Well, you'd find that much radicalism in a judge's daughter," wrote Gulay Gokturk in Yeni Yuzyil newspaper "Why is this? Because civil society is here ... One zealot mayor outraged Turks with threats of political bloodshed, but reports of fanaticism are arguably less common than anti-headscarf actions by those the Islamists call the "secularist fundamentalists"."The Welfare now say if they come to power they will `have a look at relations with the West'. Of course, decades of taboos have not disappeared overnight, and right-wing radicals continue to insist the Kurds have no separate ethnic identity.The biggest ideological conflict is now between the pro-Islamic Welfare Party, a contender to top the poll, and the rest, who defend the secular state philosophy of Turkey's republic, founded 73 years ago.The Welfare is by far the best- organised, its leader, Necmettin Erbakan, 69, riding high on tight discipline and aided by women campaigners who win votes for their menfolk during millions of visits to homes and chats over glasses of tea and sweetmeats.It can claim to have managed the 400 towns and cities it runs at least as well as its predecessors and with fewer scandals. The struggle has been magnified as it sucked in the media barons on one side or the other, forcing Turks to buy half- a-dozen newspapers or zap through 15 national and 360 local television channels to get anything like a full picture.Most remarkable, perhaps, has been the advent of major politicians openly advocating free use of Kurdish and even peace talks with the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). "They are more emotionally mature, have the strength to deal with negative situations and feel they belong to a community," Ms Barisic said.. HUGH POPE Istanbul Never has the Turkish electorate had so many political choices as in the run-up to general elections tomorrow, but never have they been so confused about what to do with their vote.All that anybody knows is that various swings of a couple of percentage points could usher in a pro-Islamist government, a Kurdish nationalist party in parliament, or a new lease of power for Turkey's embattled Prime Minister, Tansu Ciller.More than 6,000 candidates from 12 parties have criss-crossed the country on sledges, carts, buses, helicopters and planes, offering solutions as diverse as the country itself. Some deeply traumatised children have succumbed to passive suicide syndrome, where they literally fade away and die.Ms Barisic's team tried individual counselling but realised they could not cope So the theatre group was developed.
In two years, the Snowflakes have staged five plays at schools, festivals, other camps and retirement homes The children have changed considerably. At weekends, in her free time, she visits a camp at Sisak, near Zagreb, where she worked before starting the new operation. She goes specifically to see the Travelling Snowflakes, a theatre group she created for refugee and displaced children."When we began working in the camp in 1993 we noticed that at least 40 of the 55 children had post-traumatic stress and were in need of expert help," Ms Barisic said.The children were highly aggressive or totally withdrawn; they had eye ticks, wet their beds and did not want to go to schoolbecause they felt stigmatised as refugees. It is very dangerous," said Sabina Slottke, the Red Cross social welfare co-ordinator.This worry filters down to the children Ms Barisic is aware of the need to support them. "Parents will be concentrating on rebuilding houses, and the children will not be supervised. When her 13-year-old daughter saw a UN soldier accompanying Ms Barisic, she wet her knickers with anxiety.
"The family are still living in a state of war", Ms Barisic said."Although we are concentrating on the elderly, we are also concerned about the children," Ms Barisic said. "These girls must get back to school."Another worry, when the weather allows greater movement in the spring time, is the danger of mines An estimated 3 million are in the region. While most found it hard to believe Mr Oleksy knowingly worked for Moscow, they were also convinced not even Mr Walesa would go to such lengths to discredit his political opponents.For some, the only explanation was that the whole thing had been a plot by Moscow to harm Poland's credibility in the eyes of the West, damaging its chances of joining Nato and the European Union.. JOANNA GIBBON Irena Barisic, a social worker with the Croatian Red Cross, spends her weekdays trailing the lonely, mine-ridden areas of northern Krajina for vulnerable and abandoned children. Most Serbs left in the summer when Croatian troops defeated rebel Serbs in the area. But about 6,000 elderly people remained, while new refugees are arriving from Bosnia and Serbia. About 30,000 people are estimated to be scratching a living in the area.The Croatian Red Cross's social welfare programme, supported by the International Red Cross, has been running mobile units with food parcels into north Krajina for six weeks.
The programme urgently needs more funds to pay for transport.Recently, Ms Barisic found a young Serb woman living in a state of near siege with her two children and her elderly mother-in-law Her husband, who was in the Serb army, had fled. Mr Oleksy said Walesa supporters tried to blackmail him this month by getting him to step down in return for keeping quiet.Although Poles have got used to controversy under Mr Walesa, many were shocked by this week's events. The statement eased the pressure on Mr Oleksy to step down, but a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said he planned to take a holiday after Christmas until the situation had been clarified.Whether he is prosecuted or not, Mr Oleksy's position as Prime Minster has been weakened by the allegations that for more than 10 years he provided classified information to Moscow. In a parliamentary debate on Thursday, he denied having been an agent. The former Central Committee member and regional party boss did admit he had enjoyed close ties with Soviet diplomats, one of whom he later learned was a KGB officer.The storm over Mr Oleksy broke on Tuesday night when, with only three days of his tenure remaining, Mr Walesa summoned senior political and legal figures to the presidential palace to be presented with evidence of a "threat to the security of the state".Conspicuously absent from the meeting were Mr Oleksy and Mr Kwasniewski, bothmembers of the former Communist Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), Mr Walesa's political arch-foe.The SLD, which today will take charge of the presidency in addition to the government, denounced the proceedings as a "dirty provocation", suggesting Mr Walesa was unable to accept his defeat by Mr Kwas- niewski in last month's presidential election. The outgoing president will be boycotting the ceremony for what he terms "political and moral reasons".But the handover of power will be overshadowed by Mr Walesa's allegations this week that the Prime Minister, Jozef Oleksy, another former Communist, spent years working for the KGB.Military prosecutors investigating the allegations yesterday said the evidence was insufficient to justify an inquiry, but requested more information.
"I won't open my present yet - I want to savour the curiosity," said Dzana Grcic, 10 "It will be a great Christmas.". ADRIAN BRIDGE Central Europe Correspondent After five tempestuous years at the helm, President Lech Walesa of Poland bowed out of office last night, leaving a storm of controversy and political intrigue in his wake.Mr Walesa's successor, Aleksander Kwasniewski, a former Communist, is to be sworn in this afternoon. The Icelandic tree is draped in light- bulbs, though some wonderhow long the lights will last in a city with long power-cuts.As Santa's elves handed out the presents, the successful examined their gifts. A few yards away, Marshal Tito Street bears the scars of the city's two "market massacres" in February 1994 and August 1995, which sparked the Nato ultimatum, air raids against the rebel Serbs and ultimately the deployment this week of Nato troops to enforce the peace deal.The Mass is always festive, the cathedral jammed with Catholic worshippers, Muslim and Serb visitors, the back of the church heaving as people pop outside for a fag and a chat."Everything is shared here - it's a multi-national town, and the same thing happens at Bajram," the Muslim spring festival, Mr Ilic said There are few decorations around town.