INFO-TURK
22e Année - N°237
Mai/May 1998
38 rue des Eburons - 1000 Bruxelles
Tél: (32-2) 215 35 76 - Fax: (32-2) 215 58 60
E-mail:  info.turk@ping.be
 Rédacteur en chef: Dogan Özgüden - Editrice responsable: Inci Tugsavul
 
 
 

LE COMMUNIQUE INFO-TURK SUR L'ATTENTAT CONTRE LE PRESIDENT DE L'IHD

 Ce jour, le 12 mai 1998, à 12h20, le président de l'Association des droits de l'homme de Turquie (IHD), M. Akin Birdal, a été blessé par balles par deux inconnus au siège de l'association à Ankara.
 Qui que soient les auteurs de cet attentat, tout le monde en connaît très bien les instigateurs.
 Les militaires turcs faisaient depuis quelques semaines un usage démesuré des "aveux" attribués à un ancien commandant de la guérilla kurde pour tenter de régler leurs comptes avec tous ceux, journalistes, hommes politiques, hommes d'affaires, qu'ils considèrent comme "ennemis" de l'Etat.
 Présentées comme des extraits des interrogatoires de Sakik, ancien commandant du PKK capturé par les troupes turques dans le nord de l'Irak le 13 avril et interrogé depuis par les services de sécurité turcs, des nouvelles sensationnalistes visent à incriminer des militants des droits de l'Homme et certains hommes politiques d'être à la solde du PKK. Akin Birdal serait accusé par Sakik d'être "davantage un combattant du PKK" que lui-même.
 L'Allemagne, la Syrie, l'Iran, l'Arménie et la Grèce, plusieurs hommes d'affaires turcs et des journalistes renommés seraient également cités par Sakik comme étant des sympathisants du PKK.
 A ce titre, deux éminents chroniqueurs ont été suspendus par leur journal à la suite de ces campagnes de désinformation médiatique orchestrée par l'Armée.
 Selon la presse turque, Semdin Sakik aurait également déclaré que le PKK était responsable de l'assassinat de l'ancien Premier ministre suédois Olof Palme en 1986. Toutefois, M. Lars Nylen, chef de la police nationale suédoise a déclaré qu'"il y a plusieurs années, la commission d'enquête Palme a mené des investigations approfondies à propos d'allégations similaires venant de Turquie, mais elles n'ont mené à rien".
 Suite à cette déclaration, le premier ministre turc Mesut Yilmaz a dû dire que "on ne sait pas ce qu'il [Sakik] a dit et même s'il l'a dit, on ne sait pas sous quelles contraintes il était. Pour tout le monde, l'important sera ce qu'il dira au tribunal quand il passera en jugement".
 Pourtant, les "tireurs inconnus" à la solde de l'Armée turque n'ont pas attendu le jugement du tribunal et ont pris comme cible le principal défenseur de la paix et des droits de l'homme dans ce pays à l'anti-chambre de l'Union européenne.

HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN APRIL

 The monthly report by the Human Rights Association (IHD) regarding the violations of rights has been published. According to the IHD data, 225 people died during the armed conflict in the Emergency Rule Region (OHAL), and 12 people have been the victims of unsolved murders.
 In the report, which said that nine people have died due to extra-judicial means and torture, it has been claimed that 70 people faced torture.
 Osman Baydemir, deputy general manager of the IHD, said that the April issue of the human rights report was published following a 10-day delay because of the assassination attempt on Akin Birdal, head of the IHD. Baydemir evaluated the arrest of two people who allegedly attempted to kill Birdal as a positive development. Pointing out that the power behind the attack should be exposed, Baydemir said, "Similar attacks will follow this one, since the Susurluk scandal has not been cleared up and the illegal organizations that have been established within the state have not been clarified."
 Baydemir, who read the IHD's April report regarding the violations of rights, indicated that violations in April have increased when compared to March's data.
 The summary of the human rights violations in April is as follows:
 Violations regarding the right to live
 -- Unsolved murders 12
 -- Deaths in extra-judicial murders, torture or custody 9
 -- Deaths due to armed conflicts (soldiers, militants, village guards) 225
 -- Activities against civilians - deaths 2 - injuries 28
 -- Claimed missing persons 4
 -- Actual or alleged torture 70
 -- Taken into custody 5,579
 -- Number of arrests 117
 -- Attacked, or faced oppression or threat 47
 -- Evacuated or burnt-down villages 0
 -- Attacks on prisoners in prisons 8
 Violations regarding work life
 One thousand three hundred ninety-eight people have been dismissed from their jobs. This includes workers dismissed illegally.
 Violations regarding freedom of thought and organizing
 -- Places that were bombed and burned 12
 -- Mass organizations, political institutions and publishers closed 8
 -- Mass organizations, political institutions and publishers attacked 34
 -- Published materials that were seized or banned 22
 -- Punishment of imprisonment or fine considered 230
 -- Punishment of imprisonment or fine given 9
 -- Number of prisoners of conscience 133

MAY DAY CELMEBRATION ATTACKED IN TURKEY

 May Day was celebrated enthusiastically in Kurdistan despite efforts by the Turkish police to prevent rallies taking place.
 Five thousand people gathered outside the main post office in Diyarbakir to celebrate May Day. The people held a sit-down protest after police set up barricades to prevent a march taking place. Permission was not given for a May Day rally in Urfa where trade unionists read out a press release.
 In front of the Genel-Is union office 5 thousand people attended a rally in the city of Antep. Five tousand people also held a rally in Batman, where slogans were shouted in Turkish and Kurdish. Around three thousand people held a rally in Malatya where 21 people, including HADEP members were detained before the celebrations in Dersim and Elbistan joint rallies were organised by HADEP and EMEP. Many people were injured in police attacks on May Day celebrations in Istanbul and many were detained. Large rallies were held in Ankara, Izmir, Mersin and Adana. Kurdish people living in Turkish cities joined the rallies, shouting slogans demanding peace.
 The May Day rally in Istanbul was organised by KESK, DISK, EMEP and HADEP. There was a large police presence, particularly in Taksim. Police attacked a group attempting to join the rally, which was held in Abide-i Hurriyet square. More than 100 people were detained.
 In Ankara 10,000 people attended a rally which passed off peacefully. In Izmir around 25.000 people marched to the Republic Square, shouting slogans like "Long Live May
Day" in Turkish and Kurdish and "Long Live President Apo" and "Kurdistan will be the graveyard of fascism".
 Police did not intervene, despite a much larger rally than last year. Thousands of people attended May Day rallies in Adana and Mersin.

MHP MEMBERS SEIZE AND HARRASS A DEMONSTRATOR

 National Movement Party-MHP members, also known as "grey wolfes" seized a person participating in the May Day rally in Istanbul and beat him in their party building.
 One man was seized by MHP members and police outside the MHP building in Okmeydani and taken inside. The young man was then hung from the second floor window and beaten in front of the press and crowd before being taken back inside.
 100 MHP members waiting in front of the building also badly beat a journalist and attacked 3 women and confiscated the notebook of a Reuters Correspondent attempting to record the incident. The fate of the man beaten in the MHP building is not known.
 Reuters reported the event as follows:
 Turkish right-wing militants and riot police badly beat a leftist protester on Friday at the headquarters of a far-right political party after mob violence at a May Day rally.
 Reuters Television filmed "Grey Wolf" rightists hanging the man out of the first-floor window of the Nationalist Action Party building as police and
other members of a 100-strong crowd of rightists below beat him.
 The man was dragged screaming back into the building. Rightists then forced reporters and camera crews away from the scene in Istanbul's Okmeydani district. They later seized a Reuters journalist's notebook.
 A television channel said the Grey Wolf rightists, named after a legendary she-wolf from Turkic Central Asia, kept on kicking and beating the protester
inside the building, injuring him severely. Police later took him hospital for treatment, it said.
 The RTV videotape showed a young rightist howling in triumph and giving the two-fingered Grey Wolf sign after the attack. The rightists also roughed up three young women who appeared to be passers-by.
 State-run Anatolian news agency said one of its correspondents was taken to hospital with slight injuries after he and other journalists were beatenin a side street during the incident.
 An official at a police station 150 metres (160 yards) from thebuilding told Reuters by telephone they were not aware of any trouble.
 Human rights groups say extreme rightists have infiltrated the police force, particularly in the mainly Kurdish southeast where police teams often sport Grey Wolf insignia and stickers on their weapons.
 Riot police wielding batons and firing water cannon earlier dispersed stone-throwing leftist militants at a large May Day rally nearby.
 Witnesses said dozens of demonstrators were injured, most of them beaten by police, and more than 100 detained.
 Turkey's riot police, called "Robocops" because of their plastic body armour, are often accused of heavy handedness at public events.
 The European Union cited concern over Turkey's human rights record among its reasons for putting the country's membership bid in cold storage at the end of last year.
 May Day in Turkey has a legacy of violence, with police and militant groups frequently engaging in pitched battles.
 Three demonstrators were killed in heavy fighting between leftist rioters and police in 1996. Thirty-seven people died after suspected right-wing gunmen opened fire on a May Day rally in Istanbul in 1977.

LA TURQUIE A NOUVEAU SUR LA SELLETTE DANS LE RAPPORT ANNUEL DE REPORTERS SANS FRONTIERES

 A la veille de la Journée internationale de la liberté de la presse le 3 mai 1998, Reporters sans frontières a publié son rapport annuel faisant le point sur les violations de la liberté de la presse dans 140 pays. En 1997, 26 journalistes ont été tués dans l'exercice de leurs fonctions et au 14 avril 1998, 102 journalistes étaient emprisonnés pour leurs activités professionnelles.
 La Turquie est un des pays qui enregistre le plus de violations des libertés à l'égard des journalistes. Selon le rapport, en 1997, près d'une vingtaine de journalistes ont été torturés en détention et au moins 255 ont été interpellés ou incarcérés. Le procès des onze policiers accusés du meurtre de Metin Goktepe, journaliste d'extrême gauche battu à mort, est largement retracé avec ses rebondissements dans le rapport. De même, l'édition de 1998 dénonce la pratique de torture quasi systématique en Turquie et souligne que "les collaborateurs d'organes de presse prokurdes ou d'extrême gauche sont très souvent torturés dans les locaux des sections en charge de la lutte antiterroriste. En 1997, au moins 16 journalistes ont subi ce sort".
 Toujours selon le rapport, 91 journalistes sont détenus en Turquie "sans qu'il soit possible d'affirmer qu'ils le sont pour leurs opinions ou pour avoir exercé leur profession". 62 journalistes y ont fait l'objet d'agressions et 73 autres ont été menacés ou harcelés en 1997 (estimation minimale). De plus, d'autres moyens de pressions sont utilisés contre les journalistes, tels que des pressions juridiques, administratives ou économiques; des procès ont été organisés contre des journalistes appartenant à au moins 44 médias turcs entre le 1er janvier et le 31 décembre 1997. 89 médias ont été suspendus pour des périodes variables ou fermés ou encore supendus pour une durée indéfinie et au moins 33 quotidiens ou périodiques ont été saisis.

IN SCORCHING KURDS, TURKEY BURNS ITSELF

 STEPHEN KINZER (New York Times, May 3, 1998)  Shortly after dawn on a recent Monday morning, a military helicopter lifted off from its base in Turkey's war-torn southeast and crossed the border into northern Iraq. It is a border Turkey has ignored for the last few years, arguing that it has a moral right to strike against rebel guerrillas who operate from the Kurdish enclave on the other side.
 Once inside Iraq, the helicopter landed near the town of Dohuk and disgorged three dozen commandos dressed as Kurdish fighters. They set up a roadblock and soon found their prey: Semdin Sakik, who had until recently been a legendary commander of the insurgent Kurdistan Workers Party, known as the PKK, but who had broken with his fellow guerrilla leaders.
 The Turkish soldiers ordered him out of his car, blindfolded him, drove him back to their helicopter and spirited him to a military prison inside Turkey. The army made no official statement afterward, but a senior prosecutor said Sakik would be charged with treason and could face execution.
 The abduction reflected the battering-ram strategy that the Turkish army has used against separatist guerrillas since the conflict began 14 years ago.
 The army has proven effective at capturing, killing, crushing and destroying, so much so that the PKK is now in terrible disarray. Subtlety, flexibility and creativity, however, are evidently not weapons in the military arsenal.
 The army's scorched-earth policy in the mainly Kurdish southeast has given it great success on the battlefield, but has not won many hearts and minds. Many Kurds in the region remain deeply resentful of the government. Equally important, the United States and other foreign powers that want to help Turkey have found themselves handcuffed by worldwide anger at the way Turkey is conducting its war against Kurdish nationalism.
 Some American and European officials hoped that the Turkish army would be patient enough to wait and see where Sakik's split with his former guerrilla comrades might lead. They thought that if left to his own devices, he might have developed into a valuable anti-guerrilla spokesman and a magnet for other defectors. But by storming in and grabbing him, the army has guaranteed that anything he now says will be viewed with great suspicion.
 This latest step will solidify the PKK ranks," predicted Safeen Dizayee, a spokesman for the moderate Kurdistan Democratic Party, under whose protection Sakik was living in northern Iraq when he was captured. "It was not the right time and the right place to do this operation. It is a miscalculation."
 Althouth Sakik has not been presented to the press, the army has been leaking information about revelations he has supposedly made under interrogation. According to these leaks, he claimed that two of Turkey's most prominent and free-spirited columnists were secretly on the guerrilla payroll; both denounced the charge as untrue and slanderous, but were suspended from their newspaper jobs nonetheless.
 Another leak claimed that Sakik had "confessed" that the PKK murdered Prime Minister Olaf Palme of Sweden in 1986. The chief Swedish prosecutor in the Palme case, Jan Danielsson, was unimpressed. "There is a strong indication that the Turkish side is trying to discredit the PKK," he said in Stockholm.
 For years, foreigners and some Turkish intellectuals have been urging the military to reassess its uncompromising opposition to Kurdish nationalism. They believe that Turkey would be better served if it encouraged the growth of Kurdish groups that could offer an alternative to Marxist guerrillas. But the military, which oversees all policy on the Kurdish issue, has consistently rejected that approach.
 Three former members of Parliament from a pro-Kurdish political party are serving 15-year jail terms after being convicted in 1994 of supporting terrorism. One of them, Leyla Zana, has become a heroine to groups around the world that seek to portray Turkey as a repressive country; her supporters have even nominated her for the Nobel Peace Prize. "We tried to convince the generals that they should embrace these folks and try to seduce them away from the PKK," said a senior American official. "They wouldn't buy it."
 A new pro-Kurdish political party emerged to replace the one to which Ms. Zana belonged, but it has fared no better. In January all of its senior leaders were arrested and charged with supporting subversion. Since then, more than 200 other members of the party have been arrested.
 The operation in which Sakik was seized also underlined other aspects of Turkey's anti-guerrilla strategy. By moving so freely into northern Iraq, the army showed it showed that it considers the Turkey-Iraq border all but nonexistent. And by refusing to consult or even notify Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz in advance, they showed how far Turkey is from civilian control of the military, a principle that the West considers a sacred pillar of democracy.
 Western powers led by the United States cut the Kurdish region of northern Iraq away from Baghdad's control after the gulf war in 1991, and hoped to create an autonomous Kurdish statelet there. Turkey's leaders never liked the idea, fearing that if it succeeded, it would inspire Kurds inside Turkey to begin thinking of autonomy for themselves.
 Fortunately for Turkish generals, Kurdish groups in the Iraqi enclave quickly began feuding with one another, miserably botching the chance that the West had given them. Their enclave dissolved into anarchy, and the Turkish army has moved in to fill the resulting power vacuum.
 For Sakik to have hoped that he would be allowed to live freely in northern Iraq was unrealistic. He had been taunting the Turkish army for years, and had killed many Turkish soldiers. His presence in northern Iraq was a temptation the generals could not resist.
 By capturing him, the generals believe they have settled an important military score. Whether they have contributed to peace and reconciliation in Turkey's Kurdish southeast, which must be their overriding long-term goal, is far less certain.

TURKEY TOP COURT TO TRY EX-MINISTER FOR GANG LINKS

 A Turkish court, on May 4, ruled that the constitutional court should put a former interior minister on trial for alleged links to criminal gangs, a charge that carries a jail sentence of up to 15 years.
 Anatolian news agency said an Istanbul court had referred the case of Mehmet Agar to the top court under a rule that prevents lesser judicial bodies from trying former ministers alleged to have committed crimes during their time in office.
 Agar, also a former police chief, resigned as interior minister in 1996 and later lost his parliamentary immunity along with another conservative MP Sedat Bucak amid public pressure to clear up a security scandal.
 The scandal erupted when a car carrying Bucak, a right-wing gangster and a top policeman crashed. Bucak was the only person to escape alive from the wreckage, where guns and silencers were found. He faces up to 20 years in jail on separate charges.
 Agar is accused of abusing his position by providing false identity documents to the gangster, who was wanted for murder. The MPs, both members of former prime minister Tansu Ciller's True Path Party, deny the charges.

LES COURS DE KURDE SONT TOUJOURS INTERDITS EN TURQUIE

 Yilmaz Camlibel, président de la Fondation de Recherche et de la Culture Kurde (KURT-KAV) et Mehmet Celal Baykara, membre de la fondation, ont été, mardi 5 mai 1998, acquittés par la Justice turque.
 Ils étaient accusés de donner des cours de kurde dont l'enseignement et la diffusion sont interdits en Turquie. Les accusés risquaient deux ans de prison s'ils étaient déclarés coupables.
 Selon CILDEKT, la décision de la Cour a été clémente car elle a pris en considération le fait que les cours étaient privés et non ouverts au grand public.
 Interrogé par l'agence Associated Press, M. Camlibel a déclaré que le procureur n'avait pas l'intention de faire appel de la décision mais qu'il était interdit à la fondation de continuer ses cours de kurde.
 Il a ensuite ajouté qu'ils étaient déterminés à avoir gain de cause et a rappelé à ce titre que dans une autre affaire la fondation poursuit en justice le ministère de l'Éducation nationale pour que les cours de kurde soient autorisés.

FASCIST ATTACKS CONTINUE IN TURKEY

 Med-TV report (May 5, 1998)
 Two more people have been murdered by National Movement Party-MHP gangs in the last few days. The fact that the murderers of Kenan Mak strolled away from the scene of the crime on 2 May in the town of Bolu leads support to the claim that there is direct police support for these attacks.
 Attacks have been mounting this year. On 7 January smit Tarho, a history student at the University in Malatya was stabbed by fascists and died 3 days later. No progress has been made in the trial of those suspected of the killings most having been releaed.
 7 students were wounded in an attack on a student hostel in Balikesir and in january 40 progressive students were wounded in a fascist raid on a hostel in Edirne where the assailants used knives and iron bars.
 Following the murder carried out by MHP, also known as the grey wolves gangs of a 21 year old student named Kenan Mak in Bolu on the 2nd of May, other MHP gangs murdered a young Kurd, Bilal Vural, in Istanbul on 3 May.
 The MHP Nationalist Action Party has stepped up its attacks, with police backing and begun to target young Kurds. Bilal Vural was on his way home from work with two firends when he was attacked as he passed the Seyrantepe office of the Ulkuculer Ocagi which is linked to the MHP.
 The incident took place at around 6 p.m on 3 May when two fascists started an argument with the three men as they passed the building. Afther a short argument the two fascists opened fire, wounding Bilal Vural and Hakim Atik. They were taken to hospital where Bilal Vural died. Hakim Atik a HADEP member, was taken to the Etfal hospital, where his condition is said to be serious.
 The two assailants fled the scene of the crime, but were later reported to have been detained with the weapons.
 Vural's relatives said at the hospital that state attacks on Alevis and Kurds had increased adding: 'The authorities are letting those the gangs on us'.
 Protest against attacks increases also
 The murder of two young Kurds on successive days has been protested by students in Istanbul, Ankara and Dersim. The protests were attacked by fascists in Istanbul and Ankara and by police in Dersim.
 Around thousand five hundred students held a protest march in Istanbul to protest at the murder of Kenan Mak. The students marched to Beyazit Square, shouting slogans such as,'MHP murders', and 'close down the 'Idealist Clubs'. As the students returned to their faculty they were attacked by a gang of 30 fascists armed with knive and meat cleavers.
 Cem Bayrak was stabbed and a hospital employee, Erdin? Selvin suffured a head wound as he tried to prevent the gang stoning students who had taken refuge in the Esnof hospital. Fascists also attacked students at a hostel in Matka district, injuring two students, Firat Kiziler and Vedat Kocakaya.
 Around five hundred students held a protest in Ankara's Kizilay square and 300 students marched to the Cebeci campus of the political science faculty with a banner inscribed with the words: "We do not want fascist gangs in the university'.
 Students, who took shelter in univeristy buildings while the police did not act to prevent the fascists entering the campus, where they opened fire. After along period of tension the progressive students marched out of the campus as far as Mithatpaüa bridge, surrounded by police. Students in Dersim also held a protest against fascist attacks on Kurds. The students were attacked by police as they dispersed, Ali Ulus, Sukran and Gekhan Yilmaz were detained.
 More protests at attacks on Kurds
 Protests have been organised by students in Diyarbakir, Urfa, Mersin, Istanbul and Ankara after the murder of two young Kurds. The students warned they would not stay silent in the face of fascist attacks.
 In Diyarbakir's Dicle University a protest march was held in front of the faculty of law, after which the police detained 30 students on the road to Diyarbakir and in the city centre. Students held a protest outside Marmara universtiy in Istanbul, holding placards saying 'The MHP is Nazi. No platform for Nazis'.
 Students also held protests at three universities in Ankara.
 500 students held a protest in Mersin in front of the Faculty of Literature and Science, while at Harran University in Urfa students held a meeting in memory of Kenan Mak, who was murdered by fascist in Bolu.

SIX HADEP MEMBERS SENTENCED TO PRISON

 A state security court in Ankara, on May 6, sentenced six HADEP members to three years and nine months in jail each. The defendants from HADEP's provincial headquarters in the northwestern Turkish province of Bolu were accused of helping the PKK and facilitating their acts.
 The court based its decision on illicit documents promoting the PKK which were seized during a police raid of the HADEP offices in autumn last year. The documents included a calender with photographs of PKK fighters killed in clashes with Turkish soldiers and a sticker of MED-TV, a Kurdish television station based in Europe, Anadolu said.
 The defendants rejected the charges, saying that the seized documents had arrived by mail, and that they watched only cultural and music programs on MED-TV.

GREY WOLVES RESTARTED KILLING AND WOUNDING

 Ultra nationalist MHP's militants, Grey Wolves, after a period of "wait and see" folloing their leader Türkes' death, have recently restarted their bloody actions in Turkey.
 HADEP announced on May 6 that Turkey's ultra-nationalist "Grey Wolf" militants had shot dead one of its members, amid a spate of political street violence.
 Reuters reported the news as follows:
 "A group of nationalists killed Bilal Vural and heavily injured another of our members late on Monday," an official of the Istanbul branch of the People's Democracy Party (HADEP) told Reuters.
  Vural was shot with a pump-action shotgun in an outlying district of Istanbul, the party official said.
 Police said they were treating the matter as a common crime. "This incident does not have any political dimension. Two people have been arrested and charged with a criminal killing," said a police officer investigating the incident.
  Violence involving the far-right and far-left has increased in recent days. The Grey Wolves, named after a legendary she wolf from Turkic Central Asia, have been accused by the left of killing a university student in the town of Bolu last weekend.
 Around 600 students protested at Istanbul University on Tuesday at that killing.
 Leftist militants last week clashed with riot police at a May Day rally in which more than 200 people were arrested. Rightists badly beat one of the leftists near the rally.
 Television pictures showing Grey Wolves hanging the leftist from a building while police and rightists beat him was shown widely on Turkish and international television.
 More than 5,000 people died in street clashes between leftist groups and Grey Wolves in the late 1970s. The fighting prompted a military coup in 1980.

WHAT KIND OF A SINGING BIRD IS SEMDIN?

 Ilnur Cevik (Turkish Daily News, May 9, 1998)
 Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz is telling the press that PKK terrorist leader Semdin Sakik, who was abducted by Turkish crack troops from northern Iraq and brought to Turkey, has retracted his testimony that the terrorist organization had killed Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme.
 Sakik has earned himself the nickname of a "singing bird" after making so many accusations and defaming so many people through his slanders. Many journalists, politicians and human rights activists have been the target of Semdin's slanders and yet now the prime minister is telling us that at least on one account Semdin did not tell the truth.
 If this is the case the revelations of Semdin are highly questionable and this is of course a serious problem for those who blew up these revelations out of proportion and ruined the reputation of so many people.
 At the time we had warned everyone concerned that Semdin was a notorious terrorist leader whose testimony should not be taken seriously. We wanted to see what he had to say in court where everything is public.
 Yet, this was not the case. So some people will be able to use this against our authorities. They may say "may be Semdin never said anything and officials put everything into his mount."
 Semdin's capture by our forces was an achievement and a serious blow to the PKK terrorist organization. To overplay this and try to exploit the situation by spreading sensation should not have been the way to proceed in this case. We feel the mass circulation newspapers who cannot provide serious news to their readers just jumped on the story to create a sensation and made a mess of everything.
 As matter of fact no body abroad took Semdin's disclosures seriously. The prime minister revealed that the Swedish government did not even bother to respond to Turkey when Turkish authorities wanted to call its attention to Semdin's allegations.
 If we want to be taken seriously we should be extremely careful not to harm our truths with exaggeration and sensation. In the end everything may become a national embarrassment.
 Semdin Sakik is bound to make some very important disclosures especially on the PKK's relations with foreign governments and the outside supports it gets. He should reveal how PKK operates abroad, how its secures its finances. However, by using him to defame a couple of people in Turkey we are actually denying ourselves the real dividends.

SATURDAY MOTHERS ATTACKED ON THE EVE OF MOTHERS' DAY

 Saturday Mothers (Mother's of the Disappeared) were attacked by police during their 155th-week sit-down protest in Galatasaray, in Istanbul on 9 May 1998.
 "The Mother's of the Disappeared" who have been protesting against disappearances under police custody and demanding information about their relatives, were told last Saturday that there will be no 156th-week to their protest.
 Pervin Buldan, member of Saturday Mothers Organising Committee and wife of Savas Buldan, a Kurdish businessman who was abducted and a few days later found dead, said that the protest of the mothers will continue and that they urge women all over the world to give them their maximum support.
 Nimet Tanrikulu, member of the executive committee of the Human Rights Association, Tomris Ozden, Birgul Kutan, Hanim Tosun, Ali Ocak, Fatma Morsumbul, Emine Duman, Aynur Kocak, Kiymet Tosun and Kiymet Cengiz were taken into custody during the police attack last Saturday

ULKEDE GUNDEM CLOSED DOWN FOR 10 DAYS

 Pro-Kurdish daily Ulkede Gundem was closed down on 10 May 1998 for ten days by order of Istanbul State Security Court. According to journalists working at the newspaper the court order was served on late on 9 May demanding that the newspaper cease publication for 10 days.
 The reason given for the closure, according to the court order, is an article written by Hatip Dicle, an ex-DEP MP who is currently serving a 15 years sentence in Ankara Prison. His article was found to be in violation of Article 312 of Turkish Penal Code.
 Newspaper officials claimed that further closure orders will follow and subsequently the Turkish authorities will ban the newspaper.
 The Turkish authorities had closed down four (4) pro-Kurdish daily newspapers in the past five years.

IRAQ BLASTS TURKEY OVER DAMS ON TIGRIS, EUPHRATES

 Reuters, May 11, 1998
 Iraq accused Turkey on Monday of threatening the flow of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers by building dams in violation of the rights of countries downstream.
 "Turkey is violating international law by building several dams on the two rivers without taking into account rights of countries which are sharing these rivers," an Iraqi foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the official Iraqi News Agency INA.
 The Tigris originates in Turkey before flowing into Iraq. The Euphrates starts in Turkey and winds through Syria before entering Iraq.
 Syria and Iraq say the flow from Turkey is not enough and both countries depend on the river waters for drinking, irrigation and electricity generation.
 In 1996 Turkey announced a plan for its fourth dam on the Euphrates, to produce power and irrigate a large chunk of southeastern Turkey.
 Syria, Iraq and Turkey have held several meetings in the past but failed to reach an agreement on water-sharing.
 The Ankara and Damascus governments signed a provisional agreement in 1987 under which Turkey allows the flow of 500 cubic metres per second to Syria. The Syrian government has called for a permanent agreement.
 The Baghdad and Ankara governments are also at loggerheads over Turkey's policy of allowing U.S. and British jet fighters to use a Turkish base to launch surveillance missions in northern Iraq to protect Kurds from possible attacks by Baghdad.
 "We hope that Turkey would review such policy (against Iraq) and take into consideration bilateral interest," the Iraqi spokesman said.

IHD STATEMENT CONCERNING THE ARMED ASSAULT AGAINST BIRDAL

 On 12 May 1998, at about 12:25, our President Mr. Akin Birdal was severely wounded because of an armed assault by two unknown assailants, at his office at the Human Rights Association's Headquarters. The intelligence police officers, who normally are present every day in front of our association's building to observe people coming and going , were absent on that day. Also it is quite obvious that the perpetrators were feeling very safe, given the fact that they left the place of the crime armed.
 It is also quite alarming that the security officers, who were informed about the assault, arrived at the place of the crime and started with a "technical" examination, instead of speeding up the process of getting our severely wounded President, lying on the floor, to the hospital. The ambulance, which was called immediately after the incident, was very late in arriving which caused our President loosing much blood.
 After our President was hospitalized, the necessary steps to save and document any evidence was not carried out at the office of the President. The room was not sealed for investigation, and whatever evidence present was not investigated carefully. It was not until the next day that the police, upon the urging of our officers, investigated the bullets holes.
 Computerized pictures of perpetrators were drawn. But their clothes are not in accordance with the eye-witnesses testimony.
 We have grave concerns for Mr. Birdal's safety at the hospital because entrance to the hospital is not under the strict security measures as we have heard from various sources.
 The police officers, who guard the entrance to the intensive care unit at the hospital where our President is being hospitalized, are attached to the Anti Terrorism Branch of Ankara Security Department and are easily identified through their moustache which indicates their association to a certain political group. They also behave towards our association's officers and members in a disturbing way. Our members who are on duty at the hospital are not allowed to secure the elevator exit to the intensive care unit. Therefore our own security can only be carried out partially.
 The investigation is being carried out by the Anti Terrorism Branch and we have first indications that it is being distorted. At the Security Department, the eye-witnesses were shown pictures of several HRA officers and also HADEP officers known to us. This leads us to believe that the investigation is intended to conceal the identity of the perpetrators.
 According to human rights defenders, this assault was an obvious contra- guerilla action, as in previous unresolved assaults. We are concerned that the perpetrators of this assault will not be revealed and those accountable will be protected. If this is the case, then we will hold not only the Interior Ministry, but also the government and all mechanisms embodying the government accountable for this.
 As Human Rights Association's officers and human rights activists, we declare that, in order to investigate this assault objectively and with the necessary care, an independent commission has to be set up in which our association's officers would be part of. We also declare that the Human Rights Association will continue with its determined struggle for human rights, democracy, freedom and peace.

AI: IRRESPONSIBILITY OF AUTHORITIES LEADS TO ARMED ATTACK ON IHD PRESIDENT

 Amnesty Internation press release of May 12, 1998:
 By persistently attempting to discredit the Turkish Human Rights Association (HRA), the Turkish authorities created the climate for today's shooting of Akin Birdal, President of the HRA, Amnesty International said today.
 "The Turkish authorities have consistently failed to investigate or condemn earlier fatal attacks on officials of the Association," the organization said.
 "In fact, successive Turkish governments have remained mute when such attacks took place, while the Foreign Ministry endeavoured to take every opportunity to undermine the HRA -- and Akin Birdal in particular. It appears that this may have been official policy."
 Two unidentified assailants burst into the offices of the Association in Akara this morning and opened fire on Mr Birdal. He suffered six bullet wounds and is in a critical condition in hospital.
 It appears that this unprovoked attack is the result of the Turkish authorities'irresponsible handling of alleged confessions by Semdin Sakik, a former military commander of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) who recently defected to the Kurdish Democratic Party/Iraq (KDP/Iraq) of Masoud Barzani, and was subsequently abducted by the Turkish security forces in Northern Iraq and brought back across the border. The Turkish press then published confessions alleged to have been made by Semdin Sakik, in which numerous prominent personalities critical of the government were implicated as having actively supported the PKK. Akin Birdal was one of the targets of such accusations.
 More than 10 officials of the HRA have been killed since 1991. In most cases, the assailants were unidentified, although the attacks took place at the same time as intense police harassment, coinciding with a succession of prosecutions of the organization for its legitimate activities. Muhsin Melik, founder of the Sanliurfa branch of the HRA, was able to identify his attackers as police officers before he died of his wounds on 2 June 1994.
 "It appears that such murders of HRA members were not properly investigated, and in no cases was the HRA satisfied that the true perpetrators had been arrested -- indeed, it appeared that perpetrators were being protected," Amnesty International said.
 The text of what was apparently a secret Interior Ministry circular in January 1997 referred to human rights groups as being used by the PKK, and recommended that local Governors, Gendarmerie General Command and Police Headquarters should "take measuresto eliminate the impression of credibility" of people who "incite the public". The uncorroborated allegations attributed to Semdin Sakik were given enormous publicity -- in direct breach of the normal practice of public prosecutors who have the right to keep preliminary investigation secret.
 The bitter conflict between government forces and the PKK in southeast Turkey has claimed more than 28,000 lives since 1984. In this highly-charged context, government silence in the face of such gross allegations was irresponsible and has given licence to the attackers.
 "It is time that the Turkish Government, at its highest levels, condemns such attacks. It should publicly acknowledge the important contribution made by the HRA and other human rights organizations, and ensure that the perpetrators of this attack are apprehended and brought to justice," Amnesty International said.
 In February this year an Amnesty International delegate observed a hearing at Ankara State Security Court in one of the many prosecutions faced by Ak_n Birdal for exercising his right to freedom of expression.
 BACKGROUND ON HRA
 The HRA is an independent organization founded in 1986 by a group of lawyers, publishers, artists and human rights activists to monitor abuses and to protect human rights. Since its foundation the HRA has outspokenly condemned violations of human rights committed by government agencies and armed opposition groups. The HRA's centre is in Ankara, but it now has 59 branches throughout the country and some 20,000 members. A sister organization, the Turkish Human Rights Foundation, runs treatment centres for torture survivors in Ankara, Izmir, Istanbul and Adana and a documentation centre in Ankara.
 From the start the HRA has faced considerable pressure from the authorities. Many HRA members, however, have paid for their courageous defence of human rights with imprisonment and torture, and some even with their lives. No less than 10 HRA members have been killed in the past five years. Members of the Human Rights Association have received death threats by letter and telephone.
 There are two principal reasons for the intense pressure on the HRA.
 First, the state does not welcome the scrutiny of human rights activists who have helped to document and limit the systematic violation of human rights by interviewing victims, by acting as observers during confrontations between the civilian population and the security forces, by assisting foreign delegations, and by making representations to police, prosecutors and governors. These activities have earned the HRA bitter enemies in the ranks of the government and the security forces.
 Second, in the highly charged atmosphere engendered by political violence, opposition to the torture or extrajudicial execution of suspected members of armed groups is often perceived by the authorities as support for those groups. Several HRA officials have been prosecuted for assisting armed organizations, when the real motive for prosecution was apparently the defendant's work against human rights violations.
 The HRA has organized campaigns on a variety of issues, including an action on pedestrians' rights, activities on women's concerns, the death penalty, workers' rights, and refugee rights. It has published many reports on general and specific human rights questions, and produces a bi-monthly newsletter.
 The local branches have a heavy daily workload, monitoring human rights in their own provinces and, where appropriate, taking action. The branches receive many appeals from families or political publications and organizations whose members have been detained by the police, have "disappeared", allege to have been tortured or have been extrajudicially executed.
 The aims of the Human Rights Association are described in the second article of its constitution:
 1. To research and identify practices concerning human rights in our country, and to inform individual persons, the general public and relevant authorities of those practices.
 2. To commission or carry out scientific research concerning human rights, to monitor developments in this area and to inform public opinion.
 3. To hold open conventions, conferences, seminars, panel discussions, symposiums, all manner of meetings and demonstrations relevant to the aims of the association, to hold exhibitions and competitions, to publish, award prizes and to establish foundations.
 4. To carry out research and to inform public opinion in order that convicted prisoners, remand prisoners, and those in police detention, without discrimination as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political views or beliefs, should be able to continue their lives in a humane manner.
 5. To co-operate with organizations with the same aim.

PROTESTS AT THE ATTACK ON AKIN BIRDAL

 Crowds in Ankara, Mersin, Izmir, Adana, Antalya and Kocaeli shouted that they would not abandon the struggle for peace and democracy. 3.000 people attended a rally in Ankara organised by the Democracy Platform on 13 May.
 After speeches had been made the people marched silently to the sevgi hospital where Akin Birdal was receiving treatment. IHD vice-president Osman Baydemir told the people that Akin Birdal had sent them a message via his daughter Evren, saying that he was well and had relayed his best wishes. Baydemir said that they would continue their protests the next day with a protest at the interior ministry, from where they would march to the Turkish parliament.
 Meanwhile, two protesters who had been at the hospital ever since Akin Birdal was shot, Server Yildirim and Melih Altinok were detained by police. 3.000 people also attended a protest in Mersin and 6.000 people gathered in Konak square in Izmir.
 Around 1.000 people attended a rally in Antalya, where the crowd marched to the main Post Office. There they faxed protest messages to the president and the leader of the parliament. Around a thousand people attended a rally in Adana and protests also took place in many other places.

SUR L'ATTENTAT CONTRE AKIN BIRDAL

 CILDEKT, 13 mai 1998
 M. Akin Birdal, président de l'Association turque des droits de l'Homme (IHD) depuis 1992 et vice-président de la Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l'homme (FIDH) a été grièvement blessé mardi 12 mai dans un attentat perpétré dans son bureau par deux personnes non identifiées. Les agresseurs ont tiré treize fois sur M. Birdal qui a été gravement touché à la poitrine et aux jambes. Les assaillants ont pu prendre la fuite à pied.
 Selon la chaîne d'information en continu NTV, une organisation d'extrême-droite illégale, la "Brigade turque de la Vengeance" (TIT) - qui a fait parler d'elle au début des années 1990, notamment en assassinant plusieurs journalistes et personnalités kurdes- aurait revendiqué l'attentat. L'information n'a cependant pas été confirmée par des sources officielles.
 Selon Husnu Ondul, l'avocat de M. Birdal, ce dernier a récemment "reçu des menaces anonymes ( ) L'État turc ne lui a jamais donné la protection policière demandée par l'association". Le ministre de l'Intérieur, Murat Basesgioglu, a nié pour sa part ces propos.
 Agronome engagé de longue date dans le combat pacifique pour la démocratie, M. Birdal, 50 ans, avait purgé une peine de prison d'un an après le coup d'État militaire de septembre 1980. En 1997, il avait été condamné à un an de prison par la justice pour des propos "séparatistes" et "incitation à la haine raciale" .
 Son cas est actuellement devant la Cour de cassation après un pourvoi introduit par ses avocats. Il fait aussi l'objet d'une vingtaine de procès pour "propagande séparatiste". Accusé à maintes reprises par plusieurs quotidiens et certains dirigeants turcs "d'agir en faveur du PKK", son nom avait été récemment mentionné parmi les personnes qui avaient apporté leur soutien au PKK dans les "aveux" de Semdin Sakik, ancien commandant du PKK en Turquie, arrêté à la mi-avril dans le nord de l'Irak lors d'une opération de l'armée turque. M. Birdal avait cependant rejeté en bloc "ces accusations destinées à discréditer puis à éliminer les troubles-fête".
 Le fait de discréditer des opposants par des campagnes de presse orchestrées par la police politique (MIT), de les désigner à la vindicte populaire comme des "traîtres" ou des "terroristes" avant de les faire assassiner par des escadrons de la mort est une pratique désormais classique du régime turc. Depuis 1992, plus de 4500 démocrates kurdes et turcs ont été assassinés par des escadrons de la mort.
 Un rapport rendu public en janvier dernier, de l'inspecteur en chef des services du Premier ministre a établi que ces escadrons associant des éléments de la police, de la gendarmerie et de la mafia avaient agi au vu et au su des plus hautes autorités de l'État et sur instruction du Bureau de la Guerre Spéciale. Le nouveau Premier ministre, M. Yilmaz, avait promis de "châtier les coupables et de purger les services de sécurité de ces gangs criminels".
 Promesse restée sans lendemain car ces gangs émanent du noyau dur de l'État, ce que les Turcs appellent "l'État profond", équivalent turc du Gladio italien. Les gouvernements civils sont toujours restés impuissants face à ces réseaux de pouvoir puissants protégés par l'état-major des armées. Après chaque attentat spectaculaire ils condamnent "fermement les auteurs" et promettent de "les arrêter rapidement". Mais à ce jour aucun des auteurs de plus de 4500 "meurtres politiques non élucidés" n'a été arrêté.
 C'est dans ce contexte qu'il convient de situer la déclaration du Premier ministre turc: "Je condamne fermement cette agression et souhaite que les agresseurs soient retrouvés dans les plus brefs délais pour être traduits devant la justice".
 En Europe, l'émotion a été à la mesure de la notoriété d'A. Birdal et du respect qu'inspire son action. M. Klaus Kinkel, chef de la diplomatie allemande, a été le premier à réagir en "déplorant profondément" l'attentat et en espérant que l'affaire soit "rapidement éclaircie". Il a précisé qu'il connaissait ce défenseur courageux des droits de l'homme pour l'avoir rencontré plusieurs fois, la dernière à Ankara, en mars 1997.
 La présidence de l'Union européenne, dans un communiqué de presse rendu public à Londres, indique: "Nous avons appris avec stupeur et consternation le lâche attentat contre Akin Birdal". L'UE "condamne cet attentat" et "soutient fortement les déclarations des autorités turques selon lesquelles tous les efforts seront faits pour transmettre ses responsables à la justice".
 À Paris, une porte-parole du ministre des Affaires étrangères a exprimé "l'émotion de la France" et rendu hommage " au combat mené sans relâche par M. Birdal en faveur des droits de l'homme". "Nous voulons croire que cet événement renforcera en Turquie la détermination de tous ceux qui, y compris au sein du gouvernement partagent cet objectif et ce battent pour la démocratisation" a-t-il ajouté.
 L'Italie est "indignée" et "déplore" l'attentat perpétré contre M. Birdal a déclaré le ministère des affaires étrangères qui a souligné que pour Rome "l'adoption par le gouvernement d'Ankara de normes européennes en matière des droits de l'homme constitue la condition indispensable pour un rapprochement progressif de ce pays vers l'Europe".
 De son côté la Grèce a stigmatisé "les mécanismes autoritaires qui terrorisent les citoyens désireux de dire librement leurs opinions en Turquie, qui reste une démocratie grise prisonnière de ces mécanismes". "Cet attentat n'est pas seulement un coup porté contre M. Birdal mais aussi contre la démocratie et les droits de l'homme qui sont en fait vides de contenu en Turquie" a conclu le porte-parole grec.
 À Paris, dans une lettre ouverte adressée au président turc, Suleyman Demirel, Mme Mitterrand, présidente de la Fondation France-Libertés et du CILDEKT, a exprimé son "indignation" face "à cet attentat atroce qui participe à la vague de persécutions, de menaces et d'assassinats des défenseurs des droits de l'homme" et a ajouté: "nous nous interrogeons sur la capacité de votre gouvernement de rétablir un État de droit en Turquie".
 A Londres, Amnesty a accusé les autorités turques d'avoir "créé le climat" propice à l'attentat. "Les autorités turques ont tenté avec persistance de discréditer l'Association turque des droits de l'homme (IHD) et n'ont ni mené d'enquête ni condamné les précédentes attaques contre ses représentants" indique le communiqué d'Amnesty qui ajoute: "Plus de 10 membres de l'IHD ont été assassinés depuis 1991( ) Il apparaît que ces meurtres n'ont pas fait l'objet d'enquêtes correctes, et même que leurs auteurs ont été protégées".
 Cette opinion est également partagé par de larges secteurs de l'opinion turque. Ainsi, pour Recai Kutan, président du groupe parlementaire du parti islamiste, la Vertu, "il est impossible de parler de la démocratie et des droits de l'homme dans un climat où le président de l'Association des droits de l'homme est accusé sans aucun fondement légal et ouvertement désigné comme cible pour des tueurs". Cet argument a été repris par Aydin Erdogan, avocat à l'IHD: "Birdal a été désigné comme une cible ces derniers jours. C'était une invitation au meurtre".

TURKEY PREPARES FOR NEW INVASION OF SOUTH KURDISTAN

 Med-TV, May 14, 1998
 On the first anniversay of Turkey`s 1997 invasion of South Kurdistan, on the 14th May the south Kurdistan administation of the PKK has issued a statement calling on the people to mobilise against another invasion, which Turkey is preparing for.
 The statement by the PKK emphasised that the 1997 invasion of south kurdistan by Turkey had not only aimed to annihilate the National liberation struggle led by the PKK, but also everything kurdish and everything concerning Kurdistan.
 The statement stressed that the USA, Israel and Turkey, that wish to take control of the Musul-Kerkuk oil field, and the oilfields of the Caucasus, had launched the 14 may invasion in order to liguidate the PKK, which is an obstacle to their colonialist plans.
 The statement continued to detail the aims of last years invasion as being to establish the new world order in the middle east, to destroy the gains made in south Kurdistan and to impose treachery on the people of kurdistan.
 The statement recalled that in order to strike fear into the hearts of the people and the patriotic democratic forces, a massacre of unarmed, wounded and sick PKK members had been carried out in Hewler and added: "Colonialism perpetrated a massacre but the great heroism and unrivalled resistance shown on the revalutionary front defeated all the plans of the enemy."
 The statement drew attention to the fact that the USA, Israel and Turkey, which had been unable to achieve their aims in 1997, would in 1998 want to realise their plans with the collaboration of the KDP. It was pointed out that Turkey was gradually moving its forces southwards and intended to declare a turcoman Republic. It was emphasised that regional and national forces must unite their forces and oppose this dangerous plan.
 In the party statement headed "Our patriotic people" a call for mobilisation was made. "It is a historic obligation to unite in a spirit of national unity, and to become ever more involved in the struggle against the insidious, brutal attacks of our enemies."
 The statement emphasised that the occupation of 1998 would be more comprehensive than that of 97 and pointed out that attacks would not only target the PKK adding: "We call on all patriotic democratic forces to be prepared for the attacks of the enemy and to realise military-political alliances and to turn patriotic resistance in to uprisings"

DGM HEARS SERAFETTIN ELCI CASE ON CHARGES OF SEPARATISM

 State Security Court (DGM) in Ankara on May 14 began hearing the case against the chairman of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Mass Party (DKP), Serafettin Elci, on charges of separatism, the Anadolu news agency reported.
 The indictment accuses Elci of violating the integrity of the Turkish state by describing the Kurdish people as a "separate nation which Turkey wants to assimilate" in a press conference in Brussels in 1993.
 The DKP chairman on Wednesday denied the charges, saying there was a serious Kurdish problem in Turkey.
 "I favour the solution of the Kurdish problem within the integrity of the Turkish Republic. Therefore, it is unjust to blame me for separatism," Elci was quoted by Anadolu as saying.
 The judge postponed the case for further evaluation by the prosecutor. If found guilty, Elci could face a prison term of between one and three years.
 Elci, 60, who held a ministerial post in at the end of the 1970s, played an active role in the establishment of the DKP in 1997, eventually becoming chairman of the party.
 The DKP chairman had at the time explained the party's aim to be that of solving the Kurdish problem through dialogue. "No one should be afraid that we are a movement which aims to divide Turkey. We respect Turkey's borders," Elci had said.

US HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT WILL COVER HEADSCARF BAN IN TURKEY

 Turkish Daily News, May 14, 1998
 The ban on the wearing of headscarves in public institutions in Turkey will apparently make its way into the new human rights report that the U.S. State Department is preparing.
 When asked his opinion by a Turkish journalist, a senior State Department official talking on background said, "It will certainly be an issue reported in our human rights report, in the religious section."
 The official also added that "this is a problem in some other countries as well, in terms of a limitation on an ability of people to be able to exercise their religious beliefs. So it will be reported just as it occurs, and it would be reported in any number of countries."
 The same official added that new U.S. legislation proposed by Rep. Frank Wolf (R) of Virginia and Sen. Arlen Specter (R) of Pennsylvania and intended to protect religious freedom around the world could actually be counterproductive.
 The law would automatically impose sanctions on countries found to be violating specific religious freedoms. The laws would take effect without prior consultations with either the secretary of state or the national security advisor.
 The senior official said the same law may give rise to "a hierarchy of human rights, whereby particular kinds of human rights -- that is, persecution as defined in the legislation -- would be given enhanced treatment over, say, torture, genocide or extra-judicial executions or denials of free speech or other basic human rights denials..."

LE PARLEMENT EUROPEEN CONDAMNE L'ATTENTAT CONTRE AKIN BIRDAL

 Le Parlement européen a adopté le jeudi 14 mai 1998, une résolution condamnant "avec la dernière rigueur" l'attentat commis contre Akin Birdal, président de l'Association turque des droits de l'homme (IHD).
 Pour les euro-députés Akin Birdal, est "un militant hautement respecté" ayant "régulièrement informé des délégations européennes, des ambassadeurs et plusieurs membres du Parlement" et ayant fait l'objet de "fortes pressions" de la part des autorités turques, dont "plusieurs procédures judiciaires", "engagées contre lui pour ses activités en faveur des droits de l'homme" alors "que l'on n'a pas fait grand-chose pour traduire en justice les auteurs d'attentats commis contre d'autres membres de l'Association".
 Le Parlement européen a fait part de sa "très vive émotion et de l'indignation que lui inspire l'attentat commis contre Akin Birdal" et s'inquiète "de ce qu'un tel attentat ait été le résultat du climat crée par l'impunité dont jouissent actuellement les personnes responsables d'attentats commis contre d'autres membres d'organisations de défense des droits de l'homme et contre des journalistes" . Il "invite les autorités turques à faire en sorte que les auteurs et les commanditaires de ce crime, et d'autres crimes de même nature, soient traduits en justice"( ) et demande aux autorités turques "de faire en sorte que l'IHD et les autres ONG uvrant dans le domaine des droits de l'homme puissent exercer librement leurs activités de défense et de promotion des droits de l'homme".
 D'autre part, toujours dans la même résolution, le Parlement européen exprime "la préoccupation" que lui inspirent la sentence prononcée contre M. Erdogan, maire d'Istanbul, condamné le 21 avril 1998 par la Cour de Sûreté de l'Etat de Diyarbakir, à dix mois d'emprisonnement pour cause "d'incitation à la haine" lors d'une allocution politique "prétendument antilaïque".
 Considérant que "des procès ont été faits à d'autres membres du parti, y compris des maires et des hommes d'affaires" et rappelant à la Turquie "les engagements qu'elle a contractés dans le cadre de la déclaration universelle des droits de l'homme et des conventions internationales et régionales en matière de droits de l'homme qu'elle a ratifiées"( )
 le Parlement européen "invite le gouvernement et les partis politiques de Turquie à mettre en uvre la législation nécessaire pour une démocratisation fondée sur la liberté de parole et la liberté d'opinion".

HUMAN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION'S REPLY TO MESUT YILMAZ

 IHD Executive Board's press release of May 15, 1998
 Human Rights Association (HRA)'s Headquarters has decided to give a statement to the public in response to the statements of Prime Minister Mesut Yìlmaz which was published in the press today.
 Prime Minister Mesut Yìlmaz has called the armed assault against our President, Akìn Birdal as an "internal conflict". The national and international public is quite surprised about Mr. Yìlmaz's interpretation. With his undecisiveness and trepidation up to date has been unable to bring out in the open the gang activity enmeshed in the state, and also having caused this matter to have dropped from the agenda, he now introduces this as an "internal conflinct" of the HRA which struggles for each individual's right to lead a dignified life.We call upon Mr. Yìlmaz and all government officials to act according to the responsibilities inherent to the office of statesmen.
 The real conflict is between those who work for peace, democracy and freedom in Turkey and those who wish to maintain the system of suppression and exploitation.
 Our President Mr. Akìn Birdal and HRA have been chosen as a target because of the HRA's unwavering stand and determination on the side of peace, democracy and freedom. This is known worldwide. Therefore, the Prime Minister's attempts to manipulate and disort the incident will be in vain.
 From the Prime Minister's statements and attitude we are led to believe that those accountable will not be revealed. In addition, the Prime Minister, with this statement, continues to present the HRA as target again.
 The armed assault against Mr.Akìn Birdal was premeditated and carried out professionally. Mr. Mesut Yìlmaz should immediately explain to the public "what he is afraid of". (he stated ' it is not what I am afraid of' )
 Mesut Yìlmaz and his government will not be released of their accountibility for this incident by declaring this an "internal conflict".
 The HRA believes that the source of this armed assault is what the Prime Minister "is afraid of".
 Mesut Yìlmaz and his government will not be released of their accountibility for this incident by declaring this an "internal conflict".
 The HRA believes that the source of this armed assault is what the Prime Minister "is afraid of"
 What Mr. Yìlmaz is afraid of and unable to declare is that the armed assault was carried out by contra-guerilla.
 Mr. Mesut Yìlmaz, who earlier promised on his honour to bring in the open the "Susurluk Case" before the people of Turkey, should bring out in the open this incident, otherwise he should resign.

MARCH AGAINST SHOOTING OF HUMAN RIGHTS LEADER

 Reuters, May 17, 1998
 Thousands of Turks marched on Sunday under the watchful gaze of riot police to protest over the shooting last week of the country's leading human rights campaigner.
 In Ankara, squads of police wearing plastic body armour waited along the route of over a thousand marchers toward the small hospital where Akin Birdal, head of the Human Rights Association (IHD) is receiving treatment.
 Birdal was shot six times in the chest and leg by two gunmen in his Ankara office on Tuesday.
 "Akin's improvement is continuing. All we have to do now is wait," IHD official Tayfun Gorgun told the crowd which broke up after flowers had been laid outside the hospital.
 The marchers' progress through the city had been punctuated with chants of anti-fascist slogans and shouts of, "Don't be silent. If you are silent, your turn will come."
 Over a thousand demonstrators gathered in front of the IHD's headquarters in central Istanbul before dispersing. Several hundred police and water cannon were stationed in a nearby square.
 In Diyarbakir, regional capital of the mainly Kurdish southeast, police broke up a similar demonstration organised by Turkey's largest Kurdish party, making around ten arrests.
 Justice Minister Oltan Sungurlu said the search for Birdal's attackers would end shortly.
 "Those who carried out the armed attack on IHD chairman Birdal will be caught soon," Anatolian news agency quoted him as saying.
 The agency also said the main opposition Islamist Virtue Party had submitted a motion to parliament calling for the assembly to set up an investigation into the case.
 Birdal has been an outspoken critic of Turkey's shaky human rights record and frequently accused the state of conducting a "dirty war" against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels in the southeast. More than 28,000 people have been killed in the 13-year conflict.
 The veteran activist had been receiving death threats after purported accusations by captured PKK defector Semdin Sakik were leaked to the press linking Birdal to the guerrilla group.
 Rights groups blamed the shooting on these reports and linked the assassination attempt to a security scandal which exposed state ties to rightist death squads. IHD officials deny any connection to the PKK.
 Turkey's human rights record has often come under fire from the West and was one of the factors cited by the European Union for excluding the country from a list of potential EU candidates last December.

ENTRETIEN AVEC MME EREN KESKIN, VICE-PRESIDENTE DE L'IHD

 CILDEKT rapporte:
 Tandis que le Premier ministre turc et son Ministre de l'Intérieur tentent de faire croire qu'Akin Birdal aurait été victime "d'un règlement de compte interne au PKK", le quotidien turc Milliyet du 17 mai a publié une longue interview de Mme Keskin, avocate, vice-présidente d'I.H.D.
 Victime elle-même d'une tentative d'attentat, faisant toujours l'objet de menaces incessantes, Mme Keskin affirme avoir reçu le jour de l'attentat contre Akin Birdal, trois coups de fil sur son téléphone portable de la part d'individus s'adressant à elle en ces termes : "nos condoléances pour Akin Birdal qui est mort". Selon elle ces individus ne pourraient qu'être de la police car pour cause de sécurité elle n'avait communiqué son numéro personnel qu'à une poignée d'amis.
 Insistant sur la responsabilité de certains cercles au sein de l'Etat turc qu'elle accuse de tirer parti de la captivité de Semdin Sakik auquel certains journaux turcs avaient attribué des propos mettant en cause Akin Birdal comme responsable d'une association liée au PKK, elle pense que l'attentat a été projeté de longue date et que ces "révélations" dans la presse turque avaient pour but de préparer l'opinion publique.
 Réagissant aux propos du premier ministre Mesut Yilmaz et du Ministre de l'Intérieur, selon lesquels "il s'agit d'un règlement de compte interne" ou encore "il se peut que ce soient bien le PKK et certains milieux qui ont perpétré cet attentat pour troubler les esprits de nos concitoyens et les rendre méfiants vis-à-vis de notre État", elle accuse le gouvernement de ne pas respecter ses engagements eu égard aux conventions internationales qu'il a signées. Elle évoque aussi le durcissement des conditions de travail de l'Association des Droits de l'Homme dont les subventions accordées par l'Union Européenne ont été confisquées par Mehmet Agar, ministre de l'Intérieur de l'époque et personnage du premier plan impliqué dans l'affaire Susurluk.
 Avocate de profession, elle s'interroge sur la véracité des "révélations" faites par l'ex-commandant du PKK, Semdin Sakik : "Parlons tout d'abord de sa déposition. On dit qu'elle a été démentie devant le Procureur de la République. Nous ne savons même pas si elle est faite vraiment par lui-même, personne n'en a la moindre idée, ni l'a vue. Le Ministre de l'Intérieur lui-même est un juriste. Il est censé savoir que l'instruction préparatoire est secrète. La publication de ces révélations par la presse aurait dû être saisie. Au lendemain de l'attentat, nous n'avons guère été surpris par leurs déclarations. Nous pensons que le gouvernement s'est rendu à la contre-guérilla".
 Elle ajoute "... C'est comme si nous faisions partie du PKK et qu'il existait un autre groupe en son sein contre nous. Nous considérons que ces déclarations ont été faites pour couvrir les criminels. Le Premier Ministre avait d'abord fait part de sa crainte que l'Etat n'y soit impliqué avant de dire qu'il s'agissait d'un règlement de compte. Quant à Ecevit, il a prononcé presque les mêmes mots en disant que certains milieux voulant se substituer à l'Etat auraient pu perpétrer cet attentat. Il se peut qu'ils aient peur également. Ou bien pour continuer à gouverner, ils n'ont pas d'autre choix..."
 Critiquant la presse turque pour son insensibilité à la situation de l'Association qui a perdu une quinzaine de dirigeants et de membres en l'espace de onze ans, elle souligne le changement constaté dans l'opinion publique turque à son égard "(...) Après la publication des "révélations", il y a eu une vague d'appels téléphoniques menaçants. Mais après l'attentat, le vent a tourné..."

LE VICE-PRESIDENT DE LA FIDH SE REND AU CHEVET DE AKIN BIRDAL

 Me Patrick Baudoin, président de la Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'homme, s'est rendu en Turquie où il a pu rendre visite, le 18 mai, à Akin Birdal à l'hôpital Sevgi d'Ankara. Dans une conférence de presse donnée à la sortie de l'hôpital,
 Me Baudoin a indiqué que la famille de la FIDH "a vécu avec émotion et tristesse" l'attentat commis contre son vice-président A. Birdal. "Nous sommes ici pour manifester notre soutien et notre solidarité envers Akin Birdal et les défenseurs des droits de l'homme et rappeler aux dirigeants du pays, leurs responsabilités. Nous ne pouvons plus nous contenter de paroles rassurantes des autorités turque".
 Le président de la F.I.D.H. a ensuite lu à la presse le texte de la lettre ouverte adressée au président turcs S. Demirel et au Premier Ministre M. Yilmaz. Pour la FIDH "il ne suffit pas de condamner l'attentat visant Birdal. Les autorités turques devraient prendre des mesures concrètes pour rechercher les auteurs de l'attentat du 12 mai, les arrêter et les remettre dans les plus brefs délais à la justice."

LA VISITE A MOSCOU DU GENERAL KARADAYI

 Les généraux turcs se chargent désormais eux-mêmes des missions diplomatiques qu'ils considèrent comme les plus importantes pour la sécurité du pays. C'est dans cet esprit que le chef d'état major des armées turques, le général Karadayi, a effectué à partir du 18 mai, une visite entourée d'une large publicité à Moscou où il a rencontré son homologue russe, le ministre de la défense ainsi que des responsables des industries d'armement.
 Selon le quotidien turc Milliyet qui lui consacre la Une de son numéro du 20 mai, le général turc a indiqué à ses interlocuteurs russes que la Turquie pourrait acheter des hélicoptères russes KA-50 et KA-52, ainsi que des chars T-80 et peut-être des avions MIG-29 et SU-27 si la Russie renonçait à vendre des missiles S-300 à Chypre. Les responsables russes lui auraient répondu que l'annulation de contrat de vente des S-300 n'est pas impossible. En clair, cela dépend du marchandage turco-russe.
 Au cours de sa visite, le chef d'état-major turc a également demandé aux Russes de cesser de livrer des missiles et de la technologie nucléaire à l'Iran et à la Syrie et de ne pas tolérer les activités du PKK sur leur territoire. Il a avancé l'idée de la création d'une force d'action rapide turco-russe pour intervenir dans des troubles et crises d'intérêt commun notamment au Caucase, idée qui aurait reçu un bon accueil chez les dirigeants russes.
 Cependant, les conflits d'intérêt important, et les contentieux historiques entre la Turquie et la Russie rendent difficiles le développement d'une coopération significative entre les deux pays, à supposer que les Américains, qui ont leur mot à dire sur la politique étrangère turque, acceptent une telle coopération.

COOK TELLS BIRDAL: WE WILL PURSUE YOUR CAUSE

 The Turkish Daily News, May 21, 1998
 "We will pursue the honorable struggle you have given in the path for development of the human rights culture," British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook told Human Rights Association (IHD) Chairman Akin Birdal.
 Birdal told Cook, "We do not want Turkey to be known as a country known for human rights violations, as a country where human rights activists are shot. The attack against us has been carried out by those who want Turkey to become distanced from the EU. They cannot deter us."
 Cook visited Birdal, who was recently seriously wounded in an armed attack, at the hospital where he is receiving medical treatment and wished him well. A brief security crisis occurred as Cook was entering Birdal's room together with David Logan, Britain's Ambassador to Turkey, and IHD Secretary General Nazmi Gur. IHD officials raised objections when three policemen wanted to enter the room. They were forced, however, to allow the policemen to enter the room following a lengthy argument wherein the policemen said, "We have to protect Mr. Secretary." It was learned that one of the policemen recorded the speeches during Cook's meeting.
 During the meeting, Cook said about Birdal, "We have been following the IHD for a long time. We appreciate the sensitivity he has shown on the human rights issue and his successful work tempo." Pointing out that the attack against Birdal had led to adverse reactions in the European Union (EU), Cook told Birdal that all European countries had condemned the attack. Stressing the necessity for Turkey to establish warm relations with the EU despite all the negative developments and the necessity of correcting its former relations which have been unsettled for some time, Cook said, "We will pursue the honorable struggle you have given in the path for development of the human rights culture." Stressing that the Turkish state officials must find the perpetrators of the attack, Cook said Turkey was an important country for the EU.
 Birdal: Attack is work of those who do not want EU
 Pointing out that the attack against him had been organized by those who wanted Turkey to be distanced from the EU process, Birdal told Cook that he and his colleagues had been exerting efforts to make Turkey a democratic country where social peace is secure. Expressing that the IHD had been portrayed by certain circles as an association which is the enemy of the state, Birdal stressed that it is an association which advocates peace and human rights.
 "Turkey should be a country which abides by the standards of the EU, where social peace has been put into effect and where every individual can freely express himself. The IHD is annoyed about Turkey's reputation for human rights violations. There have been efforts to push Turkey, which is being distanced from the EU process with every passing day, outside of this process with the actions carried out against me."
 Meanwhile, Silvie Jan, the chairwoman of the European Democratic Women's Union, is expected to visit Birdal in the coming days.

ISLAMIST REPORTERS FACE EIGHT YEARS' JAIL

 A Turkish army prosecutor demanded two civilian Islamist journalists be jailed for eight years at their military trial on May 21, state-run Anatolian news agency said.
 It said reporter Yasar Kaplan and editor Murat Balibey of the Islamist Akit newspaper, were accused of "inciting soldiers to break the law and disobey orders" in an article written in the daily.
 Under Turkish law civilians can be tried in military courts.
 Rights groups have often criticised Turkey for imprisoning journalists for what they write. An editor can also be held legally responsible for the contents of newspapers.
 The case was adjourned.
 Prosecutors have begun a wave of legal actions against prominent Islamists since the constitutional court banned Turkey's biggest political grouping, the Islam-based Welfare Party in January.
 A Welfare-led government was toppled from power last June after sustained pressure spearheaded by the highly secularist military.

TURKISH POLICE ARREST RELIGIOUS PROTESTERS

 Associated Press, May 22, 1998
 Police arrested dozens of Islamic militants Friday during a protest against a government ban on head scarves in public schools and offices.
 Officers stopped about 100 people leaving a mosque after Friday prayers, saying the protesters were not authorized to march through Konya, about 190 miles south of Ankara.
 The semiofficial Anatolia news agency said 33 people were arrested, questioned and brought before the state prosecutor.
 Friday is a day reserved for prayer under Islam, and Muslims often organize demonstrations after midday services.
 Although women traditionally wear headscarves in Turkey, the powerful pro-secular army has accused Islamist activists of turning the custom into a political statement.
 The center of Turkey, Central Anatolia, is a stronghold of the Virtue Party, the successor of the now-banned, pro-Islamic Welfare Party led by former Premier Necmettin Erbakan.
 The Welfare Party, ousted early this year, was the first Islamic party to come to power in Turkey since the country's founding in 1923. It sought to raise the profile of Islam in predominantly Muslim, but secular Turkey.
 

POLICE ARREST SIX FOR ATTACK ON AKIN BIRDAL

 Reuters, May 22, 1998
 Turkish police arrested six people in connection with the shooting last week of the country's top human rights campaigner, Anatolian news agency said on Friday.
 It said a paramilitary gendarmerie sergeant was among the suspects held for the attack on Human Rights Association head Akin Birdal, who was seriously wounded.
 The agency named two people it said were accused of shooting Birdal six times at his office in Ankara. The attack took place following press leaks linking Birdal to Kurdish guerrillas. His group denies any links to the rebels.
 The shooting prompted streets protests in Turkey and widespread concern abroad.
 British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook visited Birdal in hospital this week and called for the attackers to be found swiftly and brought to justice.
 The arrests were made overnight in Istanbul and at a motorway toll on the road between the city and Ankara.
 Anatolian said the suspects were linked to far-right criminal gangs blamed for a string of unsolved political killings. Police were still searching for a man who allegedly ordered the Birdal shooting, the agency said.

LA TURQUIE BOUDE LE CONSEIL D'ASSOCIATION AVEC L'UNION EUROPENNE

 La visite à Ankara de R. Cook n'a pas réussi à convaincre le gouvernement turc de participer à la réunion du conseil d'association prévue pour le 25 mai à Bruxelles. Les conditions requises pour la tenue de cette réunion ne sont pas réunies.
 Le texte sur la Turquie qui devait être débattu lors de ce conseil prévoyait un approfondissement des relations entre l'UE et la Turquie mais pose certaines conditions politiques. Nous ne pouvons les (conditions) accepter" a déclaré à l'AFP, un porte-parole turc.
 "Les conditions préalables que l'on nous avance pour l'application du texte de "stratégie européenne pour la Turquie" sont les mêmes que celle formulées par l'Union fin avril" a-t-il ajouté en référence à un communiqué de l'UE du 29 avril dernier appelant Ankara à des améliorations dans ses relations avec la Grèce, dans le conflit chypriote et dans le domaine des droits de l'homme.
 Or la Turquie fait l'impasse sur les questions politiques et ne veut discuter que de la coopération économique et financière, en particulier du déblocage d'une aide financière de 375 millions d'écus (412,5 millions de dollars) prévue par l'accord d'union douanière entrée en vigueur en 1996.
 Chacun campant sur ses positions le dialogue turco-européen est en panne, pour quelque temps.

TURKEY SENTENCED TWICE BEFORE EURO COURT

 Reuters, May 25, 1998
 The European Court of Human Rights ruled twice against Turkey on Monday including a condemnation of its banning in 1992 of the far left Socialist party.
 The court ruled that Turkey had violated that part of the European Convention of Human Rights, of which it is a signatory, which guarantees freedom of association by banning the Socialist party which was created in 1988 and had stood in elections.
 The party was banned by Turkey's Constitutional Court on the grounds that it distinguished between a Turkish and a Kurdish nation to the detriment of Turkey's territorial integrity.
 The court said there were no grounds to ban a group which did not use violence even though its political arguments were irksome to authorities.
 "The dissolution of the SP has been disproportionate to the aim pursued and consequently unnecessary in a democratic society," the court said.
 The court issued a similar ruling in January concerning the banning of Turkey's United Communist Party.
 The European court awarded 50,000 francs ($8,300) damages each to SP chairman Ilhan Kirit and former chairman Dogu Perincek, far less than the $7.5 million they sought for themselves and their party.
 It also said it had no powers under the Convention to order Turkey to rescind the ban against the party.
 The court earlier ruled that Turkey should pay damages to a woman whose son disappeared during a swoop by government forces against PKK Kurdish guerrillas.
 The court found Turkey violated an article of the European Convention of Human Rights, of which it is a signatory, and should pay Koceri Kurt a total of 25,000 pounds sterling ($40,000).
 The court ruled the mother's testimony about seeing her son in the hands of security forces after clashes between soldiers and guerrillas was credible. The incident took place near Bismil in the southeast of the country in November 1995.
 The court however failed to find conclusive proof that Uzeyir Kurt was killed by authorities.
 It ruled the mother should be compensated on the grounds that Turkey violated article five of the Human Rights Convention stating that unacknowledged detention of an individual is a negation of the convention's guarantees.
 Separately, some 50 Kurdish men, aged between 20 and 30 and who are in France illegally, occupied the steps of a church in the southern port of Marseille where they said they would carry out a hunger strike until authorities allowed them to stay in the country.

BIRDAL IDENTIFIES ASSAILANTS

 Turkish Daily News, May 25, 1998
 The capture of the six suspects who allegedly attacked the Human Rights Association (IHD) chairman has stirred controversy as the attackers on Sunday were taken to the site of the incident to reenact the assault at the IHD building in Ankara.
 Akin Birdal, who is still in the hospital, and witnesses identified the suspects as the men who attacked him. The suspects will be questioned further by the police in Ankara on May 25.
 It was learned that the alleged hit man in the Birdal assassination attempt, Bahri Eken -- who had been working for Serdar Saruhan -- was tried in an Istanbul court for months for threatening a woman in an attempt to acquire her property near Istanbul.
 Tansu Aygulhan, who is the owner of a dog farm, said that she was threatened by a gang which included Bahri Eken. Three people, including an alleged Jitem gendarmerie intelligence unit member and a alleged member of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and Eken, all threatened her in an effort seize the property that she and her father owned.
 Last week, six people were detained in connection to last week's armed attack against IHD Chairman Birdal. Among the six are two people whom the police believe injured Birdal. The alleged hit men, Bahri Eken and Kerim Deretarla, and the other conspirators, Hasan Hasanoglu, Erkal Ulas, Ahmet Fulin and Cengiz Ersever, were apprehended in a series of police raids.
 Meanwhile, opposition parties have stepped up their criticism on the government, which they say should not be looking for the gang outside, because it is within the government.
 Deputy Chairmen of the True Path Party (DYP) Hayri Kozakcioglu and Meral Aksener said during a press conference in Istanbul that if the government has Mahmut Yildirim, code-named Yesil (Green), under control as its says, then it should explain how these incidents are still happening.
 Kozakcioglu also accused those who leaked the confession of Semdin Sakik -- the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party's (PKK) second in command -- concerning Birdal, saying that the confession was the reason for the armed attack against Birdal. He added that, "leaking such confessions is strictly forbidden by the laws and we call on the judiciary to investigate the issue.
 After last week's operation, the ballistic investigation showed that two 9-mm handguns found in the possession of the suspects were the ones used to shoot Birdal. The authorities are still searching for another man, Semih Tufan Guraltay, who is believed to have planned the attack.
 One of the captured suspects, Ersever -- no relation to Cem Ersever, a retired army and intelligence officer who was killed by unidentified attackers in 1993 -- is said to be a non-commissioned military officer employed in a gendarmerie station in Istanbul.
 The authorities said he was an associate of Mahmut Yildirim, code-named Yesil (Green), a former intelligence officer who is blamed for the killing of a number of people in relation to the criminal actions of the alleged state gangs.

MILITARY IMPLICATED IN ATTACK ON AKIN BIRDAL

 Inter Press Service, May 26, 1998
 The would-be assassins who gunned down Turkey ís top human rights activist got their training, in secret, from a non-commissioned officer with neo-fascist sympathies serving with a top anti-terrorist intelligence unit.
 Six men were arrested at the weekend in connection with a near-fatal gun attack on Akin Birdal, chairman of the countryís Human Rights Association. Shot seven times, Birdal was badly wounded but survived.
 Two of the arrested group, Kerem Deretarla and Bahri Eken, have reportedly confessed all to investigators and will plead guilty to charges of attempted murder.
 In a remarkable confrontation, they were both brought before Birdalís hospital bed so he could confirm them as the men who gunned him down in his office on May 12.
 "I looked into their very eyes," Birdal told IPS by phone yesterday, "but they could not do the same to me. They were the killers. But they are only tools, mere children. The real agents are behind them."
 Deretarla, just 17 years old, has told police that he was trained for the attack in a secret woodland camp north of Istanbul. His trainer was one Cengiz Ersever, a non-commissioned officer serving with the countryís paramilitary gendarmes.
 Ersever was promptly arrested and is expected to plead guilty to the charges.
 Speaking to IPS from his bed in Ankaraís private Sevgi Hospital, Birdal recalled the moment when the would-be killers struck.
 "I knew," he said, speaking faintly and with difficulty. "I was expecting that they would make an attempt on my life.
 "They had come as visitors. But I suspected them, so I was alert and stood up as they were leaving the room, so I could move and defend myself." Birdal must undergo more surgery in the days to come. His left foot and right arm are still paralysed.
 According to the gunmenís own testimony, as widely reported here, he was targeted after the media printed the leaked testimony of former Kurdish guerrilla commander Semdin Sakik, who was snatched by a Turkish special forces unit earlier this year.
 In a wide ranging series of allegations attributed to Sakik - some of which he has since denied - a long list of critics of the government and military were "named" as "Kurdish agents" and supporters of the Kurdistan Workersí Party (PKK) guerrilla force.
 According to the alleged testimony of Sakik, PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan was supposed to have said that while Birdal "is not affiliated to the PKK, he is more PKK than anybody else in the organization".
 Without Birdal, Ocalan allegedly said, the PKK "would not be able to establish the present influence we have in Europe".
 The unsubstantiated claims, quickly denied by Birdal, gave a green light to Ersever, Deretarla and Eken, who had formed a covert death squad specifically to target such "enemies of the state."
 "We decided to kill Akin Birdal when we read Sakikís testimonies in the dailies," the gunmen are said to have told the police.
 According to evidence presented to the courts here, Ersever signed the two up alongside 15 others to form a death squad code-named the Turkish Revenge Brigade. All were members of the neo-fascist Nationalist Action Party (MHP) whose youth wing, the Gray Wolves, have been implicated in the murders of thousands of dissidents over the last three decades.
 "I have scores of others in my list. Those who are the enemies of the Turkish military and the police are also my enemies," Ersever reportedly told police interrogators. The original Turkish Revenge Brigades killed dozens of left-wingers during the civil strife of the late 1970s. One brigade member, Mehmet Ali Agca, later tried to kill the Pope.
 Remarkably, Erseverís name has come up before in similar contexts.
 He was recently named by witnesses testifying at a parliamentary commission investigating the so-called Susurluk Affair.
 This followed a now notorious car crash on the Susurluk Highway that revealed top level links between the neo-fascists, the police and MPs from former prime minister Tansu Cillerís True Path (DYP) party.
 The parliamentary investigation, helped by testimonies from top officials such as Security Intelligence chief Hanefi Avci, exposed a vast network of covert death squads. These squads, in the course of the 15 year war between the army and the PKK, have be en linked with the deaths of some 2,500 dissidents.
 Ersever, formerly with the Gendarmeís Intelligence and Counter Terrorism (JITEM) squad, was named by several witnesses and linked to another former PKK cadre turned informer, Mahmut Yildirim, codenamed "Yesil" ("Green"). Yildirim in turn has been linked with a number of extra-judicial killings.
 Ironically Hanefi Avci was himself in court yesterday, charged with "revealing state secrets." There he took the opportunity to tell the judge that though Erseverís links with Yildirim was known by the authorities, he was not prosecuted.
 "Turkish Security, the Turkish Intelligence Organization (MIT) and the Gendarme, all knew this person ëYesilí well; followed him; filed their information about him, but did not move a finger to shackle him," noted Kutlu Savas, who led the investigation into the Susurluk Affair for Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz.
 "Why?" he asked. "The only logical answer to this question is that Yesilís operations and activities do not run contrary to the general priorities and preferences of the administration."
 A string of top officials implicated in the running of death squads, including former interior minister Mehmet Agar, Gendarme General Veli Kocok and others, so far have escaped prosecution.
 "Since the state has declined to prosecute the key figures in the Susurluk Affair, the gang has come to believe in their own legitimacy and impunity," says journalist Oral Calislar of the Istanbulís daily Cumhuriyet. "The mafiosi behind this gang have been convinced that they are free to pursue their activities."
 Calislar has also received death treats and currently lives and works under police guard.
 "The attack triggered a revolt among public opinion," Birdal told IPS yesterday. "They had to investigate the attack and arrest the gunmen in the face of such a massive reaction."
 Thousands of protestors took to the streets in protest at Bridalís shooting and a string of high profile visitors to his bedside included British foreign secretary Robin Cook, in his capacity as holder of the European Unionís presidency.
 "Turkey is governed by a totalitarian system that does not recognize the rights of the opposition," Birdal said. "I have been targeted for I have been expressing the common belief of so many millions, that basic human rights can only be implemented he re when peace reigns in Turkey."

A TV JOURNALIST ATTACKED IN ANKARA

 According to information made available by RSF on 26 May 1998, at approximately 2:30 a.m. (local time) on 24 May, Adnan Gerger, a journalist with the private television chain ATV, was attacked by several unknown individuals IN ANKARA.
 Gerger was attacked as he left his car and walked toward his home.
 His attackers blocked his path and started hitting him in the face. They told him: "With everything you have written, did you think you would get away with it?" Gerger drove himself to the hospital after the attack, where he was treated for a broken nose.
 Gerger noted the license plate number of the car belonging to his attackers, and the police were later able to question the suspects involved in the attack, who stated that the fight was due to a traffic dispute.
 Gerger had been investigating the attempted murder of Akin Birdal, president of the Turkish Human Rights Association, which occurred on 12 May 1998 in Ankara.

RUSSIA CONCERNED ABOUT TURKISH MILITARY ACTIONS IN IRAQ

 Itar-Tass, May 27, 1998
 The Foreign Ministry expressed concern about a
new large-scale military operation launched by Turkish troops in Northern Iraq.
 Turkey, which explains its action by the need to fight the rebels of the Turkish Workers' Party of Kurdistan who have infiltrated the northern part of Iraq, should immediately withdraw its troops from there, the ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
 "Arising problems should be solved not by force, but by civilised political methods. This is not the first serious violation by Ankara of the fundamental norms of international law, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the neighbouring country. Such actions, let alone a desire to make them a usual practice, are inadmissible, no matter what justifications are used," the ministry said.

ULKEDE GUNDEM JOURNALIST DETAINED

 According to information made available by RSF on 28 May 1998, on 27 May, Mehmet Sanli Ekin, a journalist with the Istanbul pro-Kurd daily "Ulkede Gundem", was placed in detention in the anti-terrorism division.
 The journalist was detained when he came to the Security Office in the Bakirkoy district of Istanbul asking to have his passport extended. According to his colleagues from "Ulkede Gundem", Mehmet Sanli Ekin's detention was ordered by the anti-terrorism brigade in Diyarbakir (southeastern Turkey).
 Authorities have provided no reasons for the arrest. RSF is concerned about Mehmet Sanli Ekin's detention, given that the authorities appear reticent to provide information about the conditions under which he is being held and the reasons for his arrest.

IRAQ CONDEMNS BORDER INCURSIONS BY TURKEY

 Reuters, May 28, 1998
 Iraq on Thursday condemned a Turkish military buildup inside Iraqi borders, saying Turkey was taking advantage of the absence of Iraqi authority in the area.
 "Iraq categorically condemns the new Turkish invasion to the Northern Iraqi territories on May 22," the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying.
 "The series of Turkish invasions of Northern Iraq confirms Turkey's double standard policy and its role in perpetuating the abnormal situation there in line with the hostile American- British scheme," INA said.
  Officials in the southern Turkish city of Tunceli told Reuters early this week that soldiers backed by armoured vehicles had entered northern Iraq in small groups in pursuit of Kurdish guerrillas in the area.
 Hundreds of Turkish troops were engaged in fighting with Turkish Kurd rebels inside northern Iraq on Monday, Turkish security officials said.
 They said up to 1,000 soldiers had crossed into the mountainous enclave late last week and had killed around 10 guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in clashes in the Metina and White mountains.
 Northern Iraq has been outside Baghdad's control since shortly after the end of the 1991 Gulf War over Kuwait. It is protected by a Western allied air force based in southern Turkey.
 Iraqi Trade Minister Mohammed Mehdi Saleh accused the United States of double standards by remaining silent towards Turkey's incursion while punishing Iraq for invading Kuwait in 1990.
 "Now, on this day, there is a huge invasion of Turkish troops in the northern part of Iraq...in the Kurdish area while the United States did not say anything about it," Saleh told a news conference on Thursday.
 A U.N. official in Baghdad said on Thursday that Turkish military operations were disrupting the distribution of food in remote areas in northern Iraq.
 Eric Falt, spokesman for Iraq's U.N. Coordinator in Baghdad, said "villagers are often forced to flee when faced with troop advances which, of course complicate food distribution, but the WFP (World Food Programme) continues its programme in most of the governorate of Duhok."
 "The distribution of humanitarian supplies, however, is clearly disrupted in the most remote areas that are close to the Turkish border," Falt added.
 Under a program that went into effect in December 1996, Iraq has been allowed to export some $2 billion worth of oil every six months to buy food, medicine and other necessities to help offset the effects of sanctions imposed by the Security Council in August 1990 in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
 The Security Council raised the amount this February to $5.2 billion dollars, though Iraq said it would be able to export only about $4 billion worth of oil in that period.

LA RECONNAISSANCE DU GENOCIDE ARMENIEN SUSCITE VIVE TENSION

 CILDEKT, 29 mai 1998
 L'Assemblée nationale a adopté vendredi 29 mai 1998, en première lecture et à l'unanimité des présents, une proposition de loi socialiste disposant dans son article que "la France reconnaît publiquement le génocide arménien de 1915". Ausitôt, la Turquie a fait part de sa "déception" et les médias turcs ont déclenché une virulente campagne de presse contre la France.
 "La décision prise aujourd'hui par les députés français n'a aucune autre signification qu'une falsification des faits historiques", a affirmé le président turc  Suleyman Demirel. Le vice-Premier ministre Bulent Ecevit a souligné de son côté:"la France nous semblait être le plus proche allié de la Turquie au sein de l'Union européenne. Nous constatons que nous avons été trompés. C'est extrêmement dur".
 M. Ecevit qualifie la proposition de "déformation historique", alors que le rapporteur du texte, le socialiste René Bousquet rappelle que "le total des morts oscille entre 1 500 000 selon les publications arméniennes et  800 000, chiffre reconnu en 1919 par le ministre de l'Intérieur turc et accepté par Mustafa Kemal".
 Dans une lettre adressée à son homologue français, Lionel Jospin, le Premier ministre turc, Mesut Yilmaz écrit que "le peuple turc ne peut accepter l'utilisation du terme "génocide" pour décrire les tristes événements qui se sont produits durant la Grande Guerre et il se sent injustement accusé d'un crime qu'il n'a pas commis, à une époque marquée par de grandes souffrances des deux côtés".
 La Turquie reconnaît la réalité de massacres mais rejette toute motivation "génocidaire". En marge d'une réunion de l'OTAN à Luxembourg, le ministre français des affaires étrangères, Hubert Védrine et son homologue turc, Ismail Cem s'étaient rencontrés jeudi 30 mai 1998 pour débattre de cette proposition de loi. Ismail Cem avait fait savoir que les bonnes relations politiques et commerciales franco-turques pourraient se détériorer si celle-ci était adoptée. Les pressions sont toujours d'actualité puisque le Sénat devrait examiner ce texte à l'automne. La Turquie envisage d'ores et déjà d'exclure les entreprises françaises de ses prochains appels d'offres dans le secteur de la défense. La France, interressée par des contrats faramineux de vente d'armes- qui souhaite notamment vendre des hélicoptères et des chars à la Turquie- a d'ores et déjà eu des avertissements du ministre de la Défense turc, Ismet Sezgin qui déclarait au quotidien Sabah que son pays allait "rééxaminer les relations de l'industrie de la défense" avec la France.

FRENCH PARLIAMENT RECOGNIZED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

 Reuters, May 29, 1998
 France's parliament, in a vote expected to infuriate Turkey, on Friday passed a bill recognising the 1915 killings of Armenians by Turks as genocide.
 Turkey had asked France's Socialist-led government to intervene to stop the bill from being passed, saying trade and diplomatic relations would suffer.
 The bill, passed by the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, said: "France publicly recognises the Armenian genocide of 1915."
 Seeking to avoid a crisis with Ankara, a cabinet member sought to distance the government from the bill and told parliament: "Present-day Turkey cannot be held responsible...for one of the most horrible tragedies of our century."
 State Secretary for Veterans Affairs Jean-Pierre Masseret reminded the parliamentarians that the cabinet conducted foreign policy and chided them for "provoking tensions" between Turks and Armenians.
 France has one of the largest Armenian communities in Europe, with about 300,000 people of Armenian origin, most of whom are descendants of survivors of the 1915 killings.
 One descendant, young Gaullist parliamentarian Patrick Devedjian, was one of the key movers behind the bill. France's best-known person of Armenian descent is singer Charles Aznavour.
 Armenians say Turks killed 1.5 million of their compatriots. Ankara says thousands of Turks and Armenians died in fighting in 1915 on land which is now eastern Turkey and Syria.
 Turkey called the bill a grave mistake.
 "It is not possible or correct to pin the genocide label on Turkey over the sorrowful events which occurred during World War One," foreign ministry spokesman Necati Utkan said.
 Utkan said Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz had sent a letter to his French counterpart Lionel Jospin asking him to oppose the bill.
 "The Turkish people are extremely sensitive about the use of the word 'genocide' to describe the sad events which occurred during the Great War and they feel unjustly accused of a crime they did not commit during a time marked by great suffering on both sides," the Hurriyet daily quoted the letter as saying.
 Several hundred demonstrators in favour of the bill gathered outside the parliament building where the bill was passed. There was a huge banner which read, "Thank you France for recognising the Armenian genocide."
 In Luxembourg on Thursday, diplomats said Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem warned French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine that trade and political relations with Paris would suffer if the French parliament adopted the bill.
  Vedrine told a news conference he had explained that the bill was a purely parliamentary initiative and said there was no reason why it should damage relations with Ankara.
 Diplomats said Cem told Vedrine that the French government was capable of controlling its parliamentarians if it chose to do so. The French minister had replied that the government could not prevent parliament adopting such a bill.
 Masseret, who represented the government at the debate, noted the initiative came from parliament itself. "This initiative was taken by you and the government takes note of the depth of the feelings you have expressed," he said.
 But, he chided the parliamentarians, "Do we want to help stabilise the region and help to reconcile Turkey and Armenia ? We should be careful of not provoking tensions, a return to the past and confrontation."
 Vedrine had also urged Cem to recognise that France was one of Turkey's strongest advocates within the European Union. France was working hard to overcome a crisis in relations between Brussels and Ankara since EU leaders last year placed Turkey at the bottom of the pile of applicants for membership.
 French officials said the legislation, proposed by members from both sides of the lower house, was a purely declaratory measure and amendments which would have given descendants of Armenians killed the right to claim compensation had been quashed in committee.

HALUK GERGER WILL ENTER THE 21ST CENTURY IN JAIL

 Turkish Daily News, May 30, 1998
 Criminal Court No. 8 of the Court of Appeals approved the sentence handed down to the journalist and writer, Associate Professor Haluk Gerger. He will serve 20 months in jail. If Gerger's sentence is not changed, he will be in jail until February 2000.
 Haluk Gerger, a prisoner of conscience, is currently in Gudul penitentiary near the Ankara district of Ayas. Gerger was sentenced to a year and eight months of imprisonment and to pay a fine of TL 500,000 by the Istanbul State Security Court (DGM) because of his article in the daily Evrensel entitled, "Emergency Rule Region (OHAL) and Operation Providing for Comfort (OPC)." The Court of Appeals approved the sentence.
 Associate Professor Haluk Gerger had previously served 20 months in jail, and eight other cases have been brought against him because of his books and articles and his speeches in Cologne and Australia.
 British Deputy Bar Chairman Mark Muller, Modern Legal Experts' Association (CGD) Chairman Ismet Demirdogen and journalist Ragip Duran visited Gerger in the penitentiary hoping to demonstrate the European legal experts' sensibility on the issue of criminals of conscience. CHD Chairman Demirdogen said that they have conducted a comprehensive report on journalists in prison which they will present to the European Parliament in the coming days.

EROGLU'S BOOK PROMPTS INVESTIGATION

 An investigation has been launched into A. Serkan Eroglu's book "Cicegin Gozu Yildizlardaydi" (The Flower's Eye Was Turned Towards the Stars) which was published after his death.
 The 19 year-old journalism student was not well-known until he died under suspicious circumstances. He was found hanged by the belt of his bag in a toilet cubicle at Ege University on Dec. 25 1997.
 The circumstances surrounding his death have remained as unclear and controversial as his book which the Public Attorney of Izmir wants investigated. The book contains Eroglu's diary-like writings, a lot of documents about his death from the Izmir Human Rights Association (IHD) and some previously published newspaper articles about his death.
 Ercan Demir, chairman of Izmir IHD and the Eroglu family lawyer gave on May 30, 1998, an explanation to the press. He said that it was very strange that an investigation was being opened about this book because it contains only apolitical writings -- some of them taken from Eroglu's diary, and some from art magazines written by Eroglu about literature when he was 16 years old.
 Demir added that although this book was published only a short time ago the prosecutors have been very quick.
 "We waited for the autopsy report from Istanbul for about four months which proved this was not a suicide case. But the prosecutors have not done anything about Eroglu's death. They have not carried out any research or conducted an investigation. I submitted a petition to the attorney and we are still waiting. When it comes to this book, the prosecutors have shown us that they can work very quickly. I think they don't want to solve this murder because they haven't done anything up until now," said Demir, adding that if Eroglu had not been killed he would have been a great writer.

70.157 CITOYENS TURCS SONT INTERDITS DE QUITTER LE TERRITOIRE

 En réponse à une question du député F. Saglar, le ministre turc de l'Intérieur a indiqué que 70.157 citoyens turcs sont interdits de sortir de la Turquie. 45.678 d'entre eux en raison de leurs dettes envers le Trésor, 22.673 sur décisions des tribunaux et 1806 sur ordre du Ministère de l'Intérieur "en raison des inconvénients pour la sécurité générale du pays".
 En Turquie les citoyens condamnés pour motifs politiques, y compris et surtout pour délit d'opinion, perdent leurs droits politiques. Ils ne peuvent être élus ou occuper des emplois dans la fonction publique et les universités. Souvent, ils sont également privés du droit de voyager à l'étranger.

LE PARTI REFAH SAISIT LA COMMISSION EUROPEENNE DES DROITS DE L'HOMME

 Après son interdiction par la Cour constitutionnelle turque, le parti islamiste turc a officiellement saisi la Commission européenne des droits de l'homme.
 Dans leur requête les islamistes turcs accusent le gouvernement d'Ankara d'avoir violé les articles 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14, et 18 de la Convention européenne des doits de l'homme garantissant les libertés d'expression et d'association.
 Une délégation du Refah dissous conduite par son vice-président, Sevket Kazan, ancien ministre de la Justice, a, à cette occasion rencontré le président de la Commission, M. Stephan Trechel.
 Un collectif d'avocats français et britanniques plaidera devant la juridiction de Strasbourg l'affaire du Refah. Verdict dans 2 à 3 ans.

EN BREF/IN BRIEF (TIHV - La Fondation des Droits de l'Homme de Turquie)

2/5/1998:
ï A Bolu, l'étudiant Kenan Mak, âgé de 22 ans, est poignardé à mort par des Loups Gris (militants du MHP).
4/5/1998:
ï L'ouvrier de confection Bilal Vural, âgé de 20 ans, est agressé et assassiné par des Loups Gris à Istanbul alors qu'il se tourne chez lui après le travail.
5/5/1998:
ï Ahmet Ozdemir, une des victimes de la brutalité policière pendant la célébration du premier mai à Istanbul, se suicide chez lui. Le même jour, l'étudiant d'université Cem Bayrak est agressé et grièvement blessés par des Loups Gris.
ï 280 personnes détenues par la police le 1er mai sont traduites devant la CSE d'Istanbul.
ï La CSE d'Istanbul condamne une militante du TKEP/L, Ayfer Ercan, à la prison à vie.
ï Des Loups Gris agresse le journaliste Remzi Cakin à Istanbul. La victime est également un des dirigeants d'une fondation kurde.
6/5/1998:
ï La Cour de Cassation ratifie la condamnation de deux dirigeants de l'IHD par la CSE d'Istanbul pour les articles parus dans le bulletin d'information de l'association: Le président Ercan Kanar et l'éditeur responsable Izzet Eray sont condamné à une amende totale de 172 millions de LT.
ï La CSE d'Ankara condamne le président local de HADEP à Bolu, Kenan Ayaz, et cinq autres membres du parti à des peines de prison allant jusque 3 ans et 9 mois.
7/5/1998:
ï La CSE d'Istanbul condamne deux journalistes du journal Emek, l'éditeur Halit Keskin et le rédacteur Ahmet Ergin, respectivement à 150 millions LT et 90,5 million LT en amende, pour avoir révélé le nom de certains agents de sécurité.
ï Des tribunaux pénaux d'Ankara condamnent le rédacteur de la revue Kur'ani Mucahede, Ramazan Yilmaz, à une peine d'un an et un chroniqueur du journal Yeni Safak, Ahmet Tasgetiren, à une amende.
8/5/1998:
ï La revue Odak est confisquée par la CSE d'Istanbul pour avoir instigué le peuple à la haine et la vengeance.
9/5/1998:
ï La représentation de la pièce théâtrale La Ressurection, mise en scène par le groupe Tiyatro Birikim est interdite à Fatsa par l'ordre du préfêt.
10/5/1998:
ï La Fondation des Droits de l'Homme (TIHV) est obligée d'annuler l'ouverture d'une exposition sur les droits de l'homme qu'elle a organisée à Izmir pour les 9-19 mai 1998, à cause de l'attitude répressive et dissuasive de la police et la direction de l'Université du 9 septembre.
11/5/1998:
ï L'ancien président de l'Association Anti-Guerre d'Izmir (ISKD), Osman Murat Ulke, est condamné par un tribunal militaire d'Eskisehir à une peine de prison de sept mois pour désobéissance aux ordres pendant son service militaire. Ainsi, la durée de ses peines de prison s'élève à 38 mois au total avec ses anciennes condamnations par les militaires. Il se trouve actuellement dans une prison militaire à Eskisehir. La ISKD appelle tout le monde à envoyer par recommandé des messages de solidarite à l'adresse suivante: Osman Murat Ulke - 1. Taktik Hava Kuvvetleri Komutanligi Askeri Cezaevi - Eskisehir - Turquie.
13/5/1998:
ï Les émissions de la Radio Cevre à Istanbul sont interdites pour un mois par la décision de la RTUK.
ï La police perquisitionne la rédaction de la revue Halkin Gunlugu et arrête le rédacteur en chef Ismet Buyukyagci.
18/5/1998:
ï Hakim Atik, blessé le 4 mai à Istanbul par des Loups Gris meurt à l'hôpital. Le même jour, un des dirigeants locaux du MHP à Istanbul, Satilmis Can, est abattu par des inconnus.
24/5/1998:
ï Le président de l'Association des Hommes d'affaires indépendents (MUSIAD), de tendance islamiste, Erol Yarar est inculpé pour un discours qu'il a prononcé en 1997 et il risque une peine de prison jusque trois ans. Le procureur demande également la fermeture de l'association.
26/5/1998:
ï Le rédacteur en chef du journal Söz à Diyarbakir, Omer Buyuktimur, et le correspondant Cevat Aytac sont mis en état d'arrestation pour avoir critiqué dans le journal les procureurs des CSE de Diyarbakir et d'Ankara.
27/5/1998:
ï Le président d'une section de Gaziosmanpasa du parti du Travail (EMEP), Ahmet Karatay est condamné à une amende de 760 mille LT pour avoir distribué des tracts concernant l'affaire Göktepe.
ï Le chef du service d'information du journal Gundem, Sanli Ekin est arrêté pendant qu'il se rend à la Direction de la police pour demander un passeport.
ï Un groupe de Loups Gris agresse des étudiants de gauche à l'Université d'Istanbul.
ï La représentation d'une pièce de Bernard Show, La mort accidentelle d'un anarchiste, mise en scène à Trabzon par le group Ekin Tiyatrosu est interdite par le gouvernor de la province.
28/5/1998:
ï A Baykan, le correspondant du journal Demokrat Baykan, Seyithan Yesilisik, est battu au poste de la gendarmérie pendant sa détention d'un jour.
ï Le vice-président du parti de la Liberté et de la Solidarité (ODP), Saruhan Oluc est arrêté à Ankara pour servir une peine de prison de deux mois à laquelle a-t-il été condamné par le tribunal militaire de l'Etat-Major pour propagande anti-militariste.
29/5/1998:
ï Le dernier numéro du journal Atilim est confisqué par la CSE d'Istanbul pour propagande séparatiste.
30/5/1998:
ï La représentation de la pièce Un roi laid qui est beau, mise en scène à Diyuarbakir par le Ankara Birlik Tiyatrosu, est interdite par le gouverneur.

 
 
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