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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.

November 1998

This is what happened in Turkey in November
  • International Trial? - It looks as if Germany and Italy are slowly finding a way out of the Ocalan mess that they've got themselves into. The idea of an International Trial is being floated about and may provide a way for Italy to back out gracefully and prevent any further escalation of it's dispute with Turkey over Apo's status. 30/11/98 Pro Ocalan Demonstration
  • Yilmaz Under Attack - Former Prime Minister Yilmaz is being harassed over allegations of corruption involving lucrative financing operations handled by his government and ministers. Deals with Turkcell (mobile phones) and TurkBank are under investigation. 30/11/98
  • Bus Bomb - A bomb killed 4 passengers on a intercity bus bound for Ankara on Thursday night. The bus was taking a fundamentalist leader and members of his family to Ankara where it is believed they had planned to demonstrate against Turkey's secularist stance.30/11/98
    Turkish Troops
  • Helicopter shot down - A Turkish military transport helicopter has been shot down by Kurdish separatist forces. The Sikorsky was hit on Saturday and it is believed that 15 soldiers were killed in the incident.
  • Talks begin - Talks began last Friday to cobble together another coalition government to run Turkey until the next elections (probably April). Predicament Demirel is meeting with party leaders in an attempt to broker something acceptable to all. The largest party in parliament, the Islamacist Virtue party, will probably not be asked to form a government due to the tensions this would raise with Turkey's secularist military. The Virtue party's predecessor, Refah, was 'removed' from power 18 months ago in a 'soft coup'. The most likely coalition will bring Yilmaz (ousted over a corruption scandal on Wednesday), Ciller (corruption and graft issues abound) and Ecevit ( The man who put the 'Turkish' into 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' ) all together again. Bulent Ecevit, Deputy Prime Minister until this week, has probably arranged a private deal with Yilmaz to ensure that he holds the reins if such a coalition comes to pass. Here we go again.
  • Tensions Ease - It's perhaps no accident that the predicted fall of the Yilmaz coalition coincides with Turkeys grudging acceptance of the possibility of trying Abdullah Ocalan (see below) outside Turkey's borders. The line at the moment is that as long as he is tried and punished somewhere that will be OK.
    Yilmaz bows out
  • Where to now? - President Demirel is undertaking a familiar task today, trying to assemble a coalition government that will keep the Islamacist Virtue party well away from the reins of power. With an election called for April, a 5 month Prime Minister is required, desirable attributes include good interpersonal skills and a head for figures.
  • Tarkan dodges draft - In a move which many young Turkish men might seek to emulate, Tarkan - Turkey's most prominent pop star - has chosen to remain in France rather than report to barracks for his 18 months of military service.
  • Israeli Secret Service chief steps down - A senior Israeli secret service man, known only as "Y" over the unmasking of two Israeli agents working in Greek Cyprus. It is alleged that the agents were spying on behalf of Turkey.
  • Apo a hot potato - Nobody seems to want to take a decision about the fate of Abdullah Ocalan, under house arrest in Rome this week. Protests, boycotts and killings continue here in Turkey while Italy hopes that Germany will take the PKK leader off her hands. Germany, whose request for Apo's arrest supposedly prompted the Italians to detain him, really doesn't want him around. The 2 Million Turks living in Germany are going to be annoyed one way or the other. According to some sources Italy will have to make an asylum decision or expel Apo to a third country within about 10 days.
  • Juventas match postponed - The anticipated Juventas - Galatasaray match due to be played in Istanbul this evening is to be delayed until the first week of December. Probably just as well really.
  • Italian cable cut - 2 cable channels broadcasting in Italian to Turkey have been closed down this week as the latest in a round of reprisals by the Turkish government.
  • Apo Demo - The Italian embassy in Ankara is the scene of a permanent demonstration by Turks seeking the return of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan from Rome. Driving past the embassy means driving through a crowd who, beating drums and playing patriotic music through a PA system, are making their feelings on this issue felt. Foreigners getting into taxis are asked if they're Italian and Italian goods are boycotted or destroyed as the local press waves the flag and whips up the populace into a nationalistic frenzy.
  • This government will probably fall next week - The words of Turkey's current (ex as of today) Deputy Prime Minister, Bulent Ecevit, last week. It is likely that Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz will lose a vote of no confidence today and Turkey's fifth coalition government in the last 3 years will fall. It is predicted that a caretaker Prime Minister will be appointed by President Suleyman Demirel to take the country through to the polls next year.
  • Extradition Crisis - The diplomatic storm brewing between Italy and Turkey over Turkey's demand that Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan be extradited to Turkey shows no sign of calming down. Emotions are running high in Turkey with street demonstrations involving the burning of the Italian flag and shopkeepers refusing to sell Italian goods. Italy seems unlikely to bow to the pressure that Turkey is bringing to bear but America pro-turkish stance is complicating matters for the Italian government as it seeks solidarity from it's European neighbours.
  • Suicide bomber -Last Tuesday a Kurdish woman detonated the explosives she had attached to her body outside a police station in south eastern Turkey. She killed herself and injured several others including a Turkish soldier who subsequently died. This is the most extreme of a series of protests against Turkey's efforts to extradite Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan from Italy.
  • Trips to Italy cancelled - Turkish travel agents are canceling tours to Italy and pressing Italian travel agents to lobby their government for the extradition of Abdullah Ocalan.
Anatolia
Ankara
Cappadocia
Easten Med.
Istanbul
Western Med
Marmara
Aegean
The East
Black Sea