‘2012’: the end of the world 04 04 as we know it Koch, president-minister of the Philip Gordon: US closely follows German state of Hesse: Let's not Ergenekon trial and supports harm accession process any further Turkey's democratization process Your Way of Understandng Turkey SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2009 WWW.TODAYSZAMAN.COM TL 1.50 page07 Doan Yayn posts huge loss for first nine months of 2009 SOLUTION PROCESS OFFICIALLY BEGINS PLOT AA COL. ÇÇEK INTERROGATED PHOTO Gov’t unvels detals ABOUT FIGURES BEHIND ACTION PLAN of democratzaton Col. Dursun Çiçek, who was arrest- ed on Wednesday for drafting an ac- tion plan to destroy the ruling party, was interrogated by civilian prosecutors about the members of the military who gave ntatve at Parlament him the order to prepare the plan. The colonel arrived at the Beikta court- The ruling Justice and Development position Republican People's Party (CHP) and dependent bodies will be established to pro- house in stanbul on Wednesday to testify to Party (AK Party) on Friday submitted the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), mote and ensure human rights. For example, prosecutors conducting the ongoing investi- to Parliament long-awaited details of whose leaders criticized the government's ef- a law seeking to establish an independent gation into a criminal organization known as Fethi imek its democratization initiative to solve the de- forts for peace with harsh remarks yesterday. body to work to eliminate discrimination will Ergenekon. He was interrogated for approxi- cades-long Kurdish problem. According to Atalay, obstacles before using be brought before Parliament soon. mately five hours about his role in the action The details, disclosed in a special session languages other than Turkish in “social and reli- The structure of the Prime Ministry's plan and other figures behind the plan. Çiçek Justice Ministry, of Parliament, envisage more freedom for ev- gious” services will be removed, former Kurdish Human Rights Directorate will be changed; it is believed to have prepared a document that eryone, Interior Minister Beir Atalay, the co- names of settlements and geographical places will be made independent. As a follow up to the details a Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) plan TB strongly deny ordinator of the initiative, which was will be restored and political campaigns in lan- approval of United Nations protocols on the to destroy the reputation of the Justice and launched in mid-July, informed deputies. The guages other than Turkish will be allowed. prevention of torture, a national mechanism will Development Party (AK Party) and the wiretapping claims plan drew strong criticism from the main-op- As part of the democratization process, in- be established to implement them. CONTINUED ON PAGE 17 faith-based Gülen movement. CONTINUED ON PAGE 05 BETÜL AKKAYA DEMRBA, STANBUL DIPLOMACY The Justice Ministry and the Telecommunications Directorate (TB) TURKEY SAYS IT MAY STORE have released separate statements strongly de- nying allegations that the telephones of a chief LOW-ENRICHED URANIUM public prosecutor and some members of the Supreme Court of Appeals have been wire- FROM IRAN tapped for a long time as part of an ongoing Energy Minister Taner Yldz said on probe into a clandestine organization. Friday that Turkey was ready to store Observers, however, believe the claims were TODAY'S ZAMAN, ONUR ÇOBAN low-enriched uranium from Iran and that put forward in an attempt to remove from the there were no technical obstacles in the agenda the recent arrest of Col. Dursun Çiçek, way of such storage. Yldz's remarks came who was put behind bars for drafting an action in response to questions concerning a pro- plan aimed at discrediting the ruling party. PHOTO posal by the head of the United Nations' The Justice Ministry stressed that telephones nuclear watchdog, who suggested Turkey belonging to members of the Supreme Court of as a third-country destination for Iran's en- Appeals and stanbul Chief Public Prosecutor riched uranium. Turkey would not say no if Aykut Cengiz Engin were in no way being wire- both Iran and the five permanent members tapped. "Inspectors affiliated with the ministry of the UN Security Council plus Germany demanded that the relevant courts issue orders make an official request on the issue, Yldz for the wiretapping of the telephones of 56 judg- told reporters, noting that there has not yet es and prosecutors as part of probes they were been such request, but the issue is still be- conducting. Hereupon, the courts ruled that ing discussed. There will be no technical the telephones of those judges and prosecutors problem in storing low-level enriched be wiretapped [in 2008]. CONTINUED ON PAGE 17 uranium here, he said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 17 REFUGEES Minority leader hit WINTER PRESENTS EXTRA list found on major's HARDSHIP FOR GAZIANTEP computer ASYLUM SEEKERS A list of 10 people to be assassinated has been found on the computer of a major ROBERTA DAVENPORT, STANBUL arrested as part of the probe into weapons dis- covered in April during excavations launched There are nearly 1,000 asylum seekers as part of the investigation into Ergenekon, a living in Gaziantep, many among clandestine group that allegedly plotted to them the most destitute in the already pov- overthrow the government. Alevi groups in Tunceli, stanbul and Ankara continued holding protests yesterday to condemn CHP Deputy Chairman Onur Öymen's erty-stricken Turkish province. As violent Retired naval Maj. Levent Bekta was ar- controversial remarks about the 1937 Dersim incidents, in which thousands of Alevis were killed in a military campaign to suppress a rebellion. conflicts and adverse conditions persist in rested on Friday in connection to weapons Turkey's neighborhood and beyond, refu- found on land owned by the stek Foundation Alevis continue to lash out against Republican People's Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Onur gees and asylum seekers continue to flow in stanbul's Poyrazköy district in April. The Öymen's remarks Öymen, who on Tuesday referred to the Turkish government's response to a 1937 rebellion over the country's borders. The nation's po- stek Foundation is owned by Ergenekon sus- in the predominantly Alevi city of Tunceli, then known as Dersim, as an example of fighting sition presents unique challenges, as it pect and former stanbul Mayor Bedrettin spark comparisons terrorism. Tunceli residents have put up posters throughout the city showing Öymen with a shares land borders with refugee and mi- Dalan, who is currently at large and believed to Hitler-like toothbrush moustache. Meanwhile, civil society organizations, the municipality, the grant-producing areas and countries such as be abroad. The weapons at the site were regis- to Hitler in Tunceli local university's rector's office and Alevi associations in the city have plans to march to the Iran. Individuals from as near as Iraq and as tered in the inventory of the Turkish Armed CHP's local office and lay a black wreath in front of the building. CONTINUED ON PAGE 06 far as Africa are smuggled in through entry Forces (TSK), according to a report from points along Turkey's Mediterranean and Turkey's sole weapons manufacturer, the state- Aegean coasts, sneaking over Turkey's east- owned Turkish Mechanical and Chemical TELEVISION WATCHDOG ABOLISHES TIME LIMITS FOR NON-TURKISH BROADCASTS PAGE 06 ern land borders or simply flying in legally Industry Corporation (MKE). CONTINUED ON PAGE 05 and overstaying their visas. CONTINUED ON PAGE 06 Featuring news and articles from ‘‘02 TODAY’S ZAMAN ‘SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2009 PRESS REVIEW F OOD FOR THOUGHT Q UOTE OF THE DAY W ORDS OF WISDOM columns The American godfather needs to To our veterans, to the fallen and to their families -- there Feeling gratitude and not All eyes on Parliament draw up a plan of action and take his is no tribute, no commemoration, no praise that can truly expressing it is like wrapping ZAMAN MUSTAFA ÜNAL own initiative, not wait for others. match the magnitude of your service and your sacrifice. a present and not giving it. Today Parliament will set the stage for perhaps one of the most Syrian President Bashar al-Assad US President Barack Obama William A. Ward historically important sessions we have seen in the past few years. This session has been anticipat- ed for months on end now. All eyes will be on the speech that will be made by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoan. Today, it is the Turkish public’s right to expect more bal- anced discussions and softer tones from everyone, A poltcan who loves mothers’ tears from leaders to party heads. And Prime Minister Erdoan must, when speaking about the content of the democratic initiative, explain in a persuasive Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Onur Öymen drew Tunceli (Dersim)], you can say whatever you want,” says Metiner. CROSS READER manner why it is necessary. For while it is true that widespread criticism when he made remarks in defense of the suppres- Yeni afak’s Fehmi Koru says Öymen’s remarks reveal the meth- he has spoken with “everyone” on this topic, the sion of the Dersim Rebellion of 1937 while voicing his opposition to the od the CHP proposes for the solution of the Kurdish problem in the fact remains that the topic itself has yet to be ad- Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government’s Kurdish initia- FATMA DÝÞLÝ ZIBAK wake of the government’s democratization initiative: elimination, [email protected] equately explained. There has been no move be- tive, which seeks to expand the rights of Kurds. The rebellion took place in deportation and suppression with bombs. Koru says it is actually the yond the words “Blood will stop owing, mothers 1937 in Dersim, which had historically been a semi-autonomous region.