Turkey

[Petronas]

Anti-Americanism in the Turkish Media
February 25, 2005

Over the past few years the Turkish media has grown increasingly anti-American. Turkish media outlets of all political persuasions - left, center, right, and Islamist - much like the Arab and Iranian press, attack the U.S. and incite against it.

The following is the third release [1] from the MEMRI Turkish Media Project. It includes comparisons of Nazi Germany to the U.S. and President Bush to Hitler, racial epithets toward Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; and making the U.S. the center of conspiracies including holding it responsible for the Tsunami. The following are excerpts from several articles (ellipses appear in the originals):

Turks are 'The Gold Medalists in Anti-Americanism'

In the mainstream moderate-right daily Tercuman, columnist Cengiz Çandar wrote: "… The BBC surveyed about 22,000 people all around the world between November 15, 2004 and January 5, 2005. Forty-seven percent of the respondents expressed the opinion that 'America's influence on the world is very negative.'

"What is especially interesting is that among those with the most negative view on America's policies under Bush are the Turks, heading the list with 82%. The Turks are followed by the Argentineans with 79%, and the Brazilians with 78%.

"This means that we are the gold medalists in 'anti-Americanism.' …

"… [According to the survey] among the Muslim countries, Turkey is followed [in anti-Bush sentiment] by Indonesia and Lebanon…" [2]

'America's Hitler'

In the pan-Islamist daily Milli Gazette, columnist S üleyman Arif Emre wrote: "As we know, Germany's Hitler started World War II, and about 50 million people perished because of Hitler's ambitions.

"Bush is America's Hitler. Like Hitler, he too has become a curse for the world. If the world's sensible leaders don't unite against Bush to stop him, a great number of people will die because of his ambitions.

"Hitler was very racist. Bush, who is an ally of the Zionists, belongs to the racist philosophy too. The beliefs of Bush's evangelical church coupled with Jewish racism, which exceeds Hitler's, are sufficient proof that the 'Sharon and Bush duo' are militants of the same fanatical philosophy.

"Hitler said that he would establish a new world order if Germany won. Bush is after similar invasions. First he targeted Afghanistan and Iraq. Later he expanded his invasion map to include 22 more Islamic countries where he wants to change the order and the borders. He says that he wants to bring the likes of Karzai and Allawi [to these countries] to power, and in doing so establish his colonial empire.

"When a person goes rabid, there is no stopping him. God forbid, if he succeeds in occupying those 22 countries, his lust will expand to cover the whole world. Why expand? Because the five-thousand-year-old dream of the Zionists is to grasp the valleys of both the Nile and Euphrates and build a Jewish state to rule the rest of the world. What I want to say is that the end game for the 'Sharon and Bush duo' is to build a state that would rule the world, just like it was for Hitler.

"What I am saying is beyond a mere guess. Bush yesterday laid out the next steps of his invasion plans and blurted out the names of Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Egypt…

"Conclusion: It is clear that these developments will finally come to the end that our beloved Prophet [Mohammed] promised us. Our Prophet Lord said: Around the time of 'judgment day' there will be a war between my peoples [Muslim believers] and the Jews. And the Jews will be vanquished.During that war the rocks will speak and say, 'O Muslim, there is a zionist hiding behind me, come and kill him…'" [3]

'The Pervert Enemies of Islam'

In the Islamic daily Milli Gazette, columnist Burhan Bozgeyik wrote: "At the present, the American administration is in the hands of the worst enemies of Islam. Their hate is so deep that no amount of Muslim blood [spilled by them] satisfies them. Tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of (Muslim) dead, seem little for them.

"American General James Mattis said that 'it is very amusing to spray bodies with bullets in Afghanistan and Iraq.' Defense Minister Donald Rumsfeld, on the other hand, is unhappy about 'not being able to kill enough people' in the Sunni areas of Iraq. For this, he blames Turkey for the refusal of the Turkish Parliament to pass the 'March 1' Resolution [which would have allowed the U.S. military to use Turkish soil to stage an attack into northern Iraq, at the onset of the war].

"The U.S.A., England, and Israel have built a stong alliance. Their aim is to include Turkey and make an alliance of 'four.' This 'axis of evil' [the U.S., England, and Israel], want to sever Turkey's ties with the Islamic world. This 'evil triangle,' whose hatred for Muslims has reached the point of madness, pretends to be Turkey's ally, but in fact it is weakening her foundations and planning to destroy her. The developments in northern Iraq are examples of this. The so-called 'elections' were nothing but the first step towards dividing Iraq. The next phase of this 'division plan' will include Iraq's neighbors too." [4]

"The Black 'Occupier' Woman"

In the center-Left liberal daily Radikal, columnist Nuray Mert wrote: "To be in the government is a sad thing, for it obliges you to smile and shake hands in front of the cameras with all the occupiers that come and go. We already know the context of the last visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is one of the leading architects of the American project to push the world into chaos and carry it out in the most barbaric way…

"See how it is to be in a position of power, to represent a government and to have to look at world matters through a government's lenses. How the differences between man, woman, white, black disappear [through those lenses]; how being intelligent, learned or savvy about art become unimportant; and how the lines that separate a human from a rabid animal – better yet, a war robot void of feelings and nerves who smiles with a black and dark smile, dissipate.

"Rice is a black woman politician! Those who believe in having quotas to increase the numbers of women in politics, as a way of advancing progressive, humane, and egalitarian politics, should really think long and hard about women like Rice. Also, those who assume that people who come from races and cultures that have suffered injustices will always stand with the oppressed [should think twice].

"… It is possible to be a bully and oppressor with all of these [education, etc.], just as it is possible to oppose oppression while lacking them. History is filled with intelligent, educated, aesthetics - and art-loving fascists. Rice is one of the last and best examples of these. Highly intelligent, very educated, multilingual, a good sportsperson, even a concert pianist – she is a woman bully!" [5]

'The Biggest Danger: USA'

In the Turkish business daily Dunya, columnist Dr. Burhan Ozfatura, who is a former mayor of Izmir, wrote: "It is my sincere belief that the USA is the biggest danger for Turkey, today and in the future. At the present the U.S.A. is run by an incompetent, very aggressive, true enemy of Islam, brainwashed with evangelical nonsense, a blood-thirsty team that is a loyal link in Israel's command and control chain.

· "Afghanistan is destroyed for U.S. interests.

· "Iraq has become a bloodbath. People are nostalgic for the days of the cruel Saddam.

· "As a result, sooner or later, it will be Turkey's turn. Because their [Israel's] 'Promised Land' includes a large chunk of Turkish territory. Israel aspires to be the sole power in the area. Therefore, it cannot tolerate a strong Turkey in any leadership role.

"Unfortunately, we as the Turkish nation have a weak memory. Otherwise we would never have forgotten:

· "All the USA's plots and the support they gave to the Armenians, during our Independence War;

· "How they betrayed us during the Korean War;

· "All the concessions they gave to the Russians after World War II;

· "How Kennedy sold Turkey during the Cuban crisis;

· "Johnson's disrespectful letter;

· "That it is the USA that planned and financed the PKK affair, the 'large Armenia scenario,' Greek aggression and demands (Greek ecumenical ambitions, Greek Orthodox support, Byzantium dreams and aspirations), today's widespread missionary activities, Alavi-Kurd incitements;

· "The evil work done in our country by the 'peace volunteers'…

· "The U.S. threats after our parliament refused to take part in the massacres in Iraq, the incident of tying and putting sacks on the heads of our soldiers and their capture in Iraq, organizing the massacre of the Turkmen, supporting the likes of Talabani and Barzani – all in order to serve their own interests;

· "The U.S. activities in northern Iraq for the establishment of 'an independent Kurdish state';

· "The U.S.'s adherence to the worthless Sevres Treaty, its masterminding of the [Armenian] genocide-allegations, (and the fact that America still has not signed on to the Lausanne Agreement);

· "That they [the U.S.] are behind all the coups [in Turkey]

· "That the pre-September 12 events [6] all originated in American universities (…);

"Sadly, at present Turkey is under total invasion by the USA.:

· "The Turkish economy is under complete control of the U.S. through the IMF and "the World Bank; (even our demographic and genetic codes are in their hands);

· "Our military is dependent on the U.S. (how soon we forgot all the bad things and the embargo they imposed on us, after our operation in Cyprus)

· "There is a cultural invasion [of Turkey] by the U.S.

· "We have no secrets and can hide nothing from America. Even our 'intelligence' is guided by the CIA.

· "Our natural resources (including oil) are controlled by America. (Not even one-thousandth of our reserves is mined. All our riches like gold, borax, thorium, uranium, must urgently be utilized in cooperation with other friendly countries.)

· "Our agricultural sector (through the IMF) is directly guided by the USA (e.g.: No measures can ever be taken against Cargill, even if our national interests dictate it.)

"In short, we are dependent on the U.S., to every last detail. And unfortunately, it is not possible to overcome all [of the above], with our present foreign policy of 'status quo.'

"(Both the ruling party and the opposition lack courage. They all believe in the necessity of getting along with the U.S. They fear provocations and choose to believe the great lie of 'strategic alliance' [with America].)(…)

"We consider it a national duty to alert the nation to these dangers. We hope for the enactment of a totally independent 'National Defense Policy.' We want cooperation with forces that are independent of American influence. We remind you that the mentally unbalanced Bush and his team (servants of corporate special interests) should not be trusted. (I strongly believe that the U.S. had its hand in the earthquakes of Istanbul-Izmit and the recent Southeast Asia disasters.) (…)" [7]






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] See Inquiry and Analysis Series - No. 204" Iraqi Elections (V): Press Reactions from Iraq and Neighboring Countries" By: Dr. Nimrod Raphaeli, February 4, 2005, http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=countries&Area=iraq&ID=IA20405and Special Dispatch No. 857, "Columnist in Turkish Islamic Daily: 'USA – the God-Damned Country'; 'Murdering is Genetically Ingrained in American Culture,'" Februaryy 2, 2005, http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP85705

[2] Tercüman (Turkey), January 20, 2005.

[3] Milli Gazete (Turkey), February 5, 2005.

[4] Milli Gazete (Turkey), February 9, 2005.

[5] Radikal (Turkey), February. 8, 2005.

[6] "September 12" refers to the 1980 military coup in Turkey that followed political unrest and Left-Right clashes on campuses. In 1983, power was transferred back to a civilian government.

[7] Dünya (Turkey), Feb. 9, 2005.

http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD87005

[Petronas]

Turkey (Country threat level - 4): On 27 April 2005, Turkish police officials defused a device consisting of plastic explosives and a timer that had been placed underneath the Haliз Bridge in Istanbul. The Haliз Bridge is one of three bridges spanning the Golden Horn estuary and receives heavy traffic on a daily basis. Police officials closed the bridge as they carried out a controlled explosion of the device. The Istanbul police chief stated that a similar device was discovered earlier in the day at a garage for municipal buses. He added that neither device was capable of causing significant damage. There has been no claim of responsibility for either incident.

AIR SECURITY International - HOT SPOTS 4/27/2005

[Petronas]

Turkey (Country threat level - 4): On 26 April 2005, the U.S. Embassy in Ankara issued the following Warden Message for Turkey: "On April 21, 2005 the International Protestant Church of Ankara (IPCA) in Cigdem suffered minor damage following an overnight fire caused by small Molotov cocktails thrown through a window by unknown assailants. The firebombing occurred after the church had received threatening e-mail messages purportedly from a group that has been violent in the past. It is not known whether the fire and the e-mails are related. Turkish police are currently conducting an investigation. Since the beginning of the year there have been a number of threats and minor vandalism against religious facilities at various locations around Turkey. This uptick in threats and vandalism is occurring during a period of increased focus by the Turkish media and government on missionary activity in Turkey. Therefore, U.S. citizens in Turkey are urged to remain vigilant with regard to their personal safety including while attending religious services . . ."

AIR SECURITY International - HOT SPOTS 4/27/2005

[Petronas]

Turkey (Country threat level - 4): On 30 April 2005, an explosive device was detonated in the western Turkish resort town of Kusadasi, killing one police officer. The device was planted next to a statue of Kemal Ataturk, who is considered the founder of modern Turkey, and exploded as officers were setting up a security cordon to isolate the package. On 1 May 2005, a spokesperson for the Kurdistan Liberation Hawks claimed responsibility for the attack. The spokesperson also claimed responsibility on behalf of the group for two incidents on 27 April 2005 in which two bombs were placed under a bridge and in a municipal bus park in Istanbul. He also reported that the organization was planning more urban attacks and warned Western tourists to stay away from Turkey.

AIR SECURITY International - HOT SPOTS 5/2/2005

[al-Canine]

Turkey Ready To Contribute To Fight Against Terrorism

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkey is ready to contribute to fight against terrorism, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.

Teleconferencing at the International Democracy & Global Security Conference held in Turkish metropolis of Istanbul, Erdogan, who is currently in the United States, stressed that all countries should consider fight against terrorism as their common cause.

Erdogan expressed belief that cooperation in fight against terrorism and settlement of global security would be further improved, and new partnerships would be established after this conference.

TURKEY IS A MODEL COUNTRY THAT CAN ACT AS A BRIDGE

PM Erdogan said that there were regional conflicts around the world, and emphasized that Turkey was situated in one of the most important strategic intersection points in the world.

''Turkey is a model country that can undertake the role of a bridge,'' stressed Erdogan.

TERRORISM SHOULD BE COUNTERED

Erdogan said that he wanted peace in the world, and stated that he would exert efforts to heal the wounds around the world.

''Terrorism is the problem of not only Turkey, but also the entire world. All countries should consider fight against terrorism as their common cause. And, we are ready to contribute to it. Turkey is against war today. Kemal Ataturk, the founder of Republic of Turkey, said, 'peace at home, peace in the world'. This is still valid for us,'' said Erdogan.

Erdogan added, ''as Turkey, we are very sensitive towards terrorism because we have paid high costs. Terrorism in 1990s killed our 40,000 people. Not only our citizens, but also foreigners and foreign mission chiefs were killed by the terrorist attacks staged on November 15th and 20th (2003). Terrorism should be countered. Who, when, where, why and how terrorism will hit is not known. So, an international platform should be formed to fight against it.''

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=46818

[Bman]

August 5, 2005 Friday 10:32 AM Eastern Time

Cruise Ships Told Not to Dock in Turkey

JERUSALEM

Israel ordered four of its cruise ships carrying thousands of tourists not to dock at the Turkish port of Alanya after receiving warnings of a possible terrorist attack, officials said Friday.

Israeli Transportation Minister Meir Sheetrit gave the order to the cruise vessels not to dock at the Turkish port. Army Radio said the ships were carrying 3,500 Israeli tourists.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev confirmed the ships were rerouted, saying, "There was a warning."

However, he declined to say where they were sent or provide details about the nature of the warning.

A spokesman for Turkey's Interior Ministry had no information about ships being diverted or any threats in Alanya.

Islamic militants in Turkey affiliated with al-Qaida bombed two synagogues, a London-based bank and the British Consulate in attacks in November 2003, killing 58 people and wounding hundreds more. More than 60 people currently are being tried in connection with the attacks.

The suspects said they originally planned to attack an Israeli ship in the Mediterranean, according to the prosecutor's indictment.

During the trial, some defendants also testified that their ringleader met with Abu Hafs al-Masri, a former top lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, in 2001 and discussed attacking an Israeli ship making a call in Turkey or the southern Turkish Incirlik air base used by U.S. jets.

[Ono]

Suspected militant says he planned to attack Israeli ships

The Associated Press
THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 2005

ISTANBUL, Turkey A suspected Syrian al-Qaeda militant appeared before a Turkish court Thursday to face charges, and shouted to journalists from a courthouse window that he was planning to attack Israeli cruise ships on Turkey's Mediterranean coast.

''I have no regrets. I was going to attack Israeli ships. If they come, my friends will attack them,'' the man shouted. The semiofficial Anatolia news agency identified him only the initials L.S.

The man also shouted ''Allah Akbar,'' Arabic for ''God is great,'' before officials pulled him back and closed the window. He spoke Turkish with an Arabic accent.

Another Syrian, identified as Hamed Obysi, whom Turkish reports said was an al-Qaida courier, was charged Wednesday with membership in the terror organization.

Five cruise ships carrying some 5,000 Israeli tourists have been diverted from Turkish ports to Cyprus in recent days following intelligence reports that a terror attack was imminent.

Israel on Monday urged its citizens not to visit beach resorts on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Turkey, the population of which is mostly Muslim, is a top vacation spot for Israelis, and more than 300,000 visit each year.

Turkish police said the man brought to court Thursday was also believed to have acted as a mediator between al-Qaida and Turkish extremists responsible for the 2003 bombings of two synagogues, the British Consulate and a British bank. He also is believed to have helped the bombing masterminds flee the country. The bombings left some 60 people dead.

Earlier, as police escorted the suspect to the courthouse, he shouted: ''I was going to carry out an act in the middle of the sea, but without harming any civilian Turks,'' Anatolia reported.

Police believe that the Syrian was still in contact with al-Qaida operatives planning future attacks.

Suspects tried in Turkey for the 2003 bombings said they originally were planning to attack an Israeli cruise ship in the Mediterranean, according to a court indictment.

CONTINUED...

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/11/africa/web.0811turkey.php

[Petronas]

Turkey (Country threat level - 4): At approximately 1130 local time (2130 UTC) on 1 November 2005, a car bomb exploded in front of the local paramilitary police headquarters in the town of Semdinli, which is located approximately 650 mi/1045 km southeast of Ankara. The blast injured 23 people and damaged dozens of buildings. Four soldiers, three police officers and 16 civilians were among those injured. Authorities suspect that members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) carried out the attack.

AIR SECURITY International - HOT SPOTS 11/2/2005

[NYC]

Turkish Secret Police Busted throwing bomb in Turkey

NEWSDESK, Nov 10 (DozaMe.org) - A bomb that was thrown from a white car at 16:30 (4:30 p.m. EET) on November 9 at the 'Umut Bookstore' in central Semdinli in northern Kurdistan (southeastern Turkey) killed one person and seriously wounded a second. The perpetrators in the white car was quickly surrounded by Kurdish citizens who tried to pull them out of the car but were fired upon by the perpetrators in the car. One person was killed and 4 others were wounded, one of them seriously, by the bullets.

Turkish police who arrived at the scene rescued the perpetrators. Citizens who broke into the white car found three AK-47s and a Turkish Gendarmerie Intelligence ID-card belonging to a 'Ali Kaya', who is believed to be one of the three agents in the white car. Esat Canan, MP of the opposing party CHP, acknowledged that the white car of 'Dogan'-brand with the '42'-plate belonged to the plain-clothed Turkish police units in Semdinli. Initial number of '42' on the plate indicates that the car is registered in the city of Konya in central Turkey.

http://www.dozame.org/article.php/20051110060727872

[Petronas]

Bartolomeos criticizes Turkish policies towards Christians
Wednesday, November 16, 2005

The head of the Istanbul-based Greek Orthodox Patriarchate has criticized Turkey’s policies towards Christian minorities in the country, especially with regard to property rights. ...

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=28333

Dhimmitude in Turkey seems to be alive and well. How will the EU deal with this in the accession talks? Register to read the whole article.

[Casey]

Two suspected Al-Qaeda bomb makers arrested in Turkey

al Qaeda / News
Date: Nov 19, 2005 - 07:18 PM
Published: 11/19/2005

ANKARA - A father and son have been arrested in Konya in central Turkey on suspicion of making bombs destined for attacks by Al-Qaeda, local officials told Anatolia news agency Saturday.

Police searched the home of the suspects, identified as Huseyin Suat O., 46, and his 20-year-old son Ibrahim O., and found electronic devices capable of sending signals that can detonate bombs from a distance, the agency reported.

The police also confiscated a parcel sent to Ibrahim O. from Istanbul, which contained an electronic circuit and a note reading: "You are a good electronician engineer. The organization now needs a good electronician. And that's you. The devices we make are either down at once or fail to work long enough."

The sources told Anatolia that "looking at the materials seized, it is seen that Al-Qaeda was in the process of preparing for attacks."

Anatolia said Ibrahim O. had already served time in jail -- he was arrested in security operations after four massive suicide bombings in Istanbul in 2003 and was released earlier this year.

The two sets of twin attacks targeted two synagogues on November 15, 2003, and the British consulate and the HSBC bank five days later, killing a total of 63 people and causing massive destruction.

The blasts were blamed on a Turkish cell of the Al-Qaeda network. The trial of 69 people accused of involvement in the attacks is still under way.

11/19/2005 12:55 GMT

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=80070

[Petronas]

Bomb kills one, injures 11 in Istanbul
Fri Nov 18, 2005 2:22 PM ET

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - One man was killed and 11 people were injured on Friday when a bomb exploded near a closed theme park in Istanbul, Turkish officials said. The city governor's office told Reuters a bomb had caused the explosion, which was in a suburb far from the center, but no more details were immediately available. The injured were ferried to hospital, police said. A Reuters photographer said the bomb went off in a rubbish bin. Turkey has been the scene of several bombs in the past by Islamists as well as far-left groups and Kurdish separatists.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-11-18T192232Z_01_SCH869712_RTRUKOC_0_US-TURKEY-EXPLOSION.xml

[al-Canine]

RIA Novosti: Al Qaeda Plans Terror Acts with Radioactive Materials in Turkey

5 January 2006 | 12:44 | FOCUS News Agency

Ankara. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has warned the Turksih authorities that the international terrorist network Al Qaeda plans to commit attacks involving radioactive materials on Turkey, RIA Novosti reported.

According to the information, al Qaeda plans to use international companies to transport and provide the materials.

In November 2003, al Qaeda organized a series of attacks in Istanbul killing 61 and injuring more than 600.

http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=127&ch=0&newsid=80000

[Petronas]

News of priest killing greeted by shock in Rome
5 February 2006

ROME - News of the killing of an Italian Roman Catholic priest in Turkey was greeted with shock in the priest’s home diocese of Rome on Sunday. The priest, named by city and ecclesiastic authorities as Andrea Santaro, was on secondment from the diocese of Rome to a parish in the northern Turkish city of Trabzon where he was shot by a lone gunman on Sunday.

“The murder in Trabzon of Father Santoro is causing us profound pain and disquiet,” said Rome mayor Walter Veltroni. “We still don’t know what the circumstances of the crime were, if it was in some way related directly or indirectly to the violence shaking the Islamic community in so many countries,” said Veltroni in a message of condolence to the priest’s mother and sister.

The Vatican made no immediate comment on the killing. However, Monsignor Luigi Padovese, the apostolic vicar in Anatolia, said he could not rule out a link to the Muslim uproar over controversial cartoons. “We can’t rule anything out because we still don’t know anything,” ANSA news agency quoted the priest as saying by telephone. “It’s impossible at the moment to be sure what the motive was,” the agency quoted Padovese as saying.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2006/February/theworld_February126.xml&section=theworld

[Petronas]

Turkey (Country threat level - 4): A small bomb detonated in the Turkish city of Izmir on 4 March 2006, damaging more than 40 buildings in the vicinity and injuring one person. According to police reports, the device exploded in a wheelbarrow near a police station, although those responsible for the blast could not be immediately identified. Police officials indicated that the rebel group Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) -- which has undertaken a campaign for an ethnic homeland in the southeast of the country -- might have been responsible, although no immediate claims of responsibility were made.

AIR SECURITY International - HOT SPOTS 3/6/2006

[Petronas]

Capuchin Priest Attacked in Turkey
MARCH 12, 2006

For the second time in the last two months a priest in the southern Turkish city of Mersin has been attacked. Early Saturday evening a young man with a knife entered the parish of Capuchin Father Hanri Leylek, saying that he wanted to speak with a priest. Aid to the Church in Need told ZENIT that young Turk insulted the priest and then threatened him with an 80-centimeter (31-inch) Kebab knife.

The priest was able to repel the aggressor, and that same evening the police arrested a suspect, a young Turk. Bishop Luigi Padovese, the apostolic vicar of Anatolia, reported that this was the second time, in the last two months, that an attempt was made to kill a Catholic clergyman in the parish of Mersin, where 700 Catholics reside.

Norbert Neuhaus, secretary-general of Aid to the Church in Need, said Catholics in Turkey "are scared" about the effects that such acts will have on relations between the Muslim majority and Christian minority. Neuhaus appealed to "the authorities to take this dramatic development seriously so that the security of Turkish Christians" is guaranteed.

http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=85856

[Petronas]

Fear Prevails after Priest's Murder
April 12, 2006

Christians are a vanishing minority in predominately Muslim Turkey. The murder of a priest in February shows that the situation has become precarious -- both for Catholics and for Turkey's EU bid. Father Pierre Brunissen is deeply immersed in thought as he bumps along in the night bus along the Black Sea coast from Samsun to Trabzon in northern Turkey. There is, on this trip, little for the priest to be happy about. He is hurrying to a Christian congregation in Trabzon -- a city of 250,000 Muslims -- which boasts barely a dozen members. And he is needed because the former priest in Trabzon, Father Andrea Santoro, was murdered in his church.

It's a church which is now casting about for a caretaker. In the vicarage, which gives off a distinct air of neglect, a small plastic tree left over from Christmas gathers dust in the visiting room. Because no one volunteered to replace the murdered priest, the 75-year-old Father Pierre was instructed to travel the 250 kilometers by bus from Samsun to Trabzon once a month to look after things in the city's tiny congregation.

The Catholic Santa Maria Church was founded by Capuchin monks 150 years ago. Santoro had the church restored, and now colorful ornaments and images of the saints once again grace the building's walls and ceilings. But in early February, Santoro was shot dead by two gunshots while he was praying in the last pew of the church. The first shot penetrated his lung and the second went straight to his heart. In the dark wood of the pew, a splintered mark made by one of the bullets can still be seen. On this day, Father Pierre will celebrate the first mass in the church since Santoro's murder, but the church bells remain silent -- there is nobody there to ring them.

Christians are a tiny, tolerated minority in Turkey, a country which is 99 percent Muslim, and the Catholic priest is wary of being too conspicuous. He even advises the members of his congregation in Samsun not to wear any visible symbols of their faith, such as a cross dangling on the outside of a blouse or shirt. ...

The vice president of the local soccer team, Trabzonspor, is also upset about the incident. ... "Headlines about murdered priests aren't good for Trabzon or for us." Sayitoglu grew up not far from the Santa Maria Church, although he says he doesn't know a single Christian.

Trabzon, an ancient trading city that now hopes to develop a thriving local tourist industry, places little value on its Byzantine heritage. There are many churches and monasteries dating from centuries of Byzantine Christian rule, although most have since been converted into mosques. During the great population exchange between Turkey and Greece in 1923, almost 1.5 million Orthodox Christians were expelled from Asia Minor and replaced by 356,000 Muslims from Greece. As a result of the mass murder and expulsion of the Armenians in World War I, the country had already lost almost a million Christians. The result was an almost entirely Muslim state.

Turkey is still home to about 100,000 Christians. Their status is one of the barometers being used to determine Turkey's suitability for European Union membership, making the murder of Father Santoro especially inconvenient for the administration in Ankara, which is rooted in Islam but is doing its utmost to portray Turkey as tolerant and liberal-minded. ...

Recently a young man attacked a monk and a priest with a kebab knife in a Catholic monastery in Mersin, a small city on the Mediterranean. "We are no longer safe here," says the Vicar Apostolic for Anatolia, Luigi Padovese. "Until now, Mersin was one of our most peaceful congregations." Nowadays, the bishop never travels without bodyguards, a precaution the interior ministry has practically forced him to accept.

Shortly after the murder in Trabzon, nationalist youth attacked a Catholic priest in Izmir. They grabbed him by the neck and shouted: "We will kill you!" and "Allahu akbar! God is great!" The priest barely made it to safety. After the incident, police officers were routinely posted in front of the church in Izmir, a measure that had already been taken in other cities. ...

When Bishop Padovese requested work permits for two church employees in Trabzon, the interior ministry denied his request, arguing that because a Catholic Church doesn't exist in Turkey, it cannot file requests. ...

"The basic level of anti-Christian sentiment has increased," says Felix Körner, a German Jesuit whom the Vatican sent to Ankara to encourage a Christian-Islamic dialogue. Turkey's efforts to enter the EU have triggered nationalist counter-reactions, says Körner. "Even in educated circles, people are saying that Turkish unity and national sovereignty are in danger."

Conspiracy theories have likewise been making the rounds in Turkey for some time, producing a climate in which Christians distributing the New Testament risk being physically attacked. In a sermon against missionaries it distributed last year, the state religious authority rails against what it calls "modern crusades," claiming that their goal is to "turn our young people away from the Islamic faith."

Priests have been accused of seducing women in their churches or encouraging young people to engage in sinful acts. Father Pierre has already won four court cases for libel against defendants who had spread rumors that he routinely watches porno films with young people. ...

http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,411043,00.html

[Petronas]

Turkey (Country threat level - 4): A suspected bomb exploded on a busy street in a residential suburb of Istanbul on 16 April 2006, injuring 31 people. The incident occurred in the suburb of Bakirkoy, located on the European side of Istanbul, approximately 1.5 mi/2 km east of the city's Ataturk International Airport (LTBA/IST) along the coast. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion, although police officials indicated that either the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) or its associated Kurdish Freedom Falcons (TAK) were most likely to blame.

http://www.airsecurity.com/hotspots/HotSpots.asp

[Petronas]

Turkey (Country threat level - 4): A bomb exploded in a trash container shortly before the arrival of a military bus in the Aegean port city of Izmir at approximately 0730 local time (0430 UTC) on 21 April 2006. The blast shattered windows and damaged nearby vehicles, but there were no reports of injuries. Investigators suspect that the explosion was caused by a bomb composed of A-4 plastic explosives detonated by remote control. Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility, Kurdish militants are suspected of perpetrating the attack.

http://www.airsecurity.com/hotspots/HotSpots.asp

[Casey]

Fire hits Istanbul Airport cargo area
2006-05-25

A firefighting plane drops its load at Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport yesterday. A huge blaze engulfed the cargo section of the airport, temporarily disrupting air traffic and causing thousands of people to flee.


A HUGE fire engulfed the cargo section of Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport yesterday, temporarily disrupting air traffic and causing thousands of people to flee, authorities said.

Three people suffered smoke inhalation, Deputy Governor Fikret Kasapoglu said, but there were no other casualties in the blaze, which spewed thick black smoke high into the air.

Authorities gave various possible causes for the fire, including a spark from a welder's torch or a short-circuit.

There was no sign of terrorism or sabotage, said Vedat Muftuoglu, another deputy governor.

Hundreds of uniformed cargo workers who escaped the building in a panic were anxiously watching the blaze meters away from the building.

"A huge black cloud came, it smelled like cables burning, the roof started burning," cargo worker Omer Toplar said. "There was no explosion."

A large section of the cargo building that housed warehouses of major cargo companies collapsed, Kasapoglu said. The damage could affect cargo flights to Istanbul.

Kasapoglu assured passengers that there was no danger and flights were taking place, although with delays.

Planes dropped water onto the flames, and airport authorities said the fire was slowly being tamed.

"The fire is under control and we're taking precautions to prevent it from spreading to passenger terminals," said Baris Tozar, the undersecretary of the Transportation Ministry.

"There are no problems concerning flight security," Tozar added.

Airport director Irfan Balta said planes had been successfully moved away from the danger area.

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2006/05/25/279146/Fire_hits_Istanbul_Airport_cargo_area.htm

[Casey]

Kurdish militant group claims huge fire at Istanbul airport

Kurdistan / Middle East & Africa
Date: May 25, 2006 - 05:06 AM
Front page / World
05/25/2006 01:42 Source:

A hardline Kurdish militant group claimed responsibility for a major fire at Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport on Wednesday, a pro-Kurdish news agency reported on its Web site.

Government officials refused to comment on the claim, which could not be independently verified. Officials had earlier ruled out sabotage as a cause of the fire.

But a police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said an investigation to determine the cause of the fire was still underway.

The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons Organization, a hardline group linked to the main Kurdish guerrilla group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, said it started the blaze, which destroyed much of the cargo terminal at the airport, according to the Netherlands-based Firat News Agency's Web site.

Firat, which often receives information from Kurdish rebel leaders, said it received the claim by e-mail.

The hardline group has claimed eight bombings in Istanbul this year and recently said tourism and economic targets were among the group's priorities. Previous bombings left two dead and 47 injured.

The huge fire quickly engulfed the cargo section of Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport Wednesday, destroying most of the building and forcing about 2,000 workers to flee, authorities said.

Thick, black smoke from the blaze could be seen from 10 kilometers (6 miles) away and forced the closure of one of the airport's runways, causing flight delays. Three people suffered smoke inhalation, but no one was killed, authorities said.

The fire destroyed cargo including textile products and gold shipments, officials said. They said they would need more time to estimate the damage, but that it would total millions of dollars (euros), reports AP.

O.Ch.

http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/25-05-2006/80989-airport-0

[Petronas]

TURKEY: ROAD MANUAL'S ISLAMIC FATALISM DRIVES SOME UP THE WALL
May-25-06 14:02

A road safety manual containing religious passages warning motorists that their safety depends less on the quality of their driving than on divine will, has riled many in Turkey who see it as an affront to the country's secular principles and carte-blanche for reckless behaviour on the road. The municipality of Beyoglu, a major Istanbul city district, published the 66-page manual entitled "Traffic Education and Information for Students" with the aim of distributing it to aspiring drivers in neighbourhoods under its jurisdicton. But secular groups and some of the media have reacted angrily to the inclusion of references to the Koran, and in particular to the preface penned by Beyoglu's mayor, Ahmet Misbah Demircan.

Demircan, who is a member of Turkey's ruling Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), wrote that traffic accidents are very much related to faith and God's judgment. Given that "even a leaf can’t move" without the God's permission, every citizen should be aware that traffic accidents are part of a person's fate, and that ultimately nothing can be done to prevent them.

The mayor's views are reinforced through numerous religious passages inserted among the traffic rules contained in the manual of which 10,000 copies have gone to print.

Turkey's main opposition party, the staunchly Republican People’s Party (CHP) is in the forefront of criticism levelled at the manual. Two CHP parliamentarians, Ozlem Cercioglu and Nail Kamaci, have tabled a motionl in Turkish Parliament ordering all copies of the manual to be recalled.

Earlier this year, a similar controversy struck another AKP-controlled suburban municipality in Istanbul, Tuzla, that distributed Islam-based guides for newly married couples. Passages telling readers that a "woman should respect her husband at all times", and that a "man is allowed to beat his wife but very softly if his wife has some faults", sparked outraged responses from human rights activists and other critics. The manuals were subsequently scrapped.

Demircan however insists that his municipality's traffic manual was compiled as a form of 'cultural' public service. Last year 3,000 people died in traffic accidents in Turkey.

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Trends&loid=8.0.302648876&par=0

[Petronas]

Turkey (Country threat level - 4): Two explosions occurred outside a bank in the central area of Adana on 4 August 2006. The blasts injured 13 people, including five police officers, and damaged vehicles and stores in the area. Although the cause of the explosions -- which occurred approximately 10 minutes apart -- is not known, authorities suspect that remotely detonated bombs caused them. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings; however, Kurdish and left-wing militants have carried out attacks in the country in the past. Adana is located in southern Turkey and is home to an air base used by the U.S. military.

http://www.airsecurity.com/hotspots/HotSpots.asp

[Petronas]

Fresh blast hits Turkish resorts
Tuesday, 29 August 2006, 01:35 GMT 02:35 UK

Three people have been killed and at least 20 others have been injured in a blast at a resort in southern Turkey. The explosion happened close to shops and restaurants in the heart of the popular Mediterranean city of Antalya.

The blast came hours after three bombs hit another coastal resort, Marmaris, injuring at least 21 people. Another blast in Istanbul wounded six people.

Meanwhile, Turkish police arrested a man they said was plotting a further bomb attack in the city of Izmir. The Turkish state news agency said the man was from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) separatist group. It said other people were also detained for helping the suspect and that plastic explosives were seized in the operation.

The cause of Monday's blast in Antalya is not yet known, but the authorities were said to be looking for two suspects.

Meanwhile, a Kurdish militant group with links to the banned PKK has claimed responsibility for Sunday's blasts in Marmaris and Istanbul. "We had warned before, Turkey is not a safe country. Tourists should not come to Turkey," the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (Tak) said on its website. The Turkish economy is heavily reliant on tourism, which Kurdish separatists have repeatedly threatened to target.

ATTACKS IN TURKEY


27 August: 21 injured in three blasts in Marmaris
27 August: Six wounded in blast in Istanbul
25 June: 4 killed, 25 injured in southern resort of Antalya
16 April: 31 injured in Bakirkoy district of Istanbul
31 March: 1 killed, 13 injured in Istanbul's Kocamustafapasa district
9 February: 1 killed, 16 injured at internet cafe in Istanbul's Bayrampasa district
18 November: One killed and 11 injured in the Beylikduzu district of Istanbul

The explosion happened in a busy shopping area in Antalya in the late afternoon. Police spokesman Akif Aktug said the blast occurred between two mopeds parked in front of a municipal building, according to Turkish news agency Anatolia.

The force of the blast ripped off the building's facade, badly damaged nearby shops and restaurants and sparked a fire. Glass and shrapnel was sent flying into nearby passers-by.

Mr Aktug said 20 people had been wounded, adding that this number did not include those who had suffered light injuries. Two Russians, four Israelis and a Jordanian were said to be among the injured, although one government official said they were not among those receiving hospital treatment. One French tourist told the AFP news agency that the wounded were being treated on the spot. Some were bleeding heavily with wounds to the face.

The area around the scene was cordoned off as the police investigation got under way. Whatever the cause of the blast, this latest incident has only added to an already nervous atmosphere, the BBC's Sarah Rainsford says.

Most of those injured in Marmaris - including 10 Britons - were on a minibus ferrying local people and holidaymakers along the main street.

Istanbul was also hit by a bomb attack on Sunday night, when a roadside device exploded injuring six Turkish nationals.

Both Marmaris and Antalya are popular with European and Russian holidaymakers.

The attacks are the latest in a wave of similar bombings in Turkey in recent years, blamed on either Kurdish separatists, Islamic militants or left-wing extremists. Four people - including three foreigners - were killed in an explosion in Antalya in June. Initial investigations suggest a gas canister exploded, but doubt was cast over whether it had been an accident.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5293070.stm

[Petronas]

Explosion in southeastern Turkey kills 7
1 hour, 17 minutes ago

ISTANBUL, Turkey - An explosion in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir Tuesday evening killed at least seven people and wounded more than 10 others, television station CNN-Turk reported. The cause of the explosion near a car park was not immediately known, but authorities were looking at the possibility it could have been a bomb left in a package, an official from the governor's office said on customary condition of anonymity. Diyarbakir is Turkey's largest Kurdish-majority city.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060912/ap_on_re_mi_ea/turkey_explosion

[Petronas]

Turkey (Country threat level - 4): A bomb detonated near Kosuyolu Park in the Baglar district of Diyarbakir -- a predominantly Kurdish area -- on 12 September 2006. The blast, which detonated on a street near the park's wall, killed 11 people and injured at least 13 others. Officials reported that the device detonated while being transported, thus adding to the theory that the bomb had been intended for a different target, possibly a police station approximately 1 mi/1.6 km away. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but authorities suspect that Kurdish militants are the likely culprits.

http://www.airsecurity.com/hotspots/HotSpots.asp

[Petronas]

Turkey (Country threat level - 4): Two unidentified assailants threw a grenade at police officers in Akcapinar, a holiday resort village located approximately 12 mi/20 km north of Marmaris, on 14 September 2006. The incident occurred when the police officers attempted to stop the assailants to check their identification cards. At least one police officer sustained injuries in the attack.

Separately on 14 September, a bomb exploded near a police station in the southeastern city of Gaziantep, causing damage to two cars. There were no reports of injuries.

http://www.airsecurity.com/hotspots/HotSpots.asp

[Petronas]

Turkey: Army will protect country from Islamists
Sep. 25, 2006 22:57

A top Turkish general said Monday that increasingly powerful Islamist forces threatened Turkey's secular system and that the army would play its role in defending the country against them, the state-run news agency reported. General Ilker Basbug's comments appeared aimed at both the Islamic-rooted government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and at EU officials who have repeatedly called on the Turkish military to limit its role in state affairs.

The military views itself as the protector of Turkey's secular identity. Fiercely secular generals have directly led three coups since 1961 and ousted a government from power in 1997 for what they saw as an excessive Islamist bent.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1159193316914&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[Petronas]

Police arrest alleged bombing mastermind
October 25, 2006 09:19pm

TURKISH police are questioning the suspected mastermind behind a series of bombings in August at a popular Mediterranean resort that injured 10 British tourists, the Anatolia press agency reported today. A total of 21 people were hurt August 27 in blasts that shook the resort of Marmaris in southwestern Turkey, a popular destination for British vacationers. The suspect was captured in the southeastern town of Gaziantep and taken to the southwestern province of Mugla yesterday, where he was later questioned by anti-terrorist police, according to the Anatolia agency.

A radical Kurdish group, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), claimed responsibility for the attacks, calling them a response to Ankara's "mistreatment" of its Kurdish population and of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence on a prison island.

Last July, an Irish teenager, a British woman and three Turks were killed, and 13 others, including five Britons, were wounded when a bomb blew up a minibus carrying holiday-makers from a beach to the centre of Kusadasi, on the Aegean coast.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20645439-38197,00.html

[Petronas]

Man fires shots to protest Pope
November 03, 2006 03:46am

POLICE detained a man who fired shots into the air outside the Italian consulate allegedly to protest an upcoming visit by Pope Benedict XVI. The protester had tossed his gun into the garden of the Istanbul residence of the consul general, which is in the same compound as the consulate building, after allegedly firing the shots.

The protester shouted, “I am happy to be a Muslim” as he was detained.

An Italian diplomat in Ankara confirmed the incident and said it appeared to be directed at the Italian diplomatic mission, but added it was not sure whether the shooting was in protest at the papal visit. Police detained the suspect and took him to a nearby police station in the crowded Beyoglu district for interrogation.

Benedict is scheduled to visit Turkey between November 28 and December 1.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20693082-1702,00.html

[keith]

SPIEGEL ONLINE - November 2, 2006, 04:38 PM
URL: http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,446163,00.html

TURKEY IN TRANSITION
Less Europe, More Islam
By Annette Grossbongardt

For almost half a century, Turkey has been pursuing European Union membership. With negotiations now started though, enthusiasm is waning. And the influence of Islam is on the rise.

At first glance, the "Sah Inn Suite" Hotel in Alanya looks no different from the average sunny resort along the Turkish Mediterranean coast: a bulky construction with a honeycomb of balconies, looking out over a generous swimming pool surrounded by parasols and lounge chairs. But, in fact, only men are allowed to take a refreshing plunge into these shimmering blue waters. Women vacationers at the Sah-Hotel swim in a strictly isolated pool for women. And what about a cold beer? Forget it. There is no alcohol here; instead, a mosque offers communion with God.

Why the piety? It's an effort by hoteliers to show their consideration for observant Muslims who want to enjoy "a vacation in keeping with religious laws." And the options for such devout holidays are growing in secular Turkey. Islamic-style swimsuits are the new rage on the beaches and around pools across the country. Nowadays, observant women venture onto the sands clad head-to-toe. Manufacturer of these chaste outfits is the Istanbul fashion firm Hasema, whose customers include the wives of leading politicians of the governing AKP, the religious-conservative Justice and Development Party.

The Cumhuriyet newspaper, which tends to be critical of the AKP, already considers Turkey to be "besieged by Islamic dress regulations." The secular press meticulously covers all violent incidents that appear to be religiously motivated: a young, bikini-clad student attacked by cloaked religious fanatics for example; or a couple assaulted for openly drinking beer during the fasting month of Ramadan. A police officer hit a girl because she was supposedly wearing a skirt that was too short. These are shocking incidents in Turkey, where laws are supposed to protect against religious paternalism, where restaurants are open during Ramadan and where headscarves are banned at universities, schools and public offices.

The state radio-control has visited Islamist broadcasters that -- under names like "Radio Full Moon" or "Tulip Rose" in -- rail against Christians and Jews in so-called "religious talk shows," or warn women not to shake men's hands and remind them to behave modestly.

The Muslim Three Muskateer

Even political censorship, which in itself is not unheard of in Turkey, is now practiced in the name of religious modesty. Last week, for example, the ministry of education set off a storm of anger with its regulation decreeing that images of the well-known Delacroix painting "Liberty Leading the People" be removed from schoolbooks. The reason: the bare breasts of the standard-bearer in the depiction of France's 1830 July Revolution.

Recently, the ministry of education itself was outraged over the fact that several publishing companies had, on their own initiative, rewritten children's books that the ministry had recommended for classroom use. In the edited versions, Pinocchio, Heidi and Tom Sawyer live in an Islamic world where inhabitants wish each other a "blessed morning" or ask for food "in Allah's name." Aramis, one of the Three Musketeers, even converts to Islam.

Is Turkey really becoming more Islamic? And particularly now, after coming so far on the way towards Europe? What is undeniable is that, one year after the opening of accession talks with the EU, the atmosphere in Turkey, with its 99 percent Muslim population, is increasingly anti-European, anti-Western and more nationalistic. Only one third of Turks support membership in the European Union, according to a survey published last week in the daily Milliyet -- a dramatic change for Turks, who have been big fans of Europe for so long.

A good a week before the planned publication of the latest EU-Progress Report, the government in Ankara now fears a further worsening of the climate. If the report is, as expected, negative -- sharply critical of the judiciary and the limited freedom of opinion, as well as the Turkish relation to the status of Cyprus -- then Turkey is on the verge of a "massive shock," the nation's papers say.

"Europe only wants us to assimilate"

Many, even pro-Western Turks, feel that Europe has criticized them unfairly, or even repelled them. "The eastern European states were supported to an incredible degree, practically pushed into EU membership -- that can't be said about Turkey," protests Cem Duna, board member of the powerful industrial association Tüsiad, which continues to advocate for EU accession. Religious Turks, on the other hand, are primarily disappointed that Europe and the EU-friendly AKP have failed to bring greater religious freedoms. "Our women who wear headscarves still are not permitted to study," complains Ali Bulaç, columnist for the Islamic newspaper Zaman. The circulation of religiously oriented publications has tripled in recent years.

When the AKP first came to power four years ago, Bulaç was still enthusiastic about Turkish accession. But then the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Turkey was justified in excluding headscarf-clad women from the classroom. Bulaç recalls angrily how his own wife was barred from their daughter's graduation ceremony because of her headscarf. Now he declares: "We have to find another way, perhaps by looking towards Asia or the Middle East. Europe only wants us to assimilate."

The influential columnist represents an emerging religious sector in Turkish society. Like their secular counterparts, many religious Turks have also profited from the economic recovery of recent years. A new religious bourgeoisie has been the result, and they now want to take advantage of their newly won affluence.

"Anyone who is rich and religious can live happily in his own world," says Islam expert Serif Mardin. "You buy Islamic designer fashion, drive an expensive car with tinted windows, get your Internet from a fellow believer, use an Islamic bank and relax at separate swimming pools." In Istanbul, where rich Turks often live in guarded luxury, there are now also separate districts for practicing Muslims. And the rise of this new, self-confident Islamic sector is tipping the hard-won balance between secular and Islam in Turkey.

Economist, kick boxer, and modern woman

Western-oriented Turks fear that their country's image is suffering. "Anyone who does not know Turkey wonders how I can live here as a modern woman -- and it's great here," says Ümit Boyner, board member of the eponymous textile firm in Istanbul. This 42-year-old economist, also a kick boxer, has headed a campaign by the trade association aimed at improving Turkey's image. "We want to show that a land with an Islamic identity is completely compatible with Europe." For Boyner, Turkey is "forever a secular state."

But that is exactly what is at risk, warn the Kemalists, who see themselves as upholders of the secular teachings of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. These profoundly worldly Turks, who used to be the nation's elite, feel threatened by the creeping Islamization of society. Specifically, they point to the fact that, under the AKP, the religious sectors of society have been reintroduced into the state bureaucracy.

Under Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, adherence to laws meant to protect secularism has been lax, complains Ural Akbulut, rector of the Technical University in Ankara. One already sees women with headscarves at some universities, he points out. "On my campus, no one is permitted to show up in a religious uniform," Akbulut emphasizes. "If we lift the ban on headscarves, then they would come tomorrow in a chador and the next day in a burka. In the end they would be beating up girls who wear modern dress. We have seen in Iran how fast it can happen."

Just recently, Akbulut discussed the dangers to the Republic with his friend Ilker Basbug, commander of the Turkish Army. Basbug, in a widely regarded appearance, publicly warned about a "fundamentalist threat" to Turkey that has reached "alarming dimensions." Erdogan, for his part, vehemently rejects the charge. "We want to bring Turkey to Europe," insists an Erdogan-insider, "and we are staying the course."

The English-language paper, The New Anatolian, has also addressed the question on its Web site in a piece wondering whether Erdogan will turn Turkey into a second Iran. It's not yet that far. Turkey is becoming more conservative, says economic adviser Sinan Ülgen, "but we are not on the way to an Islamic state." Still, the AKP wants to give "more space to the religious agenda, and create a new balance between secularism and religion."

Watching the imams

Even the President of Religious Affairs of Turkey Ali Bardakoglu, is convinced that "secularism and modernity" are "irrevocably and deeply anchored in the Turkish identity." The Religious Affairs Directorate (RAD) under Bardakoglu is one of the key positions for state control of religion. Turkey's 70,000 imams are public servants who answer to the RAD. Friday sermons are closely watched to prevent the preaching of hate. "In Turkey, we nurture a moderate and tolerant Islam," Bardakoglu emphasizes.

He himself is a liberal who is certainly not loved by many ultra-religious Muslims. The headscarf is not at all required, says this learned theologian and lawyer. "A Muslim is not determined by what he wears, by whether he drinks alcohol or wears a beard." Anyone who defines religion that way contradicts "the essence of Islam," suggests this watcher of the faith.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© SPIEGEL ONLINE 2006
All Rights Reserved

[keith]

There are links in the article.

Resurgence of Nationalism and Islam Threaten to Turn Turkey Away From West

Handan T. Satiroglu | Bio | 28 Nov 2006
World Politics Watch Exclusive
ANKARA, Turkey -- Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and several conspiracy-themed books depicting Turkey as under attack by American and European influences sell briskly in local bookstores. Turkey's $10 million movie "Valley of Wolves," the most expensive to date, vilifying Christians and Jews pulls in record crowds. A 28-year-old lawyer shoots a secularist judge to death inside Turkey's High Court. The Islamic and far-right press is filled with stories of missionaries within Turkish borders converting "defenseless" Muslims to "infidels."

Masked by Turkey's 80-year Kemalist embrace of secularism, these recent trends reflect a hard fact: Beneath the surface of the West's most crucial ally in the Muslim world, a dismaying anti-Western blend of political Islam and nationalism is blossoming. A series of recent patriotic shows of force -- including angry mobs protesting the arrival of Pope Benedict or deriding Elif Shafak for "insulting Turkishness" in a growing chorus for restriction of freedom of speech -- have revealed an increasing backlash in Turkey towards Western values. Even as Turkey aspires to join the European Union, the current administration led by the pro-Islamic Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made several attempts to roll back Turkey's brand of draconian secularism: criminalization of adultery, passage of punitive taxes on the wine industry, and decriminalization of Hezbollah-backed Quran courses were but a few items on the administration's agenda as recently as 2005.
So how did this Mediterranean nation often promoted by Western politicians and media as a "model Islamic nation" develop such a taste for pro-Islamic nationalist sentiments? In a recent Pew poll asking why Islam's role is gaining strength in Turkey, the largest reason cited was "growing immorality in our society." "The current mood is a reaction to an anxiety felt by some people that some of the values that are important to us are being sold out by the EU drive," Suat Kiniklioglu, head of German Marshall Program in Ankara, commented in The Christian Science Monitor in 2005. Last year, "the country's hopes and forward-looking vision were behind the EU drive. Now people are becoming confused. There is fatigue, and nationalism becomes an escape route," he lamented.

Across the ocean, Jim Stroup, former Marine Corps foreign area officer and now head of Bosphorus Consulting in Istanbul, echoed similar sentiments: "The form of pro-Islamic nationalism we are witnessing today is largely defensive and reactionary," he said in an October interview. "It arises in response to what are seen as attacks on Turkey's viability or the honor inherent in being a Turk." But perceived hemorrhaging of Turkish values hardly explains why many Turks are taking to the flag and political Islam; ethnic rivalries between Kurds and Turks and an increasing distrust of the West, heightened by the Iraqi war and the cold shoulder given by the EU have also been touted as possible causes for the resurgence of nationalist pro-Islamic fervor.

A Wounded Pride

It would be simplistic to speak of a single nationalist current in this country that has long been the guardian of the secular Kemalist heritage. Indeed, it is viable to speak of two nationalist currents; one "strongly positive and forward looking," as Stroup sees it, and the second, injured and angry -- the kind that is making headlines during Turkey's infamous controversies. The first sees grounds for optimism on both political and social fronts and revels in the achievements of the last decade. The country has managed to shake off some its most dated laws against its ethnic minorities, achieved full EU candidate status, and tamed inflation from a high 70 percent in 2002 to below 8 percent in 2005. During this period, Turkey has also managed to attract record flows of direct foreign investment, while doubling its foreign trade in the last three and a half years.
In the last decade, the positive and West-looking brand of nationalism prevailed as each subsequent government led Turkey increasingly closer to the European Union. The fiery eruption of nationalism that we are witnessing today, however, feels humiliated and cast aside by its European and American friends. Suggestions that Turkey is unfit to join the EU, coupled with "campaigns of everyone from revisionist nationalist groups such as Armenians and Kurds, and religious personages such as the new pope," claims Stroup, which paint Turks as "backward barbarians," gravely offends the Turkish sense of dignity. To the Turk on the street, the seemingly endless demands for reform and trickle of criticism from Europe are not only deeply wounding to Turkish pride, but also spark some historical resentment.

The perceived sense of public humiliation should come as no surprise; the EU issue is just the contemporary face of a much older history. Turkey was, after all, the central figure of a formidable 400-year-old Empire, now forcibly condensed to its Eurasian backend. In the same fashion as Arabs, the Turks perceive themselves as heirs to a rich and diverse Islamic tradition, the focal point of all things in their heyday. Stroup cautions that we shall see more of the vengeful, unproductive expressions of wounded pride "that express the sentiments of 'enough' and 'we are Turks, we ruled the world, and we will again.'" The ferociously anti-American movie "Valley of the Wolves" that pits Turks against Americans, he concludes, reflects this longing for a resurgence of a new Ottoman Empire, combining the Turkish identity with principles of Islam.

The West -- Foe or friend?

The nationalist outburst is not limited to perceived displays of public humiliation. Inside the country, simmering tensions between Turks and ethnic Kurds proves to be a fertile cause for nationalist zeal. While today's escalating violence is nowhere near the bloodshed witnessed in the 90s, which claimed the lives of an estimated 35,000, the potential of Kurdish separatist violence has come back to haunt the Turkish social landscape. Images of mothers and wives wailing in wretched sorrow, kneeling over their sehit (martyr) wrapped in the Turkish flag have become commonplace in the mainstream media. The emotionally charged funerals are not only public events for the soldiers who died fighting Kurdish rebels in the rugged southeast, but are also becoming the focus of growing anti-U.S. sentiment.

Many Turks cite the U.S. invasion in Iraq as the most important factor in the rise in Kurdish terrorist group PKK's violence. Despite stabilization in U.S.-Turkish ties after the immediate fallout of the war, Turks have come to believe Washington's inaction against the PKK is a ploy to divide the Middle East. As Yektan Turkyilmaz, a Ph.D. candidate at Duke University, observes, the current nationalist outburst is a reaction to perceived imperialistic goals to divide Turkey along ethnic lines, "in order to destabilize the entire region and intensify exploitative efforts." Turkish media is rife with provocative articles about the pro-American activities of Kurds in Northern Iraq, as well as stories linking the PKK with the U.S. occupation force or the CIA. "There is widespread belief in Turkey that the U.S.'s new Middle East project also entails the formation of an independent, but satellite, Kurdish state not only in the Iraqi soil, but also on Turkey's southeast," Turkyilmaz said in an interview earlier this month. Convinced that the West is fueling ethnic tensions in the same spirit with which European influences brought down the Ottoman Empire, a growing number of Turks have come to "take on an anti-EU and more specifically anti-American position," he explains.

Add to this the perceived illegitimacy of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, Turks' confidence in most Western projects has plummeted to record levels. Probably nothing characterizes this disillusion more graphically than the recent figures published by the Pew Research Center: Seventy-one percent of Turkish people believe that the United States may someday threaten their country, while a mere 12 percent held a favorable opinion of Americans. Similarly, positive opinions about Christians have fallen from 31 percent in 2004 to 16 percent, just one percent higher than their dislike of Jews.

With only 35 percent of the public in favor of the EU (half of what it was in 2004), a sense of drift away from the EU accession has also deepened in the country -- a mood that is unlikely to change with the just-released highly critical "Progress Report" by the EU Commission. The report lists a host of problems in human rights, freedom of expression, and judiciary and military reform, and highlights Turkey's failure to make concessions about the Cyprus issue. In a thinly veiled cautionary note, the Commission indicates it will suspend some parts of the EU negotiations if there is no further progress over Cyprus

Meanwhile, Turks fault the country's old rivals Cyprus and Greece for the acrimonious report, claiming they are lobbying Brussels to take a stance against Turkey's refusal to open its ports to Greek-controlled Cyprus. Today, demands that Turkey acknowledge the Greek part of Cyprus, as well as the changes aimed at bringing Turkey closer to Europe, are seen by many as undermining the integrity of Turkey. In a recent poll, 51 percent of Turks claimed to see the EU-inspired reforms as a reproduction of the widely despised 1920 Treaty of Sèvres, which led to the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire by Western interests. Echoing a populous sentiment held by everyone from storekeepers in villages to college students relaxing in cafes, Ahmet, a cab driver in the boisterous streets of Ankara, expressed the point in percipient bluntness: "Europe is asking a lot. I believe all these reforms are designed to weaken the state in order to break it up."

For a very long time Turkey has been touted as a model secular Muslim state. But the sweeping tide of Muslim nationalism might leave Turkey more isolated by the West than it has ever been before. For decades, Ataturk's Turkey looked to the West for political, social and economic cues. That, however, is fast changing as a result of bitter relations with the EU and the Iraqi war, which has everyone from leftists to Islamists angered. The rocky relationship with the West would not be so alarming if it weren't for the shift in Turkish attitudes towards the Muslim Middle East. Alliances with neighboring Damascus, Dubai and Tehran, as opposed to Washington and Brussels, now seem to make more sense to Turks. For the first time since the inception of the Turkish republic in 1923, a growing number of Turks, primarily of the populous rural constituency, seem comfortable with the notion of aligning with the greater Islamic ummah, rather than traditional American and European allies.

Indeed, Turkey's next presidential and parliamentary elections should help determine the country's direction. If center-right and center-left parties manage to defeat the Islamists, Turkey's Western ambitions might continue. If the current pro-Islamic and nationalist AKP is victorious, then what will happen is anybody's guess.

Handan T. Satiroglu is a sociologist and writer who divides her time between the U.S. and Europe.

http://worldpoliticswatch.com/article.aspx?id=368

[NYer]

AQ's Suspected Financial Bridge Arrested. (http://www.zaman.com/?bl=national&alt=&trh=20070108&hn=39772)

This might potentially end up a bigger blow to AQ than Somalia.

[NYer]

"I shot the Infidel! (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21096897-1702,00.html)"

AN unemployed teenager has told investigators he shot dead editor Hrant Dink because he had insulted Turks, it was reported today.

Police caught Ogun Samast, 17, carrying a gun at a bus station in the Black Sea coastal town of Samsun overnight, a day after the Turkish-Armenian Dink was shot in broad daylight outside his newspaper office in Istanbul.

"I read on the Internet that he (Dink) said 'I am from Turkey but Turkish blood is dirty' and I decided to kill him ... I do not regret this," CNN Turk quoted Samast as saying.

Dink was a respected but controversial figure who promoted reconciliation between Turks and Armenians but also called on Turkey to recognise its role in massacres of Armenians during World War One.

[Petronas]

Al Qaeda arrests in 6 cities across Turkey yesterday
Wednesday, January 31, 2007 02:15

47 people were arrested on suspicions of having links with the terrorist group Al Qaeda in police sweeps which took place in 6 different cities yesterday. The security operation came after more than one year of intelligence work by security forces; in Istanbul alone, 17 people were taken into custody, while in Kocaeli, Izmir, Mardin, Afyonkarahisar, and Konya there were also many arrests. The suspected head of Al Qaeda in Turkey, Ekrem Kozakoglu, was found by police in Konya. Kozakoglu is thought to have met many times with former Al Qaeda leader Al Zarkawi.

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/5862097.asp?gid=74

[keith]

With our "friends" the Kurds allowing the PKK to operate within Iraqi Kurdistan, the potential of the US getting drag into a conflict with Turkey and/or the Kurds remains high. Perhaps the Kurds know we need them and know they enjoy greater latitude when working with the terorist group.

PKK Introduces Use of IEDs Against Turkish Targets

The casualties suffered since the beginning of June in Turkey's military operations against Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) members in its southeast region provide a disturbing illustration of the spread of technology and techniques among terrorist groups. Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) have been used by the PKK with deadly effect, killing both Turkish troops and civilians. In recent years, there has been a shift in PKK strategy; the organization now seems to prefer the use of IEDs over direct armed attacks against the Turkish military. More than 30 such attacks by the PKK have been carried out in the past six months alone (Today's Zaman, June 12).

IED use is increasingly appearing in conflicts around the world. It has long been utilized by Lebanon's Hezbollah against the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in southern Lebanon. It has been employed against U.S. and allied forces in Iraq, causing hundreds of deaths. Most recently, IEDs have been used in Afghanistan in growing numbers. This lethal technology is presently creating problems for Turkey's military.

Turkey's latest series of offensives in southeastern Turkey were in response to ongoing attacks that have intensified in yet another predictable spring offensive by Kurdish irregulars. At least 14 members of Turkey's security forces have been killed by Kurdish insurgents thus far in June. Most of these deaths were caused by remotely detonated land mines (New Kerala, June 13). That figure continues the pace of casualties in May, when the deaths of 33 Turkish military members were reported by the Turkish military (Today's Zaman, June 12). On May 25, suspected PKK members bombed a cargo train traveling from Bitlis to Elazig near Lake Van in southeastern Turkey, causing eight cars to derail (Today's Zaman, June 5). Fourteen Turkish troops were taken out of action on June 4—eight killed and six wounded—in a PKK suicide attack on a Turkish checkpoint using hand grenades (Ria Novosti, June 6; Turkish Weekly, June 5). Four members of the Turkish military contingent in southeastern Turkey were killed on June 7 when a remotely detonated mine destroyed their vehicle (Anatolia News Agency, June 8). At least 14 people were taken to hospitals in Istanbul following the explosion of a device, possibly a percussion bomb, detonated outside a store on June 10 (Anatolia News Agency, June 10). From the very outset of the present operation, IEDs have exacted a mounting toll.

The fundamental problem in countering IEDs faced by Turkey, as well as every other military force including the United States, is that most conventional military forces are easily identifiable when they are deployed. An IED, on the other hand, can be any type of object. IEDs have taken the form of cans of cooking oil, piles of trash alongside a road, vests and belts worn on persons' bodies, automobiles, dead animals, cellular telephones, luggage, radio/CD players and even the bodies of slain comrades. The list is virtually endless, constantly changing and limited solely by the demonstrably fertile imagination of the terrorist bomb-makers active in recent years. Advances in the miniaturization of electronics also have enhanced the IED threat greatly. Cheap, readily available triggering devices such as cellular telephones, pagers and oven timers make IEDs even simpler to construct and easier to conceal.

The odds greatly favor the likelihood that many of the components for the IEDs being used against Turkish troops and civilians are being obtained within Iraq, a fact that does not bode well for Turkey. In terms of supply, Iraq is virtually one large ammunition dump, with millions of tons of munitions lying around and in many cases simply ripe for the taking. This ensures that the PKK and others carrying out attacks on Turkey will have a continuing supply of IED components for many years. Basing and operating within Iraq also allows the PKK to train and deploy its members against Turkey from the sanctuary of a contiguous sovereign state, thereby at least slowing the military response, as is happening in this latest operation (Agence-France Presse, June 12). Iraq, of course, is also a crossroads and meeting place among trained members of al-Qaeda, as well as former members of the Saddam Hussein regime, who may be willing to impart knowledge of IED manufacturing on the PKK.

The PKK is said to also be active in international arms-procurement markets, primarily Eastern and Western European, through its representatives in those locations. Forensic examination by Turkish authorities in 2005 and 2006 revealed that the PKK obtained most of its weapons from Russia and its affiliated former republics of the Commonwealth of Independent States. A growing portion of the weapons and explosives, though, was found to have originated in Turkey's Western European NATO allies—landmines from Italy and A4 explosives from Portugal are two prime examples. Neither Italy nor Portugal intentionally ships such materials to the PKK; however, PKK representatives reportedly monitor sales to developing countries in Africa and Asia, intervening in those locales to obtain needed munitions (Today's Zaman, June 12).

The compelling reason for the use of IEDs, in this case by the PKK, is that they are great equalizers. Turkish military officials have said that between 3,500 and 3,800 PKK members are in northern Iraq and up to 2,000 are inside Turkey (al-Jazeera, June 12). A face-to-face battle by relatively lightly armed PKK irregulars against up to 200,000 Turkish troops, including armor and artillery, would be tantamount to Kurdish suicide. This accounts for the aforementioned shift to the increased use of IEDs by the PKK during the past four years (Today's Zaman, June 12). Continuing to kill its Turkish foe, albeit slowly, while declaring cease-fires and appealing to the court of world opinion through the media, is a strategy that has worked successfully elsewhere, including in Iraq.

Given the number of deaths from IEDs of more-experienced, better-equipped U.S. and Israeli troops in recent years, Turkey is likely to see the number of its troops killed and injured by IEDs climb further. Based on the number of successful bombing attacks recently against Turkish civilians, IED use in urban settings can be expected to continue as well. In asymmetrical warfare, IEDs have become the weapon of choice for the weaker foe.

Frank Hyland served in the National Security Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency's Counter-Terrorist Center and the National Counter-Terrorism Center. He has been involved in counter-terrorism work for more than 25 years and served an 18-month tour in Turkey.

http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2373498

[keith]

Turkey's Evolving Anti-Terrorism Measures on the Iraqi Border

By Andrew McGregor

Along the Turkish-Iraqi border, the struggle between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants is escalating. The Turkish press has released testimonies from captured Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants who claim to have witnessed U.S. armored vehicles supplying weapons to a PKK base on Mount Qandil (The New Anatolian, July 2). Regardless of its ultimate veracity, this news is being widely reported in the Turkish press and is inflaming the already slowly deteriorating relations between Turkey and the United States. There has been talk for months regarding an expected Turkish incursion into northern Iraq, but preparations along the border indicate that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) are also intent on developing a permanent security zone in the Iraqi border region.

Despite the concentration of government forces in southeastern Turkey, PKK attacks have increased by 65% over previous years. Half of the attacks were enacted through the use of landmines or Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) (Terrorism Focus, June 26). This year, 64 soldiers, many of whom were conscripts fulfilling national service, have been killed. The Turkish military alleges that "terrorists" and munitions have been crossing into the Kurdish areas of southeastern Turkey from the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. In response, 20,000 troops have been relocated to the 300 kilometer-long border, establishing mobile military response teams and temporary observation posts (Milliyet, June 13).

In recent years, a Turkish military force of 1,000 to 2,000 men was stationed at or near border control points inside northern Iraq (mainly in the Sulaymaniyah area) to collect intelligence and monitor insurgent movements; these were withdrawn in June, however, due to the declining security situation and confrontations with Kurdish troops (Milliyet, June 13). At the same time, border guards belonging to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) were also pulled back five kilometers from the border. Kurdish troops are now being deployed at six new Iraqi government outposts in the Zakho District, bordering Syria and Turkey (Terrorism Focus, June 19). Turkey's military concentration along the border is undoubtedly behind the efforts of Kurdish leaders in Iraq to make a regular army from the 100,000 peshmerga guerrillas of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) (Terrorism Focus, June 19).

In early June, three "interim security zones" were established in the Sirnak, Siirt and Hakkari provinces of southeastern Turkey. Kurdish militants are active in all three regions, where restrictions on non-military activities will be in place until September 9. A ban on air traffic in the area was partially directed at the United States, which had been sending F-16 aircraft, helicopters and surveillance drones into the zone of operations. The F-16s are alleged to have violated Turkish airspace (Hurriyet, June 8). There is speculation that Turkey intends to create a permanent "buffer zone" 15 kilometers deep and 120 kilometers long, with reports that the Turkish government is prepared to offer compensation to the thousands of Kurdish civilians who would be forced to abandon their homes under the scheme (Milliyet, June 14). Shells continue to fall in and near Kurdish Iraqi border towns in an apparent effort to drive out their population before creating an uninhabited buffer zone. Turkish shelling near the Iraqi towns of Dohuk and Erbil was protested by the Baghdad government and elicited a warning from Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr, who declared that the Kurds were part of the Iraqi people and promised that "we will not be silent in the face of this threat" (Daily Star [Beirut], June 13).

The TSK also intends to increase the number of thermal cameras capable of detecting the nighttime movement of insurgents across the border. Numerous tanks positioned on the border already carry infra-red devices. Until recently, Turkey was the recipient of U.S. satellite surveillance of the Iraqi border region, but it is presently taking steps to increase its own surveillance capabilities. The TSK has one unmanned surveillance drone active in the border region and is renting another from Israel until it can take delivery of 10 Israeli-made drones next year (Cihan News Agency, June 27). On June 22, Turkish Chief of Staff General Yasar Buyukanit briefed Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the PKK's acquisition of anti-aircraft guns and surface-to-air missiles (al-Sabah, June 22). Two days later, Kurdish militants reported attacking a Turkish Sikorsky helicopter (ROJ TV, June 24).

In anticipation of a Turkish attack, PKK militants are pulling back as far as 15 kilometers from the border. Cemil Bayik, one of the PKK's two top commanders in northern Iraq, threatens that a Turkish incursion will soon become a "political and military disaster," adding that Turkish operations would allow Iran to "interfere in Iraq." Bayik has his own views on the Turkish chief of staff's motivations in calling for cross-border operations. He stated, "General Buyukanit wants everyone to be a happy Turk. And those who don't agree he brands as a traitor. He wants first to smash the Kurdish regional government in Iraq. He wants second to ruin any chances of a referendum being held on Kirkuk, and the PKK issue is really only third on his list of priorities." Bayik insists that the PKK are freedom fighters rather than terrorists and that the movement has abandoned separatism and the aim of establishing a Marxist-Leninist Kurdish state in favor of demands for linguistic, cultural and individual freedoms within a Turkish state (ROJ TV, June 24).

http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2373517

[Petronas]

Turkey (Country threat level - 4): A small bomb detonated in the parking lot of a government office in the residential district of Bahcelievler on the European side of Istanbul during the early morning hours of 11 July 2007, injuring two people. Authorities stated that a percussion bomb -- designed to make a loud noise instead of inflicting significant damage -- caused the blast. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

http://www.asigroup.com/HOTSPOTS.asp

[Petronas]

Turkey (Country threat level - 4): On 11 September 2007, Turkish security forces defused a large quantity of explosives that were hidden under a minibus in a multi-story car park in Kurtulus, a commercial district in the city center of Ankara, the capital. Police officers used bomb-sniffing dogs to locate the device and established a 3 mi/5 km security cordon around the area, evacuating several blocks of residences and a town hall. No group immediately claimed responsibility for planting the explosives.

http://www.asigroup.com/HOTSPOTS.asp

[Petronas]

Explosion In Istanbul - Authorities Say A Bomb Caused The Explosion
12/26/2007

ISTANBUL - Authorities said a bomb caused the explosion which occurred earlier Tuesday evening in Istanbul`s Kucukcekmece district.
A blast went off in a trash can, injuring two people, who were identified as Fatma and Ummu Agdemir. The injured were rushed to nearby hospitals and police investigation was underway to identify the type of the explosive.

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=208358

[American_Jihad]

TURKEY: AN ISLAMIC RADICAL GROUP RESURFACES, STRIVING TO EMBRACE PEACEFUL CHANGE
5/01/08

Huseyin Yildirim carries a heavy weight on his shoulders. While he says he never killed a man, he was jailed for membership in Kurdish Hizbullah, a radical Sunni Islamist group that was reputedly connected to about 500 murders in the 1990s. Now, he heads a countrywide NGO that he insists is dedicated to peace.

"Yes, some of our members were Hizbullah, but we are opposed to violence, categorically," Yildirim says, speaking in his office at the headquarters of the Association for the Oppressed, or Mustazaflar-Der, in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey’s biggest city. "Our fight is against poverty, ignorance and all sources of social conflict."

In the region, where memories remain fresh of the conflict between Hizbullah and the left-wing separatist Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, many remain skeptical. "Hizbullah did all this killing in the name of Islam", says Celal Aygan, head of another Islamic-minded association in Diyarbakir. "People do not trust [it]."

Others fear they might just be beginning to. When police found torture chambers and grave-filled safe houses during a massive crackdown on Hizbullah in 2000 that led to the arrest of roughly 6,000 members, the group was nicknamed "Hizbatrocity." Now, some observers say, the NGO seems to be able to pull crowds bigger than the PKK, traditionally the strongest group in the region.

In February, during a Turkish army incursion against PKK camps in northern Iraq, 40,000 Islamists marched in Batman, near Diyarbakir, to protest Israeli attacks on Palestine. Thousands also turned out in late April in towns across Turkey when the NGO organized celebrations for the Prophet Mohammed’s birthday.

The group "can become an influential power in southeast Turkey in the mold of Lebanon’s Hizballah, Iraq’s Mahdi Army, and Hamas" in Palestine, warned a policy paper published last September by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Many local analysts think this sort of talk is a knee-jerk reaction to the religious-minded AK Party government’s tripling of its Kurdish vote at general elections last summer.

When 100,000 gathered in February 2006 during the Danish cartoon crisis, the media presented it as a Hizbullah march, says Bulent Yilmaz, head of a conservative local NGO. "In fact, 95 percent were ordinary people -- Kurds are close to their religion and always have been. None of the groups you see today -- including this one -- have come out of nowhere," Yilmaz said.

"Personally, I’d be delighted to see signs of the Islamization the media is talking about. But I don’t," Yilmaz continued.

Ideology-wise, Kurdish Hizbullah seems as radical as ever. The group’s publications refer to Turkey’s secular government as ’taguti’, or sinful. "If Islam comes to the fore, there won’t be any need left for fighting and killing", says Sait Sahin, the soft-spoken head of the group’s Istanbul branch office. In a book published in 2004, Hizbullah’s Germany-based leader Isa Altsoy is more forthright. "Imperialists and Zionists [used the September 11 attacks to] launch a [global] war against Muslims. ... Those who oppress us should know that if they don’t stop, we will turn their world into hell."

Despite such inflammatory rhetoric, the NGO’s activities in Turkey appear peaceful enough. "We are a bridge between rich and poor", Yildirim says, explaining how his group provides basic food for 300 poor families in Diyarbakir every month, working at night so as not to cause tensions with equally needy neighbors. With permission from the local governor, eight doctors volunteering for the organization do medical tours of surrounding villages.

Nesip Yildirim, a local human rights activist, suggested that Mustazaflar serves an important purpose. "Hizbullah was like a closed box", he says. "Coming out onto the street, as the NGO is doing, starts the socialization process, and that leads to moderation. That should be supported. These people must not be convinced they were wrong to choose the path of legality."

Question marks do remain about the group Turkey: An Islamic Radical Group Resurfaces, Striving to Embrace Peaceful Change not least in its ambiguous attitude towards its brutal past. Celal Aygan, a lawyer who has talked to former members of Hizbullah’s armed wing in jail, says many appear to regret what they did. Asked about the group’s notorious torture cells, though, Mustazaflar’s Yildirim argues that the worst atrocities were the work of state agents in the group. "The Community only killed because it was attacked," he says of Hizbullah’s PKK war.

The group’s failure to renounce its brutal past makes some nervous about Mustazaflar’s future direction. One local journalist cites the recent police confiscation of Russian-made guns being imported from Syria as evidence that the group is rearming.

A prominent Kurdish intellectual and former politician, Hasim Hasimi thinks more violence is unlikely. "War has brought suffering to the people of this region for 25 years," he says. "Everybody knows supporting another [conflict] means losing [popular] support."

Author of a book on the group, journalist Rusen Cakir agrees that the fading away of the two main causes of Hizbullah radicalism -- the Iranian Revolution and the PKK war -- reduce the chances of a second bout of brutality. Yet, while he believes the group’s leaders are sincerely trying to keep it away from violence, he can’t help feeling a little nervous. "A Hizbullah member told me recently how much the majority of Community members appreciated my articles," he says. "I said I was afraid of the minority."

While most members may now eschew violence, "some of them can kill people," he added.

http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav050108a.shtml