KURDEDE PARIS

N°253APRIL 2006

INSTITUT

Information and liaison bulletin

IRAQ IS PROVIDED WITH A AN EXECUTIVE:JALAL TLABANI, IS PRESIDENT AND NURI AL-MALIKIPRIME MINISTER OF THE IRAQI FEDERAL REPUBLIC

n 22 April, JalalTalabani, first KurdishPresident in modernIraqi history, was re-elected President for a

four-year term. His re-electionwas greeted with joyfulcelebrations in Kurdistan, andespecially in his stronghold ofSuleimaniyah. Mr. Talabani waselected President of the Republicin April 2005 after havingdevoted a considerable part ofhis life to struggling againstSaddam Hussein’s Baathistregime. In the course of his firstterm of office, he had tried to be

reassuring to all neighbouringStates, including Syria and Iraq,which were treated withcontempt by the United States,which accused them ofsustaining terrorism in Iraq. Buthe also considered anypremature departure of GIs fromIraq would be “catastrophic”.This man, whose comradesaffectionately call “Uncle Jalal”entered politics very young,inspired by admiration for thelegendary figure of Kurdishnational struggle, MustafaBarzani. Brought up in Kirkuk, at15 he had dreamed of becoming

a doctor, but finally opted tostudy law, so as to devotehimself to politics. Hisparticipation in an anti-colonialdemonstration in Baghdad in1952 forced his to abandon hisstudies, only to resume themafter the monarchy wasoverthrown in 1958. In between,he did his military service in theartillery and armoured corps,joining the Kurdistan DemocraticParty (which had been foundedin 1946), and later fought in themountains during the majorKurdish revolt of 1961. Exiled inIran in 1964, then in Syria in the70s, where he formed his party,the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan(PUK), Jalal Talabani is the firstnon-Arab President of a country

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Contents:

• IRAQ IS PROVIDED WITH A AN EXECUTIVE: JALAL TALABANI,PRESIDENT AND NURI AL-MALIKI PRIME MINISTER OF THE IRAQIFEDERAL REPUBLIC.

• SADDAM HUSSEIN AND HIS COUSIN “CHEMICAL ALI” WILL BETRIED FOR GENOCIDE AGAINST THE KURDS.

• A MASSIVE DEPLOYMENT OF THE TURKISH ARMY ON ITSBORDERS WITH IRAQI KURDISTAN, WHICH IS ALSO BEINGTHREATENED BY IRANIAN ARMY MANOEUVRES, ON THE EXCUSEOF FIGHTING THE PKK.

• IRAQ: THE MONTHLY ASSESSMENT OF US LOSSES SHOWS A DROP,WHILE THE INTER-SECTARIAN TENSIONS ARE INCREASING.

• DIYARBEKIR: THE KURDS DENOUNCE THE EXCESSIVE USE OFFORCE DURING THE RECENT KURDISH RIOTS WHILE THETURKISH AUTHORITIES REFUSE ANY POLITICAL DISCUSSION.

• DAMASCUS: THE BAATHIST REGIME CONTINUES ITS POLICY OFREPRESSION AND TRIES TO STIFLE ANY POLITICAL ACTIVITY.

AS WELL AS …

the majority of whose populationis Arab. He and MassudBarzani, who became Presidentof the Kurdistan autonomousregion in 2005, formed a joint listfor the January and Decemberelections in 2005. In the course ofa Press Conference in Irbil on 23April, attended by USAmbassador to Iraq, ZalmayKhalilzad and rebroadcast overthe national public TV, Iraqiya,the Iraqi President affirmed thatthe peshmergas were notmembers of a militia but of a“regular force”. The pershmergashave ensured the security in allthree provinces of IraqiKurdistan (Suleimaniyah, Dohukand Irbil) ever since theestablishment of the region’sautonomy following on the firstGulf War in 1991.The Iraqi Parliament, on thesame day, elected a PresidentialCouncil, led by Jalal Talabaniwith Adel Abdel Mehdi andTariq al-Hashemi as Vice-Presidents. Jalal Talabani thengave Jawad al-Maliki, the N°2man in the conservative ShiiteDawa Party hierarchy, theresponsibility of forming the nextgovernment. This trio secured198 votes (255 M.P.s expressedtheir choice out of the 266present) — that is the two thirdsmajority required of the 275members of parliament —according to the resultannounced by the new Speakerof the house, the Sunni ArabMahmud Mashhadani. The last,who had been elected on 15December, is a medical doctorwith strong political Islamic

convictions and a formeropponent of Saddam Hussein, bywhom he was twice jailed. Theonly candidate for the position,in accordance with anarrangement negotiated betweenthe difference political groups, hehad secured 159 votes, from the266 present out of the 275 total.Elected on the Sunni ArabConcord Front, Mr. Mashhadanireplaced another Sunni Arab,Hajim al-Hassani. After anothervote to appoint two deputySpeakers, the Shiite SheikhKhaled al-Attiyah and the KurdAref Tayfur were elected with202 and 159 votes respectively.Aref Tayfur was born inSuleimaniyah in 1945 andstudied in Kirkuk, where hesecured a degree in Law in 1970.Active in the KDP youthmovement, he took part in thegreat Kurdish revolt againstSaddam Hussein’s troops. Hefound refuge in Iran in 1973, thenin Austria in 1997, returning toKurdistan in 2000.Sheikh Khaled al-Attiyah is aleader of the Supreme Council ofthe Islamic Revolution in Iraq(SCIRI) has an academicbackground. He has taughtreligion abroad for 25 years — inEgypt, the Lebanon, Iran andGreat Britain. He received anOxford degree in Islamic studiesin 2003.Thus, four months after theDecember general elections, thepolitical situation in Iraq hasstarted moving again, with thenomination of a Shiite, al-Malikias Prime Minister, who hasstarted negotiations with the

other political partiesrepresented in Parliament. Thedesignated Prime Minister hasgiven himself two weeks to forma new Iraqi government. “Theagreements reached with all thegroups on the government’sprogramme and a NationalSecurity Council have eased ourtask”, stated Mr. al-Maliki.Described by US President Bushas “a firm-handed man”, Jawadal-Maliki, who has replacedIbrahim Jaafari, seriouslychallenged by the Kurds andSunni Arabs, has 30 days inwhich to present his governmentto parliament.In the opinion of President Bush,the agreement on a newgovernment represents “a majordevelopment in the war againstterrorism”, “after months of patientnegotiations”. For his part, theKurdish M.P. Osman Mahmudstated: “We are counting on agovernment of about 30 Minister. Inview of our Parliamentaryrepresentation, we are claiming 6ministries, one of which should beconnected with State sovereignty”.“We are not interested inMinistries concerned withsecurity, but we wish to keep theForeign Ministry. Otherwise wehope for the Oil Ministry, orFinance Ministry”, he added. Asfor Jawad al-Maliki, heannounced on 26 April that heintended to give the Ministries ofDefence and the Interior toIndependents. The Sunni AndShiite coalitions includemembers of Parliament linked toparties, but also a number ofindependents.

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n 4 April the Iraqi HighCriminal Courtannounced thatSaddam Hussein andhis six co-defendants,

including his cousin Ali Hassanal-Majid, known as “ChemicalAli”, would be tried for genocidein the Anfal case. “The enquirieson the Anfal case are complete andthe seven people accused of genocidehave been brought before the Court”declared the chief of theexamining magistrates, Raes al-Juhi, at a press conference,without giving a date for thebeginning of the trial. Mr. al-Juhimade this statement on the eveof the resumption of the Fallendictator ’s trial for the Du8jailcase — the massacre of 148 Shiitevillagers after an attack onSaddam Hussein’s convoy ofcars through the village, to theNorth of Baghdad, in 1982. Inaddition to Saddam Hussein andhis cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid,the other accused are SultanHashem Ahmed, former DefenceMinister, Saber Abdel Aziz, asenior leader of the nowdissolved Baath Party andformer head of the IntelligentService, Hussein Rachid Takriti,former member of the Baathmilitary committee, TaherMohammed al-Ani, formerBaath leader and Minister forIndustry and Farhan Mutlaq al-Juburi, a former Baath Partyofficial.The Iraqi President, JalalTalabani, has stated that SaddamHussein would be tried for “allhis crimes” before the executionof the sentences passed againsthim, contrary to the remarksmade by the Public Prosecutor,Jaafar Mussawi, that the dictatorwould be immediately executed

without waiting for any othertrials, were he to be sentenced todeath for the Dujail case.“It was in May 1988, and we werepreparing for the Fitr feast at theend of Ramadan, when SaddamHussein’s army invaded our village,in the Irbil region, destroyingeverything in its path and forcingthe inhabitant to flee”. AdalatOmer, of the Irbil Anfal Centre, aKurdish NGO, collected thistestimony from a survivor of thecampaign of repression thatcaused 182,000 deaths in IraqiKurdistan. It is for this Anfalcampaign that Saddam Husseinand his six co-defendants arebeing charged with “genocide”in a fresh trial. Anfal was acarefully planned and executedoperation. It was systematic,which is what has earned thosewho carried it out the charge ofgenocide. The campaignconsisted of eight operations oftwo weeks each, stretched overthe period from February toSeptember 1988, each followingan identical scenario. “Each timethe army surrounded a village, itherded up the families,separated fathers, mothers andchildren and evacuated them tobig camps where they often diedof cold or ill treatment” Adalatsays. Once emptied of theirinhabitants the “forbiddenzones” were bombarded. Somevillages were bombed andshelled with chemical weapons.Witnesses tell of large-scalepillaging, mass executions andof villages wiped off the map.The gassing of the town ofHalabja, which caused 5,000deaths on 16 March 1988, isconsidered a special case and notpart of the Anfal campaign,covered by the report entitled

n° 253 • April 2006 Information and liaison bulletin • 3 •

OSADDAM HUSSEIN AND HIS COUSIN “CHEMICAL ALI” WILL

BE TRIED FOR GENOCIDE AGAINST THE KURDS.“Genocide in Iraq”. A Frenchversion of this essentialdocument on Anfal waspublished in 2003, by Karthalapublishing, in collaboration withthe Paris Kurdish Instituteentitled “Genocide en Irak. Lacampagne d’Anfal contre lesKurdes” (Genocide in Iraq. TheAnfal campaign against theKurds), 405 pp.Anfal, taken from a surah of theQoran, meaning “booty”, wasplanned in 1987, two weeks afterSaddam Hussein nominated hiscousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid,nick-named Chemical Ali, ashead of the Commission forNorthern Affairs of theRevolution Command Council(RCC — the leading organ of theformer regime). Ali Hassan al-Majid, instructed by SaddamHussein to bring the regionunder control, then defined the“forbidden zones” in Kurdistanwhere all the inhabitants were tobe considered insurgents.Jamal Aziz, head of the co-operation and AdministrationDepartment of SuleimaniyahProvince, bases himself ondocuments of Saddam Hussein’sIntelligence Services regardingthis campaign of repression,captured following the 1991uprising. He thus put forwardthe figure of 182,000 Kurds whodisappeared in it. “We haveseized tons of documents whichwe have jealously hidden. Theyenable us today to trace thehistory of this cruel regime” heinsists. These are the documentsthat were used by the US-basedHuman Rights defenceorganisation Human RightsWatch (HRW) to draw up itsdetailed report on the Anfalcampaign in 1993.Furthermore, on 6 April, thePress Office of the PatrioticUnion of Kurdistan (PUK)

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announced the discovery of eightmass graves containing theremains of about 1,000 corpses inKirkuk. “We have found eight massgraves in the villages of al-Asri andTubazawa, 25 Km West of the cityof Kirkuk”, the Press Officepointed out in a communiqué.“These mass graves co9ntain theremains of about 1,000 corpses”,it added. “The human rightscommittee of the PUK hascontacted the US forces to ensure

the protection of these massgraves”. According to thecommuniqué “the majority of thevictims were Kurds, as well assome Christians and Turcomenwho lived in these villages,which were mainly Kurdish”.The communiqué, moreover,indicated that, amongst thevictims might also be someShiites, killed during the violentrepressions in the South by theSaddam Hussein regime in 1991.

A MASSIVE DEPLOYMENT OF THE TURKISH ARMY ON ITSBORDERS WITH IRAQI KURDISTAN, WHICH IS ALSO BEINGTHREATENED BY IRANIAN ARMY MANOEUVRES, ON THE

EXCUSE OF FIGHTING THE PKK

n 25 April, the USSecretary of State,Condoleezza Rice, onarriving in Turkey,urged Turkey not to

engage in any unilateral militaryaction against the PKK bases inIraqi Kurdistan, calling rather fora triangular cooperation to fightthis threat. “We are agreed that it isin our interest to ensure that theIraqi borders be as secure as possible(…) to ensure that Iraqi territory benot used as a base for terrorism”,she declared before the press atthe end of a meeting with herTurkish opposite numberAbdullah Gul. “We are sharinginformation and we will continue tobe active about the PKK in thefuture but we evidently hope thateverything we do will contribute tostability in Iraq and (…) not makethe (present) situation still moredifficult”, she pointed out.Greeted by the TurkishPresident, Ahmet Necdet Sezerand the Prime Minister RecepTayyip Erdogan, Mrs. Rice haddiscussions with Turkish leaderson their demand for cooperationagainst the PKK and the nuclearcrisis in Iran. “What is needed to

deal with the PKK problem is toensure that security is stable in theNorth (Iraqi Kurdistan) and to getthe new Iraqi government to workwith the Turks and the UnitedStates”, declared Mrs. Rice. Afterhis discussions with US Secretaryof State, Condoleezza Rice,Abdullah Gul stated that Turkeydid not foresee cross-borderoperations, while expressingAnkara’s discomfort atWashington and Baghdad’s lackof urgency about fighting thePKK.On 24 April, however, theTurkish authorities haddemanded “operational” supportfrom the US against the PKK,considering that the sharing ofinformation from theirIntelligence Services wereinsufficient for fighting against“terrorism”. “We have had sincereand fruitful cooperation [againstthe PKK) in the past. Today thiscooperation needs to go further”,had declared the Minister ofJustice, Cemil Cicek, who is alsothe government spokesman,following a cabinet meeting. “Anoperational cooperation is necessaryin the struggle against terrorism

and other forms of organised crime(…) Turkey wishes not only to shareintelligence activity (with the US)but also a cooperation that goesfurther”, had indicated Mr. Cicek.Turkey has recently sent militaryreinforcements to its borderswith Iraqi Kurdistan, but theTurkish Foreign Ministry denied,on 26 April, news in the Turkishmedia, of incursions into IraqiKurdistan territory to conductoperations against the PKK. On27 April some diplomatsindicated that the IraqiAmbassador in Ankara had senta note asking for information onthe Turkish Army reinforcementon the Iraqi borders whiledenying that it was a note ofprotest. The news channel NTV,for its part, reported that theIraqi note included a protestagainst “small scale lightningraids” carried out by Turkishcommandoes against the PKK onIraqi soil. Turkey, for its part,affirmed that its Iraqi neighbourshould rejoice to see the TurkishArmy reinforce its forces on theircommon border, since the Iraqiswere incapable of fightingagainst the Kurdish fighters fromTurkey settled on its soil. “If theydon’t have adequate forces, if theirforces do not have enough capacityto9 fight terrorism, they should besatisfied with the measures we aretaking” declared Abdullah Gul atEdirne on 27 April. The Iraqis“have no reason to hesitate”, on thecontrary they “should even helpus” since the Turkish Army’soperations “have no other aim thenthat of preventing the infiltrationinto Turkey of a terroristorganisation”, explained theminister, whose speech wasbroadcast on several TVchannels.On 23 April, the head of theTurkish Army, General HilmiOzkok, had confirmed sending

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n° 253 • April 2006 Information and liaison bulletin • 5 •

considerable militaryreinforcements deployed allalong their borders with Iraq andIran. “The soldiers are goingwherever they are needed. These arenormal reinforcements, such as weregularly sent to the region”,declared General Ozkok tojournalist during an officialreception in Ankara. With theserecent reinforcements, the totalnumber of troops deployed inthe zones is said to have reached50,000 according to some Turkishdailies — or even 250,000according to others. GeneralOzkok refused to give anyfigures on the extent of thereinforcements and criticised thepress for having done so. Turkeyconsiders that some 5,000 PKKmen sought refuge in IraqiKurdistan in 1999, when theorganisation decreed a unilateralceasefire after the capture of theirleader, Abdullah Ocalan. On 22April the PKK warned Ankaraagainst the dangers of anoperation. “We think that thesepreparations aim at anoper5ationacress the border, inNorth Iraq”, stated ZubeyirAydar, leader of the politicalwing of the PKK, the KONGRA-GEL, in an interview given to theBrussels office of AFP. “Theguerrilla has only a few thousands ofmen in South-East Turkey. Therewould be no sense moving so manytroops into the region just forthem”, he added. Mr. Aydarstressed that the PKK was wellprepared and would “continue tofight on the basis of self defence”,against any eventual operationoutside Turkey.Furthermore, Teheran andAnkara have made an agreementthat calls on Iran to fight the PKKand Turkey to fight the People’sMujahiddin, an Iraq-basedarmed an Iranian opposition

group. According to the Chief ofPolice for the Province ofWestern Azerbaijan, HassanKarami, quoted in the Iraniandaily Khorasan on 10 April, theIranian police have arrestedseven alleged members of theKurdish group Pejak. Accordingto it, some members of Pejak hadkilled a policeman and twomembers of the Bassidjis Islamistmilitia at the end of March in thisNorthwestern province of Iran.On 29 March, the student newsagency Isna had reported,without citing its sources, theassassination, by Pejak of threemembers of the IranianGuardians of the Revolution. In2005, some local WesternAzerbaijan leaders had reportedthat at least 120 police had beenkilled and dozens wounded,principally through Pejakattacks. Moreover Saad Pira, aleading member of the PatrioticUnion of Kurdistan (PUK) stated,on 21 April, that, to repel attacks,Iranian forces had shelledpositions held by IranianKurdish fighters in themountains of Iraqi Kurdistan,killing at least four civilians.“This morning, some IranianKurdish fighters crossed the Iranianborder and the Iranian army shelledthe zone and repelled them. Theshelling struck Iraqi territory atSadakan”. (Editors Note: Sadakanis about a dozen Km inside theIraqi borders and 80 Km fromIrbil) declared Mr. Pira.According to the governor ofIrbil province, Nawzad Hadi,four civilians were wounded inthe course of this attack but thereare no official figures on anycasualties amongst the Iranianfighters of the Free Life forKurdistan Party (PJAK — anoffshoot of the PKK in Iran). TheInternet site Firat reported that

six Iranian soldiers and fiveKurdish fighters perished in theclash. On 29 April, some PKKmembers stated that theirpositions had been shelled by theIranians on 20 April, causing 2deaths and 10 wounded in itsranks. On 30 April, the Iraqiauthorities again accused Iran ofhaving bombarded PKKpositions in Kurdistan, 5 Kminside Iraqi territory. Accordingto a Defence Ministrycommuniqué “in the course of thelast 24 hours, Iranian forces havebombarded PKK positions near HajOmran, in Irbil province”. “Over180 heavy artillery shells havestruck Iraqi soil”, specified theMinistry of Defence. “Iranianunits penetrated 5 Km into Iraqiterritory in the course of theseattacks”, it added. Four Iraniansoldiers were killed in theMahabad region, near theborders with Iraq and Turkeyduring clashes with “counter-revolutionary forces” reported theIranian daily Kayhan on 30 April.In Turkish Kurdistan, clashesbetween the army and the PKKhave multiplied in the last fewmonths. This outbreak ofviolence has put an end to aperiod of relative calm in theregion where, according toanalysts, the PKK is trying to re-establish itself after decreeing theend of its 5 five-year unilateralcease-fire in June 2004. On 26April, two Turkish soldiers werekilled and one wounded duringan attack by PKK fighters,according to the Diyarbekir localpolice. The attack was aimed at agendarmerie station in thevillage of Kaqrsilar, in Tunceliprovince. Three Kurdish fightersand a soldier were killed inclashes on 23 April near Besta-Dereler, in Sirnak province,according to a communiqué, of

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that provinces governorate.Local security sources had, on 11April, announced the death oftwelve Kurdish fighters and twoTurkish soldiers in the samelocality of Besta-Dereler infighting at that time, while onthe day before a Turkish soldierwas killed, another woundedand six young boys wounded bythe explosion of two mines. Thefirst incident occurred on 10April on the road between Silvanand Batman. In the second, itwas six boys of 12 to 14 years ofage who were wounded bystepping on a mine whilewalking near their homes justoutside the town of Sirnak.Elsewhere, six Kurdish fightersinvolved in the death of Turkishsoldiers were shot down on 7April by a commando unit inSirnak province. The Turkishcommandoes, backed byhelicopter gunships, attacked agroup of eight PKK activists twokilometres from the localitywhere two soldiers had lost theirlives on 4 April from a mineexplosion and where three othershad been killed by PKKmembers. A seventh Kurdishfighter was gunned down inBatman province during an

operation by security forces,which claimed that 25 Kg ofexplosives had been found there.Two gendarmes, including alieutenant colonel were killedand two others wounded on 8April by the explosion of a mineunder their car in Elazigprovince. The colonel incommand of the gendarmerieforces of the province wasamong the injured, according tothe television news channelCNN-Turk.In addition, on 25 April anarmed group claimedresponsibility for a bomb attackcommitted on 16 April inIstanbul, which exploded in ashopping street in the residentialquarter of Bakirkoy and causedthirty injured. The grouppromised an intensification of itsoperations: “We are going tocontinue increasing the extent ofviolence without obeying anyrules” stated the KurdistanFreedom Hawks (TAK) in acommuniqué published on theirInternet site. The Turkishauthorities consider that theKurdistan Freedom Hawks arean offshoot of the PKK which, forits part, denies any links with theTAK.

In Diyarbekir on 14 April, theGerman Green leader, ClaudiaRoth, appealed to the PKK to putan end to their confrontationswith the Turkish security forces.“I call on the PKK to lay down itsarms and stop the fighting in thefirst instance”, declared ClaudiaRoth to the press after a meetingwith local authorities. Mrs. Rothadded that, in return, the Ankaragovernment should contribute toestablishing a “road map” andshould invest in the region.“There is no military solution forthe region”, she stressed. “It isimportant to recognise the Kurdishidentity and language and toreconstruct the Kurdish region, butthis can only come throughdialogue, when the weapons havebeen silenced”. Mrs. Roth stressedthat ending violence wouldstrengthen Turkey’s position inits negotiations for membershipof the European Union, whichbegan last October. Meanwhile, aTurkish soldier, wounded infighting against the PKK in thecourse of an operation on theborders of Mardin and Sirnakprovinces, died of his wounds,on 14 April, in a hospital inDiyarbekir

IRAQ: THE MONTHLY ASSESSMENT OF US LOSSESSHOWS A DROP, WHILE THE INTER-SECTARIAN

TENSIONS ARE INCREASING

n 27 April, Muffatak al-Rubai, a member of theIraqi National SecurityCouncil, announcedthat Iraq had drawn up

a draft of an agreement with theUS Government that wouldallow “a considerable lowering”of the number of GIs by the endof this year. “We have drawn upa plan for an agreement betweenthe Iraqi and US governmentsthat aims at gradually giving

increased responsibility to theIraqi security forces”, heindicated during a seminar inBaghdad, which US DefenceSecretary Donald Rumsfeld waspresent though he made nocomment on these remarks. Sincethe intervention in Iraq in March2003, 2,395 US soldiers have beenkilled according to a body countby AFP, itself based on thePentagon’s figures. However, on1 April, the Pentagon announced

that army losses in Iraq haddropped in March for the fifthmonth in succession, even ifexperts party attribute this dropto a change in the nature of theIraqi conflict. Since the beginningof the war in march 2003, themonthly tally of US losses hasbeen steadily dropping sinceOctober, which, with 96 deaths,was the fourth most bloodymonth for *US forces in Iraq.According to the Army,American losses were at least 29in March. This is the lowestfigure in the whole war exceptfor the figure of 20 dead

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recorded in February 2004. Forthe US General Staff in Iraq,several factors explain thisdevelopment, in particular thegrowing involvement of the Iraqisecurity forces — about 242,000strong — in the stability of theircountry, but also the fact that theterrorists are now making theirmain targets Iraqi civilians,police and soldiers.

Sectarian tension has beensharpening in the country sincethe destruction of a Shiitemausoleum in Samara lastFebruary. By the beginning ofApril, over 450 Iraqis had beenkilled in the outbreak of violencethat followed the mausoleum’sdestruction. Dozens of Sunnimosques have been attackedwhile the discovery of bodies ofpeople who had been kidnappedand then executed by shootinghas become a daily occurrence.On 13 April 15 people perishedin an anti-Shiite attack nearBaghdad. This attack came theday after an anti-Shiite car bombattack to the North of Baghdad

that caused 26 deaths and 70injured. On 7 April, a triplesuicide bomb attack on a Shiitemosque in Baghdad cost the lifeof 90 people — the bloodiestattack this year on the Shiitecommunity — which covers themajority of Iraq’s population.The upsurge of sectarianviolence has forces many Iraqifamilies to leave their homes.Adel Abdel Mahdi, one of thetwo Iraqi Vice presidentsestimated, on 28 February, that100,000 Iraqi families were livinglike refugees because of acts ofviolence between the Sunni andShiite communities — probablyabout half a million people in all.He did not specify the source ofhis estimate, which isconsiderably higher that of thefigure of 11,000 families (about60,000 persons) put forward twoweeks ago by the Ministry ofMigrations for people who hadfled their homes since the end ofFebruary. According to theMinistry of Migrations, at least aquarter of the refugees went topredominately Sunni areas in

Kurdistan or in the West of thecountry.On the other hand, 0n 13 April aSunni Arab leader, Salah Motlaq,accused unspecified securityservices of having recentlyarrested 400 people in the Southof Baghdad and of having killed68 of them. The Iraqi Minister ofthe Interior, Bayan Jabr, hadacknowledged, in a BBCinterview on 11 April, that deathsquads were behind certain ofthe attacks that have shaken Iraqrecently, but affirmed that thegovernment security forces hadnot been infiltrated by them.According to him, these brigadeswere linked to some privatesecurity firms, charges with theguarding certain buildings,official or private. Bayan Jabrparticularly pointed his finger atthe Site Protection Forces, a unitset up by the Americanadministration in 2003 to watchover official building and or theoffices of private companies. Herepeated that this force, of some150,000 men, was not undergovernment orders.

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DIYARBEKIR: THE KURDS DENOUNCETHE EXCESSIVE USE OF FORCE DURING

THE RECENT KURDISH RIOTS WHILE THE TURKISHAUTHORITIES REFUSE ANY POLITICAL DISCUSSION

fter a week of Kurdishrioting that began inDiyarbekir on 28 Marchduring the funeral ofsome PKK fighters shot

down by the Army, which thenspread to other towns of theregion, The Turkish PrimeMinister, Recep Tayip Erdogan,affirmed, on 4 April, that hewould not give way to violencewhile also promising to continuepursuing the road to democracy.“No one should dispute the power ofthe State or of the nation”, declaredMr. Erdogan in a speech to

members of his own Justice andDevelopment party. “Thegovernment will not draw back fromthe democratic road of Laws andfreedom of expression”, he added.Recep Tayyip Erdogan promisedthat his government would treatthe “Kurdish problem ”by moredemocracy and more prosperity,refusing to let the PKK takeadvantage of the poverty of theKurdish regions. “The maskedgangs of terror and violence whohare hiding behind our innocentchildren will have no moreconcessions. They know that if the

regions of the South-East andEastern Anatolia recover,unemployment will fall and theywill say who can we take advantageof now?” “No democracy can betolerance of violence”, added Mr.Erdogan. “Let those who want tospeak, speak up. But we will neverrecognise the legitimacy of terror”.“We do don’t envisage makingdistinctions on the basis of ethnicorigin”, added the PrimeMinister, restating that he did notconsider the Kurds as a specificminority.The Turkish Prime Minister,moreover, refused any dialoguewith the principal pro-Kurdishparty, the Party for a DemocraticSociety (DTP) so long as it failedto recognise the PKK as a

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terrorist organisation. During hisspeech in Parliament RecepTayyip Erdogan clearly let it beknown that her would refuse tomeet the leaders of the DTPfailed to recognise the PKK as aterrorist organisation. “First youmust declare that the PKK is aterrorist organisation. After that wewill talk”, he rapped out. AhmetTurk, co-President of the DTPsaid he was dismayed at thisblunt refusal by the PrimeMinister “who invited Hamas (theradical Palestinian group) to Turkeybut refuses to meat a legal party”.“In a State founded on a State ofLaw no weapons may be usedagainst unarmed demonstrators”declared, for his part the otherco-President of DTP, AyselTugluk. “It is the governmentand the Prime Minister who areresponsible for what hashappened”, she added in thecourse of a Press conference inAnkara.On 6 April, the Turkish PrimeMinister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan,firmly rejected the criticisms ofan excessive use of force by thepolice during these riots, whilethe Army, at the same time,declared it was determined toeradicate the PKK’s “separatism”.“Our security forces have shown atolerance never seen in othercountries, at the risk of being killedor wounded”, declared Mr.Erdogan. “No one can accuse themin this way and we are every timeobliged to rebut these accusations”,he added. Mr. Erdogan had beeninvited by the journalists tocomment on news that somemembers of the EuropeanParliament had sent him a lettercondemning the response of thepolice to these incidents, whichwere considereddisproportionate. The letter,further, threatens Turkey with

suspension of negotiations,begun last October, formembership of the EuropeanUnion in the event of it failing toobserve the rights of its Kurdishcommunity. The Commander inChief of the Land Forces, YasarBuyukanit, for his part, promisedthat the Army would continue tofight the PKK till the group waseradicated. “We will continue tofight the PKK with determination(…) We will put an end to thissuffering”, declared the General.“These traitors will find that anadequate punishment will beadministered to them”. In Diyarbekir, with the death oftwo people in hospital on 3April, the overall casualties inthe riots have risen to 15 deaths,according to the Turkishauthorities. According to theDiyarbekir governorate, amongstthe demonstrators “80% arechildren” — that is under the ageof 18. In all, 12 died in Diyarbekirand neighbouring provinces inthe clashes between youngrioters and the police and threedied in Istanbul. The riots spreadto Istanbul on 2 April with thedeath of three people in a fire ona bus resulting from a Molotovcocktail attack in a working classquarter. The situation hadcalmed down in Diyarbekirwhile sporadic incidents werereported at Kiziltepe andNusaybin. These are the mostserious clashes for over ten yearsin this region, where violence hasbeen escalating since June 2004.In Ankara, the Minister of theInterior, Abdulkadir Aksu,explained that 716 demonstratorshad been taken in forquestioning and 400 had beenlocked up. He considered thatthe rioters were aiming at “theunity and prosperity” of Turkey.The head of the opposition,

• 8 • Information and liaison bulletin n° 253 • April 2006

Deniz Baykal, for his part,accused the government of laxityand lack of any strategy againstan “attempt at a PKK uprising”.The United States firmlycondemned the riots and calledfor restraint by all parties, as didthe European Commission on 4April. The EuropeanCommissioner for theEnlargement, Olli Rehn, declaredin Strasbourg, that the situationgreatly worried the E.U. and thathe hoped that the Turkishauthorities would abstain from“an excessive resort to force”.Political and diplomaticobservers consider that thisviolence expresses thefrustrations of the Kurdishpopulation at a high level ofunemployment and poverty andAnkara’s refusal to give greaterautonomy to the Kurdish region.On 28 April Public Prosecutors atDiyarbekir charged 175morepeople for their allegedparticipation in the riots. Thenumber of those charged forthese riots has thus risen to 265people, including 80 minors(under 18) who risk sentences ofbetween 9 and 24years in prison.Proceedings are continuingagainst 171 other people, ofwhom 135 are already detained.Furthermore, on 28 April aDiyarbekir court sentenced threestudents to over six years inprison for collecting signaturesin support of Abdullah Ocalan.The court rejected the argumentsof the accused that they were justusing their freedom ofexpression and found them“guilty of membership of theKurdistan Workers Party”. Thejudges initially passed a sentenceof seven and a half years beforereducing the sentence because oftheir good behaviour during thetrial. The students were arrested

n 10 April, nine NonG o v e r n m e n tOrganisations in Syria,including some Kurdisho r g a n i s a t i o n s ,

expressed their “extreme concern”at the summonsing of theirmembers by the security servicesand have called for the release ofall political detainees in Syria.“We express our extreme concern atthe continuing summonsing ofHuman Rights activists anddefenders by the security services,which have just summonsedmembers of recently createdorganisations”, pointed out theseorganisations in a communiqué.The statement cites the“summonses” against members ofthe National Organisation forHuman Rights, including itspresident Ammar Qurabi, aswell as members of the

Programme of Support forVictims of Violence, UssamaNayssé and Elias Haliani. Thecommuniqué calls on the Syriangovernment to “observe theinternational agreements on HumanRights and immediately to takemeasures aimed at strengthening theprinciples of Human Rights inSyrian society”. It called on thegovernment to “free all politicaland conscientious detainees”.Amongst the signatories of thiscommuniqué are the Committeefor the Defence of DemocraticFreedom and Human Rights inSyria, the Syrian Organisation forHuman Rights, the KurdishOrganisation for Human Rightsand Public Liberty in Syria andthe Syrian Centre for JudicialStudies.For his part, the Human Rightslawyer, Anouar Bounni, has

n° 253 • April 2006 Information and liaison bulletin • 9 •

in January as they werecollecting signatures in thecontext of a campaign ofpetitions declaring that A.Ocalan represented the “politicalwill” of the Kurdish people. ThePKK chief was sentenced todeath in 1999 by the Turkishcourts. His sentence wascommuted to life imprisonmentin 2002 after the abolition of thedeath sentence as part of thereform package aimed ataligning Turkey with Europeanstandards. On 5 April, Turkishprosecutors of an Assize Courtrejected a demand that he beretried; stating that the law as itstood did not allow a retrial. InJanuary, the PKK chief had askedto be retried in accordance with aruling of the European Court forHuman Rights but his lawyers

had found judicial obstacles. Itwas thus the court to which thetwo Public prosecutors wereattached, which deals inparticular with terrorist offencesthat had to decide on his case.The European Court hadrecommended a retrial for A.Ocalan, having judged that the1999 trial was “inequitable”.Turkey has indicated that itwould observe therecommendations of theEuropean Court, but it must firstamend a law that allows retrialfor detainees whose trial hasbeen condemned by theEuropean Human Rights Courtbut which specifically excludesA. Ocalan and about a hundredother people. No initiative isbeing taken at present to proposesuch an amendment.

O• DAMASCUS: THE BAATHIST REGIME CONTINUES ITSPOLICY OF REPRESSION AND TRIES TO STIFLE ANYPOLITICAL ACTIVITY

indicated that, on 9 April, theSyrian State Security Court, anextra-legal emergency court,sentenced two Syrians, one ofwhom is a Kurd, to two and ahalf years imprisonment. SamirMasto, a member of theDemocratic Union Party, abanned Kurdish organisation,was sentenced for “membership ofa secret organisation whose objectiveis the annexation of part of Syrianterritory by a foreign country”.The same court sentenced AliKaraman, an Aleppo taxi driver,for “insulting and defaming thePresident” (i.e Syrian PresidentBashar al-Assad) according toMr. Bounni. Moreover, on 8 Aprilthe security services arrested thewriter and Human Rightsactivist Abdallah Hallak in hishome in the town of Salamieh, inHama province (North-WestSyria), according to Mr. Bounniand the Syrian Organisation forHuman Rights. In a communiquéthe Syrian Organisation forHuman Rights expressed its“profound anxiety at themultiplication of arrests of apolitical nature” and consideredthat “the release of all politicaldetainees is the necessary prelude forreforms in Syria”. Mr. Bounni, thedirector of the Syrian Centre forJudicial Studies, for his partcondemned “the pursuit ofrepression, of threats and attemptsat restraining all political activity”and called on “everyone not tosubmit to threats nor to thecampaign of repression”.In addition, on 2 April the StateSecurity Court condemned aSyrian, accused of being amember of the MoslemBrotherhood, a bannedorganisation, to a death thencommuted it to 12 yearsimprisonment. Another Syrian, aHuman Rights activist, has beensentenced to five years by the

same Court for “membership of asecret organisation”. Abdel SattarQattan was sentenced to deathunder law 49 of July 1980, whichmakes membership of theMoslem Brotherhood punishableby death. His sentence was thencommuted to 12 years jail. RiadDarrar, a Human Rights activist,was sentenced to five years forhaving “incited sectarianism,spread false news and membership ofa secret organisation”, statedAmmar Qurabi, a member of theNational Organisation forhuman Rights in Syria.According to this report, RiadDerrar was arrested in June 2005at Deir Ezzor (North-East Syria)after making a speech during aceremony in memory of a Sheikhkidnapped in May and foundassassinated soon after by “acriminal gang” according to the

Syrian authorities. (Editor’sNote: the Kurdish SheikhMaashuk Khaznawi waskidnapped, tortured andassassinated by the Syriansecurity services. Cf issue N° 242of this Bulletin). “The use of law49 is contrary to the principles ofjustice and shows that all the(official) declarations about(political) openness are lies”,added Mr. Bounni.Furthermore, a Syrian courtmartial has charged former VicePresident Abdul-HalimKhaddam for having encourageda foreign attack on Syria and forconspiring with the aim ofseizing power declared a sourceclose to this court on 9 April.Khaddam, who has been livingin Paris with his family since heresigned from his post and leftSyria last year, provoked an

uproar amongst the Syrian elitelast December when he accusedSyrian president Bashar al-Assadof having threatened formerLebanese Prime minister RaficHariri some months before lelatter was assassinated inFebruary 2005. Khaddam hadalso called for the overthrow ofthe Syrian regime, of which hehad been a part for over 30 years.Amongst the seven charges filedagainst him, several arepunishable by life imprisonment.The charges against Khaddamcome less than a month after acivil court had issued asummons for corruption againstthe former vice President,ordering him to attend theBanias court (North Syria) on 23April accompanied by his wifeand 23 other members of hisfamily.

• 10 • Information and liaison bulletin n° 253 • April 2006

AS WELL AS …

• LEYLA ZANA ON A VISITTO IRAQI KURDISTAN. On24 April, Leyla Zana, the firstKurdish woman to be elected tothe Turkish Parliament, visitedIraqi Kurdistan to consider, withother Kurdish leaders, means ofsecuring a negotiated solution tothe Kurdish question in Turkey.During her four-day visit, at theinvitation of Jalal Talabani,President of Iraq, and MassudBarzani, President of IraqiKurdistan, the former Kurdishmember of parliament discussedthe upsurge of clashes in TurkishKurdistan.The Winner of the EuropeanParliament’s 1995 SakharovHuman Rights Prize, imprisonedfrom 1994 to 2004 together withthree other Kurdish members ofparliament for alleged “links”with the PKK, exchanged viewswith the Kurdish leaders aboutthe possibility of a “new period of

stopping hostilities” — specificallya truce by the KurdistanWorkers’ Party (PKK) pointedout the Turkish daily Hurriyet.The Kurdish authorities and civilsociety organisations gave MrsZana a warm welcome andpraised her courageous strugglefor democracy and recognition ofthe aspirations of the Kurdishpeople and women’s rights.

• ZAKHO : DISCOVERY OFTHE FIRST OIL FIELD. On 8April, the Iraqi authoritiesannounced the discovery of anoil field in the Zakho region —the first in the federated provinceof Iraqi Kurdistan. The IraqiDeputy Minister for Oil,Moatassam Akram, announced,at a Press Conference in Irbil,“the discovery of the first oil field atZakho”, 470 Km North ofBaghdad, adding that wells hadbeen drilled by the Norwegian

company DNO. The DeputyMinister, who was speakingalongside Sarbaz Horami, seniorexecutive of the Oil andPetrochemical Company of IraqiKurdistan and an executive ofDNO, indicated thatcommercially viable quantities ofoil had been discovered duringthe drilling campaign, addingthat the real productive capacityof this field would only be know“soon”.The Iraqi Kurdish authoritieshad announced in march thatnegotiations were under waywith a Canadian oil company,Western Oil Sands, to draw upan exploration contract in theGarmian region, 120 Km Southof Suleimaniyah. The bulk of theknown reserves of Iraqi oil mare,at present in the Southern, Shiite,regions of Iraq and almost all theoil being exported passesthrough two terminals in theSouth. However, substantial oilfields also exist in Iraqi

n° 253 • April 2006 Information and liaison bulletin • 11 •

Kurdistan, particularly theKirkuk fields, which have beenexploited since 1929. The Iraqi oilindustry suffered a loss ofearnings of $6.25 billion in 2005because of sabotage by SunniArab insurgents.

• TURKISH FARCES: ANELECTED OFFICIAL JAILEDFOR HAVING CHEWEDCHEWING GUM IN FRONTOF ATATURK’S MEMORIALWHILE SOLDIERS SEEKMARTYRDOM IN A BURGERKING, ETC., ETC. On 24 Aprila leader of the Islamist party inoffice, the AKP, was arrested forhaving chewed gum while hewas laying a wreath before amonument in honour of MustafaKemal Ataturk on 23 April, theTurkish national holiday. VeyselDalci, head of the AKP branch atFatsa, on the Black Sea, wasjailed for “insulting the father ofmodern secular Turkey”, on thebasis of a complaint filed by thecommander of the Fatsa garrisonwho was shocked by the sight.The accused declared in hisdefence that he had taken thechewing gum to get rid of apersistent smell of garlic in hisbreath from his dinner the nightbefore. He faces sentences of upto three years jail for this offence,under a law passed in 1951 toprotect the image of the founderof the Turkish republic. Peoplefound guilty of insultingAtaturk, “the father of the Turks”are generally sentenced to pay afine or serve a short sentence.They are generally Islamist.Elsewhere, on 8 April, twoarmed men who had taken amember of the staff of a BurgerKing in the Taksim quarter ofIstanbul, gave themselves up tothe police. The two men, about25 years of age, armed withcompressed air pistols and

wearing identical T-shirts in thecolours of the Turkish flag andbearing the word “Turkey”, hadshouted “We are Turks” beforefreeing their hostage andsurrendering to the police,deployed all round therestaurant. They also shouted:“They kill our soldiers”.According to the Istanbul policechief, Celalettin Cerrah, the twomen were soldiers, absentwithout leave. They stated thatthey wanted to react in this wayto the violent confrontationsbetween the Kurds and theTurkish Army in TurkishKurdistan. These have, in the lastfew days caused 33 deaths — 17soldiers and 16 civilians. One ofthem had brandished a weapon(charged with blanks) andgrabbing his T-shirt had shouted“I want to be a martyr”.On the other hand, on 12 April,the Turkish Prime Minister,Recep Tayyip Erdogan, rejoicedat the choice, announced the daybefore by seven Europeanexperts, of Istanbul, along side ofEssen (Germany) and Pecs(Hungary) as capital of Europeanculture in 2010. “I think that theproclamation of Istanbul as capitalof European culture in 2010 willhave important side effects on thepromotion of our rich culturalheritage”, he declared during apress conference in Istanbul. “Atthe same time,” he added, “it willinfluence positively the process ofnegotiations for membership of theEuropean Union”, which beganlast October.Erdogan has set as the objectivefor Istanbul in 2010 the receptionof 10 million foreign tourists andhas announced various projectsto enhance the city's historicheritage. The decision of thecommittee of experts has yet tobe discussed by the EuropeanParliament and the European

Commission before beingendorsed in November by theMinisters of Culture of the E.U.member countries meeting incouncil.On 1 April, he semi-official newsagency, Anatolia, announced thata court had blocked a circularlimiting the sales of alcoholicdrinks in Turkey, which had ledto the government being accusedof seeking to increase the role ofIslam in the country. Theprincipal Turkish legaladministration ordered thesuspension of this governmentdocument pending the reachingof a final decision in this matter.The court ruled that: “The circularis not in conformity with the highestlegal standards” whereby “therestrictions that it entails could havethe result that the places wherealcohol is served might be pushedout of urban life into a kind ofisolation”. The circular gives localauthorities, many of which arerun by the Justice andDevelopment Party, the right toforbid the consumption of wineand other alcoholic drinks inbars and restaurants of entirequarters. Many AKP runmunicipalities have decided toban alcohol permanently,officially to protect familyvalues, but the generalisation ofbans is arousing criticisms in acountry that wishes to join theEuropean Union.

On the other hand, a TV realityshow in which eight men mustdress up as women beconvincing at it to win a prize isprovoking controversy inMoslem Turkey, according to theTurkish press of 27 April. Theshow, which is due to bebroadcast on the private channelKanal 1 is inspired by theAmerican show He’s a Lady, thepapers specify. Of the 13

candidates, aged between 19 and39, who have applied to anIstanbul studio, made up anddisguised as women, only eighthave been selected and are dueto spend three weeks in a flat inthe metropolis loaded withcameras. Most of the time theywill wear women’s clothes andwill be voted out, one by one, bythe spectators, until the last oneremaining will win the prize ofthe “best lady” — 50,000 Turkishlire (about $38,000). The Turkishmedia control organisation,RTUK, had opposed thebroadcasting of this show twoyears ago considering it to be“offensive”.

To round up the farce, MehmetAli Agca, who had attempted toassassinate Pope John-Paul II in1981, requested the Istanbulcourt to release him so that hecould devote himself toliterature, amongst other things.“Even if I am not freed, give me atleast six months or a year. Theworld needs me”, declared Agca incourt. He continued “I oughtrather to be writing books, directingtelevision programmes or filmingdocumentaries”. The court, whichwas sitting in the context of acomplex judicial procedure todecide how longer Agca shouldremain in prison declared it wasnot competent to rule on the

request from this former ultra-nationalist activist. On 12January, Agca benefited fromearly release after spending 25years behind bars in Italy andTurkey. However, he was putback in prison eight days later,the Court of Appeals consideringthat the reduction of sentencesapplied in his case had beenbadly calculated. According tothe latest calculation made by thecourts, Agca cannot come out ofprison before 18 January 2010.However, other calculationspush the date back to 2014, totake into account sentences hehas yet to serve for armedrobberies committed in the 70s.

• 12 • Information and liaison bulletin n° 253 • April 2006