I diritti umani, metro di valutazione della Turchia
[ Die Welt ] I diritti umani in Turchia sono diventati il tema centrale per il governo e l'opinione pubblica tedesca nella discussione su una possibile vendita di 1000 carri armati del tipo Leopard 2 ad Ankara. Secondo uno studio tedesco, l'esercito turco ha ucciso 40mila persone in quindici anni nella guerra contro i curdi. Due milioni e mezzo di persone sono dovute scappare dalle proprie case. Un deputate dei verdi tedeschi, Cem Ozdemir, lui stesso di origine turca, ha accusato il governo turco di non avere la minima idea di quello che succede dentro le carceri. Ozdemir dubita della serietà nelle intenzioni turche di migliorare la situazione dei dirirtti civili.

Messlatte Menschenrechte

Die Lage in der Türkei soll sich nächstes Jahr nachprüfbar verbessert haben - fehlen nur noch die Kriterien
http://www.welt.de/daten/1999/10/27/1027eu135154.htx

STOP NATO: ¡NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.HOME-PAGE.ORG

[Here's the much-touted Die Neue Mitte - New Middle/Third Way/
Schroeder-Fischer-Blair-Clinton - doctrine in all its splendor. In a
unipolar world, without even the flimmiest rationale for "defense," the
entire globe and the world economy is beng completely militarized. You'd
think somebody would ask why.]
World 11:16 PM GMT+8, Friday October 22
German coalition under strain over tanks for Turkey BERLIN, Oct 22 (AFP)
- The German government was divided Friday over the possible sale to
Turkey of 1,000 battle tanks, which the Greens, junior party in the
ruling coalition, strongly oppose. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, leader
of the dominant Social Democrats (SPD), defended the prospect against
criticism from the Greens, who have announced a national campaign to
prevent such a sale. He told the Tagespiegel newspaper he could
understand the objections, but that as head of government he could not
accept such an attitude toward a NATO state and potential member of the
European Union. Schroeder pointed out that Turkey already possesses the
forerunner of the German-made tank in question, the Leopard I. The head
of the SPD parliamentary group, Peter Struck, said it made no sense to
mount a campaign against one's own government, but downplayed the
seriousness of the difference in the coalition, which he said had worked
well so far.
To the dismay of the Greens -- as well as numerous SPD members,
including leftwing cabinet minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul -- the
national security council Wednesday agreed to let Turkey have one
Leopard II tank on trial.
Although the present decision goes no further than that, it was seen as
as a significant step towards satisfying Ankara's search for a foreign
partner to help it procure 1,000 tanks in the next few years. Above all,
the decision was taken despite the express objection of Foreign Minister
Joschka Fischer, the most prominent member of Germany's Greens party.
Defence Minister Rudolf Scharping, a social democrat who voted with
Schroeder in favour of letting Turkey have a test model of the tank, saw
the reaction as exaggerated and contradictory. "We cannot on the one
hand follow Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer who wants Turkey among the
EU candidates, and on the other throw into question Turkey's contractual
reliability and its alliance-worthiness," he told the Berliner
Morgenpost.
The national head of the Greens, Reinhard Buetikofer, earlier announced
that the party would now try to mobilise public opinion against the
envisaged sale.
"The fight is just beginning," he told the Tageszeitung. That would be
the first extra-parliamentary campaign by the Greens against government
policy since the coalition came to power a year ago, despite previous
differences, notably over nuclear power which the Greens wanted
abolished rapidly.
The Greens parliamentary leader, Rezzo Schlauch, for his part warned
Schroeder: "Things cannnot continue like this." But he did not regard
the coalition as being in crisis, although it was "indeed under serious
strain."
The Greens party, which has a strong pacificist tendency, sees the sale
of tanks to Turkey as unacceptable given the Ankara regime's
unsatisfactory human rights record.
The human rights watchdog Amnesty International described the decision
to deliver the test tank model as "a wrong signal" to Ankara. The
group's arms expert, Matthias John, said the German government was
giving symbolic support to a Turkish military guilty of serious human
rights violations.