The following are translations of excerpts from the Turkish press.
SIGNALS FROM ERDOĞAN FOR SECRET SESSION
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan responded positively to Republican People's Party (CHP) chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu who asked him to give information to parliament about talks on the Kurdish problem.
Erdoğan said such an evaluation could take place in the parliament in a secret session.
Erdoğan said a new constitution was not on the agenda prior to 2011 elections. "Currently, the only work is to enact harmonization laws. In fact only this can be done before the elections."
GERMAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR FAIR TREATMENT OF TURKEY IN EU PROCESS
German President Christian Wulff urged the European Union to pursue a fair and an open-ended attitude toward Turkey in the country's EU accession process.
Speaking to German television, Wulff said Turkey made significant progress including the approval of a constitutional reform. Wulff also said he was scheduled to pay a visit to Turkey.
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/dunya/15961977.asp?gid=200
TURKISH F-16 PILOT IN AL-QAEDA CAMP
An executive of the Pakistani Intelligence Service told the AP that dozens of militants, including Turks, were trained for attacks [in Europe]. The executive moreover underlined that an F-16 pilot who worked for the Turkish Air Forces had joined the training in the Pakistani camps.
TURKEY TO BARGAIN WITH WASHINGTON OVER IRAN SANCTIONS
U.N.-sponsored sanctions on Iran will be on the top of the agenda of a visit of Turkish Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Çağlayan to Washington as Turkey is expected to urge the United States to devise a way to secure that the sanctions would not damage Turkey.
Çağlayan is also highly likely to reaffirm Turkey's position that no sanctions other the U.N.-sponsored ones would be binding on Turkey.
http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/zafer-caglayan-abd-de
FOUR-STEP PEACE PLAN FROM LATE GENERAL
Late Gendarmerie Commander Gen. Eşref Bitlis, who died in a suspicious plane crash in 1993, suggested a four-step solution for the Kurdish issue in a letter he addressed to then-President Turgut Özal 17 years ago, daily Sabah reported Tuesday.
First, Bitlis proposed starting negotiations between border neighbors Iran, Syria and Iraq, saying these countries should be persuaded to cooperate. "The approach of local elements in Iraq's northern part presents a vitality for the struggle," said Bitlis. He noted that the topic was on the agenda of the National Security Council.
Second, Emphasizing that the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party [PKK] should be alienated in every single way and that their financial resources should be cut off, Bitlis said special work should also be conducted to determine their financial resources.
Third, Bitlis said, the PKK leadership should be scattered and the intelligence bodies were asked to do more field research in Iraq and the Southeast. The border was furnished with technical devices, accordingly. Finally, the region's residents should be won over, as they were stuck between the wrong administration and terror, said Bitlis.
http://www.sabah.com.tr/Gundem/2010/10/05/bitlisten_dort_ayakli_baris_plani
THERE SHOULD BE JOINT FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM
Turkish President Abdullah Gül [urged] the world to launch joint the fight against terrorism.
"There cannot be an understanding that yours is more dangerous, mine is less dangerous," Gül said.
Gül said terrorism was the problem of the whole world adding, "everybody has comprehended importance of the matter now. We expect our allies to increase cooperation in the fight against terrorism."
http://yenisafak.com.tr/Politika/?t=05.10.2010
A CRITICAL INVESTIGATION ON THE WASHINGTON-ANKARA-TEL AVIV LINE
The attack on the Mavi Marmara aid flotilla heading to Gaza strained Turkish-Israeli relations. Since then the IHH, which claims to be a charitable foundation, has become the focus of interest. While the United Nations declared Israeli action to be an unlawful assault, assertions on IHH's links to terrorist organizations gain weight.
Utku Cakirozer discusses the situation.
Cumhuriyet representative, ANKARA- If the IHH is announced to be a supporter of terrorism...
It was reported that the American government issued a written warning to Turkey with respect to the humanitarian aid foundation, IHH, which it investigated for more than two years on suspicion of the IHH's members supporting international terror organizations. The investigation [into] the IHH, which is taking place in Washington, is also of crucial importance due to Turkish-Israeli relations that grew tense after the attack on the Mavi Marmara flotilla.
According to information that the Cumhuriyet daily collected from its western sources, the US [State department] and the Justice [department] with the FBI and other American security units carefully examined the IHH's links to terror organizations around the world and started an official inquiry.
The sources stated that the methods used by the US in the past for organizations like the PKK and Al-Qaeda, putting them on their list of terrorist organizations, were conducted the same way as this investigation, which is [underway] for more than two years. They indicated that in case the findings at the end of the investigation prove the IHH to be a terrorist organization or a supporter of such, it would lead to serious consequences.
The sources [recalled] that Turkey had started a legal investigation against the IHH, in the 1990s, on charges of providing financial support to terrorist groups outside the country. They specified that a number of investigations were carried out in various countries for over ten years on the IHH's links to especially the Balkans and Chechnya.
Ankara was warned before the Mavi Marmara incident.
It was also reported that Washington informed Turkish authorities about the two-year long investigation in writing. It was emphasized that information on the IHH members' links to international terror organizations was conveyed before the Gaza aid flotilla organization [launched]. The sources, which stressed that they studied the foundation's links to various international terror organizations around the globe, evaluated the situation to the Cumhuriyet daily as:
"In the last two years the US administration corresponded with the Turkish government about the IHH many times in writing. All of this happened before the Mavi Marmara incident. In these written statements the US government's concerns, especially about the IHH members' involvement in special activities were conveyed. The activities mentioned had nothing to do with Gaza. They dealt with the support provided to organizations that continue to be active in other parts of the world and which every rational human being calls a "terrorist' organization."
The western diplomatic sources expressed that the Mavi Marmara incident came on top of this investigation. "We don't believe that the attack on the Mavi Marmara and the events after will have a great effect on the ongoing investigation. In any case, there is a long continuing process due to the financial assistance they give to organizations in other areas of the world," they said.
It is uncertain, however, to which authority in Ankara these warnings went to. The Foreign Ministry sources stated that they did not receive any messages from the US government concerning the IHH. Intelligence units on the other hand underlined that the IHH supported no terrorist element in its link to HAMAS and that its activities are limited to humanitarian relief, yet, that there had been suspicion regarding the foundation's campaigns, which it conducted in different areas but mainly in the Balkans during the 1990s.
The timing of the reports could collide
The United Nations Human Rights Council's report on Israeli's responsibility concerning the attacks on the Mavi Marmara and the subsequent resolution, which was approved as the US voted "no" and European countries' abstained. Ankara said that it was disappointed with the attitude of the US and European countries. The United Nations Human Rights Council's report is not regarded to be objective in international circles as Israel was no party to this suit. In this matter, eyes are thus turned to the report that will be written by the international commission, that was formed under the initiative of Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki Moon, to which both Turkey and Israel sent members to.
Yet, Israel has not yet handed in its mandatory national report. It is put forward that Israel could delay the report until November. It is expected that Israel will back its Mavi Marmara incident report on the provocations of the IHH. It is very likely that Israel is waiting for the outcome of the investigation on the IHH. If the US government, in this process, puts the IHH on its list of 'supporters of terrorist organizations' you may guess on who will come off as the loser.
