ANKARA, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said in remarks published on
Tuesday that Turkey must "sooner or later" consider allowing broadcasts in the Kurdish
language, bowing to an EU condition for the start of membership talks.

The remarks came on the same day that the leader of Turkey's main legal Kurdish party was
sentenced to 10 months in jail for a speech deemed to contain separatist propaganda.

A conservative government ally echoed Democratic Left leader Ecevit's softer line on
Kurdish broadcasting, but a nationalist coalition partner said concessions on cultural rights
could fuel ethnic and social conflict.

The European Union told Turkey last week it must make sweeping changes to its economy
and its handling of human rights issues before it can open negotiations on membership.

Though the bloc sought to avoid antagonising Ankara by omitting any specific reference to
the Kurds or minorities, the report made clear the current broadcasting ban must go.

In an interview with Hurriyet newspaper Ecevit said Turkey should accept there was no
limit to modern communication technology. "Broadcasts in Kurdish reach Turkey from
northern Iraq and Europe at the moment. We have to reach a conclusion taking this into
consideration."

Turkey has long refused to recognise its 12 million Kurds, or about 20 percent of the
population, as a minority group, fearing such a move could lead to a breakup of the country.

But since the capture of Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan last year, a 16-year-old
campaign of separatist violence has largely ceased and there has been some discussion of
Kurdish language rights in broadcasting and education.

Gokhan Aydiner, the governor of the southeastern region that is under emergency rule, said
on Tuesday that clashes between security forces and guerrillas had dropped by 80 percent in
the first 10 months of 2000 compared to the same period of 1999.

KURDISH POLITICAL LEADER CONVICTED

But on Tuesday a court in the western city of Izmir convicted People's Democratic Party
(HADEP) leader Ahmet Turan Demir of voicing separatist propaganda in a 1997 speech.

"This is a verdict lacking any legal basis. This is a completely political decision," Demir told
Reuters. He was sentenced to prison twice earlier this year on similar charges and is
appealing against those verdicts.

Turkey has relaxed some controls on the use of Kurdish but further concessions -- including
allowing broadcasting -- would be opposed by the powerful army and nationalist politicians.

A satellite channel that mirrors the views of Ocalan's outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) is broadcast from western Europe, and programmes broadcast by Kurds across the
border in Iraq can also be picked up in Turkey.

"Cultural rights are granted de facto anyway. You know there are magazines and books
published...I shouldn't be stating my own view as it has not been discussed in the
government. But that will come to the agenda sooner or later," Ecevit said.

Any move to allow broadcasting in Kurdish is likely to be opposed by Ecevit's main
coalition partner, the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) led by Deputy Prime Minister Devlet
Bahceli.

Nationalists and the army are determined not to make concessions to Ocalan and the PKK
that might be viewed as rewarding a campaign that killed over 30,000 people.

"It is impossible to say that the European Commission is making a goodwill approach. It is
not possible for Turkey to look warmly at cultural and ethnic rights that can fuel ethnic
clashes and division," Bahceli said on Tuesday.
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The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com

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