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Ankara, chastened, steps away from adultery law
Susan Sachs/NYT NYT Wednesday, September 15, 2004

VAN, Turkey After suffering a wave of criticism from European Union officials, women’s groups, newspaper columnists and finally from its own members, Turkey’s governing party abandoned a proposal on Tuesday to criminalize adultery.

But the Justice and Development Party, which has sought for two years to reassure Turks and foreigners that it had no Islamic fundamentalist agenda, may have lost important political goodwill at home and abroad.

“Especially now, when Turkey is doing so much for EU membership, the fact that they’re trying to bring in this law raises questions about them,” said Gulseren Demir, a caseworker at the Women’s Association in Van, in southeastern Turkey.

“To tell you the truth,” said a co-worker, Alev Sahar, “we never trusted them.”

The proposed adultery law had been debated in the press over the past month, while Parliament was in summer recess, and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan had repeatedly said he endorsed it as a way to preserve the family. His party, known by its Turkish acronym AKP, had been expected to introduce it Tuesday when the deputies reconvened to vote on a new penal code.

But by the end of the day, with protesters in the streets and some European officials darkly warning that it smacked of Islamic fundamentalism, the proposed law had not made an appearance. No one stepped forward even to claim ownership.

Party officials said the proposal, once fiercely defended by some deputies, had won few supporters during a closed-door AKP meeting the night before. “There is general agreement that we will not propose that kind of thing right now,” said Reha Denemec, a deputy chairman of the party. “We’ve got something like 340 different articles to get passed - we did 60 or so in four hours - and it’s very important to do these things right now.”

During its brief contentious public life, however, the adultery proposal shone an unwanted spotlight on the backgrounds of the AKP leaders. Most are veterans of Welfare, a militantly Islamist party that briefly ruled in a coalition government in the mid-1990s. The army removed it from power in 1997.

Erdogan was a senior Welfare member and Istanbul mayor who was jailed for reciting a poem in public that talked of mosque minarets as barricades. His action has not been forgotten by the powerful military establishment that sees itself as the guardian of Turkey’s secular system. But since the AKP swept to power two years ago after winning almost two-thirds of the seats in Parliament, Erdogan has sidestepped issues that might make the military and rightist nationalists bristle.

Instead, he has shuttled continuously between Turkey and EU countries, vigorously promoting Turkey’s bid to begin accession talks leading to membership.

He has also presided over wholesale changes in the Constitution, a rewrite of the administration law, revisions of the civil code and, now, some hundreds of proposed amendments to the penal code - all to bring the country’s laws in conformity with EU standards.

The European Commission in Brussels is expected to decide whether to recommend a date for accession talks at its meeting on Oct. 6. EU leaders are expected to vote on the matter in December.

A number of those leaders have already expressed doubts about whether Turkey, a majority Muslim country, belongs in Europe. In the face of those misgivings, the sudden appearance of the adultery proposal last month brought a sharp warning from Günter Verheugen, the EU’s enlargement commissioner. During a visit to Turkey last week, he said that he bluntly asked Erdogan why the adultery issue was being raised now and warned him that it would undermine his campaign for EU entry. Suspicion about the AKP intentions has not evaporated, despite its general popularity as a can-do government and its dominance of Turkish politics. Even its supporters appeared puzzled at the attempt to legislate morality at a time when Turkey has been trying to prove its European credentials.

“It’s true that people’s suspicions about the AKP were awakened,” said Selahaddin Direck, a contractor and businessman in Van who has been an enthusiastic supporter of the party. While the region is conservative and might have favored outlawing adultery, he added, there was no demand. “Maybe another time or on another platform, or in another presentation, the issue can be put on the agenda again,” Direck said. “But at the moment, EU membership is more important than such debates.

“So it was very unfortunate. I don’t think there could have been a worse time to introduce such a debate.” Van, a city of about 300,000 on the eastern edge of the largely Kurdish region of southeastern Turkey, is run by the AKP. Traditionally, Kurdish political parties have held sway here, but AKP surprised the country by winning handily in local elections in March, even taking districts that were the strongholds of the Kurdish opposition parties. Its appeal, said business people and lawyers here, was partly its conservatism and partly its ability to get things done after years of squabbling coalition governments in Turkey. Van and the surrounding rural areas also are strongly tribal; men commonly take up to four wives. An estimated 80 percent of women are illiterate.

Women’s groups and human rights associations have reported that honor killings - the murder of women who are suspected of dishonoring their families through their sexual conduct - are also common. Criminalizing adultery could bring more harm to women, according to the Women’s Association. “There is already lots of violence against women,” Demir said. “This law would endow the man with even more authority and power, and could increase the number of crimes against women.” A previous adultery law in the criminal code punished a man if it was proved that he had set up housekeeping with a woman or installed her in a house. But it punished a woman simply for having sexual relations with a man other than her husband.

Turkey’s highest court ruled that law unconstitutional eight years ago, saying it discriminated against women.

The New York Times

http://www.iht.com/articles/538881.html
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Turkey Scraps Adultery Law Plan
Proposal raised fears of ‘honor killings’ of women and threatened to disrupt the country’s bid to join the EU.
By Amberin Zaman
Special to The Times

September 15, 2004

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Bowing to intense pressure from European leaders and local feminist groups, Turkey’s Islam-based ruling party on Tuesday shelved a plan to criminalize adultery, a proposal that had threatened to disrupt the country’s bid to join the European Union.

The decision came after a meeting Tuesday between two leading Cabinet ministers and the head of the main pro-secular opposition party, which opposed the plan. The talks took place just hours before parliament was to begin days of debate over a broad range of amendments, including the measure, to the country’s extensive penal code in the coming days.

Justice Minister Cemil Cicek of the ruling Justice and Development Party said after the meeting that a deal had been struck with the opposition Republican People’s Party to present a joint package of amendments to which both parties could agree.

“We have an agreement to put forward a law which guarantees rights and freedoms,” Cicek said.

He would not confirm that the adultery proposal had been dropped, a decision that might embarrass the ruling party before its more religious followers. But several government officials and ruling party leaders speaking on condition of anonymity said the measure would not be offered.

The proposed changes to the penal code, which include measures sought by the European Union to stiffen the penalties for torture, precede a crucial report due next month that will assess Turkey’s progress in conforming with criteria for joining the organization. EU leaders are scheduled to decide in December whether to open accession negotiations with Turkey.

The attempt to criminalize adultery stunned European leaders and outraged Turkish liberals. The EU’s commissioner for enlargement, Guenter Verheugen, termed the measure “a joke” and said it would leave Europeans with the impression that the Turkish government was steering this officially secular but predominantly Muslim country toward religious rule. That in turn would provide ammunition for members who oppose the union’s inclusion of what would be its first predominantly Muslim member.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Monday: “If this proposal, which I gather is only a proposal, in respect of adultery were to become firmly fixed into law, then that would create difficulties for Turkey.”

Rights advocates warned that criminalizing adultery would encourage “honor killings” of women accused of staining their families’ reputation by engaging in even innocent relations with men who are not their spouses or relatives.

Hundreds of Turkish women waving placards that read “Keep your hands off my body” marched into parliament Tuesday to protest the proposal. Fatmagul Berktay, an academic at Istanbul University and a veteran feminist, said it remained unclear whether the government would proceed with a number of other controversial proposals that would include penalizing sex between unmarried couples younger than 18, the legal age of consent here.

Asked why the government had tabled the proposal to criminalize adultery, Guldal Aksit, a minister in charge of women’s affairs, said she “had no idea.” Aksit argued, however, that the aim of the proposal had been to treat women and men equally.

Under laws that were scrapped in 1996, a woman found to have cheated once on her husband could be sentenced to up to three years in prison. Men had to be shown to have been unfaithful for a prolonged period of time before they could be convicted of adultery. Under the proposed law, men and women would be prosecuted on equal terms and would face the same three years in prison.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-adultery15sep15,1,7630114.story?coll=la-headlines-world
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Turkey Backs Off Plan to Outlaw Adultery
By SUZAN FRASER
The Associated Press
Wednesday, September 15, 2004; 2:53 AM

ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey’s leaders distanced themselves from a proposal to outlaw adultery after the opposition came out against it and western governments made clear enacting the law would jeopardize the country’s already fragile chances of joining the European Union.

The proposal was part of a major overhaul of the mostly Muslim country’s penal code undertaken as the 25 EU states prepare to decide by year’s end whether to begin talks on Turkey’s membership.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed it would protect families and women who have been wronged by their husbands. Opponents claimed it was a bid to appeal to Erdodan’s conservative, devoutly Islamic base and would be a step backward for women’s rights.

On Tuesday, it appeared the opponents had won.

Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said after a meeting with the leader of the opposition party that only measures that both his ruling party and the opposition agreed on would be brought to the floor.

Ali Topuz, a senior lawmaker from the opposition Republican People’s Party, then made it clear the adultery proposal wasn’t one of them.

“We’re strongly against the proposal on adultery, and so it will not come to the floor,” Topuz told private CNN-Turk television.

The penal code package, which lawmakers began debating Tuesday, includes harsher punishment for rapists, pedophiles, torturers, human traffickers and women who kill children born out of wedlock. It also makes crime of rape in marriage and sexual harassment.

The adultery proposal has generated strong criticism in the European Union. Supporters of Turkey’s EU bid say the measures would help the cause of Europeans vehemently opposed to the predominantly Muslim country of some 70 million people joining the 25-member bloc.

EU enlargement official Guenter Verheugen warned during a visit that the anti-adultery measure would create the impression Turkey’s legal code is moving toward Islamic law.

“If this proposal, which I gather is only a proposal, in respect of adultery were to become firmly fixed into law, then that would create difficulties for Turkey,” British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Monday.

Details of the anti-adultery proposal have not been made public. Cicek said the measure would only be applied if a spouse complains. Haluk Ipek, a senior member of the Justice and Development Party, said Monday that adulterers could face six months to two years in prison.

Women’s groups claimed the law would be used against women - who they say could be imprisoned and lose custody of their children. They said the measure would encourage “honor killings” in which family members kill girls or women deemed to have disgraced the family.

About 600 people, most of them women, marched from Ankara’s central square to parliament on Tuesday, holding banners that said “Keep your hands off my body” and “No! to the male-dominated penal code.”

Lawyer Senal Saruhan, a woman’s rights advocate, said: “It’s a backward approach ... that will allow the state to intervene in our private lives.”

There was still some indication that the government hadn’t completely abandoned the proposal. Ipek said the government would still push for a consensus on each article of its draft “including adultery.”

Adultery was illegal in Turkey until 1996, when the Constitutional Court overturned the law, saying it was unequally applied. Under the earlier laws, men were deemed adulterers if they were proven to have been involved in a prolonged affair, while women could be charged if they were unfaithful once.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22246-2004Sep15.html?nav=headlines

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La Turquie recale l’adultère pour plaire à ses partenaires Critiqué par l’UE, le texte de loi le constituant en délit pénal, a été retiré.Par Marc SEMO mercredi 15 septembre 2004 (Liberation - 06:00) Ankara envoyé spécial
Le très controversé article de loi sanctionnant l’adultère comme un crime passible de six mois à un an de prison ne sera pas inséré dans le nouveau code pénal turc. L’AKP (Parti de la justice et du développement), issu du mouvement islamiste, a finalement capitulé sous la pression des dirigeants européens clamant qu’une telle mesure «porterait atteinte à la perception qu’on a dans l’Union de l’effort de réformes en Turquie». Le Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan a voulu éviter une contrition publique : c’est le leader de l’opposition social-démocrate Deniz Baykal qui en a annoncé le retrait hier, juste avant le débat parlementaire.

«Mauvaises odeurs».
Le texte criminalisant l’adultère, comme d’autres articles sanctionnant les relations sexuelles entre mineurs de moins de 18 ans, était appuyé par le seul parti au pouvoir. L’ensemble de la réforme du code pénal, un projet de quelque 1 000 pages élaboré depuis trois ans avec un rôle actif de la gauche, vise à élargir les libertés publiques pour augmenter les chances de la Turquie d’adhérer à l’Union européenne.

Cette volte-face évite une crise ouverte avec Bruxelles mais les dégâts politiques s’annoncent considérables. «C’est trop tard les mauvaises odeurs sont sorties», résumait crûment hier un haut fonctionnaire européen. Le bras de fer sur l’adultère survient en effet à moins d’un mois de la remise du rapport de la Commission européenne sur les progrès de la Turquie en matière de démocratisation, sur la base duquel les dirigeants européens décideront le 17 décembre d’ouvrir ou pas les négociations d’adhésion. Pour nombre d’observateurs, ces anciens islamistes qui se définissent comme «conservateurs démocrates» montrent que derrière leur réformisme pro-européen de façade, ils conservent leurs vieux réflexes notamment sur les questions de moeurs.

«Avertissement amical».
«Ce texte sur l’adultère représente un retour en arrière par rapport à toutes les lois européennes existantes et de telles dispositions n’existent que dans les pays où la charia est en vigueur», s’indignait la juriste Senel Sarihan, rappelant que la Cour constitutionnelle turque avait aboli dès 1996 l’ancienne loi punissant pénalement les relations extra-conjugales. Le commissaire à l’Elargissement, Guenter Verheugen, avait déjà adressé un «avertissement amical» à Ankara lors d’un déplacement en Turquie la semaine dernière. Pour l’AKP qui avait triomphalement remporté les législatives de novembre 2002 avec 34 % des voix et près de deux tiers des sièges, c’est une très lourde défaite. Après avoir été déjà contraint de reculer sur la loi élargissant l’enseignement religieux, Recep Tayyip Erdogan perd une nouvelle fois la face vis-à-vis de ses électeurs islamistes les plus motivés. Et pour les milieux d’affaires comme pour tous les libéraux qui le soutenaient au nom de la marche vers l’Europe, sa crédibilité politique est sérieusement entamée.

http://www.liberation.fr/page.php?Article=238694

La Pologne revendique l’utilisation de l’arme fiscale pour créer des emplois
LE MONDE | 13.09.04 | 13h59

Le premier ministre polonais, Marek Belka, estime qu’il ne faut pas priver les nouveaux adhérents des moyens de réformer leurs économies après “l’élargissement le moins cher de l’histoire de l’UE”. Il se dit néanmoins prêt à discuter d’une harmonisation des régimes fiscaux.
Krynica de nos envoyés spéciaux
Le chef du gouvernement polonais, Marek Belka, refuse de dramatiser la polémique lancée par la France sur les délocalisations à l’Est. Interrogé par Le Monde en marge du forum économique international de Krynica, au sud de Cracovie, qui s’est achevé samedi 11 septembre, M.  Belka estime que les propos de Nicolas Sarkozy accusant les pays d’Europe centrale de dumping fiscal “font partie du processus de négociations du futur budget européen” 2007-2012 qui commence.

Le premier ministre social-démocrate, qui se rendra en novembre à Paris, revendique le droit pour son pays d’utiliser l’arme fiscale pour attirer des capitaux étrangers. “L’écart de développement entre les nouveaux et les anciens membres de l’Union européenne - UE - est énorme. Il est bénéfique pour tout le continent que nous réformions notre économie. Encore faut-il ne pas nous priver des moyens de le faire, après avoir réalisé l’élargissement le moins cher de l’histoire de l’UE”, argumente-t-il.

D’autant que la marge de manœuvre du gouvernement n’est pas illimitée. “L’ambiance, principalement dans les médias polonais, est à l’extrême libéralisme économique mais nous atteignons une limite, souligne M. Belka. Nous essayons donc d’équilibrer notre politique économique en améliorant les conditions de vie des plus défavorisés”.

La thérapie de choc appliquée au début de la dernière décennie à l’économie polonaise a produit une très forte croissance et permis une modernisation du pays. Ce cycle s’est arrêté en 2000. Le pays renoue maintenant avec une solide relance économique. Mais cette politique n’a pas eu d’effet pour le moment sur un marché de l’emploi atone. Selon le premier ministre polonais, les gouvernements successifs “se sont attachés à baisser l’imposition du capital mais n’ont pas touché au coût du travail. C’est une des raisons pour lesquelles nous avons une forte croissance sans création d’emplois”, analyse-t-il.

Evitant de jeter de l’huile sur le feu, Marek Belka n’exclut pas que les déclarations de M. Sarkozy exigeant de limiter le versement des fonds structurels européens aux nouveaux membres qui appliqueraient des taux d’imposition sur les sociétés trop bas, soient liées “au débat intérieur” français. Il a beau jeu cependant de souligner que les entreprises françaises n’ont pas été les dernières à profiter des opportunités offertes par les marchés des nouveaux adhérents de l’Union européenne. “La France est depuis plusieurs années le premier investisseur étranger en Pologne - environ 12 milliards d’Euros -, je ne crois pas que Saint-Gobain ou Michelin se plaignent” de leur présence en Pologne, note-t-il.

Les Polonais, comme les autres pays d’Europe centrale et orientale entrés dans l’UE le 1er mai, souffrent encore d’un énorme décalage en matière de produit intérieur brut et de conditions de développement avec les pays européens de l’Ouest. Ils ont du mal à comprendre la polémique lancée en France et en Allemagne alors que le volume des investissements étrangers a baissé de 50 % au cours des trois dernières années en Pologne et que le problème prioritaire est de créer des emplois en dépit des restructurations qui continuent d’avoir cours. Le taux officiel de chômage flirte avec les 20 %, les jeunes diplômés peinent à trouver des employeurs et le niveau des salaires est désespérément bas.

MAUVAIS PROCÈS
Ce qui fait dire à beaucoup que l’on intente à l’Est un mauvais procès en matière de fiscalité. “L’impôt sur les sociétés n’est pas l’élément le plus important pour les investisseurs. La localisation par rapport au marché, le coût de la main d’œuvre comptent beaucoup plus”, estime Thomas Laursen, représentant de la Banque mondiale en Pologne.

Ce débat a largement occupé les discussions lors du forum économique de Krynica. Comme l’année dernière, où la Slovaquie avait été à l’honneur grâce à ses succès en matière d’implantations industrielles, les discours reflétaient cette année encore la fascination largement répandue dans les milieux d’affaires de l’Est pour la méthode Thatcher et la réussite de l’Irlande, qui sert de modèle de référence en matière de rattrapage économique.

“Il est ridicule de la part de la France qui n’arrive pas elle-même à procéder à ses propres réformes de vouloir blâmer les nouveaux pays de l’UE”, a estimé l’ancienne présidente de la Banque centrale polonaise, Hanna Gronkiewicz Waltz, aujourd’hui vice-présidente de la Banque européenne pour la reconstruction et le développement. “On doit savoir de l’exemple de l’Allemagne de l’Est que les transferts d’argent ne suffisent pas à eux seuls à assurer le développement”, ajoute-t-elle, en soulignant l’importance de bonnes politiques d’accompagnement.

Les dirigeants polonais, eux, veulent éviter un affrontement ouvert avec Paris et Berlin alors que les discussions commencent sur les finances de l’Union. “Nous sommes ouverts à la discussion sur l’harmonisation fiscale”, a indiqué le premier ministre polonais, en reprochant aux Français la méthode choisie pour lancer le débat.

Henri de Bresson et Christophe Châtelot
M. Zapatero reçoit MM. Chirac et Schröder
Le chef du gouvernement espagnol, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, devait recevoir, lundi 13 septembre à Madrid, Jacques Chirac, et le chancelier allemand, Gerhard Schröder. Cette rencontre marque, selon le dirigeant espagnol, le signe du “retour de l’Espagne en Europe”, comme il l’a déclaré dimanche 12 septembre, à Bilbao (Pays basque), reprenant un des thèmes de campagne des socialistes lors des élections européennes de juin.

M. Zapatero cherche ainsi à se démarquer de la politique atlantiste de son prédécesseur, José Maria Aznar, qui s’était opposé au projet de Constitution européenne afin de conserver le poids de l’Espagne au sein de l’Union, tel qu’il avait été défini par le traité de Nice. Madrid indique toutefois qu’il ne s’agit pas de constituer un axe Madrid-Berlin-Paris, ni de former une sorte de “directoire européen”.

M. Zapatero avait déjà rencontré M. Chirac, à Madrid, le 24 mars, lors des funérailles des victimes des attentats du 11 mars, puis, à Paris, le 29 avril. Un sommet franco-espagnol aura lieu en décembre, à Saragosse. - (Corresp.)

• ARTICLE PARU DANS L’EDITION DU 14.09.04
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3214,36-378897,0.html

Le président irakien à Bruxelles pour des entretiens à l’Otan et l’UE
AFP | 14.09.04 | 14h46

Le président irakien Ghazi al-Yaouar, en tournée dans plusieurs capitales européennes, est arrivé mardi après-midi peu après 12H00 GMT à Bruxelles pour des entretiens à l’Otan puis à l’Union européenne, a-t-on appris auprès d’une responsable de l’ambassade d’Irak en Belgique.Le président irakien, en provenance de Varsovie, devait se rendre au siège bruxellois de l’Organisation du traité de l’Atlantique nord pour un entretien bilatéral avec le secrétaire général de l’Alliance, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, selon son programme officiel.Il participera ensuite à une réunion spéciale des représentants permanents des 25 pays membres de l’Otan, avant de se rendre au Conseil des ministres de l’UE pour une rencontre avec le Haut représentant pour la politique étrangère de l’Union Javier Solana.La visite du président irakien intérimaire, sa première à Bruxelles, intervient alors que la sécurité continue à se dégrader en Irak, où l’explosion d’une voiture piégée visant le quartier général de la police de Bagdad a fait 47 morts et 96 blessés mardi matin, selon un dernier bilan.A l’Otan, la rencontre avec le président irakien s’annonçait comme ayant essentiellement un caractère “symbolique”, selon une source diplomatique.Elle aura toutefois lieu à un moment délicat pour l’Alliance, qui examine les suites à donner à sa mission de formation des forces de sécurité irakiennes.Les ambassadeurs de l’Otan doivent commencer à débattre mercredi d’une série d’options visant à renforcer cette mission, dont le principe avait été approuvé par les chefs d’Etat de l’Alliance à Istanbul fin juin.Parmi ces options figurent la possibilité que l’Otan se voit confier la responsabilité des activités de formation menées actuellement par les Etats-Unis en Irak.En l’état actuel, il apparaît peu probable que des pays comme la France, opposée à toute implantation trop visible de l’Alliance en Irak, acceptent une telle proposition, selon des diplomates.Une autre option serait la création d’une “académie” permanente de formation en Irak.L’Otan a déjà en Irak une petite équipe de militaires, qui ont commencé à former des officiers en liaison avec le ministère irakien de la Défense.En fin de journée, le président irakien devrait réaffirmer auprès de M. Solana le souhait des autorités intérimaires irakiennes d’un plus grand engagement de l’UE à Bagdad, comme l’avait fait en juillet le ministre irakien des Affaires étrangères Hoshyar Zebari.Réunis lundi à Bruxelles, les ministres européens des Affaires étrangères n’ont guère avancé sur le renforcement de leur aide. Ils se sont limités à décider l’envoi dans les semaines à venir en Irak d’une nouvelle équipe d’experts, spécialisés dans la gestion civile des crises.Ces derniers seront chargés d’élaborer des “propositions concrètes” d’aide, qui seront soumises ensuite aux chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement de l’UE au sommet européen de Bruxelles du 5 novembre, auquel a été invité le Premier ministre irakien Iyad Allaoui.Dans le cadre de sa tournée européenne, le président irakien, dont les fonctions sont largement honorifiques, s’est déjà rendu en Allemagne, en Italie et en Pologne.

http://www.lemonde.fr/web/dh/0,14-0@14-0@2-3214,39-23598166,0.html

L’Europe à pas comptés en Irak
Pas de troupes européennes au Congo. Mais une mission en Irak. Où la présidence néerlandaise veut augmenter la « visibilité » des Vingt-Cinq.
Le Soir du 14.09.2004

http://www.lesoir.be/rubriques/mond/page_5178.shtml

Le débat sur l’entrée dans l’UE s’annonce ardu au sein de la Commission
LE MONDE | 14.09.04 | 13h20
Bruxelles de notre bureau européen

Günter Verheugen a hésité avant de condamner le projet de loi visant à réprimer pénalement l’adultère en Turquie. A Ankara, le commissaire européen à l’élargissement a d’abord suggéré en privé au premier ministre turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, de retirer son projet. Puis il s’est résolu à prendre position en public : “Ce serait une erreur”, a-t-il dit. Cette “erreur” ne peut néanmoins pas remettre en cause, dans son esprit, la perspective d’ouverture de négociations d’adhésion avec Ankara. Elle risque plutôt “de fausser la perception que l’on se fait en Europe du processus de réformes”, a répété le commissaire allemand.

La polémique est, selon lui, de nature à fournir des arguments aux détracteurs de la Turquie, au moment où le débat s’annonce plus ardu que prévu à Bruxelles, où la Commission présidée par Romano Prodi, dont ce sera la dernière décision, doit remettre son rapport sur la Turquie le 6 octobre.

La semaine dernière, deux poids lourds de l’exécutif européen ont pris les devants. Le Néerlandais Frits Bolkestein, commissaire en charge du marché intérieur, a tiré le premier : si la Turquie devait entrer dans l’Union européenne (UE), “la libération de Vienne en 1683 n’aurait servi à rien”, a-t-il lancé dans une allusion à la bataille menée par les forces polonaises, allemandes et autrichiennes contre les Ottomans. Un peu plus tard, un courrier de l’Autrichien Franz Fischler, adressé fin juillet à ses collègues de la Commission, a été rendu public. Dans cette lettre, le commissaire à l’agriculture considérait que la Turquie est “plus orientale qu’européenne”. Il ajoutait que son entrée dans l’Union pourrait coûter jusqu’à 11,3 milliards d’euros à la politique agricole commune. Pour le moment, seul le Britannique Chris Patten, commissaire aux relations extérieures, s’est prononcé pour l’ouverture prochaine des négociations, en ajoutant qu’elles “prendront sans aucun doute beaucoup de temps”.

“TRANSFORMATION PROFONDE”
Hormis ces prises de position de personnalités qui ne seront pas membres de la commission présidée par José Manuel Barroso - qui serait chargée de conduire les négociations -, la plupart des commissaires s’abstiennent du moindre commentaire. “L’enjeu est énorme, chacun a son avis personnel sur une question très sensible dans l’opinion publique, mais réserve sa réponse pour le débat au sein du collège”, dit-on à la commission.

Certains sont réputés sceptiques à l’égard de l’adhésion turque. C’est le cas de l’Espagnole Loyola de Palacio, commissaire sortante au transport et à l’énergie, ou de la Luxembourgeoise Viviane Reding, à la culture. Dalia Grybauskaite, la commissaire lituanienne, a quant à elle souvent répété qu’il faut prendre son temps, digérer le dernier élargissement, puis l’entrée de la Roumanie et de la Bulgarie en 2007, avant de songer à intégrer un pays de 70 millions d’habitants, en pleine transition politique, et pauvre.

Autre personnalité plutôt réservée, le commissaire hongrois, Peter Balazs : “On ne peut pas refuser la Turquie, on ne peut pas la prendre non plus sans une transformation profonde de l’Union elle-même”, observe-t-il, en ajoutant que “ce sont les conditions posées à la Turquie qui vont compter”.

M. Verheugen espère pour sa part une recommandation “claire et ferme” d’ouverture des pourparlers, “sans conditions”. Il s’interroge toujours sur la position réelle de la plupart de ses collègues. En charge du commerce, Pascal Lamy ne s’est pas découvert. Il a effectué une visite en Turquie en juillet et “travaille” sur le sujet, selon un de ses collaborateurs, faisant remarquer que “ceux qui se sont exprimés à ce stade sont les plus radicaux”. D’autres commissaires, comme l’Italien Mario Monti (concurrence), attendent les rapports de M. Verheugen pour se forger une opinion définitive. Quant à Jacques Barrot, le commissaire aux politiques régionales, on le dit plutôt favorable, mais il serait partagé entre sa fidélité à Jacques Chirac, qui soutient l’adhésion turque, et son appartenance à l’UMP, opposée à cette perspective.

Malgré les divergences, M. Verheugen et M. Prodi ont bon espoir d’aboutir à une décision consensuelle. Leurs proches n’excluent pas un vote si les clivages sont insurmontables. M. Bolkestein et M. Fischler “ont exprimé leurs états d’âme sans répondre à la question posée par le Conseil, qui est de savoir si la Turquie remplit les critères politiques définis pour ouvrir les négociations”, dit un haut fonctionnaire. Pour M. Verheugen, il ne s’agit plus de s’interroger sur la vocation de la Turquie à rejoindre l’Europe, puisque le pays dispose du statut de candidat depuis 1999, mais de déterminer si les conditions sont réunies pour entamer des négociations. Les Etats membres se prononceront définitivement sur le sujet le 17 décembre, sur la base des rapports et de la recommandation de la Commission.

Philippe Ricard
• ARTICLE PARU DANS L’EDITION DU 15.09.04
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3214,36-379032,0.html

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Une recette autrichienne pour la Turquie : les négociations sans adhésion
LE MONDE | 14.09.04 | 13h20
Vienne de notre correspondante
Décidément, Jörg Haider est un cas à part. Le leader de la droite populiste autrichienne, qui a si souvent fait de la xénophobie et de la peur de l’élargissement vers l’Est son fonds de commerce, est le seul politicien autrichien à s’être déclaré, dès janvier 2003, en faveur de l’adhésion de la Turquie, estimant que ce pays était “suffisamment mûr” pour l’Europe et qu’il serait judicieux d’y contrebalancer l’influence des Etats-Unis.

M. Haider est bien isolé. Non seulement sa formation, le Parti libéral autrichien (FPÖ), au gouvernement depuis janvier 2000 avec les chrétiens conservateurs du Parti du peuple (ÖVP), a promis de voter contre Ankara partout où il le pourra, mais le reste de la classe politique autrichienne exprime le scepticisme ou le rejet.

Dès la campagne pour les européennes, au printemps dernier, le chef du groupe ÖVP au Parlement européen, Ursula Stenzel, avait estimé que l’Union ne devait pas “se laisser entraîner” à des négociations avec Ankara. Ses homologues du Parti social-démocrate (SPÖ) et des Verts, Hannes Swoboda et Johannes Voggenhuber, sont aussi réticents, sans parler de l’unique eurodéputé du FPÖ, le journaliste Andreas Mölzer, dont l’hebdomadaire d’extrême droite Zur Zeit se veut l’organe central de la résistance à une invasion musulmane venue du sud des Balkans. La presse autrichienne a salué la “franchise” du commissaire européen à l’agriculture, le Tyrolien Franz Fischler, qui a mis en garde en juillet les autres commissaires contre une Turquie “par nature bien plus orientale qu’européenne”, et qui se demande, dans le quotidien Kurier du 14 septembre, quel serait le coût économique de son adhésion et “si les différences culturelles - car il y en en a - sont maîtrisables”.

Le ministre de l’intérieur Ernst Strasser, chrétien conservateur, voit un problème tant que les Turcs de la minorité kurde figurent parmi les dix groupes dont les demandes d’asile politique sont prises en compte.

Les sondages ne sont pas à ce point négatifs : selon celui publié lundi par le magazine Profil, 57 % des Autrichiens se déclarent opposés à une adhésion de la Turquie à l’horizon 2015, mais 31 % y sont favorables.

“On rencontre le préjugé suivant lequel l’Autriche risque d’être “submergée” par l’Est et le Sud, mais il y a aussi une tradition positive des rapports avec la Turquie, qui passe surtout par les élites”, remarque le politologue Peter Hajek. L’adhésion de la Turquie passionne moins l’opinion que la réforme des retraites. Les quelque 170 000 habitants d’origine turque (sur 300 000 musulmans) ne font guère parler d’eux à la rubrique faits divers.

Faut-il s’attendre à voir le chancelier Wolfgang Schüssel mettre son veto à l’entrée de la Turquie ? “C’est un fantasme français, lié à l’épisode des sanctions”, sourit Georg Hoffmann-Ostenhof, éditorialiste de Profil. Pour Peter Hajek, le chancelier autrichien ne prendra un tel risque “que si d’autres dirigeants européens sont sur la même ligne”.

Interrogé il y a quelques jours à la télévision, M. Schüssel a fait une réponse alambiquée : si le rapport de la Commission est positif, il approuvera l’ouverture de négociations avec la Turquie, mais “qui n’aient pas forcément comme but une adhésion pleine et entière”. La négociation sans adhésion, ce serait “une formule inédite”, admet-on dans son entourage.

Joëlle Stolz
• ARTICLE PARU DANS L’EDITION DU 15.09.04
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3214,36-379031,0.html

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Kurdes, droits de l’homme, réforme du code pénal : Bruxelles demande encore un effort à la TurquieLE MONDE | 09.09.04 | 14h55La visite du commissaire à l’élargissement, Günter Verheugen, a été l’occasion de souligner que des désaccords persistaient et qu’Ankara devait accélérer les changements.Istanbul de notre envoyé spécialLe mot a fait sursauter Günter Verheugen. Au premier jour de son voyage en Turquie, le représentant d’une association de défense des droits de l’homme lui a affirmé que les mauvais traitements et la torture restaient une pratique “systématique” dans son pays. Le commissaire à l’élargissement a demandé des précisions à son interlocuteur. Ce témoignage met en cause les progrès observés ces derniers mois par les diplomates européens, au moment où le gouvernement de M. Erdogan affiche une politique de “tolérance zéro” en la matière. M. Verheugen a fait savoir qu’il allait demander à ses services une ultime analyse sur ce sujet sensible. “Les efforts doivent être poursuivis”, a ensuite intimé le commissaire aux autorités d’Ankara.A chaque étape de son voyage, le commissaire européen aura tenté d’adresser un message au gouvernement turc. La Commission doit recommander, le 6 octobre, aux Etats membres d’ouvrir - ou pas - les négociations d’adhésion avec Ankara. M. Verheugen considère que la Turquie a fait d’énormes progrès pour respecter les critères politiques fixés par les Européens. Mais, selon lui, plusieurs chantiers sont loin d’être achevés et l’application des réformes est difficile. “Voter des lois au Parlement est une chose : il faut aussi les mettre en œuvre”, répète-t-il, devant les dizaines de micros qui l’attendent partout là où il passe. “Il s’agit de mettre en avant les sujets où nous avons du mal à obtenir des informations, pour bien montrer que nous y attachons de l’importance”, dit l’un de ses collaborateurs.Pour sa première visite à Diyarbakir, fief de la minorité kurde, le commissaire s’est inquiété du sort du Sud-Est anatolien. Il a demandé au gouvernement de “poursuivre les efforts engagés pour assurer le développement socio-économique” d’une région pauvre, marquée par le long conflit entre l’armée et le Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (séparatiste, PKK). Emissions en kurde, cours de langue, il a invité le gouvernement à approfondir la promotion des droits culturels de cette minorité. “Il faut aussi soutenir davantage le retour des populations déplacées par le conflit”, a-t-il dit, lors d’une visite dans un village évacué de force par l’armée en 1995. Tandis que les escarmouches, parfois meurtrières, se sont multipliées après la levée du cessez-le-feu par les héritiers les plus violents de l’ex-PKK, début juin, M. Verheugen a multiplié les appels au calme. Pour lui, une relance du conflit menacera le processus de réformes, surtout si le gouvernement choisit la manière forte. Il s’est affiché avec des personnalités modérées, comme le maire de Diyarbakir, Osman Baydemir, et Leyla Zana, l’ex-députée libérée, en juin, après dix ans de prison pour liens avec le PKK. Tous deux s’opposent à la reprise de la lutte armée.Par ailleurs, M. Verheugen suit de près l’adoption en cours d’un nouveau code pénal. Des experts saluent les progrès apportés par le projet, qui cherche entre autres à mieux sanctionner les “crimes d’honneur”. Mais, lors de ses entretiens avec Recep Tayyip Erdogan et son ministre des affaires étrangères, Abdullah Gül, lundi, à Ankara, le commissaire leur a fait savoir que la création d’un délit d’adultère avec une peine d’emprisonnement serait un “pas en arrière”,susceptible de brouiller sérieusement la perception des changements en cours en Turquie. Dans le même ordre d’idée, l’Union européenne s’inquiète du harcèlement dont souffrent avocats, défenseurs des droits de l’homme et journalistes de la part de certains procureurs peu au fait des lois les plus récentes.Au dernier jour de sa visite, jeudi 9 septembre, M. Verheugen devait, enfin, rencontrer les dignitaires de différentes minorités chrétiennes. Sa visite au patriarcat grec orthodoxe, au cœur de la vieille ville d’Istanbul, lui permet d’attirer l’attention sur les conditions d’existence des communautés non musulmanes. Difficultés à créer des fondations, droits de propriété, formation du clergé : les diplomates européens considèrent que la liberté religieuse est fragile.Le chef des Grecs orthodoxes revendique la réouverture d’un séminaire fermé en 1971, en pleine crise entre la Turquie et la Grèce à propos de Chypre. Tandis que l’Union fait pression sur Ankara pour reconnaître Chypre, la renaissance du séminaire aurait valeur de symbole. Mais cette perspective mobilise les milieux ultranationalistes qui, quelques jours avant le passage de M. Verheugen, ont manifesté leur opposition au projet.Philippe Ricard Le débat monte au sein de la CommissionGünter Verheugen, va devoir composer avec l’opposition de certains de ses collègues au sein de la Commission. “Quiconque autorise la Turquie à adhérer devra également accepter l’Ukraine et la Biélorussie”, a déclaré Frits Bolkestein, commissaire au marché intérieur. Selon lui, “ces pays sont plus européens que la Turquie”. Evoquant une “pression migratoire”, M. Bolkestein a cité l’historien américain Bernard Lewis, spécialiste de l’islam, pour qui l’Europe sera majoritairement musulmane d’ici à la fin du XXIe siècle.“Si cela devait arriver, la libération de Vienne, en 1683, n’aura servi à rien”, a estimé M. Bolkestein, en référence à la défense de la ville par les forces polonaises, allemandes et autrichiennes face aux Ottomans. Lors de sa visite en Turquie, M. Verheugen n’a pas voulu commenter des propos que son entourage considère comme outranciers. - (Corresp.)• ARTICLE PARU DANS L’EDITION DU 10.09.04

http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3214,36-378419,0.html
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FRONT PAGE - FIRST SECTION: Fischler criticises EU plans for Turkey   Financial Times, Sep 10, 2004By Daniel Dombey and Tobias Buck in BrusselsFranz Fischler, the European Union agricultural commissioner, has attacked plans to begin EU membership talks with Turkey
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September 10, 2004
European Union Lauds and Prods Turkey on Chances of Joining
By SUSAN SACHS

STANBUL, Sept. 9 - The enlargement commissioner of the European Union, the man whose good opinion could help propel Turkey into membership negotiations, gave very little away on this week as he swept through a whirl of meetings with Kurdish activists, Christian and Jewish leaders, and government officials in the Turkish provinces.

The commissioner, Günter Verheugen, who finished his trip on Thursday, offered something for just about everyone during his tour. While praising the government, he also called for greater cultural rights for the Kurds, protections for non-Muslim Turks and human rights for all. But he did not indicate whether he would recommend that Turkey should make the leap from perennial candidate to provisional European Union member.

“The basic problem here in Turkey is that the political reform on paper looks very nice, and I admire what they’ve done,” said Mr. Verheugen, in an interview in the port city of Izmir, midway through his trip. “But if you look at implementation, the picture is very mixed.”

Such was the theme of Mr. Verheugen’s visit, probably the last before he finishes a report to the commission on Turkey’s progress toward meeting the conditions of democratic change that were set by European leaders two years ago.
The report, due out in the first week of October, will include a review of Turkey’s economy, the potential impact of Turkey’s membership on the European Union and a recommendation on whether to give Turkey a starting date for talks. A European Union meeting in mid-December is to take up the divisive question of Turkey’s membership.

But Mr. Verheugen warned that he was not sure that the commission would have an answer.

“My question - and one that will be debated on the commission - is whether we have enough critical mass to make a political judgment that implementation is on track,” he said. “I’m not sure we’ll have enough of a track record to allow us to make a forecast on whether Turkey will meet the criteria.”

Turkey has tried to join the European Union for decades, but its bid took on new urgency in 1999, when it was granted the status of a candidate member. In the last two years, since conditions were set for starting membership talks, the Turkish government has pursued the European Union with fierce determination.

The government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has staked its political credibility on getting a date for the start of talks by the end of 2004. Officials continued to express confidence even as Mr. Verheugen expressed some caution.
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Thursday that he was certain the report would be positive. “We fill the political criteria,” he said.

The present government and its predecessor have changed large sections of the country’s Constitution, required the powerful military to disclose its budget and written a new penal code that is to be presented to Parliament next week.

The broad criteria for a nation’s membership in the bloc include a democratic political system, a functioning market economy and the ability to enforce the union’s common regulations and standards.

In Turkey’s case, European leaders have said their hesitations center on the government’s treatment of its Kurdish minority, its religious minorities and its traditional lack of civilian control over the military.

Wherever he went, Mr. Verheugen said, he heard only enthusiasm for European Union membership, though many lawyers and human rights activists also said many of the recent democratic moves had produced only surface changes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/10/international/europe/10turkey.html

Siege Deepens Rift With West in Russia

U.S., Europe Said to Harbor Chechens
By Peter Baker
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, September 10, 2004; Page A18

MOSCOW, Sept. 9—Last week’s attack on a Russian school has driven new wedges between Russia and the West in the fight against terrorism, as Moscow continues to accuse the United States and European countries of coddling Chechen separatists.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denounced the United States and Britain on Thursday for granting asylum to Chechen opposition figures and told other countries to stay out of Russia’s fight with rebels in the breakaway republic. Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov reiterated that Russia might launch strikes against terrorist bases in other countries.

The statements came in a sixth day of escalating rhetoric, reflecting long-standing resentment of criticism from the West concerning Russia’s handling of the war that has raged in Chechnya on and off for 10 years. That bitterness had largely been suppressed in recent years as Russia worked to improve relations with the West. But the terror strike in the southern town of Beslan last week appears to have unleashed frustrations.

“For some period of time it was hidden,” said Alexander Pikayev, an analyst at the Committee of Scientists for Global Security, a private group. “Neither side wanted to expose that, to proliferate it into the public domain. But now, after Beslan, it becomes clear there are quite significant nuances in approach.”

Pikayev said officials were taking their cues from President Vladimir Putin, who, during a late-night meeting with visiting scholars and journalists on Monday, expressed irritation with the West, which he accused of sympathizing with Chechen guerrillas. “Probably this overreaction by the Russian side might be explained by emotions,” he said.

But he added that the tough talk also “reflects a new vulnerability of Mr. Putin” and may be part of a more concerted “attempt to divert public attention from the failure of Russian special services and the administration” to prevent the Beslan attack.

Putin tried to reassure the public Thursday by setting up new operational command groups in the North Caucasus region around Chechnya to better coordinate law enforcement and security agencies in fighting terrorism. The Kremlin-controlled State Duma, or lower house of parliament, also began moving to consider legislation that would toughen airline security, immigration and other policies.

But criticism of the government’s fight against terrorism continued to mount. The Motherland party, a nationalist political organization created last year with behind-the-scenes support from the Kremlin, moved Thursday to have the lower house of parliament hold a vote of no-confidence in Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and the cabinet.

The Beslan attack was the latest in a series of terror strikes that have killed more than 1,000 people in Russia in the last two years.

Aware of the raw nerves in Moscow, officials in the United States and Western Europe have generally tried to avoid inflaming the situation, but even mild statements have triggered angry responses.

The rift opened last weekend after Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot, whose government holds the rotating European Union presidency, was quoted as saying it was “very difficult to judge from a distance” whether Russian authorities handled the school siege correctly.

Lavrov called that “blasphemy,” and the Dutch ambassador to Moscow was summoned to the Foreign Ministry. Bot explained that he had been misunderstood. Putin, though, expanded on the complaints in the Monday night meeting, saying that the West was trying to push him to negotiate with “child killers” no better than Osama bin Laden.

Vice President Cheney has described U.S. support for the Russians following the attack, noting that President Bush offered condolences to Putin by telephone and that the governments were investigating al Qaeda links. “The Russians think there are significant ties” to al Qaeda, Cheney said in Cincinnati. “There may be some links there, but we don’t have specific details yet.”

But the Kremlin took umbrage with a statement by State Department spokesman Richard Boucher on Tuesday that did not rule out further U.S. talks with Chechen political figures, long a sensitive issue for Moscow. On Wednesday, Boucher reemphasized American outrage at the school seizure.

“Our basic views haven’t changed,” he said, referring to the U.S. policy of urging Russia to find a political solution to the Chechen conflict. “But we’re not dealing with that here. We’re dealing with a terrorist attack, a horrible terrorist attack on school children. And there’s no question of political aspects of this.”

That was not enough to satisfy Moscow. Lavrov said Russia would not tolerate interference in the Chechnya conflict. “I would advise them not to hinder Russia from settling its internal affairs,” Lavrov told reporters in Moscow after meeting with New York’s former mayor, Rudolph W. Giuliani, who was visiting the city to offer condolences.

Lavrov also criticized the United States and Britain for harboring people Russia considers to be Chechen terrorists linked to rebel commander Aslan Maskhadov, whom it blames for the Beslan strike. Maskhadov has denied responsibility. Britain has granted asylum to Akhmad Zakayev, and the United States has given the same status to Ilyas Akhmadov. Both men were top officials in Maskhadov’s government.

“Those who provide shelter to terrorists are directly responsible for the tragedy of the Chechen people,” Lavrov said.

Staff writer Lisa Rein in Washington contributed to this report.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9594-2004Sep9.html

News Analysis: EU sends a message to newest members

Graham Bowley/IHT IHT
Friday, September 10, 2004

Continental giants say they won’t help East take jobs away
BRUSSELS When eight poor countries of Central and Eastern Europe joined the grand European project this year, they believed it would give them a chance to overcome the crippling horrors of their communist past.

The promise of trade and a combination of the cheap wages and lower taxes they could offer foreign investors would deliver, they believed, new prosperity.

Yet this week their richer Western partners in the EU made clear that while this bright promise still holds true, the East’s success must not come at Westerners’ expense.

When EU finance ministers and central bankers gather Friday and Saturday in the Netherlands for talks about the long-term budget, some of the richer, but now slow-growing and lethargic Western nations will tell Central and Eastern European countries that they must raise their business taxes and so stop luring away companies and jobs from the West.

Germany and France, whose economies have become moribund and where unemployment is high, believe Eastern countries are indulging in harmful and unfair tax competition.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French finance minister, this week proposed cutting off the billions of euros in EU regional development aid that flows from Western coffers into the poorer East, which he says is making Easterners’ low taxes possible in the first place.

The Germans and French say it is unclear why they should subsidize Polish roads, freeing the Polish government to cut taxes and poach German businesses. Or why, as the German finance minister, Hans Eichel, said this year, Germany is “sponsoring” the loss of its own jobs.

“Sarkozy’s position does not yet carry a majority, but the issue of tax competition will not go away,” said John Palmer of the European Policy Center in Brussels.

The debate is part of a wider discussion that will take place among finance ministers Friday about the EU’s next budget for 2007-2013.

Berlin, Paris and London want to cap spending at 1 percent of the EU’s gross domestic product, less than the European Commission’s call for a 1.14 percent cap, which is backed by the Eastern members. Politicians will also consider whether to reform rules on how European governments should steward their finances, known as the Stability and Growth Pact. The commission last week proposed allowing countries to concentrate more on spurring growth and less on meeting specific deficit targets.

While both issues are politically charged, the dispute over what tax rates to charge companies doing business in EU countries may prove to have the most far-reaching consequences.

In some ways, it is a European version of the U.S. debate over the outsourcing of jobs to lower-wage countries. That revolved around fears that the United States was losing jobs to cheaper, newly developing countries in Asia and Latin America. In Europe, the contrast between the rich and poor has been made starker since trade borders fell fully on May 1. Countries such as Germany are now faced with nimbler, hungrier, and lower-cost competitors in their own backyard and within the EU.

This spring, some rich nations imposed limits on migrant workers to stop cheap labor from flooding into Western Europe. Now the focus has turned to company tax and businesses that are migrating abroad to exploit the low rates available in the East.

Fears of harmful tax competition have been around for two decades. In the 1980s, Britain cut business taxes to 35 percent from 52 percent as part of a “reinvention” of its own economy. In the 1990s, Ireland went further, lowering business taxes to 12.5 percent and triggering a boom in high-tech foreign investment on the Western fringe of the Continent.

Now, the countries of the East want to emulate Ireland’s experience, and have started to cut company taxes from already attractive rates.

The gap is startling. This year, Poland reduced its basic rate to 19 percent from 27 percent; Slovakia to 19 percent from 25 percent; and Hungary has a 16 percent rate. Estonia levies no taxes on some earnings.

By contrast, Germany charges corporations taxes of around 39 percent.

It is a tempting advantage some companies are finding hard to resist. In March, the head of the German Chambers of Commerce urged German businesses to look East, earning him the ire of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. Next year, Austria, which shares a large border with the East, will cut corporate taxes to 25 percent to stop companies drifting away to the East.

“These countries have the assured international environment of the EU, labor costs are 20 percent of Germany’s costs - and they have lower taxes,” said Stefan Bach at the German Institute for Economic Research in Berlin.

Lithuania, where Bach just visited, has “massive foreign investment at the moment,” he said.

All this leaves West Europeans asking why EU enlargement should harm them, when they invited the poor Easterners into the club and when they foot the EU bill? Germany is the biggest contributor to the Union’s E100 billion, or $122 billion, annual budget, including the E26 billion budget for regional aid.

But the East’s response is unequivocal. Its politicians argue they need and deserve extra help to make up for the damage wrought by communism. “I am against the idea of harmonizing corporate taxes,” Danuta Hubner, the Polish minister who will be responsible for regional aid in the new European Commission, said.

The EU’s Eastern countries ask: Why would foreign investors come if they did not get tax benefits to compensate for bad telephone lines and pitted roads? Without low taxes, the East stands little chance of catching up with the West, they say, and a prosperous East is in everyone’s interests since Germany and France could sell their exports into these new booming markets.

Easterners are not isolated in this battle. The British and Irish oppose tax-rate harmonization. A country’s tax rate, they say, is its own business, and tax competition is healthy because it forces governments to be efficient with public money and also because low taxes stimulate growth.

“It’s simply about national sovereignty,” a British official said. “It’s as simple as the Boston tea party.”

The European Commission, the arbiter in this dispute, supports the tax cutters. This week it called Sarkozy’s comments “muddled thinking.”

But on Friday it is expected to put a proposal before Europe’s politicians which France and Germany do support. Importantly, it wants to harmonize corporate tax rules.

When the people of Eastern and Central Europe joined the EU in May, they thought they were embarking on a project designed for the mutual European good, but they are discovering it is a competitive world even within the EU’s sheltering borders. National political instincts burn strongly, and the rich West, their economies stumbling, fight hard to keep their longstanding privileges.

International Herald Tribune

http://www.iht.com/articles/538140.html

washingtonpost.com
EU Wary of Pre-Emptive Strikes by Russia

By CONSTANT BRAND
The Associated Press
Thursday, September 9, 2004; 3:15 AM

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Union, already at odds with the Bush administration over pre-emptive military strikes, reacted warily to a warning from Moscow that it too reserved the right to neutralize terror threats anywhere in the world.

Col. Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, the chief of the general staff of Russia’s armed forces, said Wednesday that “we will take all measures to liquidate terrorist bases in any region of the world.”

He was speaking at a joint news conference with NATO’s supreme allied commander in Europe, Gen. James Jones, after talks on military cooperation, including anti-terror cooperation. NATO did not comment on his statement.

“It’s not clear what the status of these remarks are,” EU spokeswoman Emma Udwin said in Brussels. “I would note we have not heard anything similar from President (Vladimir) Putin himself.”

The warning marked a clear show of Moscow resolve following the Beslan school siege, a car bombing and the near-simultaneous crash of two planes brought down by explosives in recent days. More than 400 people died in the attacks.

The European Union argues that a policy of pre-emptive strikes is too risky. A security strategy paper approved by EU governments last year said emphasis should be placed on diplomatic and political solutions.

Udwin said Wednesday that the 25-nation EU is against “extra-judicial killings” in the form of pre-emptive strikes.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Moscow’s reaction was “understandable” and within international law.

Straw said he believed the policy statement would have been first approved by Putin.

“I think the reaction is an understandable one by President Putin,” he said. “The United Nations charter does give the right of self-defense and the U.N. itself has accepted that an imminent or likely threat of terrorism certainly entitles any state to take appropriate action.

“I don’t think President Putin was talking about launching any immediate attack.”

In Paris, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said it was up to international bodies to take a stand against terror.

“For us, it is by its nature a question that must be debated under the European framework, in the Group of Eight and of course in the United Nations,” spokesman Herve Ladsous told reporters.

Turkey’s Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, added his voice to those questioning pre-emptive strikes. “If the world attempts a fight against terrorism in a unilateral way of thinking ... then it won’t succeed in solving the problem,” he said.

Russian leaders have claimed such a right to pre-emptive strikes before, threatening neighboring Georgia that it would pursue Chechen rebels allegedly sheltering on its territory.

A London-based Chechen rebel representative, Akhmed Zakayev, said Russia’s threats amounted to “a warning to other European countries that Russia may come and carry out an assassination on your soil at any moment.”

Russia is seeking Zakayev’s extradition from London, where he’s been granted political asylum. Russian authorities also offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the capture of rebel leader and former Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov and another leader, Shamil Basayev.

The threat of strikes worried Europe-based advocates of Chechen independence.
Johan Lagerfelt, a former Swedish lawmaker who heads the independent Swedish Committee for Chechnya, said even he felt like a potential target.

“By the Russians’ own definition, even I’m a terrorist, because I work for the Chechen cause. So we’re all a little worried, because we don’t know what they can do. They don’t seem to have any restraints when it comes to protecting their distorted view of the world,” he said.

Lagerfelt’s group lobbies the Swedish government to support Chechen independence.

There are believed to be around 200 Chechen refugees in Sweden.

“This statement is mostly aimed toward public opinion at home, but the effect will be that many asylum seekers in the West will feel very worried,” Lagerfelt said.

Maciej Roszak, a leader of the Polish group Free Caucasus Committee, which supports Chechen independence said it would be “hard ... to imagine” that Russian forces would strike against Chechens in other European countries. Up to 4,000 Chechens live in Poland’s refugee camps, he said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7632-2004Sep9.html?nav=headlines
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September 9, 2004
Russia’s Antiterror Tactics: Reward and a First Strike
By SETH MYDANS

MOSCOW, Sept. 8 - The Russian government offered a $10 million reward Wednesday for the killing or capture of two Chechen rebel leaders, and a top general said Moscow reserved the right to make pre-emptive strikes against terrorists abroad.
In an emerging government reaction that echoed statements in Washington after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, several lawmakers also proposed steps to tighten domestic security in response to last week’s horrific schoolhouse hostage siege in North Ossetia, in which more than 300 children, parents, teachers and attackers were killed.

In a new official account of the attack, Russia’s chief law enforcement official portrayed a band of cutthroat kidnappers who argued among themselves and whose leader enforced discipline by executing three of his crew.
In a televised meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin, the official, Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov, reported that not all the attackers realized that their mission was to seize a school and that one of them was shot when he objected to kidnapping children.

Two women in the gang were killed, as a gesture of intimidation, when the bombs strapped to their bodies were detonated by remote control, Mr. Ustinov said.
“He did it himself?” Mr. Putin asked, referring to the gang leader, who went by the nickname Colonel and who was described as a short man with a red beard and freckles.

“Yes, himself,” Mr. Ustinov replied, almost in a whisper.

Although the broad outlines of the assault are believed to be known, many details remain uncertain. Parts of Mr. Ustinov’s account on Wednesday, which apparently relied to some extent on information from the sole hostage taker captured alive, differed from the recollections of witnesses in minor ways.

Mr. Ustinov said 326 hostages were killed, although only 210 bodies have been identified because many were badly mutilated. This total was lower than the earlier official toll of 338. He said another 727 people had been wounded, leaving only a very few hostages unhurt from a total of 1,200 he said had been held.
The attack on the school in Beslan, in southern Russia, was the latest and most disturbing of a series of terror attacks that are apparently linked to the decadelong separatist war in Chechnya.

Col. Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, the chief of the military’s general staff, said Russia did not feel bound by national borders in pursuing rebels.

“As for carrying out preventive strikes against terrorist bases, we will take all measures to liquidate terrorist bases in any region of the world,” he said, though he called that an “extreme measure.”

In fact, the post-Soviet military has lost much of its ability to project force beyond its borders. Its concern is with rebels from Chechnya and the North Caucasus crossing into neighboring Georgia, where Russia has two bases and has carried out military operations.

Aslanbek Aslakhanov, Mr. Putin’s chief adviser on Chechnya, said he hoped the large reward would lead to the capture of the two most prominent rebel figures, Aslan Maskhadov, a former president of Chechnya, and Shamil Basayev, a warlord. The government has blamed them for the hostage taking, although Mr. Basayev has denied involvement.

Mr. Ustinov’s deputy, Sergei Fridinsky, said the bodies of 12 attackers, out of approximately 30, had been identified. He said some had taken part in an attack in June in Ingushetia, a neighboring republic, where scores of people were killed.
Russian lawmakers and officials have raised questions about how rebels seem to be able to move freely around the country. Some officials have proposed measures to restrict living permits and travel conditions and to allow airport security officers to deny boarding to any passenger about whom they have doubts.

The mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, has suggested that Chechens should be restricted in their access to the capital.

When asked in a telephone interview why the rebel leaders had not been captured in the past, Mr. Aslakhanov told what he said was an American anecdote about a “Cowboy Joe’’ who was never captured because no one had ever really tried to catch him.

“For a long time, no one tried to catch Basayev,” he said, even though he has long had a price on his head. “We knew he was driving with a certain driver, we knew he was stopping in one place or another. He traveled to Turkey for surgery.”
Corruption among law enforcement agencies is a major problem that was cited by Mr. Putin in a speech following the hostage taking.

Mr. Aslakhanov said the most important step that could be taken would be for the United States to help close channels of financing for Chechen rebels. “America is the strongest country in the world and all countries listen to it,” he said.

These remarks came on a day when the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, objected testily to a statement by the State Department spokesman, Richard A. Boucher, that Washington reserved the right to maintain contacts with moderate Chechen leaders.

“We do have a policy that says we will meet with political officials, leaders who have different points of view,” Mr. Boucher said. “We’ve done that in the past; we may or may not do that in the future, depending on who these individuals might be.”
While emphasizing that “the United States does not meet with terrorists,” Mr. Boucher called for a political solution in Chechnya, saying, “Our view of some of these political figures has been different than the Russians’.”

Mr. Aslakhanov responded to this approach by saying, “There is no point in having talks, especially with the leaders of a nonexistent country.”

In North Ossetia, burials continued on Wednesday as mourning competed with anger.

After a number of calls for his resignation, the president of North Ossetia, Aleksandr Dzasokhov, addressed a crowd of about 1,000 people and said that rather than stepping down, he would fire all the people who work for him.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/09/international/europe/09russia.html
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Russia Warns of Preemptive Strikes

Military commander says the nation will attack terrorist bases in ‘any region of the world’ after three assaults killed more than 400.
By Kim Murphy
LATimes Staff Writer

September 9, 2004

MOSCOW — Russia’s top military commander threatened Wednesday to launch preemptive strikes on terrorist bases “in any region of the world,” raising questions about how far Moscow will go to hunt down suspected Chechen separatists believed responsible for killing more than 400 people in three terrorist attacks in the last two weeks.

Russia also announced a $10-million reward for the “neutralization” of Chechnya’s top two rebel leaders, Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basayev. Maskhadov has vigorously denied involvement in and condemned last week’s hostage-taking at a school.

Both of the Russian statements marked a stepped-up attempt by the Kremlin to counter U.S. calls for political settlement with Chechen separatists and to assuage the grief of a public still reeling from the deaths of 335 hostages at the school in southern Russia.

“Military steps are an extreme measure in the fight against terrorism,” Col. Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky, the Russian armed forces chief, said after meeting with North Atlantic Treaty Organization commanders. “Our position on preemptive strikes has been stated before, but I will repeat it: We will take steps to liquidate terror bases in any region.”

He added that Russia did not plan to use nuclear weapons in such strikes.

The statement caused unease in neighboring Georgia. Over the years, Russia has accused Georgia of allowing Chechen rebels to take shelter in the remote gorges along its northern border.

A spokesman for Maskhadov in London predicted that Russia would step up attempts to kill Chechens abroad.

“Mr. Baluyevsky seems to have made it perfectly clear to everybody today that Russia will now begin to hunt down and destroy separatists and terrorists wherever they are,” Akhmed Zakayev said.

In what seemed to be one such incident, former senior Chechen official Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev died in a car bombing in February in Qatar. Two Russian agents were convicted in the killing, though Moscow has denied involvement.

Russia’s announcements may have been aimed in part at countering continued U.S. statements supporting a political settlement with Chechen separatists. On Tuesday, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington’s “view on the overall situation has not changed” in the wake of the hostage crisis. Ultimately, “there must be a political settlement” over Chechnya, he said.

Such remarks have clearly irritated Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, who has rejected the idea.

“Why don’t you meet Osama bin Laden, invite him to Brussels or to the White House and engage in talks, ask him what he wants and give it to him so he leaves you in peace?” he asked foreign journalists Monday.

Pressed to clarify the U.S. stance Wednesday, Boucher said the U.S. did not encourage talks with “terrorists.” But he did not say which Chechens the U.S. would support talks with.

“A group of people who are clearly terrorists took over a school and murdered men, women and especially children. That’s not a political act,” he said.

Russia was critical of the U.S. when Washington in 2002 announced its policy of preemptive strikes against perceived threats. Moscow also strongly opposed the U.S. war in Iraq. But the Kremlin has since updated its military protocol to allow for preventive strikes, and Wednesday’s announcement did not represent a policy shift.

Timothy Colton, a Russian studies professor at Harvard University, said Moscow’s warning came from a sense of frustration with four years of terrorist attacks and the unsettled situation in Chechnya, where separatists have fought Russian forces off and on for a decade.

“Everything they’ve tried has not worked. They have this massive military capacity to do things kind of on the old playing field, and they’re trying to let people know they feel free to use those assets wherever they want,” he said.

“The whole point of mentioning that there won’t be nuclear weapons is to remind everybody that they have nuclear weapons,” he added, though the chances of Russia using them in such a case are “close to mathematical zero.”

Alexander Golts, military analyst with the magazine Yezhenedelny Zhurnal, said it was unlikely that Russia could carry out effective strikes against Chechen rebel bases.

“Russia has up until now had great difficulties in determining the location of terrorist bases in Chechnya, to say nothing about bases abroad,” he said. “Baluyevsky’s statement appears to be merely an attempt to pretend to be doing something … for what has happened [at the school] is not just a terrible tragedy, it is an appalling disgrace for Russia, which shows the utter impotence and helplessness of the Russian power-wielding ministries.”

Still, Wednesday’s announcement in Moscow was met with anxiety in Georgia. With U.S. help, Georgia has trained its anti-terrorism forces and largely dislodged Chechen rebels from the Pankisi Gorge, most military analysts believe.

But Russian officials in recent weeks have hinted at new concerns.

Georgian Defense Minister Giorgi Baramidze said in a telephone interview that his country had “concerns” over the Russian general’s pledge.

“Could Mr. Baluyevsky have Georgia in mind when he was making this statement? Even the possibility that he could have meant Georgia while making this statement makes us want clarifications,” Baramidze said.

“We have offered Russia cooperation in the sphere of combating terrorism and separatism in the region. However, it needs to be admitted that this cooperation has not progressed that far yet and has not been that successful,” he added.

*
Alexei V. Kuznetsov of The Times’ Moscow Bureau contributed to this report.
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3214,36-377977,0.html

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La Russie examine le projet de lancer des frappes préventives

LEMONDE.FR | 08.09.04 | 19h18 •  MIS A JOUR LE 08.09.04 | 20h56

La Russie envisage de lancer des frappes préventives pour “liquider les bases terroristes dans toute région du monde.” Jack Straw, ministre des affaires étrangères britannique, a jugé “compréhensible” la menace russe.
Le chef de l’état-major russe, le général Iouri Balouïevski, a déclaré mercredi que la Russie était prête à lancer “des frappes préventives” afin de “liquider les bases terroristes dans toute région du monde”. Au lendemain des deux jours de deuil décrétés par la Russie meurtrie par la prise d’otages de Beslan, en Ossétie du Nord, Moscou examine le projet de frapper le terrorisme.

L’Union européenne a réagi prudemment à ces déclarations. Une porte-parole de la Commission a dit ne pas savoir si les commentaires russes émanaient du président Poutine.

La question des frappes préventives “doit être débattue dans le cadre européen, au G8 et bien entendu aux Nations unies”, a jugé pour sa part le ministère des affaires étrangères français. Mais le ministre des affaires étrangères britannique, Jack Straw, n’a pas attendu pour donner son avis et a déclaré que la menace de la Russie d’attaquer préventivement les terroristes dans toutes les régions du monde est “compréhensible” et conforme aux lois internationales. “Je pense que la réaction est compréhensible de la part du président (Vladimir) Poutine”, a dit le secrétaire au Foreign Office, à l’issue d’un entretien à Londres avec le vice-premier ministre israélien, Ehud Olmert. “La charte des Nations unies donne droit à l’autodéfense et l’ONU elle-même a accepté qu’une menace imminente ou probable de terrorisme autorise certainement tout pays à prendre les actions appropriées”, a-t-il ajouté. Il a toutefois précisé : “Je ne pense pas que le président Poutine parlait d’une attaque immédiate”.

Quelques heures après les Britanniques, ce sont les Américains qui se déclarent ne pas s’opposer au souhait de la Russie de frapper de manière préventive des bases terroristes dans n’importe quelle région du monde, selon un responsable de l’administration américaine. “Chaque pays a le droit de se défendre”, a dit ce responsable sous le couvert de l’anonymat. Washington n’a pas encore réagi officiellement aux déclarations du chef d’état-major de l’armée russe, le général Iouri Balouïevsk, selon lesquelles Moscou est prête à frapper des bases terroristes “dans n’importe quelle région” du monde.

Le pape condamne un “fanatisme cruel”. Le pape Jean Paul II a lancé un appel en faveur de tous les enfants du monde et a fermement condamné le “fanatisme cruel” qui a provoqué des centaines de morts lors de la prise d’otages de l’école de Beslan, dans le sud de la Russie. S’exprimant le jour où les catholiques fêtent la naissance de la Vierge, le pape a déclaré qu’il était atroce que des enfants aient été confrontés à la haine et à la mort dans l’enceinte d’une école.

UN RAVISSEUR PARLE
Le procureur général russe Vladimir Oustinov a présenté au président Vladimir Poutine son rapport sur la prise d’otages de Beslan, ne donnant cependant aucune explication sur l’identité des ravisseurs et ne faisant aucun lien explicite avec la Tchétchénie. “Juste avant l’attaque, la bande s’est réunie dans les bois près d’une localité”, a déclaré le procureur, sans donner d’indication sur ce lieu, selon les images de la télévision russe.

Citant la déposition du seul membre du commando à avoir été pris vivant, il a indiqué que les preneurs d’otages étaient “environ trente, dont deux femmes”, sous le commandement d’un homme surnommé le “colonel”, assisté notamment d’un autre, nommé “Abdoul Malik”. “Ils sont partis en direction de Beslan à bord de trois véhicules (dont un camion), et y sont arrivés à l’aube”, a ajouté le procureur, ne signalant sur leur route qu’un accrochage avec un policier de quartier, sans autre précision. “Ils sont entrés [en voiture] dans la cour de l’école (...), ils avaient une énorme quantité d’armes et d’explosifs”, a poursuivi M. Oustinov.

Il a affirmé que des protestations avaient alors été émises parmi des membres du commando qui refusaient de s’en prendre à des écoliers. Citant toujours la déposition du preneur d’otages arrêté, il a dit que “le ‘colonel’ avait alors abattu un de ses hommes” pour avertir les autres. “Le même jour, pour mettre en garde à la fois les rebelles et les otages, ce bandit a fait sauter deux femmes kamikazes en appuyant sur une télécommande”, a-t-il rapporté à un Vladimir Poutine impassible, l’air grave.

Les preneurs d’otages ont ensuite miné le bâtiment “avec une connaissance des questions techniques” qui témoignait de leur “bonne préparation à cet acte terroriste”, selon le procureur général. Mais “en définitive, au bout de deux jours, quand ils ont voulu changer leur système d’explosifs, il y a eu une explosion, après quoi cela a été la panique à l’intérieur [de l’école]”. “Beaucoup d’otages ont tenté de s’enfuir, et les rebelles ont ouvert le feu”, a-t-il ajouté.

“Démission!”, scande une foule en colère à Vladikavkaz en Ossétie du Nord. “Démission!”, scandent un millier de manifestants sous le balcon du président ossète Alexandre Dzassokhov, qu’ils tiennent pour responsable du bain de sang de l’école de Beslan. Le président ossète finit par promettre de limoger son gouvernement, mais il reste vague sur son propre avenir. Du haut du balcon du siège du gouvernement local à Vladikavkaz, M. Dzassokhov, en costume noir, tente de couvrir le bruit de la manifestation des Ossètes en colère. “D’ici à deux jours, un décret sur la démission du gouvernement sera signé”, annonce-t-il. Il est immédiatement sifflé par les hommes et les femmes, qui réclament de plus belle sa démission.

Avec AFP et Reuters
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3214,36-378348,0.html
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Vladimir Poutine annonce une réforme du système de sécurité
LE MONDE | 06.09.04 | 14h17

Le président estime que la Russie est entrée en guerre avec le “terrorisme international”.
Plus de vingt-quatre heures après le dénouement sanglant de la prise d’otages de Beslan, Vladimir Poutine a fait une apparition de onze minutes à la télévision, samedi 4 septembre, pour présenter ses condoléances aux familles des otages décédés et rappeler que la Russie était la cible d’une guerre terroriste “d’ampleur”.

“Nous sommes en présence, non pas de terroristes isolés, mais d’une manifestation du terrorisme international contre la Russie”, a-t-il affirmé après avoir décrété un deuil national de deux jours - lundi 6 et mardi 7 septembre. Cette allocution a fait suite à une période de silence. La seule intervention de Vladimir Poutine avait été d’affirmer, à la veille de l’assaut, que “l’essentiel est de sauver la vie et protéger la santé des otages”.

“LES FAIBLES SONT BATTUS”
Veste et cravate noires, le président russe a insisté sur l’adoption prochaine d’une série de mesures destinées à renforcer l’unité et la sécurité du pays. “Nous devons créer un système de sécurité beaucoup plus efficace, exiger de nos forces de l’ordre des actions qui correspondent à l’échelle des nouvelles menaces”, a-t-il déclaré, tout en appelant ses concitoyens à “ne pas céder au chantage”. L’air grave, il a martelé : “Les terroristes croient qu’ils sont plus forts que nous, qu’ils peuvent nous faire peur au moyen de leur cruauté, paralyser notre volonté et démoraliser notre société. Nous rendre serait permettre la destruction et la dislocation de la Russie.”

Puis, dans un rare aveu de faiblesse, l’ancien lieutenant-colonel du KGB a confié : “Nous n’avons pas compris la complexité et le danger des processus qui se déroulaient dans notre pays et dans le monde entier, nous n’avons pas su réagir de façon appropriée. Nous avons fait preuve de faiblesse, et les faibles sont battus.”

Sans faire allusion une seule fois à la guerre en Tchétchénie, le président russe a estimé que la crise actuelle était à mettre au compte de la désintégration de l’URSS en 1991 : “Aujourd’hui, nous nous trouvons dans une situation née de la dislocation d’un énorme Etat, qui s’est malheureusement avéré incapable de s’adapter aux conditions de vie dans un monde en plein bouleversement.”

Il a rappelé que le pays possédait autrefois sur ses frontières externes le système de défense “le plus puissant”, puis il a déploré l’absence actuelle de protection “à l’Ouest comme à l’Est”. La protection des frontières externes de la Russie et celle des frontières administratives au nord du Caucase sont devenues une “priorité”. Le président semble ainsi considérer que la menace terroriste la plus grave émane de l’extérieur, faisant écho à la déclaration, deux jours plus tôt, d’un responsable local, Valeri Andreev, chef du FSB ossète, selon lequel “dix mercenaires d’origine arabe” étaient au nombre des preneurs d’otages.

Hanté par cette idée d’une menace externe, Vladimir Poutine a insisté : “Si nous nous laissons aller à la panique, alors nous entraînerons des millions de personnes dans des conflits meurtriers et sans fin comme celui du Karabakh - conflit en sommeil mettant aux prises l’Arménie et l’Azerbaïdjan -, celui de la région du Dniestr - fief des indépendantistes russophones de Moldavie - et bien d’autres tragédies que nous connaissons trop bien.”

Marie Jégo
• ARTICLE PARU DANS L’EDITION DU 07.09.04
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http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3214,36-377977,0.html

A Western strategy for Chechnya
Anatol Lieven IHT Thursday, September 09, 2004
After the Beslan massacre
WASHINGTON The vile massacre in the Russian town of Beslan should bring a number of points home to Western governments, and lead them to adopt a new and more useful approach to the conflict in Chechnya.

First, the strategy adopted by President Vladimir Putin has utterly failed to limit terrorism. The Chechens he has chosen to run the republic have failed to establish any real authority, and the abuses committed by Russian troops have contributed greatly to undermining Russia’s goals in Chechnya.

This recognition alone, however, is insufficient as a basis for understanding the Chechen conflict, let alone helping to ameliorate it. We must also recognize that there can be no negotiation or compromise with the terrorists who carried out this atrocity, with their commanders like Shamil Basayev, or with their allies in the world of international Islamist extremism.

Nor can the West encourage any political process which could lead to these extremists once again gaining an ascendancy in Chechnya, as they did during the period of its de facto independence from 1996 to 1999.

After the Russian withdrawal in 1996, these radical forces revolted against the democratically elected government of President Aslan Maskhadov and turned Chechnya into a base for a monstrous wave of kidnapping and murder against Russians, Westerners and fello Caucasians.

In alliance with radical Arab Islamists linked to Al Qaeda, they launched a campaign to drive Russia from the whole of the Northern Caucasus and unite it with Chechnya in one Islamic republic. President Maskhadov failed completely to suppress these groups. Indeed, senior Russian envoys were kidnapped and murdered while under his personal protection. According to Western officials, the criminal and Islamist group headed by the commander Arbi Barayev, which was responsible in 1998 for the kidnapping and beheading of four British telecom engineers, was under the protection of Maskhadov’s then vice president, Vaqa Arsanov.

In other words, when we advocate a political settlement in Chechnya, we should be quite clear that what we are advocating is not an end to the struggle against the Chechen extremists, but a way of reducing their support in the Chechen population in order to fight against them more successfully.

A new Western strategy for Chechnya should have three main components.

The first would be directed towards Moscow, and would echo our approach to Turkey, India and other countries which have fought similar conflicts against secessionist and terrorist forces. It would express unqualified support for Russia’s territorial integrity and for its struggle against the terrorists.

However, it would combine this with demands that the Russian state take much stronger action against abuses by the military, that international observers be allowed into Chechnya and that the Russian government launch a much more broadly based and democratic political initiative. This would include both the holding of democratic parliamentary elections in Chechnya and an offer of talks with Maskhadov and his followers.

The second Western approach should be to Maskhadov and his representatives in the West, like Ahmed Zakayev, who has been given political asylum in Britain. They should be reminded firmly that when they formed a Chechen government in 1996 to 99, they failed utterly to foster even minimal elements of a state in Chechnya, to protect foreign citizens there or to prevent Chechnya being used as a base by anti-Western extremists. Their credibility as would-be rulers of an independent Chechnya is zero.

Any thought of Chechen independence must therefore be deferred until a solid basis for Chechen statehood has been created. In return for Western support for Chechen democracy and their own amnesty and participation in the Chechen political process, Maskhadov and his followers must accept autonomy for Chechnya within the Russian Federation as a short-to-medium-term solution and promise to struggle for long-term independence by exclusively peaceful and political means.

They must also commit themselves not only to break absolutely with the terrorists, but to fight against them alongside Russian forces. If they fail to make this commitment, they should be treated by the West as terrorist supporters.

Finally, the West should back such a settlement with the promise of a really serious aid package for Chechnya’s reconstruction, calibrated so as to reward supporters of peace, and of Western special forces to help Russia in the fight against the terrorists.

It may be argued of course that such a commitment is utterly unrealistic, given the contemptible failure of Western countries even to meet their formal obligations to liberated Afghanistan. But then again, if Western governments and societies are not prepared to give real help to Chechnya, how much is their moralizing talk about the situation there really worth?

Anatol Lieven is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. His book, “Chechnya: Tombstone of Russian Power,” is published by Yale University Press.

http://www.iht.com/articles/537891.html

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L’invasion de l’Irak, une “bévue majeure” dans la lutte contre Al-Qaïda (expert)
AFP | 09.09.04 | 09h26

L’invasion de l’Irak a été “une bévue majeure” dans la lutte engagée par l’Occident contre Al-Qaïda, juge Paul Wilkinson, l’un des spécialistes mondiaux du terrorisme, à la veille du 3e anniversaire des attentats du 11 septembre 2001 aux Etats-Unis.La situation à Bagdad ne doit toutefois pas occulter que le réseau radical islamiste “peut être vaincu à long terme”, assure le professeur Wilkinson, président du Centre d’étude du terrorisme et de la violence politiquede l’université écossaise de St Andrews, où il a reçu l’AFP.L’invasion d’un pays “qui n’avait rien à voir avec Al-Qaïda (...) a offert une propagande gratuite à Oussama Ben Laden”, accuse le chercheur britannique. Al-Qaïda a pu ainsi “décrire l’invasion comme un acte d’impérialisme occidental contre le monde musulman” et “mobiliser de nouvelles recrues pour la guerre sainte”.Le réseau islamiste a bénéficié en outre, après la chute de Saddam Hussein, d’une “opportunité stratégique” dans un Irak en proie à l’insurrection et l’anarchie.“L’Irak, explique Paul Wilkinson, est devenu pour les terroristes ce qu’un pot de miel est pour des ours. Des milliers de cibles civiles et militaires ont soudain été disponibles dans un pays sans contrôles efficaces aux frontières et entouré de pays musulmans ayant des militants d’Al-Qaïda dans leur population”.Comme l’a souligné le Sénat américain, une attaque comparable ou pire que celles du 11 septembre reste possible en Occident. Mais aux yeux du chercheur, le principal risque lié aujourd’hui à Al-Qaïda est que la nébuleuse ne profite du “délaissement militaire et financier de l’Afghanistan”, conséquence directe de la guerre d’Irak.“La chute des talibans avait privé Al-Qaïda de sa base territoriale et logistique, rappelle-t-il. Mais le réseau, allié à des ‘seigneurs de la guerre’ et aux talibans cachés dans le sud-est et à la frontière du Pakistan, regagne aujourd’hui de l’influence”.En dépit de ces “bévues majeures”, la lutte contre le terrorisme islamiste a connu depuis 2001 “des succès incontestables” qu’énumère le Pr Wilkinson : “le renversement rapide des talibans, le blocage de millions de dollars de financements, des centaines d’arrestations de présumés militants expérimentés, le fait que le Pakistan et d’autres pays musulmans présents sur la ligne de front tiennent bon, etc.”“Surtout, explique-t-il, je suis convaincu que beaucoup plus de gens auraient été tués depuis trois ans s’il n’y avait eu une excellente coopération entre les services de renseignements”.La France d’ailleurs, malgré son désaccord avec les Etats-Unis sur l’Irak, “apporte une aide précieuse dans la lutte contre des groupes affiliés à Al-Qaïda, tels que les salafistes par exemple, et sur l’islamisme en Europe en général”, pointe Paul Wilkinson.Al-Qaïda, qui est parvenu à pallier son affaiblissement en s’agrégeant des groupes régionaux “qui donnent l’impression que le réseau peut frapper partout”, va continuer à “poser un problème très sérieux” aux pays occidentaux, mais aussi musulmans, juge l’expert. “Les guerres terroristes sont particulièrement difficiles à terminer, analyse-t-il, car les militants radicaux placent leur combat dans une perspective historique de long terme et ne sont pas découragés par les échecs”.Le réseau peut néanmoins être vaincu “à long terme”, conclut le chercheur, si ses opposants “savent se garder des réactions militaires excessives” et surtout s’ils parviennent à “diffuser le modèle démocratique dans le monde musulman”.

http://www.lemonde.fr/web/dh/0,14-0@14-0@2-3208,39-23573458,0.html

EurActive.com
Verheugen on Turkey: the question is when, not if…
Addressing a policy summit entitled “Turkey’s EU end-game?” in Brussels, Commissioner Verheugen said that while Turkey’s track record is impressive, the reforms should continue in a “credible and sustainable” manner. Coinciding with the event, Friends of Europe published a working paper by Dr Kirsty Hughes, LSE, entitled Turkey and the European Union: Just another enlargement?
http://www.euractiv.com/cgi-bin/cgint.exe?204&OIDN=1507888&-tt=in
——
Turkey and the European Union: Just another enlargement?
Paper by Dr Kirsty Hughes, LSE, explores the implications of Turkey’s accession and sums up the key issues related to the accession process.
http://www.friendsofeurope.org/pdfs/TurkeyandtheEuropeanUn
ion-WorkingPaperFoE.pdf

Turkey’s unrequited EU love

  By Oana Lungescu
BBC correspondent in Istanbul

Two years ago, Turkey won the Eurovision song contest with a tale of unrequited love.
In many ways, it echoed the country’s own unsuccessful bid to woo the European Union since 1963, when it signed an association agreement that promised eventual membership of the bloc.

Things began moving in 1999 when Turkey was officially recognised as an EU candidate, and especially after the election of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government in 2002, which quickened political reforms to an unprecedented pace.

Earlier this month, Turkish state television began broadcasting in Kurdish, the language of a sizeable minority in this country of 67 million.

On the same day, the government released four Kurdish activists, including human rights award winner Leyla Zana, who had spent 10 years in jail after trials deemed unfair by the EU.

Over the past 18 months, the government has passed nine reform packages, including a ban on the death penalty, a zero-tolerance policy towards torture in prisons, and curtailing the interference of the military in politics, education and culture.
“I am impressed - because starting with the constitution, they’ve changed a lot of laws,” says Murat Celikan, a human rights activist who writes a regular column in the daily Radikal.

“To give one example, two years ago, a radio was banned for one year for airing a song in Kurdish and in Armenian. Now the state television has Kurdish programmes - so that’s a great change.”

The EU has also welcomed the reforms, but it wants them implemented across this vast country by local police, judges and bureaucrats. So far, implementation is uneven, especially in the provinces and the Kurdish areas in the south-east.

“It will take time because I am sure that the security forces especially are not yet well informed about those changes. If you want to make a demonstration in Istanbul or in an eastern province like Diyarbakir, the procedures are still different - not by law, but because of implementation,” says Murat Celikan.

Investor wariness

The prospect of EU membership, coupled with IMF-inspired reforms, have also brought greater stability to the crisis-prone Turkish economy.

Huge shopping centres are full of young people in search of the latest trends. The economy is growing, while inflation has fallen to single-digit figures for the first time in decades.

It will be a big, almost the biggest country, it will be pretty much the poorest country in the EU and it’s located in quite a difficult strategic security position
Kirsty Hughes
Analyst

But foreign investors remain wary of Turkey. In 2002, they invested only $300m (£164m), 10 times less than in Hungary, a country whose entire economy equals that of Istanbul.
Cem Duna, a leading member of the influential Turkish businessmen and industrialists association Tusiad, has this explanation.

“Hungary is a member of the European Union and has been a candidate for the past 10 years or so, this was the main reason why this happened. Now Turkey can easily amass up to $10-15bn (£5.5-8bn) foreign direct investment per annum once it is on the same track, with the same finality in sight.”

Meanwhile, Turkey remains poorer than the 10 countries of central and southern Europe that have just joined the EU, with living standards at about a quarter of EU levels.

Muslim giant

But in terms of population, it is as big as all of the 10 put together.

If it were to join around 2015, it would become the second biggest country in the EU after Germany.

Is the EU ready to admit such a large poor country, which also happens to border on Iraq and Syria?

Kirsty Hughes is the author of a recent study on the implications of Turkish EU membership.
“It will be a big, almost the biggest country, it will be pretty much the poorest country in the EU and it’s located in quite a difficult strategically security position,” she says.

“But when you actually look at what does that mean for joining the union, what it means for its economic policies, for its budget, for how it votes to make decisions, then all those things start to look manageable.

“For instance, it would have about 15% of the votes in the EU Council, that’s slightly less than Germany has today in the say of how to run the EU. In budget terms it would cost about as much as the ‘big bang’ enlargement that we’ve just had.

“Now again, that’s not cheap, but it’s about 10% to 15% of the EU’s budget so it’s not as shocking as if you said it’s going to be half the budget. It does have a lot of implications for EU foreign policy, but I think those will have to be taken as they come.”

Strategic

For Guenter Verheugen, the European enlargement commissioner, Turkey’s strategic position straddling Europe and the greater Middle East is an asset rather than a drawback.

EU politicians face one of the toughest decisions they have ever had to take. If they say no to Turkey, they risk alienating a key ally in the Muslim world with unpredictable consequences. If they say yes, they may upset many voters at home who are already unhappy about where the EU is going

At a recent conference in Brussels, he warned that the EU would make a tragic mistake if it stopped or reversed the process of democratisation in Turkey by denying it eventual membership.

“The eleventh of September 2001 marks a far-reaching change in our strategic thinking. Since 11 September, the question of the relationship between Western democracies and the Islamic world is one of the most important issues in the first decade of the 21st Century.

“The question - which role will Turkey play in the organisation of that relationship - can be very crucial. Personally, I am convinced it will be crucial.

“And the process of reforms in Turkey has a meaning far beyond the borders of that country. It has a meaning for the whole Islamic world, because it demonstrates that there’s no contradiction between the universal values of human rights, democracy, the state of law and a country with a Muslim population and Muslim background.”

EU decision

In October, Mr Verheugen will issue a progress report on Turkey which will form the basis for the decision of EU leaders.

While the report is widely expected to be positive, public opinion in France, Germany, Austria and elsewhere is becoming increasingly reluctant to accept a further enlargement of the EU, especially to include a large Muslim nation like Turkey.

Since the Netherlands will be holding the EU’s rotating presidency in the second half of the year, I asked Ben Bot, the Dutch foreign minister (and a former Dutch ambassador to Turkey) how worried he is about the lack of public support among Western voters?

“Perhaps there has been a lack of proper communication and now there is, I think, an unjustified fear of Islam, which is perhaps understandable in the context of terrorism and so on, but which is not justified - because I think that the situation in Turkey is completely different.

“They also forget that Turkey has been a member of Nato, of the Council of Europe, that it has helped the West during all these years, also during the Cold War, has been a staunch ally.

“And so, it’s in itself astonishing that people all of a sudden are against Turkish participation, whereas we think that Turkey would be a very valuable member of the EU. It will take a long time, that I agree, it will certainly take many, many years of negotiations before they fully comply with all the criteria.”

Indeed, in 10 years or so from now, the EU will be a very different union, and Turkey will be a very different country.

But come December, EU politicians face one of the toughest decisions they have ever had to take.

If they say no to Turkey, they risk alienating a key ally in the Muslim world. But if they say yes, they may upset many voters at home who are already unhappy about where the EU is going.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/3847373.stm

Published: 2004/06/28 16:01:25 GMT

© BBC MMIV

EU presses Turkey on Kurd rights

The EU’s Enlargement Commissioner, Guenter Verheugen, has said Turkey must do more to improve the cultural rights of its Kurdish minority.
“What we have seen so far can only be the beginning,” he said on a visit to the Diyarbakir region, in the mainly Kurdish south-east of Turkey.

Mr Verheugen is on a fact-finding tour ahead of an EU Commission report next month on Turkey’s EU membership bid.

EU leaders will decide in December whether to open EU accession talks.

Mr Verheugen, quoted by Reuters news agency, said Turkey needed to step up efforts to help displaced Kurds return home.

“I think one should strongly support the wish of people to return to their villages,” he said.

Rights abuses

The Turkish military was blamed for widespread human rights abuses carried out during a campaign against Kurdish militants in the 1980s and 1990s.

Tens of thousands of Kurds fled or were evacuated from their homes during the heaviest fighting, which largely subsided after the capture of Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1999.
Constitutional and judicial reforms undertaken by Turkey in recent years are now under close EU scrutiny.

On a visit to a women’s centre in Diyarbakir, Mr Verheugen stressed the need for Turkey to improve women’s rights.

“Democracy cannot be realised without gender equality,” he said.

Mr Verheugen said that it was important that the reforms should continue.

After Turkey’s accession the EU will not easily be able to pursue the current farm and regional policy - Europe would implode
Frits Bolkestein
EU internal market commissioner

In June, Turkey allowed the first, very limited Kurdish-language broadcasts on state radio and television.

Kurds, who form some 12 million of Turkey’s 70 million population, are also pushing for Kurdish language education in schools.

The commission’s job is to make sure that Turkey conforms with the political criteria laid down by the EU as a precondition for membership. There is much focus now on how the reforms are being implemented.

Mistreatment of those in police custody was one concern that many held about Turkey.

Concern in Brussels

A heated debate about Turkey continues to rage in Brussels, the BBC’s Oana Lungescu reports.

EU internal market commissioner Frits Bolkestein said in a speech this week that Turkey’s accession could make the EU “implode” and would render the entry of other countries such as Ukraine and Belarus inevitable.

In a speech at Leyden University about the decline and fall of empires, the Dutch liberal politician said Turkey would have to change its identity completely before it could join the EU.

After the accession of Turkey, Mr Bolkestein said, Europe could no longer carry on with its current farming and regional subsidies.

Our correspondent says Mr Bolkestein reflects wider public unease about a poor, populous, Islamic country joining the EU.

At least two other EU commissioners - Spain’s Loyola de Palacio and Austria’s Franz Fischler - are expected to voice their opposition in a month’s time, when the EU executive is due to publish its crucial report on Turkey.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/3634024.stm

Published: 2004/09/07 15:52:27 GMT

© BBC MMIV

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Policies unsustainable with Turkey in EU, warns Commissioner
07.09.2004 - 17:40 CET | By Andrew Beatty
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Frits Bolkestein has warned that the European Union will “implode” if farm and regional aid policies remain unchanged by the time Turkey joins the EU.

The Internal Market Commissioner on Monday (6 September) cautioned that current levels of support for farmers and poorer regions would be untenable given the size of the EU’s collective budget.

“After the entry of Turkey, the EU could simply not continue with the agricultural and regional policy it has had up until now. The EU would implode”, he told an audience at Leiden University, the Netherlands.

His comments echo those made by ex-Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari whose independent commission yesterday reported that member states’ current 1.27% of GDP ceiling for budget contributions would not be enough in a Union including Turkey.

The EU currently spends around half of its 100 billion a year budget on Agricultural aid.

In his speech Mr Bolkestein also suggested that acceptance of Turkey should also mean acceptance of other countries on the EU’s eastern flank.

“Whoever accepts Turkey must also accept Ukraine and Belarus. These countries are more European than Turkey ... In 15 to 20 years, we could have an EU with up to 40 Member States”, he said.

Budget hike, aid cut
A spokesman for Mr Bolkestein today denied the Commissioner opposes Turkey’s accession but was highlighting the need for Turkey and the EU to be well prepared for the country’s accession.

According to the Ahtasaari Commission, the challenge is not insurmountable, although many political obstacles remain.

If polices were to remain unchanged, with a relatively large and poor country inside the club the burden on richer member states could be increased considerably.

Already many member states are pushing for a cut in EU budget contributions.

And with people in net budget contributing countries, such as Germany and the Netherlands, already sceptical of Turkish membership, any hike in fees would be doubly unpopular among voters.

However, there is likely to be pressure for cuts to come from other policies, as France - a major beneficiary of regional and farm aid - is also a country where Turkish membership receives a lukewarm response.

The European Commission is scheduled to report on Turkey’s fulfilment of the criteria to start accession negotiations in early October.
http://www.euobserver.com/?sid=9&aid=17222
—-
De heer Frits Bolkestein
Lid van de Europese Commissie verantwoordelijk voor Interne Markt en Belastingzaken
De Veelvolkeren Unie
Ter Gelegenheid van de Opening van het Academisch Jaar
Universiteit van Leiden, 6 september 2004

http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/04/390&format=HTML&aged=0&language=NL&guiLanguage=en

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EU commissioner’s remarks on Turkey raising eyebrows
Graham Bowley IHT Wednesday, September 08, 2004
BRUSSELS Frits Bolkestein, one of the European Union’s most outspoken commissioners, stirred controversy Tuesday after he seemed to try to raise concerns that admitting Turkey to the EU would make Europe more Islamic.

In a speech at the University of Leidenlate on Monday, Bolkestein said that some predictions that Europe may be predominantly Islamic by the end of the century meant that the siege of Vienna in 1683, when troops repulsed Ottoman Turks, “will have been in vain.”

A spokesman for Bolkestein on Tuesday played down the comments, saying the remarks were hypothetical and that the commissioner did not oppose Turkey’s proposed entry to the EU.

But the timing of the remarks - as talks to consider Turkey’s potential EU membership begin - raises questions about Bolkestein’s motives during a period of intense nervousness and feverish negotiation across the Continent, with the focus on, among other things, Turkey’s record on democracy and human rights.

“The current trend warrants only one conclusion: the United States remains the sole superpower, China will become an economic giant, Europe is becoming more Islamic,” Bolkestein said in the speech, according to reports from Reuters.

Bolkestein, the eloquent and well-respected EU internal markets commissioner and an economic liberal, stirred a controversy in March when he said in a book that Turkey should remain outside the EU to be a buffer to protect Europe from Syria, Iran and Iraq. He will be among those voting when the Commission decides, in a report to be published Oct. 6, whether to open Europe’s gates to Turkey, a poor, mainly Muslim country of about 70 million people.

The issue is highly sensitive because of fears, chiefly among conservative Christian Democrat groups, that Turkey’s admission could transform the nature of the European Union.

They are worried that Turkey could alter the union’s balance of power because votes in the EU are determined largely by population, and Turkey would be one of its most populous nations. They are also worried it would drain Europe’s budget; Bolkestein said admitting Turkey could strain the EU’s farming and regional aid budgets to the limit.

Within Europe, supporters of Turkish entry include the United Kingdom, Spain, and Italy, but France, Austria and Luxembourg have tried to block the process.

International Herald Tribune
http://www.iht.com/articles/537817.html
—-

Turkish accession could spell end of EU, says commissioner

David Gow in Brussels and Ewen MacAskill
Wednesday September 8, 2004
The Guardian

A European commissioner has warned that the European Union may implode if Turkey is allowed to join.

Frits Bolkestein, the internal market commissioner, expressed concern that if Ankara was admitted to the EU, the defeat of Turks in Vienna more than 300 years ago could turn out to have been in vain.

The commission is due to report next month on Turkey’s eligibility and heads of government are scheduled to make a decision in December.

Mr Bolkestein laid bare tensions in the EU over whether to open accession talks with Ankara. The Dutch rightwing liberal said Turkey would have to undergo huge changes before being ready for entry, fundamentally altering its identity, and that the accession of a country of 68 million people, with perhaps 83 million by 2010, would transform the EU.

He added: “After Turkish entry the EU will simply be unable to sustain its current agricultural and regional policy. Europe would implode.”

Yesterday, his spokesman insisted that Mr Bolkestein did not want to prejudge the outcome of the debate within the commission.

Mr Bolkestein, quoting remarks by the US historian Bernard Lewis that Europe would be Islamic by the end of this century, commented: “I don’t know if it will take this course but, if he’s right, the liberation of Vienna [from the Ottoman Turks] in 1683 would have been in vain.”

His colleague, Günter Verheugen, the European commissioner responsible for enlargement, also issued a warning to Turkey yesterday, indicating it would have to improve the lot of its Kurdish minority if it wanted to join the EU.

He was speaking during a visit to Tuzla, a Kurdish village set on fire by Turkish troops fighting Kurdish rebels in 1995.

On October 6, Mr Verheugen is to publish his verdict on whether Turkey is eligible for accession. Heads of government are to make a decision based on his assessment.
Many EU countries are hostile, partly because accession would bring 68 million Muslims into the EU. The Netherlands and Austria are among the biggest critics, with France, Germany and Belgium also resistant. Britain supports Turkish entry.

Mr Verheugen, making his final visit to Turkey before completing his report, said: “We have strongly ... advocated education in the Kurdish language and broadcasts in the Kurdish language and I am satisfied that they have started with some delay. But I must say that what we have seen so far can only be the beginning.”

Until recently, the private view among commissioners such as Mr Verheugen was that there was no possibility of Turkish entry for at least 20 years because of its abysmal human rights record.

But the US, which sees Turkey as an ally in its “war on terror”, has been pressing the EU to allow earlier entry, and the Turkish government has been pushing through reforms of its legal system, including the abolition of the death penalty.
An indication of the likely direction of Mr Verheugen’s report was offered this week with publication of an independent report by a panel headed by Martti Ahtisaari, the former Finnish president.

Mr Ahtisaari said that Turkish entry would offer “considerable benefits”, not least because “as a large Muslim country firmly embedded in the EU, Turkey could play a significant role in Europe’s relations with the Islamic world”.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/eu/story/0,7369,1299481,00.html
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Fears of Turkish migrant influx ‘vastly exaggerated’
06.09.2004 - 17:30 CET | By Andrew Beatty
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The head of an independent Commission investigating Turkish membership of the European Union has branded fears of an influx of immigrants to Europe as “vastly exaggerated”.

Martti Ahtisaari, former Finnish president and chair of a high-level group investigating Turkish EU membership said on Monday (6 September) that the group’s findings had shown fears of a massive influx of migrants to Europe to be unfounded.

Announcing the publication of a report produced by a nine-strong panel, Mr Ahtisaari said that forecasts indicate 2.7 million migrants arriving from Turkey in the long term, making up 0.5 percent of the EU’s population.

The panel includes academics as well as former prime ministers, European commissioners and foreign ministers.

Ready or not?
An influx of Muslim workers to Europe after Turkey becomes part of the EU’s zone of free movement is often cited by those who fear the negative effects of Turkish membership.

Mr Ahtisaari however said that immigration would be necessary to maintain the welfare systems of many European countries, which will increasingly suffer the effects of ageing populations.

According to the report, future Turkish migration is likely to include more “professional and better educated people” - in contrast to the many Turkish migrants from rural areas who arrived to Europe in the 1950’s and 60’s under guest worker schemes.

This, it is said, would make integration easier.

Around 3.8 million Turkish migrants are thought to live in Europe today.

Criteria met
The report does not touch on the issue if Turkey has met the political or economic criteria which will form the basis of the EU’s decision to start negations with Turkey later this year.

It predicts that Turkish membership would boost the EU’s interests in the Middle East, the Balkans, its internal trade as well as boosting ties with the Islamic world.

But while there are problems such as the EU’s ability to integrate such a large member state into its decision making procedures, none are insurmountable according to the group.

The report’s publication coincides with a five day visit to Turkey by Enlargement Commissioner Günter Verheugen.

His visit comes ahead of the Commission’s report on Turkey’s progress in meeting the EU’s membership criteria, which will go some way to determining whether negotiations begin in 2005

http://www.euobserver.com/?sid=9&aid=17208
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Report of the independent Commission investigating Turkish membership of the European Union
http://www.independentcommissiononturkey.org/pdfs/english.pdf
——

Après le film de Michael Moore, c’est au tour d’un livre, à paraître aujourd’hui outre-Atlantique (Intelligence Matters), d’embarrasser la Maison-Blanche. L’auteur, Bob Graham, sénateur démocrate, accuse le FBI et la présidence américaine d’avoir ” bloqué des efforts pour enquêter sur l’étendue des liens saoudiens officiels avec deux pirates de l’air ” impliqués dans les attentats du 11 septembre 2001, déclare le quotidien américain Miami Herald, cité par l’AFP. Les collaborateurs de la commission d’enquête parlementaire sur le 11 septembre, coprésidée par Bob Graham et le républicain Porter Goss, auraient découvert des liens financiers unissant ” deux agents saoudiens ” aux pirates de l’air. Une piste que les enquêteurs n’ont pu explorer plus avant, selon l’auteur du livre, puisque le FBI les aurait alors empêchés de mener les entretiens dans le cadre de ces recherches. Une obstruction à laquelle s’ajouterait la censure de passages du rapport parlementaire. Vraie ou fausse info ? Pour sa part, l’un des responsables de la commission s’est empressé de démentir les propos de Bob Graham. John Kerry, candidat démocrate à la présidence, réclame une enquête indépendante.

Article paru dans l’édition du 7 septembre 2004 (L’Humanité).

[b]La blague du jour[/b]

Voter Kerry favoriserait de nouveaux attentats aux Etats-Unis, selon Dick Cheney

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Le vice-président américain Dick Cheney a affirmé mardi que les Etats-Unis feraient face à une nouvelle menace terroriste si les électeurs faisaient le “mauvais choix” le jour des élections, soulignant que John Kerry adopterait une politique défensive, typique de l’avant-11 septembre.

Le comité de campagne Kerry-Edwards a immédiatement réagi en qualifiant ces propos de “faibles tactiques”, dépassant les bornes.

“Il est primordial que dans huit semaines, le 2 novembre, nous fassions le bon choix, parce que si nous faisons le mauvais choix, il est probable que nous soyons une nouvelle fois attaqués, de façon dévastatrice pour les Etats-Unis”, a affirmé Cheney devant 350 supporters lors d’un meeting à l’hôtel de ville de Des Moines (Iowa).

Si John Kerry était élu, la nation retournerait à “un état d’esprit avant-11 septembre”, selon lequel les attentats terroristes sont des actes criminels qui nécessitent une approche réactive, a expliqué Cheney. Au contraire, l’approche offensive de George Bush vise à débusquer les terroristes là où ils s’organisent et s’entraînent et à faire pression sur les pays qui les abritent.

Le vice-président a pris en exemple l’effort réalisé en Afghanistan pour poursuivre les terroristes, alors que le cerveau des attentats du 11 septembre, Oussama ben Laden court toujours. En Irak, Dick Cheney a rappelé l’arrestation de Saddam Hussein, dirigeant qui utilisait les armes de destruction massive contre son propre peuple et abritait des terroristes.

Le candidat démocrate à la vice-présidence John Edwards a diffusé un communiqué affirmant que “les faibles tactiques de Dick Cheney avaient dépassé les bornes, prouvant une nouvelle fois que lui et George W. Bush feront tout ce qui est en leur pouvoir et diront n’importe quoi pour conserver leurs postes. Protéger l’Amérique des agissements de terroristes dangereux n’est pas un argument démocrate ou républicain, Dick Cheney et George Bush devraient savoir ça.” AP

M. Verheugen promet aux Turcs qu’ils seront “citoyens de la même Europe”
LE MONDE | 07.09.04 | 17h30
Le commissaire européen en charge des questions d’élargissement de l’Union a entamé une ultime visite en Turquie pour vérifier l’application des réformes demandées et finaliser son rapport. L’avis de la Commission, prévu pour le 6 octobre, divise ses membres.

Ankara, Diyarbakir de notre envoyé spécial

Défenseurs des droits de l’homme, dignitaires religieux, élus, hommes d’affaires : telle est l’ultime tournée “sur le terrain” qu’effectue Günter Verheugen, le commissaire à l’élargissement, avant que la Commission ne rende, le 6 octobre, sa recommandation à propos de l’ouverture de négociations d’adhésion avec l’Union européenne, assortie d’un rapport sur l’état d’avancement des réformes.

Lundi 6 septembre à Ankara, il a rencontré, le premier ministre, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, et son ministre des affaires étrangères, Abdullah Gul. Il s’est ensuite entretenu avec des militants associatifs. Puis s’est envolé vers Diyarbakir, dans le sud-est anatolien, où il a croisé dans la soirée l’ancienne députée kurde, Leyla Zana, libérée en juin après dix ans de détention pour liens avec le Parti séparatiste des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK). Mardi, M. Verheugen devait se rendre dans un village où les populations chassées par le conflit kurde tentent peu à peu de revenir.

A chaque rencontre, l’émissaire de Bruxelles fait mine de cultiver le secret, mais il laisse transparaître ses intentions : “C’est l’heure de vérité ; le Conseil nous a donné un mandat clair, il n’est pas question de fuir nos responsabilités”, a-t-il répété à plusieurs reprises. “Nous serons citoyens de la même Europe”, a-t-il répliqué au jeune maire de Diyarbakir, qui a fait placarder pour l’occasion de grandes pancartes dans cette ville à majorité kurde : “Bienvenue au citoyen Verheugen dans la Grande Europe”.

La commission s’apprêterait, selon le vœux de M. Verheugen, à formuler une recommandation “claire et ferme” aux Etats membres, lesquels doivent se prononcer à l’unanimité le 17 décembre. Les diplomates européens considèrent que la Turquie a accompli d’importants progrès sur le chemin des réformes : elle respecterait désormais pour l’essentiel les critères d’adhésion, en particulier sur le plan politique. Pour les experts, la situation a évolué dans le bon sens depuis le début des années 2000, même si de sérieuses difficultés demeurent dans l’application des nouvelles lois.

“La mise en œuvre n’est pas achevée, mais c’est normal”, a dit M. Verheugen, tout en soulignant à plusieurs reprises le lien, “qui ne doit pas être rompu”, entre “démocratisation et intégration européenne”.

La principale inconnue réside plutôt dans le calendrier. Les dirigeants turcs réclament une date précise, la plus rapprochée possible. Aux yeux du commissaire, la question demeure ouverte. La Commission ne serait, selon lui, pas tenue d’avancer une date formelle, mais elle pourrait identifier une période indicative. Deux options sont possibles : soit l’exécutif européen préconise d’ouvrir les pourparlers “sans délai”, c’est-à-dire après quatre à six mois d’ultimes préparatifs. Soit il préconise d’attendre un peu, pour ouvrir les négociations fin 2005 ou début 2006. Cette option pourrait permettre de laisser passer la ratification du traité constitutionnel européen dans un pays comme la France, afin d’éviter que la campagne ne soit polluée par la question turque.

LE SUD-EST EN RETARD
Tout dépendra également des discussions au sein d’une Commission divisée sur le sujet : M. Verheugen espère une décision consensuelle, mais plusieurs commissaires - l’Autrichien Franz Fischler, l’Espagnole Loyola de Palacio, le Néerlandais Frits Bolkestein, et la Luxembourgeoise Viviane Reding - ne cachent pas leurs réserves quant à l’ouverture de négociations. Et pourraient compliquer la rédaction de la recommandation.

M. Verheugen profite de sa tournée turque, qui doit aussi le conduire à Izmir et Istanbul, pour faire un ultime point sur les réformes. Lundi, lors de sa rencontre avec MM. Erdogan et Gul, il a salué l’adoption en cours d’un nouveau code pénal. Mais Bruxelles suggère à la Turquie de renoncer à faire de l’adultère un délit, comme le prévoit le projet. “Une telle législation n’existe pas dans les pays membres ; elle fausserait la perception que l’on se fait dans l’Union des réformes en Turquie”, dit-on dans l’entourage de M. Verheugen.

Autre souci, l’Union européenne s’inquiète du sort des communautés non musulmanes, dont les conditions d’existence - droit de propriété, statut, formation du clergé - sont précaires. Lors de ses entretiens, M. Verheugen met également l’accent sur le harcèlement judiciaire dont sont toujours victimes certains défenseurs des droits de l’homme, des journalistes et des avocats. Enfin, il considère que le sud-est du pays demeure très en retard et que le retour des populations déplacées du fait du conflit avec le PKK reste très lent. Mais ces préoccupations ne semblent pas atténuer la confiance de M. Verheugen dans la capacité des autorités turques à poursuivre le processus de démocratisation… tout en négociant l’adhésion à l’Union. Pour lui, “la Turquie qui intégrera l’Union ne sera pas le pays d’aujourd’hui”.
Philippe Ricard
Les réticences restent fortes en France
“Dans le monde de demain, l’intérêt de l’Union, comme de la Turquie, est d’emprunter un chemin commun” : devant la conférence des ambassadeurs, le 27 août, le président Chirac a réaffirmé sa position de principe en faveur d’une adhésion dès que les conditions seront remplies. Cette position va à contre-pied de celle prise par l’UMP et l’UDF lors des élections européennes. La question turque continue de diviser fortement la classe politique française, dans la majorité comme dans l’opposition.

Chez les socialistes, Laurent Fabius a confirmé fin août, dans une tribune au Monde, une opposition partagée dans la gauche du parti. Une mission de la délégation pour l’Union européenne de l’Assemblée nationale, conduite par l’UMP Pierre Lequillier, adversaire de l’adhésion, va se rendre prochainement en Turquie. Cette hésitation se retrouve dans beaucoup de pays européens, où les gouvernements affrontent des opinions réticentes. Seuls les Britanniques et les Espagnols ne connaissent pas d’états d’âme.
• ARTICLE PARU DANS L’EDITION DU 08.09.04

http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3214,36-378116,0.html

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Neuf personnalités, dont Michel Rocard, plaident la cause d’Ankara
LE MONDE | 07.09.04 | 17h30
Bruxelles de notre bureau européen
“L’avènement d’une Europe aux religions multiples pourrait montrer avec force que le conflit des civilisations n’est pas le destin inéluctable du genre humain” : neuf personnalités politiques européennes ont avancé cet argument, lundi 6 septembre à Bruxelles, pour prôner l’entrée de la Turquie, pays musulman, dans l’Union européenne.

Ces neuf personnalités, qui souhaitent “contribuer à l’émergence d’un débat plus rationnel” sur l’identité européenne, viennent de pays et d’horizons politiques différents. Parmi elles figurent notamment trois députés européens - Michel Rocard, socialiste, ancien premier ministre français, Bronislaw Geremek, libéral, ancien dissident et ministre des affaires étrangères de Pologne, et Emma Bonino, radicale italienne, ancienne commissaire.

L’ancien président social-démocrate de la Finlande, Marti Ahtisaari, a présidé leurs travaux, qui ont obtenu le soutien financier du British Council, institution publique financée par le gouvernement britannique, partisan de l’adhésion turque, et de l’Open Society Institute, fondation privée du milliardaire George Soros.

Pour ces personnalités, l’adhésion de la Turquie démontrerait le caractère “tolérant” de l’Europe, qui n’apparaîtrait plus comme un “club chrétien fermé”. Elle prouverait que l’islam et la démocratie sont “compatibles”. “En proposant un modèle alternatif à la société intolérante, sectaire et fermée sur elle-même que prônent les islamistes radicaux, l’Europe pourrait jouer un rôle majeur dans les relations entre l’Occident et le monde islamique”, affirment-elles. La présence de la Turquie dans l’Union “augmenterait l’influence de celle-ci au Moyen-Orient, influence qui pourrait être utilisée pour pacifier et stabiliser cette région”. A contrario, l’échec du processus pourrait susciter une “grave crise d’identité en Turquie”.

SAINT-PAUL ET L’ANATOLIE
Les signataires rejettent les arguments invoqués pour dénier à la Turquie une légitimité européenne : certes, ce pays se trouve “sur la ligne qui sépare l’Asie et l’Europe”. Mais “l’Anatolie, région qui constitue aujourd’hui encore le cœur de la Turquie”, et où “saint Paul fit son premier voyage de missionnaire, portant la chrétienté au-delà des frontières du judaïsme”, a été “l’un des berceaux de la civilisation européenne”, rappellent-ils. Ils soulignent qu’“en cela, le cas de la Turquie diffère de celui des pays d’Afrique du Nord”.

Ces personnalités écartent l’argument selon lequel l’adhésion de la Turquie bloquerait l’intégration politique européenne au profit d’une vaste zone de libre-échange : “En dépit de sa taille, il est improbable que l’adhésion de la Turquie modifie de manière fondamentale le fonctionnement des institutions”, affirment-elles, en soulignant que “le processus décisionnel est fondé sur des alliances qui ne cessent de fluctuer”, que “l’influence politique des Etats membres dépend au moins autant de leur puissance économique que de leur taille ou de leur poids démographique”.

Ces personnalités estiment que les gouvernements européens devront suivre les recommandations que formulera la Commission dans le rapport qu’elle remettra le 6 octobre. Si elle juge que la Turquie remplit suffisamment les critères politiques requis, en matière de droits de l’homme et d’économie de marché, pour que des négociations d’adhésion soient ouvertes, ils devront l’accepter. “Tout nouvel ajournement affaiblirait la crédibilité de l’Union européenne et serait perçu comme une violation du principe selon lequel les accords doivent être respectés”, a insisté Michel Rocard, en présentant le titre de leur ouvrage collectif La Turquie dans l’Europe : plus qu’une promesse ?

Rafaële Rivais
• ARTICLE PARU DANS L’EDITION DU 08.09.04
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3214,36-378117,0.html
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Rapport d’information fait au nom de la Délégation pour l’Union européenne sur la candidature de la Turquie à l’Union européenne
Robert DEL PICCHIA, Hubert HAENEL
FRANCE. Sénat. Délégation pour l’Union européenne

Paris;Sénat;2004;88 pages;24cm
(Les Rapports du Sénat, n° 279)
En décembre 2004, le Conseil européen décidera si l’Union européenne ouvre des négociations d’adhésion avec la Turquie et déterminera si ce pays satisfait aux critères politiques définis à Copenhague (stabilité des institutions, respect des droits de l’homme, fonctionnement du système judiciaire, droits des minorités et liberté religieuse). Après un voyage en Turquie, les rapporteurs évoquent la perspective des relations entre la Turquie et l’Union européenne, les éléments à prendre en considération et avancent l’idée d’un “partenariat privilégié”.
http://www.senat.fr/rap/r03-279/r03-279.html