Насилие,неопределенность потрясают Турцию

[Sari Galin]

(для тех кто не в курсе: сей знак означает "козёл рогатый")

Violence, uncertainty shake Turkey

CIZRE, Turkey (AP) — A bombing on a busy street in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir early Friday injured seven people, including a non-commissioned army officer, the city's chief prosecutor said.

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on Friday called for a referendum on whether his replacement should be elected by popular vote instead of by Parliament.

Last month, Parliament voted in favor of amending the constitution to allow the people to elect the president — overriding Sezer's initial veto of the measure.

As Sezer cannot veto the bill a second time, he called for a referendum rather than endorse the measure himself. Separately, he said he would also ask the Constitutional Court to cancel Parliament's May 31 vote, his office said in a statement.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government — which has its roots in Turkey's Islamic movement — sought to change the presidential election system after the secular opposition, backed by Turkey's Constitutional Court, blocked voting that would have led to Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul's election.

Turkish leaders are debating whether to launch a cross-border offensive into northern Iraq, from where rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, stage attacks into Turkey. The Turkish military has been carrying out several anti-rebel offensives within Turkey and has massed troops along the border with Iraq.

On Friday, the device — pipe bomb hidden in newspapers and attached to a bicycle — exploded near bus stops used by army vehicles to pick up military personnel, Chief Prosecutor Durdu Kavak said.

In the past, Kurdish rebels who have been fighting for autonomy in the region for more than two decades, have carried out bombings in Diyarbakir.

The rebels have stepped up attacks on Turkish troops and more than two dozen soldiers or pro-government village guards have been killed in several attacks since May 24. Turkish troops have killed 25 guerrillas during the same period, according to the military.

Friday's blast shattered windows, and shredded newspaper was scattered around the street.

One of the injured, a local shop owner, was in serious condition, Kavak said.

"There was a terrifying explosion as I was walking," Servet Sengun, a high-school student, was quoted as telling the private Dogan news agency. "All of a sudden, I found myself lying on the ground."

On Thursday, Kurdish guerrillas killed a Turkish army corporal in a clash near the town of Karakocan in Elazig province, the governor's office said. In a separate attack, the rebels killed a Turkish army major and injured two other soldiers in a roadside bomb attack near the town of Yuksekova in Hakkari province, bordering Iraq and Iran.

A day earlier, the PKK declared a unilateral cease-fire in attacks against Turkey. The rebel group, however, insisted on the right to defend itself.

Turkey has ignored the rebel statement.

The prime minister has also called elections for July 22 — four months earlier than scheduled — to try and defuse the political tensions that have pitted his Islamic-rooted party against Turkey's secular opposition.

Sezer has acted as a brake on Erdogan's party by vetoing a record number of bills and appointments. Many fear that with a close ally in the presidential office, Erdogan's Islamic-rooted party could work unchecked to increase Islam's role in politics unchecked.

Secular Turks who mistrust the ruling party have held mass rallies to prevent an "Islamist" from moving into the presidential palace. In April, the military threatened to intervene to protect the secular system, sparking criticism from the European Union which Turkey hopes to join.

It was not clear when — or if — the referendum might be held.

The government had anticipated that Sezer would seek a referendum, and had passed a bill to speed up a plebiscite by reducing the time limit for it to be held after an official proposal is made from the current 120 days to 45 days. That measure, however, still requires Sezer's endorsement.

But in the meantime, the Constitution Court may rule in favor of the president and cancel Parliament's May 31 vote, thereby making the whole bill void and preventing the referendum from being held.

The secular opposition has also petitioned the Court, citing procedural flaws in the May vote. The party alleges that one of the articles in the amendment got less than the two-thirds majority required and that the ruling party violated the secret ballot rule. A verdict on that claim could come within weeks.

The opposition objected to Gul's candidacy over concerns that the ruling party — which has an overwhelming majority in Parliament — would expand its powers to the presidency, which has the right to veto laws and make key appointments.

Erdogan's government, which has implemented more Western reforms than many of the previous governments, denies it has an Islamist agenda and Gul has promised to uphold secular values.

Sezer on Friday also called for a referendum on other amendments that were voted in along with the bill for a direct vote. These include reducing the presidential term from seven years to five; allowing the president to stand for re-election for a second term; holding general elections every four years instead of five; and reducing the quorum of lawmakers needed for parliamentary decisions to 184.

Sezer had initially vetoed the bill for a direct vote over concerns that the change could pit a president with a strong popular mandate against the prime minister and cause instability.

Sezer's term would have ended on May 16. He will remain in that post until a new president can be elected.

<http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-06-15-turkey_N.htm>