22e Année - N°238
Juin/June 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
Chief Editor /Rédacteur en chef:
Dogan Özgüden - Responsible editor/Editrice responsable:
Inci Tugsavul
BLIND HUMAN
RIGHTS ACTIVIST WAS RETURNED TO JAIL
Associated Press, June 1st, 1998
A blind human rights activist who was released from a Turkish prison
following an international outcry was returned to his cell on Monday, the
Anatolia news agency said.
Esber Yagmurdereli was re-arrested after he declined to provide a
medical report for a possible pardon because of his ill health, the agency
reported.
He was freed in November after the government, bowing to pressure
from international human rights activists, gave him a one-year furlough
from prison to recover from high blood pressure and other illnesses.
He was serving a 22-year sentence on charges of supporting terrorism
and spreading separatist propaganda.
Yagmurdereli, insisting he was innocent, has rejected the offer of
a pardon and has refused to undergo the required medical check-up.
"Freedom of expression should not be a crime," he told reporters
as police took him away. "We have to fight for it."
Yagmurdereli, a lawyer-turned-activist, was first imprisoned in 1978
on charges of trying to overthrow the government. He was freed on parole
in 1991. He was arrested again in October after criticizing the government
on a television show.
Turkey's human rights record has long been a stumbling block to its
goal of membership in the European Union, a top priority for the new government.
France, Germany and Britain had asked Turkey to free Yagmurdereli.
ARGENTINIAN
"SATURDAY MOTHERS" VISIT BIRDAL
Turkish Daily News, June 2, 1998
Two visiting Argentinean women, campaigners for the cause of Argentina's
political disappearances, recently lent their support and commiseration
for Akin Birdal, who is still recovering from the May 12 attempt on his
life. Rosa Tarlovsky de Roisinblit and Estella Barnes de Carlotto,
who are known as "Plaza de Mayo Mothers" -- akin to Turkish "Saturday Mothers"
-- told reporters in front of the hospital on Monday that they came to
deliver messages of solidarity to Birdal.
Birdal was wounded in an armed attack and since then has been receiving
treatment in Sevgi Hospital. Following a series of police operations, police
finally succeeded in arresting the attackers, who are now in prison.
Roisinblit and Carlotto were in Istanbul to show their support for
the Turkish Saturday Mothers, who have been meeting in a crowded pedestrian
street in Istanbul every Saturday for three years to raise awareness for
their "disappeared relatives."
Both women have been struggling to raise awareness for their children
who died twenty years ago after being subjected to torture.
"Disappearances under custody were clarified neither by former Prime
Minister Carlos Menem nor his successors. I feel bad when I get on a bus
because the ones sitting next to us might be the murderers of our children,"
Roisinblit said.
The mothers and grandmothers of the disappeared people in Argentina
have been meeting every Thursday in front of the Prime Minister's office
in the Plaza de Mayo. They are acting on behalf of their sons and daughters.
To date fifty-nine disappeared people in Argentina have been found.
TURKISH TEEN CONVICTED
FOR WEB INSULT
Associated Press, June 2, 1998
In Turkey's first cyberspace conviction, an 18-year-old was given
a 10-month suspended sentence for insulting the police on the Internet,
a newspaper said Tuesday.
The court ruled that Emre Ersoz had falsely accused police of beating
blind people during a demonstration, the daily Radikal said.
Ersoz' accusation was made in a message posted on an Internet web
site, a current affairs forum run by a major Turkish Internet server, Turknet.
Radikal said his sentence was suspended on the condition he is not
convicted of the same charges in the next five years.
MUSEUM OF CRIMES
OF THOUGHT OPENIN IN TURKEY
The Izmir Initiative for Freedom of Expression announced on June
2, 1998, that a museum of crimes of thouth will be opened in Izmir.
The concept behind the Museum project is to create a permanent gallery
whose only exhibits are materials criminalized and proscribed by law. In
a modern, democratic society, no thought should be considered a crime.
The Museum's main sponsor, the he Izmir Initiative for Freedom of
Expression, is comprised of non-governmental organizations participating
in the Appeal for Freedom of Expression. This campaign publishes booklets
of criminalized articles each week in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, distributing
them in front of State Security Courts. By publishing the banned articles,
the sponsors are committing a crime to draw attention to free speech restrictions.
(Article 162 of Turkish Penal Code: re-publishing an article which is defined
as a crime constitutes a new crime. The publisher is to be sentenced equally
with the writer.)
The first step is to establish the Museum's ìExistanceî. Advocacy
and preventing further prosecution of thought crimes will be following
steps.
The Museum is not an authorised project. There are some logical -
and some absurd - reasons that could prevent us from completing this project.
The initial exhibit represents a ìGallery towards a Museumî and there are
no legal reasons to obstruct its formation. Furthermore, the participation
of Dutch MP Dankert will ensure that any official obstacles create an international
incident. We donít expect any problems for the openning. But later? Who
knows?
The "opening" is only opening the door of an empty gallery which
contains only symbolic samples in each room: a banned book, a broken record,
a burned film etc. But this is an appeal to all of society to cooperate
in fulfilling the mission to create a "Museum of Crimes of Thought".
IHD AND
DBP CHAIRMEN ON TRIAL FOR SUPPORTING PKK
Turkish Daily News, June 3, 1998
The trials of Human Rights Association Chairman Akin Birdal and Democracy
and Peace Party (DBP) Chairman Refik Karakoc continued in the State Security
Court (DGM) in Ankara, the Anatolia news agency reported. Both chairmen
are accused of voicing support for armed outlawed organizations during
a speech they made in Rome, and face between four-and-half months to seven-and-half
months of imprisonment.
Both men were absent, but their lawyers took part in the hearing.
Birdal, who was wounded by armed assailants is currently undergoing treatment
at a hospital.
An indictment prepared by DGM Prosecutor Ali Riza Konuralp said that
both Birdal and Karakoc attended a conference on the Kurdish issue held
by the Italian Human Rights Association in April 1997, and they "praised"
the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been fighting for
independence against Turkish authorities since 1984.
Lawyers for Karakoc defended their client, saying that he spoke during
the conference as a party chairman. They said Karakoc had only criticized
political parties for pursuing hypocritical policies.
Meanwhile, Birdal's lawyer, Yusuf Alatas, referred to his client's
ongoing treatment at the hospital when requesting that Birdal be excused
from trial until he recovers. The judge later postponed the case.
Another trial concerning the abolishment of the IHD continued on
Tuesday in Ankara. The case was filed by the Ankara governor's office on
the grounds that one of the articles in the IHD's charter was unconstitutional.
Candar testifies at DGM
The journalist, Cengiz Candar, who was accused of helping the PKK
by the organization's recently captured leader, Semdin Sakik, testified
at the DGM in Istanbul.
Candar's testimony lasted an hour. He reportedly called Sakik's revelations
a "slander." The journalists, Mehmet Ali Birand and Yavuz Gokmen, were
also questioned by Prosecutor Muzaffer Yalcin at the same court on the
same accusations.
HUMAN RIGHTS
ACTIVIST YAGMURDERELI BACK IN JAIL
Turkish Daily News, June 3, 1998
Before the Luxembourg Summit, when Turkey had high hopes of being
named as a candidate for European Union (EU) membership, Turkish authorities
were going out of their way to appease European demands for improvement
in our human rights record.
Even the president and the prime minister stopped arguing about the
fight against separatist terrorism and agreed to set free some newspaper
editors who had been imprisoned for expressing their views...
Of course, even then, Turkey reserved the right to jail journalists
and writers and to label them as "terrorists" instead of intellectuals
and human rights activists. But at least the Turkish authorities had eased
their tough stand and were prepared "to do something."
At the time, we warned everyone that this was all window dressing.
The authorities were not trying to improve Turkey's human rights situation
because the Turkish people deserved to live under better conditions, but
because they were trying to impress European governments... Editors were
released because their prison sentences were suspended and the real cause
of their imprisonment, which was the law curbing freedom of expression,
remained intact and thus remained a threat to freedom and liberties in
this country...
Last November it was under such circumstances that the authorities
released blind human rights activist Esber Yagmurdereli, who was taken
to prison to serve a 22-year sentence on charges of separatist propaganda...
Under intense pressure from European governments, Turkey decided to release
Yagmurdereli on health grounds, saying he was suffering from heart and
bronchial problems... This was unprecedented.
Since the Luxembourg Summit things have started to sour. When it
became clear that Turkey would not even be named a candidate state for
EU membership in the foreseeable future, the authorities made a U-turn
and the human rights situation in Turkey started to deteriorate, despite
sincere goodwill efforts of people like Professor Hikmet Sami Turk, the
state minister who deals with human rights issues.
Now authorities are frequently opening court cases against human
rights activists, Islamists and other intellectuals who allegedly disseminate
Kurdish propaganda. Many are found guilty and sent to prison. The pressures
on Turkey's leading human rights activist, Akin Birdal, and the assassination
attempt against him, show clearly the negative trends in Turkey.
So Yagmurdereli seems to be heading for a similar treatment. He was
sent back to jail on Monday because he refused to report to authorities
for routine medical checks. Yagmurdereli has refused to go through with
the checks and says he does not want to be made a special case.
There are three important issues here. One is the fact that the authorities
do sot seem to understand that human rights, freedom and liberties are
a part of the daily life of real democratic societies and that the current
clampdown in Turkey is pushing us further away from a civilized state system.
The second is the fact that by keeping Turkey out of European integration,
the EU countries have hardly done a service to democratic progress in Turkey
and the handful of democrats who are struggling to establish a civic society
in this country.
The third issue is that with their negative mentality and actions,
the Turkish authorities are giving more credibility to the EU decision
not to allow Turkey to become a candidate for full membership on the grounds
that we have a very bad human rights record, especially in view of the
fact that we claim we are a democracy.
EARLY ELECTIONS IN APRIL 1999?
TDN Parliament Bureau, June 4, 1998
Motherland Party (ANAP) leader and Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and
Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Deniz Baykal have both agreed
on the resignation of the current minority coalition government and on
the holding of joint general and municipal elections in April 1999.
Both leaders announced their agreement on Wednesday at a press conference
following their meeting which lasted for more than one hour. The agreement
came as both leaders met for the ninth time.
Yilmaz said he would step down as prime minister at the beginning
of next year. His earlier agreement with Baykal to hold joint elections
on March 29 was vehemently opposed by the leaders of his coalition government's
other partners, the Democratic Left Party (DSP) and the Democratic Turkey
Party (DTP). However the newest agreement still needs the consent of his
coalition partners to take effect.
Yilmaz, who provided the main details of the agreement package, said
that the ruling coalition partners and the CHP would propose that Parliament
hold elections next April, "most likely on the 18th," in his remarks.
Yilmaz also indicated that a different caretaker government system
would lead the country to the elections, a system which he said would be
discussed with President Suleyman Demirel in the coming days.
The prime minister announced that the parliamentary group chairmen
of the governing coalition partners and the CHP would come together to
redetermine the priority bills to present to Parliament, adding that his
coalition would cooperate with the CHP in having these laws passed.
The ANAP chief said he preferred that his government stay in office
until the end of 2000, but he reached a different agreement with Baykal.
He stated that parliamentary approval of the above laws had become more
significant for him and expressed his appreciation for the accord he had
agreed upon with Baykal.
CHP Chief Baykal, who spoke after Yilmaz, said that the country will
be saved from a possible political crisis if their agreement is implemented
smoothly.
The last meeting between the two leaders occurred on April 23, when
they announced that they had come to a common agreement. At that time,
Baykal had demanded that the government step down in October 1998, the
beginning of the new parliamentary term, and that both elections be held
in March 1999.
Although Yilmaz bowed to Baykal's demands, coalition partners DSP
leader Bulent Ecevit and DTP leader Husamettin Cindoruk rejected the idea,
saying it resembled an anti-democratic political intervention. Yilmaz,
therefore, backed down from his earlier decision.
Meanwhile, an earlier press conference held by ANAP Deputy Chief
Mehmet Kececiler a few hours before the two leaders came together, created
doubts that the latest agreement package will really be complied with.
Kececiler said that although Yilmaz would agree to step down, the
party's lower branches would strongly reject it. He added that the CHP's
demand to sideline ANAP from power was unacceptable. "The president's designation
of the leader of a caretaker government reminds me of one of those anti-democratic
periods. No one should expect the current coalition to resign by itself.
Instead, it should be brought down by Parliament." Kececiler's views are
similar to earlier ones expressed by the other coalition leaders.
The CHP's Central Executive Board also met before today's summit
and assessed Kececiler's remarks. The board has decided that the agreement
between the two leaders is not likely to be maintained. For this reason,
Baykal reportedly said after the meeting that he had doubts about the viability
of the accord.
PROJET
D'UN TEXTE RELATIF AU PEUPLE KURDE AU CONSEIL DE L'EUROPE
L'Assemblée générale du Conseil de l'Europe,
dont la Turquie est membre, se prononcera sur un rapport relatif à
la question kurde les 22 et 26 juin 1998.
Le texte qui a été élaboré par la Commission
des migrations, des réfugiés et de la démographie,
a d'ores et déjà été présenté
lors de la réunion de la commission le 29 mai 1998 à Paris.
"Le rapport est destiné à éclaircir les raisons de
l'exode forcé au Sud-Est de la Turquie et au nord de l'Irak, tout
particulièrement exercé contre le peuple kurde, et par conséquent
de déterminer à partir de ces éléments les
besoins de première nécéssité de la population
civile".
Ledit rapport souligne "l'exode de masse forcé du peuple kurde
des villages kurdes et l'incendie des maisons", la "présomption
d'une politique d'éclatement du peuple kurde" et demande à
la Turquie "de se conformer aux principes du Conseil de l'Europe".
Il releve qu'"il est nécessaire d'abandonner les armes à
l'encontre du peuple kurde" et "de signer la décision-cadre relative
à la protection des minorités nationales ", appelle à
la "levée du système des protecteurs de villages" et demande
que soit allouées "des indemnités pour préjudice matériel"
au profit des personnes qui ont vu leurs "biens détruits par les
forces de sécurité turque au Sud-Est.
FREEDOM OF THOUGHT ON TRIAL
Turkish Daily News, June 5, 1998
Intellectuals who endorsed and affixed their signatures to a book
entitled, "Freedom for Thought - 2," containing the speeches for which
lawyer Esber Yagmurdereli and union worker Mahmut Konuk were sentenced,
have gathered together, demanding freedom of any kind of thought without
condition or discrimination. The State Security Court (DGM) chief prosecutor,
however, said writing was more dangerous than distributing food and clothes
to outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants.
Admitted to having committed a crime
The case concerning the 14 intellectuals, including journalists,
writers, union workers and academics, who signed the book, was heard in
Ankara DGM No. 1. All the intellectuals and their lawyers, except Associate
Professor Haluk Gerger, who was sentenced to 20 months in jail by another
court on grounds of having made public his opinion, were present at the
hearing.
Also attending the hearing were legal experts who participated in
the Human Rights Research Tour organized by the USA Legal Experts Committee
and the Fordham Faculty of Law, the Modern Journalists' Association (CGD)
and the Turkish Journalists Union (TGC) executives and members.
Postponed defense for Birdal
The intellectuals, who had not defended themselves at the first hearing
on May 12 after Human Rights Association (IHD) Chairman Akin Birdal was
shot in order to protest the attack, defended themselves for the first
time on Thursday.
The indictment prepared by the chief prosecution of the DGM accused
the defendants of "aiding the illegal armed gang, the PKK, by disseminating
propaganda for it although aware of the book's characteristics." The prosecution
regarded the act of writing to be "...as dangerous as providing shelter,
food and clothes for the illegal organization's members."
Freedom of all thought
One of the defendants, Associate Professor Fikret Baskaya, stated
in his defense that he had deliberately and willingly signed the book.
Health and Social Service Laborers' Union (SES) Chairman Veysi Ulgen demanded
from the court that thought should no longer be regarded as a crime. "Although
we don't agree on it, every kind of thought must have the freedom to be
expressed," he said.
"We make our living from our thoughts"
During their defense, defendants Can Dundar, M. Tali Ongoren, Temel
Demirer and Varlik Ozmenek, who are all journalists and writers, drew attention
to the fact that they survive on the money they earn by expressing their
thoughts.
Dundar stated that he does not believe thoughts can be eradicated
by being prohibited. "Thought cannot be categorized as beneficial or harmful.
Thought can be consistent or inconsistent, which can only be revealed by
discussion. As is put in the indictment, we did not support violence. Indeed,
the mentality that prohibits thought provides support for violence."
Varlik Ozmenek, reminding listeners about the fabricated press reports
on the attack on Akin Birdal, criticized the made-up indictment, saying:
"Just like the targeting of Akin Birdal by nonexistent statements, we could
have become targets because of this indictment, which blames us for aiding
the illegal organization [the PKK]. If somebody [a press member] had written
this indictment, the same incident could have happened."
Ongoren in his defense emphasized the fact that he had been working
as a journalist for 45 years. "I know very well the value of thinking,
of expressing your opinions. For this reason I assert that every kind of
thought must able to be expressed."
Journalist Temel Demirer said he opposed the categorization of the
convenience and inconvenience of thought and that he would accept the sentence
of the DGM, adding that he had not asked for his acquittal.
Why can't 'Yesil' be captured?
Confederation of Civil Servants' Unions (KESK) Human Rights Secretary
Tayfun Isci wanted the Court to eliminate conditions obstructing the expression
of differing opinions. Union workers I. Hakki Tombul, Ersat Yazili, Mustafa
Kadioglu and Yusuf Ozden said that they had displayed "democratic" civil
disobedience and signed the book that includes the articles regarded as
crimes, which is a prerequisite of being a citizen.
Former deputy Mahmut Alinak asked in his defense why Mahmut Yildirim,
code-named Yesil, who is a counter-guerrilla, as well as businessmen who
live a luxurious life abroad have not been captured, while they were being
judged for their opinions.
The DGM chairman postponed the hearing until another day to allow
for the securing of necessary documents.
The DGM indictment requires the imprisonment of the 14 intellectuals
for seven years and six months on the basis of Article 169 of the Criminal
Code which governs the actions of aiding illegal organization members and
providing them shelter. However at the first hearing, the court said the
crime could be regarded within the framework of Article 8 of the Anti-Terror
Law, which regulates "separatist propaganda," thus giving the defendants
the right to additional defenses.
TURKEY
AND GREECE LAUNCH $4.1 BILLION RIVAL AIR WARFARE SYSTEMS
Turkish Daily News / June 6, 1998
NATO members Turkey and Greece are launching rival programs together
worth some $1.4 billion this month to buy airborne early warning (AEW)
aircraft that would give the two foes their first advanced airborne surveillance
capability.
Acquisition of the aircraft is vital for the two neighbors in being
able to monitor each other's military movements of any nature around the
Aegean region.
Turkey's Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM) will ask four
foreign AEW aircraft manufacturers to forward their sales proposals, formally
kicking off the country's $850 million program after a delay of nearly
one year, officials and industry sources said.
"We are expecting to receive the Turkish invitation for the tender
before the end of this month," Chick Ramey, a spokesman for Boeing, one
of the U.S. bidders in Ankara's deal, told the Turkish Daily News in a
telephone interview.
"The move was initially planned for last year but was delayed due
to the fact that our preparations lasted longer than we expected," a Turkish
government official told the TDN. "We hope we are finally doing it this
month."
The four companies to be involved are Israeli Aircraft Industries
(IAI), maker of the Phalcon system, and three U.S. contenders, Lockheed
Martin Corp., producer of the AEW version of the C-130J transport aircraft;
Northrop Grumman Corp., maker of the E-2C Hawkeye; and Boeing, offering
its Boeing-767 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS).
Turkey will buy four AEW aircraft and ground stations, to be delivered
by 2003.
The SSM, Turkey's main government agency for defense industry and
procurement, which coordinates the AEW program, is due to short-list two
of the four bidders next year. A decision for the winner is expected in
early 2000, the Turkish government official said.
Government sources said the AEW deal would be primarily a direct
purchase, with some smaller contributions from Turkish industry, most notably
Tusas Aerospace Industries (TAI), which co-produces F-16 fighters and CN-235
light transport aircraft under contract with the United States and Spain,
respectively.
When co-production, which is always favored by Ankara, is not possible
on a defense contract, the government usually seeks more than an 80 percent
offset. An offset is a type of compensation involving industrial work in
return for a defense-related purchase.
"One main reason Turkey wants to acquire AEW capability is to keep
an eye on rival Greece, which already has radar stations on its Aegean
islands near Turkey's western and southwestern coasts and also is launching
its own AEW program," one industry source here said.
Greek government officials also said last week that Athens was asking
three foreign teams to submit plans for two AEW aircraft and ground radar.
Athens is expected to spend some $550 million for the deal.
"Due to their bitter rivalry, Turkey and Greece follow almost the
same pattern in seeking to modernize their air forces. In addition to the
AEW deal, for example, Greece voiced interest in the U.S.-made F-15 fighters,
and Turkey followed the move," the industry source said.
Turkey and Greece are involved in a number of rows over the Aegean's
sovereignty and the Cyprus problem. They came to the brink of war in January
1996, and only heavy U.S. diplomatic pressure prevented an armed confrontation.
Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman also are taking part in the
Greek competition with the models they are offering to Turkey.
The third bidder in the Greek deal will be Ericsson Radar Electronics
AB of Sweden, which will offer the PSR-890, Erieye airborne early warning
system.
Ericsson is not bidding for the Turkish program because of tense
defense relations between Sweden and Turkey. Stockholm imposed an arms
embargo on Ankara in 1995 to protest alleged human rights violations. Turkey
followed by banning all future arms deals with Sweden.
"It's not clear at this point if the chances of Lockheed Martin and
Northrop Grumman in the Turkish deal could be affected by their participation
in the Greek program. But in the past, Lockheed Martin, for example, has
sold the F-16 to both Turkey and Greece," the industry source said.
"In the event of a merger between Boeing and Northrop Grumman, the
two can offer a joint product to Turkey, which may increase their chances,"
he stated.
But Boeing's Ramey said that there were currently no plans for a
joint proposal by Boeing and Northrop Grumman.
DISCUSSIONS
ON THE KURDISH QUESTION AT TURKISH PARLIAMENT
Turkish Daily News,June 7, 1998
A "migration report" prepared by the Parliamentary Migration Commission
after six months of work was finally discussed in Parliament last week.
The report, which sparked a discussion in Parliament on the Kurdish problem,
Kurdish identity and education in Kurdish following a very long break,
revealed the taboos and different perspectives on the issue. A polemic
ensued during discussions on the issue of "who" had evacuated the 3,478
villages in the region, and ambitious statements contained within the report
were criticized. The debates in Parliament also showed how sensitive deputies
are about the subject. Only 20 out of 550 deputies attended the parliamentary
discussions.
Republican People's Party (CHP) Istanbul Deputy Algan Hacaloglu,
who put forward a motion for researching the migration and who initiated
the establishment of a migration commission, requested deputies discuss
the problems in the region without regard to the taboos surrounding the
issue. In addition to the education, health and economic services which
have to be put in place in the region, people's cultural expectations also
must be satisfied, Hacaloglu said. The deputy expressed his wishes for
the people of the region, including special Kurdish education, Kurdish
TV, opportunities for developing Kurdish culture and the right to publish
in the Kurdish language.
Stating that more than 25,000 people have been killed in struggles
in the Southeast, Hacaloglu said people dying in the region were Turkey's
people, and that the blood flowing was the blood of brothers. The state
must be sensitive about not violating the law while combatting terrorism,
Hacaloglu added.
True Path Party (DYP) Speaker and Erzurum Deputy Zeki Erturgay, who
took the podium after Hacaloglu's speech, said the description, "Turkish
nation," would be sufficient for characterizing the people of Turkey. Erturgay
noted that enemies would benefit from descriptions associated with separatism
and reminded the journalists that he had expressed his reservations about
the report as a member of the Migration Commission. "Thirty-five percent
of the migration in the region is due to economic reasons; 60 percent of
it is because of the oppression of the separatist organization; and the
remaining 5 percent is due to the compulsory applications of the provincial
administration," he said. Erturgay accused the report of committing calumny
against the state.
Erturgay's speech questioning the fundamental logic and reasoning
of the 171-page report was responded to by Virtue Party (FP) member Huseyin
Yildiz and FP Diyarbakir Deputy and Commission Chairman Hasim Hasimi. Yildiz
said that a multitude of unsolved murders had occurred in the region and
that the negative conditions in the Southeast had been advantageous to
gangs, resulting in various incidents such as the assassination attempt
against Human Rights Association (IHD) Chairman Akin Birdal. Yildiz indicated
that a compulsory migration had being carried out by the state, however
the state hadn't presented any other living options to the people who have
been forced to migrate, which does not coincide with the norms of universal
law.
Don't consider the problem from Ankara
Commission Chairman Hasimi criticized the people who had rebuffed
the commission's report of looking at the problems from a distance. "We
cannot solve the tragedy in the Southeast by watching it from Ankara,"
said Hasimi, reminding the deputies that the state had to defend its own
people. Hasimi added that the people in the region urgently needed help.
Interior Minister Murat Basesgioglu came to the dais aiming to reply
to all the speeches which had been given before him, and just like the
DYP speaker, viewed the report as having bad intentions. In his talk, full
of advice for the people who had organized the report, Basesgioglu said
that singling out the state as the origin of the region's problems would
not be beneficial for any politician. Asserting that the Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK) was responsible for the evacuation of the villages, Basesgioglu
read some parts of the report and criticized it, reminding listeners that
seven opponents had expressed their reservations to the commission's report.
Thus Turkey's biggest dilemma, the Kurdish problem, which is related
to the migration issue, has finally been discussed in Parliament. Although
the legislative body consists of 550 deputies, only 20 of them attended
the parliamentary discussion on the migration report, which indicates the
deputies' "sensitivity" to the subject. While FP Mardin Deputy Huseyin
Yildiz was relating how villagers were forced to migrate under the orders
of a sergeant-major, some deputies sitting in the ANAP and DYP seats shouted:
"What migration? Which village has been evacuated?" Consequently, Deputy
Parliamentary Speaker Kamer Genc, who was leading the session, had to intervene,
saying, "If you want to see evacuated villages, come with me to Tunceli
and see the migration and the food embargo in the region."
Report prominent on international level as well
The report concerning the migration and its outcome in the Emergency
Rule Region (OHAL) will constitute evidence for suits filed at the European
Court of Human Rights. In addition, legal experts also feel the 171-page
report will serve as major evidence within Turkey.
After the Susurluk report, which served as evidence for people at
the European Court of Human Rights whose relatives had been killed in unsolved
murders, another report once again constitutes evidence against Turkey.
The migration report, coordinated by FP Diyarbakir Deputy Hasim Hasimi
portrays the security forces as the main reason for the evacuation of the
villages. The report states that a multitude of villages have been evacuated
as a result of the arbitrary actions of the security forces and also includes
some radical proposals, such as recognizing the Kurdish identity, which
appeared in Parliament's records for the first time in the Republic of
Turkey's history. Causing intensive debate in the domestic political realm,
the report increasingly attracts international attention as well.
It has been learned that German Interior Minister Klaus Kinkel called
Hasimi and wanted a copy of the commission report. U.S. Assistant Secretary
of Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor John Shattuck got the
report from Hasimi while he was in Turkey for an official visit. Meanwhile,
it has been translated into various languages, and European diplomats have
been persistently asking Hasimi for a copy. The European Parliament, trying
to make use of the atmosphere caused by the report, is making efforts to
organize a "migration conference."
The European Council's Parliamentary Assembly is striving to establish
the infrastructure of the conference. In order to make contact with European
colleagues, Hasimi will go to Germany on June 16 where it is thought that
he will meet the German labor minister to talk about migration problems.
The Migration Commission report has revealed that the amount of migration
from Turkey to Germany originating in the Southeast is 85 percent. During
talks with the Germany's labor minister, Hasimi will probably present Turkey's
migration problem as a domestic German problem as well. Moreover, Hasimi
has been invited to the Kurdish Conference taking place in Vienna this
June where he will give a speech entitled, "Kurdish People and Migration,"
with several politicians, academics and writers attending.
Arslantas: An important source
Lawyer Sedat Arslantas, an expert on cases that have been tried in
the European Court of Human Rights, said that the report constitutes a
major argument for the European Union Commission. He stated that the criterion
of a crime for the court is different from domestic law in Turkey. "The
European Court of Human Rights takes into consideration the reliability
of the evidence presented before it. For instance, the Susurluk report
was a very significant piece of evidence because it was produced by a high
state organ. Similar to that, the migration report is an important source
since it was put out by a parliamentary commission."
The report, written in December, was recently printed and was waiting
on Parliamentary Speaker Hikmet Cetin's desk for action to be taken as
regards its discussion. FP Deputy Hasimi spoke to Cetin in order to get
a debate started on the report in Parliament as soon as possible, and finally,
on June 2, it was at the top of Parliament's agenda.
What does the report include?
The report was prepared by talking with the people of the region,
with the victims of migration and with experts and state officials. The
deputies who worked on it are as follows: FP Diyarbakir Deputy Hasim Hasimi
(commission chairman), Motherland Party (ANAP) Diyarbakir Deputy Sebgetullah
Seydaoglu (commission deputy chairman), CHP Istanbul Deputy Algan Hacaloglu
(speaker), DYP Ardahan Deputy Saffet Kaya (secretary), FP Bingol Deputy
Husamettin Korkutata, DYP Erzurum Deputy Zeki Erturgay, Democratic Left
Party (DSP) Manisa Deputy Cihan Yazar, ANAP Konya Deputy Ahmet Alkan, FP
Van Deputy Mustafa Bayram, ANAP Balikesir Deputy Husnu Sivalioglu, FP Mardin
Deputy Huseyin Yildiz, Democratic Turkey Party (DTP) Istanbul Deputy Metin
Isik and DSP Istanbul Deputy Erdogan Toprak.
The report contains ambitious demands such as the recognition of
the Kurdish identity and permission for private educational institutions
to teach in Kurdish. It also requests removal of the OHAL administration,
the special forces and the village guard system. The report states that
a total of 401,328 people had to migrate from 3,428 residential areas,
of which 905 are villages and 2,523 are hamlets. It reads: "Since 1990,
in several provinces, peasants have been prohibited from taking their sheep
or other animals to the meadows with them, which has harmed stock breeding,
the only means of living. The residential areas were evacuated by security
forces upon the order of the OHAL governor's office, within the context
of Law No. 2935 because of the worry that in particular the villages which
had not accepted the guard system couldn't be protected, or with the suspicion
that they could aid the PKK. However this operation has not been carried
out within the context of the law but under the security forces' arbitrary
actions."
The report states that the migration victims are creating problems
in the regions to which they have moved. It also includes opinions of former
OHAL governors and bureaucrats who are currently working in the area. Some
statements from the bureaucrats are very interesting. For instance, former
Diyarbakir Governor Dogan Hatipoglu said that it was impossible that the
villages' evacuation had occurred only as a result of the PKK threat, but
rather that the evacuation operations were ordered by the security forces
and/or state officials, or at least, they had been informed about them.
EUROPEAN HUMAN RIGHTS
AWARD TO TIHV
The seventh European Human Rights Award is to be given to the Human
Rights Foundation (TIHV) in Turkey. The Ministers Committee of the
Council of Europe released a written statement on Thursday saying that
this year the award will be given to the TIHV and to Clara Lubich, who
is the founder of the Focolare Movement in Italy, as well as to the Committee
for the Administration of Justice (CAJ) in Northern Ireland.
The statement said the TIHV deserved the award because of its prominent
efforts in the protection of human rights.
The Focolare Movement, established in 1943, is dedicated to the achievement
of unity, peace and brotherhood at any cost, and is active in 180 countries.
CAJ is a nongovernmental organization in Northern Ireland, which
strives to improve the justice system and assure that the government carries
out its duties according to international law.
THE EUROPEAN COURT
CONDEMNED AGAIN TURKEY
Reuters, June 9, 1998
The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday ruled against Turkey
in two different cases involving Kurdish separatists and freedom of expression.
In the first case, the court awarded 250,000 francs ($41,900) in
damages to Kurdish journalist Salih Tekin of the daily Ozgur Gundem, who
was arrested and allegedly tortured by police in 1993.
The Turkish government denied mistreating the 34-year-old reporter
but the court said the facts had been established "beyond reasonable doubt."
The court, an arm of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, also
faulted Ankara for failing to carry out an in-depth investigation of Tekin's
allegations when he filed suit against the authorities.
In the second case, the court awarded 30,000 francs in damages to
Kurdish activist Ibrahim Incal, 45, who was fined and sentenced to six
months in prison in 1993 for trying to distribute political tracts.
Incal had been hauled before a military tribunal and convicted on
charges of inciting hate. The court condemned the Turkish justice system
for both the choice of court and the conviction.
IHD CHAIRMAN BIRDAL
RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL
Turkish Daily News, June 9, 1998
Human Rights Association (IHD) Chairman Akin Birdal, who was wounded
by armed assailants more than three weeks ago, was released from the hospital
in Ankara on Monday.
Birdal, who appeared weak and pale after extensive treatment and
several operations, was carried on a stretcher to an ambulance parked outside
Sevgi hospital. He thanked all those people who "showed a full solidarity
for human rights, peace and democracy in Turkey."
A few weeks after the published revelations of a captured terrorist
leader alleged that Birdal had assisted Kurdish separatists in return for
payment, the IHD chairman was attacked by two gunmen who riddled his body
with bullets. Birdal miraculously survived, considering that six bullets
were recovered from his body.
In separate raids in the weeks after the attack, police rounded up
the alleged assailants as well as four others suspected of planning the
assault. It is widely believed that the suspects -- who "confessed their
crimes during a preliminary interrogation," according to Interior Minister
Murat Basesgioglu -- are linked with the alleged state gangs which were
disclosed after a controversial traffic accident in western Turkey in late
1996.
"Birdal underwent a number of orthopedic surgeries last week," Sabri
Dokuzoguz, Birdal's doctor, told journalists waiting outside the hospital,
and added that the extensive treatment of damaged nerves in his left arm
will continue for several more weeks.
Dokuzoguz said Birdal was getting better each day and will receive
the rest of his treatment at home. Doctors will be imposing a 15-day ban
on visitors for Birdal, in order to protect him from the possible risk
of infection. "You'll see him walking a few months later," Dokuzoguz added.
TURKEY DROPS
FRANCE FROM MAJOR DEFENSE DEAL
Turkish Daily News, June 10, 1998
The Turkish government has dropped France's Thomson CSF from a $150
million defense tender in retaliation for a move by the French Parliament's
lower house to pass a bill that accuses the Turks of an "Armenian genocide,"
a government official said Tuesday.
Thomson CSF had been expected to compete with the U.S. Argos Systems,
a subsidiary of Boeing Co., and Spain's Construcciones Aeronauticas SA
(CASA), for the contract to do systems integration work in developing nine
maritime patrol aircraft for the Turkish Navy and the Coast Guard Command.
The decision marks the first time a French firm has been excluded
from a major Turkish defense tender. Defense sources have warned similar
moves could follow if Paris goes ahead with putting the Armenian bill into
effect.
"Under these circumstances, Turkey will not send an invitation to
Thomson CSF to bid for the tender for our maritime patrol aircraft program,"
the official told the Turkish Daily News.
"But we will reconsider the company's competitive offer if the Armenian
bill does not take effect," the official added. The invitation is expected
to be sent to the remaining two foreign companies later this summer.
French sources said last Friday that the official recognition of
the "Armenian genocide" by the French National Assembly had caused a delay
in signature of a contract between French group Aerospatiale and the Turkish
Defense Ministry for making the anti-tank Eryx missile.
The contract, amounting to $441 million had been slated for conclusion
during the Eurosatory '98 land weaponry show near Paris. It was to define
conditions for industrial application of a deal signed in March for joint
production in Turkey of about 10,000 short-range Eryx missiles for the
Turkish Army.
Regarding the maritime patrol aircraft deal, the Defense Industry
Executive Committee, Turkey's highest decision-making body on large-scale
defense procurement matters, in January selected the Spanish-designed and
locally-produced CN-235 light transport planes as the frame for the systems.
A contract is expected to be signed soon with CASA and Turkey's Tusas
Aerospace Industries (TAI) for the nine aircraft worth $108 million alone.
TAI already has manufactured 50 other CN-235s for the Turkish Air
Force and the Army under a previous $700 million contract with CASA. The
Navy will get six of the new planes and the remaining three will go to
the Coast Guard.
The company to win the systems integration contract, together with
TAI, will develop the CASA CN-235 into a maritime patrol aircraft, which
will boost Turkey's naval monitoring capabilities mainly in the Aegean
Sea.
Defense sources said one maritime patrol aircraft for the Navy was
expected to cost around $32 million while less sophisticated versions for
the Coast Guard would have an estimated price of $20 million per piece.
France, one of Ankara's main arms suppliers, won Turkish defense
contracts worth $550 million last year. The deals include joint production
of AS-532 Cougar utility and search-and-rescue helicopters and the sale
of five minesweepers.
French companies are also vying for two of Turkey's top defense programs,
joint production of 145 attack helicopters worth $4 billion and 1,000 main
battle tanks worth $5 billion.
Defense Minister Ismet Sezgin warned France last week: "When selecting
a country to award a defense contract, we consider a number of criteria,
including how potential arms suppliers act regarding our theses on international
platforms."
The French National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, on May
29 approved the bill, officially recognizing the Armenian genocide under
the Turkish Ottoman empire during World War I.
But to take effect, the bill must also be approved by the French
Senate, or upper house, in a vote expected to be held later this month,
and ratified by President Jacques Chirac.
President Suleyman Demirel has sent a letter to Chirac, asking him
to use his "personal influence" to urge the Senate to reject the bill.
According to Armenian historians, up to one million Armenians were
killed in massacres and deportations between 1915-1917. Turkey says the
Armenian death toll has been greatly exaggerated, that many Turks were
also killed and that there was no planned genocide.
"You cannot label a whole nation systematic murderers and expect
to get large amounts of money from them at the same time," the government
official said
DETAINED GERMAN PROTESTS
VIRGINITY TEST
Reuters, June 11, 1998
A German woman accused of belonging to a Kurdish rebel group told
a Turkish court Thursday that forcible virginity tests carried out on her
while in custody amounted to sexual assault, her lawyer said.
"We have documentation that she was tested and we regard this as
a sexual assault," Eren Keskin told Reuters.
But the court in the eastern city of Van rejected an appeal for those
responsible to be tried, ruling that gynecological examinations were routinely
conducted on prisoners who had made allegations of rape and torture.
The defendant, Eva Juhnke, said at an earlier hearing that she had
been tortured while in custody.
"During her detention she was subjected to a variety of torture.
She was blindfolded and bound and at one time threatened with being thrown
out of a helicopter," Keskin said.
Gynecological tests are not uncommon in rural Turkey where virginity
is prized and family honor depends on a daughter's chastity.
The European Union cited a poor human rights record among other things
when it put Turkey's membership application at the bottom of the pile last
December.
Turkish troops captured Juhnke in northern Iraq last October and
took her back to Turkey for trial on charges of belonging to the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
At an earlier hearing, Juhnke said Turkey had no jurisdiction over
her and demanded that her trial be moved.
Asked where she had been captured, she said "Southern Kurdistan"
-- a term used by Kurdish nationalists for northern Iraq. The court ruled
that no such country existed and that she could be tried in Turkey.
Turkish troops frequently cross into northern Iraq to strike at PKK
guerrillas who use the area to launch attacks on Turkey. The region has
been outside the control of the Iraqi government since the 1991 Gulf War.
More than 28,000 people have been killed in 13 years of conflict
between security forces and the PKK, fighting for self-rule in Turkey's
mainly Kurdish southeast.
THE RP
CLOSURE AT THE EUROPEAN HUMAN RIGHTS COURT
Turkish Daily News, June 11, 1998
The now-closed Welfare Party (RP) has asked the European Human Rights
Court (EHRC) to expedite its case. Former justice minister Sevket Kazan
told the Anatolia news agency that previous applications sent to the court
by Turkish parties had taken a long time to be heard and the RP hoped the
court would speed up the process in this case.
Kazan noted that the RP's case was drawing a lot of attention in
Europe and that it was his impression, after meeting with court authorities,
that the hearing for the RP case would be moved forward. The RP's application
is currently being examined by the court's rapporteurs. The court will
then invite both sides, the Turkish state and the RP, to present their
case.
Former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan is involved in the process
and several foreign human rights organizations have invited him to participate
in conferences on the issue. Erbakan will travel to Germany, Holland and
Belgium at the invitation of two European nongovernmental organizations,
according to Kazan.
UNE
VIOLENCE POLICIERE HONTEUSE CONTRE LES GREVISTES DE LA FAIM A BRUXELLES
Communiqué d'Info-Türk, le 12 juin 1998
Alors que le régime d'Ankara continue à donner chaque
jour un nouvel exemple de la violation des droits de l'homme, les forces
de sécurité belges, malgré plusieurs protestations,
poursuivent leur complicité avec leurs collègues au service
de ce régime.
Un groupe de ressortissants de Turquie ayant entamé une grève
de la faim à Bruxelles afin de briser le silence qui pèse
sur la politique de disparition menée par l'Etat turc a, le 12 juin,
subi devant le parlement européen une violence policière
digne de la police turque.
A l'origine de la grève de la faim se trouve la disparition
de quatre opposants du régime d'Ankara, Neslihan Uslu, Mehmet Ali
Mandal, Hasan Aydogan et Metin Andas, qui ont été arrêtés
le 31 mars à Izmir.
Deux mois après leur ravissement, le 1er juin 1998, le Comité
Stop aux disparitions a organisé une grève de la faim dans
l'église Notre-Dame du Bon Secours au centre Bruxelles pour attirer
l'attention sur ces disparitions. Ayant constaté que la presse n'ait
réagi que timidement malgré l'urgence de la situation, les
grévistes de la faim, au douzième jour de leur action, le
12 juin 1998, se sont rendus au parlement européen pour rencontrer
des parlementaires susceptibles d'engager des recherches sur les disparus.
Voici ce que nous a communiqué le Comité Stop aux disparitions:
"Sur place, notre délégation a été immédiatement
chassée manu militari par le service de sécurité du
bâtiment. Les grévistes de la faim se sont ensuite rassemblés
devant le parlement, toujours désireux de rencontrer des parlementaires.
Ces derniers étaient alors en train de déjeuner.
"Cette fois-ci, les policiers ont chargé sur le rassemblement
avec une violence digne de leurs collègues de Turquie. Dans le combi
de la police, une gréviste a été étranglée
par un policier. Elle en garde une lésion profonde. Par ailleurs,
un des grévistes a été menotté et un autre
gréviste a eu la jambe droite écrasée dans la porte
grillagée du combi. Une gréviste de la faim, dont la soeur
avait été assassinée par l'armée, déjà
affaiblie par son jeûne, a subi un malaise et malgré son état
de faiblesse, elle n'a pas été transportée à
l'hôpital.
"Dans le garage du commissariat et tout au long de la garde à
vue, les grévistes de la faim on fait l'objet de propos dégradants.
"Au commissariat, l'un des grévistes a été roué
de coups par quatre agents enragés. Ensuite, les agents de police
ont recouru à l'humiliation en forçant les grévistes
à se déshabiller, lors de fouilles prétendument légales.
"Après quatre heures de détention, c'est la tête
haute que tous les grévistes de la faim ont regagné l'église."
Ce qui est le plus scandaleux est que cette violence policière
belge est perpétrée dans une ville où était
tenue un jour avant une conférence de presse internationale sur
les disparitions dans le monde.
Les parents des disparus - argentins, algériens, français
et belges- y étaient réunis autour d'une seule revendication:
Les responsables de ces disparitions soient jugés devant un tribunal
international pour le crime contre l'humanité!
Comment s'explique la violence policière du vendredi qui est
en pleine contradiction avec l'accueil de la conférence internationale
du jeudi?
Alors, se posent deux questions:
Les bourreaux du régime d'Ankara, selon les autorités
belges, ne sont-ils pas de criminels contre l'humanité?
L'accord de coopération policière entre Ankara et Bruxelles
est-il toujours en vigueur malgré le départ du général
De Ridder?
AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL STATEMENT ON DISAPPEARANCES
On June 5, 1998, Amnesty International issued the following press
release:
Amnesty International has received no reply from the Turkish Government
concerning the "disappearance" of Neslihan Uslu, Hasan Aydogan, Metin
Andac[,] and Mehmet Mandal, who were last seen in Izmir on 31 March. This
case was raised by the Secretary General Pierre Sane[/] on 27 April
in a letter to the Turkish Prime Minister, Mesut Yilmaz, urging that reports
of their "disappearance" be promptly and impartially investigated, and
findings be made public. Amnesty International also submitted the case
to the United Nations (UN) Working Group on enforced and involuntary disappearance.
On 20 December 1996 the Turkish Government established the "Bureau
for the investigation of Disappearances" but it appears that its
real purpose is not to establish the fate of the "disappeared" but to discredit
those concerned organizations and people whose call for thorough investigation
along the lines indicated by the UN Declaration on the Protection of All
Persons from Enforced Disappearance is an enduring embarrassment to the
authorities.
Less than a month after its foundation the Bureau has published its
findings on scores of allegations of "disappearance", but these findings
consist of one or two lines of official denial that the individual was
ever detained. No serious investigations seem to have been carried
out. For example, the report mentioned that Tevfik Kusun, who "disappeared"
on 29 November 1996 after being taken from the building site where he worked
was not held in police custody, but failed to mention that his body was
found by a local highway on 7 January 1997. Similarly, the report stated
that police archives had no record that Mahmut Mordeniz, who "disappeared"
on 28 November 1996, was detained but failed to note that family
and others witnessed his detention by people who introduced themselves
as police, that a local police unit confirmed that he had been
detained, and that his wife also "disappeared" the same day.
Such gross omissions, of which these are typical examples, confirm
that the Bureau is no more than a publicity exercise.
Meanwhile, the Saturday Mothers, who hold a vigil for the "disappeared"
in Istanbul city centre once a week, are again suffering police harassment.
On 8 May police barred the mothers from reaching their meeting place, and
detained several relatives of "disappeared" persons and bystanders, two
of whom were beaten . Since then the relatives' traditional
place of meeting for silent vigil has been occupied every Saturday by a
large contingent of uniformed police officers.
Relatives of the "disappeared" are unlikely to abandon their protest
until the authorities conduct the thorough and impartial investigations
which international standards require. Amnesty International will continue
to support those relatives in their quest for an answer, and to press the
authorities for information about the fate of Neslihan Uslu, Hasan
Aydogan, Metin Anda? Mehmet Mandal and the other scores of "disappearances"
which the organization has brought to the Turkish Government's attention
since 1991. Background In its letter to the Turkish Prime Minister,
Amnesty International also stated that fears that Neslihan Uslu, Hasan
Aydogan, Metin Anda? and Mehmet Mandal, have "disappeared"
are heightened by that fact that they are know to the police and have reportedly
been threatened with death and "disappearance" on numerous occasions. Their
lawyers have made inquiries in person to Izmir State Security
Court, Izmir State Prosecutor, Police Headquarters and local gendarmerie
stations, but were told that the four persons are not held in any of these
places. Their names are also not on the registers of Buca and Bergama prisons.
Neslihan Uslu, as editor of the journal Devrimci Gen?lik, published
in Izmir, has frequently been detained by the police, been subjected
to raids and threatened with death and "disappearance". She
had told her lawyers that on one occasion during detention the police told
her "we will kill you and throw you into a corner and nobody
will know about it". She has a number of previous convictions under the
Anti-Terror Law for her work as editor of Devrimci Gen?lik and there is
an arrest warrant for her issued by Istanbul State Security
Court No 5.
Hasan Aydogan served 18 months in Kayseri Prison for membership of
the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP/C) and is
wanted to serve an outstanding sentence of three years and nine months
for assisting the same organization.
Metin Anda? was involved in popular protests against Eurogold, a
mining company which is allegedly using cyanide in gold exploration work
in the Bergama region. In 1995 he was convicted by Izmir State Security
Court of providing assistance to an illegal organization (DHKP/C)
and served a prison sentence in Buca Prison.
Mehmet Mandal, to Amnesty International's knowledge, has never been
detained or prosecuted.
Amnesty International has raised previous cases of people with a
history of prosecution for DHKP/C membership who "disappeared" -- for example,
L?tfiye Ka?ar, who "disappeared" on 11 October 1994. This and several other
cases are still unresolved.
Article 13 of the UN Declaration on the Protection of All Persons
from Enforced Disappearance states that relatives of the "disappeared",
as well as others with knowledge or legitimate interest, have
the right to complain to a "competent and independent State authority"
which should have the powers and resources to conduct effective
investigation. This includes the power to compel attendance
of witnesses, to protect witnesses, to compel the production of relevant
documents, and that the findings of such an investigation be made available
on request to persons concerned.
ANOTHER FAMOUS JOURNALIST,
RAGIP DURAN, IN PRISON
Today, on June 16, 1998, another famous Turkish journalist, Ragip
Duran, was imprisoned for ten months to begin serving his sentence, which
was confirmed last October by the Court of Cassation. So, Turkish prisons
will have the "honour" of depriving another distinguished intellectuel
in addition to 130 others such as Ismail Besikci, Haluk Gerger, Edip Polat,
Huseyin Karatas, Nurettin Sirin, Mahmut Konuk who are currently held behind
iron bars.
Duran is the Istanbul correspondent for the French-language daily
"Liberation" and has worked for several newspapers and news agencies, including
Agence France-Presse, the British Broadcasting Corporation, "Ozgur Gundem"
and other Turkish daily newspapers. He also teaches media ethics at the
University of Galatasaray.
Duran was convicted in December 1994 of propagandizing on behalf
of an outlawed organization under Article 7 of the Anti-Terror Law. The
charge stemmed from his interview with Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which appeared in the now-defunct daily
"Ozgur Gundem" on 12 April 1994.
The Committee to Protect Journalists(CPJ), on June 10, 1998, called
on Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz to examine all possible legal options
to rescind the 10-month prison sentence handed down against veteran journalist
Ragip Duran for violating Turkey's Anti-Terror Law.
"One of Turkey's finest journalists is being sent to jail as punishment
for his thoroughly professional reporting on one of Turkey's biggest stories",
said William A. Orme, Jr., CPJ's executive director. "We hope and expect
that the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg will review this
case and rule as it must that the prosecution of Ragip Duran constitutes
an illegal denial of his rights as a journalist and as a citizen of Turkey
to freedom of expression, as guaranteed by European and international human
rights covenants to which Turkey is a signatory."
Duran, who was born in 1954, has worked as a journalist since 1978
in Istanbul, Paris and London. In the past he has worked with Agence France
Presse (AFP) and BBC. He has up to now been working for the French daily
Liberation and has also presented short programs for French radio stations.
He has been active in the work of the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres
and the CPJ in New york. In addition Duran has been teaching courses on
"International events and the Media" and on media ethics at Galatasaray
University as well as in a private school. He has also been working as
a conference translator since 1978. He is considered a specialist on the
Kurdish problem. Last year he published a book entitled "Apoletli Medya"
(Pro-military Media). He won the "Hellman/Hammett Freedom of Expression"
award given by the US-based Human Rights Watch and was made "Journalist
of the Year" in 1991 by Turkey's Human Rights Association.
Interview which costs 10 months in prison
The CTP also issued the following translated text of Duran's 12 April
1994 interview with Ocalan, headlined "Apo 91/ Ocalan 94":
"I had interviewed the 'Kurdish Zapata of Damascus' three years before,
in 1991. This time the setting had changed. Ocalan was answering journalists'
questions in a house in Bar Elias, in Lebanon's northern Bekaa Valley.
I have listened again to the seven-hour cassette recording of the interview
made in Damascus, and compared it with my tape of the Bar Elias interview,
which lasted 13 hours.
"Three years ago, a leader whose military role overshadowed his political
one stood in front of us. Guerrilla was the main card in his hand. This
is still the case today. But Ocalan no longer takes 'guerrilla' to mean
a 'militant at war', in its narrow sense. He says: 'Only five percent of
our time is dedicated to the war against the enemy. Guerrilla is now basically
a ground on which the new Kurd is being formed.'
"The Ocalan of 1994 is a philosopher and moralist in addition to
his military and political roles. He cites Zarathustra or Freud, he speaks
of psychoanalysis, of spiritual degeneration, and of other human problems.
Ertugru Kurkcu has said: 'When Ocalan speaks, you seem to hear great noises
coming from his brain, there is no doubt that an intense activity is going
on inside...'
"A diplomatic arena has been added to the PKK's military and political
planning, together with philosophic and psychological methodologies. It
seems that they have almost created a state mechanism. Everyday Ocalan
receives hundreds of reports from Turkey, Europe, Asia, and the Middle
East. What is the attitude of the leaders of the Western capitals regarding
the Kurdish problem? How are the national and international press covering
events? What are the probable developments? The written and spoken answers
to these questions are sent to Ocalan from the PKK headquarters, which
is equipped with the latest communication equipment. Thus, Ocalan is aware
of all recent events.
"In 1991, Ocalan spoke in general and abstract terms of the United
States, France, or Germany. Today, his observations and analysis of international
policy and different countries' diplomatic policies are at the level of
discourse found in academic or political reviews in the West. This may
be due to the fact that the Kurdish problem is now part of the international
arena. Ocalan's policies are consistent, based on concrete analysis and
filled with numerous details.
"The general secretary of the PKK is in Lebanon, but he regularly
listens to Turkish and international radio stations and television channels.
Videocassettes of news or information programs he might have missed are
also sent to 'the President.' This is the technical aspect of Ocalan's
position, the infrastructure of which was not sufficiently developed in
1991. But the important thing is to make the right analyses and to follow
a good policy with the help of all this information. Ocalan believes that
'politics is the art of concentration.'
"I remember very well that during our 1991 interview in Damascus,
Ocalan had addressed one of his guerrillas saying, 'What kind of man are
you? You must show that you are a Kurd!' Moreover, when he criticized the
Turkish Republic, he aimed his arrows at 'the Turk in general.' However,
on 21 March 1994, when we wished him a Happy Feast, Ocalan replied: 'the
Newroz is not only my feast but an international one!'
In the new concept Ocalan is formulating of the 'rearrangement of
Turco-Kurdish relations,' he gives a lot of importance to equality and
fraternity. He is very critical of narrow minded Kurdish nationalism: 'The
Kurd cannot exist without Turkey and Turkey cannot survive without Kurds!'
"His relationship with the press has also changed a lot since 1991.
Ocalan has his own way of analyzing the characteristics of each media sector.
During interviews with journalists, he now adopts another language than
the one he uses when addressing his guerrillasówhich is in fact only natural.
He speaks of the 1968 leader of Dev-Genc (Revolutionary Youth), who is
now a columnist at the "Ozgur Gundem" daily, as 'our ex-president.'
"At times, the interview at Bar Elias turned into a casual debate
while recording went on. Ocalan in 1994 is calmer and more at ease with
himself than Apo 1991. He laughs and sometimes makes a joke or pun. But
he has a problem: 'I can't seem to find anyone to speak with [in the Turkish
government].'
"He has said that the PKK does not resemble the PLO, and that he
does not behave like Arafat. In 1991, in Damascus, I had met a Kurdish
Zapata. In 1994, at Bar Elias, it was still a Kurd standing before me.
Zapata was standing thereówas it also Garibaldi? "
ITALIAN
REPORTER FINED IN TURKEY FOR NEWROZ RALLY
Reuters, June 16, 1998
A Turkish court on Tuesday found an Italian left-wing journalist
guilty of provoking hatred in a Kurdish protest and fined him 6.1 billion
lira ($23,000),suspended for five years.
Reporter Dino Frisullo was arrested in March at a rally in the southeastern
city of Diyarbakir to mark the Newroz spring festival, a traditional time
of Kurdish dissent.
Turkish television pictures showed Frisullo being carried on the
shoulders of a crowd and holding a picture of a dead Kurdish rebel.
Frisullo denied any link to the Kurdistan Workers Party guerrilla
group, fighting for self rule in the southeast since 1984. More than 28,00
people have died in the conflict.
"I am on the side of peace. I am not a terrorist," he told the state
security court in Diyarbakir.
The court deported Frisullo in April but he returned to Turkey to
hear the verdict. The trial angered the Italian government, which voiced
concern over Turkey's strict restraints on freedom of expression.
EURO-COMMISSION
PROBES VIOLENCE IN TURKEY
Reuters, June 16, 1998
Members of the European Commission of Human Rights are gathering
evidence in Turkey on allegations of killings and kidnappings by security
forces four years ago, the Commission said on Tuesday.
The Commission is looking into complaints from relatives that a man
was killed during an operation by security forces in the southeastern village
of Arikli, and another was tortured and killed after he was arrested by
plain-clothes police.
In another case, a woman named as Cicek alleged that her grandson
and two sons disappeared after being arrested by security forces in the
village of Dernek.
Turkish authorities deny that security forces were involved in any
of the cases.
A four-member delegation will hear testimony from witnesses, villagers,
public prosecutors and members of the security forces and will report to
the commission in two weeks.
The commission acts as a screening body for the European Court of
Human Rights which has already condemned Turkey in various cases connected
with security forces operations in the Kurdish southeastern provinces.
The Court is part of the 40-nation Council of Europe, which monitors
human rights and democracy across Europe and whose parliamentary assembly
is expected to vote next month on a draft report highly critical of Turkey's
treatment of Kurds.
THE KILLER IS HERE SOMEWHERE
Turkish Daily News, June 16, 1998
While speaking about Diyarbakir, the city of unsolved murders and
missing persons, poet Hicri Izgoren has also criticized insensitive people.
While death patrols the streets at night in Batman, or while it is uncertain
in Diyarbakir from which direction the bullet will come, in short, while
a geography bleeds from one end to the other, Izgoren said in his poem,
"I am an unsolved murder now where everyone is a little bit of a perpetrator."
During a symposium entitled, "Unsolved Murders and the Right to Live,"
organized by the Human Rights Organization (IHD) last weekend, attendees
mentioned thousands of murders in which "everyone is a little bit of a
perpetrator." The missing persons' relatives, who have lived out the tragedy
which Turkey has experienced during the past 20 years, in the sad memories
of those whom they have lost, caused Ankara to weep and experience sadness,
wisdom and solidarity. With tears flowing down their cheeks, mothers, sisters,
spouses and nephews spoke about the deaths they had experienced. They explained
how the spouses, fathers, mothers or brothers whom they had sent to the
newspaper stand, to the office, to the fields, to school, to court, to
the hospital or to herd the sheep had not returned.
The spirit of honest columnists of the Turkish press, Abdi Ipekci
and Ugur Mumcu, the newly blossoming young writers Hafiz Akdemir, Yahya
Orhan and Ferhat Tepe, as well as Musa Anter, symbolic figure of Turkish
and Kurdish brotherhood, Namik Erdogan, one of the forthright and industrious
figures of the bureaucracy, Savas Buldan, who became a father the day his
funeral was held, and all the others were there.
Hanife Tekdal, who has lost four members of her family to clashes
in the Southeast, because of the unsolved murders said: "I have lost my
sons Mehmet, Mustafa and Ali and my husband, Emin. Despite all this, I
want peace so that more mothers will not cry, because they also have children."
Derman Taranci, wife of journalist Namik Taranci, who was murdered
in an unsolved case, said her husband had not been killed in an unsolved
murder. Taranci claimed that the killer of her husband was known. "It is
said that he was killed by gang members. Well, who is supporting the gang
members?" she asked.
Ulku Adali, wife of journalist Kutlu Adali from the Turkish Republic
of Northern Cyprus (KKTC), drew attention to the fact that the overwhelming
majority of those who had attended the symposium were women.
Adali said it had been proven how sensitive the hearts of women were,
and that they had not surrendered easily. She urged the participants to
maintain their unity, stressing that the state was under suspicion and
that it meant that the state was guilty if it remained silent.
Bengi Heval Oz, daughter of Ankara Prosecutor Dogan Oz, who lost
his life in an armed attack in 1978, and Nuket Izzet, Abdi Ipekci's daughter,
also took part in the IHD's symposium, each presenting a submission.
Political parties urge joint struggle
On the second day of the symposium, representatives of political
parties and democratic organizations delivered speeches. HADEP, ODP, EMEP,
DKP, DBP and TSIP members focused on the political dimensions of the unsolved
murders. Pointing out that in most parts of the world unsolved murders
were being used as a method of political intervention, the representatives
gave examples, particularly from Latin America and Algeria. They blamed
the state for the murders and claimed that the killers were being protected.
They pointed out that they would work together to raise social awareness
on this issue.
During that day's afternoon session, representatives of various other
organizations spoke. The lecturers who talked in the name of the Contemporary
Journalists Association (CGD) and the Medya-Sen stressed the insensitivity
of the press as respects of the unsolved murders of journalists. The IHD
administration announced that it would prepare a final communique at the
end of the symposium.
While all this was going on at the symposium, daily Aydinlik was
publishing an interview with Mahmut Yildirim, known as "Yesil," who is
claimed to be one of the architects of unsolved murders. In his interview,
Yesil was calmly explaining that for the good of the country, he had carried
out all the acts which had caused hundreds of people to attend the meeting
at Ankara's Harb-Is Hall. Yesil was saying that top-level state officials
could not touch him because he had information ranging from unsolved murders
to drug smuggling. When the Plaza Del Mayo Mothers from Argentina visited
Turkey, they had said, "The killer may be the person who is sitting next
to you on the bus." The participants of the IHD symposium also said, "The
murderer is somewhere nearby." How interesting that everything becomes
likened to everything else.
While Yesil was blackening the pages of daily Aydinlik with his ominous
statements, the love of the mothers was lighting up Harb-Is Hall.
TURKEY STILL
LEFT LOOKING AT EU CLUB FROM AFAR
Reuters, June 16, 1998
British Prime Minister Tony Blair tried to put a more positive
gloss on the European Union's rocky relations with would-be member
Turkey at the EU summit on Tuesday. But Greece, Ankara's long-time foe
within the EU, put a halt to Blair's diplomatic manoeuvres, leaving Turkey
with little more than it had before -- an arm's length rapport with the
15-nation club. Summit chairman Blair attempted to massage an official
communique into more palatable form, saying Turkey had been treated
in the same way as other prospective EU members.
"We have subjected the candidature of Turkey to a very clear statement
that the same rules and criteria that apply to anyone else apply to them
too," Blair told reporters at the end of the summit of 15 EU nations.
Blair stressed the decision to ask the EU's executive Commission to look
at ways of finding cash for Turkey to help it prepare for eventual
membership. "We have made specific reference to the Commission and its
power to come forward with its own proposal to unlock the financing
which has been a big part of the problem of our relations with Turkey."
Asked if he had done enough to get the frosty relationship back on
track, Blair said: "That's a matter for Turkey." Greece, which has
been long at odds with Turkey over the divided island of Cyprus, insisted
there be no change of policy from the declaration made at a similar
summit in Luxembourg six months ago. "Our Greek colleagues put forward
their case very strongly indeed," Blair said.
TURKEY'S
BULGING "THOUGHT CRIME" FILE
GUL DEMIR AND NIKI GAMM, Turkish Daily News, June 17, 1998
The problem of freedom of expression in contemporary Turkey reflects
a gloomy paradox. Ever since the 1980 military coup, freedom of thought
and expression has been under violent attack. Throwing journalists, writers
and intellectuals into prison for what they write has become an ordinary
occurrence. Even moderate voices in Turkey were silenced during the first
four years after the military coup when the paradox began.
Of course it was natural that nongovernmental organizations, political
parties and labor unions would begin to give voice in opposition to this.
As a result of the various campaigns which were organized, Articles 141,
142 and 163 of the Turkish Penal Code were abrogated in April 1991.
These gains which were related to freedom of expression were won
by many a politician, writer and defender of human rights who risked torture
and prison sentences in order to oppose censorship. This change of the
times Prime Minister Turgut Ozal announced to the world as "a speaking
Turkey."
These changes which were made to the Turkish Penal Code in April
1991 were made part of the Anti-Terror Law (Law No. 3713). The law encapsulated
a broad definition of what terrorism was and even included opposition which
did not rely on violence. For example to engage in "propaganda of whatever
means to destroy nationalist feelings or weaken them was changed into "engaging
in separatist propaganda" under Article 8 of the Anti-Terrorism Law.
The second half of 1993 and the first months of 1994 saw a dramatic
increase in the number of those arrested and imprisoned under Article 8.
Among those imprisoned were lawyers, journalists, labor unionists, people
engaged in politics, university faculty, writers and publishers.
Ismail Besikci was punished under Article 8 for his book "Republican
People's Party Program (1931) and the Kurdish Problem." Ismail Besikci
is still in prison because of Article 8. Ayse Nur Zarakolu, the head of
Belge Publications has been imprisoned many times for books which she has
published and has drawn a prison sentence three times. At present Ass.
Dr. Fikret Baskaya from the Economics Faculty of Bolu Abant University
was arrested on March 17, 1994. The reason for his being arrested was that
he was found to have violated Article 8 with his book entitled, "Westernization,
Modernization, Development -- the Bankruptcy of the Paradigm." The Kurds
are examined in one section of the book and recognized as a separate ethnic
group -- this was enough for Baskaya to be sent to Haymana Prison. The
Turkish United Nations Association's former secretary general Haluk Gerger
was arrested because of Article 8.
Changes to Article 8 make matters worse
Towards the end of 1995, President Suleyman Demirel approved changes
to Article 8. Taking up the issue of changes to Article 8 was speeded up
because it was made very clear to Turkey that some developments were expected
on the human rights front for the sake of its foreign relations and especially
when the European Union (EU) Commission brought it up during the period
leading up to the Customs Union.
The change to Article 8 reduced the prison sentence from five years
to three but "separatist propaganda" still draws a prison sentence. In
a situation in which the crime has been committed for the first time, the
right to apply a monetary fine or postpone punishment is left to the discretion
of the court. In short, the single change to Article 8 was the reduction
of the penalty by half and the possibility of postponement.
Some people who were arrested under Article 8 remain in prison despite
the changes. The 20-month prison sentence which was meted out to former
parliamentarian Ibrahim Aksoy for a variety of articles was reduced to
10 months thanks to the new version of Article 8. And in the case of Mehdi
Zana, he drew a prison sentence of two years because of a speech which
he made in the European Parliament in Brussels. Blind lawyer Esber Yagmurdereli
was sent back to prison within the past month to serve out the remaining
years of a sentence which had been previously imposed and which is tantamount
to life imprisonment.
Turkey's freedom of thought and expression remains a paradox for
all of the parts of society which are in opposition to the system. Istanbul
Metropolitan Mayor Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in a situation in which he is
to be punished for having read out some poetry.
Officials of the Human Rights Association which has been carrying
out a "Freedom of Thought" campaign for nearly 10 months has the following
to say: " Behind this indication of a way of free life without prohibitions
or censorship which constitutes the most important aspect of democratization
in our geographic location lies the quite swollen balance sheet of prohibitions
which have been applied for years. "According to what our association can
learn in the last 40 years the number of publications banned exceeds 6,000.
This figure marks the lowest possible number. More than 5,000 written publications
and up to 1,000 cinema films and music cassettes have been banned. The
section in the National Library which is devoted to banned publications
now contains 7,851 publications. And after 1980, 2,500 publications, 200
cinema films and up to 50 music cassettes were added to the balance sheet."
"After 1980 more than 100 tons of publications were destroyed. Of these
30 tons were officially burned and as for the remainder they were pulped
in SEKA ovens and shredded. In addition legal cases carrying prison sentences
amounting to thousands of years have been opened against those responsible
for the forbidden publications. Hundreds of writers, intellectuals and
artists are still being made to appear in court as defendants. They have
been placed in many prisons. And finally journalist and writer Ragip Duran
is being put in prison for seven months.
According to an official statement from the Justice Ministry 10,949
people were tried between 1982 and 1990. "There is still in the neighborhood
of 6,000 case files on those being tried for their thoughts continuing
in the State Security Court and the Courts of Serious Crime and of First
Instance as well as in the General Staff Military Courts.
The laws and decrees which continue to block freedom of thought which
fall under Articles 311, 312, 159, 155 and 175 of the Anti-Terror Law amount
to around 155. "In the last two years alone nearly 500 inquiries have been
opened against civilians at the request of the General Staff concerning
the formers' views and writings and citing Article 159. One hundred and
five people are under arrest for expressing their thoughts in writing or
verbally. We think that it is a great shame for our country on the brink
of entering the 21st century to be trying people who are defenders of human
rights for their thoughts and putting them in prison and for counting thoughts
as criminal. We want the obstacles to freedom of thinking, organizing and
believing removed for this reason. We will issue a statement entitled 'Freedom
for Thought' at 12:00 Wednesday June 17 in Istanbul's Sultanahmet Square
as part of the 'Freedom for Thought Campaign.'"
In a May announcement of the Press Council's High Committee, it was
pointed out that "While expecting a reduction in pressure which has its
source outside of the country, exactly the opposite happened." The "dark
balance sheet" of the past six years is given below: Twenty-five journalists
have been killed, 36 journalists were attacked with weapons, 104 journalists
were exposed to attacks by security forces. In 599 cases related to publications
of press organizations, the decision was made to either confiscate the
publication or close the press organ. As for the numbers of the past year,
two journalists were attacked with weapons, two journalists were struck
in court in front of the judges, 26 journalists were taken into custody,
nine journalists were arrested. The decision was taken to confiscate 16
newspapers.
This terrifying overview of the press doesn't finish with this either.
Some things cannot be written about or caricatured and the direct and indirect
pressure and messages coming from various sources circulate in a whisper
from time to time. From time to time the situation with the Turkish journalists
who show how successful they are by being at the top of the list of countries
throughout the world because of the number of journalists undergoing the
greatest pressure comes on the agenda in Europe.
Dogan Holding Executive Board Chairman Aydin Dogan has shown his
success in being elected to membership in the World Association of Newsmen
(WAN). Dogan has said, "The number of journalists under arrest in Turkey
is not this. Many of the names which appear here are not journalists."
Probably Aydin Dogan of necessity means the journalists who work without
a union and without social insurance in his own newspaper. Because a journalist
who is deprived of these rights does not have the title of journalist in
Europe...
At the moment it is thought that only a journalist's freedom of thought
and speech is being threatened. Their social rights have been wrongfully
snatched away from them by the big media patrons. We can understand whether
or not Turkish journalism can be rightfully represented in Europe by following
Aydin Dogan in the coming days. Turkish society wants to be saved from
the obstacles blocking its intellectual and cultural development. It wants
to be able to obtain the information it wants easily and to share its feelings
and thoughts with others without any problems. One of the witnesses to
this is that the Turk shows no inclination to not write or speak about
what he or she thinks. Those who want to hear the opposite are increasing
with every passing day. Quite to the contrary as while the number of those
risk laying in prison and try to express their thoughts doesn't diminish
in size. The figures show this.
AI:
LA PRATIQUE DE LA TORTURE EST TOUJOURS LARGEMENT REPANDUE EN TURQUIE
Amnesty Intenational a publié mercredi 18 juin 1998 son rapport
1998 des violations des droits de l'homme dans 141 pays du monde perpétrées
entre janvier et décembre 1997. Selon ce rapport, la pratique de
la torture est systématique et très répandue dans
les commissariats de police et les gendarmeries turques et cela malgré
un certain impact de la nouvelle législation relative aux procédures
de détention.
"Plusieurs centaines de personnes ont été arrêtées
en raison de leurs activités politiques non violentes ( ) Six personnes
au moins seraient mortes en détention. Au moins neuf personnes auraient
'disparu' alors qu'elles se trouvaient aux mains des forces de sécurité.
Au moins 20 personnes ont été tuées dans des circonstances
portant à croire qu'elles avaient été exécutées
de façon extrajudiciaire" dénonce la séction du rapport
consacrée à la Turquie.
Toujours d'après ce rapport, la démission de Necmettin
Erbakan de la coalition gouvernementale est le résultat de la pression
des forces armées.
Se référant aux manifestations non violentes, le rapport
souligne que des syndicalistes et des étudiants ont fait fréquemment
objet de placement en garde à vue et ont été détenus
parfois pendant des heures ou des jours par la police.
Le rapport dénonce également l'article 8 de la loi
anti-terreur et l'article 159 du code pénal turc et cite à
ce titre le procès de Munir Ceylan, syndicaliste, d'Ercan Kanar,
président de la branche d'Istanbul de l'Association turque des droits
de l'homme et de Sanar Yurdatapan, porte-parole de l'Initiative de l'Ensemble
pour la Paix.
Ces trois hommes ont accusé l'état-major de l'armée
turque d'avoir couvert le massacre de Guclukonak où les forces de
sécurité ont détenu puis exécuté 12
civils et gardiens de village.
Enfin le dit rapport d'Amnesty qualifie Hatip Dicle, Orhan Dogan,
Selim Sadak et Leyla Zana de "prisonniers de conscience".
"Jugés dans des conditions contraires aux normes les plus
élémentaires d'équité, ils ont été
condamnés alors qu'aucune preuve concluante n'a jamais été
présentée à l'appui des charges retenues contre eux.
Ces quatre personnes ont, selon toute vraisemblance, été
incarcérées en raison des critiques qu'elles avaient formulées
concernant la politique du gouvernement dans les départements du
Sud-Est, où la population est majoritairement kurde" souligne le
document.
FULL
TEXT OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT ON TURKEY
(This report covers the period January-December 1997) Hundreds of
people were detained because of their non-violent political activities;
most were released after a short period of police detention but others
were sentenced to terms of imprisonment. Torture continued to be widespread
and systematic in police stations and gendarmeries, although new legislation
on detention procedures had some impact. There were at least six reported
deaths in custody. At least nine people reportedly ìdisappearedî in security
force custody and at least 20 people were killed in circumstances suggesting
that they had been extrajudicially executed. There were no judicial executions,
although courts continued to pass death sentences. Armed opposition groups
committed deliberate and arbitrary killings of prisoners and civilians.
The government headed by Necmettin Erbakan of the Islamist Welfare
Party in coalition with the right-wing True Path Party ended with his resignation
in June, largely as a result of pressure from the armed forces. Later that
month, a new coalition headed by Motherland Party leader Mesut Y.lmaz was
formed together with the Democratic Left Party and Democratic Turkey Party.
State of emergency legislation was lifted in three provinces in October,
but remained in force in six provinces of the southeast, where the 13-year
conflict between government forces and armed members of the Kurdish Workers'
Party (PKK) claimed the lives of 6,000 people, including civilians, during
the year.
Trade unionists, students and demonstrators were frequently taken
into custody at peaceful public meetings or at their organizations' offices,
and were held in police detention for hours or days because of their non-violent
political activities.
The trial under Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law, which outlaws any
advocacy of ìseparatismî, of 184 members of Turkey's literary and cultural
elite for publishing a book entitled Freedom of Thought (see Amnesty International
Report 1997) was halted in October under the terms of a law which suspended
judicial proceedings against editors for three years.
Other articles of the Turkish Penal Code (TPC) were also used against
writers, journalists and political activists whose statements criticized
the Turkish state. In June the writer and lawyer Ahmet Zeki Okçuo©lu
was imprisoned under Article 159 of the TPC for ìinsulting the institutions
of the stateî, after the Supreme Court upheld a 10-month sentence handed
down in 1993 by Istanbul Criminal Court No. 2 for his article published
in the newspaper Azadi (Freedom). He was released in October. The trials
under Article 159 continued against Münir Ceylan, a trade unionist;
Ercan Kanar, president of the Istanbul branch of the Turkish Human Rights
Association (HRA); and Óanar Yurdatapan, spokesperson for the Together
for Peace initiative (see Amnesty International Report 1997). They had
publicly accused the Chief of General Staff of covering up the Güçlükonak
massacre, in which state forces allegedly detained and killed 11 civilians
and village guards. The security forces presented the killings as having
been committed by the PKK.
Prisoners of conscience Hatip Dicle, Orhan Do©an, Selim Sadak
and Leyla Zana, former parliamentary deputies for the Democracy Party,
continued to serve 15-year sentences, imposed in 1994 for alleged membership
of the PKK, at Ankara Closed Prison. No conclusive evidence was presented
to support the charges against them during the course of a blatantly unfair
trial and they appeared to have been imprisoned because of their criticism
of state policy in the predominantly Kurdish southeastern provinces.
People expressing political beliefs from an Islamic point of view
were also held as prisoners of conscience. Former parliamentary deputy
Hasan Mezarc. was serving an 18-month sentence imposed in 1996 under Law
5816 for insulting Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Turkish Republic.
He was released in October. In April members of the Aczmendi religious
order detained in October 1996 were sentenced to prison terms by Ankara
State Security Court (SSC) for appearing in public in Ankara in turbans
and cloaks _ garments which contravened the Dress and Hat Laws instituted
by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Ilyas Eldi, Yakup AkkuÒ, Ahmet Arslan,
Ömer Faruk, Bülent Baykal, and Servet Dündar were sentenced
to four years' imprisonment after conviction under Article 7/1 of the Anti-Terror
Law for ìmembership of an organization founded to transform the Republic
by means of intimidation or threats.î In fact, the Aczmendi order does
not advocate violence. Another 110 Aczmendi defendants received sentences
of three years' imprisonment.
The HRA was subjected to intense harassment. Three branches were
shut down including the Diyarbak.r branch, which was closed on the grounds
that ìits activities threaten the unity of the state.î Aziz Durmaz, president
of the Óanl.urfa branch, was detained and reportedly tortured in
June. He was committed to prison on apparently bogus charges of membership
of an armed organization. He was a prisoner of conscience. Aziz Durmaz
was released in November.
Turkey does not recognize the right of conscientious objection to
military service and there is no provision for alternative civilian service.
In January the General Staff Military Court in Ankara sentenced Osman Murat
Ülke, chairperson of the Izmir War Resisters' Association (ISKD) (see
Amnesty International Report 1997), to six months' imprisonment and a fine
for ìalienating the public from the institution of military serviceî by
publicly declaring his conscientious objection and burning his call-up
papers in 1995. In February the General Staff Military Court opened a new
trial against Osman Murat Ülke and a further 11 defendants from the
HRA and ISKD on charges of ìalienating the public from the institution
of military serviceî in speeches that they had given during Human Rights
Week in 1995. Osman Murat Ülke was conditionally released in May,
but was rearrested in October at EskiÒehir Military Court after
being convicted of ìpersistent insubordinationî, for which he received
a five-month prison sentence, and ìdesertionî, for which he received a
further five-month sentence.
In March detention procedures were amended for people held under
the Anti-Terror Law (which includes non-violent offences). The Turkish
Government announced this as a measure to combat torture. The new law shortened
the maximum terms of police detention from 30 to 10 days in provinces under
state of emergency legislation, and from 14 to seven days throughout the
rest of the country. The new provisions were a substantial
improvement but still failed to meet international standards. The
law provides for four days' incommunicado detention, described by the European
Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment as ìunacceptableî. Incommunicado detention is widely recognized
as being conducive to torture.
The revised detention procedures appeared to have some inhibiting
effect on the practice of torture. Nevertheless, there were many well-documented
reports of torture by police and gendarmes (soldiers carrying out police
duties, mainly in rural areas) in many parts of the country. Male and female
detainees frequently complained that they were sexually assaulted. The
victims included those detained for common criminal offences as well as
for offences under the Anti-Terror Law. Children and juveniles were again
among the victims. Sixteen-year-old Murat Yi©it reported that he was
tortured at a police station in Ankara while detained in January. He stated
that he was blindfolded and stripped naked, drenched with cold water, beaten
on the soles of his feet and given electric shocks to his penis and feet
by police officers who wanted him to sign a confession to a series of burglaries.
He was later released without charge. A medical report issued by Ankara
Forensic Medicine Institute recorded injuries consistent with his statement.
Hatun Temuzalp, a reporter for a left-wing journal, stated that she
was tortured while held for interrogation at Istanbul Police Headquarters
for seven days during March. Police officers insulted and threatened her,
and pulled some of her clothes off. Her arms were tightly bound to a wooden
bar and two people grabbed her, lifted her onto a chair, hung her up, and
pulled the chair away. This happened repeatedly. After a period of intense
pain she started to lose consciousness. A radiography report indicated
a fractured shoulder blade. When brought before a judge, Hatun Temuzalp
made a complaint of torture. She was released, but her interrogators were
not prosecuted.
In a judgment in September the European Court of Human Rights found
that Turkish security forces had tortured Óükran Ayd.n while
she was detained at Derik Gendarmerie Headquarters in Mardin in 1993. She
was 17 years old at the time. The Court found that Óükran Ayd.n
had been raped, paraded naked in humiliating circumstances and beaten,
and that the Turkish authorities had failed to conduct an adequate investigation
into her complaint. The Court ordered the Turkish Government to pay Óükran
Ayd.n compensation of approximately US$41,000.
There were at least six deaths in custody apparently as a result
of torture. Fettah Kaya died at Aksaray Police Station in May, after being
detained by vice-squad officers at the music hall where he worked. Police
authorities reportedly claimed that the 23-year-old man had died of a heart
attack, but a detainee who was in custody with him stated that both of
them had been tortured by police, who struck them with sandbags.
At least nine people were reported to have ìdisappearedî in the custody
of police or soldiers. In February witnesses saw four armed men, apparently
plainclothes police officers, stop Fikri Özgen outside his house in
Diyarbak.r, check his identity and drive him away. His family made inquiries
with all the relevant authorities, who denied that he was detained. In
common with several other victims of ìdisappearanceî, Fikri Özgen
had relatives reported to have PKK connections.
At least 20 people were reported to be victims of political killings,
many of which may have been extrajudicial executions. In January Murat
Akman was killed during a house raid in Savur, Mardin province, shortly
after two security force officers had been killed by the PKK. According
to a family member who witnessed the killing, members of the Special Operations
Team (a special heavily armed police force unit) came to the door, asking
for Murat Akman. When he appeared and showed his identity card, they opened
fire, killing him instantly. The family made an official complaint, but
by the end of the year those responsible for the killing had not been brought
to justice.
The forcible return to their country of origin of recognized refugees
and asylum-seekers, including Iraqi and Iranian nationals, continued throughout
the year. On several occasions, Amnesty International expressed grave concern
to the Turkish Government about these refoulements. No response was received.
For the 13th consecutive year there were no judicial executions,
although courts continued to pass death sentences.
Armed separatist, leftist and Islamist organizations were responsible
for at least 13 deliberate and arbitrary killings of civilians and prisoners.
Armed members of the PKK were allegedly responsible for at least 10 of
the killings. According to reports, in July PKK members killed Mehmet Özdemir
at Üzümlü village, near Eruh in Siirt province, and also
abducted Abdullah TeymurtaÒ from the same village before killing
him. In October Merka Akay was taken from her home in Nusaybin, Mardin
province, and strangled by PKK members. The Turkish Workers and Peasants'
Army (TIKKO) reportedly claimed responsibility for the killing in June
of Devrim Yasemin Ïld.rten and Behzat Y.ld.r.m in Istanbul, claiming
that they were ìtraitors and collaboratorsî. The Islamic Raiders of the
Great East_Front claimed responsibility for the bombing of a sewage treatment
plant in Istanbul in June. Mehmet Óahin Duran, a worker at the plant,
was wounded in the blast and subsequently died of his injuries. Amnesty
International condemned these grave abuses and publicly called on armed
opposition groups to ensure that their members were instructed to respect
international humanitarian law and human rights standards.
Throughout the year Amnesty International appealed for the release
of prisoners of conscience and urged the government to initiate prompt
and independent investigations into allegations of torture, extrajudicial
executions and ìdisappearancesî. Reports published during the year included
Turkey: Refoulement of non-European refugees _ a protection crisis.
Amnesty International delegates observed several trial hearings,
including the January hearing in the trial at Izmir SSC of a group of juveniles
who had been tortured at Manisa Police Headquarters in 1996 and subsequently
accused of membership of an armed organization, and the final hearing in
May of a trial at Adana Primary Court in which Dr Tufan Köse, an employee
of a rehabilitation centre for torture victims, was sentenced to a fine
for refusing to give officials access to treatment records.
Annual Report UPDATE: From January to June 1998
The irresponsibility of the Turkish authorities created the climate
for the shooting on 12 May of Ak2n Birdal, President of the Turkish Human
Rights Association (HRA) Ak2n Birdal was wounded by six bullets from the
guns of two assailants who entered the headquarters of the association
in Ankara.
The authorities have not only consistently failed to investigate
or condemn earlier fatal attacks on officials of the association, but the
judicial authorities had apparently contrived to leak spurious but highly
dangerous allegations about Ak2n Birdal. These were contained in confessions
alleged to have been made by a former military commander of the Kurdish
Workersí Party (PKK) recently taken prisoner by the security forces. Although
Turkish law provides that evidence collected during preliminary investigation
is secret, these statements, which cited Ak2n Birdal as well as numerous
other prominent personalities critical of the government as being implicated
as having actively supported the PKK, were given enormous publicity.
While Akin Birdal was struggling very close to death the Prime Minister
Mesut Yilmaz compounded the offence by describing the attack as an "internal
dispute" among people connected with the PKK. In fact, seven men close
to right wing political groups -- one of them a gendarmerie officer --
were shortly afterwards arrested and charged with planning and carrying
out the attempted killing.
RAPPROCHEMENT ENTRE ANKARA
ET OSLO
CILDEKT, le 19 juin 1998
Le gouvernement conservateur norvégien s'apprête à
vendre des missiles Penguin à Ankara après trois ans de tension
des relations entre les deux pays. L'achat de ces missiles, produits par
Kongsberg constitue une part importante des négociations qu'Ankara
mène pour acquérir huit hélicoptères navals
S-70 Seahawk américains d'un montant de $ 200 millions- 12 autres
Seahawks étant prévus pour 2002.
Les relations entre la Turquie et la Norvège avaient été
gelées lorsqu'en 1995 Oslo a imposé un embargo sur les armes
à Ankara en réponse aux violations des droits de l'homme
exercées par la Turquie et qu'à leur tour les autorités
turques ont décidé d'inscrire la Norvège dans leur
"liste rouge" des pays interdits des marchés turcs.
35 missiles Penguin devraient être achetés dans un premier
temps pour un montant d'environ $ 35 millions par la Turquie.
Par ailleurs, Ankara continue d'exercer une forte pression sur la
France pour que le projet de loi reconnaissant le génocide arménien,
adopté le 29 mai 1998 par l'Assemblée nationale, soit recalé
au Sénat.
À ce titre, les officiels turcs ont annoncé, mercredi
9 juin 1998, que Thomson CSF ne pourrait plus participer à un appel
d'offre d'un montant de quelque 900 millions de francs destiné à
équiper les avions de surveillance maritime turcs. D'autres
contrats militaires risquent de pâtir de ce refroidissement des relations
puisque la Turquie a annoncé jeudi 11 juin, la suspension de toute
négociations sur des contrats de défense d'un montant total
de $10 milliards avec la France.
"Un processus est en cours au parlement français à
propos de cette loi. Tant que ce processus se poursuit, s'il y a des choses
à signer, c'est suspendu. S'il y a des choses à négocier,
c'est suspendu jusqu'à la fin de ce processus" a déclaré
Necati Utkan, porte-parole de la diplomatie turque.
UNE ENQUETE
SUR LA SITUATION DES PRISONS TURQUES
CILDEKT, le 19 juin 1998
Niki Gamm et Gul Demir, deux journalistes au quotidien Turkish Daily
News, ont mené une enquête sur la situation accablante des
prisons turques, publiée les 8 et 9 juin 1998, et ont soulevé
à cette occasion des questions urgentes.
Voici de larges extraits de cet article:
"La réalité des prisons La réalité de
la vie dans les prisons turques intéresse le grand public depuis
le coup d'état militaire du 12 septembre 1980. La Commission de
Prison de la branche d'Istanbul de l'Association des droits de l'homme
(IHD) soutient que la situation n'a guère changé dans les
prisons turques depuis cette date ( )
Les détenus, qu'ils soient politiques ou non, survivent dans
des conditions misérables, mais les premiers sont agressés
non seulement physiquement mais également intellectuellement ( )
Les prisons où étaient détenus les prisonniers politiques
ont été attaquées de nombreuses fois. Deux ou trois
fois l'an, ces derniers mènent des grèves de la faim. La
plus courte de ces grèves a duré 40 jours. Il semble qu'ils
ne peuvent obtenir leurs droits que par ce moyen, bien que leurs demandes
ne soient pas déraisonnables ( ) Ces gens là sont en prison
pour des raisons politiques et nous devons nous attendre à voir
des revendications politiques.
Cela dit les problèmes ne seront résolus que quant
les protagonistes se seront mis autour d'une table ( ) On ne peut prétendre
que les tortures soient systématiques en prison. Cela étant,
il existe de nombreux rapports sur de sérieux passages à
tabac par la police ou par des gendarmes lors des transports de prisonniers
politiques à l'hôpital ou au Tribunal ou encore durant les
protestations. La police et les gendarmes saisissent l' opportunité
pour "punir" les personnes qui ont été jugées ou condamnées
pour avoir été membres d'organisations illégales.
Un prisonnier détenu à la prison de Buca à Izmir
en 1995 a déclaré ceci: "Lorsque j'étais à
la prison de Buca, les prisonniers politiques du quartier six ont refusé
de se soumettre au recensement de septembre 1995 pour protester contre
la cruauté des gendarmes lors des transports au Tribunal. Un important
groupe de gendarmes est entré par la force au quartier six. Après
avoir calmé les prisonniers, ils les ont sortis un à un dans
la cour et les ont battus avec des crosses, des matraques, des bâtons
en fer et des chaînes ( )" Cet incident a causé la mort de
Yusuf Bag, Turan Kilic et Ugur Sariaslan. Les rapports d'autopsie de Turan
et de Kilic démontrent la violence sauvage de l'assaut: "Fracture
du crâne associée au traumatisme général du
corps, hémorragie interne, fractures de la cage thoracique, hémorragie
et lacération du poumon droit". ( ) De fréquentes grèves
de la faim
Les prisons sont souvent d'actualité à cause des grèves
de la faim. Alors que l'opinion publique perçoit cela comme une
autopunition, les prisonniers en font usage pour améliorer les conditions
pénitentiaires. La grève de la faim est l'unique instrument
qu'ils possèdent pour montrer au public leurs conditions de vie,
leurs privations et leurs problèmes. En effet, les détenus
ont acquis certains droits grâce aux grèves de la faim, créant
ainsi l'impression d'une méthode efficace ( ) Le système
des "cellules" en prison- un vieux débat rouvert Après 1980,
la construction de prisons est devenue un des plus "attractifs" investissements.
Le nombre de prisons turques y compris celles qui sont en construction
est autour de 700. Le débat actuel à propos de l'organisation
des vieilles prisons et de la construction des nouvelles a soulevé
une autre discussion: le système des "cellules" ( ) Ce genre de
système peut être unique pour les États modernes. La
question est quelle est l'intention réelle de l'État? ( )
Les responsables de l'Association des droits de l'homme sont sceptiques.
Ils rappellent à ce sujet les nombreux assauts dans les prisons.
"L'État qui devrait être responsable de la protection de la
vie personnelle des détenus et condamnés, s'octroie également
le droit de les attaquer et les tuer. Cela s'est passé dans les
prisons de Diyarbakir, d'Umraniye et de Buca. Le système "cellulaire"
est réellement inapproprié pour la Turquie ( )".
Les amis et les familles de prisonniers Il y a deux systèmes
de sécurité distincts en prison, l'un interne et l'autre
externe. La sécurité interne concerne les civils; les familles
y sont relativement bien traitées. Le problème majeur est
la sécurité externe attachée au ministère de
l'Intérieur, leur logique est la suivante "sont terroristes non
seulement ceux qui sont en prison mais également leurs famille"
( ) ( ) Tout le monde y compris les enfants [et] les mères ( ) sont
arrêtés. Le car de la police attend devant la porte pour arrêter
non pas ceux qui rentrent en prison mais ceux qui en sortent ( )
De nombreuses couleurs, tel que le rouge, le jaune et le vert sont
abhorrées et interdites. Par une logique étrange et tordue,
ils interdisent le rouge afin d'empêcher la confection de drapeau,
et prohibent le blanc car il peut être peint. Les couleurs portées
par les gendarmes et les gardiens ne sont également pas acceptées.
( ) Comme nous essayons de parler avec des visiteurs de la Prison de Bayrampasa,
une femme s'est approchée de nous et a raconté sa propre
expérience. "Je suis venue d'Erzincan en hiver pour une visite et
ils ont refusé mon entrée parce que je portais une veste
verte." Cette femme d'âge moyen ( ), mère d'un prisonnier,
a ajouté qu'elle allait d'une prison à une autre car son
fils était constamment transféré. "La situation est
pire encore à la Prison d'Erzurum. La police menace les proches
des prisonniers d'emprisonnement, s'ils venaient à désobéir
( ) c'est pourquoi, les familles viennent aux visites qu'une ou deux fois
par an, le plus souvent pendant les fêtes religieuses. " ( ) Le problème
de la santé Le problème majeur en prison est la santé,
un problème général en Turquie. L'hépatite-B
est largement répandue ( ) Il n'y a seulement quatre prisons en
Turquie, dont Bayrampasa, qui ont une infirmerie. Il faut au moins un mois
pour transférer quelqu'un à l'hôpital. Une des premières
raisons est le manque d'ambulances et d'officiers de sécurité
supervisant le transfert.
Les problèmes continuent d'exister après l'arrivée
du prisonnier à l'hôpital. Ils peuvent être refusés
pour manque de lits ou de chambres de sécurité. Souvent,
les patients sont soignés par des prisonniers qui sont médecins.
Les prisonniers politiques qui espèrent être libérés
pour raison de santé en vertu de l'article 399 se plaignent de son
inapplication. Certains prisonniers de droit commun profitent même
de cet article ( ) Selon l'IHD, en un mois, 3000 prisonniers ont été
renvoyés de l'hôpital ( ) Le problème des enfants emprisonnés
Les enfants sont traités comme des criminels de droit commun, même
si cette distinction ne puisse pas leur être applicable. La branche
d'Istanbul de l'IHD a récemment interviewé des enfants prisonniers
et témoins à la Prison des Enfants et des Femmes de Bakirkoy
en réaction aux accusations de tortures appliquées aux enfants
( ) L'IHD a déclaré que les enfants étaient non seulement
battus mais également châtiés pour avoir informé
le public. Les agressions sexuelles en Prison Les agressions sexuelles
ne sont pas rares en prison, et pourtant il est imperceptible aux observateurs
à l'extérieur ( )
Il y a deux situations où les agressions sexuelles sont les
plus fréquentes. Le premier est les agressions par les gardiens
ou les soldats lors des transports de prisonniers aux Tribunaux ou aux
hôpitaux. Le second, c'est la rumeur selon laquelle il y aurait une
section spéciale en prison dont les membres se livrent aux agressions
sexuelles ( ) Morts en prison Le nombre de personnes qui sont mortes dans
les prisons turques est considérable. En 1996, 45 prisonniers de
droits commun et politiques ont trouvé la mort; en 1997, 13. Jusqu'à
fin mars 1998, 5 détenus sont morts en prison ( )
Un autre aspect du système qui facilite les violations des
droits de l'homme telle que la torture, est la dissimulation des preuves
médicales et la présentation de faux rapports médicaux
légaux. Les personnes relâchées à la suite d'une
garde à vue sont envoyées chez un médecin légiste
nommé par l'État. Les médecins qui sont des fonctionnaires
de l'État peuvent être sous une sérieuse pression pour
qu'ils concluent à un "rapport de bonne santé" ( ) Un médecin
de l'hôpital d'État de Diyarbakir avait eu des suites après
avoir déclaré à l'Association des médecins
turcs: "Au cours de l'auscultation d'une personne après placement
en garde à vue, la police a exigé un rapport de l'hôpital
d'État établissant qu'elle n'avait pas été
sous pression ni battue. Je ne pouvais pas dire "S'il vous plaît,
enlevez vos vêtements; Je vais vous examiner' puisque la police aurait
pensé que je pouvais agir contre elle. Et pourtant, il était
évident que la personne avait été battue, suspendue
etc. ( ) .
D'après la branche d'Istanbul de l'Association des droits
de l'homme les représentants légaux des familles sont parfois
empêchés d'assister aux autopsies ( ) Parmi les 143 personnes
qui ont fait appel à la Section d'Istanbul d'IHD pour obtenir un
certificat de torture ou de mauvais traitements en 1997, seul 49 ont pu
l'obtenir. Un médecin qui fournit un document de ce genre est conscient
de se mettre en danger. Il n'est pas rare que le bureau du Procureur général
mène des investigations sur un médecin qui a fait état
de blessures et des traces d'agression sur le corps d'un patient sur le
chef d'" atteinte à la réputation de l'État par des
faux rapports".
PRO-KURDISH
DAILY NEWSPAPER TARGET OF BOMB ATTACK
Reporters sans frontieres, Paris
In the early morning of 21 June 1998, a bomb exploded at the offices
of the pro-Kurdish daily "Ülkede Gündem" in Batman, in south-eastern
Turkey. Although no one was injured in the attack, the explosion did cause
serious material damage.
BACKGROUND: Since the newspaper was prevented, in December 1997,
from being circulated in the region, correspondents for "Ülkede Gündem"
have been the target of frequent harassment by police. In March 1998, the
Batman correspondent for the daily, Mevlüt Bozkur, received death
threats.
Covering events in the south-east of Turkey is always a challenge
for the media, including foreign correspondents. On 2 March 1997, Stephen
Kinzer, Turkish correspondent for the "New York Times", was arrested in
Batman. He was held at a police station for ten hours and interrogated
for seven hours on suspicion of being a "PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party]
spy".
On 24 November, police forced Gunnar Kohne, a German journalist from
the Swiss newspaper "Facts", and Mark Simon, an American photographer,
to stay in their Batman hotel for 20 hours - allegedly for their own safety.
All these journalists had the necessary official documents to work as foreign
correspondents in Turkey.
As well, according to the Journalists Safety Service, Sayfettin Tepe,
Batman correspondent for "Yeni Politika", died in police detention on 29
August 1995. Tepe had been detained on 22 August along with Ramazan Otunc
and Aydin Bolkan, respectively Batman representative and correspondent
for the same newspaper. Otunc and Bolkan were released on the same day.
Tepe was kept in detention and taken to the Bitlis Security Directorate
on the morning of 26 August. Tepe died while in detention at the Directorate
on 29 August.
LA TURQUIE
RAPPELLE SON AMBASSADEUR EN SUISSE
CILDEKT, le 24 juin 1998
Déjà en conflits avec ses voisins grec, chypriote,
syrien, irakien, iranien et arménien, et en froid avec plusieurs
capitales européennes et Moscou, la Turquie a trouvé encore
le moyen de se brouiller avec la très neutre Confédération
helvétique. Elle a rappelé "pour consultation" son ambassadeur
à Berne a-t-on appris de sources diplomatiques, le 22 juin.
La raison invoquée; la ville de Zurich a refusé la
location de deux immeubles au consulat turc qui devant déménager
ne se trouve pas où loger. Selon la ville, ce sont les citoyens
des quartiers concernés qui refusent le voisinage d'une représentation
consulaire turque en raison des "risques de nuisances".
On évoque à ce propos l'assassinat en 1994 d'un manifestant
kurde devant les grilles de l'ambassade turque à Berne par des tirs
tirés de l'intérieur du bâtiment par les policiers
turcs, assassinat resté impuni pour des raisons d'immunité
diplomatique qui n'en a pas moins traumatisé l'opinion publique
suisse sur les moeurs violentes de l'État turc y compris à
l'étranger. D'où le refus des citoyens suisses d'accepter
le voisinage de représentants turcs.
Et comme dans le même temps le maire de Lausanne avait rejeté
la requête turque de célébration du 75ème anniversaire
du Traité de Lausanne signé en juillet 1923 dans la ville,
les partisans du régime d'Ankara croient au "complot suisse contre
l'unité de la Turquie".
Pour le maire, ce traité qui est à la base de la reconnaissance
internationale de l'État turc est aussi un texte qui a consacré
le partage du Kurdistan et le déni des droits des Arméniens.
Le maire a déclaré publiquement qu'il en a honte pour sa
ville.
La brouille turco-suisse risque donc de durer un certain temps.
"ON
PREND LE PARLEMENT POUR UN MOINS QUE RIEN!"
CILDEKT, le 24 juin 1998
Lors de sa dernière réunion la Commission des droits
de l'homme du Parlement turc avait décidé de convoquer les
experts du Groupe de Travail de l'Ouest (BCG)- organe constitué
par l'état-major turc- et du Groupe de Travail Civil (SCG), attaché
au Premier ministre, chargés tous les deux de suivre les activités
nuisibles à l'État, notamment les périls islamiste
et séparatiste, afin de les interroger sur leurs "activités"
et "objet". `
De vives protestations ont éclaté, jeudi 18 juin 1998,
lorsque les députés siégeant au sein de la commission
ont constaté que de simples lettres avaient été envoyées
à des fins explicatives par le ministère de la Défense
et le cabinet du Premier ministre.
"Ils se croient supérieurs au Parlement. Ceci une preuve manifeste
de la démocratie militaire. Le BCG prend le parlement pour moins
que rien. Il a été crée par le soutien des socio-démocrates.
Si vous n'êtes pas capables d'emmener le BCG jusqu'ici, trouvez avant
tout un nom à votre travail. Peut-être qu'on vous donnera
10 sur 10" ont crié, furieux, les députés du Parti
de la Vertu (FP).
Face à ces contestations, Sema Piskinsut, présidente
de cette commission a demandé et obtenu le huit-clos des débats
grâce au vote des parlementaires du Parti de la Gauche démocratique
(DSP) et du Parti de la Mère-Patrie (ANAP), tout deux, partis de
coalition au pouvoir.
Les deux lettres ont ensuite été lues devant la commission:
Le ministère de la défense précisait qu'"un groupe
de travail était en cours de création pour des questions
disciplinaires et d'organisation, internes au quartier général
de l'état-major" et le cabinet du Premier ministre se défendait
d'avoir un tel organe en affirmant; "nous n'avons pas dans nos services
des organes appelés 'Groupe de Travail de l'Ouest' (BCG) ou 'Groupe
de Travail Civil' (SCG)."
Loin d'être convaincus, les parlementaires du FP et du Parti
de la Juste Voie (DYP) ont décidé d'envoyer un second courrier
en des termes plus explicatives "Existe-t-il un quelconque groupe de travail
ou commission dans le but d'observer les activités intégristes,
de développer la prévention et la lutte contre elles et de
faire des propositions sur le plan législatif?"
LE
PROCUREUR EN CHARGE DU DOSSIER DE DURAN A ETE ELOIGNE DE SES FONCTIONS.
CILDEKT, le 24 juin 1998
Alors que Ragip Duran, correspondant de Libération en Turquie
a commencé à purger sa peine de 10 mois de prison pour un
article publié dans un quotidien pro-kurde en avril 1994, un scandale
a éclaté dans les coulisses de la justice turque.
Le procureur de la République de la Cour de Sûreté
de l'État d'Istanbul, Isa Geyik, celui là même qui
avait constitué le dossier contre Ragip Duran, a été
remercié suite à son implication dans une affaire de corruption.
En effet, suite à la collaboration entre les polices néerlandaise
et turque qui ont effectué des écoutes téléphoniques,
l'ex-procureur Geyik a été pris avec d'autres magistrats
pour avoir reçu un pot de vin de $100 000 et 3 millions de DM en
échange de leur bienveillance pour les narco-trafiquants. Ceux-ci,
accusés de trafic d'héroïne, ont été libérés
un à un.
LE REGIME
TURC A DU MAL A MOBILISER SES PARTISANS
CILDEKT, le 24 juin 1998
À la suite de l'adoption par l'Assemblée nationale
française reconnaissant le génocide des Arméniens
en 1915. Ankara et ses média ont déclenché une vaste
campagne de protestations contre la France. Des milliers de lettres-types
reproduisant mot à mot le même texte y compris avec ses fautes
d'orthographes adressées aux autorités françaises
pour les impressioner, suspension des contrats et puis la menace d'une
manifestation géante à Paris des 350 000 Turcs de France
et des 2,5 millions de Turcs d'Europe.
La montagne a finalement accouché d'une toute petite souris.
Malgré des semaines de battage médiatique, malgré
des cars et un train mis gracieusement à la disposition de "Turcs
patriotes" ramenés par les consulats et les ambassades et les association
qui leur sont inféodées, le samedi 20 juin, on ne dénombrait
sur l'esplanade des Invalides qu'un petit millier de manifestants turcs
brandissant une profusion de drapeaux turcs.
Cela n'a pas empêché les quotidiens "patriotes" comme
Hürriyet d'annoncer triomphalement à la Une "la marche géante
de 5 000 Turcs à Paris".
Même son de cloche triomphaliste dans la plupart des médias
nationalistes turcs qui avaient pourtant annoncé en pages antérieures
la manifestation de 50 000 (estimation AFP) à 60 000 kurdes et turcs
demandant la paix , il y a quelques jours en Allemagne.
Le quotidien Milliyet plus mesuré, estime à 2.500 le
nombre de manifestants turcs à Paris et fait état d'affrontements
violents avec des contre-manifestants "arméniens et séparatistes".
Le traitement ultranationaliste par les média turcs d'un événement
s'étant déroulé à Paris, sous le regard des
observateurs, donne une idée de l'ampleur de lavage de cerveaux
ou de "bourrage de crâne patriotique" qu'ils pratiquent sur les événements
se déroulant en Turquie ou au Kurdistan.
OPINIONS STILL
BEHIND IRON BARS IN TURKEY
Turkish Daily News, June 24, 1998
The Solidarity Association for Human Rights of Oppressed Peoples
(Mazlum-Der) has released its "Violations of Human Rights Report" at a
press meeting. The report lists human rights violations in May 1998.
Yilmaz Ensarioglu, head of the Mazlum-Der, started his speech with
get well wishes for Akin Birdal, chairman of the Human Rights Association
(IHD), who was shot by two gunmen a month ago. Ensarioglu said that the
state should not be satisfied with the arrests of only the two gunmen,
but should also investigate the people behind the scenes who made Birdal
a target.
Emphasizing that nothing was done in order to improve or protect
human rights in May, Ensarioglu said, "just the opposite, we see that every
month people feel they are being surrounded more and more by restrictive
policies."
Referring to the recent student protests against the headscarf ban
at Istanbul University, Ensarioglu said, "Because of the judiciary's failure
to solve problems, rectors and academicians are forced to act like judges
and attorneys. There is a great effort to prevent the establishment of
free and autonomous universities. There is an attempt to terminate the
will and identity of the youth."
Reminding journalists that the media was again under pressure during
May, Ensarioglu said: "An increasing number of people are either being
tried or imprisoned for freely expressing their opinions. The deputy chairman
of the Liberation and Solidarity Party (ODP), Saruhan Oluc, journalist
Ragip Duran, and imam Halit Zivlak were imprisoned last month, and there
are hundreds of other intellectuals waiting their turn to be punished because
of their ideas."
LE
CONSEIL DE L'EUROPE A FINALEMENT ADOPTÉ LE RAPPORT SUR LES KURDES
Le Conseil de l'Europe a, jeudi 25 juin 1998, approuvé à
main levée le rapport intitulé "Situation humanitaire des
réfugiés et des personnes déplacées kurdes
dans le Sud-Est de la Turquie et le nord de l'Irak" de sa Commission des
migrations, des réfugiés et de la démographie.
Ce rapport avait l'ambition de "comprendre les causes des importants
déplacements de populations, essentiellement d'origine kurde, tant
à l'intérieur qu'en provenance du nord de l'Irak et du Sud-Est
de la Turquie, et d'évaluer leur situation et leurs besoins humanitaires"
et appelait pour que "le gouvernement turc prenne des mesures afin qu'un
dénouement pacifique puisse mettre un terme au conflit armé
dans lequel il est engagé dans le Sud-Est du pays".
A l'issue d'un débat très animé, la directive
545 a été adoptée. Cette directive stipule que l'Assemblée
devrait "jouer un rôle plus important dans la promotion de la paix
et de la réconciliation dans les régions kurdes du Sud-Est
de la Turquie et ailleurs ( ) [et] charge sa commission pour le respect
des obligations et engagements des États membres d'examiner la question
de la minorité kurde dans le cadre de la procédure suivie
relative à la Turquie".
Après quatre heures de débat et le vote de nombreux
amendements turcs Mme Vermot-Mangold, rapporteuse du texte, a déclaré
"Je ne reconnais plus ce rapport complètement dilué".
Ainsi, l'idée d'une conférence internationale sur la
question kurde proposée par la rapporteuse a été remplacée
par l'envoi d'une délégation du Conseil dans la région
pour écouter des témoignages sur les événements.
Autre point important, le rapport final ne demande plus que soient
poursuivis les membres des forces armées accusés de violations
des droits de l'homme, mais appelle pour que soit traduit en justice "quiconque"
violant les droits de l'homme.
De plus, le rapport condamne la "violence et le terrorisme perpétré
par le PKK" aussi bien que "l'évacuation et l'incendie des villages
par les forces armées turques". Le texte final appelle tout
de même Ankara à prendre des mesures pour faciliter l'exercice
des droits culturels et politiques des Kurdes et demande à la Turquie
de dissoudre le système des protecteurs de village payés
par le gouvernement.
Au cours des débats il a été reproché
à Mme Vermot-Mangold de "créer un problème kurde"
et de se placer sur un plan politique et pas seulement humanitaire.
La délégation turque a qualifié le rapport de
"politique, partial et incomplet". Ils ont regretté les critiques
proférées à l'égard des militaires turcs qui
selon eux sont présents dans la région pour protéger
les villageois. Ils ont également parlé d'"informations fausses
et tronquées".
Parmi les orateurs, Lord Judd (Royaume-Uni) a souligné à
quel point l'atmosphère était "passionnée et tendue".
M. Christodoulides (Chypre) a salué "l'objectivité
et le courage politique" de Mme Vermot-Mangold "en raison de la réaction
de la délégation turque, qui est allée jusqu'à
présenter un contre-rapport et à déposer plus de cinquante
amendements en vue de dénaturer le projet de recommandation".
M. Varela (Espagne) a rajouté que "la délégation
turque a fait tenir aux autres parlementaires un petit livre destiné
à contredire ce document en rejetant toute la faute sur le PKK".
M. Brunetti (Italie) a relevé les chiffres éloquents
de la commission d'enquête du Parlement turque dans un rapport mis
sous scellés par le gouvernement turc; 37 000 victimes en 15 ans,
plus de 3 millions de réfugiés. "Il s'agit donc d'un exode
biblique, dont les effets sont ressentis jusqu'en Italie" a-t-il ajouté.
Mme Dumont (France) a pour sa part repris les termes du rapport:
"la question kurde n'est plus aujourd'hui un simple problème intérieur.
Elle devenue un problème international de droits de l'homme, qui
concerne donc la communauté internationale". Cette dernière
a également déploré le fait que les droits civils
et politiques des Kurdes soient bafoués. "Le mot est impropre, car
encore faudrait-il que ces droits aient existé. Ces droits n'existent
pas" a-elle-ajouté.
Par ailleurs, certains députés ont appelé à
ce que les députés kurdes emprisonnés en Turquie depuis
1994 retrouvent leurs libertés.
Il a été reproché également à
Mme Vermot-Mangold de ne pas s'être rendue en Turquie par crainte
pour sa vie. Ce à quoi Mme Gelderblom-Lankhout (Pays-Bas) a partiellement
répondu en évoquant son voyage en 1994 dans le nord de l'Irak
qui a nécessité son passage par la Turquie: "Qui, du parlement
ou de l'armée, dirige vraiment le pays, l'armée fait l'objet
de multiples rumeurs, allant jusqu'à être accusée de
trafic illégal d'êtres humains. Les parlementaires turcs ici
présents maîtrisent-ils vraiment ce qui se passe en Turquie?"
La Recommandation du Conseil de l'Europe
1. L'Assemblée parlementaire rappelle et réitère
sa Recommandation 1150 (1991) sur la situation de la population kurde irakienne
et d'autres minorités persécutées, sa Recommandation
1151 (1991) relative à l'accueil et à l'installation des
réfugiés en Turquie, sa Résolution 1022 (1994) relative
à la situation et aux besoins humanitaires de la population kurde
irakienne déplacée, sa Recommandation 1348 (1997) relative
à la protection temporaire des personnes obligées de fuir
leur pays, sa Recommandation 1211 (1993) relative aux migrations clandestines:
passeurs et employeurs de migrants clandestins et sa Recommandation 1306
(1996) relative aux migrations des pays en voie de développement
vers les pays européens industrialisés.
2. L'Assemblée note que l'un des problèmes graves que
rencontrent aujourd'hui la plupart des pays membres du Conseil de l'Europe
est la question générale des migrations clandestines dues
aux différences sociales, économiques et démographiques
entre les pays en développement et les pays industrialisés
ainsi que, dans les régions concernées, à des causes
humanitaires.
3. L'Assemblée note avec une vive inquiétude la situation
humanitaire précaire des populations díorigine kurde et díautres
origines au nord de l'Irak. L'insécurité et la situation
économique et sociale difficile qui prévalent dans ces régions
ont entraîné des déplacements et des mouvements de
population internes et externes, à grande échelle.
4. L'Assemblée note aussi avec une vive inquiétude
les incidences que les affrontements armés et l'état d'urgence
ont, actuellement, sur la situation humanitaire dans les provinces du sud-est
de la Turquie.
5. L'Assemblée condamne fermement les violences et le terrorisme
perpétrés par le Parti des Travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK),
qui ont contribué aux déplacements et aux mouvements de populations,
et exhorte cette organisation à cesser toutes activités armées.
L'Assemblée condamne également l'évacuation et l'incendie
de villages par les forces armées turques.
6. L'Assemblée est préoccupée par l'augmentation
du nombre de demandeurs d'asile et de migrants en situation irrégulière
d'origine kurde dans certains pays européens.
7. L'Assemblée condamne les affrontements armés entre
les diverses organisations politiques kurdes, qui exploitent à des
fins personnelles la population kurde et empêchent l'envoi et une
distribution plus efficaces des aides humanitaires.
8. L'Assemblée considère que la gravité de la
situation humanitaire des populations de la région justifie pleinement
que le Conseil de l'Europe et díautres organisations internationales compétentes
se saisissent de cette question et estime que tous les gouvernements concernés
devraient être instamment invités à prendre des mesures
effectives pour améliorer la situation et, dans le cas de la Turquie,
pour se conformer pleinement aux principes du Conseil de l'Europe.
9. L'Assemblée souligne une nouvelle fois avec une grande
inquiétude que le problème du trafic illicite d'êtres
humains attise également le racisme, la xénophobie et l'intolérance.
10. L'Assemblée insiste de nouveau sur le fait que ce phénomène
préoccupe beaucoup non seulement les pays d'accueil, mais aussi
les pays se trouvant sur la route de transit.
11. L'Assemblée souligne que les critiques adressées
à un Etat membre comme la Turquie le sont dans un esprit constructif,
soulignant l'importance de la participation turque au concert des nations
européennes et la nécessité de concilier le respect
absolu de son intégrité territoriale et le respect des droits
des minorités.
12. L'Assemblée apprécie particulièrement l'activité
des organisations et des partis turcs, qui défendent les droits
de l'homme et le dialogue, car il convient de privilégier les solutions
nationales, agréées par toutes les parties concernées.
13. C'est pourquoi l'Assemblée parlementaire recommande au
Comité des Ministres:
i. d'inviter la Turquie à prendre des mesures pour promouvoir
le dialogue et la réconciliation dans les provinces du sud-est de
la Turquie habitées en majorité par des populations kurdes,
par le biais d'actions appropriées et d'un programme de confiance,
y compris la protection complète de la population civile et la prudence
dans le déploiement des forces armées;
ii. de charger ses comités compétents d'intensifier
leurs efforts pour remédier aux problèmes concrets liés
aux mouvements migratoires de Kurdes;
iii. díétablir une série de mesures visant à
lutter contre les conditions qui favorisent les migrations clandestines
sous toutes leurs formes, prévoyant des sanctions à l'encontre
des trafiquants et des employeurs qui exploitent les immigrants illégaux,
en consultation avec le Groupe de Budapest;
iv. díinviter la Turquie:
a. à trouver une solution non militaire aux problèmes
qui se posent actuellement dans les provinces du sud-est;
b. à protéger la population civile des régions
concernées contre toute forme de violence armée;
c. à hâter et intensifier ses efforts pour favoriser
le développement économique et social et la reconstruction
des provinces du sud-est;
d. à signer et ratifier la Convention-cadre pour la protection
des minorités nationales et la Charte européenne des langues
régionales et minoritaires et à en appliquer ses dispositions
aux Kurdes;
e. à tirer au clair le sort des personnes disparues;
f. à adopter des politiques et prendre des mesures adéquates
pour mettre les citoyens turcs d'origine kurde en mesure d'exercer leurs
droits culturels et politiques;
g. à restaurer l'état de droit dans la partie sud-est
du pays et en particulier à lever l'état d'urgence dans les
provinces du sud-est, à assurer efficacement la protection des villages,
à exercer un contrôle civil sur les activités militaires
dans la région, y compris par la tenue de registres et en assurant
le respect des droits de l'homme, à poursuivre toute personne qui
viole les droits de l'homme;
h. à abolir le système des gardes villageois;
i. à prendre des mesures effectives supplémentaires
en vue de la reconstruction et de la relance de l'économie dans
les provinces du sud-est;
j. à prendre des mesures supplémentaires pour reconstruire
des écoles et des hôpitaux dans cette région;
k. à mettre en úuvre, en coopération avec les organisations
humanitaires internationales, un vaste programme en vue d'encourager le
retour dans leurs foyers des populations kurdes qui en expriment librement
le désir;
l. à assurer une protection particulière aux femmes,
enfants et personnes âgées qui rentrent;
m. à soumettre des projets de reconstruction susceptibles
de bénéficier díun financement du Fonds de développement
social du Conseil de l'Europe, dans le cadre des programmes de retour;
n. à adopter des mesures pour intégrer les personnes
déplacées d'origine kurde qui souhaitent s'établir
dans díautres parties de la Turquie et à leur accorder, de même
qu'aux rapatriés, un dédommagement pour les biens détruits;
o. à ouvrir la région aux organisations humanitaires
internationales et à leur assurer le soutien des autorités
locales;
p. à continuer de faciliter le transfert des approvisionnements
humanitaires destinés à l'Irak;
q. à lever la limitation géographique mise à
la Convention relative au statut des réfugiés de 1951 et
à son Protocole de 1967, et notamment à s'abstenir díexpulser
les demandeurs d'asile sans consultation préalable du Haut Commissariat
des Nations Unies pour les Réfugiés (HCR), et supprimer la
limite de cinq jours pour le dépôt des demandes d'asile;
r. à s'abstenir d'incursion militaire dans la partie nord
de l'Irak;
v. díinviter instamment les Etats membres:
a. à encourager le renforcement des programmes d'aide au développement
dans les pays d'origine ainsi que dans les pays de transit en vue de fournir
une assistance économique et technique accrue pour les projets de
développement liés aux migrations;
b. à renforcer leur aide humanitaire au nord de l'Irak par
le biais d'organismes appropriés;
c. à respecter scrupuleusement le principe de non-refoulement
conformément à leurs obligations internationales;
d. à offrir, en consultation avec le HCR, une protection temporaire
à ceux qui ne peuvent prétendre au statut de réfugié
au sens de la Convention de 1951 relative au statut des réfugiés
et de son Protocole de 1967, mais qui ont été contraints
de fuir leur pays parce que leur vie ou leur sécurité était
menacée;
e. à veiller à ce que tous les demandeurs d'asile soient
traités avec dignité et hébergés dans des conditions
de salubrité satisfaisantes;
f. à poursuivre les efforts visant à conclure des accords
sur le rapatriement et la réadmission avec les pays d'origine et
les pays de transit, à condition que les personnes intéressées
ne soient pas renvoyées contre leur gré;
g. à empêcher, par tous les moyens légaux, la
création et le fonctionnement de toute association ou groupe d'individus
qui apporte un soutien logistique, financier ou propagandiste à
toutes les organisations qui se livrent à des actes de violence
et de terrorisme;
vi. díuser de son influence auprès de l'Union européenne:
a. pour faire en sorte que les mesures prises pour renforcer les
contrôles aux frontières ou pour lutter contre la traite de
clandestins ne portent pas directement ou indirectement atteinte au droit
international en matière de protection des réfugiés;
b. pour qu'elle reprenne la coopération financière
promise en vue de favoriser le développement économique en
Turquie, particulièrement dans les provinces du sud-est, et intensifie
l'aide humanitaire qu'elle fournit à la région nord de l'Irak;
vii. de mettre sur pied, conjointement avec l'Union européenne,
un programme commun de coopération avec la Turquie destiné
à assurer une assistance pour la promotion des droits culturels
de la population kurde et d'autres divers groupes de la population locale
dans le sud-est de la Turquie.
WAN CALLS FOR RELEASE
OF JOURNALIST DURAN
The World Association of Newspapers (WAN), on June 25, urged
Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz to change Turkey's restrictive press
laws and free journalist Ragip Duran, who was jailed last week for 10 months
for an interview he conducted with the leader of the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK).
"The jailing of Mr Duran for carrying out his professional duties
as a journalist is a clear breach of his right to freedom of expression,"
the President of WAN, Bengt Braun, wrote in a letter to the Turkish Prime
Minister.
Braun called on Yilmaz to respect international conventions on freedom
of expression.
"We strongly urge you to examine all possible legal options to rescind
the court ruling against Mr Duran, and call on your government to implement
meaningful legal reforms to end the prosecution and imprisonment of journalists
in Turkey," said Braun, whose Paris-based association represents 15,000
newspapers in 90 countries.
Duran, who has worked for several Turkish newspapers as well as the
British Broadcasting Corporation, Agence France-Presse and the French daily
"Libération", began serving a 10-month jail sentence on 16 June
for violating Article 7 of Turkey's Anti-Terror Law.
The conviction stems from an interview with Abdullah Ocalan, leader
of the outlawed PKK, which appeared in the now-defunct daily "Ozgur Gundem"
on 12 April 1994. His sentence was confirmed in October 1997, but he received
a postponement of sentence that was activated on 16 June.
WAN sent a delegation to Turkey in 1997 to meet with top officials
and urged them to change laws that restrict freedom of the press, but the
government continues to claim it has the right to restrict reporting on
the Kurdish independence movement.
For further information, contact Peter Whitehead at WAN, 25, rue
d'Astorg, 75008 Paris, France, tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00, fax: +33 1 47 42
49 48, email: pwhitehead@wan.asso.fr, http://www.fiej.org/.
The information contained in this press release is the sole responsibility
of WAN. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit
WAN.
TURKISH TROOPS
ENTRENCHED IN NORTHERN IRAQ
Reuters, 27 June 1998
A year after launching a major offensive into northern Iraq, Turkish
troops have dug in for what appears to be a long-term stay in the mountainous
Kurdish enclave. Witnesses saw 35 Turkish armoured vehicles and troop carriers
crossing the border back into Turkey and another dozen military vehicles
including empty ank transporters entering the remote region in little more
than an hour on Saturday.
Local Kurds said Turkish troops had set up bases in the Iraqi towns
of Betufa, Bekova and Kani Massi close to the border with Turkey in a campaign
against Turkish Kurd guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
They also confirmed the presence of the PKK guerrillas in the main
area of operations in the mountains around Zakho.
"This is a really bad area, there are lots of PKK here," said one
man who declined to be named.
Turkey's Iraqi Kurd allies in the border region, the Kurdistan Democratic
Party (KDP), have blocked public access around Turkish camps and were helping
to fight the PKK, locals said.
At the moment it is Kurds who are losing because Kurds are fighting
Kurds,'' said Jabbar Farman military commander of the KDP's rival Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
More than 28,000 people have been killed in the conflict between
Turkish forces and the PKK who are fighting for self-rule in the mainly
Kurdish southeast of Turkey.
The sight of Turkish troops in the enclave aroused little surprise
from local people as the heavy vehicles bristling with weaponry rumbled
by.
But privately many are bitter about the presence of foreign troops
in the Kurdish enclave which slipped from Baghdad's control after the 1991
Gulf War.
"We should not be fighting, the Turkish Kurds are our brothers,"
said another man who did not want to be identified.
NATO member Turkey has regularly intervened in northern Iraq in pursuit
of PKK guerrillas since launching a major offensive involving around 30,000
troops against the rebels in May, 1996.
Observers say the success of the Turkish army's scorched earth policies
against the PKK inside Turkey has led them to carry the conflict into neighbouring
Iraq in an attempt to finish off the rebels, who use the area to mount
raids into Turkey.
"There are more PKK inside Iraq than in Turkey now," said Farman.
"This has been a very successful policy."
Besides the mountains around Zakho, Iraqi Kurds say the PKK guerrillas
are mainly concentrated around Haji Umran and the Qandil mountains near
Iraq's border with Iran.
Turkey has severely limited access to journalists travelling to the
enclave. The KDP, headed by Massoud Barzani, and Turkey share a lucrative
trade in Iraqi diesel that is technically in defiance of U.N. sanctions
against Iraq.
The United States has so far turned a blind eye to the trade, estimated
by Washington to be worth around $100 million a year.
SUMMER HEAT ON HUMAN
RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Turkish Probe, June 28, 1998
Turkey is entering yet another summer with a heavy agenda of human
rights issues and alleged human rights violations to consider. On one hand
are all those who say that they have been victimized, the Human Rights
Association (IHD), which has recorded these claims in its reports, and
the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (THIV). On the other hand is Parliament's
Human Rights Committee. Tackling the same issues, both assess the situation
differently.
The most significant event recently has been the "Mystery Murders
and the Right to Live Symposium" held in Ankara by the IHD. Perhaps the
most striking development was the reply the Prime Ministry gave to Parliament's
Human Rights Committee after it sought information on the West Working
Group (BCG) -- the unit that was reportedly created by the General Staff
to monitor anti-secularist activities throughout the country -- to which
many state officials had referred during the months preceding the Constitutional
Court decision to close down the Welfare Party (RP) for anti-secularist
activities. In its reply to the Committee, the Prime Ministry noted that
the entity called the West Working Group had never been established.
However, according to a document that the TDN obtained exclusively,
Defense Minister Ismet Sezgin confirmed the existence of the group. According
to this document, in reply to a written question that the Committee had
asked Sezgin about the BCG, Sezgin said that the BCG had been established
by order of the General Staff within the Prime Ministry. Thus, the Prime
Ministry had given a reply that contradicted that of the defense minister.
This situation has drawn adverse reaction from Virtue Party (FP) deputies
who are sensitive about this issue. Pointing out that the Prime Ministry
had tried to mislead them, FP deputies said they would not remain silent
on this issue. Believing that the BCG had been established to follow fundamentalists'
activities of the FP from its grassroots to its top administration, FP
executives said that the latest correspondence had made more dense the
curtain of mystery surrounding the BCG.
The Parliamentary Human Rights Commission had the parliamentary general
assembly debate the migration report it had prepared after six months of
work. The report, which has had repercussions at international platforms,
drew a strong reaction from the True Path Party (DYP), the Democrat Turkey
Party (DTP) and the Motherland Party (ANAP) during its debate in Parliament.
The interior minister said that the report had been prepared deliberately
and with bad intent. Following this development, the same Commission conducted
research on the prisons; the report providing the outcome of this research
has yet to be written.
However, certain sections of this report that were leaked to the
press have ignited significant controversy. The members of the Commission,
who met with the detainees of the clandestine organization publicly known
as the Yuksekova gang, have heard some very striking claims. According
to these allegations, an informer identified as Kahraman Bilgic and a member
of a special team have stated that they had kidnapped many people, had
received extortion and ransom money from drug smugglers and mentioned certain
"mystery murders." At the time when the press covered such allegations,
the Diyarbakir State Security Court decided that the group in Yuksekova
was not a gang. With its decision, the court made the idea of the "Yuksekova
Gang" a thing of the past, which was soon to be replaced by a controversial
gang known as the "Susurluk gang." The Susurluk gang gained its fame with
the statements by its most mysterious member, "Yesil." In striking statements
to a magazine, Yesil has said that the drug certificates allegedly belonging
to Tansu Ciller and Mehmet Agar were in his possession.
IHD's declaration
While these developments take place, the IHD has conducted its most
important event in recent years. The IHD staged a symposium entitled, "Mystery
Murders and the Right to Live." Hundreds of people who have been indirectly
affected by the mystery murders and representatives of democratic organizations
attended the symposium. The variety of points of view of those who attended
the symposium is apparent in the declaration that follows:
1- We urge the legislative, executive and the judiciary to work to
enlighten the mystery murders;
2- The requirements of the reports prepared by the Parliamentary
Commission set up to enlighten the mystery murders, the commission set
up to probe the Ugur Mumcu murder and the Susurluk report must be fulfilled;
3- A permanent commission consisting of a specialist organization
will be established to study the issue from the point of view of national
and international law;
4- All the lawsuits filed relating to the mystery murders till now
must be brought together at one center and the dossiers reexamined;
5- The security of witnesses who are to shed light on the mystery
murders must be ensured and obstacles such as the "statute of limitations,"
aimed at hampering the cases, must be removed;
6- State officials guilty of irresponsibility and negligence during
the time when mystery murders had been committed when they were in office
or who are still in office must be dismissed;
7- The right to live theme must be guaranteed.
Violations have increased in summer
Another important organization, known for its work in the field of
human rights, is the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV). This foundation
has established the Treatment and Rehabilitation Center and a branch of
the TIHV in Diyarbakir. This important development, which took place following
the closure of the IHD Diyarbakir branch, will help human rights activities
to increase in this area. Meanwhile, the IHD has issued a report regarding
the alleged human rights violations in May. According to this report, 21
mystery murders have allegedly been committed in Turkey within the past
month. The IHD report claims that many human rights violations still continue.
The IHD report makes the following claims for May: 21 mysterious
murders were committed; 10 deaths occurred due to execution without trial
or by torture; five people were reported missing; 189 people died in clashes;
six people were killed and 11 others were wounded during actions carried
out against civilians; 28 allegations of torture were recorded; 3,248 people
were taken into custody; 185 people were arrested; 31 inmates were wounded
during attacks in prisons; 1,115 people were dismissed from their jobs;
seven mass organizations, political entities and publications were closed
down; nine mass organizations, political entities and publications suffered
attacks; 22 publications were collected and banned; and 133 criminals of
conscience were in jail.
LE
MGK A DECIDE LA PROLONGATION DE L'ETAT D'URGENCE AU SUD-EST
Réuni lundi 29 juin 1988, le Conseil national de Sécurité
turc (MGK) regroupant les principaux dirigeants civils et militaires et
véritable exécutif du pays a décidé de prolonger
pour quatre mois l'état d'urgence en vigueur dans les provinces
de Diyarbakir, Hakkari, Siirt, Sirnak, Tunceli et Van et cela à
partir du 30 juillet 1998.
Les décisions du MGK ont la nature juridique d'un avis et
doivent être ratifiées par le parlement.
Cependant l'Assemblée turque n'a jamais refusé depuis
1987, date de mise en vigueur de cet régime, aucune décision
de cette sorte.
TURKEY
DEVISES DEFENSE INDUSTRY STRATEGY DOCUMENT
Turkish Daily News, June 29, 1998
The Turkish government has endorsed its first official defense industry
strategy document. The strategy will guide the coordination of the country's
$150 billion modernization program over the next 30 years, with a view
to boosting the indigenous defense industry.
Under the document, prepared jointly by the military and the government
and published in the Official Gazette last week, Turkey will introduce
incentives for the local industry to boost its chances of competing with
foreign companies in any defense-related tenders of NATO member countries.
A major arms buyer itself, Turkey has begun to develop its own defense
industry in recent years: co-manufacturing fighter and light transport
aircraft, making locally-designed armored vehicles and initiating the joint
production of helicopters and tanks with foreign partners.
Currently, Turkey meets nearly 80 percent of its arms-related requirements
from foreign suppliers while the remaining 20 percent comes from domestic
manufacturers.
"In tenders involving both Turkish and foreign firms, the Turkish
companies will be allowed to offer prices as much as 15 percent higher
than those given by the foreign contenders," said one article of the document.
Turkish companies are described in the document as those which have their
base in the country and operate under Turkish commercial law, or joint
ventures with up to 50 percent foreign capital that meet certain criteria.
"This article in the strategy document will encourage the creation
of joint ventures with considerable Turkish shares -- that would contribute
to our defense industry," one government official said.
Under the document, Turkey has classified defense industry deals
into three categories: fully national systems, subcritical systems and
others. "The objective in the medium term is local production of all fully
national systems," the document said. Such items mainly include software
for electronic warfare systems that are based on a national definition
of hostile and friendly forces.
The Cabinet has also decided to create a new government fund to provide
loans to prospective arms buyers as a way to help boost Turkish defense
exports. Turkish companies exported defense equipment worth only around
$200 million in 1996. One Defense Ministry official said that last year's
total export figure was some 10 percent higher, but did not give other
details.
"Top exporters of military equipment, including the United States,
Britain, France and Israel, extend considerable loans to support their
arms sales, and our aim is to set up a similar mechanism, although it would
be more modest in size," the official said.
"It could be created either within the SSM (the Undersecretariat
for Defense Industries) or separately. This will be decided on later,"
the official said. The SSM, or Savunma Sanayii Mustesarligi to give its
full Turkish name, is Turkey's main government agency involved in coordinating
large-scale defense industry and procurement deals.
Turkey's top arms exporters include Askeri Elektronik Sanayii, or
Aselsan, which produce a wide range of electronic and optical equipment,
and Makina ve Kimya Endustrisi Kurumu, or MKEK, which manufacture artillery,
small arms and munitions.
Others include Tusas Aerospace Industries, or TAI, which export parts
for F-16 fighters, Turkish Engine Industries, or TEI, which sells engine
parts, Roketsan, which exports Stinger missile parts and Otokar, a private
company that sells armored wheeled vehicles.
"Our main export targets are Middle Eastern and Asian countries and
some former Soviet republics. We hope Southeast Asia soon recovers from
its economic crisis, as we are also hoping to export to that region," the
official said.
SEMDIN
SAKIK'S TRIAL BEGAN AT STATE SECURITY COURT
Reuters, 30 June 1998
A Turkish court on Tuesday began the trial of one of the country's
most feared Kurdish guerrillas, who faces the death sentence on charges
of murder and treason.
Semdin Sakik, the former number two in the Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK), appeared in the state security court in the southeastern capital
of Diyarbakir under tight security.
Turkish special forces apprehended Sakik, code-named "Fingerless
Zeki" after loosing a thumb in combat, in the Kurdish enclave of northern
Iraq in April.
"It is claimed that you have taken part in the killing of 113 civilians
and 125 security officials," prosecutor Yavuz Sen told Sakik, who remained
calm and quiet.
Plain-clothed police carried out strict identity checks before the
hearing. Other security forces were position in around the court building.
The prosecutor demanded the death sentence for the rebel chief, charging
him of "carrying out activities aimed at dividing a part of the territory
from the state's rule."
Turkish courts still impose capital punishment sentences but no executions
have taken place since the early 1980s.
Sakik defected to an Iraqi Kurd group this year after splitting with
PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in a row over tactics.
Judge Fahrettin Gultekin adjourned the trial until September 3 after
Sakik's lawyers asked for extra time to prepare their defence. No formal
plea is needed under Turkish law.
The rebel chief's brother Arif Sakik, another PKK guerrilla seized
along with him, faced similar charges.
ISLAMIST
PARTY APPEARS TO BE MOST POPULAR IN MILITARY POLL
TDN, 30 Juin 1998
Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Cevik Bir said that according
to an opinion poll conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), the Islamist
Virtue Party (FP) continues to be the most popular party in Turkey.
Gen. Bir made the announcement at a reception at an officers' club
in Ankara after the inauguration of the Partnership for Peace (PFP) training
center. Officers from PFP member countries will be trained at the new facility.
Bir confirmed a question by one of the reporters, saying that the
Turkish Armed Forces conducted a public survey among 2,500 people in early
May, the results of which were discussed in a National Security Council
meeting (MGK) on May 29.
He also said that a parliamentary delegation that recently visited
him was made aware of the poll results.
The Turkish Daily News obtained the poll results:
-
Virtue Party (FP 17.4 %
-
Motherland Party (ANAP) 16.7 %
-
True Path Party (DYP) 14.9 %
-
Democratic Left Party (DSP) 10.3 %
-
Republican People's Party (CHP) 9.2 %
-
Democratic Turkey Party (DTP) 7.6 %
-
People's Democracy Party (HADEP) 5.8 %
-
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) 5.3 %
-
Grand Unity Party (BBP) 3.7 %
-
Others 9.1 %
-
TOTAL 100.0 %
The poll results show that the FP maintains the highest percentage,
followed by ANAP with a slim difference. Virtue is the successor of the
Welfare Party (RP), which was closed down by the Constitutional Court in
January for being the "focal point" of anti-secularist activities.
The results also show that the DYP ranks as the third party with
nearly 15 percent and the DSP with 10.3 percent. With the current
10 percent election threshold, these four parties are the only ones that
would pass the barrier and obtain seats in Parliament.
The CHP, which supports the current minority coalition government
from outside, would fail to pass the threshold, according to the latest
survey.
The poll shows a similarity in the support for HADEP, which is known
to be supported mainly by people of Kurdish origin, and that for the ultranationalist
MHP. HADEP's vote stands at 5.8 percent and MHP's at 5.3 percent.
Another surprising result shows the DTP, which is mainly made up
of former DYP members, increasing its standing to 7.6 percent.
However, neither the variables used in the survey nor the make-up
of the respondents was clarified.
DESINFORMATION
À LA TURQUE SUR LA QUESTION DE GENOCIDE
CILDEKT, le 3 juillet 1998
Le quotidien turc à grand tirage Türkiye donne dans ses
éditions du 20 juin, un nouvel exemple du bourrage de crâne
que subit le public turc sur "les questions sensibles".
Le 17 avril une conférence publique sur le thème "1915-1998:
de la fracture au dialogue" était organisée dans la salle
parisienne de FIAP par le centre de recherche sur la diaspora arménienne
(CRDA) avec le concours de l'Institut kurde de Paris, de l'INALCO, et de
l'UMR Monde iranienne-CNRS, Sorbonne Nouvelle.
Pour la première fois une écrivaine turque, Yelda,
auteur de deux livres sur des questions de minorités, et deux intellectuels
turcs, Ragip Zarakoglu et Taner Akçam, prenaient part à un
débat public sur "la question arménienne" aux côtés
du président de l'Institut kurde et du directeur du CRDA, Jean-Claude
Kebabdjian.
Cet événement fut à l'époque totalement
ignoré par les média turcs. Mais après l'adoption
par l'Assemblée nationale française sur la reconnaissance
du génocide des Arméniens en 1915 et le climat anti-français
qui s'est développé à la suite dans les média
turcs, ceux-ci cherchent partout des coupables et des "traîtres".
Le quotidien Türkiye "révèle" ainsi à la
une à ses lecteurs "ce complot arméno-PKK". Extraits: "Il
se révèle que des partis ayant voté en faveur de la
proposition de loi sur le prétendu 'génocide arménien'
adopté par le Parlement français ont rencontré secrètement
les Arméniens. Il a été établi que des responsables
du Parti socialiste, des Verts et des Communistes qui ont voté pour
la proposition de loi se sont, avant le vote, réunis en avril dernier
avec une dirigeante de l'Association des droits de l'homme de Turquie,
des leaders de la communauté arménienne et des dirigeants
de l'Institut kurde.
"Les images de cette réunion à laquelle seules les
caméras de la télévision d'État arménienne
avaient été admises ont été diffusées
en Arménie. Il a été établi que cette réunion
s'est tenue dans la salle de conférence Jean Monnet de l'Association
de soutien aux minorités arméniennes (FIAP) sous la présidence
de Jean-Claude Kebabdjian, Arménien ultra-raciste, ennemi des Turcs".
Après avoir donné la liste des participants d'après
la revue "confidentielle" Les Nouvelles d'Arménie, Türkiye
montre du doigt les "traîtres turcs" qui ont trempé dans ce
complot anti-turc, en particulier Yelda, présentée comme
"dirigeante de l'Association des droits de l'homme de Turquie", cible de
choix des autorités turques.
Selon le quotidien, Yelda aurait tenu "des propos haineux contre
la Turquie", reconnu "le génocide des Arméniens par les Turcs"
avant de conclure "en tout cas, Nous, Turcs, n'avons pas pu apporter une
réponse propre à notre histoire souillée. L'Arménie
a des droits à faire valoir sur le territoire de la Turquie".
Par un montage sans vergogne, qui n'est pas sans rappeler la campagne
de presse menée il y a quelques semaines contre Akin Birdal, accusé
de "trahison", le quotidien Türkiye désigne ainsi une nouvelle
cible aux escadrons turcs de la mort.
Mme. Yelda a saisi le conseil supérieur de la presse turque
et diffusé un communiqué où elle exprime de
vives craintes pour sa vie. Tout comme Akin Birdal avant l'attentat perpétré
contre lui, Yelda vient de se voir refuser une autorisation de sortie du
territoire.
À défaut du convaincre l'opinion publique internationale,
les dirigeants turcs s'acharnent sur les démocrates turcs qui dénoncent
les violations des droits de l'homme dans leur pays et font à cette
fin usage de tous ces procédés de désinformation et
de manipulation.
LES ISLAMISTES
A NOUVEAU SUR LES BANCS DES ACCUSES
CILDEKT, le 3 juillet 1998
M. Necmettin Erbakan, ancien Premier ministre islamiste, accusé
d'avoir "insulté" la Cour Constitutionnelle dans une intervention
devant le comité directeur de son parti à la suite de la
dissolution de son parti du bien-être (RP) était traduit lundi
29 juin 1998 devant la Cour de Sûreté d'État d'Ankara.
M. Erbakan avait accusé la Cour constitutionnelle d'"avoir
commis un meurtre judiciaire" en interdisant le Refah pour "activités
contre le régime laïc" et que le verdict prononcé par
la Cour "n'avait aucune importance".
Interdit de politique pour cinq ans, M. Erbakan n'a pas assisté
à l'audience qui a décidé de renvoyer le procès
au 14 septembre 1998. Il est passible d'une peine de prison allant jusqu'à
un an et demi.
Par ailleurs, Erol Yarar, président de l'Association des Hommes
d'Affaires indépendants (MUSIAD-pro-islamiste), accusé d'avoir
"incité à la haine religieuse" au sein de la population turque
était également, lundi 29 juin 1998, devant les juges de
la Cour de sûreté de l'État d'Ankara.
Farouchement opposée à la réforme de l'enseignement
adoptée par le parlement en août 1997, réforme décidant
la fermeture des sections secondaires de centaines d'écoles religieuses
d'État dans les deux ans, la MUSIAD, forte de 2000 membres, est
un ardent partisan de Necmettin Erbakan. Il est reproché
à M. Yarar d'avoir déclaré en octobre 1997, lors d'une
réunion de la MUSIAD: "S'ils mettent en application cette réforme
de l'enseignement, ils perdront leur tête".
M. Yarar est passible d'une peine allant jusqu'à trois ans
de prison, mais en réalité, dans le cadre du procès
de son président le procureur de la Cour réclame la dissolution
pure et simple de l'association, accusée d'activités anti-laïques.
Le général Çevik Bir, numéro deux de
l'état-major de l'Armée turque, a, mardi 30 juin 1998, déclaré
au club des officiers d'Ankara que le fondamentalisme restait le danger
numéro un en Turquie et a appelé le Parlement à agir
rapidement pour faire passer les lois anti-islamistes demandées
par l'armée.
EN
BREF:IN BRIEF (TIHV - La Fondation des Droits de l'Homme de Turquie)
1/6/1998:
ï Un chroniqueur du journal Yeni Safak, Ahmet Tasgetiren, est condamné
à une amende de 16 millions de LT pour avoir insulté le procureur
de la Cour de Cassation.
ï Un étudiant de la Faculté des médias de l'Université
d'Istanbul est agressé par des Loups Gris.
ï A Mugla, six militants écologistes sont arrêtés lors
qu'ils protestent contre la remise en fonction d'une centrale thérmique.
ï La correspondante du journal Dayanisma, Zulfinaz Mert est arrêtée
à Istanbul.
2/6/1998:
ï 108 employés publics sont inculpés par le procureur d'Izmir
pour avoir organisé un arrêt de travail. Ils risquent des
peines de prison allant jusque 3 ans.
ï Un correspondant du journal Gundem, Faruk Aktas, est arrêté
à Istanbul.
3/6/1998:
ï Le procureur d'Ankara ouvre un procès contre 30 manifestants du
1er Mai avec la demande des peines de prison allant jusque 22 ans et 6
mois.
ï La correspondante du journal Dayanisma, Songul Baysungur, est mise en
état d'arrestation à Istanbul.
4/6/1998:
ï Le journaliste Haluk Gerger est traduit devant un tribunal criminel d'Ankara
pour un discours qu'il avait prononcé en 1997 en Australie. Actuellement
en prison pour une autre condamnation, Gerger risque, dans ce procès,
une nouvelle peine de prison pour avoir consulté le gouvernement.
ï Le quotidien Ulkede Gündem est confisqué à l'imprimérie
avant sa distribution par l'ordre du procureur de la CSE d'Istanbul pour
un article concernant un massacre perpetré par les forces de sécurité
à la frontière turco-irakienne.
ï A Istanbul, deux frères, Atalay et Erdogan Kocak sont attaqués
par un groupe de Loups Gris.
6/6/1998:
ï L'avocate Nurcan Gülabi est inculpée par le procureur de
la CSE d'Ankara sous l'accusation d'établir la liaison entre le
PKK et ses clients détenus dans la prison de Bartin.
8/6/1998:
ï Les deniers numéros des journaux Proleter Halkin Birligi, Odak,
Uzun Yürüyüs et Yeni Dünya Icin Cagri sont confisqués
par l'ordre de la CSE d'Istanbul.
ï In Birecik, un groupe de Loups Gris attaquent deux étudiants d'une
école supérieure, Demo Derin et Turabi Temur.
9/6/4998:
ï Le quotidien Ulkede Gündem est publié avec plusieurs colonnes
vides en raison de la censure imposée par le procureur de la CSE.
10/6/1998:
ï Le quotidien Ulkede Gündem annonce que le correspondant du quotidien
Turkmen à Osmaniye, Dogan Tolu, a qubi la torture après son
arrestation pendant les funérailles d'une militante de DHKP-C.
ï Un groupe de Loups gris attaque et blesse Ozgur Baykal à Istanbul.
ï Le quotidien Ulkede Gündem est publié avec une colonne vide
en raison de la censure imposée par le procureur de la CSE sur un
article de Can Yüce.
ï La section IHD à Kirsehir est fermée pour trois mois par
le gouverneur de la province à cause des critiques de cette action
à son égard.
11/6/1998:
ï Le procès collectif de 244 personnes est ouvert devant un
tribunal pénal d'Istanbul pour la célébration non-autorisée
du 1er Mai.
ï Une jeune femme allemande, Eva Junke, est jugée devant la CSE
de Van sous l'accusation de faire partie de la guérilla du PKK.
Elle avait été arrêtée pendant l'opération
militaire de l'Armée turque en Irak. L'accusée déclare
avoir été torturée et violée pendant sa garde
à vue.
ï En protestation contre l'insuffisance de l'augmentation de leurs salaires,
des centaines de milliers d'employés du secteur public organisent
des manifestation à traver le pays. Plusieurs dirigeants et militants
syndicaux sont arrêtés par la police.
12/6/1998:
ï Un éditorialiste du journal Özgür Halk, Özgür
Tüzün, est condamné par une tribunal pénal d'Istanbul
à une peine de prison de 4 ans et demi pour avoir insulté
Atatürk dans un de ses articles. Actuellement, Tüzün se
trouve dans la prison de Bartin pour une autre condamnation.
ï L'éditeur du journal Bizim Sivas, Muhsin Kaya, est condamné
par un tribunal pénal de Sivas à une amende de 6,3 millions
de LT pour avoir insulté Atatürk.
ï Le musée de délits d'opinion est inauguré à
Izmir en présence du co-président de la Commission parlementaire
mixte Turquie-Union Européenne, M. Piet Dankert ainsi que plusieurs
personnalités appartenant aux institutions des droits de l'homme.
(Voir un articlez sur le musée plus haut)
13/6/1998:
ï Après Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir et Adana, la Fondation des droits
de l'homme de Turquie (TIHV) ouvre son cinquième centre de traitement
et de réhabilitation pour les vic times de la torture à D
iyarbakir.
ï Une manifestation pour la paix, organisée à Diyarbakir
par le parti pour la démocratie et la paix (DBP) est interdite par
le gouverneur de la région d'état d'urgence.
14/6/1998:
ï L'association des étudiants d'université à Mersin
est fermée par la décision du gouverneur sous accusation
de mener des activités illégales.
15/6/1998:
ï Le journal Selam rapporte que cinq enfants âgés de 6 à
8 ans ont été torturés et harcelés sexuellement
au poste de police de Beyoglu à Istanbul pendant leur garde à
vue.
ï Cinq avocats, Gulizar Tuncer, Safak Yildiz, Kamber Soypak, Umit Yavuz
et Filiz Kostak, sont traduits devant une cour criminelle d'Istanbul
pour leur discussion avec les gendarmes à cause de la restriction
du droit à voir les clients à la prison de Umraniye.
ï L'ingénieur Nizamettin Karakirik est arrêté à
Karabuk pour avoir critiqué le préfêt du district dans
un article qui'il a écrit au journal local Yenice Gazetesi.
ï Le gouverneur de Diyarbakir interdit la distribution et la ventes des
albums de musique des groupes Kutup Yildizi, Gunese Turku, Koma Rewsen
et Munzur, et des musiciens Mehmet Durna, Ferhat Tunc, Sevinc Eratalay
et Sivan Perver.
ï A Borcka, la représentation par le groupe Genc Oyuncular Sahnesi
d'une pièce théâtrale intitulée On cherche un
bon citoyen , écrite par Ataol Behramoglu, est interdite par le
gouverneur.
16/6/1998
ï Le quotidien Gündem est publié avec une colonne vide à
cause de la censure imposée sur un article par le procureur de la
CSE d'Istanbul.
16/6/1998:
ï Le quotidien Gündem est publié avec une colonne vide à
cause de la censure imposée sur un article par le procureur de la
CSE d'Istanbul.
ï Un ancien dirigeant du HADEP, Cemil Elden, est incarcéré
pour purger une peine de prison d'un an prononcé par la CSE d'Ankara
pour un discours en faveur de la paix. Plusieurs autres personnes condamnées
dans le même procès attendent leur arrestation pour purger
des peines de prison jusque deux ans.
ï Un ancien correspondent du journal Ozgur Ulke, Oguzhan Ogruk déclare
avoir été torturé à Izmir par des inconnus
se présentant comme membres de la TIT (Brigade de la vengeance turque)
qui l'a kidnappée la nuit du 13 juin. Ogruk est également
un ancien employé de la section d'Izmir de l'IHD.
ï A Aliaga (Izmir), l'ouvrier Elham Coban déclare avoir été
torturé au poste de police le 8 juin pour obtenir des renseignement
sur le syndicat des ouvrier portuaires (Limter-Is).
17/6/1998:
ï Le nouveau bureau de Diyarbakir de la Fondation des Droits de l'Homme
de Turquie (TIHV), ouvert le 13 juin, est fermé par l'ordre du gouverneur
pour ne pas avoir accompli toutes les formalités l'égales
liées à l'ouverture.
ï La prisonnière politique kurde, Sema Yüce, qui s'est immolée
le 21 mars en protestation contre l'oppression du peuple kurde meurt à
un hôpital d'Istanbul.
ï Le Conseil supérieur de la Radio-TV (RTUK) décide
de fermer les stations de radio privées Metro FM (Diyarbakir et
Karacadag FM (Urfa) pendant un an pour propagande sépartatiste.
Le RTUK ferme également Arkadas Radyo (Adana) et Demokrat Radyo
(Izmir) pour six mois.
ï La représentation de la pièce théâtrale Un
beau roi laid, ayant pour objet la vie tourmentée du cinéaste
Yilmaz Guney, est interdite à Aksaray par le gouverneur local. Cette
pièce a déjà été interdite dans les
provinces de Diyarbakir, Antep, Batman, Mus, Bingol, Tunceli, Nigde, Urfa,
Kirsehir, Afyon et Bilecik. Selon le quotidien Cumhuriyet, la représentation
de la pièce intitulée La mort accidentelle d'un anarchiste
(par le Théâtre Ekin d'Ankara) a été interdite
dans dix provinces, celle des Histoires du pays (par le même théâtre)
interdite dans 47 provinces et district, et celle de Résurrection
(par le Théâtre Birikim de Kocaeli) interdite dans neuf
provinces.
18/6/1998:
ï Le quotidien Gündem est publié avec des colonnes vides à
cause de la censure effectuée par la CSE d'Istanbul sur l'information
relative au décès de la prisonnière kurde Yüce.
ï La grève de la faim entamée par neuf prisonniers politiques
dans la prison de type E à Cankiri entre dans son 34e jour.
ï Le correspondent du périodique Mucadelede Memur Gercegi, Cayan
Güner est arrêté avec sa mère à la suite
d'une perquisition chez lui.
ï Un prisonnier politique de 26 ans, Hakan Altinkaya, meurt dans des circonstances
douteuses. Alors que les autorités pénitentiaires affirment
que la morte soit due à une crise cardiaque, les parants d'Altinkaya
attribue la mort aux mauvais traitements.
ï L'ancien employé de l'IHD, Oguzhan Ogruk, déclare avoir
été kidnappé et menacé de mort pour une deuxième
fois à Izmir par les commandos de la TIT. Il avait déjà
été kidnappé et torturé le 16 juin par le même
groupe extrémiste.
19/6/1998:
ï Le quotidien Gündem est encore une nouvelle fois publié avec
une colonne vide suite à la censure appliquée par la CSE
d'Istanbul sur un article relatif à une initiative pour unifier
les forces de gauche dans des comités communs.
ï Un des administrateurs de la TIHV, Husnu Ondul, est détenu à
Ankara lors qu'il rend à la police pour une enquête judiciaire.
Il est plus tard mis en liberté après avoir constaté
qu'il avait déjà été acquitté de l'accusation
en question.
ï Le festival du travail au GAP (Projet d'Anatolie sud-est), organisé
à Urfa par le Parti du Travail (EMEP) est interdit par la police.
ï A Duzce, le présisdent provincial du parti pour la liberté
et la solidarité (ODP), Huseyin Saribas est condamné par
un tribunal pénal à une peine de prison de 18 mois et à
une amende de 1 million 290 mille de LT.
20/6/1998:
ï La 15e édition du livre du professeur Ilhan Arsel, intitulé
"La Chari'a et la Femme", est confisqué par la décision d'un
tribunal pénal d'Istanbul qui le considère une insulte à
l'Islam.
21/6/1998:
ï Le bureau local du quotidien Gündem à Adana est endommagé
à une attaque à la bombe par des inconnus. Le même
jour, le dernier numéro du journal est publié avec des colonnes
vides à cause de la censure par la CSE d'Istanbul.
ï La CSE d'Adana condamne trois membres du PKK à la peine capitale
et deux autres accusés à la prison à vie.
ï Un dirigeant local du parti pour la Démocratie et la Paix (DBP)
est arrêté à Istanbul.
22/6/1998:
ï Le procès en vue de fermer la section provinciale de l'Association
des Droits de l'Homme (IHD) à Izmir commence à un tribunal
pénal de cette ville.
ï Le président provincial de HADEP à Ankara, Kemal Bulbul
est arrêté par la police à cause d'une discours qu'il
avait prononcé le 8 mars à l'occasion de la journée
mondiale des femmes. Le même jours, cinq dirigeants locaux
de HADEP sont arrêtés à Denizli.
24/6/1998:
ï Une femme de 26 ans, S.E., affirme qu'elle avait été arrêtée
trois fois en 1993-94 de façon tout à fait arbitraire et
soumise à la torture sexuelle. Elle affirme également que
son père était tombé victime d'un meurtre suspect
à la même période. Toujours sous le choc des viols
successifs des tortionnaires, S.E. demande à la TIHV un traitement
au centre de réhabilitation de l'association.
ï A Istanbul, la police perquisitionne la section Bagcilar du HADEP et
arrête 24 personnes y compris le président local Mehmet Goksungur.
ï Lors que la grève de la faim se poursuit dans la prison d'Elazig,
un des grévistes, Halil Gunes est transféré à
un hôpital à Ankara à cause de la détérioration
de son état de santé. Se poursuivent également les
grèves de la faim déclenchées dans les prison de Kirklareli,
Sivas et Erzurum.
25/6/1998:
ï Un nouveau procès s'ouvre à la CSE d'Adana contre le président
de l'IHD Akin Birdal pour son discours du 1er septembre 1995 à Mersin
à l'occasion de la journée mondiale de la paix. Le tribunal
décide de faire l'interrogation d'Akin chez lui à cause de
l'impossibilité de se déplacer.
ï La CSE d'Istanbul décide d'interdire la publication du journal
Proleter Halkin Birligi pour une durée d'un mois et condamne Mme
Nuray Yazar, éditrice responsable, du journal à une amende
à cause de certains articles qu'elle avait publiés.
ï L'éditrice des périodiques Odak et Genc Isci, Selma Isikgun,
est arrêtée par des policiers suite à une perquisition
chez elle.
ï Un prisonnier politique proche du PKK, Mehmet Guzel, s'est immolé
à la prison de Kirklareli pour protester contre son enfermement
dans une cellule .
26/6/1998:
ï La CSE d'Ankara commence à juger 38 membres du Conseil de HADEP
et fusionne ce procès avec un autre procès en cours contre
le président de HADEP Murat Bozlak et 13 autre dirigeants du parti.
Accusés de faire partie l'aile politique du PKK, tous les inculpés
risquent une peine de prison allant jusque 22 ans et demi.
ï 46 étudiants sont traduits devant une cour criminelle à
Afyon pour avoir organisé une manifestation en protestation contre
l'attentat sur Akin Birdal. Les inculpes affirment avoir été
torturés pendant leur interrogatoire à la police.
ï Trois membres du DHKP-C, Metin Dikme, Yasemin Okuyucu et Bayram Kaya,
sont condamnés par la CSE d'Istanbul à la peine capitale.
28/6/1998:
ï Le quotidien Gundem est publié avec des colonnes vides en raison
de la censure sur une déclaration du leader de PKK Ocalan.
29/6/1998:
ï Le quotidien Gundem est publié avec des colonnes vides en raison
de la censure sur les articles concernant la persécution du HADEP.
ï Le président du défunt parti du bien-être (RP), Necmettin
Erbakan, est traduit devant un tribunal pénal pour avoir insulté
la Court Constitutionnelle dans ses critiques à l'égard de
la fermeture de son parti.
ï 13 dirigeants de parti et de syndicat sont inculpés pour avoir
protesté contre la fermeture de la Radio Karacadag par le RTUK.
30/6/1998:
ï Le quotidien Gundem est publié avec des colonnes vides en raison
de la censure sur la déclaration d'Ocalan relative au tremblement
de terre à Adana et sur un article concernant les familles des victimes
tombées pour la défense des droits du peuple kurde.
`ï Le procès de Semdin Sakik, un ancien commandant de la guérilla
kurde, commence à la CSE de Diyarbakir. Accusés de plusieurs
actes de violence, Semdin Sakik et son frère Arif Sakik risquent
la peine capitale.
ï L'éditeur du quotidien Emek, Halit Keskin, et l'éditeur
responsable Ahmet Ergin sont condamnés par la CSE d'Istanbul à
une amende de 271 million de LT. Le tribunal décide également
la suspension de la publication du journal pour trois jours. Ainsi, la
durée totale de fermeture pour Emek s'élève à
47 jours.
