Here you'll find reports from the Turkish dailies, some stuff from international papers and anything else we think is relevant. Please remember that this is a country involved in a full scale guerilla war and not all the news is printed.

Christmas eve in the country where St Nicholas was born.

• Confusion? - Conflicting reports today from International and National papers tell us that either a formula for extraditing Apo has been reached between the Turkish and Italian governments (Office of the Prime Minister), or that Ocalan will probably leave Italy voluntarily for a third country (Reuters). It must be quite difficult for the Italians to work out who they're supposed to be dealing with here at the moment. (24/12/98)
• Confusion? - President Demirel has had another go at finding someone who might be able to form a government. After the unproductive month or so of Ecevit's efforts our new contender is Yalim Erez, current Trade and Industry Minister and, perhaps more importantly an independent MP. Erez is a recent arrival to the political scene and, unusually, used to have a real life in which he was a successful businessman. He has a reputation as a broker of deals and could signal a change in the political climate here. Mr. Erez's job, like Ecevit's before him is to try to cobble together a majority coalition stable enough to pass a law or two. An interesting point is Erez's occasional outspoken criticism of the Governments treatment of Kurds. Mr. Erez is himself of Kurdish origin. (24/12/98)
• Confused? - Brief Chronology of Turkish Government Crisis
• Ecevit gives up - Deputy Prime Minister Ecevit will officially inform President Demirel of his failure to form a coalition government today. He announced on Sunday that he was admitting defeat having been spurned by various other political factions. Prime Minister Yilmaz, defeated in a vote of confidence last month, may now be asked to remain in place until elections next year. It's a shame really, Turkey needs a government and this latest attempt doesn't appear to have been handled very well. 21/12/98
• Unscathed - The latest round of strikes on Iraq seem to have left Turkey pretty much in the clear. Anxious eyes have been watching the Incelik air base in the South East of the country where a joint NATO force patrols the no fly zone of Northern Iraq. It was always possible that the US might stage some sort of attack out of Incelik to force Turkey to publicly take sides. (21/12/98)
• Ankara 'saddened' - Turkey's position on the strike on Iraq is fairly predictable. The foreign ministry is expressing regret that the attacks were necessary and hoping that they will be brought to an end by Saddam's full cooperation with the UN. Turkey may end up as a base for US or UK air power if action continues. 17/12/98
• Apo can walk - Germany's withdrawal of it's international warrant for the arrest of Ocalan has prompted the Italians into freeing the controversial figure. Although no longer under house arrest he has shown little sign of wanting to leave the villa in Rome where he has spent recent weeks. He has applied for political asylum in Italy but the government is yet to reach a decision. Various factions are pushing for either a return to Turkey, an international trial or maybe a Nobel peace prize (oops..). 17/12/98
• How many? - There are now about 150 'state artists' in Turkey. This figure, representing authors, poets, musicians, painters etc. who have made an outstanding contribution to the promotion of Turkish arts, is causing a little trouble. President 'baba' Demirel's re-institution of the award (after an easing of the criteria which must be met to qualify) has drawn criticism from several areas of the media. Several nominees, including author Orhan Pamuk, refused to accept their awards or to attend last weeks glittering award ceremony.. "Everything led by the State is good" quipped Demirel, no doubt off the cuff. The main bone of contention is the sheer number of nominees although the voluntary taxation status bestowed on award winners has also raised eyebrows. 15/12/98
• Impeachment - Hurriyet, a leading Turkish daily, pointed out that President Clinton, were he to be a member of the Turkish parliament, would survive the impeachment vote. Not entirely sure of the relevance of that one but its probably accurate. 15/12/98
• Priorities - A list of 12 bills requiring urgent debate, recently published by the government, does not include the 1999 budget. Plans to significantly increase the number of red, 'Diplomatic' passports are included. Go figure. 15/12/98
• Armed struggle renounced - This is a little rich really, as Kurdish activists continue to set themselves on fire (Greece last week) and find themselves detained by security forces (in Turkey anyway), Ocalan states that he is distancing himself from the armed struggle. It shouldn't really come as much of a surprise really but his motivation isn't very clear, well to me anyway. He's playing into the hands of the Turkish government who, already able to portray him as a a gangster and thug, can now ridicule those supporting both him and the armed struggle in the South East. Too many angles to this one for now. Maybe he thinks this will increase his chances of finding an international trial before the clock runs out and he has to move on again. 14/12/98
• Haggling for power - Current acting head of government Ecevit isn't finding it particularly easy to put together a coalition to run through to the next election (could be April, could be later). He's having to bargain with Ciller (rehabilitated after her collaboration with the Fundamentalists and with allegations of corruption swept under the rug) and Yilmaz in an effort to put something together. Ciller is still holding out but will probably come across when she feels she's got enough leverage. I wish Hunter S. Thompson was here. 12/12/98
• International Trial - Nobody has shown any sign of wanting to solve the Apo issue. A statement from Rome last night that Italy would have 'little choice but to set him free' in the absence of an internationally ratified trial would, one might think, cause a bit of a ruckus (?) but it's all quiet out there today.07/12/98
• Tarkan's "Last Warning" Turkish entertainer Tarkan seems to have no intention of returning from France to attend military service. Opinions here are divided as to his motivation. Some feel that he would serve Turkey best as a cultural ambassador, some feel that he's a traitor and should have his citizenship revoked. A lot of people are probably wishing they could emulate him.07/12/98