Turkish Press

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

Top Stories From The Press of Turkey for August 9th
      ANKARA, Aug 9 (Reuter) - These are the leading stories in the Turkish
press on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch
for their accuracy.

    SABAH

    -- Work stoppage by public sector workers on Tuesday did not affect the
public too much.

    MILLIYET

    -- True facts behind the shooting of a member of parliament and his
secretary in parliament have still to come to light.

    -- Police special forces members deny they treat civilians in the
southeast badly.

    CUMHURIYET

    -- The State Security Court is studying a controversial report on the
Kurdish issue with a view to bringing charges.

    YENI YUZYIL

    -- Public workers' strike well supported but not disruptive to everyday
life.

    YENI POLITIKA

    -- About 600,000 public workers take part in work stoppage.

Turkish Kurds Released From Jail, Trial Continues
      ANKARA, Aug 8 (Reuter) - A Turkish court on Tuesday released from
detention four officials of a pro-Kurdish political party standing trial for
alleged membership of an illegal Kurdish guerrilla group, a party official
said.

    The four Kurdish officials from the People's Democracy Party (HADEP) face
up to 15 years in jail if convicted on charges of being members of the
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which fights for independence or autonomy in
southeast Turkey.

    There is no bail system under Turkish law and it is up to the courts to
decide whether defendants are kept in jail or let free during their trial.

    The four were detained in late April and had been kept in jail since
then.

    HADEP official Ismail Arsalan said the defendants, whose trial started on
July 6, but HADEP were released after a second hearing on Tuesday.

    ``We think this is a case based on a political decision to try and stop
our party from functioning,'' he told Reuters.

    The four have rejected the charges, saying the case is based on false and
faulty information.

    One of the defendants, HADEP assistant general chairman Sehabettin
Ozarslaner, has said he was tortured by police.

    The others on trial are assistant general chairmen Hikmet Fidan,
assistant general secretary Seyhmuz Cagro and Ankara party official Farhan
Turk.

    HADEP is the successor to the Democracy Party (DEP) which was closed by
Turkey's constitutional court for separatism last year. Six DEP members of
parliament were imprisoned for links with the PKK, largely on the basis of
statements they made in support of broader Kurdish freedoms.

Court Mulls Charges Over Kurdish Report
      ANKARA, Aug 9 (Reuter) - A Turkish special court is investigating an
academic report on the country's Kurdish issue with an eye to prosecution
under a tough anti-terror law, a court prosecutor said on Wednesday.

    ``(The report) throws up the concept of a federation and a second
official language...There could be a crime there,'' Nuh Mete Yuksel,
prosecutor at Ankara state security court, told Reuters. ``It could be liable
for prosecution under article 8.''

    Article 8 of Turkey's anti-terror law is a wide-ranging clause banning
separatist propaganda and has sent scores of writers and intellectuals to
jail for their writings and speeches.

    Its scrapping has both been pledged by Prime Minister Tansu Ciller and
demanded by Ankara's Western allies, but has so far fallen foul of
conservative opposition inside Turkey.

    The report, released last week by an influential Turkish business
grouping, urges Ankara to improve its treatment of Turkey's more than 10
million Kurds.

    It included a rare canvas of more than 1,200 Kurds, most of whom said
they would choose autonomy or being part of a federation if they could change
Turkey's political structure.

    More than 17,500 people have died in a fight by the Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) for independence or autonomy.

    The report said support for the PKK would weaken if Ankara heeded Kurds'
social and economic grievances and tolerated pro-Kurdish sentiments.

    ``We are examining the report following comments in the media,'' Yuksel
said.

    The report was compiled by a team headed by Professor Dogu Ergil of
Ankara University and was commissioned by the Union of Chambers and Trade
Bourses, whose chairman, Yalim Erez, is known to be close to Ciller. The
prosecutor declined to say who he might press charges against.

    Many conservative politicians, journalists and security officials have
strongly condemned the report's findings. Most Turkish establishment figures
refuse to see the PKK problem as anything but one of internal security.

    The opposition and much of the media have suggested the report was
influenced by Ciller in a bid to pave the way for democratic reforms. Her
office has denied this.

    Reacting to the report on Tuesday, Interior Minister Nahit Mentese said
Turkey had no ethnic problem. He rejected the forming of a federation to
resolve the 11-year-old PKK rebellion.

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 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)