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KURDISH SUPPLEMENT, 19/12/0014/1/01 News report editor¹s introduction * Turkish army enters South Kurdistan [December 19] * A PUK Official confirms [reports] of Turkish troops in Suleymania-region [December 20] * HADEP [People¹s Democracy Party]: Mediator in war in northern Iraq * Report: Turkish Troops Sent in Iraq [6th January] * Iraqi Kurdish leader [Jalal Talabani, of the PUK] in Ankara as PKK assault gathers steam * Iraqi Kurd Chief Denies Seeks Turkish Military Aid * Kurdish leader urges Turkish investment in northern Iraq * Talabani To Ask For Money And Weapons [a pro-PKK account] * Talabani Has Put The South Up For Sale [another pro-PKK account] * Interview-Iraqi Kurd Leader [Talabani] Says U.S. Tough Talk Not Helpful [apparently preparing a Turkish Iraqi Kurd Iraqi rapprochement] * An unwelcome cuckoo in the nest -- Part 1 [an informative article supporting a US/Turkish alliance to achieve the final suppression of the Turkish Kurds] * An unwelcome cuckoo in the nest [presumably part 2, mainly about the PKK and the support it supposedly receives from Iran. I haven¹t seen a part 3] * KDP keeps distance from Ankara NOTE: Some background material on the confrontations between the PUK and PKK can be got from the earlier Kurdish Supplements sent in these news reports for 17/10/00 and 2229/10/00 EDITOR¹S INTRODUCTION: An objective observer if such a thing exists may feel that there is a similarity between Saddam Hussein¹s treatment of the Kurds of Iraq and the treatment that successive Turkish governments have meted out to the Kurds of Turkey. Same history of wanting to subsume a distinct people with its own history, language and religious peculiarities into a single nation state; same history of war with a militant separatist (in the case of Turkey) or autonomist (in the case of Iraq) guerrilla movement. Massacres. Destruction of villages. Displacement of populations. There is also, one might have thought, a close parallel to be drawn between the ambitious Turkish schemes for controlling the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates (and thereby the lifeblood of Syria and Iraq) with all that that implies for good or ill for the local Kurdish population; and the Iraqi government¹s ambitions to drain the marshes in southern Iraq, with all that that implies for the Shi¹i marsh Arabs¹: destroying a way of life that has lasted thousands of years¹ as the Americans complain indignantly, as if destroying ways of life that have lasted thousands or at least hundreds of years was not the whole purpose of America¹s existence in the world (for a metaphysical understanding of America¹s role in the world see William Blake¹s prophetic poem on the subject). Of course, so far as we know, the Turks have not used chemical weapons against their¹ Kurds. But Iraq only used them in rather extreme circumstances. We learn from Dr Osman¹s talk on Iraqi/Kurdish relations which I posted in a separate mailing a couple of days ago, that not only had the Kurds taken advantage of the Iran/Iraq war to launch a revolt; they were actually (both main tendencies it seems) fully integrated into the Iranian war effort. To try a British analogy. It is as if in the Second World War, Germany had succeeded in invading Britain and, at the very moment that German troops were advancing through Surrey, the Scots and/or the Welsh revolted and formed an alliance with them. Can anyone who knows anything about W.Churchill imagine that under those circumstances he would have hesitated to use chemical weapons? (The analogy is not as farfetched as it might seem. We only have to substitute the Irish¹ for the Scots or Welsh. And in thinking about the Kurds I have often been reminded of the Scottish highlanders. We remember that the problem¹ of the Scottish highlanders was resolved once and for all in the eighteenth century by a policy of wholesale massacre and forced emigration.) So I think we can safely assert a moral equivalence between the Iraqi suppression of the Kurds of Iraq and the Turkish suppression of the Kurds of Turkey (and the British suppression of the highlanders in Scotland). Which makes the present situation in which the Iraqi Kurds are in alliance with the Turkish government against the Turkish Kurds at the very least poignant or tragic; but when we add that the US and Britain (and has Britain¹s role been discussed in the House of Commons?) are involved in the process¹ (the Washington process¹ or the Ankara process¹) then it begins to appear very nasty indeed. While one of our chief excuses for the policy of systematically murdering over a million people in Iraq has been the great sympathy we feel for the Kurds of Iraq, we are effectively in alliance with the Turkish government as it pursues a policy almost identical to that of the Iraqi government towards the Kurds of Turkey. To descend from tragedy to farce, the whole affair shows up how ridiculous is the current US policy of arming the INC (one wonders if Clinton hasn¹t quickly implemented this part of Bush¹s opposition programme in order to create for him a situation of inextricable embarrassment). Insofar as there is any substance to the INC it consists largely of the participation of the two main Kurdish parties. But they seem to be pretty well armed already, with a long history of using their arms against each other. Assuming, however, that they manage to resolve their differences, their present situation, especially that of the KDP, making a fortune out of smuggling and under US protection so long as Saddam is in power (compare Montenegro and the Kosovan Albanians who were favoured clients so long as Milosevic was in power) is very pleasant. Why would they want to launch a war against Saddam to replace him with an Arab and therefore anti-Kurd government that would enjoy the favour of the West? http://members.home.net/kurdistanobserver/18-12-00-op-tky-in-kurdistan.html * TURKISH ARMY ENTERS SOUTH KURDISTAN Translated from Ozgur Politica, a pro PKK publication in Turkish, for the Kurdistan Observer, Dec 19, 2000 The PKK Council of Leaders said in a statement made yesterday that Turkey had entered South Kurdistan with the strength of hundreds of vehicles and that they could begin an extensive assault against them together with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) at any moment. The PKK Council of Leaders made the following call to the Kurdish people: "The patriotic people of Kurdistan and democratic public must raised their voices against this treachery and plot and bring this inauspicious assault to naught. Our people must develop popular uprisings (serhildan, intifada) everywhere against this treachery." The statement said, "The PUK, which has not been able to defeat our forces despite the weapons, ammunition, and logistic support of Turkey and regional powers, has now drawn Turkey's military force completely inside the war." The statement said that hundreds of vehicles of soldiers and heavy weapons had entered South Kurdistan through Habur Gate yesterday and the day before and had positioned at Ranya and Carkurna. The statement said that a great number of heavy weapons and tanks and military units were also waiting at the border at Silopi. The PKK Council of Leaders recalled that they had taken the peace calls of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) seriously and given them a positive response, continuing, "The PUK gave no response whatsoever to this call. It is clear that, rather than giving an answer to the National Congress, they struggled to pull foreign powers further into the war." The PKK Council of Leaders also gave information about the results of the clashes that had begun with the PUK assault on December 3, as follows: "Taking the support of Turkey and regional powers, [the PUK] began on December 3 a broad assault aiming to crush the People's Defense Forces. Our guerrillas, resisting with a spirit of sacrifice, repelled this assault aimed at annihilation in a short while. While 43 of our guerrillas have fallen in the war to date, the PUK's losses have reached the hundreds." The statement recalled that almost all of these had been unarmed victims that were mercilessly murdered by the PUK on September 14, 2000 after surrounding the new education force. It also recalled that the PUK had abused the unilateral cease fire that had been called by the PKK so that the war would not lead to more serious results, and had used the time to prepare for new assaults. The PKK Council of Leaders called for sensitivity from the Kurdish people and democratic public, saying: "Our patriotic people of Soran and the democratic forces must stand against this treachery and must show with uprisings to both friends and enemies that this treachery will not find life on this soil." The statement also made the following call to the PUK: "Give up this policy that will harm the Kurdish people and strengthen the enemy, and join the line of national democracy and peace. We call on you to pay heed to our people's longing for peace and democracy." The PKK Council of Leaders made the call for "abandonment of dangerous policies which will push Turkey and the region into an environment of war once again" and made the following warning to Turkey and regional countries: "A war begun in the South will unavoidably spread to all sides. Turkey's problems, foremost the Kurdish question, cannot be solve with war and conspiracies. We are calling on the regional countries which gave the PUK support in order to liquidate or weaken the PKK to remain far from these policies which will pull the entire region into war. Because once begun, this war could slip out of control and bring harm to everyone." The statement, noting that this movement to liquidate the PKK had already been been continued for a few years, concluded by saying: "Our party will continue to resist this conspiracy, just as it has through today. The flag of democracy and freedom will not fall to the ground as long as there is one PKK member still standing. Freedom and democracy will win, treachery and conspiracies will lose." HADEP members in Ankara protested the assaults by PUK forces against the PKK. Ankara Provincial Chairman Veli Aydogan said that the PUK assaults were provoking policies of violence in Turkey. A great crowd of HADEP administrators and members gathered the other day at Yuksel Avenue to denounce the PUK assaults. Addressing the crowd, Aydogan said that they were greatly concerned over developments in recent days and said that the PUK had hoped to profit from the environment of conflict in the region. Students in the Kurtalan district of Siirt also protested the PUK's assaults. The students of private courses arranged a demonstration and blocked highway traffic the other evening when classes were finished. A large crowd also gathered in the Eyyubiye neighborhood of Urfa and shouted slogans against the PUK. Meanwhile, Memcan Oguzsoy and Serhan Ozkurt, who had been detained on the grounds that they had protested the PUK assaults in a demonstration in Istanbul's Kagithane, were brought before the Istanbul State Security Court (DGM) the other day. Oguzsoy and Ozyurt were formally arrested and sent to Umraniye Prison. Protest demonstrations against the PUK's assaults against PKK guerrillas continue. Kurdistanis met the other day in the German town of Altefeuerbach tied to the city of Mannheim and rained curses down on the treachery. A large crowd participated in the march carrying banners reading, "Loyalty to President Apo is loyalty to Kurdistan," "Damn treachery," and "No to death cells." Throughout the march, they handed out pamphlets in German explaining the aim of the PUK assault against the PKK. Slogans of "Damn treachery! Long live resistance" and "We are with you in war and peace, Ocalan" were frequently shouted in the march through city center. The march, which began at 1:00 in the afternoon, continued with a meeting at Neuermass Plaza. The Planning Committee spokesperson called on the Kurdish people to be sensitive against the assault that the PUK had begun against the PKK's strategy for political struggle. After speeches, Kurdistanis danced the halay to musical performances before ending the meeting. http://members.home.net/kurdistanobserver/20-12-00-ko-puk-pkk.html * A PUK OFFICIAL CONFIRMS OF TURKISH TROOPS IN SULEYMANIA-REGION Dec 20, 2000 Sharq Al Awsat, a London based Arabic newspaper, reported today Dec 12, 2000 that Adel Murad, a PUK official, said that a Turkish military force, currently stationed around Qendil Mountains, entered southern (Iraqi) Kurdistan to pursue the members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The PUK official said that the Turkish force, consists of 700 solders and 80 military machines. Also today, the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) said in a statement that the massing of Turkish army troops in South Kurdistan will lead to a new war in the region. The statement added that the Turkish army entered southern (Iraqi) Kurdistan with the cooperation of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, aiming to destroy the PKK forces. http://members.home.net/kurdistanobserver/23-12-00-tdn-hadep-puk-pkk.html * HADEP: MEDIATOR IN WAR IN NORTHERN IRAQ by Mert Gozde, Dec 23, 2000 Ankara - Turkish Daily News: The People's Democracy Party (HADEP) has undertaken the role of mediator in order to stop the ongoing conflict between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). While HADEP's Women's Branch Chairwoman called on both sides to end the clashes, a delegation of party members under the direction of the party's deputy chairman, Feridun Yazar, who is responsible for foreign policies, paid a visit to the PUK's representative in Ankara, Sehzar Sait, and called for an end to the dispute. Yazar and HADEP administrators, voiced their anxieties on the PUK-PKK clash which has been continuing in northern Iraq for months to Sait, stating that war would solve nothing and that problems could be addressed by establishing communication. Yazar and his friends, who stated that the HADEP was opposed to the fighting between the two brother Kurdish groups, wanted their message directed towards ending clashes to be conveyed to PUK leader Dr. Celal Talabani. The delegation under the direction of Yazar visited Kurdistan Democratic Party's (KDP) Turkey office and met representative Safein Dizai. Yazar and his friends wanted assistance also from the KDP on the issue of ending the armed conflict. Meanwhile, according to a news broadcast on Medya TV, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) have entered northern Iraq. During the news broadcast, it was claimed that the TSK had been deployed around the city of Erbil. The daily Yeni Gundem claimed that the Turkish government had provided $15 million in aid to the PUK which has been clashing with the PKK. The news claimed that the TSK had entered northern Iraq in an operation against the PKK and that this operation would have air and heavy-gun support. http://www.wn.com/?action=display&article=5157516&template=worldnews/search. txt&index=recent * REPORT: TURKISH TROOPS SENT IN IRAQ ISTANBUL, Turkey (Associated Press, Sat 6 Jan 2001) Some 10,000 Turkish troops have crossed into northern Iraq and are preparing to battle Kurdish rebels there, local officials and reports said Saturday. The troops were stationed near the city of Sulaymaniyah, more than 100 miles into Iraqi territory, Turkey's daily Hurriyet said. Hurriyet and Belgium-based Kurdish Medya TV said the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which controls the area around Sulaymaniyah, had asked Turkey to send in troops to help in its battle against Kurdish rebels in the region. Northern Iraq has been governed by two rival Iraqi Kurdish factions since the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War. Medya TV and Al-Iraq daily, a state-run paper in Iraq, reported that some 200 PUK fighters have been killed in clashes with the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. The casualty figure could not be confirmed. Both the PUK and its rival Iraqi Kurdish faction have agreed to join Turkey to fight the PKK rebels. Turkish troops have battled the PKK since 1984, frequently crossing into northern Iraq, in a war that has killed some 37,000 people, mostly Kurds. Hurriyet said the troops, backed by tanks, had crossed into Iraq on Dec. 20 and were preparing for a large-scale ``cleanup'' operation. Kurdish sources reported no clashes between Turkish troops and the rebels. Officials in southeastern Turkey confirmed that Turkish troops, including special forces, had crossed into Iraqi territory, but gave no details. Turkey's military refused to comment on the reports. PUK officials were not available for comment. The PKK withdrew most of its fighters from Turkey and announced an end to their armed struggle for autonomy in southeast Turkey last year. Turkey has rejected the cease-fire and vowed to fight on until all rebels have surrendered. http://www.timesofindia.com/090101/09euro12.htm * IRAQI KURDISH LEADER IN ANKARA AS PKK ASSAULT GATHERS STEAM Times of India, 9th January ANKARA (AFP): An Iraqi Kurdish leader was due here Monday for talks with senior Turkish officials as his militia and Turkish troops were jointly fighting rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, a Turkish diplomat told AFP. Jalal Talabani, the head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), was scheduled to meet with Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and undersecretary for foreign affairs Faruk Logoglu on Tuesday, said the diplomat, who declined to be named. The visit comes a day after Ecevit confirmed that Turkish soldiers had crossed into northern Iraq to help the PUK and another Iraqi Kurdish faction, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), fight PKK rebels who have found refuge in the area. Ecevit told the state-run TRT channel Sunday that Turkish troops were providing "technical help" to the two groups in their struggle against the PKK. "The real struggle in the region is between the PUK and the PKK," Ecevit said. "The PUK and the KDP are spearheading the combat against the PKK and we are trying to help them," he added. For the past few months, the PUK, which controls Kurdish areas close to the border with Iran, has been fighting PKK rebels which it accuses of attacking its positions in a bid to destabilize the Kurdish-held enclave. The fighting comes after a long period of good relations between the PUK and the PKK, which has waged a 15-year armed campaign against Turkey for Kurdish self-rule in the country's southeast. Turkey says some 4,500 PKK militants have crossed into northern Iraq since September 1999 when the group said it would stop fighting Ankara and retreat from Turkey to seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict. But the powerful Turkish military has played down the peace bid as a "ploy" urging the rebels to either surrender or face the army. Turkish troops had frequently carried out operations against the PKK in northern Iraq, an area outside Baghdad's control since the 1991 Gulf War which Ankara says the PKK uses as a jumping board for attacks on Turkey. The KDP, led by Massoud Barzani, controls the strip of land near the Turkish border and often helps Turkey in its cross-border operations. Ecevit did not say how many Turkish soldiers were taking part in the incursion, but Turkish press reports said that some 10,000 troops have penetrated deep into the mountains of northern Iraq. The clashes in northern Iraq were evidence that the "terrorist PKK was still in existence," Ecevit said. "The terrorists are armed and are just beyond our border. In other words, they are lying in ambush," he added. Turkey's incursions have attracted storms of criticism from Baghdad, which accuses Ankara of violating its territorial integrity. http://members.home.net/kurdistanobserver/9-1-01-reu-talabani-denies-seek-he lp.html * IRAQI KURD CHIEF DENIES SEEKS TURKISH MILITARY AID Kurdistan Observer, 9th January ANKARA (Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdish faction leader Jalal Talabani said Tuesday he had asked Turkey for economic aid but denied having sought military support to drive out Turkish Kurd guerrillas from northern Iraq. However, Talabani warned that his Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) would use whatever means necessary to expel Turkish Kurd militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) from the area it controls. Northern Iraq has been controlled by two feuding Iraqi Kurdish groups -- Talabani's PUK and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) led by Massoud Barzani -- since the 1991 Gulf War. The United States brokered a 1998 cease-fire between the two, seeking to unite the rivals into a bulwark against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The deal obliges both to prevent PKK activity in northern Iraq. Turkish media said on the weekend that Turkey had sent 10,000 troops into the breakaway enclave in a major operation against Turkish Kurd rebel bases, a report denied by the army. "We are asking for political and economic support from Turkey," Talabani told reporters after meeting foreign ministry officials in Ankara. "We didn't ask for any military support." A report in a newspaper that backs the PKK said Turkish troops were mobilized after Talabani asked for Turkey's help to clear out the PKK presence from the area it controls. Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said over the weekend Turkey was providing technical support to Iraqi Kurds for its own security. Talabani told a Turkish television news channel that Turkish aid was limited to food and medical help to villagers there. IRAQI KURDISH FACTIONS PURSUE COOPERATION Talabani told television channel CNN-Turk he met with rival Barzani before coming to Turkey and the two agreed to improve dialogue and conditions under the Washington deal. "It is as if there is a cease-fire between us," Talabani told CNN Turk in a description of ties with Baghdad. Turkey allows U.S. and British military aircraft to use an air base to patrol northern Iraq's no-fly zone. In return, Turkish forces regularly cross the border to pursue PKK guerrillas with little Western opposition. The PKK has largely withdrawn from Turkey to northern Iraq and Iran since late 1999 following orders from its imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan that the group should abandon the armed struggle and remold itself as a political party. Earlier Tuesday, Talabani told NTV television station that as many as 8,000 PKK guerrillas were now in northern Iraq. Ankara dismisses the PKK cease-fire as a ploy to save Ocalan from a death sentence for treason. The military has pledged to "neutralize" all PKK members who do not surrender. "We discussed the PKK aggression against Iraqi Kurdistan when they sent all their military men (over the border)," Talabani said after Tuesday's talks. "They claimed they stopped the armed struggle there but they started fighting in Iraqi Kurdistan," he said. "We will oblige them by all means to leave our area." He said there was currently no fighting on the ground. Talabani was due to meet Ecevit Wednesday and was expected to hold talks with Western diplomats in Ankara. http://members.home.net/kurdistanobserver/10-1-01-afp-talabani-urges-inves.h tml * KURDISH LEADER URGES TURKISH INVESTMENT IN NORTHERN IRAQ Kurdistan Observer, 10th January ANKARA, Jan 10 (AFP) The head of a leading Kurdish faction in northern Iraq has invited Turkish businessmen to invest in the Kurdish-held enclave, Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said Wednesday. Speaking to reporters outside his office, Ecevit said that following the request, he had enabled Jalal Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), to meet with the Turkish Union of Commercial Chambers during a visit to Ankara. "If such a cooperation is formed and investments are made in the region, all the people in the region, be they Kurds, Turkmens or Arabs, will benefit from it," Ecevit said. Talabani, for his part, said that he had asked Turkish officials for political, economic and cultural support. Asked whether he had requested military help from Turkey to fight Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels sheltering in the region, the PUK leader said: "Not yet." He did not elaborate. "There is full cooperation against anyone who will try to disturb peace and stability in the region," Talabani told reporters after meeting Ecevit. The PKK, which has waged a 15-year armed campaign for Kurdish self-rule in Turkey's southeast, said that it would stop fighting and withdraw from Turkey from September 1999 to seek a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Talabani, who controls a section of northern Iraq close to the Iranian border, said Tuesday that some 8,000 PKK militants had moved to northern Iraq since the group announced its decision. About 6,000 PKK rebels were in the PUK sector, while 2,000 others were in the area bordering Turkey, which is controlled by PUK's arch-rival, the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP), he told the NTV news channel. After meeting a senior foreign ministry official, the PUK leader vowed to purge all PKK rebels from his regions of authority. "We will oblige them by all means to leave our area," he told reporters. Ecevit announced at the weekend that Turkish troops in northern Iraq were providing "technical help" to PUK and KDP in their struggle against the PKK. The Turkish army regularly launches operations against the PKK in the north of Iraq, which has been outside Baghdad's control since 1991, saying that the PKK uses it as a springboard for attacks against Turkey. The incursions draw strong criticism from Baghdad, which accuses Ankara of violating its territorial integrity. http://members.home.net/kurdistanobserver/9-1-01-op-talabani-tky.html * TALABANI TO ASK FOR MONEY AND WEAPONS Ozgur Politica (a pro PKK publication in Turkish), translated for Kurdistan Observer, 10th January The visit of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Jalal Talabani to Ankara while the possibility of hot conflict in South Kurdistan [Iraqi Kurdistan] still lingers has increased activity in the region. Talabani, who was brought as far as Amed [Diyarbakir] by helicopter, completed his journey to Ankara by airplane on Monday evening. During his official contacts in Ankara, Talabani is expected to maintain the position he took during previous visits. The PUK leader, who was called to Ankara by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, is expected to ask for assistance in the form of weapons and money for the assaults the PUK has been carrying out against the PKK with Turkish military support. Additionally, it is expected that Talabani will ask for Turkey's support in gaining the PUK's share of income from the Habur customs gate, which is under Kurdistan Democrat Party (KDP) control. This will be Talabani's second visit to Ankara in recent months, the most recent visit being in July of last year. During that last visit, the PUK leader gave Ankara his word that he would fight against the PKK. Talabani is expected to meet with Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit during his two-day visit to Ankara and will also meet with Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Faruk Logoglu and officials from the General Staff intelligence department. Sources from the Turkish Foreign Ministry had the following to say: "We left Talabani out of the picture for a long time. But now, we think that the PUK is doing a perfect job together with Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democrat Party against the terrorist PKK in northern Iraq. For that reason, it deserves Turkey's support." Ministry sources said that Talabani had been under intensive "pressure from Iraq and Iran" because of his cooperation with Turkey, continuing to say, "Therefore, we must give the necessary assistance." The same sources noted that KDP leader Massoud Barzani would also be invited to Ankara in the coming days. KDP sources, for their part, have made no statements on this matter. Operation visit Talabani's visit to Ankara has gained importance because of the tense days being experienced in the region. Talabani, who has been organizing assaults against the PKK since September of last year, is receiving financial and military assistance from Ankara. The Ankara administration developed tight relations with Barzani's KDP in the past, and has raised relations with the PUK to top-level visits over the past two years. The focus of PUK-Ankara relations, meanwhile, is the PKK. Following the visit to Ankara of politburo member Omer Ali Huseyin in July 1999, the PUK closed down some newspapers, culture centers, and associations on the grounds that they were close to the PKK. It was reported at the time that Talabani had received USD 80 million from Turkey in return. Turkey-PUK relations were raised to the level of "strategic partnership" last August as a result of Talabani's visit to Ankara. The PUK began broad assaults against guerrilla forces in the region approximately one month after that visit. The assaults, which met with intense reaction from the Kurdish people and organizations, ceased for a time after the signing of a cease fire, but were resumed once again by the PUK in December. It has been reported that PUK administration received USD 15 million from Turkey in return for the latest assaults. Weapons being sent to the South Meanwhile, according to news received from local sources, great amounts of heavy weapons, including Katyusha missiles, were sent by the Turkish military to South Kurdistan through the Habur border gate at Silopi the other night after midnight. 'War plan put into action' South Kurdistani political figure Davut Bagistani evaluated PUK leader Jalal Talabani's visit to Ankara as "putting the war plan into action." Commenting on recent developments and evaluating Talabani's Ankara visit for our newspaper, Bagistani said: "Talabani has stated verbally in the meetings he has had with delegations that he is in favor of peace. But on the other hand, he is going to Ankara to make preparations for war. This is contradictory. The PUK also wants to pull the KDP into war. This shows how broad the scope of the plan is." Bagistani stressed that, in spite of everything, it was necessary for efforts for inter-Kurdish peace to continue under all circumstances, and continued as follows: "For the Turkish army to be 350 kilometers inside the South makes a solution more difficult. A great war may not be experienced right now because of winter conditions. But a war this spring could make Turkey and its friends suffer heavy losses. But we want problems to be solved without the shedding of blood, despite everything." Bagistani drew attention to the great reaction of the people of the South and of Kurdish organizations against the PUK's insistence on war, and said also that there were differences of opinion inside the PUK. http://members.home.net/kurdistanobserver/10-1-01-OP-talabani-south-sale.htm l * TALABANI HAS PUT THE SOUTH UP FOR SALE Ozgur Politica, a pro PKK publication in Turkish. Translated for Kurdistan Observer, Jan 11, 2001 It has surfaced that PUK leader Jalal Talabani, in Turkey for a visit different from those of the past, wants to revive the Ankara process which inflamed enmity between the Kurds and granted the opportunity for Turkey to intervene in South Kurdistan [Iraqi Kurdistan]. Making this announcement himself while in Ankara on Tuesday, Talabani said "Turkey can be of great assistance to us on this matter," and requested military and monetary assistance. Asserting that his demands had been met, Talabani continued: "At this moment, I am the most wanted man in Turkey. I was pleased with the meetings I held with my Turkish brothers." Talabani denied reports that the Turkish army had taken up positions in South Kurdistan, despite the fact that Turkish Prime Minister Ecevit and top-level PUK officials had personally confirmed the news after it was reported in Turkish and world media, and said: "I think this is a lie. It is being asserted by the PKK or circles close to the PKK." Concerning Ecevit's comment that "We are giving technical assistance to the PUK," Talabani asserted, "He probably means the assistance of food, clothing, and medication being given to civilians who flee from the PKK and settle in the region." Talabani met with ambassadors The PUK leader had meetings at some embassies on Tuesday in the framework of his two-day visit to Ankara. Talabani met for about an hour in the morning at the US Ankara embassy and also met with officials from the Japanese Ankara embassy at the Sheraton Hotel. In the afternoon, Talabani met with Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Faruk Logoglu and other officials. His schedule for Wednesday included a meeting with Prime Minister Ecevit. Talabani is also to meet with officials from Turkish General Staff military intelligence and from the National Intelligence Agency (MIT). Speaking about his contacts, the PUK leader said that he wanted to discuss cooperation with Turkey. "We and Ankara want stability in northern Iraq," Talabani said, continuing, "It is normal for us to meet as long as we have common aims." Call for the Ankara process Talabani said that the future of Iraq lie in democracy and asserted that they had no intentions to establish an independent Kurdish state in the region. He also asserted that the key to assuring peace was in Turkey's hands. "We could prefer the application of the Ankara process, especially in these days," Talabani said, continuing, "Ankara must revive the Ankara process through persuasion. It later slipped into the Washington process." Talabani also called on Turkey to mediate between the PUK and Kurdistan Democrat Party (KDP) on the subject of income from border trade. Talabani said that he had met with KDP leader Massoud Barzani before coming to Ankara, continuing: "We had a productive visit with Barzani. My friend Barzani approached it very positively. We discussed the Washington process and our joint efforts with Ankara." Talabani said that they wanted to act in concert with the KDP in matters of foreign policy, particularly in regards to the Ankara and Washington processes, and said that he had asked the KDP to share revenues from the Habur border gate with them and to allow free travel for the PUK in KDP territory. Meanwhile, an official from the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that the meeting signified Ankara's constant consultation with the two sides in a statement he made to Reuters news agency. The official said that the situation in northern Iraq would be discussed, as always, during the visit. Turkey wishes by bringing Talabani up to the former position of Barzani to begin a comprehensive military campaign in the region against the PKK. Despite the fact that the guerrillas have withdrawn outside of Turkey's borders, Ankara is continually keeping renewed assaults on the agenda. This is expected to be made a requirement for KDP leader Barzani, who has been invited to Ankara in the coming days for the same purpose. PUK confirms occupation In contradiction to Jalal Talabani's comments, "I did not see Turkish soldiers in Suleymaniya," other top-level PUK officials have not been able to deny the presence of the Turkish military in the region. PUK London representative Latif Rashid, commenting to the El Vatan newspaper, which is published in Saudi Arabia, asserted that the presence of Turkish military forces in the region had not come about by their own wishes. Rashid said: "I learned information concerning the presence of the Turkish military in the region from the press. But this situation absolutely did not come about because of the PUK's request." PKK is the target The intentions of Turkey - which appointed an ambassador to Baghdad despite objections from the US - have begun to become clear. The Mustaqbel newspaper published in Lebanon wrote that Ankara's basic aim with these action was to mediate between Iraq and the Kurdish organizations in South Kurdistan. The newspaper said that Ankara had revealed the true intentions it had been nursing by playing the Kurdish card for the first time in a long time. In this regard, Turkey does not want a federated Kurdish state in the region. But its basic concern is the presence of the PKK in the region. In its recommendations to the KDP and PUK, Ankara has suggested cooperation on military, political, economic, and security matters against the PKK. It was noted that if they accept the offer, Ankara will mediate between these groups and Iraqi administration. The newspaper, which based the news on diplomatic sources, also said that Massoud Barzani would travel to Ankara in the days following Talabani's arrival. The newspaper said that Barzani would remain in Ankara for four days and that he and Talabani would be brought together and that Ankara would make its influence in regional policies felt heavily. What is the Ankara process? The first meeting of the Ankara process - which aimed at bringing the KDP, PUK, and Turkmen Front together under the joint chairmanship of Turkey, the US, and Britain - was held in Ankara on October 30-31, 1996. The declared main aim of the meeting was to secure the cease fire between the KDP and PUK, which had been agreed upon previously but continued to be sensitive, and to begin the process of political accord between the parties in the region. The final declaration of the meeting touched on the importance given to the territorial integrity of Iraq and Iraq sovereignty and called attention to Turkey's concerns over security in the region. One of the results of the meeting was the agreement to establish a "Peace Monitoring Force," in which the Turkmen figured prominently, to supervise the cease fire between the PUK and KDP. Three more meetings were subsequently held. Taking advantage of the agreement, Turkey carried out the "Hammer" operation in 1997. Turkey's most important objective is to assure itself a lasting presence in the region, using the Turkmen as an excuse. But, the US initiative left Turkey out of the picture and the Washington Agreement was signed on September 17, 1998. The significance of the revival of the Ankara process is that it will leave the door to new interventions open to Turkey. http://members.home.net/kurdistanobserver/10-1-01-reu-interview-talabani.htm l * INTERVIEW-IRAQI KURD LEADER SAYS U.S. TOUGH TALK NOT HELPFUL The Kurdistan Observer, 10th January ANKARA, Jan 10 (Reuters) - The leader of one of the two Kurdish factions that control northern Iraq said on Wednesday tough talk was not the best way for the United States to push Iraq towards democracy. Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), told Reuters in an interview that it was too early to judge the incoming U.S. administration of George W. Bush, but the signs were that it would take a tough stance towards Iraq. "I cannot say I welcome this tough language," Talabani said during a visit to Ankara. "We need to have in Iraq democratic change, some steps forward to democratisation, not tough speeches," he said. Talabani heads one half of a Kurdish enclave in the mountainous region that the United States wants to forge into a united bulwark against the Iraqi government, which has not controlled the north since the end of the 1991 Gulf War. U.S. Secretary of State-designate Colin Powell, who oversaw the U.S. military during the 1991 Gulf War against Iraq, has said he will work with allies to breath new life into sanctions against Baghdad. Other Bush advisers openly advocate using air power and arming the Iraqi opposition. TALABANI SEEKS NEW CHAPTER IN RELATIONS WITH KDP Turning to the situation in northern Iraq, Talabani said he was trying to improve relations with rival Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). The PUK and the KDP have controlled the breakaway enclave in the north of the country since the Gulf War, but thousands of their members were killed in intermittent clashes since 1994. The United States brokered a ceasefire in 1998. So far, differences over power sharing and revenues in the region have blocked progress towards the elections and the local government envisaged under the Washington accord. Talabani said he would meet Barzani on his return from Ankara, where he sought economic support from Turkey, and the two would hold detailed discussions about future relations. "I hope we can both open a new chapter for our relations," he said. "I'm going to ask for better relations and we will discuss the possibility of reinforcing the administration and also for new elections." The deal signed in Washington also stipulates that Turkish Kurd guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) be denied the opportunity to base themselves in northern Iraq -- a key issue for Ankara. Talabani said the PKK were clearly getting support from outside Iraq, though he declined to say from whom. Western diplomats who met him in Ankara said he had discussed Turkey's concerns that Iran may be supporting the PKK. The PKK has largely withdrawn from Turkey to northern Iraq and Iran since late 1999 following orders from its imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan that the group should abandon violence. Turkey allows U.S. and British military aircraft to use an airbase to patrol a no-fly zone in northern Iraq. Ankara regularly bolsters its troop presence inside northern Iraq to pursue the PKK with little western opposition. Talabani estimated there are as many as 7,000 PKK fighters in northern Iraq, but he brushed off reports that Turkey was reinforcing its troops there in preparation for an offensive. "There are no plans at this time, this winter. I don't think there are plans or they're even thinking about sending troops to Iraqi Kurdistan, unless there will be a need," he said. Turkey has said it was providing technical support to Iraqi Kurds for its own security. Talabani said that was limited to food and medical help. http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=150373 * AN UNWELCOME CUCKOO IN THE NEST -- PART 1 by Derk Kinnane Roelofsma First of three parts WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- The incoming Bush administration has announced that it intends to do something about Iraq. The box in which the Clinton administration claimed to have confined Saddam Hussein has collapsed with only the air patrols over the no-fly zones still more or less holding up against Iraqi military flights if no longer intimidating civilian passenger flights. The air patrols were instituted to protect the safe haven for Kurds in northern Iraq, set up by the United States in 1991, from the brutal depredation of Saddam Hussein's army. Now the safe haven has become a battlefield for Iraqi Kurds trying to oust intruding Turkish Kurdish Marxist guerrillas. This situation is of immediate concern to Turkey, the most important U.S. ally in the neighborhood. It is also something Washington will need to bear in mind as it decides just what to do about Hussein. The Kurdistan Workers Party, known as the PKK, appeared at the start of 2000 to have been marginalized after waging an unsuccessful 16-year insurrection in southeastern Turkey. Some 35,000 people were killed. Now the PKK has reappeared as a significant fighting force, backed by Russia and Iran. During the past fall, the PKK engaged in fighting with one of the two parties that rule large parts of Iraqi Kurdistan. Led by Jalal Talabani, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan controls an area bordering on Iran. Its rival, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, headed by Mas'ud Barzani, rules over land that borders on Turkey. Piecing together information from various Kurdish and other sources, a picture of what happened emerges. The cause of the fighting, according to the PKK and others, arose from Talabani's need to strengthen his position by assuaging the Turkish government that views any Kurdish show of independence with deep suspicion. Through the good offices of the United States, Talabani was received in July in Ankara by Prime Minister Ecevit Bulent and Foreign Minister Ismail Cem. The Turks and the United States urged Talabani to get the PKK out of the territory under PUK authority. At first Talabani is said to have asked the PKK to leave quietly. When it refused to do so, fighting began in September. In the first four days, more than 100 people were killed, a Turkish military source said. The PKK claimed it faced 4,000 PUK peshmerga, as Talabani's and Barzani's guerrillas are known. The fighting ended on Oct. 4, only to resume on Dec.3. Ten days later it halted again because of foreign intervention -- military by Turkey and political by Iran. An appeal to Ankara by Talabani brought some 700 Turkish troops accompanied by artillery 200 miles deep into Iraq, something that for understandable reasons the PUK denies happened. But Iran told Talabani it could not tolerate warfare on its border and that he must cease attacking PKK positions. These were established near the strategically situated towns of Rania and Qalat Diza on the road to Sulaimani, a major Kurdish city. Tehran told the PUK it would persuade the PKK to return to previous positions on both sides of the Iraq-Iran frontier. According to PUK sources, the PKK has not done so and remains in a strip of land on the Iraqi side of the border. Some estimates of the number of PKK guerrillas in the Iran-Iraq region are as high as 10,000. Turkish authorities said that some 5,000 moved into the area starting in September 1999 when the PKK said it was laying down its arms and moving its forces out of Turkey. The PKK moved into an area of Iraq where a Kurdish Regional Government had been set up, thanks to the security provided by U.S. and British air protection. This has enabled the Iraqi Kurds to enjoy a freedom of action far surpassing that of fellow Kurds in Iran, Syria or Turkey. Indeed this Kurdish freedom troubles Ankara that constantly fears the creation of an independent Kurdish state and the effect this would have on its own 12 million Kurds. However, rivalry between the KDP and PUK turned violent and the region became divided, with each party ruling in its area. U.S. diplomats have repeatedly sought to persuade the two parties to end the violence and at least outright civil war has been avoided since the two parties signed an agreement in Washington in 1998. http://www.vny.com/cf/News/upidetail.cfm?QID=150414 * AN UNWELCOME CUCKOO IN THE NEST by Derk Kinnane Roelofsma WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- The money on which the Kurdistan Workers Party, a Turkish Kurdish Marxist revolutionary party, the PKK, runs comes from Moscow, Iraq, Greece and elsewhere, Ibrahim Mammadov reported in the Baku newspaper Azadlyg. Germany is also well known source of funds for the PKK. It is highly organized, raises considerable funds by contributions, both voluntary and extorted, from among the 500,000 Kurds living there as well as from involvement criminal activities, including drug trafficking. In Armenia, the PKK has camps at several locations as well as a hospital for the treatment of party fighters wounded in Turkey and Iraq. PKK members, coming from Russia's "near abroad" and Eastern Europe are sent directly to the mountains under the supervision of the Armenian security services. PKK guides then take over, provided with communications equipment, night-vision and mine-clearing devices and weapons. On the border with Iran, the guides hand over to the party's Iranian guides. Iran is assisting some ten PKK bases in villages along the Iran-Iraq border in the region of the Iranian city of Urmia. In April to June 1999 alone, at least 300 people were trained in one camp in Iraq before a Turkish Air Force raid forced it to move elsewhere, Mammadov reports. But the PKK also has its troubles. Finances, military equipment and other supplies are not at the desired level and conditions are difficult for PKK forces still in southeastern Turkey. Winter doesn't make things easier, except that it imposes a virtual prohibition on fighting. But the winter will give way to spring and Turkish politicians and generals are asking themselves what the PKK forces will do then? It would seem likely they would raise present level of their low intensity war in Turkey while seeking to consolidate their position in Iraq. Turkey may be expected to resume doing as much as it can to destroy the PKK. If this involves further deep penetrations of Turkey, all kinds of questions may arise. In Iraqi Kurdistan, both Massoud Barzani's Kurdish Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan called on the Turkish military for assistance that was promptly delivered. If the Turks were to become a habitual presence deep inside Iraqi Kurdistan, serious questions would arise as to the integrity of the Iraqi state, something that so far Washington appears to wish preserved as much as Baghdad does. Fortunately, for the United States, long-term Turkish goals of building up diplomatic and important trade relations with Baghdad, with or without Saddam's presence, are a countervailing force to any ambition to colonize the Kurdish area. Similarly, its seems unlikely at this time that Ankara would bring up the Mosul question -- the Turkish claim that it was unjustly denied the oil-rich Ottoman province awarded to Iraq in 1926. Still, it is only a decade since the flamboyant Turkish prime minister, Turgut Ozal, briefly revived the issue. As for the United States, if it is serious about changing the regime in Baghdad, it can hardly be pleased with the prospect of a guerrilla force of several thousand, hostile to the West and in effect a proxy of Moscow and Tehran, being placed where they can destabilize the north of Iraq and possibly once again adjacent areas of Turkey. For one thing, a return of a revived PKK to Turkey in force would revive doubts about the security of a strategically important Turkish-U.S. project for a pipeline to carry oil from the Caspian Basin to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. Given the president-elect's campaign statements about reducing U.S. military commitments abroad, it may be that Washington will be glad to leave it to the Turks alone, with their tough and experienced soldiery, to continue to deal with PKK. One thing is certain, such action would be bound to renew and probably intensify the odium in which Turkey, a candidate for European Union membership, is held by so much of the European political establishment. But that is another story. http://members.home.net/kurdistanobserver/11-1-01-OP-puk-kdp-pkk-tky.html * KDP KEEPS DISTANCE FROM ANKARA Kurdistan Observer (from Ozgur Politica), 12th January As Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Jalal Talabani continued his contacts in Ankara, Kurdistan Democrat Party (KDP) Ankara representative Safeen Dizayee said that the PUK's rapprochement with Turkey would not lead to changes in their own policies with Ankara. Dizayee said that the PUK fighting against the PKK did not mean that the KDP had to fight also, and denied news that KDP leader Massoud Barzani would be arriving in Ankara in the coming days. KDP Ankara representative Safeen Dizayee explained his views concerning topics which had been discussed in meetings between Talabani and Turkish government officials to the newspaper "2000'de Yeni Gundem" (New Agenda in 2000), which is published in Turkey. Dizayee said that rapprochement between the KDP and PUK had started together with the Ankara Process and said they had secured harmony on all subjects other than meeting of the regional Parliament and elections. Dizayee asserted that the Ankara Process was a continuation of the Washington Agreement and said that the United States, Great Britain, and Turkey had all given their support to this process. Dizayee said that the PUK's relations with Turkey would not lead to changes in the KDP's policies, continuing: "Our policies are clear. We do not index our relations with Turkey to the PKK. We find the PKK dangerous from our own vantage, we are struggling against the PKK. But, just because the PUK is fighting against the PKK does not mean that we have to also." Dizayee said that Talabani's demand that the PUK receive an equal share with the KDP of revenue from the Habur border gate was senseless, continuing as follows: "The revenues secured from the Habur border gate do not go to the KDP. They are collected in the Central Bank account in Arbil, which is under the control of the Financial and Customs Ministry. The government presents projects to Parliament. The Parliament then uses this money to finance projects which they find appropriate." The KDP representative said that Talabani's request that a new border gate with the South [Iraqi Kurdistan] be opened was impossible in practice, and drew attention to the fact that the region under PUK control does not have a common border with Turkey. Concerning news appearing in the press that they would carry out a "Sandwich Operation" against the PKK, Dizayee said that no such request had been made of them by Turkey. The KDP representative said that he did not have the authority to say what type of stance the KDP would take should Turkey make such a request, and also noted that the news that Barzani would come to Ankara following Talabani's visit was not correct. Talabani gave 'confidence' to Ankara PUK leader Jalal Talabani, who was in Ankara this week, said that the PUK would continue its cooperation with Turkey in the struggle against the PKK, and asserted, "We are going to pressure the PKK in every sense to leave our region." The PUK leader, who arrived in Ankara in order to ask for military and financial help and to cooperate with Turkey against the PKK, continued his contacts on Wednesday. Talabani, who had met with officials from the National Intelligence Agency (MIT), General Staff, and Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Faruk Logoglu the day before, had a 45-minute meeting with Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit on Wednesday. Making a statement after the meeting, Talabani said that they had discussed economic and security matters that concern both sides, and noted that they expect understanding and support from Turkey on economic and political fields. Ecevit, for his part, said that they had had, in general, a "very beneficial" meeting with Talabani on matters that concern them and that Talabani had only asked for "technical and economic assistance" from Turkey. Ecevit said that the PKK had been discussed within the framework of "general evaluations." The Turkish Prime Minister said that they would give the necessary support on economic and technical issues and noted thatTalabani had also met with the union of chambers of commerce. Talabani, failing to give detailed information about the meeting, said they had "discussed every type of subject," adding that Ecevit had approached him in a positive manner. Talabani also said that he had promised that he would carefully examine the reports which had been presented to him. In answer to a question from reporters as to whether or not he had asked for military assistance from Turkey, Talabani responded, "Not yet," and added, "We are cooperating with Turkey along all paths against every element which threatens stability in the region." War against PKK to continue Talabani, meanwhile, had a meeting that lasted for 2.5 hours with Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Faruk Logoglu on Tuesday evening. Answering reporters' questions after the meeting, Talabani evaluated the meeting as "very comprehensive and good." Talabani said that it was "necessary for Turkey to play a role" in order to bring implementation of the Ankara Process "to a more effective condition," adding the following: "We want Turkey to play a role. Turkey is both our friend and the KDP's friend. We asked for the sides to be encouraged in the functioning of the Ankara Process." Talabani noted that Turkey understood the PUK's requests and its difficulties and said that he had given information to Ankara concerning their projects in South Kurdistan. Talabani alleged that there was currently no situation of conflict between them and the PKK in South Kurdistan and stressed that they would continue their cooperation with Turkey to fight against the PKK. "We hope that they will abandon our region without any conflict at all being experienced," Talabani said, continuing to assert, "We will pressure them in every sense to desert our region." Search for support at the embassies Meanwhile, Talabani, who had met with officials from the US and Japanese embassies during his first day of contacts in Ankara, had contacts on Wednesday morning with officials from the Dutch and Egyptian embassies. Although Talabani did not give any detailed information about these meetings, they have been interpreted as aimed at gaining the approval and support of the US, Europe, and some regional Arab countries in initiation of a broad assault against the PKK should the PUK cooperate with Turkey in such a campaign in the South [Iraqi Kurdistan] this spring. Talabani additionally had a dinner meeting with representatives of the Turkmen in Ankara on Wednesday. The contents of the meeting were not disclosed. Ankara 'pleased' with Talabani According to information received, Ankara had wanted Talabani to prepare and present a list of his demands and sent the message that it would examine that list with good intentions and endeavor to be of assistance. Turkish officials say that the central point in Turkey's relations with both Kurdish parties in South Kurdistan, both the PUK and the Kurdistan Democrat Party (KDP), is their stance on the PKK, and say that Talabani's PUK is following "a more convincing line" currently as compared with in the past. In statements made from the Turkish Foreign Ministry concerning Talabani's contacts in Ankara, officials said that they had discussed the struggle against the PKK with him and had "a comprehensive exchange of ideas within the framework of the unity and future of Iraq," adding that they would continue to give their support to the PUK in its fight against the PKK. One Foreign Ministry official said they greeted the PUK's requests for assistance in economic, financial and military fields positively, and stressed that what was important for them was whether or not Talabani was currently struggling against the PKK in the South. The official, answering a reporter's question as to whether or not Talabani was giving Turkey confidence in this matter, responded as follows: "What is important for us is not whether or not he gives confidence; we look at what he does on his field. When we look on the field, we see that he is putting up a very serious struggle against the PKK. The PUK has become more settled and mature." Protest against the PUK A protest demonstration against the PUK was held in the Camlibel neighborhood of the Yuregir district of Adana the other evening. A large crowd of mainly young people conducted a torch-lit march and shouted slogans such as, "Damn the PUK, Long live the PKK" and "Long live the children of the fire and sun," and calling on the PUK not to test their patience. After the group of demonstrators dispersed, police arriving in Camlibel took heavy security measures. Meanwhile, detentions continue to be made following the protest demonstrations arranged at Ege University. Sanem Ozdil, chairman of the Ege University Students' Association, has been taken into custody on the grounds that he participated in demonstrations. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk Full details of CASI's various lists can be found on the CASI website: http://www.casi.org.uk