“The king departed with the entire armada from Tripoli in Libya, and went toward Cyprus, sacking the Turkish coast and setting it red with blood and flames, and they loaded all the ships with the many riches they had taken.” The White Knight: Tirant To Blanc – written and copyrighted by Robert S. Rudder
Mustafa Sarıkaya was a deputy chairman of the now-defunct pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP. AA photo
December 29, 2010
A Kurdish politician whose party was dissolved by Turkey’s Constitutional Court last year has requested asylum in Greece after his arrest at Thessaloniki Airport, local police said Wednesday.
Mustafa Sarıkaya, 46, was detained last week after airport police found a fake passport among his belongings and charged him with illegal entry, Agence France-Presse reported.
But the former deputy chairman of the now-defunct pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, was released after persuading a court that his life was in danger in Turkey, where he has spent a total of 20 years in prison.
Sarıkaya was traveling from Paphos in Greek Cyprus to Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital, the AFP report said.
The Constitutional Court, Turkey’s top court, ruled in December 2009 that the DTP should be shut down because of alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
THE government yesterday scrambled to launch a damage limitation exercise following the violence against a Turkish basketball team by a faction of APOEL hooligans, which has handed Turkey the PR coup of the year.
Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said that on the instructions of President Demetris Christofias letters were being sent to the United Nations and the European Union in a bid to put things into perspective and to give the whole story.
The incident, which took place on Tuesday night after the end of a FIBA Eurochallenge game between APOEL and Pinar Karsiyaka, was also condemned by all political parties yesterday.
Police on Tuesday night were forced to use tear-gas after the game to disperse a crowd of around 500 APOEL supporters after they started throwing things at the Turkish team and followed them when police ushered the Turkish players to safety.
No one from the Turkish team was injured, police said but the Turkey has made a meal out of the incident, even calling Athens and Brussels on Tuesday night to make it known that the Cyprus talks could be affected.
But in a written statement yesterday, the foreign ministry said: “The persistent effort of the Turkish government to politically exploit such unfortunate events, by interpreting them with political motives, is both unacceptable and worthy of condemnation.”
Three 15-year-old boys arrested on Tuesday were yesterday charged with assault, rioting and use of dangerous objects and released to be summoned at a later date.
Police yesterday were also studying television footage of the trouble in a bid to identify more suspects.
Turkey’s EU negotiator Egmen Bagis called the attack “inhuman” and said Ankara would closely follow the proceedings against those arrested.
“This attack by insolent Greek Cypriots threatens the prospects for peace in Cyprus,” he said. “How can one expect the Turkish and Greek communities to live together?”
The foreign ministry yesterday said the government was committed to solving the Cyprus problem and reunify the country “whereby the whole of the Cypriot people, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots alike, will live together in conditions of peace and prosperity.”
“We, therefore, call upon Turkey, instead of causing problems, to demonstrate the same constructive stance,” the ministry said.
The ministry condemned the “unacceptable events” adding that regrettably, such dismal events do occasionally occur at sporting events in European countries.
“Cypriot teams were treated similarly in the past while in Turkey, although the Government of the Republic of Cyprus has never tried to attach any political connotation to such incidents. The ministry said Turkish sports teams had also competed many times in Cyprus without any problems whatsoever.
Spokesman Stefanou said the unacceptable, condemnable and damaging actions, in essence negated a series of games between Turkish and Cypriot teams that had been played without incident.
Stefanou said Turkey was now exploiting “the gift given to her by fanatical hooligans” and urged political forces on the island to isolate those who find excuses to create political problems.
Beyond the political fallout, as expected the incident has had repercussions on the APOEL team.
The team was fined €40,000 by international governing body FIBA and will have to play the next three home games without spectators.
FIBA Secretary General and IOC member Patrick Baumann said: “I wish to congratulate FIBA Europe for reacting quickly and decisively on an incident that is shameful and has absolutely no place in sport.”
“In the past sport has done much to unite people and to overcome political differences. The violence that occurred in Nicosia on Tuesday is utterly unacceptable,” he added.
Karsiyaka said it was not happy with the penalty and accused FIBA of protecting the Cypriot team.
“That shows a clear sign of FIBA’s protecting Greeks and Greek Cypriots,” Naz?m Torbaoglu, manager of the basketball branch of the Kar??yaka club, told Do?an news agency. “I think a worthy sanction would have been an at least two-year-ban from playing in European competitions.” Torbaoglu said the team will appeal the ban.
The Cyprus Basketball Federation has issued an apology to FIBA and its Turkish counterpart.
“Such acts of hooliganism are an enemy to our sport and should find us all on the same side in the battle against it” Secretary General Emilios Theodosiou wrote.
The Cyprus Basketball Federation also expressed its intention to cooperate fully with police to identify the individuals responsible for the acts of violence.
via Scramble to limit political damage – Cyprus Mail.
Turkey is readying to use legal and political channels to respond to attacks against Turkish basketball players during a match in Greek Cyprus. ‘Our first priority was to ensure the players’ safe return after the attack. That was done and the next step will be to bring the issue onto the international agenda,’ a diplomatic source says
Turkey is poised to take strong legal and political measures in pressing for an international response to an assault Tuesday night on a Turkish basketball squad by home-team fans during a match in Greek Cyprus.
“Our first priority was to ensure the players’ safe return after the attack. That was done and the next step will be to bring the issue onto the international agenda,” a diplomatic source told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Thursday.
Turkey will pursue legal channels by sending a letter of complaint to the world basketball governing body, while the government presses the United Nations and the European Union to take action. Ankara holds the U.N. Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus responsible for not taking sufficient security measures.
“We will, of course, complain to the United Nations both in Nicosia and New York because while our team’s initiative to play the match in Greek Cyprus was a [friendly] gesture, our players’ safety was not ensured,” the diplomatic source said. “Because Greek Cyprus is a member of the European Union we will also take initiative at the EU level.”
During a FIBA Eurochallenge game against Apoel in Nicosia on Tuesday night, players on Turkey’s Pınar Karşıyaka were severely attacked by hundreds of Apoel fans who threw objects at the team and charged the court after the match’s final buzzer. The game had no particular importance since both teams’ places in Group G were already certain.
The Turkish basketball players returned home to the Aegean province of İzmir through Greece because Greek Cypriot officials rejected Pınar Karşıyaka’s request to spend the night with security in northern Cyprus. They argued that such a step would be tantamount to recognizing Turkish Cyprus, which is only recognized by Turkey. Greek and Turkish Cypriots have been divided since 1974, when Turkey sent troops into the north after a rebellion by Greek Cypriots who wanted to unify with Greece.
“The Greek Cypriot squad played in a previous match in İzmir, where they were warmly welcomed without encountering any incident. Turkish authorities did not even feel the need to take any extra security measures,” one source familiar with the developments told the Daily News.
“Our players thought they would be treated the same and in return decided to play the match in Greek Cyprus but what was expected did not happen,” the source added.
Immediately following the incident, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu held a telephone conversation with Kaya Türkmen, the country’s ambassador to northern Cyprus. Embassy officials contacted by the Daily News said Türkmen would be unable to comment due to his busy schedule.
Turkey will track the issue, says FM
In Istanbul, Davutoğlu said Thursday that necessary security measures were not taken. “This is not an excusable situation, and we will keep track of the issue,” he told a group of journalists in Istanbul’s Çırağan Palace, where he was attending the 11th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization.
The Turkish foreign minister also said statements of apology made by Greek Cypriot authorities immediately after the attack were not sufficient, and emphasized that brotherhood and peace must prevail in sports events.
In initial remarks, Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias slammed those involved in the assault as “brainless,” saying their actions harmed the interests of the Greek Cypriot side.
“This has caused big problems for the Republic of Cyprus because this gives great fuel to Turkish propaganda,” he was quoted as saying.
* Daily News reporter Erisa Dautaj Şenerdem contributed to this report from Istanbul.
Americans dismissed ‘bureaucratic’ Foreign Office concern that Lebanese Hezbollah suspects might be tortured
Richard Norton-Taylor and David Leigh
RAF Akrotiri at Limassol, Cyprus. WikiLeaks cables claim the US brushed aside British objections about secret spy flights from the base Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images
American officials swept aside British protests about secret US spy flights taking place from the UK’s Cyprus airbase, the leaked diplomatic cables reveal.
Labour ministers said they feared making the UK an unwitting accomplice to torture, and were upset about rendition flights going on behind their backs.
The use of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus for American U2 spy plane missions over Hezbollah locations in Lebanon – missions that have never been disclosed until now – prompted an acrimonious series of exchanges between British officials and the US embassy in London, according to the cables released by WikiLeaks. The then foreign secretary David Miliband is quoted as saying, unavailingly, “policymakers needed to get control of the military“.
Ministers demanded a full “audit trail” of covert operations, codenamed Cedar Sweep, amid growing public concern in the UK about unacknowledged CIA rendition flights and alleged UK complicity in torture. The planes gathered intelligence that was then allegedly passed to the Lebanese authorities to help them track down Hezbollah militants. In the past, such flights have also been carried out on Israel’s behalf by the Americans.
As the 2008 row escalated, the US rejected the British concerns over torture in unequivocal terms, with one senior official at the embassy in London baldly stating in one cable: “We cannot take a risk-avoidance approach to CT [counter-terrorism] in which the fear of potentially violating human rights allows terrorism to proliferate in Lebanon.”
The cables disclose that as well as the Lebanon missions, U2s from Akrotiri were gathering intelligence over Turkey and northern Iraq.The information was secretly supplied to the Turkish authorities in an operation codenamed Highland Warrior. The British protested that “in both cases, intelligence product is intended to be passed to third-party governments”.
On 18 April 2008, Britain demanded the US embassy provide full details of all flights so ministers could tell whether they “put the UK at risk of being complicit in unlawful acts … This is a very important point for ministers”.
A US diplomat, Maura Connelly, cabled: “We understand that these additional precautionary measures stem from the February revelation that the US government transited renditioned persons through Diego Garcia without UK permission and HMG’s [her majesty’s government’s] resultant need to ensure it is not similarly blindsided in the future.”
She complained to Washington that the demands were “burdensome” and “an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy”.
Will Jessett, then director of counter-terrorism at the ministry of defence, had sent a letter warning that “the use of UK bases for covert or potentially controversial missions” on behalf of Lebanon or Turkey meant it was “important for us to be satisfied that HMG is not indirectly aiding the commission of unlawful acts by those governments”.
The letter warned that other states, particularly Cyprus, might well object should they find out. Ministers therefore wanted the US to submit each time “an assessment of any legal or human rights implications”.
On 24 April, the embassy sent a cable to Washington entitled: “Houston, we have a problem”. It stated: “HMG ministers are adamant.”
The embassy “pushed back hard” on demands for a full “audit trail” of spy flights. But in what appears to have been a heated dispute, the British responded by detailing other US “oversights”.
“Contacts cited instances in which operations Highland Warrior and Cedar Sweep had been conducted from the UK sovereign base areas of Akrotiri without the proper ministerial approvals … In addition, Highland Warrior had raised tensions with the Cypriots, jeopardising the UK’s hold on Akrotiri.”
There were “other lapses that proved embarrassing to HMG (ie renditions through Diego Garcia and improperly documented shipments of weaponry through Prestwick airport)”.
The US used Prestwick in 2006 as a staging post to ship laser-guided bombs to Israel, causing British protests. The Israelis wanted the munitions to attack Hezbollah bunkers in Lebanon.
The US embassy concluded: “A new element of distrust has crept into the US-UK mil-mil relationship.
“The renditions revelation proved highly embarrassing for the Brown government. The British proposal … may be disproportionate but is almost certainly an indication of the Brown government’s sensitivity … at a time Brown is facing increasing domestic political woes.”
A month later Britain was still, according to the US, “piling on concerns and conditions” about human rights, saying that although junior minister Kim Howells was making the decisions, Miliband was being kept informed.
British officials warned that ministerial concerns “could jeopardise future use of British territory”.
US patience finally snapped when a Foreign Office official, John Hillman, passed on the message that “even the [US] state department’s own human rights report had documented cases of torture and arbitrary arrest by the Lebanese armed forces”.
Hillman urged the US to ensure the welfare of prisoners in Lebanon “if there were any risk that detainees captured with the help of Cedar Sweep intel could be tortured”.
At this point Richard LeBaron, charges d’affaires at the London embassy, cabled Washington that human rights concerns could not be allowed to get in the way of counter-terrorism operations. Britain’s demands were “not only burdensome but unrealistic”, he said, proposing “high-level approaches” to call the British to heel.
“Excessive conditions such as described above will hinder, if not obstruct, our co-operative counter-terrorism efforts,” he said.
Senior Bush administration official John Rood stepped in and the Foreign Office’s director general for defence and intelligence, Mariot Leslie, hastened to placate him.
The clash was “unnecessarily confrontational”, she told him. “Leslie expressed annoyance at the additional conditions conveyed by the FCO working level,” the cable states. “She had not been aware beforehand that such a message would be conveyed. In fact she regretted the tenor of the discussions had turned prickly, and underscored HMG appreciation for US-UK military and intelligence co-operation.”
She reassured him that US was not actually expected to check on detained terrorists.
“Ministers had merely wanted to impress upon the US government that they take the human rights considerations seriously.
“She noted that HMG ‘desperately needs’ [Cyprus] for its own intelligence gathering and operations and was committed to keeping them available to the US (and France).
“However, the Cypriots are hypersensitive about the British presence there, she said, and could ‘turn off the utilities at any time’. That, combined with the ‘toxic mix’ of the rendition flights through Diego Garcia, has resulted in tremendous parliamentary, public and media pressure on HMG.”
Leslie stuck to her guns on one point, saying the US embassy would still have to put in full written applications for future spy missions because “Miliband believed that ‘policymakers needed to get control of the military’.” The cable stated: “Leslie … was very frank that HMG did object to some of what the US government does (eg renditions).”
British ministers loyally kept these objections about the US to themselves, however, despite coming uinder repeated attack from the UK media for alleged complicity in the dispatch of Islamist prisoners to places where they would be tortured.
US use of Cyprus has always been controversial. Relations between London and Washington were strained at the time of the attacks on Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur war by Ted Heath’s decision to adopt a policy of strict neutrality. The then prime minister refused to allow the US to use Britain’s electronic intercept and air bases on Cyprus .
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-cables-cyprus-rendition-torture, 2 December 2010
As Turkey’s European Union membership process continues on its long and winding uphill road with no clarity, after so many decades, whether inshallah it will be completed one day with a happy orthodox marriage or a mateessüf (unfortunate) firm rebuff with an indecent offer of becoming a “privileged partner,” or mistress, of Europe, some European bureaucrats and politicians were reported to be shocked to see a sharp drop in the interest in the Turkish media to the just-released annual progress report…
Turks are of course frustrated with the European Union membership process. When they first knocked on the door of Europe with a request for membership it was in the early 1960s. In 1963 Turkey and the forefather of today’s EU signed the so-called Ankara Agreement, which called for Turkey’s membership in the community once it completed its preparations and improved its economy and democracy to meet European standards. The 1963 accord had two dimensions, an economic one and a political one. The economic dimension of the Ankara Agreement was completed, with considerable delay, in 1995, and Turkey joined in the European customs union and became the first-ever country to engage in the customs union scheme without completing full EU accession.
Indeed, from the day Turkey engaged in the customs union deal it agreed to a transformation of its membership-targeted EU process into a “mistress affair” or privileged partnership as by entering into the customs union without getting the political bonus, or membership and the right to contribute to the shaping of European policies, Turkey liberally opened its entire market to EU industry and commerce. That is, from 1995 on Turkey-EU relations have been something like semi-pregnancy; Turkey is in the EU, has to abide with EU decisions and policies, but it is not an EU member and thus totally out of the policy-making process of the EU.
Yet, though he refuses even to commit himself to a marriage sometimes in the future and insists on saying, “Well, we have an affair, let’s live it liberally… Perhaps, who knows what the day will bring, we may marry one day, or just part ways,” the European arrogant “husband” keeps on asking “mistress Turkey” to conform with this or that decision of the European family, walk the extra mile and offer some additional compromises to please the spoiled Greek Cyprus kid, provide some improvements in the rights and liberties of the non-Muslim as well as Muslim minorities and even take such steps that might seriously endanger the national and territorial integrity of the country.
As if such oddities were not enough, every other day Turkey would be insulted with some ludicrous claims regarding Cyprus or find itself trying to understand some masterpieces of Turkish animosity pouring out of the mouths of an arrogant small French man or a blunt German lady who happen to be sitting in governmental seats in their countries. Yet, European “friends” of Turkey are astonished to see a marked decrease in the support in Turkey for the country’s EU membership bid.
Come on, Europe must try to understand why a person like President Abdullah Gül, who over the past many years repeatedly expressed full support to EU membership, has started to talk all of a sudden about the probability of Turks saying no in a referendum – if the process is ever completed and Turks go to a referendum to make the final decision on accession – on EU membership. What Gül said is indeed what many people, including this writer, have been stressing for the past many years: Turkey needs Europe and Europe needs Turkey. If Europe does not want Turkey in, Turkey definitely does not want to be with the EU either. Turkey is no parasite which might think membership in the EU is an existential issue for itself.
Since the 2005 start of the accession talks process negotiations have started in only 13 headings, provisionally closed only in one heading but unfortunately most of the remaining 22 chapters of the 35 overall chapter acquis communitaire have been held hostage by either France or the Greek Cypriot administration.
While issues of freedom of expression, press freedom, democratic representation and such fundamental democracy shortcomings are not given adequate prominence in Turkey-EU political dialogue, held hostage by some extraneous issues, it is indeed sad to see Europeans complaining about why Turks feel frustrated with the EU process.
Perhaps Europe must try to find an answer to why Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in his typical arrogance, declared the other day that in the next 18 months or so Turkey might be compelled to make a final decision on its EU bid if Europe continues to ominously keep Turkey in a waiting room.
In its annual progress report on countries aspiring to join the bloc, the European Union chided Ankara for failing – for another year – to normalize relations with E.U. member Cyprus.
The European Union said Turkey must normalize relations with Cyprus if it is to realize its ambition to join the powerful bloc. Turkey still refuses to open ports and airports to Greek Cypriot air and sea traffic, or officially recognize the Republic of Cyprus.
E.U. Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Füle made his comments as he presented the first E.U. enlargement package of the current commission.
“Turkey has continued its particular reform process in particular the reform of its constitution,” said Füle. “But no one can be satisfied with the current pace of negotiations and let me quote, ‘it is now urgent that Turkey fulfills its obligation of full non-discriminatory implementation of the additional protocol to the association agreement an makes progress toward normalization of bilateral relations with the Republic of Cyprus’.”
In a related development, Britain’s former foreign minister this week has caused outrage in the Greek Cypriot sector of Cyprus after suggesting partition of the island should be considered.
Jack Straw said that if Greek and Turkish leaders in Cyprus can not sort out their differences next week at U.N. talks in New York, then Britain should consider the partition of Cyprus.
Straw also accused Greek Cypriot Cyprus of using stall tactics in Turkey’s accession talks.
“Greek Cypriot Cyprus is using what is a relatively tiny dispute, so far as numbers are concerned – though crucial in the terms of human beings – to try and stop Turkey coming into the European Union,” said Straw. “And Turkey is being much more harshly treated in these negotiations than, for example, its neighbors Bulgaria and Romania ever were.”
Straw’s remarks came as Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders, Dervis Eroglu and Dimitris Christofias, met for the latest round of reunification talks. In response to Straw’s comments, Cyprus warned Britain that its two military bases on the island would be abolished if the country supports and brings about a permanent partition of its former colony.
Cyprus was split in a 1974 Turkish invasion triggered by a Greek-inspired coup. Turkish Cypriots live in its north and Greek Cypriots in the south. Numerous attempts to reunite Cyprus have failed.
via VOA | EU Urges Turkey to Normalize Relations With Cyprus | Europe | English.
