewish state. Just contrast Turkey to Egypt, the first Arab country to make official peace with Israel. Turkey has military dealings with Israel, including sales of equipment, maintenance processes and training exercises. Israelis travel to Turkey for vacations in the thousands every year. 

  There is easiness in the relationship. With Egypt, Israel has a cold peace and worse, though recently there are the first signs in years of a thaw. Egyptians are pressured not to have anything to do with Israel and after an initial eagerness (following the peace treaty in 1981) by Israelis to visit and hopefully to do business in Egypt, discouragement set in. 

  In sum, the Turkish relationship with Israel is beneficial because the ability of Israel to make concessions directly depends on its perception of its acceptance in the region. Turkey is the model for that kind of acceptance. 

  Secondly, from an American strategic and diplomatic perspective, the high level of Turkish-Israeli relations offers great benefits. One example of that is the pressure that comes to bear on the Syrian regime, where both Israel and Turkey add to that of the United States. 

  It is hard to imagine that those who have engaged in this apparently coordinated condemnation of Turkey would disagree about the interests that are served by a strong U.S.-Turkish relationship. Instead, they argue that Turkey today is a fundamentally different country than the one that has been a U.S. ally for decades. This is an unwarranted conclusion. 

  Even those issues that the critics bring to bear to make their case for Turkey leaving the fold are more complex than alleged. While the conspiracy theories about U.S. intentions about the Kurds in Iraq are unwarranted and deserve criticism, Turkey's concerns about Kurdish nationalism, particularly in light of continued PKK terrorism, should evoke conservative sympathy.

  The same can be said about Cyprus, where it was the Turkish north that voted for the U.N. solution and the Greek south that turned it down. This is not to support the Turkish side in this dispute as much as to suggest that it's too easy simply to paint Turkey as the bad guy. 

  Clearly, there are issues between the United States and Turkey that need to be addressed. But, like the differences between the Bush administration and our West European allies, this should be done in a constructive manner on both sides, rather than the hysterical approach reflected in these articles. In a changing Middle East, at a time of great hopes for change but also continuing possibilities of instability and terrorism, the U.S.-Turkish relationship should remain an anchor. 

  Turkish diplomats rescuing Jews from the Nazis during World War II

  Minister of Foreign Affairs Numan MenemencioUlu, 1942-1944 

  Ambassador Behic Erkin 1940-1943, Vichy 

  Ambassador Saffet Ar?kan 1942-1944, Berlin 

  Consul General ?nayetullah Cemal Ozkaya, 1940-1945, Athens 

  Consul General Burhan I??n, 1942-1946, Varna 

  Consul General Necdet Kent, 1942-1945, Marseille 

  Consul General Irfan Sabitakca, 1939-1943, Prague 

  Consul General Pertev ?evki Kantemiz, 1939-1942, Budapest 

  Consul General Abdulahat Birden, 1942-1944, Budapest 

  Consul General Fuat Aktan, 1937-1942, Kostence (Bulgaria) 

  Consul General Rag?p Rauf Arman, 1942-1945, Kostence (Bulgaria) 

  Consul General Kudret Erbey, 1938-1942, Hamburg 

  Consul General Galip Evren, 1942-1944, Hamburg 

  Consul General Cevdet Dulger, 1939-1942, Paris 

  Consul General Fikret ?efik Ozdo?anc?, 1942-1945, Paris 

  Consul General Nam?k Kemal Yolga, 1942-1945, Paris 

  Consul General Bedii Arbel, 1940-1943, Paris 

  Consul General Mehmet Fuat Car?m, 1943-1945, Paris 

  Consul General Firuzan Selcuk, 1939-1941, Belgrade 

  Consul General Selahattin Ulkumen, 1943-1945, Rhodes 

  * Abraham H. Foxman (b. 1940) is the current national director and chairman of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith.

SCAN0510 ... urkish press yesterday 
Tuesday, May 10, 2005


PRESS SCANNER  
 All News �â 
  
�â Turkish press yesterday 
�â From the columns 
  
  
 




  

Turkish press yesterday: 

  The Turkish press covered the following news items: an international company's difficulty in finding qualified female employees to work on board cruise ships; verbal sparring between the prime minister and the main opposition leader at a convention; the Foreign Ministry's warning to the government over an imprisoned terrorist leader; concerns over restrictive provisions in the new penal code; the appointment of a religious affairs director; and discussion on who the next U.S. ambassador will be. 

  

Women don't want to work on a cruise ship: 

  An international company preparing to organize multiple-day cruises on luxury ships in Turkey's waters has been unable to find female employees in Turkey despite offering a monthly salary of up to YTL 4,000, Hurriyet reported. 

  Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Lines will kick off the cruises in the summer and needs to employ 200 female personnel to work in the restaurants and pubs of 20 ships. Job requirements include the ability to speak English, an age range of 21-35 and relevant experience. Only about 100 women from Turkey applied for the jobs, and a majority of them did not meet the minimum requirements. 

  Vedat U?urlu, the director-general of a company that handled the cruise line's advertising in Turkey, said those who were interviewed expressed concern. �gThey said they were worried about being subjected to harassment on board. �c It's not easy for a Turkish woman to accept this type of work, based on Turkish traditions and expectations,�h he said. 

  

Verbal sparring over the sale of Erdemir: 

  A war of words between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and main opposition leader Deniz Baykal was sparked over the sale of the Ere?li Steel and Iron Company (Erdemir) on the occasion of the 60th convention of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB), Milliyet reported. 

  Erdo?an criticized Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal and characterized him as an ideologue opposed to privatization. 

  �gThis mentality [referring to Baykal] previously objected to the establishment of Erdemir,�h the premier said, while Baykal asked what logic lay behind the sale of a company that has been profitable for two years. 

  Cumhuriyet published statements made by R?fat Hisarc?kl?o?lu, who was re-elected TOBB chairman at the convention. �gWe're warning those, for the last time, who attempt to divide the private sector for their own personal interests,�h said Hisarc?kl?o?lu, referring to the government. 

  

Foreign Ministry warns gov't on terrorist leader: 

  �gA notice to the government.�h Radikal wrote. �gThe Foreign Ministry warns that the European Court of Human Rights will ask for a retrial of 90 convicts, including Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). If the government doesn't abide by the court decision, it will face pressure from certain circles in Europe and jeopardize European Union membership.�h 

  The Foreign Ministry said the European court will ask Turkey to grant fair trials and the government should enact necessary legal amendments at once for the retrials. 

  

Lingering concerns about penal code articles:

  The new Turkish Penal Code (TCK), to come into effect in June, appears to be far from meeting the expectations of society, Zaman reported. 

  The paper said although some amendments were made in Parliament's Justice Commission, the existence of restrictions on freedom of the press, freedom of thought and the right to education raised concerns. 

  

Reform in the Religious Affairs Directorate: 

  A bill that proposes appointing the head of the Religious Affairs Directorate through board elections will be submitted to the Cabinet for debate, Yeni ?afak said. 

  The formation of a 120-person election board consisting of 81 muftis and academics is being proposed. 

  

Who will become US ambassador to Turkey?: 

  Sabah claimed a silent debate was taking place in the United States over the appointment of a new U.S. ambassador to Turkey to replace Eric Edelman. 

  �gIf the new U.S. ambassador is Jewish, will this increase anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism in Turkey?�h The United States is currently dwelling on this question, Sabah said. 

  Claiming that the new ambassador would be named this week, the paper drew attention to current speculation on the appointment: �gWhile criticizing U.S. policies on Iraq, anti-Semitic publications and groups also made Edelman their target. If the new ambassador is Jewish, he will face similar critics.�h  


SCAN-0510
From the columns 
Tuesday, May 10, 2005


PRESS SCANNER  
 All News �â 
  
�â Turkish press yesterday 
�â From the columns 
  
  
 




  

From the columns:

  Turkish columns yesterday covered Victory in Europe (VE) Day and the accession treaty signed by Romania and Bulgaria. 

  Other topics featured were the complaints from European Commission officials about the slowdown in reforms in Turkey and European Union policies on Turkey. 

  

Europe confronting itself: 

  Hurriyet's Ferai T?nc said she watched the ceremonies held to mark the 60th anniversary of the World War II victory against Nazi occupation as someone from the outside. 

  �gAlthough Turkey was not involved in the war, the consequences as well as the reasons had an impact on our history,�h she said.  

  �gVictory in Europe Day and a simultaneous EU Day, marked by ceremonies to be attended by European, American and Russian leaders, are part of our history, too,�h she wrote. Writing about the debates taking place in Europe on this occasion and touching on a dark side, T?nc said references to the alleged Armenian genocide in Holocaust discussions is putting strong pressure on Turkey. 

  �gDoes all of this [Europeans reconciling with one another] threaten Europe? No it doesn't since such confrontations between partners capable of reaching a compromise will yield solutions that will strengthen the EU's integration. Everyone has something to say. What's important is to listen and plan beforehand what you will say. We should learn something from this European method,�h she added.  

  

Turkey isn't in the EU now because it's not a country from the former Soviet bloc:  

  Hurriyet's Ozdemir ?nce also wrote about VE Day and congratulated Bulgaria and Romania, which have signed accession treaties with the EU. �gBoth countries will join the EU in January 2007.�h 

  Writing about the happiness prevalent in both countries, ?nce said such a transformation in former communist countries living behind the Iron Curtain just 15 years ago was quite surprising. �gBut we can ask a question: Is it really a transformation, or will the EU take them in due to some other reason or reasons?�h  

  He said the argument that the two former communist countries would join the EU because they complied with European criteria would annoy sociologists.  

  �gRight now, Bulgaria and Romania are poorer than the poorest countries of the EU, according to economic indicators. The annual gross national product (GNP) per capita of Bulgaria is 2,504 euros and the average monthly income is 164 euros, while that of Romania is 2,164 and 265 euros, respectively. Turkey's GNP per capita and average monthly income are higher than both.�h  

  ?nce said Romania and Bulgaria fell behind Turkey in terms of compliance with EU laws and regulations and emphasized that Bulgaria still has to fight corruption, adopt a new penal code and tackle organized crime. He considered the EU approach of accepting both countries before Turkey to be two-faced. 

  �gLet me say this: If Turkey were a former Iron Curtain country like Bulgaria and Romania, it would be in the EU today and perhaps would have been admitted much earlier because the goal of the EU is to isolate Russia and leave it standing alone by taking countries from the former Soviet bloc. Turkey is at a disadvantage for having oriented towards the West and having been a NATO member for 50 years.�h 

  

Do PM Erdo?an's speeches indicate signs of reform?: 

  Sabah's Erdal ?afak drew attention to European criticism leveled at Turkey due to the slowing down of reforms after Dec. 17, the day EU leaders formally agreed to open accession talks with Turkey. 

  �gFor example, an official from the European Commission who didn't want to be named said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an changed after the Dec. 17 summit, and European Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn said it seemed the reforms have stopped,�h wrote ?afak.

  �gI'm very surprised the advisors of the prime minister are not objecting to these complaints because they are the ones who know very well that Erdo?an sends a message of having implemented reforms in every speech he makes. The only problem is that the reforms are expressed in hidden code,�h ?afak said in a sarcastic way and gave his interpretations of Erdo?an's recent speeches. 

  

EU pursues inconsistent policies on Turkey: 

  Zaman's Selcuk Gulta?l? complained that certain Europeans, including the new pontiff, considered the Dec. 17 EU decision to be forward steps although the summit results were not satisfying. The EU did not guarantee membership in the end and floated the possibility of a �gprivileged partnership�h rather than full membership, potentially depriving Turkey of certain funds.  

  After giving examples, including parts of speeches from Hansjoerg Kretschmer, head of the EU delegation in Turkey, Gulta?l? said the EU was inclined to forget issues favorable to Turkey and the Turks while remembering issues backing Turkey into a corner. 


======================================================================
Finally, again gave up to keep reading HEAD. From today on only SCAN     
======================================================================


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SCAN-0511 ... Turkish press yesterday (Wednesday, May 11, 2005)
Turkish newspapers yesterday focused on the diplomatic outcome of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's attendance at Victory in Europe Day ceremonies in Moscow and the sale of a 57.4 percent share of Yapi Kredi Bank. Statements made by John Kunstadter, the U.S. Embassy counselor for political affairs in Ankara, made the headlines of some dailies.

__________________________
VE Day diplomacy in Moscow 
Prime Minister Erdogan attended Victory in Europe Day ceremonies in Moscow marking the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany that ended World War II, reported dailies. Erdogan held talks with some of the more than 50 world leaders who attended the ceremonies, including U.S. President George W. Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos.

The prime minister's trilateral meeting with Annan and Papadopoulos to discuss solution efforts on Cyprus made the lead story in daily Radikal. �gA new enterprise for Cyprus,�h read yesterday's banner headline. 

A new phase for a solution of the Cyprus issue could begin, said Erdogan, adding, �gCompared with the past, Greek Cyprus is more positive,�h reported Radikal.

Highlighting the same issue Yeni Safak reported President Bush saying to Erdogan that he was waiting for him to visit the U.S. The daily said that Erdogan replied, �gI will come soon."

Talking to reporters in Ankara, Erdogan said his visit would take place in the first half of June, reported Yeni Safak.

Erdogan also conveyed his displeasure to the Russian and Polish leaders with regard to the Russian State Duma and the Polish Parliament passing resolutions condemning what they called �ggenocide of Armenians�h under Ottoman rule in the latter years of the empire, said daily Sabah.

Daily Cumhuriyet reported that Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik conveyed an apology to Erdogan for a protest last month in Norway during which some demonstrators threw eggs.

______________________________________
Koc holding purchases Yapi Kredi Bank: 
The Cukurova Group said it had signed an agreement with Koc Financial Services finalizing the sale of a 57.4 percent share in Yapi Kredi Bank, reported dailies. The deal for the shares was valued at $1.16 billion, reported daily Hurriyet. The papers also said the bank as a whole was valued at 2.02 billion euros ($2.6 billion).

Following the deal Koc Holding becomes among the top three in retail banking, with a strong branch network of Yapi Kredi, Sabah said.

Hurriyet reported that Koc Financial Services is a joint venture between conglomerate Koc Holding and Italian bank Unicredito. 
  
______________________________________________
Turkish army couldn't reach PKK mountain base: 
Milliyet reported that the counselor for political affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, John Kunstadter, made remarks concerning the United States' attitude towards the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

During a panel discussion at Cankaya University, Kunstadter said: �gSome people were disappointed that the U.S. not militarily take action against the PKK bases in the Kandil Mountains in northern Iraq. However, the Turkish Army was also not able to enter that area. The geography of the area is very difficult. We are working against the PKK with Turkey.�h 

Kunstadter reminded his audience that the Turkish Army had tried to attack the PKK bases in 1997 but failed.

Speaking in Turkish, Kunstadter said the United States does not favor an independent Kurdish state in Iraq.

Kunstadter also said that there should not be a gap between the government and state in Turkey. �gIt would be out of the question for there to be a deep state in the United States. The government and the state should not be different from each other,�h said Kunstadter.

______________________________________
Ankara seeks solution for Ocalan case: 
Daily Cumhuriyet reported that Ankara is brainstorming a deal for the possible retrial of imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in advance of an anticipated European Court of Human Rights decision for his retrial.

The daily said it is a possibility that a local court could either agree or refuse to try the terrorist leader again. In that case the Constitutional Court could overrule the local court's decision and pave the way for a retrial. Parliament could also enact new laws that would enable a possible retrial.

=========================================================
HEAD-0511 ... From the columns (Wednesday, May 11, 2005)
Turkish columnists covered the anticipated decision of the European Court of Human Rights on the retrial of imprisoned terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan yesterday. 

Columnists also analyzed the performance of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) regarding prominent topics in domestic and international affairs and the issue of democratic reforms. 

Ocalan's current situation:
Sabah's Ergun Babahan comments on a possible retrial of Ocalan and argues that the retrial should not be a threat for the Turkish state and Turkish nation.

Babahan says with the capture of Ocalan, the PKK's defeat by the Turkish military became certain. During his imprisonment, Ocalan has surrendered to the ideology of the Turkish Republic and his statements revealed this.

"In his statements, Ocalan repeatedly emphasized his devotion to the unitary structure of the Turkish Republic and to the ideas of its founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk,�h writes Babahan. 

Babahan argues that neither Ocalan nor the PKK could be an ideological threat to Turkey. "At this point, it would be difficult for the PKK to explain why they still have thousands of armed persons in the mountains carrying out attacks against the Turkish Armed Forces."

Baykal's Ocalan concern:
Milliyet's Fikret Bila also focuses on the European court's expected decision for a retrial of Ocalan and says the verdict will be announced on May 12.

"It is known that the government is taking necessary measures to deal with possible problems," says Bila, adding the AKP reportedly contacted the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) to ensure the issue would be dealt with as a matter of state and not only of government.

Responding to Bila's questions, CHP leader Baykal said the government should work hard to prevent a decision calling for Turkey to repeat the trial. �gThe government should struggle to avoid a retrial. The government seems like it is in a panic,�h Bila quotes Baykal as saying.

Baykal criticized the government's nonchalant attitude towards the issue. �gThe credibility of Turkey is at stake here. If the court decides for a retrial of Ocalan, the decision would be political,�h Bila reports.

Baykal argues that Turkey should not accept such an insistence from the European Union or European Council regarding an issue where it is right.

The government should prepare for retrial of Ocalan:
Milliyet's Mehmet Y. Yilmaz urges the government to take precautions against events that could arise from the retrial of Ocalan.

Yilmaz says the problematic point is not the trial's implications for Turkey's foreign affairs but its possible impact on the country's domestic balance.

"We know that some circles could try to exploit this trial as a tool for opposing the government" says Yilmaz, adding that it is no secret using the issue would create domestic problems. "It is certain that Ocalan would not be released from prison. There is an abundance of evidence proving him guilty."

Writing about legal procedures that would follow the anticipated decision of the European Court of Human Rights, Yilmaz said the new penal code that goes into effect June 1 could pose a problem in carrying out a retrial. �gThe government should not be late in making necessary amendments [to the penal code] so as to allow a retrial.�h 

Yilmaz writes that since it is obvious there would be no big danger in repeating the trial, we should not make any moves that would impede Turkey's EU membership bid.

The tension that could result from a retrial:
Millyet's Derya Sazak focuses on legal obstacles in Turkish laws that would not allow Ocalan to be retried and says the more important part of the issue is its political aspect.

What worries Ankara is the position that will be adopted by the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) during the court process. An increasingly nationalist tendency is also causing concern for Ankara, writes Sazak. The government is also worried about messages given by Ocalan in court.






koko
===== NYT =====

NYT-0505: OP-ED COLUMNIST
Lifting the Censor's Veil on the Shame of Iraq ... By BOB HERBERT
Photographs from the Iraq war show the extreme horrors of warfare.
=====
"Nobody wants to come forward about this," said Aidan Delgado. "I didn't want to come forward about this."

One of the distinctive things about the war in Iraq is the extraordinary proliferation of photos taken by G.I.'s that document the extreme horrors of warfare and, in many instances, the degrading treatment of Iraqi civilians by American troops.
 
(Forum: Bob Herbert's Columns)
When Mr. Delgado returned to Florida last year from a tour of Iraq that included a traumatic stint with a military police unit at Abu Ghraib prison, he thought he could pretty easily resume the ordinary life of a college student and leave his troubling war experiences behind.

But people kept asking him about Iraq. And he had many photos, some of them extremely difficult to look at, that were permanent reminders of events that are likely to stay with him for a lifetime.

There are pictures of children who were wounded and barely clinging to life, and some who appeared to be dead. There was a close-up of a soldier who was holding someone's severed leg. There were photos of Iraqis with the deathlike stare of shock, stunned by the fact that something previously unimaginable had just happened to them. There were photos of G.I.'s happily posing with the bodies of dead Iraqis.

This is what happens in war. It's the sickening reality that is seldom seen in the censored, sanitized version of the conflict that Americans typically get from the government and the media. 

Americans' attitude toward war in general and this war in particular would change drastically if the censor's veil were lifted and the public got a sustained, close look at the agonizing bloodshed and other horrors that continue unabated in Iraq. If that happened, support for any war that wasn't an absolute necessity would plummet.

Mr. Delgado, 23, is a former Army reservist who was repelled by the violence and dehumanization of the war. He completed his tour in Iraq. But he sought and received conscientious objector status and was honorably discharged last January.

Some of the most disturbing photos in his possession were taken after G.I.'s at Abu Ghraib opened fire on detainees who had been throwing rocks at guards during a large protest. Four detainees were killed. The photos show American soldiers posing and goofing around with the bodies of the detainees.

In one shot a body bag has been opened to show the gruesome head wound of the corpse. In another, a G.I. is leaning over the top of the body bag with a spoon in his right hand, as if he is about to scoop up a portion of the dead man's wounded flesh. 

"These pictures were circulated like trophies," Mr. Delgado said. 

Some were posted in command headquarters. He said it seemed to him that the shooting of the prisoners and the circulation of the photos were viewed by enlisted personnel and at least some officers as acceptable - even admirable - behavior.

Mr. Delgado said that when his unit was first assigned to Abu Ghraib, he believed, like most of his fellow soldiers, that the prisoners were among the most dangerous individuals in Iraq.

He said: "Most of the guys thought, 'Well, they're out to kill us. These are the ones killing our buddies.' "

But while at work in a headquarters office, he said, he learned that most of the detainees at Abu Ghraib had committed only very minor nonviolent offenses, or no offenses at all. (Several investigations would subsequently reveal that vast numbers of completely innocent Iraqis were seized and detained by coalition forces.)

Several months ago Mr. Delgado gave a talk and presented a slide show at his school, New College of Florida in Sarasota. To his amazement, 400 people showed up. He has given a number of talks since then in various parts of the country.

His goal, he said, is to convince his listeners that the abuse of innocent Iraqis by the American military is not limited to "a few bad apples," as the military would like the public to believe. "At what point," he asked, "does a series of 'isolated incidents' become a pattern of intolerable behavior?"

The public at large and especially the many soldiers who have behaved honorably in Iraq deserve an honest answer to that question. It took many long years for the military to repair its reputation after Vietnam. Mr. Delgado's complaints and the entire conduct of this wretched war should be thoroughly investigated.



koko

NYT-0506
Time Travelers to Meet in Not Too Distant Future ...By PAM BELLUCK
Some students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have organized what they call the first time traveler convention.
=====
(Caprion of photo by Michael Dwyer for The New York Times --- "The odds of a time traveler showing up are between one in a million and one in a trillion," says Amal Dorai, who conceived the convention.)
(Also Caprion of photo by Michael Dwyer for The New York Times --- David Nelson demonstrated the motorized couch in his M.I.T. dorm, which also features the "pizza button.")

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 5 - Suppose it is the future - maybe a thousand years from now. There is no static cling, diapers change themselves, and everyone who is anyone summers on Mars. 

What's more, it is possible to travel back in time, to any place, any era. Where would people go? Would they zoom to a 2005 Saturday night for chips and burgers in a college courtyard, eager to schmooze with computer science majors possessing way too many brain cells?

Why not, say some students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who have organized what they call the first convention for time travelers. 

Actually, they contend that theirs is the only time traveler convention the world needs, because people from the future can travel to it anytime they want.

"I would hope they would come with the idea of showing us that time travel is possible," said Amal Dorai, 22, the graduate student who thought up the convention, which is to be this Saturday on the M.I.T. campus. "Maybe they could leave something with us. It is possible they might look slightly different, the shape of the head, the body proportions."

The event is potluck and alcohol-free - present-day humans are bringing things like brownies. But Mr. Dorai's Web site asks that future-folk bring something to prove they are really ahead of our time: "Things like a cure for AIDS or cancer, a solution for global poverty or a cold fusion reactor would be particularly convincing as well as greatly appreciated." 

He would also welcome people from only a few days in the future, far enough to, say, give him a few stock market tips. 

Mr. Dorai and fellow organizers are the kind of people who transplant a snowblower engine into a sleeper sofa and drive the couch around Cambridge. (If the upholstery were bright red, it could be a midlife crisis convertible for couch potatoes.)

They built a human-size hamster wheel - eight feet in diameter. And they concocted the "pizza button," a plexiglass pizza slice mounted in their hallway; when pressed, it calls up a Web site and arranges for pizza delivery 30 minutes later. (For anyone wanting to try this at home, the contraption uses a Huffman binary code. It takes fewer keystrokes to order the most popular toppings, like pepperoni, more keystrokes for less popular extras, like onions.)

At the convention, they plan to introduce a robot with an "infrared pyro-electric detector," designed to follow anything that emits heat, including humans. 

"It's supposed to be our pet," said Adam Kraft, 22, a senior. 

"It needs fur," added David Nelson, 23, a graduate student.

While Mr. Dorai has precisely calculated that "the odds of a time traveler showing up are between one in a million and one in a trillion," organizers have tried to make things inviting. 

In case their august university does not exist forever, they have posted the latitude and longitude of the East Campus Courtyard (42:21:36.025 degrees north, 71:05:16.332 degrees west).

A roped-off area, including part of an improvised volleyball court, will create a landing pad so materializing time-travel machines will not crash into trees or dormitories.

To set the mood, organizers plan to display a DeLorean - the sleek but short-lived 1980's car that was the time-traveling vehicle in the "Back to the Future" movies.

At first, Mr. Dorai urged people to publicize the event with methods likely to last. "Write the details down on a piece of acid-free paper," he directed, "and slip them into obscure books in academic libraries!"

But Mr. Dorai said the response was so overwhelming that the police, concerned about security, had asked that anyone who had not replied by Wednesday not be allowed to attend.

No future-guests are confirmed as of yet, although one responder purports to be from 2026. But among the 100 likely attendees, there are those from another time zone - Chicago - and from New York, which at least likes to think of itself as light-years ahead.

"I'm keeping my fingers crossed," said Erik D. Demaine, an M.I.T. mathematician who will be one of the professors speaking. 

There will also be two bands, the Hong Kong Regulars and Off-White Noise, performing new, time-travel-apropos tunes. 

"If you subscribe to alternative-world theory, then time travel makes sense at some level," said Professor Demaine, who would like future-guests to bring answers to mathematical mysteries. "The universe is inherently uncertain, and at various times it's essentially flipping coins to make a decision. At any point, there's the heads version of the world and the tails version of the world. We think that we actually live in one of them, and you could imagine that there's actually many versions of the universe, including one where suddenly you appear from 10 years in the future."

If you can not imagine that, consider Erin Rhode's view of time travel. 

"I kind of think if it's going to happen, it'll be the wormhole theory," said Ms. Rhode, 23, a recent graduate, adding, "If you create a stable wormhole," a hole in space, "people can go back to visit it."

William McGehee, 19, a freshman who helped build a "Saturday Night Fever"-like dance floor in his dorm, said, "It's pretty obvious if time travel does occur, then it doesn't cause the universe to explode."

And Sam McVeety, 18, a freshman, wondered if wearing a tinfoil hat would be comforting or insulting to future-people.

Mr. Dorai has had quirky brainstorms before: proposing the imprisonment of Bill Watterson, the retired cartoonist, to force him to continue his "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip; and donning the costume of M.I.T.'s mascot, the beaver, while climbing the statue of John Harvard, namesake of that other Cambridge college. That incident went awry when some Harvard men swiped a paw.

But Mr. Dorai's time travel idea seems to have legs. 

"If you can just give up a Saturday night, there's a very small chance at it being the biggest event in human history," he said. 

And if it is a flop, futuristically speaking? 

Well, Mr. Dorai reasoned, "Certainly, if no one from the future shows up, that won't prove that it's impossible."


koko
==============================
NYT-0508 (Sunday, May 8, 2005)
U.S. to Spend Billions More to Alter Security Systems ... By ERIC LIPTON
After spending more than $4.5 billion, the federal government has concluded that much of the antiterrorism equipment is ineffective.

NYT-0508
Filibuster Fight Nears Showdown ... By CARL HULSE
With the Senate clock ticking toward a big procedural clash over judicial nominees, both sides are readying a final push.

NYT-0508
Drug Makers Reap Benefits of Tax Break ... By ALEX BERENSON
A new law is allowing drug companies to return as much as $75 billion in foreign profits to the U.S. at lower tax rates.

NYT-0508: QUOTATION OF THE DAY
"After 9/11, we had to show how committed we were by spending hugely greater amounts of money than ever before, as rapidly as possible. That brought us what we might expect, which is some expensive mistakes. This has been the difficult learning curve of the new discipline known as homeland security." REP. CHRISTOPHER COX, a California Republican who is the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee.

NYT-0508
Iraq to Complete Cabinet With Sunnis in Top Jobs ... By JOHN F. BURNS
Also on Saturday, a bombing in Baghdad killed at least 22 people, including two people identified as Americans.

NYT-0508
Bush Tells Putin Not to Interfere With Democracy in Former Soviet Republics ... By ELISABETH BUMILLER
President Bush cautioned Russia's president against exploiting old rivalries in the former Soviet republics.

NYT-0508
Lobbyist Paid by Pakistan Led U.S. Delegation There ... By PHILIP SHENON and ANNE E. KORNBLUT
Jack Abramoff led a Congressional delegation to Pakistan in 1997 but failed to disclose that he was a registered lobbyist for the Pakistani government.

NYT-0508
A Mayor's Secret Life Jolts a Northwest City ... By TIMOTHY EGAN
Mayor James E. West of Spokane faces claims that he had abused his positions of public trust over the last 25 years to have sex with boys and young men.

NYT-0508
After Florida Legislative Session Ends, Governor Bush Feels Sting of Defeat ... By ABBY GOODNOUGH
Gov. Jeb Bush suffered some of the sharpest losses of his tenure - at the hands of his own Republican party.

NYT-0508
A.F.L.-C.I.O. Lays Off 105, but Discord Grows Louder ... By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
The A.F.L.-C.I.O. saw its problems escalate last week when the federation laid off about a fourth of its staff and the chairman of its public relations committee resigned.

NYT-0508
Under New Medicare Prescription Drug Plan, Food Stamps May Be Reduced ... By ROBERT PEAR
Elderly people with low incomes may lose some of their food stamps if they sign up for the new Medicare prescription drug benefit, the Bush administration said.

NYT-0508
Teaching Wal-Mart New Tricks ... By TRACIE ROZHON
After decades of refusing to deal with pesky analysts and reporters, Wal-Mart has decided to open up and let a little sun in.

NYT-0508
A Blog Revolution? Get a Grip ... By TOM ZELLER Jr.
Nick Denton, publisher of Gawker Media and its growing list of popular Web logs, is one of the most watched entrepreneurs in the business.

NYT-0508
Cable's New Pitch: Reach Out and Touch Someone ... By KEN BELSON
Voice over Internet protocol is no longer the sole province of start-ups. Established cable providers are taking digital phones to the masses.

NYT-0508
Whoops! We Seem to Have Misplaced Your Identity ... By RANDALL STROSS
Why was the Time Warner data that was stolen from a van not sent via a secure online connection instead?

NYT-0508
As the iPod Stays Hot, It Risks Losing Its Cool ... By KEN BELSON
President George W. Bush listens to an iPod, it was learned recently. How uncool is that?

NYT-0508
Giacomo, the Unknown, Storms to Victory ... By JOE DRAPE
At 50-1, Giacomo became the second-longest shot to win the roses since Donerail stole off with the 1913 Derby at 91-1.

NYT-0508: PACERS WIN SERIES, 4-3
On to Detroit Now, Where the Brawl Is Not Forgotten ... By HOWARD BECK
In their latest show of resolve, the Indiana Pacers took apart the Boston Celtics, closing out the series with a 97-70 rout.

NYT-0508: METS 7, BREWERS 5
In Keeping With Trend, Beltran Personally Delivers a Victory for Martinez ... By PAT BORZI
The Mets' Carlos Beltran hit a pair of two-run homers, his fifth and sixth of the season, all coming in starts by Pedro Martinez.

NYT-0508
The Supersizing of the School Play ... By JESSE GREEN
Forget cardboard sets and costumes made of sheets. High school musicals have grown into high-pressure, five-figure spectacles.

NYT-0508
Wake Up. Wash Face. Do Routine. Now Paint. ... By MICHAEL KIMMELMAN
Chris Ofili's new portraits were just a daily routine. But so is most of what artists do.

NYT-0508
Heroes vs. Stars: Revenge of the Nerds ... By A. O. SCOTT
How did a group of pulpy, fringe-dwelling comic book characters vanquish the biggest stars in Hollywood?

NYT-0508
Racial Politics of 2001; Unhealed Wounds in 2005 ... By DIANE CARDWELL
Divisions over race and campaign tactics pitting Democrats against one another linger to this day, and are once again shaping the mayoral race.

NYT-0508
After Scars of Holocaust, Fresh Pain Over Money ... By JOSEPH BERGER
The process of distributing the roughly $10 billion in restitution settlements has set off rancorous arguments about how much will reach survivors before they die out.

NYT-0508
All's Well in Hoboken, It Seems, Except for the Mayor Seeking Another Term .. By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
David Roberts, a 48-year-old former firefighter, is up for re-election on Tuesday, and is facing a lively cast of four determined rivals.

NYT-0508: TODAY'S EDITORIALS
Missing Nuclear Leadership
Unless Washington brings high-level leadership to the table, the most important steps needed to keep new countries from obtaining nuclear weapons will not be taken.


Rain Watch in Los Angeles
In Los Angeles, and much of California, this wet winter is next winter's drought.


 (EDITORIAL OBSERVER)
The Latest Rumbling in the Blogosphere: Questions About Ethics ... By ADAM COHEN
As blogs grow in readers and influence, bloggers should realize that if they want to reform the American media, that is going to have to include reforming themselves.

NYT-0508: OP-ED COLUMNIST
Laura Bush's Mission Accomplished ... By FRANK RICH
Just when you think things couldn't get any worse for American journalists, along comes the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

NYT-0508: OP-ED COLUMNIST
The Pope and AIDS ... By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
If Pope Benedict XVI wants to ease human suffering, he could encourage the use of condoms.

NYT-0508: OP-ED COLUMNIST
Calling Democrats' Bluff ... By DAVID BROOKS
President Bush has now absorbed the old idea of progressive indexing of retirement benefits.

NYT-0508: OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
This Is Your Brain on Motherhood ... By KATHERINE ELLISON
Why having children can improve your intelligence.
=====
San Francisco

ANYONE shopping for a Mother's Day card today might reasonably linger in the Sympathy section. We can't seem to stop mourning the state of modern motherhood. "Madness" is our new metaphor. "Desperate Housewives" are our new cultural icons. And a mother's brain, as commonly envisioned, is impaired by a supposed full-scale assault on sanity and smarts. 

So strong is this last stereotype that when a satirical Web site posted a "study" saying that parents lose an average of 20 I.Q. points on the birth of their first child, MSNBC broadcast it as if it were true. The danger of this perception is clearest for working mothers, who besides bearing children spend more time with them, or doing things for them, than fathers, according to a recent Department of Labor survey. 

In addition, the more visibly "encumbered" we are, the more bias we attract: When volunteer groups were shown images of a woman doing various types of work, but in some cases wearing a pillow to make her look pregnant, most judged the "pregnant" woman less competent. Even in liberal San Francisco, a hearing last month to consider a pregnant woman's bid to be named acting director of the Department of Building Inspection featured four speakers commenting on her condition, with one asking if the city truly meant to hire a "pregnancy brain."

But what if just the opposite is true? What if parenting really isn't a zero-sum, children-take-all game? What if raising children is actually mentally enriching for mothers - and fathers? 

This is, in fact, what some leading brain scientists, like Michael Merzenich at the University of California, San Francisco, now believe. Becoming a parent, they say, can power up the mind with uniquely motivated learning. Having a baby is "a revolution for the brain," Dr. Merzenich says.

The human brain, we now know, creates cells throughout life, cells more likely to survive if they're used. Emotional, challenging and novel experiences provide particularly helpful use of these new neurons, and what adjectives better describe raising a child? Children constantly drag their parents into challenging, novel situations, be it talking a 4-year-old out of a backseat meltdown on the Interstate or figuring out a third-grade homework assignment to make a model of a black hole in space.

Often, we'd rather be doing almost anything else. Aging makes us cling ever more fiercely to our mental ruts. But for most of us, our unique bond with our children yanks us out of them.

And there are other ways that being a dedicated parent strengthens our minds. Research shows that learning and memory skills can be improved by bearing and nurturing offspring. A team of neuroscientists in Virginia found that mother lab rats, just like working mothers, demonstrably excel at time-management and efficiency, racing around mazes to find rewards and get back to the pups in record time. Other research is showing how hormones elevated in parenting can help buffer mothers from anxiety and stress - a timely gift from a sometimes compassionate Mother Nature. Oxytocin, produced by mammals in labor and breast-feeding, has been linked to the ability to learn in lab animals.

Rethinking the mental state of motherhood is reasonable after recent years of evolution of our notion of just what it means to be smart. With our economy newly weighted with people-to-people jobs, and with many professions, including the sciences, becoming more multidisciplinary and collaborative, the people skills we've come to think of as "emotional intelligence" are increasingly prized by many wise employers. An ability to tailor your message to your audience, for instance - a skill that engaged parents practice constantly - can mean the difference between failure and success, at home and at work, as Harvard's president, Lawrence Summers, may now realize. 

To be sure, sleep deprivation, overwork and too much "Teletubbies" can sap any parent's synapses. And to be sure, our society needs to do much more - starting with more affordable, high-quality child care and paid parental leaves - to catch up with other industrialized nations and support mothers and fathers in using their newly acquired smarts to best advantage. That's why some of the recent "mommy lit" complaints are justified, and probably needed to rouse society to action - if only because nobody will be able to stand our whining for much longer. 

Still, it's worth considering that the torrent of negativity about motherhood comes as part of an era in which intimacy of all sorts is on the decline in this country. Geographically close extended families have long been passe. The marriage rate has declined. And a record percentage of women of child-bearing age today are childless, many by choice.

It's common these days to hear people say they don't have time to maintain friendships. Real relationships take a lot of time and work - it's much more convenient to keep in touch by e-mail. But children insist on face time. They fail to thrive unless we anticipate their needs, work our empathy muscles, adjust our schedules and endure their relentless testing. In the process, if we're lucky, we may realize that just this kind of grueling work - with our children, or even with others who could simply use some help - is precisely what makes us grow, acquire wisdom and become more fully human. Perhaps then we can start to re-imagine a mother's brain as less a handicap than a keen asset in the lifelong task of getting smart. (Katherine Ellison is the author of "The Mommy Brain: How Motherhood Makes Us Smarter.")

NYT-0508: ON THIS DAY
On May 8, 1973, militant American Indians who had held the South Dakota hamlet of Wounded Knee for 10 weeks surrendered.


==============================
NYT-0509 (Monday, May 9, 2005)
States Propose Sweeping Changes to Trim Medicaid by Billions ... By ROBERT PEAR
The plans provide guidance to Congress, which endorsed a budget blueprint that would cut projected Medicaid spending by $10 billion over the next five years.

NYT-0509
Case of Cuban Exile Could Test the U.S. Definition of Terrorist ... By TIM WEINER
Luis Posada Carriles, who is a symbol for the armed anti-Castro movement, is seeking political asylum in the U.S.

NYT-0509
Row of Loosely Guarded Targets Lies Just Outside New York City ... By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI
Terrorism experts call a chlorine gas plant in northern New Jersey the deadliest target in the most dangerous two miles in the U.S.

NYT-0509: QUOTATION OF THE DAY
"I heard about it watching TV." HASHIM AL-SHIBLI, on his appointment as human rights minister in Iraq.

NYT-0509
Issue in China: Labor Camps That Operate Outside the Courts ... By JIM YARDLEY
Locked inside more than 300 special prisons are an estimated 300,000 inmates who have been stripped of any legal rights.

NYT-0509
A New Political Setback for Iraq's Cabinet ... By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.
The parliament approved appointments for six new cabinet spots, but a Sunni chosen as human rights minister declined the post.

NYT-0509
Despite Tension, Bush-Putin Meeting Is Called a Success ... By ELISABETH BUMILLER
The leaders met in what was widely expected to be a tense encounter, but advisers to both men moved swiftly to pronounce the meeting a success.

NYT-0509
Immigrants in Tennessee Issued Certificates to Drive ... By SHAILA DEWAN
With Congress preparing to require states to issue driver's licenses only to citizens and legal residents, other states that want to allow noncitizens to drive may look to Tennessee's system as a model.

NYT-0509
Judge Declares Mistrial in Case of Ohio Highway Shootings ... By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The mistrial came after four days in which a jury failed to reach a verdict in the case of Charles McCoy Jr., who was charged in 12 shootings.

NYT-0509
Missouri Mourners Remember 'Precious Doe' ... By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Hundreds of mourners gathered Saturday for a memorial service to remember the little girl once known only as ''Precious Doe,'' interrupting a pastor's remarks with applause and shouting the child's name in unison.

NYT-0509
When It Comes to Replacing Oil Imports, Nuclear Is No Easy Option, Experts Say ... By MATTHEW L. WALD
President Bush has proposed reducing oil imports by increasing the use of nuclear power, but reactors make electricity, not oil.

NYT-0509
On Social Security, a Search for Rivals ... By RICHARD W. STEVENSON
Having now outlined his approach to Social Security, President Bush is trying to turn the focus to another aspect of the debate: Where are the Democrats?

NYT-0509
Changes Made to Reserves, Ex-Employee of A.I.G. Says ... By GRETCHEN MORGENSON
Executives at the American International Group regularly made changes to its reserves to help meet profit goals, according to a former employee.

NYT-0509
Fraud Complaint Expected Against General Re Executive ... By TIMOTHY L. O'BRIEN
The S.E.C. told Richard Napier, a senior executive at General Re Corporation, that it planned to file a civil securities fraud complaint against him.

NYT-0509
Marketing a Disease, and Also a Drug to Treat It ... By ANDREW POLLACK
Avanir hopes that a drug will win federal approval to treat uncontrollable laughing or crying. But does the condition warrant drug therapy?

NYT-0509
Your Internet Search Results, in the Round ... By JOHN MARKOFF
Grokker software, which displays a Web search as a series of categories on a circular map, will now run as a Java plug-in for browsers.

NYT-0509
Big Online Brokers in Talks About Possible Takeovers ... By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN
A takeover skirmish among three of the nation's largest online stock brokerages erupted over the weekend, potentially leading to a significant reorganization of the industry.

NYT-0509
Chip Maker Develops Denser Storage Method ... By JOHN MARKOFF
Matrix Semiconductor plans to announce a breakthrough in one-gigabit chips.

NYT-0509: HEAT LEAD SERIES, 1-0
With Its Stars Flickering, Heat Still Shines ... By CHARLIE NOBLES
The Miami Heat did not need vintage Shaquille O'Neal or Dwyane Wade to dispatch the Washington Wizards, 105-86.

NYT-0509: YANKEES 6, ATHLETICS 0
Brown Climbs Out of Hole With a Gem ... By TYLER KEPNER
Kevin Brown gave up five singles over seven innings to snap a career-high seven-game losing streak.

NYT-0509
Garcia Slips, Furyk Misses and Singh Wins It All ... By VIV BERNSTEIN
Vijay Singh won the Wachovia Championship in a playoff with Jim Furyk, but the tournament will probably be remembered for Sergio Garcia's collapse.

NYT-0509
Adventures in Opera: A 'Ring' in the Rain Forest ... By LARRY ROHTER
The Amazonas Opera Festival in Brazil has decided to stage Wagner's "Ring of the Nibelungen" cycle in the heart of the world's biggest rain forest.

NYT-0509: ARCHITECTURE REVIEW ---  MEMORIAL TO THE MURDERED JEWS OF EUROPE
A Forest of Pillars, Recalling the Unimaginable ... By NICOLAI OUROUSSOFF
The quiet abstraction and stark physical presence of the memorial in Berlin memorializes past sufferings but also forces us to acknowledge the Holocaust's relevance today.

NYT-0509
Dia Art Foundation Plans an Upscale Move ... By CAROL VOGEL
Dia plans to move from its two spaces on West 22nd Street to 820 Washington Street, an area which is part of the new High Line redesign project.

NYT-0509
Political Drama Abounds in Trial Involving Mrs. Clinton's Hollywood Fund-Raiser ... By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ
David F. Rosen goes on trial this week on charges that he illegally underreported the cost of a benefit for Hillary Rodham Clinton's 2000 Senate campaign.

NYT-0509
Fire at Home for Disabled Kills One Man ... By ROBERT D. McFADDEN
The fire and death were only the latest in a litany of problems at Brooklyn Manor, one of the most notorious adult homes in the city.

NYT-0509
Fire Chief Who Assailed Mayor's Policy Is to Testify Before Council ... By MICHELLE O'DONNELL
Chief Peter E. Hayden is to testify on the city's new emergency response protocol, which he has said is "a recipe for disaster."

NYT-0509: TODAY'S EDITORIALS
Nature at Bay
President Bush's policies on the environment suggest that he not only has failed to learn from past mistakes, but is determined to repeat them on a more destructive scale.

NYT-0509: TODAY'S EDITORIALS
A No-Confidence Vote for Mr. Abbas
So far, a quarter of Congress's Palestinian aid disbursement is actually going to Israel. We sincerely hope the rest goes to actual Palestinians.

NYT-0509: TODAY'S EDITORIALS
With Every Breeze, a Wheeze !!
For those who suffer from weeping eyes, runny nose and general grumpiness every spring, there's several options beyond visiting the allergist.

NYT-0509: TODAY'S EDITORIALS (EDITORIAL OBSERVER)
An Assertive Scientific Advisory Group Challenges Federal Policies ... By PHILIP M. BOFFEY
The National Academy of Sciences has recently shown a welcome independence streak by criticizing some policies of federal agencies and the White House.

NYT-0509: OP-ED COLUMNIST
Stranger Than Fiction ... By BOB HERBERT
If President Bush had consulted with his father before launching this disastrous war, it would have spared his country - and the families of the many thousands dead - a lot of grief.

NYT-0509: OP-ED COLUMNIST
The Final Insult ... By PAUL KRUGMAN
Mr. Bush likes to play dress-up, but when it comes to privatizing Social Security, his Robin Hood costume just doesn't fit.

NYT-0509: OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Spirited Away ... By THOMAS BENDER
Because of its historical significance to the city, the artwork, "Kindred Spirits," ought to return to the neighborhood of its original home, the New York Public Library.

NYT-0509: OP-ED CONTRIBUTORS
Before the Flood ... By SUJATHA BYRAVAN and SUDHIR CHELLA RAJAN
A painless, humanitarian way for rich countries to deal with the imminent wave of "climate exiles" who will be flooded out of their homes.

NYT-0509: ON THIS DAY
On May 9, 1994, South Africa's newly elected parliament chose Nelson Mandela to be the country's first black president.

================================
NYT-0510 (Tuesday, May 10, 2005)
Internet Attack Called Broad and Long Lasting by Investigators ... By JOHN MARKOFF and LOWELL BERGMAN
A break-in at Cisco Systems last year was only part of an extensive operation in which thousands of systems were penetrated.

NYT-0510
Behind Failed Abu Ghraib Plea, a Tale of Breakups and Betrayal ... By KATE ZERNIKE
The reservists' treatment of Iraqi prisoners and their entanglements with one another have produced a dark soap opera.
=====
In a military courtroom in Texas last week was a spectacle worthy of "As the World Turns": Pfc. Lynndie R. England, the defendant, holding her 7-month-old baby; the imprisoned father, Pvt. Charles A. Graner Jr., giving testimony that ruined what lawyers said was her best shot at leniency; and waiting outside, another defendant from the notorious abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, Megan M. Ambuhl, who had recently wed Private Graner - a marriage Private England learned about only days before.

To some, the grave misdeeds at Abu Ghraib, where the three soldiers worked for six months in 2003, have become a twisted symbol of the American military occupation of Iraq. But the scandal is also one rooted in the behavior of military reservists working at the prison, an environment that testimony has portrayed as more frat house than military prison, a place where inmates were routinely left naked and soldiers took pictures of one another simulating sex with fruit. 

The reservists' treatment of Iraqi prisoners and their entanglements with one another - pieced together from documents, court testimony, e-mail and interviews - have produced a dark soap opera, one whose episodes have continued to play out in the months since the scandal erupted, and culminated in the Texas courtroom last week.

As with any soap opera, past episodes help explain the most recent.

Private England, who is now waiting for charges to be filed against her again, and Private Graner began dating while they were training with their Army Reserve unit, the 372nd Military Police Company, based in Cresaptown, Md.

A hell-raising young woman from West Virginia, Private England, now 22, was married at 19, on a whim, she told friends, and violated her parents' wishes when she joined the Reserve in high school to make money for college.

Private Graner, 36, a Pennsylvania prison guard and a former marine, had rejoined the military in a burst of patriotism after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

He was fresh from an ugly divorce in 2000. His ex-wife, Staci Morris, had taken out three protective orders against him, and after he was arrested for harassing her in 2001, Private Graner admitted that he had dragged her around by her hair.

He introduced the two women, and Ms. Morris said she felt "selfish relief" that with someone new, her ex-husband would stop being obsessed with her. And she liked Private England, finding her quiet and adoring.

"If he was as charming with her as he is with most women at the beginning, I can understand it," Ms. Morris said. "Charming, compliments, you name it. The things you would love to hear as a young woman."

Just after the 372nd received orders to go to Iraq in February 2003, Private Graner, Private England and another soldier had a last party weekend in Virginia Beach. They drank heavily, and when their friend passed out, Private Graner and Private England took turns taking photographs of each other exposing themselves over his head.

In Iraq, Private England was disciplined several times for sleeping with Private Graner, against military rules. She flouted warnings to stay on the wing where she worked as a clerk, and spent most of her nights in the cellblock where he worked the night shift. 

One night in October, he told her to pose for photographs holding a leash tied around the neck of a naked and crawling detainee. He e-mailed one home: "Look what I made Lynndie do." The now infamous pictures of detainees masturbating, he said, were a birthday gift for her.

Specialist Ambuhl, who has been discharged from the Army, was Private Graner's partner on the nightshift. If he and Private England were loud and bawdy - they made a video of themselves having sex - Ms. Ambuhl was soft-spoken and serious. Private England had joined the army to see the world; Ms. Ambuhl had already been on college study trips to Kenya and the Galapagos Islands. She had worked as a technician in a medical laboratory in Virginia, where she grew up, and like Private Graner, signed up to defend the nation after Sept. 11.

She had been involved with another soldier in the unit. But by late December, she had ended that relationship and started one with Private Graner. In e-mail messages, the two dreamily recalled their nights stolen away in the crowded prison cells where the military police lived. 

"I was missing u too," she wrote just after Christmas 2003. "When I heard your voice coming up the stairs, it made me happy and kinda nervous too (good nervous)." She reassured him that she would not get back together with her ex-boyfriend. 

But Private Graner had not completely cut off relations with Private England. On Jan. 2, 2004, he was caught sleeping in Private England's quarters and demoted. 

A few days later, Ms. Ambuhl e-mailed him again. "I really do care about you," she wrote. "It's just that part of me says I just got hurt from a relationship so don't put myself in the position to get hurt again."

She fantasized about when they might be truly alone. "Is it going to feel strange for just the two of us to be in a room together, with no chance of anyone walking in??" she wrote a few days later. "Just kidding, I can't wait." They talked about taking a leave together in February.

But on Jan. 13, a soldier slipped investigators a disk with the graphic photographs of detainees. The investigation began the next day.

Private Graner, quickly identified as the ringleader in the abuse, e-mailed his father in early March to discuss the accusations against him, then popped "more good news:" Private England was two months pregnant - he spelled her name Lynndee - and the pregnancy would most likely get them sent home from Iraq.

They found out she was pregnant two days after breaking up.

"I stopped seeing her back in january but when all this garbage came out i started seeing her again," he wrote. "chances are very good that it is my child....o well....daddy what did you bring home from the war????"

Ms. Ambuhl sent Private Graner e-mail in mid-March, after stumbling over old photos of them. "it seems like a dream that we were ever together, if you could call it that." 

"doin ok lately?" she asked. "U seem kinda distant." She let off a flash of exasperation with Private England. "We never tried to exclude u and England," she wrote. "You never wanted to go to chow or anything with us. And she does exactly what you do so you can't help that."

Private England - but not Private Graner - was sent back to the United States because of the pregnancy. The Army moved Private Graner and Ms. Ambuhl, along with four other soldiers under investigation, to a tent apart from the rest of their unit. And they resumed their relationship.

In April, Ms. Ambuhl e-mailed Private Graner an article headlined, "Study Finds Frequent Sex Raises Cancer Risk." She added, "We could have died last night."

Privates England and Graner were no longer speaking when their son was born in October. She named him Carter Allan England.

Ms. Ambuhl, who had by then pleaded guilty and been discharged, was subpoenaed to testify at Private Graner's trial at Fort Hood, Tex., in January. 

On the stand, prosecutors forced her to acknowledge the relationship, and accused her of lying to protect Private Graner.

"You don't want your friend to go to jail, do you?" the lead prosecutor, Maj. Michael Holley, asked. 

"No, sir," she said quietly.

The two spent evenings together during the trial, and it was there that Private Graner proposed. He was convicted, sentenced to 10 years in a military prison and demoted from specialist to private. He had earlier been demoted from corporal.

Ms. Ambuhl had gone back to work at the laboratory and was living with her parents. They accompanied her to Fort Hood for the wedding in April. Another man stood in for Private Graner, because he had begun serving his sentence and Ms. Ambuhl, as an admitted co-conspirator, is not allowed to see him.

Private England heard about the wedding from her lawyers, who heard about it from a reporter the Friday before her trial was to begin. She had worked out a plea agreement that limited her time in prison to 30 months, and the jury could have given her less time. She planned to have her son live with her mother while she was in prison.

Ms. Morris, Private Graner's ex-wife, had been subpoenaed to tell the jury that Private Graner was a bad influence, and over pizza in a hotel room, she befriended Private England. She told Private England that she regretted not warning her away from him at the beginning.

"She said, 'I guess I should be grateful for Megan?' " Ms. Morris recalled, "And I said, 'Yeah, honey, you should be.' " 

The day before his testimony, Private Graner sent a note to reporters saying he regretted that "Lynn" had pleaded guilty and hoped her plea would get her a light sentence. Private England did not return any such affection. She leaned down to a courtroom artist sketching Mr. Graner: "Don't forget the horns and goatee."

Prosecutors advised defense lawyers against putting Private Graner on the stand, but they did it anyway. He testified that he had ordered Private England to remove a prisoner from a cell by a leash and that it had been a legitimate military exercise. This presented what seemed to be a contradiction - a defendant pleading guilty but presenting a witness who testified that she was innocent. The military judge threw out her plea agreement and ordered that the court-martial process start over.

"It's nothing you did," the judge, Col. James L. Pohl, told her, "It's what he did."

Private England turned to Ms. Morris. "Well, he screws everything up, doesn't he?" Ms. Morris recalled Private England saying.

"I have to agree with you," Ms. Morris replied.

NYT-0510
Gay Men Are Found to Have Different Scent of Attraction ... By NICHOLAS WADE
The new research may open the way to studying human pheromones, as well as the biological basis of sexual preference.

NYT-0510: QUOTATION OF THE DAY
"It's definitely a rugged outdoorsman-type of activity. It's not Malibu." SGT. ERIC THOMPSON, a Sonoma County, Calif., rescue officer, on the perils of hunting abalone.

NYT-0510
100 Rebels Killed in U.S. Offensive in Western Iraq ... By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.
The attack appears to be the largest combat offensive in Iraq since the Marines invaded Falluja six months ago.

NYT-0510
Putin, Bush at His Side, Celebrates War's End and New Russian Pride ... By STEVEN LEE MYERS and ELISABETH BUMILLER
Russia's president did not express contrition for the Soviet domination of Eastern and Central Europe that followed World War II.

NYT-0510
No. 2 at State Dept. Was Said to Put Restrictions on Bolton ... By DOUGLAS JEHL
Richard Armitage was said to have ordered that John Bolton be blocked from delivering speeches and testimony unless they were personally approved.

NYT-0510
Ex-City Official Is Convicted in Philadelphia Corruption Case ... By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Philadelphia's former treasurer was convicted on charges that he had accepted free trips, Super Bowl tickets, cash and other gifts from people seeking city contracts.

NYT-0510
Payments to Help Hospitals Care for Illegal Immigrants ... By ROBERT PEAR
The Bush administration announced that it would start paying hospitals and doctors for providing emergency care to illegal immigrants.

NYT-0510
2 Girls Found Stabbed to Death in Illinois Park ... By GRETCHEN RUETHLING and JODI WILGOREN
Two second-grade girls were found dead of stab wounds in a densely forested park, in a crime the authorities described as "heinous" and "heart-rending."

NYT-0510
Jockeying Intensifies in Battle Over Judicial Nominees ... By NEIL A. LEWIS and CARL HULSE
Democrats and Republicans in the Senate busied themselves with increasingly intense gamesmanship in the fight over President Bush's judicial choices.

NYT-0510
3 Saks Executives Fired Over Vendor Payments ... By TRACIE ROZHON
Saks Inc. is cleaning house after an audit committee found wrongdoing in how its Saks Fifth Avenue chain was collecting "markdown money" from vendors.

NYT-0510
Free Trade Pact Faces Trouble in Congress ... By ELIZABETH BECKER
The current centerpiece of President Bush's trade agenda, the Central American Free Trade Agreement, faces opposition from Democrats and special interest groups.

NYT-0510
S.E.C. Said to Notify Another General Re Figure of Fraud Suit ... By TIMOTHY L. O'BRIEN
The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to file civil fraud charges against a former General Re executive as part of its investigation of financial manipulation.

NYT-0510
I.B.M. Expected to Buy Start-Up to Advance Open-Source Strategy ... By STEVE LOHR
The purchase of Gluecode Software, an open-source start-up, is the latest step in I.B.M.'s strategy of building a big business around open-source software.

NYT-0510
Trading Slump Spurs Online Brokers' Merger Talk ... By RIVA D. ATLAS
Online brokerage firms may have no other option left but to combine.

NYT-0510
A Web of Sensors, Taking Earth's Pulse ... By WILLIAM J. BROAD
Scientists are turning 30 acres of California forest into a futuristic vision of environmental study.

NYT-0510
N.B.A. Drops Case Against Van Gundy ... By LIZ ROBBINS
The investigation ended when Houston Coach Jeff Van Gundy said that he had not been called by a referee who disclosed that the league would single out Yao Ming.

NYT-0510: PISTONS LEAD SERIES, 1-0
As Wallace Dominates, Pacers Show Little Fight ... By JASON DIAMOS
Ben Wallace's 21-point, 15-rebound performance propelled the Pistons to a 96-81 victory over Indiana on Monday night.

NYT-0510
Diaz, Part of the Mets' Future, Is Doing Too Well to Send Down ... By IRA BERKOW
The comparisons with the Red Sox' Manny Ramirez underline just how far Victor Diaz III has progressed from the neighborhood in Chicago where he was reared.

NYT-0510
Christian Rock for Muslims ... By SAMUEL LOEWENBERG
A Christian rock festival, which was held last weekend in Morocco, caused mixed reactions amongst the locals.

NYT-0510
Two Authors Ask About 'Ask Not' ... By EDWARD WYATT
Two scholars haved examined the evidence around the authorship of Kennedy's 1961 inaugural address and came to opposite conclusions.

NYT-0510
Public TV and Radio to Receive Big Grants ... By LORNE MANLY and ELIZABETH JENSEN
The Ford Foundation's initiative to aid nonprofit media comes as public broadcasting is facing a decline in corporate underwriting and state government support.

NYT-0510
Fire Chief Challenges New York Emergency Plan ... By MIKE McINTIRE and MICHELLE O'DONNELL
Chief Peter E. Hayden said that the Bloomberg administration's decision to give the police initial control at hazardous materials emergencies "makes no sense."

NYT-0510
How Plan for a Tunnel Turned Goldman Against Downtown ... By CHARLES V. BAGLI and JENNIFER STEINHAUER
With the future home of Goldman Sachs in doubt, so is Lower Manhattan's primacy as a vibrant financial and commercial center.

NYT-0510
Group Home Where Man Died in Fire Was Closed to New Arrivals .. By MARC SANTORA and LESLIE KAUFMAN
A man who died in a fire on Sunday at a Brooklyn home that is supposed to care for mentally ill people should never have been placed there, according to state records.

NYT-0510: TODAY'S EDITORIALS
Chemical Time Bombs
If Congress is serious about protecting the nation, they will make sure that a bill to upgrade chemical plant security becomes law in the strongest possible form.

NYT-0510: TODAY'S EDITORIALS
A Single Standard for Terrorists
The Bush administration should do the morally clear thing and not grant Luis Posada Carriles political asylum.

NYT-0510: TODAY'S EDITORIALS
Hard Politics and Soft Money
The biggest loophole in the laws regulating big-money campaign donations is the runaway spending by unregulated shadow-party advocacy groups.

NYT-0510: TODAY'S EDITORIALS
Writing Inside the Box
Three writers have agreed to isolate themselves in small writing cells for an installation but the entire display trivializes the nature of writing.

NYT-0510: OP-ED COLUMNIST
Catholic Devotion, and Doubts ... By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Unless the Vatican reconnects with ordinary people in Latin America, the new Pope may face a Re-Reformation.

NYT-0510: OP-ED COLUMNIST
Bombs Bursting on Air ... By JOHN TIERNEY
There's no reason the news media can't reconsider their own fondness for covering suicide bombings. A little restraint would give the public a more realistic view of the world's dangers.

NYT-0510: OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
The Not-So-Secret History of Filibusters ... By GEORGE J. MITCHELL
The proposal by some Republican senators to change rules that have governed the Senate for two centuries now puts the system of checks and balances in danger.

NYT-0510: OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
The Line Between Life and Death ... By GARY KALKUT AND NANCY NEVELOFF DUBLER
Implying that a brain-dead person is still alive gives false hope and preys on the survivors' feelings of guilt.

NYT-0510: ON THIS DAY
On May 10, 1869, a golden spike was driven at Promontory, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States.


==================================
NYT-0511 (Wednesday, May 11, 2005)
Bombers Kill at Least 54 in Separate Attacks in Iraq ... By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A suicide bomber hit an army recruiting center in the small northern town of Hawija, and a car bomb exploded in Tikrit.

NYT-0511
Rumsfeld Seeks Leaner Army and Full Term as Defense Secretary .. By THOM SHANKER  and ERIC SCHMITT
In an interview, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld gave every indication of serving out the rest of the Bush administration.

NYT-0511
United Air Wins Right to Default on Its Employee Pension Plans ... By MICHELINE MAYNARD
The ruling by a judge set off the largest pension default in the three decades that the government has guaranteed pensions.

NYT-0511: QUOTATION OF THE DAY
"Our first winner came in and said it was a fortune cookie. The second winner came in and said it was a fortune cookie. The third winner came in and said it was a fortune cookie." REBECCA PAUL, chief executive of the  Tennessee Lottery.

NYT-0511
China Rules Out Using Sanctions on North Korea ... By JOSEPH KAHN  and DAVID E. SANGER
The announcement appeared to undercut the Bush administration's strategy to pressure North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

NYT-0511
Bush Encourages Georgia With a Warning to Russia ... By ELISABETH BUMILLER
President Bush warned President Vladimir Putin of Russia that the sovereignty of Georgia "must be respected by all nations."

NYT-0511
U.N. Relief Director Appeals for Help in Crises Throughout Africa ... By WARREN HOGE
The United Nations emergency relief coordinator, Jan Egeland, said Tuesday that relief crises in Africa were outpacing efforts to contain them.

NYT-0511
Church Split in Dispute Over Bush ... By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A Baptist preacher who was accused of forcing nine members to leave his church because they refused to support President Bush said that he was stepping down.

NYT-0511
Father of Slain 8-Year-Old Is Accused of Murdering Her and Best Friend, 9 .. By GRETCHEN RUETHLING
The father of one of two second graders killed in a park in Zion, Ill., on Mother's Day was charged with first-degree murder.

NYT-0511
Drug in Test Acts on Gene Tied to Heart ... By NICHOLAS WADE
A chemical that singles out a gene thought to increase the risk of heart attacks has shown promising results in a preliminary test.

NYT-0511
Appeals Court Backs Cheney in Secrecy Case ... By DAVID STOUT
The ruling upheld the administration's argument that it was not obligated to disclose whom it consulted on energy matters early in President Bush's first term.

NYT-0511
Congress Rekindles Battle on Mandatory Sentences ... By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Congress is moving to institute new minimum sentences, beginning with a sweeping House bill to fight street gangs.

NYT-0511
Pentagon Is Asking Congress to Loosen Environmental Laws ... By MICHAEL JANOFSKY
Military officials say the requested changes are essential to preserve the quality of training and to avoid lawsuits over possible violations.

NYT-0511
Morgan Stanley Says Earnings May Falter ... By LANDON THOMAS Jr.
Morgan Stanley's chief warned that the firm faced deteriorating market conditions that could put a dent in future earnings.

NYT-0511
Hedge Fund Rumors Rattle Markets ... By RIVA D. ATLAS
Worries about the growing influence of hedge funds erupted on Tuesday after talk that funds had suffered losses tied to the debt of General Motors.

NYT-0511
Third Executive Faces Complaint in Insurer Inquiry ... By TIMOTHY L. O'BRIEN
The Securities and Exchange Commission is filing a civil fraud complaint against a third executive of the General Re Corporation as part of its investigation.

NYT-0511
Tut Was Not Such a Handsome Golden Youth, After All ... By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
Teams of artists and scientists, using computer scans to reconstruct the face of King Tut, say he had buck teeth and a long skull.

NYT-0511
Yahoo Taking On Rivals With Online Music Service ... By REUTERS
Yahoo is starting an online music subscription service, competing against providers like Rhapsody from RealNetworks and Napster with lower pricing.

NYT-0511
Cisco Profit Climbs on Demand for Network Systems ... By LAURIE J. FLYNN
Cisco Systems reported that third-quarter profits rose 16 percent, spurred by increased demand from telecommunications companies upgrading their networks.

NYT-0511: HEAT LEAD SERIES, 2-0
Even With an Injured Leg, O'Neal Stands Above the Rest ... By CHARLIE NOBLES
Shaquille O'Neal, still clearly bothered by a bruise to his right thigh, settled for 16 points and 7 rebounds in a 108-102 victory over the Washington Wizards.

NYT-0511
Bellamy Road to Miss Preakness; in Doubt for Belmont ... By BILL FINLEY
George Steinbrenner's Bellamy Road has developed a minor injury that will keep him out of the Preakness Stakes and possibly the Belmont Stakes.

NYT-0511: YANKEES 7, MARINERS 4
Bronx Renaissance for Martinez and Yanks ... By TYLER KEPNER
Tino Martinez's home run tear continued as the Yankees beat the Seattle Mariners in Chien-Ming Wang's first major league victory.

NYT-0511
'Spamalot' Leads the Pack With 14 Tony Nominations ... By JESSE McKINLEY
"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and "The Light in the Piazza" each received 11 nominations.

NYT-0511
Art, Money and Power ... By MICHAEL KIMMELMAN
Every year, in one way or another, museums test the public's faith in their integrity. This year, with the Met's Chanel-sponsored Chanel show, is no different.

NYT-0511
Andy Warhol's 'Liz' Brings $12.6 Million at Sotheby's Sale ... By CAROL VOGEL
Paintings by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein were the stars of an otherwise lackluster sale at Sotheby's on Tuesday.

NYT-0511
Temporary Space for 191 Countries? For U.N., Maybe It's in Brooklyn ... By WARREN HOGE
Secretary General Kofi Annan has suggested downtown Brooklyn as a temporary location during the organization's renovations at its 53-year-old East Side headquarters.

NYT-0511
Who Needs Giacomo? Bet on the Fortune Cookie ... By JENNIFER 8. LEE
Suspecting fraud, Powerball lottery officials discovered that the 110 players who were winners in the March 30 drawing had gotten their numbers from fortune cookies.

NYT-0511
Medical Group for City Jails Is Investigated ... By PAUL von ZIELBAUER
State officials have opened an investigation into whether the corporation, Prison Health Services, is violating state law governing medical services.

NYT-0511: TODAY'S EDITORIALS
Wowing Them in Tbilisi
President Bush's trip through Latvia hit a home run on public relations while striking out on substance.

NYT-0511: TODAY'S EDITORIALS
It's Science, Not a Freak Show
Far-out possibilities should not distract us from welcoming more mundane experiments with animal-human hybrids that will be needed to advance science.

NYT-0511: TODAY'S EDITORIALS
Put Down the Cigarette, and Dial
It seems only fair that the Bloomberg administration is coming up with ways to help smokers in New York quit the habit and come back indoors.

NYT-0511: TODAY'S EDITORIALS (APPRECIATIONS)
Rotary's Big Boots ... By TINA ROSENBERG
Rotary International, which turns 100 next month, has helped the global eradication of polio.

NYT-0511: OP-ED COLUMNIST
Brussels Sprouts ... By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Unless China and Europe get serious about the problem of nuclear nonproliferation, it's not going to get fixed.

NYT-0511: GUEST COLUMNIST
Wanted: Responsible Demagoguery ... By MATT MILLER
Democrats should quit carping about President Bush's evil "cuts" to Social Security and instead punish him with Responsible Demagoguery.

NYT-0511: OP-ED CONTRIBUTORS
The Best Man for the Job ... By JAMES A. BAKER III and EDWIN MEESE III
The United Nations needs John Bolton.

NYT-0511: OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
The Tipping Point ... By BELINDA BOARD
If reports of John Bolton's behavior are accurate then both his supporters and critics could be right.

NYT-0511: ON THIS DAY
On May 11, 1973, charges against Daniel Ellsberg for his role in the Pentagon Papers case were dismissed by Judge William M. Byrne, who cited government misconduct.