Droits de l'Homme / Human Rights

Torturers Will be Called to Account

The Diyarbakır Prison Commission on Facts Research and Justice, established by the 78'ers initiative, decided in a symposium to file criminal complaints against the people on duty who maltreated the prisoners during the martial law after the military coup on 12 September 1980.

The Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality organized a two-day symposium themed "Turkey faces the Truth of Diyarbakır Prison". In a declaration it was announced that the vicitims and witnessess of 12 September file a criminal complaint at the Diyarbakır Public Prosecution. Diyabakır is a Kurdish-majority city in the south-east of Turkey.

Celalettin Can, spokesman of the 78'ers Initiative, read out the declaration of the symposium. According to Can, interviews made with 461 victims within three years were recorded in 800 hours of voice records and 7,500 pages of decrypted information were evaluated. He said that an application would be made to the Diyarbakır Public Prosecutor for the prosecution of the responsible people.

According to an estimation made by Forensic Medicine Expert Prof. Şebnem Korur Fincancı and Psychotherapist Dr Murat Paker, around 5,000 people were tortured in the Diyarbakır Prison.

Miroğlu: "I am a witness and a victim"

One of the witnesses of the commission is the Kurdish politician and writer Orhan Miroğlu, who was detained in the Diyarbakır prison for six years. In an article entitled "What did you do to this people - 1" published in Taraf newspaper on Monday (27 September), he wrote: "I was talking about what happened in Diyarbakır Prison to an elderly fellow inmate. He did not believe it was real. He said, 'No, we are dead and this is hell and the guards are demons'".

Some of the testimonies written down by Miroğlu

Serdil Büyükkaya (daughter of Necmettin Büyükkaya who died as the result of torture in the Diyarbakır prison in 1984): On a visiting day they took us inside and told us to turn our heads towards the wall. [...] People with handcuffs and tied feet were made to get off a prison vehicle... They were like white slaves... I hugged my father during one visit. He whispered into my ear: 'Tell your mother, the conditions here are very bad'. My father was 41 years old. He died as a result of torture carried out by Captain Abdullah Kahraman and a military officer called Ali Osman.

Serap Mutlu Doğan (sister of Mazlum Doğan who hung herself in her cell on 21 March 1982): Mazlum had no fingers left. We do not know whether the rats ate them or whether they were burned with electricity.

Mehdiye Özhan Özbay (describing the situation in the women's ward): When it came to collective beating, 2.5-year old Reco would hug the legs of the guards to hinder them from beating his mother... [...]

Salih Sezgin: I was 17 years old when I was taken to prison. I did not know Turkish very well. I would not have believed that any state would be able to treat its citizens that badly - until I came to the Diyarbakır Prison... The cells were full of excrements; 30-40 people stayed in once cell. In winter, we were taken outside naked and they forced us to get on top of each other. There was one single reason for all the torture: We were Kurds.

This news is partly based on the www.diyarbakirzindani.com website and the article written by Orhan Miroğlu in the Taraf issue dd. 27.09.2010.

(BIA, Erol ÖNDEROĞLU, 28 September 2010)

13 Left Wing Activists Arrested Under Terrorism Charges

13 members of the Socialist Democracy Party (SDP) and the Social Freedom Platform (TÖP) were detained, among them SDP Chairman Rıdvan Turan. Sultan Seçik and Özgür Aytekin were released pending trial by the court; another two people were released by the prosecution. The detainees had been arrested last week over alleged connections to the "Revolutionary Headquarters Organization" as a result of raids carried out in Istanbul, Ankara and Bursa.

The Revolutionary Headquarters is a terrorist organization that claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on the Istanbul Provincial Building of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and  for an explosion at the Üsküdar (Istanbul) 1st Army Command in 2008.

SDP chairman Rıdvan Turan detained as well

The decision of detention was issued on Friday morning (24 September) and includes SDP Chairman Turan, TÖP spokesmen Oğuzhan Kayserilioğlu and Tuncay Yılmaz, SDP Deputy Chairs Günay Kulibay and Ecevit Piroğlu, Central Steering Board Member Ulaş Bayraktaroğlu, SDP members Özgür Cafer Kalafat and İbrahim Turgut and TÖP member Semih Aydın. The SDP condemned the detentions in a written announcement and in a press release made on Galatasaray Square (Istanbul).

Necdet Kılıç, supposed to be a close friend of former Eskişehir Chief of Police Hanefi Avcı, who recently published a book about his time on duty, is among the detainees. When he was brought to court he told the journalists: "It is all a big lie, a lie. Defamation. I will tell you the reasons".

Birdal and Tunceli form BDP condemned detentions

Deputies of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Akın Birdal and Sabahat Tuncel went to the Istanbul Courthouse in Beşiktaş on 24 September to request the release of the detainees. Birdal declared to bring the issue to Parliament in case the detainees would not be released. Tuncel condemned the operation and called it an "attack on democracy".

Tuncel said that the referendum on the constitutional reform package did not change anything in Turkey and that the coup constitution had been used by the political power and by the opposition parties. She also emphasized the need for amendments of the Anti-Terror Law.

SDP criticized samanyoluhaber news website

In an announcement issued in the evening of 23 September by the SDP, the party criticized pictures forwarded by the Istanbul police to the media when the suspects were giving their statements at the prosecution as being "complete fiction". The party also condemned the publication of the footage in the news of SamanyoluHaber.com entitled "Shocking images from the police" and the imputation of an alleged connection between party members and the bomb attack on the AKP Provincial building in 2008.

The news site of the nation-wide Zaman daily reported that "a detailed investigation confirmed that illegal activities were carried out disguised on a legal platform under the roof of the SDP". Zaman.com.tr furthermore published a list of weapons "seized".

Members of the SDP, TÖP and the Labourer Movement Platform gathered on the Barbaros Square in Istanbul and shouted slogans such as "Long live the unity of workers and the brotherhood of the people" and "Pressure will not intimidate us".

Writer Celal Beşiktepe read out a joint statement on behalf of representatives of democratic institutions together with Ali Çençi, Vice President of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions (DİSK), and Hülya Gerçek, Deputy Chair of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP). In the statement, the detentions were described as "a political complot". (BIA, Berivan TAPAN, 27 September 2010)

TAYAD Marchers Assaulted in Bolu

Members of an association marching to Ankara from Istanbul to protest prison conditions were attacked by another group near the northwestern province of Bolu on Saturday.

Members of the Prisoners' Families Solidarity Association, or TAYAD, started to march from Istanbul to Ankara on Friday to demand the release of inmates with serious illnesses and the removal of alleged isolation for political inmates.

The group of 44 people camped in their tents at an oil station on Friday night near Bolu Mountain and hit the road again on Saturday morning under police surveillance, Doğan news agency reported. The group walked towards Bolu Saturday morning and distributed printed statements to villages on their way.

A group of 50 mostly young people attacked the TAYAD members with stones and glass bottles as they neared Bolu. The assailants chanted slogans including, “Damn PKK [the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party],” and “The greatest soldier is ours.” Later, a group of artisans joined the assailant group and attacked the TAYAD marchers with tools like screwdrivers. Due to melee, the traffic on the road blocked at both sides.

Lawyer Behiç Aşçı, who had earlier embarked on a hunger strike for inmates, was in the TAYAD group, the daily Radikal reported. Aşçı alleged that police provoked locals during the whole march by saying that the group was PKK members carrying a body [of a PKK member] for a funeral. A local imam came by and told one of their friends that police had told locals they were PKK members carrying a body, Aşçı said. The group told the imam that they were TAYAD members, leading the imam to say then he should go to the coffee house and prevent the attack. The police did not disperse the assailants and allowed them to walk nearby, Aşçı said. “This was an organized attack,” he said. TAYAD members continued on to Ankara with a police escort.

The members of TAYAD had been assaulted earlier in Edirne, Trabzon and Erzincan. On April 6, 2005, TAYAD members were assaulted in Trabzon while they were distributing printed statements. Four days later, another group from TAYAD protested the detention of four TAYAD members after the attack. The group wanted to held a press meeting but they were attacked. (Daily News with wires, September 26, 2010)

5 Children Arrested for School Boycott Campaign

Ayhan Demirel, Tutak district chairman of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), and five children were arrested by the police when they were handing out leaflets related to the school boycott campaign initiated in the Kurdish-majority region of south-eastern Turkey. The boycott campaign demands the right to education in the mother tongue. It was scheduled for this week, starting on Monday (20 September) with its last day on Friday (24 September). Tutak is a town in the province of Ağri in eastern Turkey.

BDP Ağrı Provincial Chair Mustafa Akyol told bianet that Demirel was released later on together with three children.  The other two children were brought to the Children Court Prosecution in Erzurum because of their young age.

"Prosecutors try to turn the tide"

Akyol argued that Demirel and the children were arrested because they were campaigning for the one-week school boycott. He reported that he had been interrogated by the Ağrı Public Prosecution a couple of days before out of the same reason:

"I gave my statement to the prosecutor as well because I distributed leaflets. The prosecutors are trying to turn the school boycott into a certain direction. The prosecutor asked me questions such as if the leaflets were printed by the organization [i.e. the militant Kurdistan Workers Party PKK]".

"My party supports the school boycott. Our co-chairs have issued a related statement and directives were given within the party. We abide by these directives. I wrote the leaflets myself but the prosecutor tries to drag them into a different corner. We claim our right to education in our mother tongue as our democratic right".

The one-week school boycott for the right to education in the mother tongue was initiated by the Movement for Research on the Kurdish Language, Development and Education (TZP- Kurdî) and started on the first day of the new school year. (BIA,Semra PELEK, 24 September 2010)

9 Arrests in Socialist Democracy Party and Social Freedom Platform

The Socialist Democracy Party (SDP) and the Social Freedom Platform (TÖP) protested the arrest of nine people in the course of a police operation. About 50 members of the SDP and the TÖP gathered at Istanbul's Galatasaray Square at 12.30 pm on Tuesday (21 September) to issue a press release against the operation.

Also the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) criticized the operation as "illegal and anti-democratic" in a statement made to the press. The BDP called for the release of the people taken into police custody.

According to the information conveyed in the press release of SDP and TÖP, the police raided the SDP Istanbul Provincial Building and the Kadıköy (Istanbul) District Centre at 5.00 am on Monday morning (20 September). Subsequently, a police team sent from Istanbul to Bursa (south-eastern Marmara region) arrested SDP General Chair Rıdvan Turan, Social Freedom newspaper writer Oğuzhan Kayserilioğlu, SDP Deputy Chair Ecevit Piroğlu, SDP Central Steering Board Member Ulaş Bayraktaroğlu, SDP Party Assembly Member İbrahim Turgut, SDP members Sultan Seçik and Özgür Cafer Kalafat, Social Freedom newspaper writer Tuncay Yılmaz and Social Freedom subscriber Semih Aydın.

The spokespersons of the Socialist Democratic Party announced that the arrested people stand accused of "being connected to the Revolutionary Headquarters [Terrorist] Organization". Apparently, "a team equipped with ski masks and bulletproof vests created a total mess in the party building" and confiscated "the computers in the building and many graphical and written materials", said SDP Istanbul Provincial Chair Yasemin Deliduman.

Deliduman claimed that the allegations were not true: "They are trying to put our party under pressure with these actions because we supported the boycott [of the referendum on the constitutional reform package]. We were anticipating raids and arrests after the referendum but it happened sooner than we expected."

The "Revolutionary Headquarters" organization made the headlines when it assumed responsibility for the explosion of a parcel bomb in the Istanbul Provincial Building of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in December 2008, and for the explosion of a hand-made mortar at the Üsküdar (Istanbul) 1st Army Command in August earlier that year.

Orhan Yılmazkaya, alleged leader of the organization, was killed in a raid on a private home in Bostancı (Istanbul) on 27 April 2009. One policeman and a young bystander were killed in the course of the operation as well. (BIA, 22 September 2010)

Manifestation réprimée: la Turquie condamnée par la CEDH

La Cour européenne des droits de l'Homme (CEDH) a condamné mardi la Turquie pour traitement inhumain ou dégradant lors de la dispersion par la force d'une manifestation à Istanbul en 2001.

L'avocate turque Gülizar Tuncer avait été blessée à la lèvre, à la tête et au cou lors de la dispersion d'un rassemblement organisé le 22 décembre 2001. Elle soutenait avoir été traînée au sol, tirée par les cheveux, frappée et injuriée, et que les policiers étaient intervenus sans sommation.

Selon l'arrêt de la la CEDH, la Turquie a violé l'article 3 de la Convention européenne des droits de l'Homme interdisant les traitements inhumains ou dégradants car "le gouvernement turc n'a pas démontré que le recours à la force avait été rendu strictement nécessaire par le comportement de la requérante et à la dispersion du rassemblement".

"Cet usage de la force a incontestablement causé à Mme Tuncer une souffrance s'analysant en un traitement inhumain dont l'Etat porte la responsabilité", ont estimé les juges dans leur arrêt.

La Cour a également conclu que l'enquête sur cette affaire, qui avait mené à un non-lieu prononcé en faveur les policiers mis en cause, avait été "insuffisante et ineffective".

Le Parquet turc "a prononcé un non-lieu sans avoir auditionné ni la requérante ni les policiers, ou avoir visionné les enregistrements effectués par les télévisions nationales", a souligné la Cour.

Mme Tuncer, qui avait introduit sa requête devant la CEDH le 6 juin 2005, s'est vu accorder 5.000 euros pour "dommage moral". La Turquie a trois mois pour faire appel. (AFP, 21 sept 2010)

Une mine tue dix civils en Turquie, le PKK dément toute responsabilité

Dix personnes ont été tuées et trois blessées dans l'explosion d'une mine au passage d'un minibus jeudi dans le sud-est de la Turquie, un attentat dont les rebelles kurdes sont soupçonnés d'être les auteurs, a-t-on indiqué de source sécuritaire locale.

Le Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK) en lutte armée depuis 1984 contre les forces de sécurité dans cette partie de la Turquie, peuplée majoritairement de Kurdes, a néanmoins démenti toute implication.

Le minibus transportait des villageois au chef-lieu de la province de Hakkari lorsque la mine, actionnée à distance, a explosé près du village de Geçitli.

Les tués sont tous des civils. Parmi les quatre blessés figure un bébé de 15 mois.

Des images de télévision ont montré un véhicule rouge réduit à un tas de ferraille et gisant dans un petit cratère.

Le vice-gouverneur de Hakkari, Davut Sinanoglu, a révisé à neuf le nombre de morts, contre 10 initialement annoncés, expliquant qu'une victime avait été comptée deux fois en raison des graves mutilations de certains corps, a rapporté l'agence de presse Anatolie.

Le PKK s'en prend souvent à des soldats en permission voyageant dans les zones de conflit à bord d'autocars civils.

Le Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan a dénoncé à Istanbul une attaque "terroriste", allusion habituelle au PKK, ajoutant que l'Etat turc ne céderait jamais devant cette menace.

Dans un communiqué rapporté par l'agence pro-Kurde Firat, le PKK a rejeté toute responsabilité dans cette attaque, accusant certains éléments au sein de l'Etat turc de l'avoir perpétrée, sans autre précision.

Deux sacs à dos contenant deux mines antichar de fabrication russe, un détonateur et de l'explosif de type plastic ont été retrouvés près du lieu de l'explosion, ont affirmé les services du gouverneur de Hakkari dans un communiqué cité par Anatolie.

Le mouvement a aussi assuré que la trêve qu'il a déclarée en août dans ses opérations contre les forces turques restait valable jusqu'au 20 septembre, comme initialement annoncé.

Dans des propos publiés dimanche dans le quotidien espagnol El Mundo, le leader militaire du PKK Murat Karayilan, retranché avec ses hommes dans le nord de l'Irak, a assuré que le PKK "déposerait les armes" si la Turquie adoptait un modèle de régions autonomes comparable à celui de l'Espagne.  (AFP, 16 sept 2010)

Charges filed against the leaders of the 1980 Coup

A number of individuals and civil society groups filed charges on Monday against retired general and former President Kenan Evren, the general who led the Sept. 12, 1980 coup, after a constitutional amendment allowing legal action against members of the 1980 junta was voted in on Sunday.
                                                                                             
Human rights organization, IHD and MAZLUMDER, filed a complaint against Evren and his fellow generals yesterday

A pro-amendment group calling themselves the “Not Enough but Yes Platform” also gathered in front of the Beşiktaş courthouse in İstanbul yesterday. About 50 protesters who were members of the group unfurled banners reading, “Junta Evren, you will pay for Sept. 12!”

Yıldız Önen, a spokesperson for the group, in the style of past coup military press releases said: “The nation was obliged to take over the state on Sept. 12, 2010. We have come to the end of history of coups d’état of 50 years. After 30 years, we now have the opportunity to settle accounts with Sept. 12.” One hundred twenty people signed the petition, including artists, performers, journalists, writers, intellectuals and academics.

Önen said there would no more be judges standing at salute to coup instigators and coups d’état. “We are filing charges against Evren and other coup stagers of Sept. 12 who are still alive. We are filing a criminal complaint against these people today for freedom, justice and equality -- to etch in everyone’s minds that staging a coup d’état is a crime.”

Young Civilians, a pro-democracy and anti-military platform, also filed a criminal complaint yesterday. This group met in front of the Bursa courthouse. Emin İleri, who made a press statement for the group, said they had filed a criminal complaint against Evren and force commanders of the time who staged the Sept. 12 1980 coup d’état on charges of “staging a military takeover, changing the constitution, overthrowing a democratically elected government, systematic and premeditated manslaughter, premeditated injury, torture, kidnapping and sexual abuse.” In addition to Evren, the petition lists among the accused then-force commanders Nurettin Ersin, Tahsin Şahinkaya, Nejat Tümer, Sedat Celasun, Bedrettin Demirel, Ali Haydar Saltık and former Prime Minister Bülend Ulusu – who led the interim government after the coup. The group also said that all governors, bureaucrats and police chiefs in charge at the time should be taken to court, since Article 15 of the Constitution that made it illegal to seek legal remedies against the 1980 coup’s instigators has now been removed.

A group of 80 people, including politicians, journalists and academics such as BDP deputy Ufuk Uras, journalists Nihal Bengisu Karaca, Yasemin Çongar and dancer Zeynep Tanbay also pressed charges against Evren yesterday.

Another criminal complaint against Evren and the time’s force commanders was filed by the İzmir provincial administration of the Freedom and Democracy Party (EDP). EDP İzmir President Arif Ali Cangı made a statement for his group in front of the İzmir courthouse, saying: “We are doing the first thing we have to after the constitutional amendment change. We are filing various charges against the Sept. 12 coup stagers and others who were responsible for staging a military takeover, changing the constitution and overthrowing the government.” Similar to the Young Civilians, the EDP’s petition also included force commanders, Cabinet ministers, martial rule commanders, governors and police chiefs of the time. Head of the Rights and Freedoms Party (HAK-PAR) Bayram Bozyel also filed charges against Evren and other junta members yesterday at the Diyarbakır courthouse, where he made a press statement. The charges he filed included the same accusations as the other complaints.

Meanwhile, former prosecutor Sacit Kayasu, who was disbarred by the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) for trying to indict Evren, said there was no obstacle to the launching of a trial against the coup instigators. “There is no danger of the statute of limitations timing out, because no trial has taken place until now. Now all the coup’s instigators can be tried. At the time [when Kayasu was disbarred in 2000] we didn’t have the authority to press charges, even as prosecutors. We are not seeking revenge. We just want those who are guilty to be punished. Being on trial is a right. If they are innocent, they will be acquitted in court.”

Boğaziçi Lawyers Association President Bilal Çalışır also agreed. He said the statute of limitations cannot apply to a case where there was no possibility of a trial. “Since the trying never started, there is no statute of limitations. The statute of limitations starts on the day when the judicial obstacle to a trial is removed.” (Today's Zaman, 14 September 2010)

Ce dimanche, 30e anniversaire noir du coup d'Etat de 1980 et un référendum controversé

Le 12 septembre 2010 marque le 30e anniversaire noir du coup d'Etat militaire de 1980, deuxième phase d’un processus de militarisation dans tous les domaines du pays.  Il s'agit également de la date d'un référendum controversé portant sur la révision partielle de la Constitution imposée par la junte il y a 28 ans.

Avec une campagne qui traîne depuis des mois, ce référendum a entièrement polarisé la vie politique de la Turquie. Deux principaux partis nationalistes, le CHP et le MHP, font campagne contre les amendements. L'AKP et les autres partis et groupes de tendance islamiste les soutiennent. Les partis ou groupes de gauche sont divisés, les uns estimant qu'il vaut mieux des progrès minimes que rien du tout, tandis que les autres pensent qu'une réforme constitutionnelle aussi timide pourrait empêcher une véritable réforme. En réaction au refus de l'AKP de baisser le seuil national du scrutin, le parti pro-kurde BDP appelle au boycott du référendum.

Comme souligné dans les médias, la campagne de trois partis, AKP, CHP et MHP, s’enlise dans des querelles de personnes et des propos manichéens, qui sont loin d’éclairer le citoyen sur les enjeux réels du scrutin.

Une chose est évidente: quelle que soit l'issue de ce référendum, cette constitution militariste reste toujours en vigueur avec ses articles fascistes et racistes imposant la supériorité de la race turque et niant les droits fondamentaux du peuple kurde et des autres minorités nationales et religieuses.

C'est la raison pour laquelle, la Fondation Info-Türk a tenu à publier en français "Le Livre Noir de la 'démocratie' militariste en Turquie", publié déjà en anglais il y a plus de 20 ans, pour dire qu'une véritable démocratisation doit se réaliser par une suppression totale de la Constitution de 1982 et non par quelques changements cosmétiques.

Auparavant, le coup d'Etat du 12 mars 1971 avait déjà aboli ou détruit plusieurs droits et institutions démocratiques par l'application d'une répression sans précédent. Le coup d'Etat de 1980 a complété la militarisation en imposant au pays une constitution raciste et despotique après une répression encore plus sauvage.

La constitution de 1982 nie les droits fondamentaux du peuple kurde et des minorités arménienne, assyrienne et grecque de Turquie. Les articles 3, 42 et 66 prônent la supériorité et le monopole de la race et de la langue turques. L'article 4 déclare que l'article 3 ne pourra jamais être modifié et que même sa modification ne pourra jamais être proposée.

Depuis 30 ans, malgré les manifestations des forces démocratiques, les pouvoirs politiques ont toujours passé sous silence la demande de traduire devant la justice les auteurs de ce putsch criminel. Les gouvernements successifs gèrent le pays en se soumettant toujours aux menaces et chantages de la hiérarchie militaire.

Rappelons qu'en plus des coups d'Etat de 1971 et 1980, l'armée turque a effectué depuis treize ans deux autres interventions directes dans la politique, le 28 février 1997 et le 27 avril 2007. Par ailleurs, comme il est constaté à la lecture de l'acte d'accusation du procès d'Ergenekon, les officiers auraient préparé trois plans d'intervention en 2003 et 2004.

Alors que ces derniers sont actuellement jugés simplement pour tentative de coup d'Etat, les militaires qui ont réalisé les coups d'Etat de 1971 et 1980 ainsi que les interventions directes de 1997 et 2007 restent toujours immunisés contre toute poursuite judiciaire.

Bien que le changement constitutionnel lève l'article interdisant l'inculpation des auteurs du coup d'Etat de 1980, ils bénéficieront cette fois-ci du droit à la prescription selon une autre loi.

C'est la raison pour laquelle, à l'occasion du 30e anniversaire du coup d'Etat militaire de 1980, plusieurs manifestations sont organisées dans les grandes villes de Turquie.

Les organisations démocratiques réclament que les putschistes de 1980 soient jugés pour les crimes suivants commis après le coup d'Etat:

• Plus de 650.000 personnes ont été arrêtées.
• Des dizaines de milliers de personnes ont subi la torture et de mauvais traitements.
• Des fichiers ont été ouverts sur 1.683.000 personnes.
• 210.000 procès politiques ont été ouverts devant les cours militaires.
• 98.404 personnes ont été jugées en raison de leurs opinions.
• 71.500 personnes ont été jugées sous les articles 141, 142 et 163 de l'ancien code pénal
• 6.353 personnes ont été jugées sous menace de la peine capitale.
• 517 personnes ont été condamnées à la peine capitale. 50 personnes (18 de gauche, 8 de droite, 1 militant d'Asala et 23 de droit commun) ont été exécutées.
• 21.764 personnes ont été condamnées à de lourdes peines de prison.
• 171 personnes ont perdu la vie sous la torture.
• 299 personnes ont perdu la vie en prison en raison de mauvais traitements ou lors d’une grève de la faim.
• 348.000 personnes se sont vues refuser l'obtention de passeports.
• 30.000 personnes ont demandé l'asile politique à l'étranger.
• 14.000 personnes ont été déchues de leur citoyenneté.
• Les universités ont été placées sous l'autorité du Conseil Suprême de l'Education (YOK), dépendant du pouvoir politique.
• Plus de 4.000 enseignants et professeurs d'université ont été chassés de leurs postes.
• Tous les partis politiques ont été dissous.
• Les activités de 23.667 associations ont été arrêtées.
• La presse a été soumise à la censure.
• 4.509 personnes ont été déportées par les commandants de la loi martiale.
• 937 films ont été interdits.
• 2.792 auteurs, traducteurs et journalistes ont été traduits devant les tribunaux.
• Le total des peines de prison prononcées contre des journalistes et écrivains s'élevait à 3.315 ans et 3 mois.
• 31 journalistes ont été emprisonnés, des centaines de journalistes attaqués et trois abattus.
• 113.607 livres ont été brûlés.
• 39 tonnes de livres, de revues et de journaux ont été détruites par des usines de papier de l'Etat.

La dernière initiative timide lancée en 2009 par le gouvernement sous l'appellation "ouverture démocratique" était tout à fait ridicule, car elle ne prévoit rien pour une véritable démocratisation digne des normes européennes par la modification radicale de la constitution de 1982.

Comme annoncé depuis des décennies par des organisations démocratiques, une des premières choses à faire dans le processus de démilitarisation est de soumettre le chef d'Etat-major à l'autorité du ministre de la défense nationale, de raboter les pouvoirs excessifs du Conseil de Sûreté Nationale (MGK) et du Conseil Militaire Supérieur (YAS).

Les mesures suivantes doivent être prises pour éradiquer tous les vestiges de la dictature fascisante de l'Armée:

• Inculpation des responsables des coups d'Etat pour crimes contre l'humanité.
  
• Interdiction de l'ingérence des commandants actuels dans la vie politique, sociale et culturelle du pays.
• Eloignement immédiate de leurs postes des commandants qui poursuivent leurs menaces et provocations.
• Entière modification de la constitution actuelle imposée par les militaires; suppression des articles 3, 4, 42 et 66 prônant la supériorité et le monopole de la race et de la langue turques.
• Diminution du budget des dépenses militaires utilisé pour opprimer le peuple kurde et menacer les pays avoisinants.
• Modification radicale du système électoral imposant un seuil national de 10% au détriment des partis politiques représentant des opinions différentes, notamment pro kurde ou de gauche.
• Une amnistie générale doit être déclarée pour tous les prisonniers ou inculpés politiques.
• Suppression de tous les articles anti-démocratiques du code pénal turc et de la loi anti-terreur et d'autres lois répressives.
• Arrêt des poursuites judiciaires contre des journalistes, écrivains, artistes, enseignants.
• Reconnaissance sans exception et sans restriction des droits fondamentaux du peuple kurde et des minorités assyrienne, arménienne et grecque.
• Reconnaissance du génocide commis au début du siècle contre les Arméniens et les Assyriens.
• Arrêt de toute ingérence d'Ankara dans la vie politique et sociale des pays accueillant des ressortissants de Turquie.

Ceci est également un rappel aux dirigeants de l'Union européenne et des pays membres qui flirtent toujours avec le pouvoir politique en Turquie. Pour des intérêts stratégiques, économiques et commerciaux, ils n'hésitent pas à promouvoir les serviteurs du lobby turc dans les partis politiques et dans les organes législatifs et exécutifs au détriment des valeurs démocratiques acquises grâce aux luttes historiques des peuples européens. (Fondation Info-Turk, 10 septembre 2010)

Sunday, Dark Anniversary of the 1980 Coup and a Controversial Referendum

September 12, 2010 is the 30th dark anniversary of the 1980 Military Coup, second phase of a process of militarization in all fields of the country. It is also the date of a controversial referendum on a partial revision of the Constitution imposed by the military junta 28 years ago.

By a campaign carried on for months, this referendum has totally polarized the political life of Turkey. Two principal nationalist parties, CHP and MHP, lead a campaign against the amendments. The AKP and other parties and groups of Islamist tendency support the constitutional modification. The left-wing parties and groups are divided, some ones estimate that a progress, even a small one, is better than none, the others think that such a timid amendment of the Constitution will prevent a radical reform in future. In reaction against the AKP's refusal to lower the national electoral threshold, the pro-Kurdish BDP calls to boycott of the referendum.

As underlined in media, the campaign of three parties dominating the Parliament, AKP, CHP and MHP, has turned into personal quarrels with Manichean declarations that are very far from informing the citizen of the real stakes of the referendum.

One thing is evident: Whatsoever be the result of this referendum, this militarist constitution will still remain in force with its fascist and racist articles imposing the superiority of the Turkish race and denying fundamental rights of the Kurdish people and other national and religious minorities of Turkey.

This is why the Info-Türk Foundation has decided to publish in French Black Book On the Militarist "Democracy" in Turkey, already published in English more than twenty years ago for showing that a real democratization can only be made by a total suppression of the 1982 Constitution, not by a few cosmetic changes.

Previously, the coup d'Etat of March 12, 1971 had already abolished or destroyed many democratic rights and institutions by the application of a repression without precedent. The 1980 Coup completed the militarization by imposing to the country a racist and despotic constitution following a more cruel repression.

The 1982 Constitution denies the basic rights of the Kurdish people and the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek minorities of Turkey. Articles 3, 42 and 66 preach the superiority and the monopoly of the Turkish race and language. Article 4 declares that Article 3 can never be modified, even its modification can never be proposed.

For 30 years, despite all protests of democratic forces, parliamentary powers have always passed under silence the demand of judging the authors of this criminal putsch. The constitution imposed by the Junta has remained in force. Successive governments have ruled the country always under the threats and blackmails of the military hierarchy.

It should be recalled that, in addition to the military coups of 1971 and 1980, the Army has carried out two new direct interventions in political life, on February 28, 1997, and April 27, 2007. Moreover, as seen in the accusation act of the Ergenekon Proceedings, Army officers have prepared three plans of intervention in 2003 and 2004.

While these last ones are being tried simply for attempting to make a military coup, those commanders who already carried out the coups of 1971 and 1980 as well as the direct interventions of 1997 and 2007 still remain immunized against any legal proceeding.

Although the constitutional changes annuls the article banning the trial of the 1980 Coup authors, they will be this time protected according to another law that recognize the right to prescription.

For this reason, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the 1980 Coup, many demonstrations are being organized in Turkey's big cities.

Democratic organizations demand that the putschists of the 1980 Coup be tried for the following crimes that they committed:

• More than 650,000 people were taken into custody.
• Tens of thousands were subjected to torture and ill-treatment?
• Information on 1 million 683 thousand people were recorded.
• 210,000 political cases were opened in military courts.
• A total of 98,404 people were tried because of their "thoughts."
• 71,500 people stood trial under articles 141, 142 and 163 of former Penal Code.
• 6,353 people were tried under the menace of capital punishment.
• 517 people were condemned to capital punishment. 50 people (18 left-wing, 8 right-wing, 1 Asala militant and 23 common law) were hanged.
• 21,764 people were sentenced to heavy prison terms.
• 171 people were documented to have died under torture.
• 299 people lost their lives in prison due to maltreatment and hunger strikes to protest this maltreatment.
• 348.000 persons were forbidden to travel abroad.
• 30 thousand people went to exile as “asylum seekers”.
• 14,000 persons were deprived of Turkish nationality.
• Universities were placed under the discipline of the Higher Education Council (YOK), depended on political power.
• More than 4,000 teachers and university professors ousted from their posts under Law No. 1402.
• All political parties were closed down.
• The activities of 23,667 associations were halted.
• The press was censored.
• 4,509 people were sent into exile by the martial law.
• 937 movies were banned.
• 2,792 authors, translators and journalists were tried.
• Journalists were condemned to a total of 3.315 years and 3 months prison sentence.
• 31 journalists were imprisoned, hundreds of them were attacked and three were shot dead.
• 113,607 books were burned.
• 39 tons of books, magazines and newspapers were destroyed by the State's paper mills.

The recent timid initiative taken by the government under the title of "democratic opening" is completely ridiculous because it proposes nothing for a real democratization conforming to European norms by a radical modification of the 1982 Constitution.

As already announced for many years by democratic organizations, one of the first things to be made in the process of demilitarization is to subject the chief of staff to the authority of the Minister for national defense, to cut off the excessive authorities of the National Security Council (MGK) and the Higher Military Council (YAS).

The following measures should be put in practice for eradicating the remnants of the fascist dictatorship of the Army:

• The persons responsible for the coups d'Etat in the past should be brought in front of the justice for having committed crimes against humanity.
• Interdiction of the military's interference in the political, social and cultural life of the country.
• Ousting the commanders from their posts when they maintain their threats and provocations.
• Full modification of the current constitution imposed by the military; suppression of Articles 3, 4, 42 and 66 preaching the superiority and the monopoly of the Turkish race and language.
• It is also vital to decrease considerably the budget of military expenditures used to oppress the Kurdish people and to threaten the neighboring countries.
• The electoral system imposing a national threshold of 10% to the detriment of the political parties representing different opinions, in particular Kurdish and left-wing, must be radically modified.
• A general amnesty must be declared for all political prisoners or detainees.
• All undemocratic articles of the Turkish Penal Code, the Anti-Terror Law and other laws must be abolished<
• Legal proceedings against journalists, writers, artists, and teachers must be stopped.
• The fundamental rights of the Kurdish people and the Assyrian, Armenian, Greek minorities must be recognized without exception and restriction.
• The genocide committed at the beginning of the century against Armenians and Assyrians must be recognized by the Turkish State.
• Any interference of Ankara in the political and social life of the countries hosting Turkish nationals must be stopped.

This is also a call to the leaders of the European Union and of its member states who always flirt with political power in Turkey. For the strategic, economic and commercial interests, they do not hesitate to promote the servants of the Turkish Lobby in political parties and in legislative and executive bodies to the detriment of the democratic values gained thanks to historical fights of European peoples. (Info-Turk Foundation, 10 September 2010)

Akin Birdal attacked by a Turkish-Islamist nationalist

Akin Birdal, MP of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and member of the parliamentary commission for human rights, was attacked by a Turkish-Islamist nationalist while delivering a speech in a referendum boycott demonstration in Bursa.

It is reported that during his speech at referendum boycott meeting organised by the Boycott Front of the Suppressed and the Labourers in Bursa Akin Birdal was butted and punched by a nationalist Turk called Bilgehan Şimşek who jumped on the stage by shouting “I am a policeman”. While the demonstrators protected Akin Birdal the attacker is reported to be injured and hospitalized.

The facebook page of the attacker indicated that he is a sympathiser of Islamist- Nationalist the Great Union Party (BDP) and he prepared the attack months ago. On 17 August the attacker wrote on his facebook account: “an ambush, an ambush. I need to punish a traitor and give him a lesson. You will watch the details on TV”.

The governor of Bursa province Şahabettin Harput, as if he is making a confession, stated that there were 500 demonstrators at the meeting and 660 police officers were on duty and yet the attack took place. The governor also stated that according to the police records and the films the attacker was also present at the boycott demonstration of BDP in the Kurdish city of Batman.

Akin Birdal is an ethnic Turk elected to the parliament from the pro-Kurdish BDP. He was also attacked and shot several times by two attackers while he was the president of the Human Rights Association in Turkey on 12 May 1998.

121 persons arrested just before the referendum

In the last 48 hours there have been attacks and raids towards those that boycott the referendum elections and 121 persons were arrested in different cities and districts in the country.

Alone in Istanbul there are 12 people arrested and kept at the Anti-Terror headquarters in Istanbul. Members and supporters of the BDP (Party for Peace and Democracy) a party of the Kurdish National Movement (KNM) were arrested during their activities like distributing flyers. ESP activists’ houses were raid and they were arrested yesterday in the early morning hours.

In the Kurdish province Van, more than 15 people are under arrest. Special teams with masks and guns raided houses and official institutions of organizations also district representatives of the BDP have been taken to the main police station. The police confiscated books and computers and other technical equipment.

Similar operations were made in many other provinces and districts in Turkey and Turkey Kurdistan. Also, yesterday the Diyabarkir PM of the BDP

Until this hour it seems that operations and arrests will continue. This is a way or a conscious policy of the state to stop the oppositional elements, especially those that boycott the referendum. (ANF, September 12, 210)

La police tire en l'air pour disperser des manifestants kurdes

La police à tiré en l'air et s'est affrontée à plusieurs centaines de manifestants kurdes vendredi sur une place centrale de d'Istanbul, située sur la rive européenne, a rapporté l'agence de presse Anatolie.

L'incident s'est produit sur la place de Taksim, centre névralgique de la métropole.

Des représentants de manifestants, rassemblés à l'appel du principal parti pro-kurde de Turquie BDP (Parti de la paix et de la démocratie), ont lu une déclaration dénonçant, selon eux, les pressions de l'Etat turc contre les Kurdes, avant que le groupe ne se heurte à la police anti-émeutes, précise l'agence.

Les manifestants ont saccagé la devanture d'un hôtel et se sont pris à coup de pierres et de bâtons à trois voitures, dont une de la police, provoquant des dégâts. La police a tiré en l'air pour disperser la foule et a procédé à des arrestations.

Cette manifestation intervient à la veille d'un référendum sur des amendements à la Constitution proposés par le gouvernement islamo-conservateur qui visent surtout à limiter le pouvoir de la hiérarchie judiciaire qui lui est hostile.

Le BDP appelle la population kurde (12 à 15 millions de personnes sur 73 millions d'habitants) à ne pas aller voter. (AFP, 10 décembre 2010)

Police used water canons and real bullets against Kurdish protestors in Van

While Turkish military operations continue despite the ceasefire declared by the PKK on 13 August, Turkish police attacked a demonstration in Van which was held to protest Turkish military operations in which 9 Kurdish Guerrillas have lost their lives.  It is reported that police used water canons and real bullets against Kurdish protestors.

Pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) organised a protest in Van in which Kurdish MP’s Fatma Kurtulan and Ozdal Ucer took part. Following a press release read out in front of BDP office the crowd wanted to start a marching however, the police attacked the protestors with water canons and tears gas. It is reported that police also smashed the glasses of the shops who were supporting the protest. The witnesses also reported that police from time to time also used real bullets against protestors. While all the shopkeepers shut their shutters the tension in the city is reported to be still high.

BDP has announced that they have cancelled their Ramadan festival programme and invited the people to take part in the cemetery visit today at 9 o’clock.

It is also reported that during the unrest in Van several protestors got injured and at least 15 protestors were detained by the police. More police from neighbouring cities are deployed in the city. (ANF, September 9, 2010)

56 Children still in Prison during Religious Holidays

Arif Akkaya from the Demanding Justice for Children Group (ÇIAT) announced that 56 children will spend the coming religious holidays at prison. The group was establish to follow up the situation of children who became victims of the Anti-Terror Law (TMK) which was recently amended to improve the prosecution conditions for children. Today (7 September) is the last day of the fasting month of Ramadan before the beginning of the four-day religious Festival of Sweets tomorrow, one of the two most important religious festivals in the muslim calendar.

bianet talked to Akkaya about the latest situation of the children who are still in detention in the scope of the TMK.

Akkaya said that juvenile H.Y. was released this Tuesday (6 September) after having been detained in the context of the TMK four years ago when he was 14 years old. "He was detained in the Diyabakır (south-eastern Turkey) Children Prison. He tried to commit suicide three times during the past four years. He was kept at the Elazığ Mental Hospital for one month because of this. Nevertheless, he was not released. After the legal amendments, the Court of Appeals reviewed his file and released him".

Files pending at the Court of Appeals

The ÇIAT representative said that a total of 56 children are still being detained in the scope of the TMK, i.e. four in Mardin, three in Adıyaman, five in Bitlis, seven in Diyarbakır (cities in the south-east of Turkey) and 35 in Istanbul. Akkaya continued:

"The Court of Appeals delays the children's files by giving reasons such as 'the file is waiting in line' or 'the judges are on holiday'. Turkish bureaucracy is very cumbersome, processes are advancing very slowly. Lawyers who work as ÇİAT volunteers in Ankara were given a certificate of authorization. They are following up the children's cases at the Court of Appeals. They are working on having the files covered as soon as possible".

Most of the children suffer traumata

Akkaya said that the work carried out by ÇIAT, the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TİHV), the Education and Science Workers' Union (Eğitim-Sen), the regional bar associations and the regional administrations to support the children who have been released is still being continued.

The majority of children released from prison experience traumatic disorders, Akkaya explained. "TİHV examines the children who were released; it turned out that a significant number of these children suffered traumatic disorders. Eğitim-Sen supports the children to re-integrate into normal life and also offers educational support for children who continue school. We try to direct the children who are not going back to school to vocational courses of the municipality. The children from Diyarbakır are luckier in this aspect since the Metropolitan Municipality offers vocational courses". (BIA, Semra PELEK, 8 September 2010)

Turkey on the Streets for Peace

On World Peace Day on 1 September, demonstrations for peace are being organized all over the country. Many of the organizations call for a peaceful solution of the Kurdish question to stop the armed conflicts. Northern and Southern Cyprus are celebrating together.

Chain of Peace: Rights organizations, peace activists, political parties and formations and professional organizations gather at Galatasaray square tonight at 7.00 pm for a peace chain with the message "Stop the military operations and create peace". With their action they refer to the armed conflicts in the scope of the Kurdish question.

Women's initiative for peace: The Istanbul Women's Initiative for Peace meets at 9.00 pm at the tram station in Istanbul. Their motto: "Make peace, make death fall silent, make women and life speak".

Revolutionary Youth Bridge: The organization was founded in 1969 by revolutionary university students and just recently resumed its activities on 21 August. On World Peace Day, the Student Collectives want to draw attention to the organization and express their support. They will walk along the centrally located Istiklal Avenue from Taksim to Galatasaray at 5.30 pm.

Ankara

Walk for peace: Rights organizations, NGOs, political parties and formations, unions and professional organizations will start their walk for peace at 6.30 pm from Yüksel Avenue. They will walk all the way to the Sakarya square where they are going to make a press release.

Izmir

Walk for peace: United in their demand to make the weapons of the armed conflicts fall silent by all means, NGOs, political parties and formations, rights organizations and peace activists from Izmir will meet at 5.30 pm to start their walk half an hour later at 6.00 pm. A press release is planned for 7.00 pm at Konak square.

Dikili: As part of the Dikili Peace Festival in Izmir, boats will set out to the sea at 5.00 pm to leave message of peace on the water. A walk for peace will start at 6.00 pm from the Bülent Ecevit square. Turkish-Greek folk dances will be performed on Atatürk square at 7.30 pm. The Aegean Band and the Midilli music group will give a concert at 9.00 pm.

Batman

In the south-eastern city of Batman, Democratic Society Congress Co-chairs Ahmet Türk and Aysel Tuğluk will join a demonstration for peace organized by the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). The meeting is held in commemoration of human rights defenders Sadi Özdemir, Salih Özdemir, Sofi Özdemir and Sedat Özevin

Diyarbakır

A peace tent and a solemn vigil for peace are organized in Diyarbakır in the pre-dominantly Kurdish region of south-eastern Turkey. The peace tent will be set up at 8.00 pm in the Koşuyolu Park. The solemn vigil for peace will be held all through the night till the next morning.

Cyprus

Southern and Northern Cyprus will celebrate the World Peace Day together. A meeting in the northern part of the divided country is scheduled for 6.45 pm preceding a walk to the Ledra Palace. People in the southern part of the country will meet at 7.30 pm. Doğan Arşehit and Christos Eftimiyu will read out a joint declaration issued by the "Two Societies Peace Initiative for a United Cyprus" established by unions, associations and political parties from both parts of the country. A concert will feature Pandelis Tahassinos from Greece and Turkish-Cypriot and Greek-Cypriot artists Umut Albayrak, Vula Kanstantinou, the Left Key group and a choir with members from both societies.

(BIA, Tolga KORKUT, 1 September 2010)

Turkey welcomes Peace Day 20 days early

This Sept 1, 2009, file photo shows a rally of last year's Peace Day celebrations in the southeastern Turkish province of Diyarbakır. DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin SÖNMEZ
Sept. 21 marks the United Nations’ “International Peace Day” – unless one happens to be a citizen of Turkey or northern Cyprus, which will be issuing the special call for peace at home and the world on Wednesday, Sept. 1 instead.

“We mark the international peace day on Sept. 1. I did not know that the global date was Sept. 21,” said Taner Kocakbis, an activist for the “Art Initiative for Peace,” which was launched last year in parallel to the Justice and Development Party, or AKP’s, “initiative” to solve the Kurdish problem.

The history of the Sept. 1 date goes back to the aftermath of World War II, as the German peace movement and labor unions launched activities to mark the Sept. 1, 1939, invasion of Poland by Nazi armies.

As the day was heavily influenced by the political left in many countries, including Turkey, the United Nations General Assembly “intervened” and declared in 1981 an “International Day of Peace” on the third Tuesday of every September. In 2001, the day was changed internationally from the third Tuesday to Sept. 21.

Kardeş Türküler, a modern folk band that attends activities every Sept. 1, was also unaware of the discrepancy between the Turkish and global dates. Fehmiye Çelik, a vocalist of the internationally renowned music outfit, said it was not of crucial importance to say “Long Live Peace” 20 days earlier or later.

“More than 30,000 people in our country have died because of the Kurdish problem,” Çelik told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. “We still have a long way to go in respecting different identities, cultures, sexual orientations and beliefs. The world is also not all that different, there is widespread discrimination. What is important is to mark the peace day in a constructive way.”

The continuation of the Sept. 1 date in Turkey reflects the heavy influence of the socialist left on the country, especially during the 1960s and 1970s. Ragıp Zarakolu, a human rights activist that is among the founders of the Human Rights Association, said Sept. 1 is basically “celebrated by the left” in Turkey, a tradition that was also reflected in political life in northern Cyprus.

More recently, Sept. 1 has been a day that has become synonymous with efforts to peacefully solve the Kurdish problem, as pro-Kurdish political groups take to the streets, calling for an end to military operations in the Southeast.

“[Still,] it is not logical for Turkey to continue celebrating Sept. 1 as Peace Day,” Zarakolu told the Daily News. “Plus, we are not able to find solutions to [the country’s] problems by marking our peace day 20 days earlier. The Kurdish problem has not yet been solved and intellectuals are still being taken to courts. For whom is this peace?” (Hürriyet Daily News, August 31, 2010)

35 Children still Detained in Istanbul, Courts Slow Down Procedures

Many children prosecuted under the Anti-Terror Law (TMK) have still not been released from prison despite amendments of the controversal Act. Lawyer Sinan Zincir said that 35 children detained in Istanbul have not been released yet because of the attitude of the courts.

Zincir corresponds with the Pursuit of Justice for Children Group (ÇİAT). He represents F.Ç. who is currently detained in the Tekirdağ F Type Prison (west of Istanbul) and N.A. kept in the Maltepe (Istanbul) Children Prison. Both requests for their release pending trial were rejected. The demands for the release of D.T. in the Maltepe Children Prison and R.E. detained in the Bakırköy (Istanbul) Women and Children Prison are being reviewed, Zincir said. According to his information, there are 27 children detained in the Maltepe Prison and another five girls in the Bakırköy Women and Children Prison.

Proceedings advance slowly

Lawyer Zincir explained, "It is the courts' attitude do decide for lack of jurisdiction and leave the review of the detention to the children courts. At the same time, the courts in Istanbul do not take any action and the procedures related to our requests advance slowly. The general attitude of the Special Authority Courts in Istanbul pave the way to serious harm of the children and their families". (BIA, Semra SELEK, 31 August 2010)

Pression sur les médias / Pressure on the Media

EFJ Urges Turkey: Free Jailed Journalists Now

Journalists currently in jail in Turkey must be set free immediately, says the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) if the movement towards key changes in  the country's constitution is to deliver promises of democracy and freedom.

The EFJ has joined its affiliate, the Turkish Journalists Union (TGS), in a call for the immediate and unconditional release of more than 40 journalists jailed in Turkey who they say are in prison for nothing more than doing their job. They made the call after a majority of Turkish citizens voted "Yes" to amending the country's constitution in a referendum earlier this month.

"We demand the immediate release of all journalists whose continued detention has only served to show the country's intolerance of real democratic debate," said Arne König, EFJ President, "The vote for changes on September 12 would open the possibility of genuine change and modernization. It is prime time for the Government to show leadership and to end the climate of fear and intimidation which still surrounds the work of Turkish journalists."

The Turkish journalists currently in prison are awaiting trial on charges of violating the Turkish penal code or anti-terror laws through their work as journalists. In addition, over 700 Turkish journalists are facing law suits, with the threat of imprisonment.

"These journalists are guilty only of doing their job honestly and professionally," said König. "It is unconscionable to be locked up for carrying out their normal journalistic duties." 

The frustration of European journalists is shared by journalists' leaders inside the country.

"We urge the Government to release the jailed journalists immediately and reform the country's legal system to protect journalists' rights to respect freedom of expression," said Ercan Ipekçi, TGS President and member of the EFJ Steering Committee.

"There can be no free society without free journalism," he warned. "the Government must put press freedom at the core of its constitutional changes."

The TGS has already joined forces with 18 other journalists' organisations to establish the Freedom for Journalists Platform to monitor issues concerning the freedom of journalists on 25 August. A council of law will be set up to review judicial cases concerning press freedom in Turkey.

The EFJ calls on its member unions and civil society groups to join the campaign to free jailed Turkish journalists.

Please open the link below to sign and send the e-card to the Prime Minister of Turkey, Mr Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

(http://www.ifj.org/en/pages/set-turkish-journalists-free , 27 September 2010)

"Propaganda" Trial for Güney Magazine

Aziz Özer, editorial manager of the Güney magazine, is indicted for "spreading propaganda for the PKK organization", the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party. The charges are based on the article entitled "The story of an incredible three-day resistance" written by Mehmet Söğüt and a short picture story called "The Judge" by Meray Ülgen.

The Public Prosecution of Mersin (eastern Mediterranean region) had carried out an investigation over both writers and editor Özer on the grounds of contents regarding the 51st issue of the magazine for January-February-March 2010.

Güney magazine: We will not compromise

However, the file was sent to the Büyükçekmece Prosecution due to a decision on lack of jurisdiction and was eventually forwarded to the Istanbul Public Prosecution. As a result of the probe, the Istanbul Public Prosecutor, Hakan Karaali, opened a trial against Özer on 11 May according to Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Law.

In a statement published in the magazine it was said, "The Güney Magazine, which takes sides with the classes of the oppressed and the workers, will not be intimidated by this sort of attack. The magazine will not take a step back and will not compromise on its line".

First hearing on 7 October

Özer has previously won cases against Turkey at the European Court of Human Rights regarding restrictions of freedom of expression. Now he faces imprisonment of up to 7.5 years once again on the grounds of the magazine writings. The first hearing is scheduled for 7 October.

The current charges stem from the article "The story of an incredible three-day resistance" published on page 24 of the issue dd. 21 January. It describes an armed conflict between security forces and a PKK member who got injured during the clashes from the perspective of the member of the organization: "The soldiers started to come down the opposite hill. The group in front of us will meet them... Hamit opened the fire so that the enemies do not come too close. Bullets were fired one after another. The guerrilla did not even raise their heads... The place the guerrilla stayed meant death for them. There was neither a rock to escape to nor trees to hide. The guerrilla next to Hamit was shot in his head and died. In a desperate attempt to save our lives, Hamit shot the ones coming in front... He put his gun on his head to commit suicide. He preferred to die instead of being caught by the enemy. I did everything to be worthy of my party. I can bear hunger, thirst and pain but I do not surrender... The tape was still running. It was installed for moral support. It played songs of resistance, 'on the way to revolution / obstructions must be overcome / chains on the mountains and in the plains must be broken / some of us fell, again and again I witnessed the cruelty of the enemy'. Witnessing their cruelty made me more determined in my struggle... I hope you will find me here dead or alive, because I do not want the enemy to get hold of my body".

On trial for "Niyazi Martyr" caricature

A caricature in the 98th issue of the magazine featured a grave stone with crescent and star and the name "Niyazi Martyr". The caricature is also subject of the trial since it was assessed as an "implication" that a security official who died in conflicts with the PKK "died for nothing", as "praise of force and violence" and "spreading propaganda for the PKK". (BIA, Erol ÖNDEROĞLU, 28 September 2010)

Worldwide Support From Writers for Dogan Akhanli

A large number of intellectuals, artists, journalists and civil society organization members, including worldwide known authors Yaşar Kemal, Orhan Pamuk, Günter Grass and Edgar Hilsenrath, demanded the release of Doğan Akhanlı, who was arrested while entering Turkey from Germany in August and sentenced to serve a life sentence.

A campaign supported by worldwide known names, has been started for Author Doğan Akhanlı who was arrested and sentenced to serve a life sentence. Nobel Literature Laureate authors Orhan Pamuk and Günter Grass, Yaşar Kemal and German novelist Edgar Hilsenrath, artist Zülfü Livaneli and his Greek musician friend Mikis Theodorakis, German author and journalist Günter Wallraff, International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) members, international university professors, German author associations, jurists and human rights defenders including PEN-Germany, demanded the release of Doğan Akhanlı.

Separately, as a result of anti-denialism Armenian Organization Collectif VAN’s efforts in France, Seine-Saint-Denis MP Claude Bartelone, Lyon Deputy Mayor Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, socialist Ségolène Royal’s Consultant Sophie Bouchet-Petersen, Vienne MP Jean-Michel Clément, socialist MPs Arnaud Montebourg and Manuel Valls and SOS Racisme Organization’s Val De Marne District Chair Alexandre Foly also supported the campaign by giving their signatures.

The anti-genocide and inter-communal deal supporter AGA Association, which is leading the campaign in Germany, is advancing the campaign on internet and calling people to the demonstration on 2 October between 14.30 and 16.30 in Alexanderplatz.

Author and human rights defender Doğan Akhanlı was in exile since 1991. Akhanlı, who has been a German citizen since 2001, was involved in activities for the recognition of the genocides of Turkish state. Akhanlı also took the lead in an old building belonging to Gestapo. 

The bill of indictment for 47-day prisoner Akhanlı, which was written by İstanbul Public Prosecutor Hüseyin Ayar, claims that an exchange Office in Eminönü was intended to be robbed by three people on 20 October 1989 and office owner İbrahim Yaşar was murdered upon Akhanlı’s instruction. 

The conflicted report claims the suspects had organizational quality intelligence information aimed at rich people and workplaces in the cases that they left behind while running away. The bill of indictment records that Doğan Akhanlı has been wanted since the event, stating that killed İbrahim Yasar Tutum’s son Mustafa Tutum could not identify Doğan Akhanlı in the security directorate.

The bill of indictment claims that Akhanlı is a member of People’s Liberation Party of Turkey, Reconstruction Unit and People’s Liberation Forces at a responsible level. At the bill of indictment, which claims that Tutum’s murder event was practiced in an organizational discipline and hierarchy, prosecutor demands aggravated life imprisonment for Akhanlı. (ANF, Translation: Berna Ozgencil, 26 September 2010)

European initiative to protect Kurdish identity and to improve integration
 
Four Kurdish organisations based in Brussels, Vienna, Stockholm and Cologne, started an EU-project in the framework of the Grundtvig “Life-Long-Learning”-Programme.

The aim of the project is embedding Kurdish cultural identity and to enhance the integration into the European society.

Around 2 million Kurds live in Europe where their mother tongue and their identity, threatened in most of their home countries, is in danger of being lost.

The organisations involved will develop a self-learning process between the first, second and third generations of Kurdish migrants. In this process each generation will be confronted with the views on society and societal experiences of the other generation.

The youngsters will register the stories, get more acquainted with the values of the first generation migrants who still stick to their old traditions and strong ties to their home countries. The aim is that the connection of the individual with his/her original culture and identity and as such the Kurdish heritage is not lost.

At the same time the young who have grown up in Europe will help their (grand)parents improving their social integration, mastering the language of their home country in particular, participating in civil and information society, in an effort also to close the intergenerational gap.

The project will last for two years.

For more information, please contact the participating organizations:

Kurdish Institute of Brussels: kib@skynet.be
Institut für Kurdologie (Austria): jalilejalil@yahoo.com
Internationaler Verein für Frieden und Gerechtigkeit – Pro Humanitate e.V. (Germany): msahin1@web.de
Kurdish Institute of Stockholm: xeliqi@hotmail.com

60 Trials against Journalist Büsra Erdal

The Istanbul 11th High Criminal Court started the prosecution against Zaman newspaper reporter Büşra Erdal, Ankara correspondent Metin Arslan and responsible editor Hayri Beşer on 22 September. The journalists are tried on the grounds of news articles regarding decisions for the release of detained defendants of the "Ergenekon" and "Balyoz" Investigations.

The Media Association pointed out that more than 60 lawsuits have been opened against journalist Erdal and said that this was worrisome in terms of press freedom and freedom of information.

Media Association: Breach of international agreements

"Countless journalists from different press institutions are negatively affected by this situation. These contents and their applications are a breach of international agreements signed by Turkey and of the case law of the European Court of Human Rights".

Judges of the Istanbul 9th High Criminal Court Yılmaz Alp and Tuncay Aslan filed a criminal complaint against the journalists by reason of their news about the decisions of release. Erdal, Arslan and Beşer are indicted under Article 6/1 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMY) on "identifying officials on anti-terror duties as targets for terrorist organizations". They are facing imprisonment of between 1.5 and 4.5 years.

The current case is based on Erdal's news item entitled "The ones appointed in the HSYK crisis intervened - the Sledgehammer investigation is covered up" published on 2 April 2010 and the article "Mass releases were based on 'pirate' decree" dd. 3 April 2010.

Case adjourned to February 2011

The request for lack of jurisdiction submitted by Erdal's lawyer Hasan Günaydın was dismissed by the court. After the identities of the defendants were confirmed, the indictment was read out prior to the defence speeches. Erdal put forward that she had not been able to prepare her defence since she recently graduated from the faculty of law and because of the high number of cases filed against her. She requested additional time for her defence.

The court accepted the demand of complainant Yılmaz Alp's lawyer to join the proceedings. It was furthermore decreed to send a notification to the Ankara High Criminal Court in order to take the statement of defendant Metin Arslan. Erdal's request for additional time was accepted and the case was adjourned to 2 February 2011.

Journalist Erdal has many cases pending against her under charges of "violating the secrecy of an investigation" and "attempting to influence a fair trial". Erdal said, "We are tried at the Special Authority High Criminal Court for showing individuals as targets for terrorist organizations but it has not been clarified which terrorist organization the indictment refers to. The prosecutor in the hearing demanded to ask the prosecutor who prepared the indictment to clearly state which terrorist organization is meant. We also want to know this".

The General Publications Editor, Ali Akkuş, and the news editor, Fatih Uğur, of the Zaman daily were among the audience of the hearing.

The Zaman newspaper reported that the number of investigations launched by the Ministry of Justice increased from 4,139 in November 2009 to a current total number of more than 5,000 throughout the past six months. More than 3,500 of these investigations were opened against Zaman, Taraf, Bugün, Yeni Şafak, Star and Vakit newspapers. According to Zaman, about 2,000 investigations resulted in trials. (BIA, Erol ÖNDEROĞLU, 24 September 2010)

Journalists Durukan and Çakkalkurt on their Way to Jail?

Milliyet newspaper reporter Namık Durukan and editorial manager Hasan Çakkalkurt face a conviction as demanded by the second prosecutor on the case against the journalists.

The fifth hearing of the trial was held on Tuesday (21 September) at the Istanbul 10th High Criminal Court after an intermission of five months. Prosecutor Bilal Bayraktar announced that he agreed with the final plea of his predecessor, prosecutor Savaş Kırbaş, who had demanded the conviction of both journalists in the previous hearing on 20 April.

Durukan and Çakkalkurt stand accused of "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization" as stipulated in Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terror Act.

Defence lawyer Nurcan Çalışkan requested additional time to prepare the defence for her clients. Judge Zafer Başkurt postponed the case to 23 November.

Durukan and Çakkalkurt are on trial since 30 July 2009 on the grounds of a news item entitled "Even a general amnesty will not make us put down our weapons". The article was based on an announcement of Duran Kalkan, executive of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), made to Fırat News Agency (ANF).

According to the Media Monitoring Report on April-May-June 2010 prepared by the BIA Media Monitoring Desk, a total of 249 people stand trial because of having expressed their thoughts, among them 53 journalists. In 2009, 125 people faced prison sentences or compensation claims in the same period of time, 57 of them journalists.

Tried for somebody else's words

The trial evolved from the following paragraph of the news item: "The second man of the terror organization Duran Kalkan says that in case of a general amnesty the organization will not put down their weapons but they will commit to the responsibility. Regarding to the allegations put forward in a talk between the organization and the state he said 'I say neither yes nor no'. When Kalkan talked to the Fırat News Agency, which is reporting in favour of the organizaiton, he evaluated Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal's announcement that 'in case they put their weapon down a general amnesty could be possible'. Kalkan said, 'The solution of the Kurdish question is not a question of general amnesty. The Kurdish people does not consider such a situation for the PKK and the guerilla. Even if a general amnesty would be granted also anticipating freedom for Apo [imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan], then the PKK would not put down their weapons but may consider declaring a ceasefire, but not to put down weapons, the guerrilla does not put down its weapons.'"

The indictment mentions freedom of expressing and publishing thoughts as a right enshrined in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Articles 25 and 26 of the Turkish Constitution. However, it also suggests that "Kalkan's talks in which he called to resort to violence" do not fall within the scope of this right. (BIA, Erol Onderoglu, 22 September 2010)

No Progress inTrial against Journalist Birand and Politician Tuğluk

The litigation against ten defendants, among them Aysel Tuğluk, former Diyarbakır Deputy of the dissolved pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), and Mehmet Ali Birand, journalist and lawyer of Abdullah Öcalan (leader of the militant Kurdistan Workers Party PKK), was postponed to next year. The defendants are charged with "spreading propaganda for the PKK".

The trial was continued before the Istanbul 9th High Criminal Court on Tuesday (21 September). The court decided to wait for the execution of the arrest warrant issued upon lawyer Mahmut Şakar. The coming hearing was scheduled for 1 February 2011.

Different files against Tuğluk tried at the Istanbul 9th, 11th and 14th High Criminal Court were merged at the 9th Criminal Court. The Kurdish politician had received a prison sentence of one year and six months and an occupational ban as a lawyer. However, the Court of Appeals overruled the punishment.

In the current case, Tuğluk is tried together with DTP Deputy Ayla Ata Akat, and Mehmet Ali Birand, producer at the Turkish television station Kanal D.

Facing heavy penalties

A total of ten people are involved in the trial, including Tuğluk, Ata, lawyer Mahmut Şakar, İrfan Dündar, Doğan Erbaş and Hatice Korkut, They are prosecuted over a joint letter entitled "A letter to the government" published in the Yeniden Özgüt Gündem newspaper between March 2003 and February 2004. The charges are furthermore based on the news items "Peace Call from Öcalan" and "I will defend the South-East", "Let's kill all joy" published in the Özgür Politika newspaper, "A message like a threat from Imralı to the summit" published in Milliyet newspaper, "Some tragedies might come" in the Yeni Binyıl magazine, "The whistling continues" in Hürriyet newspaper and news items published in Gözcü newspaper, Akit, Türkiye, the Kanal D Main News Bulletin and the Nasname internet site.

The defendants are indicted under article 220/7 of the Turkish Criminal Law on "knowing and willingly aiding and abetting an illegal organization as part of the hierarchical structure of the organization" and article 314/2 TCK on "membership in an armed organization". Article 220/7 foresees imprisonment of up to three years, article 314/2 demands prison sentence of up to ten years. (BIA, Erol Onderoglu, 22 September 2010)

Reality at Court Contradicts Ministry's Announcement

In the hearing on Wednesday (15 September), the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance decided to transfer the file of journalist Kemal Göktaş to the Special Authority High Criminal Court where the suspects of the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink are tried. Turkey was recently sentenced by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to a heavy monetary fine in the scope of the Dink murder. The founder of the Armenian Agos newspaper Dink was killed in front of his office in bold daylight on 19 January 2007.

Vatan newspaper reporter Göktaş stands trial on the grounds of his book "The Hrant Dink Murder: Media, Judiciary, State" related to the background of the assassination. It was claimed in the hearing that the offence he committed was "against the state security".

On the previous day (14 September) though, the ECHR had pronounced the judgement in the Hrant Dink case which was based on the conclusion that the police forces had not fulfilled their responsibility regarding measures to prevent the murder and that the investigations carried out were not sufficient.

Göktaş: Decision for lack of jurisdiction came at a remarkable point in time

Göktaş' lawyer, Filiz Aydın, appealed against the court's decision of lack of jurisdiction. If the appeal should be dismissed, Göktaş will be tried at a special authority high criminal court.

On the other hand, the case against the eight gendarmerie officers of Trabzon, who are accused of neglect of duty prior to the Dink murder, is tried at the Magistrate Criminal Court.

When Göktaş talked to bianet , he drew attention to the fact the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance decided for lack of jurisdiction only one year after the trial had been opened when the file was about to reach its final decision.

"Up to now, the court made a number of interim decisions such as rejecting the request of Ramazan Akyürek, Head of the Police Intelligence Department, to become a joint plaintiff in the case. In my opinion, it is against the law to decide for lack of jurisdiction after the case has almost reached its final stage".

The ECHR in Strasbourg had emphasized in its decision that the term "dirty blood" used by Dink in a certain context could not be evaluated as an "insult of Turkishness". The international court had furthermore decreed that freedom of expression is valid for all sorts of topics of public interest. Meanwhile, the Turkish judiciary is hunting down books that deal with the murder. Journalist Nedim Şener for instance is facing a similar prison threat for his book on the Dink murder.

While books are being prosecuted, the Hrant Dink murder case continues with trying a small group of people from the Pelitli district in Trabzon (eastern Black Sea coast). The case will be continued on 25 October.

Ministry says this, courts do that...

The Minister of Justice, Ahmet Davutoğlu, said that he regarded freedom of expression as a principle affair and that he had initiated efforts to reduce the number of files on freedom of expression and similar issues brought to the ECHR.

Davutoğlu had announced that the government was not going to submit any further defence for files on freedom of expression, apart from a few exceptions. The Ministry had furthermore declared not to appeal against the decision of the Hrant Dink case at the ECHR Great Chamber.(BIA, Erol ÖNDEROĞLU, 17 September 2010)

Facing 4 Years in Jail for 2 "Peace" Messages

The Turkish folk music artist Pınar Sağ is is tried for her saying, "Let the armed conflicts on our mountains end, peace should come and nobody should die" at the Düzgün Baba Festival in the Nazimiye district of Tunceli (eastern Anatolia) last year. The Nazimiye Public Prosecutor pressed charges of "praising crime and a criminal" against the artist.

Sağ is facing a prison sentence of up to two years according to article 215 of the Turkish Criminal Law.

Subject of the trial are the following sentences voiced by Sağ at the festival: "Let the armed conflicts on our mountains end, peace should come and nobody should die. 17 young unarmed people were killed on the Mercan Mountains. This war should finally end. Let us be able to move freely in our homeland, let peace come to this land".

Sağ: I advocated for peace

Pınar Sağ attended the hearing at the Nazimiye Criminal Court of First Instance together with her lawyer. She claimed that it should not be a crime to advocate for peace in Turkey and to ask for brotherhood.

Sağ said that she had given concerts in many countries and cities, however she was confronted with a lawsuit only in Dersim (Tunceli). "We expressed that, as human beings and with the sensitivity of an artist, we would not approve any deaths in the land we live in. 17 people were killed on the Mercan Mountains and there was no document or any other proof for their being guilty of anything. This is the defence I made. I advocated for peace in the concert", Sağ explained.

Sağ is tried under the same charges for a speech delivered at a concert in the course of a meeting for Murat Kur, then independent mayor candidate in the run-up to the local elections on 29 March 2009.

"Where is the proof for Kaypakkaya's guilt?"

Musician Sağ also stands trial at the Tunceli Magistrate Criminal Court under allegations of having praised Ibrahim Kaypakkaya, founder of the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist Leninist (TKP/ML)-TİKKO organization. She gave a statement at the Şişli (Istanbul) courthouse upon a directive in the beginning of May 2010. Kaypakkaya had been injured in an armed conflict with the security forces in 1973. He was arrested and taken to the Diyarbakır Prison where he died of torture.

Sağ had indicated that there was no evidence for Kaypakkaya's guilt. "I thought that if the suspects of the murder of [leftist revolutionary] Deniz Gezmiş apologized today, then starting from this idea Kaypakkaya would not be guilty, because there was no prosecution resulting in a conviction and the legal situation does not require an acceptance of guilt. Saying that the guilt of Kaypakkaya cannot be accepted does not mean that I am praising a criminal", Sağ had argued. (BIA, Erol ÖNDEROĞLU, 18 September 2010)

Journalist Şener Awarded -Turkish Government Condemned

On the occasion of its 60th anniversary, the International Press Institute (IPI) rewarded 60 journalists from all over the world as "Press Heroes", among them also the Turkish journalist Nedim Şener, reporter for the nation-wide Milliyet daily.

Ten years ago, on the 50th anniversary of the organization, the IPI had awarded Turkish journalist Abdi İpekçi, who was killed in 1979, as one of the first 50 World Press Freedom Heroes. The additional ten heroes were selected by an international IPI jury in the course of the past ten years. Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was added to the list in 2006. Assassinated Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was selected in 2007, the year of his death.

In an announcement issued from the IPI Centre in Vienna, Austria, on 14 September, the Institute published the names of another eight journalists selected as World Press Freedom Heroes: Lasantha Wickremantunge, deceased editor of the Sri Lankan daily Sunday Leader; May Chidiac, Lebanese journalist and television anchor; Mexican journalist Lydia Cacho; Pap Saine from Gambia; Iranian investigative journalist Akbar Ganji; Yoani Sanchez from Cuba; deceased South-African editor Laurence Gandar and Nedim Şener.

Şener is the third laureate of this award in Turkey. He was declared a World Press Freedom Hero following the publication of his book on the Hrant Dink murder. The trial opened against the journalist on the grounds of his book is still pending. He was awarded for "his commitment to freedom of thought and expression, his determination and courage".

Şener attended the award ceremony on Tuesday at the historic Vienna City Hall. In his speech he said, "Hrant Dink struggled his whole life for becoming a citizen with equal rights in Turkey. The state made him a target. They took no precautionary measures for the safety of his life. Eventually, he was murdered".

Şener argued that the state, not having been able to save Dink's life, protected the positions of everyone who was involved in this crime. He continued:

"Not only his right to life was taken away from him, but his rights were violated even after the assassination. Evidence was concealed by the gendarmerie, the police and intelligence officials. They misinformed the courts. This murder is the key to all unsolved murders. Without the clarification of this case, neither justice nor democracy will be possible in Turkey. I will not be a hero but I will always be a fighter for press freedom".

One acquittal, two trials pending

Three trials were opened against Şener on the grounds of his book "The Dink Murder and the Lies of the Intelligence". One case resulted in the journalist's acquittal, the other two trials are still pending. The plaintiffs are the police officers who were confirmed in the report of the Prime Ministry Inspection Board to have neglected their duty related to the murder.

Şener was acquitted of charges of "obtaining confidential documents", "publishing confidential documents" and "identifying officials on anti-terrorist duties as targets". He was facing up to 20 years behind bars in the scope of the latter trial. However, in the other two cases the journalist is still facing prison sentences of up to 12.5 years in total.

Call from IPI General Assembly

Meeting at their 59th Annual General Assembly on 13 September in Vienna, IPI members unanimously passed a number of resolutions regarding press freedom in different countries. The IPI also condemned the continued imprisonment in Turkey of dozens of journalists and called on the Turkish authorities to release all journalists jailed because of their work. "IPI calls on the Turkish authorities to abolish articles in the Turkish Penal Code, Press Law and Anti-Terror Law, which threaten imprisonment and disproportionate penalties for the media. IPI hopes that the government will honour its pledge that recent constitutional changes will facilitate the process". (BIA, Erol ÖNDEROĞLU, 16 September 2010)

RSF se félicite du verdict européen sur l'assassinat de Dink

Le 14 septembre 2010, la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme (CEDH) a condamné la Turquie dans le cadre de l’affaire Hrant Dink (de son vrai nom Firat Dink). La CEDH a considéré que la Turquie n’avait pas pris les mesures nécessaires afin d’empêcher l’assassinat du journaliste et qu’avant la mort de celui-ci, l’Etat turc avait enfreint son droit à la liberté d’expression.

Reporters sans frontières se félicite de ce verdict qui place la Turquie face à ses responsabilités et fait justice au journaliste turc d‘origine arménienne, tué par balles le 19 janvier 2007, à Istanbul. L’Etat turc a été condamné à verser 100 000 euros de dommage moral à Rakel Dink, la veuve du journaliste, et à ses enfants ainsi que 5000 euros à son frère, Hosrof Dink.

La CEDH a conclu, à l’unanimité, que la Turquie avait violé les articles 2, 10 et 13 de la Convention européenne des droits de l’homme, qui garantissent respectivement le droit à la vie, à la liberté d’expression et à un recours effectif (enquête pénale). Voir : le communiqué de la CEDH

« Aucune des trois autorités informées de la planification de l’assassinat et de son exécution imminente n’a réagi afin de l’empêcher. Certes, comme le gouvernement turc l’a mis en avant, Firat Dink n’a pas demandé de protection policière. Cependant, il était impossible pour lui d’avoir des renseignements sur le projet d’assassinat. C’est aux autorités turques, informées de ce projet, qu’il appartenait d’agir afin de protéger la vie de Firat Dink », indique le communiqué de la CEDH.

Entre novembre 2003 et février 2004, Hrant Dink a publié des articles dans lesquels il expliquait que l’indifférence des Turcs face au génocide arménien empêchait les Arméniens de se remettre de ce traumatisme. Des groupes ultranationalistes turcs ont réagi à ces publications par des manifestations, des lettres de menaces et des plaintes pénales. En octobre 2005, Hrant Dink a été déclaré coupable de « dénigrement de l’identité turque. »

Malgré un pourvoi extraordinaire du procureur général, qui estimait que les propos du journaliste avaient été mal interprétés et réclamait la protection de sa liberté d’expression, la Cour de cassation de Turquie a refusé de revenir sur la culpabilité de Hrant Dink. La CEDH en a conclu que la Cour de cassation avait, en réalité, indirectement sanctionné le journaliste pour avoir critiqué le déni du génocide arménien par les institutions turques.

La CEDH a rappelé que la recherche de la vérité historique fait partie intégrante de la liberté d’expression et que les Etats sont tenus de permettre aux citoyens d’exprimer sans crainte leurs opinions. Il a été conclu que les « obligations positives » de la Turquie au regard de la liberté d’expression de Hrant Dink et de la protection de sa vie n’avaient pas été respectées.

Le gouvernement ne devrait pas faire pas appel de cette décision devant la Grande chambre de la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme. « Des efforts seront déployés pour appliquer les jugements et prendre un maximum de mesures afin que des violations similaires ne puissent se produire à l’avenir » , a commenté le ministre des Affaires étrangères.

Reporters sans frontières est soulagée par cette annonce et espère la voir se concrétiser, en particulier en ce qui concerne la liberté d’expression et la sécurité des médias qui traitent des questions relatives aux minorités kurdes et arméniennes.

« Nous voulons espérer qu’après cette décision, certaines choses changeront sur le plan juridique et politique. Nous souhaitons que l’Etat turc, qui n’a jamais pris ses responsabilités dans le domaine de la liberté d’expression […] renoncera à innocenter les criminels et à condamner les innocents », a déclaré Rakel Dink, lors d’une conférence de presse devant le siège du journal Agos, où son mari a été assassiné.

Reporters sans frontières suivra avec attention la prochaine audience du procès des assassins de Hrant Dink, le 25 octobre 2010. (europe2@rsf.org, 15 septembre 2010)

L'OSCE demande à la Turquie de libérer les journalistes emprisonnés

L'Organisation pour la sécurité et la coopération en Europe (OSCE) a demandé mardi à la Turquie de remettre en liberté les journalistes emprisonnes et de réformer sa législation sur les médias.

"Actuellement, plus de 40 journalistes sont emprisonnés et des centaines d'autres sont poursuivis en justice et risquent la prison en cas de condamnation", a dénoncé la représentante de l'OSCE pour la liberté des médias, Dunja Mijatovic, dans une lettre au ministre turc des Affaires étrangères Ahmet Davutoglu, citée dans un communiqué.

"Mes services observent avec une inquiétude croissante l'augmentation du nombre d'actions en justice qui menacent de prison les journalistes en Turquie", a-t-elle écrit.

Des reporters sont souvent condamnés pour avoir traité de sujets sensibles, publié des informations secrètes ou critiqué les autorités, décourageant ainsi tout journalisme critique, a relevé Mme Mijatovic.

L'OSCE "reconnaît pleinement la menace à la sécurité nationale que représente le terrorisme et la nécessité de lutter contre", a-t-elle précisé.

"Dans le même temps, nous insistons aussi sur le droit du public d'être informé sur les sujets d'importance publique", a indiqué Mme Mijatovic.

"La lutte contre le terrorisme ne doit pas être utilisée par les gouvernements pour restreindre la liberté des médias", a-t-elle souligné.

Seuls les fonctionnaires devraient être tenus pour responsables de la publication de documents classés secret, pas les journalistes, a ajouté Mme Mijatovic.

"La criminalisation de la violation du secret commise par des non-fonctionnaires, dont des journalistes, pourrait priver la population d'informations importantes d'intérêt public et elle met ainsi en péril le journalisme d'investigation", a conclu Mme Mijatovic. (AFP, 14 sept 2010)

8th Trial for Journalist Saymaz - 70-year Sentence Impending

The eighth trial has been opened against Radikal newspaper reporter Ismail Saymaz on the grounds of his article entitled "Love games in Ergenekon - The Ergenekon prosecutor also took the judge's statement" published on 8 June.

The complaint for the latest trial was filed by the President of the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Court, Köksal Şengün. The indictment was prepared for the prosecution before the Bakırköy (Istanbul) Criminal Court of First Instance.

The journalist had reported about the technical surveillance of Kadır Özbek, Deputy President of the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK).

The article mentioned the inquiry report related to lawyer Tülay Bekar who was arrested in the last wave of arrests. It read that Bekar, as a result of her being directed by Oktay, allegedly dominated Court President Şengün by "making use out of her femininity and sexuality" and that she tried to make Şengün withdraw from the case or promote him to become a member of the Court of Appeals or to influence him on releasing some of the defendants.

The journalist is tried under allegations of "insult", "violation of the secrecy of an investigation" and the "attempt to influence a fair trial" according to articles 125, 285, and 288 respectively of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK). The first hearing is scheduled for 28 January 2011.

Saymaz, who is following up the Ergenekon investigation and the related trials, had no less than seven trials opened against him before the latest complaint was filed. Under these circumstances, he is facing prison sentences of up to 70 years in total. The ultra-nationalist Ergenekon terror organization is charged with plotting to overthrow the government.

Saymaz is also tried under charges of "violating the secrecy of an investigation" in the context of the article entitled "The generals in their summer residences agree that Balbay is the left-wing leader" published on 19 March 2009. He is tried because he quoted Ergenekon defendant Engin Aydın's statement made to the prosecutor.

Tried for every word he wrote...

Engin had stated that Balbay was going to found a new political party. The existing Independent Republic Party was mentioned to join, or it was said to initiate a movement within the Republican People's Party, Engin said in his statement.

The prosecution against Saymaz according to article 285 of the TCK started on 3 June before the same court. The case against the daily's editor-in-chief, Hasan Çakkalkurt, was directed to Saymaz by reason of his "responsibility for the news".

Six cases were opened against Saymaz on the grounds of his news about the interrogations of İlhan Cihaner, detained Chief Public Prosecutor of Erzincan (north-eastern Anatolia), and İbrahim Şahin, former Deputy Head of the Special Operations Department.

Saymaz is facing imprisonment on the grounds of the articles entitled "What Prosecutor Cihaner was asked" published in Radikal newspaper on 18 February 2010, "Assassination with a tick, coup of the tea vendors" from 12 February 2010, "Cihaner: I do not know Çiçek, I did not see him - Ciçek: I do not know anybody in Erzincan" and "I do not know Çiçek, that is your set up" published on 20 February and for his article "Did you meet Dursun Çiçek?" from 22 February.

Another reason for the prosecution of Saymaz was the article entitled "The most reckless state of Ergenekon is in Erzincan" related to the defence of former İliç Public Prosecutor Bayram Bozkurt which was submitted to the Ministry of Justice. Bozkurt is tried at the Erzincan High Criminal Court under allegations of "misconduct in office". (BIA, Erol ÖNDEROĞLU, 13 September 2010)

Message from Ragip Zarakolu for solidarity with Dogan Akhanli

Dear friends,

Dogan Akhanlı is one of important writers of Belge Publishing.

He is first writer in Turkish literature who wrote a novel about armenian genocide. He translated the documents about "Talat Pasha Trial/1921" for Belge Publishing. He wrote another novel on Holocaust and Turkey.

Like our translator, Pınar Selek, he is wanted to be victimized, with nonsence accusations.

Presecutor's indictment wanted life sentence for him. Easy way, to accuse a writer as "terorist"!

They will reply you, when you ask about him: "He is not a prisoner of consciousness, he is accused as a murderer!

We need a serious support with him

Like another Belge translator, Suzan Zengin who is in prisoner for 1 year, accused as a member of illegal organisation.

She translated a bookabout Assirian culture, a collection of Cyprus Literature, and Albanian Rebelion 1912, and Greek stories about Tsellaniko City. She was arrested because she is working at the office of Isci-Koylu Newspaper. She is also a human rights activist.

Another Belge writer, N. Mehmet Guler is convicted in June, because of his novel, "Devisions more difficult then Death".

Me (RZ) and N. Mehmet Guler are accused, because of another book about kurdish question, "The File of KCK (Kurdish People Assemblies)". First trial on september 30th.

The conviction about me (RZ) as editor of George jerjian's about Armenian-Turkish relations is approval at Appeal Court.

We are waiting your supports

Ragip Zarakolu (rzarakolu@aol.com)

Petition Campaign For Imprisoned Writer Dogan Akhanli

On 10 August 2010 the writer and human rights defender Dogan Akhanli from Cologne was arrested at an Istanbul airport in the attempt of entry to Turkey; this trip was intended to D. Akhanli’s sick father. According to Akhanli’s lawyer Haydar Erol he has been detained in a prison in the Tekirdag province since 20 August 2010 on the pretext of alleged involvement in a 1989 robbery at an exchange office in Istanbul. “This accusation was based on witness statements, one of which had been made under torture,"said Erol. The supposed second witness - the son of the slain - later denied having ever identified Akhanli in a photograph. "This scenario was produced by the police," said lawyer Erol, in order to try a late accounting with the political left. Despite the relief provided by lawyer Erol at the two habeas corpus dates, a prosecutor requested an indictment against Dogan Akhanli for robbery and homicide. Three prison complaints have so far failed.

It must also be assumed that the arrest of D. Akhanli and the double rejection of his release by the prosecutor are directly related to the author’s commitment for the recognition of the still officially in Turkey denied genocide against the Ottoman Christians. This view is shared by the known German writer Guenther Wallraff (Cologne): "Certain sections of the Turkish judiciary try to take revenge on an incommodious author, who has addressed the genocide against the Armenians for years." The Jewish novelist Edgar Hilsenrath, who has been friends for years with Dogan Akhanli and represents his literary model, said after a meeting with the Deputy Turkish ambassador on 27 August 2010, he, Mr. Hilsenrath assumes, that in fact D. Akhanli’s literary activity is the underlying cause of his arrest. He asked the Ambassador to investigate the clear references to the non-law approach in this case and called for the immediate release of his friend Dogan Akhanli. E. Hilsenrath is the author of the novel "The Tale of the Last Thought" (1989) about the genocide of the Armenians.

With the human rights NGO Working group Recognition - Against Genocide, for International Understanding e.V. Akhanli Dogan maintains close contact since the spring of 2000, when AGA introduced a petition into the German Bundestag, demanding the legislative recognition of the genocide against the Armenians, Arameans/Assyrians and Greeks of Asia Minor. Dogan Akhanli was among the first signatories of this petition. In subsequent years his public readings, cross-cultural study tours and participation in panel discussions significantly contributed to the enhancement of a critical view on history among the Turkish diaspora in Germany.

For current and continuously updated information, visit the website of the Kulturforum TürkeiDeutschland: http://www.das-kulturforum.de/archiv/presseschau-dogan-akhanli-verhaftung/

Biography and Achievements: Akhanli Dogan was born in 1957 in the northeastern Turkish town Şavşat and lived after the military coup of 1980 in the underground. 1985-1987 he was imprisoned as a political prisoner in a military prison in Istanbul where he was tortured. He fled to Germany in 1991, has been recognized here as a political refugee and later deprived of Turkish nationality. Since 1992 D. Akhanli is living as a freelance writer in Cologne; since 2001 he has German citizenship.

In novels, essays, interviews and in his various projects in Germany, D. Akhanli promoted the open handling of historic violence and the indivisibility of human rights. The focus of his civic commitment are the commemoration the genocides of the 20th Century (including the genocide of the Armenians) and the interculturally oriented dialogue on reconciliation. Among others, D. Akhanli’s projects were sponsored by the Federal Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future and awarded by the Alliance for Democracy and Tolerance. Dogan Akhanli has been intensively committed for solving the murder of Hrant Dink and points to the reconciliatory significance of this journalist and author.

Dogan Akhanli is actively committed to memory and human rights. He is a volunteer manager at the Nazi Documentation Center, initiator of Raphael Lemkin Library at the Allerweltshaus (Cologne) as well as an employee of the nonprofit organization "Inter-national research”. The association is concerned with the educational work on genocidal experiences of violence and the project "The third World in the second World War "(http://www.3www2.de).

D. Akhanli processed the experience of his generation with state violence and political persecution in his 1998/99 published in Turkish contemporary trilogy Kayip Denizler (The disappearance of the sea), whose last volume Kiyamet Günü Yargiçlari (The judges of the Last Judgment) deals with the genocide of the Armenians in 1915 (German translation by Hülya Engin 2007, Klagenfurt). His last novel Madonna'nin Hayali Son (The last dream of the Madonna) was published in 2005 in Istanbul. The book is about the Romanian vessel "Struma", which was sunk in 1942 in the Black Sea and ripped 769 Jewish refugees to their death. Akhanli’s novels were selected among the most important novels in. In 2009, he received the Literature Prize of the newspaper "Hürriyet". D. Akhanli also translated and edited the Turkish edition of the 1921 court proceedings against Soghomon Tehliryan, who assassinated the erstwhile Turkish Home Minister and main responsible for the genocide against the Armenians (Talat Paşa Davasi, vol. 1 and 2, Istanbul 2003).

In April 2005 he visited Armenia on the occasion of the 90th Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.

Today we ask you to support the efforts to secure the release of our colleague:

- Sign our online petition on the website http://www.aga-online.org/de/aktionen/detail.php?newsId=395
 
- Write to the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Turkey, Mr S. Ergin, and request the closure of the questionable case against D. Akhanli (address in the factsheet). Please forward copies of your letters or emails to info@aga-online.org and akhanli.dogan@googlemail.de

- Participate in the vigil for the immediate release of Dogan Akhanli, organized by the Working Group Recognition (AGA) and the Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste on 2 October 2010, 14:30 to 16:30 at the Brandenburg Gate / Pariser Platz (more information at our website www.aga-online.org)

La Turquie emprisonne un intellectuel gênant

Le 10 août 2010, l’écrivain turc et défenseur des droits de l’homme Doğan Akhanlı a été arrêté à l’aéroport d’Istanbul, en provenance d’Allemagne où il réside depuis 1991. Doğan Akhanlı, est inculpé pour des motifs de droit commun, concernant sa prétendue implication dans l’attaque d’un bureau de change, pour son « rôle » de chef de gang, et le fait qu’il serait l’instigateur d’un complot visant à renverser l’ordre constitutionnel en Turquie. Par ces accusations mensongères, l’Etat turc cherche à se débarrasser d’un intellectuel turc gênant : l’engagement de l’écrivain turco-allemand en faveur de la reconnaissance du génocide des Arméniens et des Assyriens, toujours officiellement nié par la Turquie, est en lien direct avec son arrestation.

En essayant de « dépolitiser » la procédure engagée contre lui par la Cour criminelle, Ankara cherche à tuer dans l’œuf les protestations et les mouvements de soutien qui s’organisent déjà en Allemagne et qui devraient, espère-t-on, s’étendre partout en Europe et en Amérique. Il est du devoir de chaque citoyen attaché aux valeurs démocratiques et à la défense des droits de l’homme, de ne pas laisser Doğan Akhanlı croupir dans les terribles geôles turques : elles n’ont guère changé depuis l’époque du film Midnight Express. Les refus de remise en liberté sont, d’après ses collègues allemands, destinés à briser totalement cet homme déjà emprisonné et torturé par le passé.

C’est la première fois depuis qu’il s’était réfugié en Allemagne, que Doğan Akhanlı, appelé au chevet de son père, revenait en Turquie. Il avait fui la Turquie en 1991 et vivait à Cologne. Il était devenu citoyen allemand en 2001. L’écrivain Doğan Akhanlı est proche de l’Association allemande AGA de Tessa Hofmann (Reconnaissance, contre les génocides, pour l'entente entre les peuples) et de celle d’Ali Ertem (Association contre les génocides, SKD - Soykirim Karsitlari Dernegi), toutes deux partenaires des actions annuelles du Collectif VAN pour la sensibilisation aux génocides et à leur déni.

Soutenez Doğan Akhanlı.
Liberté pour Doğan Akhanlı.

Séta Papazian
Présidente
Collectif VAN [Vigilance Arménienne contre le Négationnisme]
BP 20083, 92133 Issy-les-Moulineaux - France
Boite vocale : 09 50 72 33 46 - Email: contact@collectifvan.org
http://www.collectifvan.org

Prix allemand au caricaturiste danois Kurt Westergaard

La chancelière allemande Angela Merkel entend défendre la liberté de la presse en participant à une cérémonie de remise de prix au Danois auteur de caricatures de Mahomet, qui ont scandalisé des musulmans, a annoncé mercredi son porte-parole.

Un prix devait être remis mercredi soir au dessinateur Kurt Westergaard à l'issue d'un colloque international sur les médias à Potsdam, dans la banlieue de Berlin, et Mme Merkel devait prononcer un discours sur la liberté de la presse à cette occasion.

Par sa présence à la cérémonie, la chancelière entend faire passer le message "que la liberté de la presse est un bien précieux", a expliqué le porte-parole Steffen Seibert au cours d'un point de presse.

"Son message est que ceci constitue un des piliers de notre liberté", a-t-il ajouté.

Kurt Westergaard, 75 ans, qui vit sous protection policière, se voit récompensé pour "son engagement inflexible en faveur de la liberté de la presse et d'opinion et pour son courage de défendre les valeurs démocratiques malgré les menaces de violences et de mort" dont il fait l'objet, ont expliqué les responsables du prix M100 Media 2010.

La police allemande a prévu "un déploiement approprié", M. Westergaard étant sous protection rapprochée depuis la publication des caricatures dans le journal danois Jylands-Posten le 30 septembre 2005.

Kurt Westergaard a notamment dessiné la caricature la plus décriée de Mahomet, représentant le prophète avec la tête couverte d'un turban en forme de bombe à la mèche allumée. (AFP, 9 sept 2010)

Campaign against Imprisonment of Journalists in Turkey

By Louise Hallman, IPI Press Freedom Advisor for Europe

IPI's Turkey National Committee on 25 August 2010 joined other Turkish media organisations in the launch of a campaign targeting the use of prison sentences against journalists, and calling for those journalists currently imprisoned to be released. The organisations have all come together under the newly-created Turkish Journalists' Association, in a united bid to improve press freedom in Turkey.

According to statistics from the IPI Turkish National Committee, more than 40 Turkish journalists are currently in prison, awaiting trial, because of their reports or columns in Turkey. Some journalists have been held without conviction for several years. Over 700 more journalists are currently facing law suits, with the threat of imprisonment, under specific articles in the Penal Code, press laws and anti-terror laws.

The Turkish Journalists' Association, which held its first meeting on 18 August 2010, is the first organisation of its kind with such wide participation from the Turkish media. It draws membership from the Turkish Journalists' Union, the Press Council, the Media Ethics Association, the Turkish Journalists' Federation, the Newspaper Owners' Association, the Sports Writers' Association, the Economy Reporters' Association, the Culture, Tourism and Environment Journalists' Association, the Professional Reporters' Association, the Reporters' Union and the IPI Turkish National Committee.

Following the meeting on Wednesday the association established the Freedom for Journalists Platform to monitor issues concerning the freedom of journalists and to keep transgressions against press freedom in the public eye; a council of law will follow up judicial cases concerning press freedom.

IPI Turkey's Chairwoman Ferai Tinc said, "This is the first time in Turkish press history that so many media organisations come together to raise their voices for press freedom. Sending journalists to prison because of their reports and opinions is a real threat to press freedom."

"Press freedom is one of the main pillars of democracy. We want a democratic Turkey and a free press. Today we decided to bring together our forces to free our colleagues who are in prison and to demand from the Turkish government to make adequate adjustments to change this situation."

In an illustration of its commitment to defending press freedom, the IPI Turkish National Committee on 19 August 2010 attended the 77th hearing of the 'Ergenekon' court case, in solidarity with two Turkish tabloid journalists who stand accused of membership of the alleged clandestine, ultra-nationalist organization.

Tuncay Ozkan and Mustafa Balbay, alongside a number of other prominent Turkish persons in politics, the security forces and academia, are accused of being members of the covert 'Ergenekon' network which allegedly planned terrorist attacks in an attempt to provoke a military coup to overthrow the mildly Islamist government. The organisation has been dubbed 'Ergenekon' after a mythical place located in the inaccessible valleys of the Altay Mountains, in central Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together, which holds historical importance for Turkish nationalists.

Speaking to IPI Headquarters in Vienna, Secretary of the IPI Turkish National Committee Yurdanur Atadan said that Balbay and Ozkan, along with two other journalists faced unclear charges for their alleged part in the coup, with the indictment running to more than 5,000 pages. Balbay and Ozkan have been held in prison without conviction for three years and have been refused bail on seven occasions. Atadan told IPI Headquarters that she did not know when it was likely the journalists would finally face a full trial or be released.

Speaking on behalf of the journalist organisations present at the hearing, Oktay Eksi, chairman of the Turkish Press Council and a chief columnist at national daily newspaper Hurriyet, said: "We came here because we think that our colleagues here are lacking their right to a fair trial. We came here to show that we are together with them, to express that we stand for their benefits of the laws as anybody else."

"They are our colleagues, brothers and we decided to come here because we think that supporting their rights is a prime task for us. Our decision includes all the journalists whose freedom is restricted."

IPI Interim Director Alison Bethel McKenzie said: "We urge the authorities in Turkey to take note of this unprecedented united push to defend press freedom. Its initiation underscores the gravity of our press freedom concerns in the country. Journalists, like all other citizens in a democracy, should have the right to a fair trial. They should certainly not be locked up for years without being convicted of any crime. And they should never be sent to prison, or silenced in other ways, because of their critical reporting."

The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South East and Central Europe and an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), supports this statement.

****For further information, please contact:

Mirjana Milosevic
SEEMO Press Freedom Coordinator
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO)
E-mail: info@seemo.org
Web: http://www.seemo.org

Anthony Mills
Press Freedom&Communications Manager
International Press Institute (IPI)
Tel: + 43 1 512 9011
Fax: + 43 1 512 9014
E-mail: amills@freemedia.at
http://www.freemedia.at

Release of Writer Akhanlı Rejected for the Third Time

The Istanbul 9th High Criminal Court dismissed the request for the release of detained writer Erdoğan Akhanlı for the third time. Akhanlı was taken into custody under allegations of "connections to an armed organization" when he entered Turkey coming from Germany. Akhanlı has been detained in the Tekirdağ No.2 F Type Prison (west of Istanbul) since 10 August.

On Tuesday (31 August), the court rejected the request made by Akhanlı's lawyer Haydar Erol to lift the decision for his detention. The court had previously declined two other demands to release the writer.

When lawyer Erol asked the Istanbul 11th High Criminal Court for a copy of the indictment, the court replied that he could be given a copy only after the indictment will have been accepted.

Waiting for the start of the trial

Akhanlı lived in Germany for many years. Upon his return to Turkey, he was arrested because he had been allegedly involved in an attempted armed robbery. He stands accused of being connected to the "Turkish People's Liberation Party Re-Liberation Union People's Liberation Forces" organization and furthermore of having been involved in an attempted armed robbery on an exchange office.

Akhanlı is currently waiting for the decision of the Istanbul 11th High Criminal Court on the indictment prepared by the Istanbul Public Chief Prosecution. Once the court accepts the indictment it will also announce the date of the first hearing.

Son of robbery victim: Different photographs in the file

Laywer Erol criticises the detention upon the record of a photograph identification given by Mustafa Tutum eighteen years ago on 17 December 1992. Tutum is the son of Yaşar Tutum who died in the robbery.

According to information forwarded to bianet by the lawyer, Mustafa Tutum referred to the photograph of Akhanlı when it was to be added to the file on 27 August 2010 at the 11th High Criminal Court. In a written petition Tutum said: "This photograph had not been shown to me at the time. I saw this photo for the first time on 13 August 2010 at the Istanbul Police Directorate. I said very clearly then that the person on the picture was not one of the persons involved in the robbery. There is no resemblance between the people on the photographs and the people involved in the incident on 20 October 1989". (BIA, 2 September 2010)

RSF réagit contre la suspension de deux journaux kurdes

Reporters sans frontières regrette que des publications kurdes soient, une nouvelle fois, suspendues ou saisies sur la base de la loi antiterroriste n° N°3713 (LAT). La LAT permet à la justice turque de poursuivre et de condamner à de lourdes peines les journalistes des médias kurdes, entretenant ainsi une logique répressive à leur égard. Cette loi, que la Cour constitutionnelle refuse d’annuler ou même de remettre en question, a déjà valu à la Turquie plusieurs condamnations devant la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme.

Le quotidien Rojev s’est vu réduit au silence pour une période d’un mois, le jour même de la parution du numéro incriminé, le 28 août 2010. En vertu de l’article 6 de la LAT, la 11e chambre de la cour d’assises d’Istanbul a reproché à la direction du journal d’avoir utilisé une photographie d’un poster d’Abdullah Öcalan, leader du Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK), ainsi qu’une photographie du drapeau de l’organisation. Le PKK, en lutte armée contre la Turquie depuis 1984, figure sur la liste des organisations terroristes érigée par le gouvernement turc, l’Union européenne, le Canada et les Etats-Unis.

En vertu de l’article 25 du code de la presse, la 2e chambre du tribunal correctionnel de Mersin (sud de la Turquie) a ordonné la saisie du numéro 53 de la revue trimestrielle culturelle Güney, le 27 août dernier. Le tribunal a estimé que la revue faisait la propagande du PKK, suite à un article intitulé « Les droits des enfants kurdes, la prison », signé par Ali Dagdeviren. L’article critiquait la politique de l’Etat turc concernant le traitement réservé aux enfants kurdes, incarcérés en raison de la LAT, le nom du PKK n’était aucunement mentionné.

Le 24 août dernier, le seul quotidien kurde du pays, Azadiya Welat, a été suspendu par la 14e chambre de la cour d’assises d’Istanbul, en raison de la parution d’articles, de chroniques et de photographies. La cour n’a ni signalé les titres des articles incriminés ni donné d’indications précises sur les contenus « dérangeants » mais a ordonné la saisie de ce numéro du journal, le jour même.

Azadiya Welat, cible quotidienne des foudres du pouvoir, qu’il s’agisse de poursuites ou de saisies, est sanctionné pour la huitième fois depuis sa création, en 2006. Reporters sans frontières réitère son soutien aux anciens rédacteurs en chef du journal, Vedat Kursun et Ozan Kilinç, ainsi qu’aux autres journalistes des médias kurdes, emprisonnés et condamnés à de lourdes peines. Le cas de Vedat Kursun, condamné à plus de 166 ans de prison, est emblématique des dérives découlant de la LAT.

Reporters sans frontières rappelle l’expulsion, le 20 août dernier, du journaliste américain Jake Hess, après neuf jours de détention. « Les autorités turques ont justifié l’expulsion de Jake Hess et son interdiction d’entrée sur le territoire par le fait que son nom apparaissait dans le registre des personnes accusées d’entretenir des liens avec le PKK », a déclaré Serkan Akbas, l’avocat du journaliste.

En 2009, la Turquie a été condamnée douze fois par la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme pour des affaires de violation de la liberté d’expression. Près de 17% des arrêts rendus par la CEDH depuis 1959 concernent ce pays. (RSF, 2 septembre 2010)

La justice danoise inculpe la télé kurde Roj TV de soutien au PKK

La justice danoise a inculpé mardi la télévision kurde controversée Roj TV, basée à Copenhague, de soutien à une organisation terroriste, le PKK, le Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan, qui figure sur la liste des organisations terroristes de l'UE.

La procureure du royaume Lise-Lotte Nilas a pris cette décision à la suite d'une longue enquête entamée en 2005 sur les activités de cette télévision, constatant qu'elle enfreignait, par certaines de ses émissions, la loi sur le terrorisme.

"Nous avons examiné minutieusement une série d'émissions sur Roj TV, et notre évaluation d'ensemble est qu'elles ont un caractère de propagande pour le PKK qui est une organisation terroriste" a-t-elle souligné, dans un communiqué.
 Le ministre de la Justice, Lars Barfoed, a donné son aval à cette inculpation de soutien au terrorisme. Elle est basée "sur une évaluation de la police et de l'accusation publique selon laquelle une série de programmes de Roj TV promeuvent le PKK", a-t-il affirmé dans un communiqué.

 "Nous devons, en tant que société, faire tout ce qui est en notre pouvoir pour combattre le terrorisme et ses soutiens", a-t-il estimé.

 Roj TV, qui a commencé à diffuser ses émissions en 2004 vers 68 pays, est accusée de donner entre autres des temps d'antenne à des sympathisants du PKK.

Il appartient maintenant aux tribunaux de juger de la pertinence de ces accusations et d'"évaluer les activités de Roj TV qui fait depuis plusieurs années l'objet de débats" au Danemark, selon le ministre.

La Turquie a exhorté depuis des années le gouvernement danois à fermer cette télévision considérée comme unporte-parole du PKK et les Etats-Unis s'étaient également joints à cet appel en 2009. (AFP, 31 août 2010)

Two Kurdish Newspapers Banned, Güney Magazine Copies Seized

The Kurdish newspapers Azadiya Welat and Rojev and the left-wing Güney Magazine were banned under allegations of "spreading propaganda for a terrorist organization". The publication of both newspapers was suspended for a month, the copies of the Güney magazine were confiscated.

The Rojev newspaper had just resumed publishing after a long break on 24 August before the Istanbul 11th High Criminal Court decided for the one-month publication ban.

The decision is based on the 36th issue of the Kurdish paper published on 28 August which featured a picture of Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and a flag of the organization on the front page. Additionally, a chart depicting Öcalan and other members of the militant organization published on page eight of the same issue was given as a reason for the ban.

On 21 August, the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court suspended the publication of the Azadiya Welat newspaper, the only nation-wide Kurdish daily published in Turkey, on the grounds of "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization" and "praising criminals". Reason for the decision is the issue published on the very same day.

The paper's responsible editor-in-chief, M. Nedim Karadeniz, said that the newspaper "faced unlawful bans" for eight issues within the past four years the daily was published. He announced that only in 2010, the daily was closed down three times already.

"None of these suspension punishments were in line with universal law. As a matter of fact, Turkey was convicted by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in similar cases related to newspapers stemming from the tradition of the Free Press. Imagine a judiciary system where all the news and articles in the current issue of a twelve-page newspaper are considered a crime".

The decision is based on the Anti Terror Law which was not considered as opposing the Constitution by the Constitutional Court but was the reason for convictions at the ECHR. While the seizure was decided according to Article 25/2 of the Press Law (Confiscation and Prohibition of Distribution and Sale), the publication ban was based on Article 6/last paragraph (Disclosure and Publication) of the TMY.

Former Azadiya Welat chief editors Vedat Kurşun and Ozan Kılıç and Hawar newspaper official Bedri Adanır are still in prison.

Confiscation of Güney magazine

The issue of the first quarter of 2010 of the three-monthly Güney magazine was confiscated upon a decision of the Mersin 2nd Magistrate Criminal Court. However, the article does not mention the name of any illegal organization.

The police seized the copies on 26 August from the printing house of the magazine in Mersin (eastern Mediterranean coast), informing the staff about the confiscation decision. The police delivered a written notice about the court decision to the magazine's central office in the Esenyurt district of Istanbul.

The article entitled "Children Rights of (Kurdish) children in the dungeon" written by Ali Dağdeviren was given as the reason for the seizure. However, the article does not mention the name of any organization. The writing criticized the "treatment of thousands of Kurdish children" despite the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Declaration of the Rights of the Child both singed by the Turkish government.

A statement the magazine announced, "This mentality which fills prisons with thousands of children could not tolerate an article criticizing this situation" (BIA, Erol ÖNDEROĞLU, 31 August 2010)

Kurdish Question / Question kurde

DTK Co-president Tugluk met Ocalan at Imrali Prison

Aysel Tuğluk and two other lawyers met with jailed terrorist leader Abdullah Öcalan on İmralı Island on Monday in an effort to achieve a permanent cease-fire.

“I hope this meeting will be beneficial for our country and our rights,” said Tuğluk, co-chairwoman of the Democratic Society Congress, or DTK, a democratic platform established under the leadership of the now-closed Democratic Society Party, or DTP.

Tuğluk, a former DTP deputy, said earlier that the reason for the visit was to find a solution to the Kurdish problem and to achieve a "continuous and lasting peace," instead of a short break in attacks.

No further details regarding the content of the meeting had emerged when Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review went to press.

Öcalan, head of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and still influential in guiding the terrorist organization, was brought to İmralı Island after being sentenced to life in prison in 1999.

The visit came at a time when the civil initiative traffic between Ankara, İmrali Island, Washington and Arbil has intensified.

In an effort to achieve an extension of the cease-fire declared by the PKK, the government and leaders of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, met last Thursday, calling for continued dialogue and a new constitution.

The visit also came amid claims the government is talking with Öcalan.

In the international leg of the government’s efforts, meetings held in Washington by intelligence chief Hakan Fidan, and talks between Turkey’s Ambassador to Baghdad Murat Özçelik and Massoud Barzani, president of the regional Kurdish administration, in the Iraqi city of Arbil have been of critical significance.

Tuğluk, accompanied by lawyers Doğan Erbaş and Aydın Oruç, came to İmralı on Monday to meet with the terrorist leader after taking on the case following a five-year break.

The lawyers were observed bringing books, newspapers and magazines to give to Öcalan.

The three lawyers, after going through security, were taken to the island with a boat rented by the Justice Ministry.(Hürriyet Daily News, September 27, 2010)

Prison avec sursis pour le co-président du BDP Demirtas

Un tribunal de Diyarbakir (sud-est de la Turquie) a condamné mardi le dirigeant du principal parti pro-kurde de Turquie à 10 mois de prison avec sursis pour propagande séparatiste.

Les juges ont décidé que Selahattin Demirtas, le co-président du parti pour la paix et la démocratie (BDP), avait fait l'apologie d'une "organisation terroriste", en l'occurence le Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK, interdit), lorsqu'il a déclaré en 2007 sur une chaîne kurde émettant en Europe que le chef rebelle kurde emprisonné Abdullah Öcalan était le leader du peuple kurde.

Le tribunal a d'abord annoncé un verdict d'un an de prison, puis l'a réduit à 10 mois en raison de la bonne conduite de l'accusé lors du procès.

Il a aussi décidé de surseoir à l'exécution de la peine, ordonnant une mise à l'épreuve de cinq ans.

M. Demirtas, qui est député et qui bénéficie de ce fait d'une immunité parlementaire, n'ira de toute façon pas en prison. Il n'était pas présent à l'audience et ses avocats ont droit de faire appel.

Ce verdict intervient alors que le gouvernement turc cherche le dialogue avec les Kurdes pour clore 26 ans de conflit avec une multiplication des démarches en Turquie mais aussi avec une offensive diplomatique aux Etats-Unis et en Irak. (AFP, 28 sept 2010)

Le premier dialogue entre le gouvernement et le BDP

Le gouvernement turc a affiché jeudi l'espoir d'un règlement du conflit kurde par le dialogue à l'occasion d'une rencontre exceptionnelle avec des politiciens considérés proches des rebelles kurdes.

"Nous estimons qu'aucun de nos problèmes n'est insoluble et qu'il y a de la place pour les résoudre sans effusion de sang (...) dès lors que nous considérons la démocratie et le droit comme des outils importants", a déclaré le vice-Premier ministre Cemil Cicek après la réunion.

"Nous sommes en faveur d'une continuation du dialogue. Nous espérons qu'une nouvelle page va s'ouvrir dans ce contexte", a-t-il déclaré à la presse après avoir rencontré avec le ministre de la Justice, Sadullah Ergin, les représentants du Parti pour la paix et la démocratie (BDP), prokurde.

Rappelant que la Turquie venait d'adopter en septembre des amendements constitutionnels visant à renforcer la démocratie, M. Cicek a assuré qu'Ankara était déterminé à engager de nouvelles réformes car "beaucoup des problèmes actuels découlent de la Constitution".

Le président du BDP Selahattin Demirtas a souligné que ces changements devaient inclure la reconnaissance d'une autonomie et de plus vastes droits linguistiques pour les Kurdes.

"L'atmosphère est positive (...) La rencontre a créé des bases pour une intensification des efforts en vue d'une solution politique", a-t-il estimé.

Il a indiqué que "certains contacts étaient établis" avec le chef emprisonné du PKK Abdullah Öcalan, sans donner plus de détails. (AFP, 23 sept 2010)

BDP asks Ankara to take key peace steps

The Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, called for an end to military operations, the inclusion of the pro-Kurdish party in the solution process and stronger messages from the prime minister about negotiation for the new constitution, which it asked that the government not postpone until after the 2011 general elections.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan meanwhile ruled out offering education in Kurdish language at schools, one of the other demands that have been raised by the BDP.

“Don’t expect education in native languages from us, I say to those who demand education in mother tongues. Turkey’s official language is Turkish,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told a meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, on Friday.

The government has given permission for language courses where people can learn Kurdish, Erdoğan said, calling other demands exploitative. The prime minister also said everyone should be prepared to make a new constitution and addressed claims that the government has opened up a dialogue with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

“We don’t have any fantasy of meeting with the terrorist organization,” he said.

The PKK has been listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Following the meeting Thursday between BDP co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Gültan Kışanak and Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek and Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin, BDP deputy leader Nihat Oğraş told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review that the party expected the government “to take steps within seven to 10 days.”

A second meeting with the government was also expected within a week, Oğraş added.

According to information obtained by the Daily News, the BDP suggested that the new constitution be created through dialogue with the public and by creating a commission if necessary. The party also suggested that the framing of the new constitution could be the start to a more negotiation-oriented solution to the Kurdish issue.

Oğraş: ‘We are waiting for a response’

Speaking to the Daily News immediately after Erdoğan’s speech on Thursday, Oğraş said: “The government took note. They said that relevant authorities would evaluate [our requests]. Developments now depend on the approach of the government.”

Stating that the BDP had not determined the conditions of the PKK’s cease-fire, he added that the terrorist organization would not continue with its period of non-action if military operations continue.

“If they want to silence the guns, they have to talk to the PKK and [its imprisoned leader Abdullah] Öcalan. You need to talk to those with the guns; it is in vain to expect a cease-fire through the BDP,” Oğraş said.

“[The government] needs to set up a dialogue mechanism. We are expecting tangible actions from the government” regarding the BDP’s suggestions, he said.

Responding to the prime minister’s statement about Kurdish-language education, Oğraş said: “We are disappointed. And we need to evaluate how this will affect the current environment and how Öcalan will evaluate this.”

The BDP is set to discuss a broad spectrum of issues at various party meetings throughout the week. Its co-leaders have stated that they prefer to not discuss issues with the government through the media so as not to damage the dialogue process.

“We are going through a sensitive time. We must be patient,” said BDP Şırnak representative Hasip Kaplan. “We will evaluate the prime minister’s statement within the party.”

Reactions from the MHP, CHP

The Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, approached the meeting between the government and the BDP with suspicion. Describing the meeting as a negotiation with the PKK, the MHP’s Mehmet Şandır said, “Now we will see which concessions the government will give to the PKK.”

“The MHP will never lend its support to the constitution works planned to meet the requirements of the PKK,” Şandır told the Anatolia news agency Friday.

Atilla Kart of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, said Friday that the meeting and dialogue was a positive development, while expressing his party’s concerns about the criterion for the planned new constitution.

“The framework of the planned constitution shouldn’t be drawn during the meeting. It will inevitably lead to a deadlock to draw the framework and impose it on the public,” he said. “The new constitution should be based on social consensus.”(Daily News, September 24, 2010)

Erdogan said no to education in mother language

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected Kurdish politicians demands for education in mother language.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Turkish is the only language of education in Turkey and rejected Kurdish politicians demands for education in mother language.

Speaking in a meeting with local party officials Erdogan said no to education in Kurdish. He said Turkish is the only language in Turkey's education system.

Therefore Erdogan rejected a key demand of Kurdish politicians.

Kurdish politicians are pressing the Turkish government for constitutional reforms which will pave the way for education in Kurdish in Turkey's schools.

Kurdish students are now boycotting schools since Monday, demanding education in Kurdish.

The boycott will end today according to the TZPKurdi (Movement for Kurdish Language and Education). (ANF, 24 September 2010)

DTK Declaration Entails Investigation over Kurdish Politicians

An investigation has been launched over Ahmet Türk and Aysel Tuğluk, co-chairs of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), writer Altan Tan as a Member of the DTK Permanent Assembly, lawyer Meral Atasoy, DTK spokesman Cemal Çoşkun and Tülay Özdemir.

The Diyarbakır Special Authority Prosecution initiated the probe after the paper of results was issued subsequent to the DTK Permanent Assembly Meeting.

The DTK Permanent Assembly Meeting was held in the south-eastern city of Diyarbakır on 21-22 August. The paper of results was published on 23 August.

Kurdish politician Türk had read out the paper on behalf of the congress and was accompanied by Tuğluk, Tan, Atasoy, Coşkun and Özdemir in attendance. The prosecution called all of them to give their statements. (BIA, Erol ÖNDEROĞLU, 23 September 2010)

Ahmet Türk Makes Barzani and Talabani Responsible for Peace In Turkey

ERBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan - As the militant group-Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)- has extended its unilateral ceasefire for one more week, the former leader of the major Kurdish party of Turkey, Ahmet Türk, is putting part of the responsibly for a prolonged peace between Turkey and its Kurds on the Iraqi Kurdish leaders.

Prolonging peace between the Kurds and Turks of Turkey is a “first-and-foremost responsibility” of every Kurd in particular President Talabani and President Barzani, said Türk, after he paid a visit earlier this month to Iraqi Kurdistan meeting with top leaders.

“They can work on the [Kurdish] issue at a political and diplomatic level with Turkey,” said Türk, who was banned along with his Democratic Society Party (DTP) from politics by Turkish Constitutional Court for alleged ties with the PKK.

The extension of the ceasefire and Türk’s call come 9 days after a landmark referendum Turkey held to reform constitution which will largely transform the judiciary from a bureaucratic body to a democratic one.

The Turkish judicial power, which has long been dominated by the military, has closed several Kurdish parties as well as Islamic parties.

But from now on, this would become less likely since the ruling party, currently an Islamic-oriented one, will play key role in appointing the judges.

Before the referendum, deputy leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) said that his party would do more to achieve Kurdish demands, if the referendum was vote yes. And It was approved.

Now people, including the European Union which has been happy with the approval of the reform, hopes to see a more serious move to be taken by the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan to reform the life of the long discriminated Kurds living in the Southeast and the South.

Asked whether he meant that the Kurdish leaders have to pressure Turkey to meet Kurdish demands, Türk replied: “We don't call that pressure. We just say have a talk with Turkey about this issue.”

Türk said that the people of Turkey have been influenced by the “chauvinist” policies of the successive Turkish governments and the political system in general, fostering an anti-Kurdish culture among the Turks.

Türk did hardly have hope in Erdogan to be sincere to solve the Kurdish question.

“We don’t want to lose hope. But I don’t really see a lot of improvement,” said Türk, adding that he and other Kurdish figures have agreed to push the PKK to prolong its ceasefire in order to give Erdogan “no excuse” to stop his pledged reforms. (rudaw.net, Sept 21, 2010)

Zana called all parties in Kurdistan to help building permanent peace

Former MP of Democracy Party (DEP) Leyla Zana called Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to put more efforts in building permanent peace.

Speaking in a panel on UN Peace Day of 21 September in Duhok city of Federal Kurdistan Region, Leyla Zana said KRG should take more responsibility on Kurdish Question in Turkey. She said KRG has to show more efforts in building a permanent peace in Kurdistan.

Reminding the Turkish military operations despite the peace efforts from Kurds Zana said “Kurdish side declared a ceasefire in holy Ramadan. However, the Turkish state responded them with military operations. Turkey should appreciate these ceasefire days. Shedding blood is not good and cannot be the solution. And it should be known that the lives of the youth are more important than ours. "

Kurdish children are deprived of mother tongue education

Mentioning the school boycott campaign started by the Kurdish Linguistic Rights Movement (TZP) on 20 September Leyla Zana said "Kurdish still cannot receive education in their mother tongue. Kurdish children have to sing nationalistic Turkish anthems every morning before starting the classes. They are forced to say I am Turk, I am right, I am hardworking. This ruins their personality. Children growing under these circumstances face personality problems in future and deny their identity."

At the end of the panel the organiser Keskesor Organisation presented Leyla Zana “Mutual Life and Peace Prize” award. (ANF,21 September 2010)

School Boycott for Education in Mother Tongue

Many schools in Turkey's pre-dominantly Kurdish region of the south-eastern Anatolia started a one-week school boycott at the beginning of the new school year. The students claim their right to education in their mother tongue. The Movement for Research on the Kurdish Language, Development and Education (TZP- Kurdî) called for the boycott form 20-24 September.

As reported by the Fırat News Agency, the classrooms of many schools in Diyarbakır, Urfa, Van, Ağrı, Iğdır, Muş, Bitlis, Erzurum and Kars stayed empty on Monday morning (20 September). It was said that the police went to schools in certain regions to obtain data from the principles about the absent students.

In Van for instance, schools in the city centre and in eleven districts joined the boycott. TZP-Kurdî, the Education and Science Workers' Union (Eğitim-Sen), Ankara Kurdish Democracy and the Association for Culture and Solidarity (Kurdi-Der) issued a joint press release in front of the centrally located Domlupınar Primary School. Kurdi-Der Branch President Galip Garip Yaviç said that education in the mother tongue is a right granted by international agreements. Yet, in a country where Kurds are living this right has been deprived, he criticized.

In Urfa, it was said in a press releases that "education in the mother tongue is a fundamental human right". District Mayor Mustafa Bayram from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) announced: "The Kurdish people do not remain silent on the attempted infliction of assimilation of language on them. We will answer this attempt with using our mother tongue in every field".

President Gül: Do not exploit children for your issue

President Abdullah Gül disapproved of the boycott and addressed the parents of the students: "Do not exploit your children for this issue". Gül held a press conference in the Turkish House in New York since he is currently attending the 65th General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) in the USA.

Answering the journalists' questions on the school boycott he said: "Turkey should withdraw from this sort of topics, the country should get rid of these discussions. Terrorism does not advance any kind of matter, it does not facilitate the solution for any problem, it hinders work that is already brought on its way".

Gül: "Dissuasive effect on investments in the region"

President Gül continued: "Of course our region needs improvement of the infrastructure and more investments. But investments are not being made in regions with this kind of incidents and this sort of agenda; business people will stay away and factories will not be opened. Turkish business people go to Northern Iraq to make business, the create employment and production. But they do not revert to their own country if it is in such a commotion. The ones who are troubled are the people in the region, i.e. our Kurdish fellow citizens. Nevertheless, everybody living in Istanbul, Diyarbakır, Hakkari or Edirne is living in Turkey. In this respect I want to call upon our citizens and upon all our citizens in that region. They should not allow having their children exploited for this kind of issue. If they enlist their children for their cause while we are striving for a bright future of the children, they are causing the biggest harm to them".

Mehmet Ali Şahin, President of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TMBB), told journalists in Ankara: "Nobody should make politics at the expense of children. Our children should not be used for political aims".

Eğitim-Sen: Ministry's circular thought-provoking

Abdullah Karahan, President of the Eğitim-Sen Diyarbakır Branch, argued: "Up to now, the schools have never been surveyed on the first day. The schools in Diyarbakır are surveyed for the first time this year".

Karahan talked to bianet about the school boycott. He criticized the circular sent out by the National Education Ministry which ordered to register the names of the students who are absent during the boycott:

"In previous years, no surveys were done on the first day of school. This year it is being done. The Ministry sent a circular to the schools. The administration's approach to register who comes to school and who does not shows us that our boycott is effective. It means that the people of the administration are irritated; you might say the administration is anxious. I do not know whether the administration issued the circular to prepare index cards on the students. But keeping this kind of record has been practiced by the state for the past 80 years. It is thought-provoking that schools are surveyed on the first day", Karahan indicated.(BIA, Semra PELEK, 21 September 2010)

Le PKK prolonge sa trêve contre les forces turques

Les rebelles kurdes de Turquie ont annoncé lundi avoir prolongé jusqu'à une date encore indéterminée leur trêve contre les forces de sécurité turques, selon l'agence pro-kurde Firat.

Le PKK avait déclaré un arrêt dans ses opérations, le mois dernier, qui devait s'achever ce lundi.

Dans une déclaration, l'aile militaire du PKK indique que le mouvement annoncera "la semaine prochaine" sa décision finale sur cette trêve qui restera en vigueur jusqu'à cette date, selon l'agence.

"La trêve que nous avons déclarée le 13 août prend fin aujourd'hui (lundi). Malgré des violences, elle est néanmoins importante", souligne le PKK, assurant que la trêve reste pour l'instant en vigueur.

Des violences ont émaillé cette période de trêve, dont la plus sanglante est intervenue jeudi dans le sud-est du pays.

Neuf villageois ont été tués par l'explosion d'une mine, dans le minibus dans lequel ils voyageaient à Hakkari. Selon les autorités turques, l'attaque est l'oeuvre des rebelles qui ont toutefois rejeté toute responsabilité.

Généralement, le PKK rejette toute implication lorsque ses actions coûtent volontairement ou accidentellement la vie à des civils, une manière d'éviter la réprobation populaire. (AFP, 20 sept 2010)

Ocalan: Hakkari bombing undermined negotiations

Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan says the attack that killed 10 civilians in Hakkari undermined the negotiations between Turkish officials and himself.

In recent meeting with his lawyers Abdullah Ocalan said the real target of the assailants of the Hakkari attacks is the negotiations between Turkish officials and himself in Imralı island.

Ocalan said he was shocked when he first heard about the incident and insisted that it has similarities with the bombing in Guclukonak, a district of Van.

On 15 January 1996, 11 Kurds were killed by unidentified gunmen in a minibus near Guclukonak. The assailants set the minibus on fire after shooting the victims.

"If the government and the army agreed an offensive against Kurds, this is very dangerous. This is a rehearsal of a genocide. This means Hakkari is particularly a target of the state now. This is a siege of Hakkari, like the siege of Dersim" he said.

"We have to be on alert. If this is a planned act of the government and the army they will continue this kind of attacks until Hakkari surrenders"

"They boycotted the referendum. They could have been targeted for this honorable choice"

Ocalan added that the investigation of the Hakkari attack is very important and everybody should do everything on their side to find those who are responsible.

Kurdish leader said the negotiations continue in Imrali. He said he was really hopeful about the negotiations with the Turkish officials.

"This bombing is maybe a sign of the rupture between the state organs. This kind of attacks may happen as as result of conflicts between elements of the state. Some well-intentioned elements may not be aware of this. But nevertheless I don't want to blame only one side. Maybe the Prime Minister wasn't aware of the attack" he said.

"The target may be the negotiations with me. Really meaningful negotiations took place here. Maybe they could have led to meaningful results. It's very engrossing that the attack in Hakkari was carried out during this process."

Ocalan also underlined that it's the Turkish governments responsibility to investigate the attack. He warned the government that all the possible positive developments are dependent to the investigation.

He said that local as well as international powers could be behind the attack and every possibility should be taken into consideration very carefully.

Ocalan made remarks about the killing of nine guerrillas who were killed by the Turkish army last week in Hakkari.

He described the killing of 10 guerrillas with a large scale and well coordinated attack by the Turkish army, as a very worrying sign.

Kurdish leader said the the killing of guerrillas and the minibus bombing took place in Hakkari and this may be evident to a planned siege against Hakkari.

Ocalan said if the attack is a planned act by the Turkish state then the ceasefire declared by the Kurdistan Workers Party is meaningless. (ANF, 19 September 2010)

More than 150 intellectuals signed appeal for dialogue

186 Turkish and Kurdish intellectuals, academics and activists called the Turkish government and opposition parties to establish dialogue with Peace and Democracy Party (BDP).

Prominent intellectual figures like Yasar Kemal, Murathan Mungan, Latife Tekin and Ahmet Umit are among the 186 figures who issued a collective statement.

The statement said the armed conflict must end to pave the the way for a democratic solution of the Kurdish Question and called the extension of ceasefire declared by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

The intellectuals also said unilateral efforts for a solution is not enough and called Turkish government and opposition parties to establish dialogue with the BDP. They also said the responsibilities of the BPD is greater than ever in terms of bringing peace to the country.

The statement also underlined the fact that Kurdish Question is not a local but a general problem of Turkey.

"The attack which left 10 of our citizens dead must not be an obstacle peace efforts" the statement read.

Some of the undersigned are:  Ahmet Ümit (writer), Aslı Erdoğan(writer), Berna Yazıcı (writer), Prof. Betül Tanbay, Prof. Binnaz Toprak, Celal Başlangıç (journalist), Ece Temelkuran (writer / journalist), Hüsnü Öndül (human rights activist, Doç. Jülide Kural (writer), Murathan Mungan (poet), Doç. Nuray Mert (journalist), Oya Baydar(writer), Sezgin Tanrıkulu(human rights activist), Sırrı Süreyya Önder(writer / director), Tarık Ziya Ekinci(writer), Yaşar Kemal(writer). (ANF, 19 September 2010)

10 blessés dans un nouvel attentat dans le sud-est

Dix personnes, dont six policiers, ont été blessées vendredi dans un attentat à la bombe dans le sud-est de la Turquie survenu au lendemain de l'explosion d'une mine qui a coûté la vie à neuf villageois kurdes, a indiqué une source officielle locale.

Les autorités locales soupçonnent les rebelles kurdes d'être les auteurs de cet attentat survenu à Yüksekova, dans la province de Hakkari, à l'extrême sud-est de la Turquie, à la frontière avec l'Iran et l'Irak.

Quatre policiers sont dans un état grave, a souligné cette source à l'AFP sous couvert d'anonymat.

La bombe placée près d'un arrêt de taxi a explosé alors que des milliers de personnes défilaient sur l'artère principale de Yüksekova après avoir assisté aux funérailles de deux des villageois tués la veille dans un attentat contre un minibus transportant des civils dans un village de Hakkari.

Avant l'explosion, la foule s'est heurtée à la police anti-émeutes à coups de pierres. La police a riposté avec des canons à eau et des grenades lacrymogène avant de tirer en l'air pour disperser les manifestants.

Le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan a assuré que l'attentat de jeudi ne resterait pas impuni et a pointé du doigt le Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK).

L'aile militaire de ce mouvement a néanmoins rejeté tout responsabilité dans l'attaque du minibus, mettant en cause des éléments au sein de l'Etat turc chargés, selon elle, de créer des désordres dans cette zone qui est le théâtre depuis longtemps de combats entre le PKK et les forces de sécurité. (AFP, 17 sept 2010)

Nobel Peace laureate urges for dialogue between the Government and the Kurds

Members of the Independent Commission on Turkey, including a Nobel Peace laureate, met with representatives of civil society in the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakır on Tuesday, followed by meetings with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President Abdullah Gül and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu on Wednesday in İstanbul.

Members of the commission, which include former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari, former Spanish Foreign Minister Marcelino Oreja Aguirre and former Austrian Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Albert Rohan, said their current visit to Turkey is for the purpose of supporting Turkey’s EU membership, but they also exchanged views with Kurdish intellectuals concerning methods of dialogue for a solution. The commission is a joint project of the Open Society Foundation-Turkey and the British Council.

The visit of the commission took place at a crucial time, a few days before the Sept. 20 deadline of a unilaterally declared cease-fire by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The PKK declared that it would stop its terrorist attacks until Sept. 20 and set conditions to prolong the de-escalation of hostilities; the conditions are lowering the 10 percent election threshold, accepting Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the PKK, as an interlocutor and releasing pro-Kurdish politicians arrested for allegedly being members of the urban extension of the PKK.

The members of the commission, while meeting with the various representatives of civil society organizations, underlined that to find a solution there should be unity among the Kurds based on certain clear principles and that any demands should be defined very clearly.

The participants said they decided not to disclose the details of the meeting but stressed that members of the commission told them that Turkey should solve the Kurdish problem in order to join the EU.

“It can be a new beginning. The meeting gave us hope. If there are positive outcomes from meetings with government officials, I think they will visit Turkey more frequently as facilitators for a solution to the problem,” a participant at the meeting who is from Diyarbakır told Today’s Zaman.

Meanwhile a written statement from the Open Society Foundation on Tuesday underlined that the aim of the group is not “mediating.” “The information and the impression of the commission from Diyarbakır will contribute to their third report on Turkey,” the statement said. (Today's Zaman, Ayse Karabat, 17 September 2010)

Confidential Turkish government, BDP meeting postponed

The government has postponed a confidential meeting with the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, scheduled on Thursday after a land mine thought to set be by terrorists exploded and caused the death of 10 people in Hakkari.

“Only those who were listening in on our telephones were aware of this meeting. Ergenekon is still alive and will be revealed if this incident is clarified. The government holds the provocateurs’ hands,” BDP leader Selahattin Demirtaş said at a press conference Thursday.

The BDP had approached the government to discuss the cease-fire of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The agenda of the meeting was to be the constitutional changes and the latest political issues, Demirtaş said.

“The government replied to our request positively. We were to meet with Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek and Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin at 2 p.m. on Thursday at Parliament. However, the government postponed the meeting after the explosion,” Demirtaş said. He said this government couldn’t solve the problem.

President Abdullah Gül, in response to the Hakkari attack, said: “We won’t leave our citizens alone to the terrorist organization. The aim of terror is obvious. We condemn terror.”

DTK to meet president and main opposition party

The Democratic Society Congress, or DTK, an umbrella organization for Kurdish politicians and activists, will meet with the president and the main opposition party leader to discuss the PKK’s cease-fire.

“Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, [leader of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP] will meet with the DTK when he returns from Brussels. President Gül also replied positively to our request for an appointment; the date has not been scheduled yet,” BDP deputy Akın Birdal told Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Thursday. (Daily News, September 16, 2010)


Tens of thousands attend PKK funerals in SE Turkey

Around 50,000 people participate in the funerals for PKK members in Şırnak’s İdil district Tuesday. DHA photo
Tens of thousands of people attended funerals Tuesday and Wednesday in the southeastern provinces of Şırnak and Hakkari for members of an outlawed group killed in a clash last week.

Beytullah Özkan, one of nine members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, killed in the Sept. 6 clash, was buried in Hakkari on Wednesday in a funeral that drew roughly 40,000 mourners.

The PKK is recognized as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Shop owners in the provincial center refused to open their stores out of protest at the militants’ deaths, although Beytullah Özkan’s father, Selam Özkan, later asked them to open their stores after thanking them for their gesture.

Around 100 people assigned by the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, took precautions on the way to the cemetery.

At the same time, the angry mourners issued chants of “revenge” and carried PKK flags during the funeral while Özkan’s casket was bedecked with the PKK flag and yellow, red and green stripes.

Speaking at the funeral, BDP Hakkari Deputy Hamit Geylani said Özkan was a “martyr” and added that the crowd was bidding him farewell on his path to eternity and heaven.

The man’s funeral ended without incident but minor clashes between protesters and the police occurred afterwards in the neighborhoods of Dağgöl and Pehlivan.

Meanwhile, 50,000 people participated in the funerals for PKK members Uğur Kar, Yusuf Şahin and Hasan Duru in Şırnak’s İdil district Tuesday.

Kar was buried in İdil while the caskets of Şahin and Duru were taken to the districts of Cizre and Silopi by mourners.

Posters of the PKK’s convicted leader, Abdullah Öcalan, were carried throughout the march while mourners also shouted pro-PKK slogans.

The funeral ended without incident although a group reportedly later clashed with police on İdil’s Adile Naşit Street and allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at local teacher’s lodgings.

The PKK declared a unilateral cease-fire for the month of Ramadan but several clashes have occurred between it and the Turkish military, the biggest of which was the Sept. 6 conflagration.  The cease-fire is due to end Sept. 20.(Daily News with wires, September 15, 2010)

PIK: Real challenges will still need to be addressed
  
Noting the results of Sunday's referendum, Peace in Kurdistan Campaign reiterates its position that Turkey's democratization ultimately requires a completely new, civilian constitution and, perhaps even more importantly, a democratic solution to the Kurdish issue.  Talk of genuine democracy in Turkey will not be possible until these two fundamental requirements are met. 

Turkey's current constitution was drafted and its ratification was rammed through by the repressive military junta that came to power through a military coup on September 12, 1980.  As Human Rights Watch has noted, "Numerous provisions of the current [Turkish] constitution restrict human rights and fundamental freedoms, and a new constitution must be a priority."  The current 'coup constitution,' as it is widely known, also contains an ethnic definition of citizenship that defines all citizens of Turkey as ethnic Turks.  This has provided a legal foundation for unjust ethnic discrimination and repression of Kurds and other non-Turkish peoples.  Peace in Kurdistan believes that a new constitution must include a civic and non-ethnic definition of citizenship that upholds the rights of all communities, including the Kurds.

For true democracy to take hold, other Turkish laws, especially the Anti-Terror Law and Law of 2006, which have been extensively criticized by international human rights organizations, must be abolished, as should the notorious Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code on "insulting Turkishness".  These provisions provide a legal framework for the criminalization of peaceful, non-violent dissent, and are frequently used to facilitate state repression of journalists, human rights defenders, and political activists.

Peace in Kurdistan reiterates its position that the Turkish government's refusal to support a peaceful, democratic, negotiated solution to the Kurdish issue is at the heart of the country's ongoing crisis of democracy and human rights.  Turkey will not know peace as long as it refuses to recognize the basic democratic rights of its citizens.  The Turkish state has refused to recognized the PKK's numerous unilateral ceasefires and proposals for a negotiated solution, and has engaged in mass arrests of Kurdish political activists even while claiming it is searching for a negotiated settlement.

We call on the Turkish government to immediately cease its military and political operations against the Kurdish political movement and to urgently begin a comprehensive conflict resolution process involving all relevant political actors, including the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, and the BDP.  The EU and US can contribute to peace efforts by ending their criminalization of the Kurdish movement and by halting arms shipments to Turkey.  We call on people of conscience everywhere to stand with the Kurds as they come under attack from all directions. (estella24@tiscali.co.uk, Sept 14, 2010)

Kurdish Action To Boycott Turkish Schools

Movement for Kurdish Language and Education (TZP-Kurdi) called on Kurds to boycott Turkish schools between 20-25 September.

"Turkish Republic denied Kurdish identity and language in all aspects. Since there are no official recognition of Kurdish language in the Turkish constitution the Kurdish culture is at risk" TZP-Kurdi representative Adil Ercan said.  He called Kurdish students to boycott Turkish schools between 20-25 September and families to support their children.

"Every Kurdish mother must teach her children Kurdish. Don't send your children to kindergartens until the age of six. The kindergartens are assimilation tools for Turkish state" he said.

Ercan reminded Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's remarks about assimilation that labels assimilation as a crime against humanity and said that Turkish government is committing the very same crime.  "If a language dies, a nation starts to die" he added.

TZP-Kurdi called all NGO's and democratic institutions to support the boycott campaign. The boycott of Turkish schools was a decision of TZP-Kurdish Conference which took place in Diyarbakir, last month.

TZP-Kurdi activists will also present petitions to Regional Education Boards demanding education in Kurdish in elementary schools and kindergartens.(ANF, 13 September 2010)

Court of Appeals Approved Sentence against 54 Mayors

The Court of Appeals 9th Criminal Chamber approved the sentences imposed on 56 mayors of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP). The mayors had been convicted because of advocating against the closure of the Kurdish Roj TV channel broadcasted from Denmark. The DTP was closed by the Constitutional Court in December 2009.

The 54 mayors were sentenced to imprisonment of three months each by the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court on 15 April 2008. They had sent a joint letter to Anders Fogh Rasmussen, then Prime Minister of Denmark, requesting not to close down the satellite channel Roj TV. The mayors were convicted of "praising crime and a criminal".

Sentence although Denmark claimed "lack of evidence"

The court punished the defendants according to article 215 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) (praising crime and a criminal) and mitigated the sentences to two months and 15 days. The penalties were converted into a monetary fine of 875 YTL (approx. € 435) to be paid by each defendant based on article 52/ 2 of the TCK. Three mayors were acquitted, among them one DTP member and two members of the Social Democratic Populist Party (SHP).

No other case had yet been opened against Roj TV at the time. Furthermore, the Denmark Media Secretary had sent a report to the Diyarbakır Court saying, "We have no evidence that the channel violated the Danish publication laws". However, the court decreed for the conviction of the mayors. This decision has now been approved by the Court of Appeals.

Trial against Roj TV in Denmark

Eventually, the Danish Public Prosecutor, Jörgen Steen Sörensen, filed a criminal complaint against Roj TV and the Mesopotamian Broadcast Company, both operating from Denmark, on the grounds of "supporting activities of the PKK", the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party which is listed as a terrorist organization by the EU, the UN, the USA and other states and international organizations.

After six years of investigation, the prosecution demanded the closure of the channel, according to article 114 of the Danish Criminal Law stipulating that "a person, a group or an organization shall be punished for activities that aim at terror actions". (BIA, Erol ÖNDEROĞLU, 13 September 2010)

9 guerrillas shot dead, BDP cancelled all celebrations

The residents of Van and Yüksekova, a district of Hakkari, marked Ramadan as ‘Black Holiday’ since nine bodies of allegedly People’s Defense Forces’ (HPG) members were brought to Van hospital while all Muslims in Turkey and all around the world ready to celebrate Ramadan. In addition, the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) cancelled all celebration programs due to the casualties despite cease-fire of PKK. According to allegations, nine people were killed during the large scale operation of Turkish Military Forces (TSK) in rural areas of Hakkari.

Nine dead bodies claimed to be of HPG members were sent to Malatya today. Turkish army says all were killed in a single clash before yesterday in Mount Kato, northwest of Hakkari. Their identities remain unknown.

People’ Initiative of Van called residents to take possession of the death bodies while BDP cancelled all celebrations. Nihat Oğraş, Vice-co-chair of BDP, stated that Kurds will not celebrate this holiday since their people were killed on the mountains despite their cease-fire announcement. Besides that according to his explanation DTP declared day of mourning in Hakkari and Şırnak where the conflict occurred and nine Kurds were killed.

Selahattin Demirtaş, Co-Chair of BDP, has also statement over the latest casualties. Demirtaş considered the military operations in feast period as provocation of AKP administrations: “We want explanation from AKP for this operation. If there is no information, PM needs to make it clear. Otherwise we intend to believe that PM R. Tayyip Erdoğan is part of this provocation. Who can provoke this term which is an opportunity for peace.

On the other hand, Human Rights Association Hakkari Branch made a call on government to speak directly with Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK): “The latest operation caused nine Kurds death is work of someone who doesn’t want brother ship and peace to be developed in the region. The government should end the operations and work for peace, immediately.

Many organizations and associations also criticized the operations just before religious holiday and despite unilateral cease-fire of PKK while sending holiday greeting cards to President, Prime Minister and Chief of Defence Staff in İstanbul, Peace Mothers demanded consideration of ceasefire decision and an end for military operations.

Mothers said that: “The armed conflict atmosphere gave rise to over 30 thousand loss of lives, devastation of thousands of villages and forests, nature destruction under the cover of dams, exile of millions of people from their lands and economical, social and political impressions on all people in our geography. Following 1 September World Peace Day; as Peace Mothers, we now want to pass our feast without sorrow, tears and in peace, brotherhood, democracy and freedom. And therefore we demand the consideration of inertia decision of KCK (Kurdistan Democratic Confederation) that will last till 20 September, an end for military operations and release of imprisoned children. The inertia decision of PKK, which will end soon, (Kurdistan Workers Party) mustn’t be wasted.”

Another call to government for peace and to end the operations came from Emine Ayna, Deputy of BDP: “Erdogan's brain works in a 'fascist and racist' way. Kurdish mothers still cries after their sons while Turkish mothers’ sons’ lives are spared by the PKK. There can be no peace while a Kurdish mother’ tears don't stop.”

Ayna also criticized the referendum: “A constitution which says 'one nation-one language' will never help democratization of the country. We won't vote and say 'yes' for a constitution like this" she said. (DIHA, September 8, 2010)

Lawyer Rişvanoğlu on Trial for Comments on Kurdish Question

The former President of the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD) Adana Branch, Şiar Rişvanoğlu, at the same time editorial manager of the Gerçek (Truth) newspaper and the Devrimci Marksizm (Revolutionary Marxism) magazine, has always been advocating for 'crimes of thought', yet he is prosecuted for is thoughts himself now.

Rişvanoğlu pleaded the cases of writers Temel Demirer, Sibel Özbudun and Sungur Savran who had similar cases opened against them. He was also involved in the cases concerned with Turkish-Armenian writer Hrant Dink, Uğur Kaymaz and the Şemdinli bombing, cases that receive a huge public interest. This time, it will be Rişvanoğlu himself who is in the dock of the "Special Authority" High Criminal Court.

Acquitted for writing, tried for speech

Rişvanoğlu will be tried at the Special Authority 6th High Criminal Court of Adana (eastern Mediterranean coast) on 16 September. The Adana Lawyers Initiative for Freedom of Thought issued a statement to support Rişvanoğlu. They called all progressive and democratic lawyers and the revolutionary public to support the lawyer's defence.

Charges of "praising crime and a criminal" had previously been pressed against Rişvanoğlu on the grounds of his article entitled "The Kurdish people are on their feet... Listen to their voice" published in the İşçi Mücadelesi (Worker's Struggle) magazine in November 2008. He was acquitted.

Sued for mentioning suspicious death of Alataş

Three investigations have been launched into different speeches of Rişvanoğlu, i.e. his utterances in a program on the Kurdish ROJ TV channel, a speech delivered on 21 February at the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Yüreğir District Congress and a press release related to Metin Alataş, distributor of the Kurish daily Azadiya Welat who was found hung in a tree in an orange plantation in Adana in April this year.

While the investigations into the speech and the press release were dropped, a case was opened with astronomical speed on the grounds of his thoughts voiced in different programs Rişvanoğlu attended on ROJ TV between 1-3 May. The first hearing was scheduled very promptly for 16 September. In the program on 3 May, he said: "A commission has to be required to confidentially investigate all political murders in Kurdistan, all conspiracies, the massacres of the Botaş death wells, mass murders and rapes".

In his defence regarding the investigation, Rişvanoğlu criticized the imprecision of the investigation saying that "hegemonic" was written as "phagomanic", and the terms "socialism", "postmodernist" and "internationalist" were misspelled as well and thus distorted in their meaning. He said that his utterances were taken out of context and that he made a political evaluation.

Prosecutor Mehmet Düzgün stated that Rişvanoğlu referred to the group from Habur (refugees affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party PKK) as "Peace Group" and that he called imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan the "leader of the Kurds". The prosecutor demanded a three count sentence according to Article 220 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) under charges of "spreading propaganda for the PKK or the organization's aims". Rişvanoğlu is facing imprisonment of up to 13.5 years.

Additionally, the Ministry of the Interior opened another case against the lawyer, claiming TL 10,000 (approx. Euro 5,000) in compensation by reason of "harming honour and dignity with the press release".(BIA, Erol ÖNDEROĞLU, 7 September 2010)

Requête urgente pour l’envoi d’observateurs au Procès de Diyarbakir

Aux Deputes-es du Parlement Européen,
Aux Organisation Internationale,
Aux Autorités Genevoises  et de la Confédération helvétique,
Aux Défenseurs des droits de l’homme, 
Aux Medias et la Presse et
A l’opinion publique.

Genève le, 07 septembre 2010
 
Madame, Monsieur,
 
Nous vous prions de bien vouloir considérer au plus vite notre requête pour que le procès de Diyarbakir se déroule conformément au droit international et respecte rigoureusement les droits des accusés dont le sort nous préoccupe vivement. Il s’agit en effet d’une procédure pénale qui est dirigée contre des représentants de la société civile, des maires, des politiciens kurdes et des défenseurs des droits humains.
 
D'avril 2009 à ce jour, plus de 2000 représentants de la société civile, personnes politiques et syndicalistes kurdes ont été mis en détention en Turquie. Parmi eux, on se rappelle l'avocat Muharrem Erbey, vice-président national de l'Association pour les droits de l'homme (IHD) et le maire de Sur, Abdullah Demirbas, libéré après plusieurs mois d'emprisonnement et de graves dommages portés à sa santé déjà précaire auparavant.
 
Le réquisitoire de 7578 pages établi par le Procureur de la République de Diyarbakir a été validé le 18 juin 2010 par la 6ème chambre de la Cour d’assises de Diyarbakir. Il requiert des peines d’emprisonnement allant de 15 ans à la perpétuité, contre 151 personnes, dont 103 sont détenues. Parmi les prévenus, on compte 28 dirigeants du Parti pour une Société Démocratique (DTP) qui a été interdit, 12 maires, dont Osman Baydemir, maire de Diyarbakir, 2 présidents de Conseils Généraux et 2 conseillers municipaux. Le réquisitoire a donné lieu à d’abondants débats qui vont sans doute s’amplifier avec l’ouverture du procès. Une analyse générale du réquisitoire contre le KCK permet de dégager les observations ci-dessous :
 
Le réquisitoire de la 6ème chambre de la Cour d’assises de Diyarbakir confirme le refus de la justice turque de reconnaître le droit à l’existence d’une communauté, à l’organisation de sa société civile, et le fait qu’un parti politique kurde puisse être à l’origine d’un processus de paix. Le 18 octobre 2010 va commencer le procès des maires kurdes et des représentants de  la société civile.
 
Nous faisons donc appel à tous les démocrates et artisans de la paix  pour qu’ils soutiennent par leur présence dans la salle d’audience la lutte pour la démocratie menée par les prévenus kurdes.
 
Rappelons que 45.000 personnes  d’origine turque et kurde sont déjà des citoyens suisses naturalisés. Le drame qui se joue au cours de ce procès d’octobre à Diyarbakir les affecte directement c’est pourquoi nous vous prions instamment de soutenir l’envoi d’observateurs afin que les droits des 151 accusés, dont 103 sont détenus, soient réellement  défendus.
 
En vous remerciant de votre intérêt pour cette cause pour laquelle vous vous êtes déjà souvent engagés, nous vous prions de recevoir, Mesdames et Messieurs, l’assurance de nos meilleurs sentiments.
 
Au nom du Maison Populaire de Genève
Demir SÖNMEZ
http://www.assmp.org

A propos du quatrième livre d'Ahmet Dere, "Histoire des Kurdes"

Ce quatrième livre d'Ahmet DERE est avant tout un message d'espoir. Un message d'espoir pour la communauté kurde et un message adressé aux dirigeants européens : oui, une solution politique à la question kurde est possible. Oui, le chemin qui y mène est ardu, semé d'embûches, mais il faut faire confiance aux fondements humanistes des pays européens pour porter une résolution conforme aux Droits de l'Homme.

Depuis plusieurs millénaires, l'Anatolie est un haut lieu de la culture des hommes. C'est un berceau de civilisations où de nombreux peuples se sont rencontrés, parfois affrontés.

Ahmet DERE propose à l'Europe de relever le défi de la reconnaissance des droits du peuple kurde. Il lui demande de reconsidérer son approche jusqu'ici frileuse de la question kurde pour laquelle elle porte pourtant en partie une responsabilité avec la signature du Traité de Sèvres et ses suites. C'est une main tendue vers les responsables européens qui peuvent user de leur influence politique pour rapprocher les bords de la cicatrice entre Turcs et Kurdes.

Il serait paradoxal qu'aux frontières de l'Europe, sein même du territoire d'un pays musulman moderne, une injustice concernant un peuple perdure. Il ne serait pas acceptable que les Kurdes, composante d'Anatolie du sud est depuis plusieurs millénaires, soient discriminés, tenus à l'écart du développement. Il est inconcevable que ce peuple de plusieurs millénaires voit sa culture niée. Ce peuple est et restera là, sur son sol. Ce fait est incontournable et il est du devoir d'une grande nation comme la Turquie qu'il soit intégré au progrès social et économique du pays tout entier, comme toute composante doit être associée à ce progrès. A ce titre, les Kurdes doivent aussi faire partie intégrante du système démocratique du pays. Les Kurdes sont des citoyens à part entière de la Turquie et il faut cesser de les obliger à une posture guerrière de résistance et de survie en niant leur culture et en les tenant à l'écart du partage des richesses.

Le livre d'Ahmet DERE est aussi une main tendue vers le peuple turc et son gouvernement. Ahmet DERE poursuit dans cet ouvrage ce qu'il a construit avec patience et constance auprès des institutions politiques européennes. Personne n'a de légitimité pour refuser cette main. Il est grand temps d'ouvrir la porte à la réconciliation et d'œuvrer pour elle.

Le progrès prend la voie du dialogue entre les hommes, pas celle des armes qui, depuis des décennies, ont montré leur incapacité, de part et d'autre, à ouvrir la moindre brèche dans le mur de l'incompréhension, du rejet et de la haine. Tant de combats inutiles, tant de haine accumulée, tant de rancœur, devront être dépassés. C'est un projet à la mesure des peuples d'Anatolie que propose le livre d'Ahmet DERE.

C'est un livre détaillé, fouillé. Ce livre est un livre partisan, écrit par un partisan : celui du parti pris de la raison et de la Paix. La porte est ouverte, de nouvelles pages d'histoire sont à écrire par les hommes de bonne volonté et de justice. A l'horizon de la parole écrite, brillent l'espoir d'un peuple et une paix partagée. (Alain Callès, http://farasinfr.blogspot.com/)

Un résumé du livre se trouve sur: http://farasinfr.blogspot.com/2010/09/histoire-des-kurdes-cet-article-est-un.html

Le livre peut être commandé par le mail: farasin@hotmail.com

KNK's Declaration on International Day of Peace

On the anniversary of September 1, International Day of Peace, humanity needs peace more than ever. People express their peace demands on this day, more than the all other times. In a world within which the pain and grief brought on by occupying forces and natural disasters, we hope for sustained peace around the world, Kurdistan and Middle East, we, the Kurdistan National Congress, salute this peace day with our sincere desire, aspirations and hopes for all peace loving people join forces on this day with their love for peace. 

Unfortunately, on the International Day of Peace, occupying forces are carrying out active war in the Middle East and in our homeland Kurdistan. Although, it has been revealed that the solution of the Kurdish question is the main issue for a peace process in the region and although KCK declared a ‘’cease-fire’’, raising the hopes of the people in that region for a peaceful resolution, regional occupying forces, especially Turkey and Iran are continuing their attacks in a provocative way.

Undoubtedly the KCK’s ‘’cease-fire’’ declaration strengthened the hopes of a peace process. After this cease-fire decision, the Kurdish issue, which is the main problem of the Middle East, has started to be debated at the highest levels. The debates around the solution of Kurdish issue and the prospects for peace have created a great joy in the four parts of the Kurdistan.  This enthusiasm and joy put "The National Conference" which is the most important subject for Kurds, on the agenda. This is a great hope of a free and honored life and future for all Kurdish people.

Despite of KCK’s ‘’cease-fire’’ declaration, Turkey and Iran are insistently carrying out their armed operations clearly demonstrates that Turkey and Iran are attempting to sabotage the region and world peace and by committing crimes against humanity.

The AKP government wants to continue the denial of the Kurdish identity with a package of minor changes of its September 12 fascist constitution. Therefore, we announce that it is a necessity to “boycott” the referendum in Turkey, as it does not contribute the democracy, until it has been changed completely.

We, as the KNK believe that the solution of Kurdish issue and the unity of Kurdish people will solve the problems of the region and these will develop democracy, stability and peace in the region.

We, as the Kurdistan National Congress keep our hopes to maintain peace as always and we hope that the International Day of Peace will bring permanent peace to the world. (KNK, 31 Août 2010)

Minorités / Minorities

"I Informed the Police of Dink Assassination," Testifies Witness

Erhan Özen, alleged member of the Gendarmerie Intelligence Anti-Terrorism Unit (JITEM), was heard as a witness in the Hrant Dink murder case. Turkish-Armenian journalist Dink, founder of the Armenian Agos newspaper, was assassinated in front of his office in Istanbul on 19 January 2007. Özen stated, "I reported the Dink murder via 155 [the Turkish emergency phone number]", "Erenerol threatened Dink" and "I hid pictures taken of the Agos office in a bakery".

JİTEM is an unofficial wing of the Turkish Gendarmerie set up in the late 1980s to counter ethnic separatism in the Southeast.

Joint attorney of the Hrant Dink murder case, Fethiye Çetin, indicated that Özen's statements had to be reviewed with caution, saying that every one of them was to be taken seriously.

Özen is currently imprisoned in the Amasya Prison (northern Anatolia) on charges of looting which go back to the year 2006. Milliyet and Vatan newspapers reported about Özen's statement given in a hearing held at the Amasya High Criminal Court on 23 July 2010. Apparently, Özen had claimed that he worked for JITEM since 1997 and that the organization was led by a Brigadier General, who is a witness in the Ergenkon case and whose name he could not disclose.

Özen answered personal questions directed at him as follows:

* Erhan Tuncel, Osman Hayal and Yasin Hayal, (prime suspects of the Dink murder) were agents working for JITEM in the Black Sea region. I overheard their conversations related to assassination plots against people such as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, (religious leader) Fetullah Gülen, (deceased BBP Chair) Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu, Jak Kamhi, (journalist) Mehmet Ali Birand and Hrant Dink. The assassination of Dink had been a topic since 2003.

* I met two people alias Şiran and Yusuf at the military in 2004 who suggested me to join JITEM. We brought Dink to the foreigners' cemetery in Halıcıoğlu on the directive of Şıran, Yusuf and Sevgi Erenerol, spokesman of the Turkish Orthodox Church. Dink and Erenerol spoke in a car with tinted windows. We left Dink in Mecidiyeköy later on (districts of Istanbul). Dink seemed to be very nervous.

* There was a reporter called Inci who also played a role in the murder of (businessman) Üzeyir Garih. He was camouflaged as a worker in the massage place 'Princess Blue Moon' one kilometre away from the Agos newspaper. From there he followed Dink's coming and going.

* In 2005, I was ordered to take pictures of the Agos office. I hid some of my photographs in the stash of the nearby Yakut Bakery.

* I decided to leave the organization when they wanted to use also my wife as they did in the incident of Fadime Şahin. Thereupon, my whole family was threatened. In fact, that is the reason why I reported the Dink assassination plot to the police. I called 155 in the year 2005 and informed the police about the assassination plot.

* Prior to the murder, it was said on behalf of Ogün Samast in the Kritik internet café, where Samast used to spend time, that an action against a missionary in Malatya was planned.

Lawyer Çetin: Statements must be investigated

Lawyer Çetin talked to Markar Eseryan from Taraf newspaper. She said that the bakery where Özen supposedly hid the Agos photographs had really existed. However, it had been torn down in the meantime and a new building was constructed in its place.

Dink had written about his being threatened in an article entitled "Why was I made a target", he did not mention Erenerol though. Çetin added that this left a question mark in her mind.

Çetin argued that Özen's statement had to be taken with caution but that it had to be taken seriously. "Since this is a new statement, we will bring it up in the coming hearing. We will request the court to investigate each statement". (BIA, Berivan TAPAN, 27 September 2010)

Conscientious objectors and Spanish judge receive Dink award

The International Hrant Dink Award was bestowed upon Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon Real (C) at a ceremony held on Wednesday at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall in İstanbul’s Harbiye neighborhood. The International Hrant Dink Award has been presented for the second time on Hrant Dink’s birthday, Sep. 15, to Baltasar Garzón Real and the Turkey Conscientious Objectors Movement.
                                                                                                                           
After receiving the award, Mehmet Tarhan, who spoke on behalf of the Turkey Conscientious Objectors Movement, said they will keep their promise to Hrant Dink. “We can continue on our way, taking strength from the sense of responsibility to Hrant who said, ‘It was not suitable for me to leave bubbling hells and escape to ready-made heavens,’ and to others who can say this,” Tarhan said, addressing the audience on Wednesday night at İstanbul Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall.

Accepting his award Garzon underlined that the press plays an “indispensible role” in building a country. “Each country should provide every kind of tool to protect its citizens, especially for a more just and free society. The independence of the judiciary is an important point. The investigation of Hrant Dink has been a shame for all of us. The history of humankind is full of examples of the denial of crimes and impunity,” Garzon stated.

The award is presented every year to two people from inside and outside Turkey who work for a world free of discrimination, racism and violence, take personal risks for their ideals, use the language of peace and, by doing so, inspire and encourage others, the International Hrant Dink Foundation announced. “With this award, the foundation aims to remind all those who struggle for these ideals that their voices are heard, their work is visible and that they are not alone, and also to encourage everyone to fight for their ideals,” the foundation’s statement said.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled on Tuesday that Turkey failed in its duty to protect the life of the slain journalist and to effectively investigate his murder. Dink was shot dead by an ultranationalist teenager outside the offices of the Agos newspaper in İstanbul in January 2007. The investigation into his murder has stalled as the suspected perpetrator and his immediate accomplices have been put on trial, but those who masterminded the plot to kill him have yet to be revealed.

There is a lengthy list of suspicious irregularities in the investigation into Dink’s murder, including deleted records and hidden files suggestive of an attempted police cover up. The Dink family’s lawyers have argued much of the evidence indicates that the murder could have been prevented.

Opening the ceremony with writer and academic Ali Bayramoğlu, Rakel Dink said one purpose in giving the award is to keep people’s consciousness alive. She also explained that the book just released by author Tuğba Çandar on Hrant Dink was a present to him.

The 2010 jury of the International Hrant Dink Award consisted of author Adalet Ağaoğlu, author and academician Judith Butler, journalist Hasan Cemal, Member of the European Parliament Daniel Cohn-Bendit , President of the Board of Directors of the Hrant Dink Foundation Rakel Dink, journalist and the award winner of the International Hrant Dink Award 2009 Alper Görmüş, journalist and award winner of the International Hrant Dink Award 2009 Amira Hass, former Secretary General of Amnesty International Irene Khan, and President of Yerevan Press Club Boris Navasardian. (Today's Zaman, 17 September 2010)

Assassinat de Hrant Dink : la Turquie condamnée par la CEDH

La Turquie a été condamnée mardi dans le cadre de l'assassinat en 2007 du journaliste Hrant Dink, la Cour européenne des droits de l'Homme estimant notamment que Ankara n'avait pas protégé le journaliste assassiné par un nationaliste.

La décision a été saluée par les proches du journaliste turc d'origine arménienne, assassiné le 19 janvier 2007 alors qu'il dirigeait à Istanbul l'hebdomadaire bilingue turco-arménien Agos. Ankara a pour sa part promis de faire amende honorable et a renoncé à faire appel.

La publication dans ce journal d'articles sur la question de l'identité des citoyens turcs d'origine arménienne, avait valu à Hrant Dink d'être reconnu coupable en 2006 de "dénigrement de l'identité turque".

Le journaliste s'était notamment attiré la colère des nationalistes pour avoir qualifié de génocide les massacres d'Arméniens commis en Anatolie entre 1915 et 1917, un terme rejeté par Ankara.

Il avait été assassiné de trois balles dans la tête à la sortie des bureaux d'Agos par un jeune nationaliste.

Invoquant le droit à la vie, les plaignants affirmaient devant la CEDH que l'Etat turc a failli à son obligation de protéger la vie du journaliste. Selon eux, le jugement de culpabilité à son égard aurait fait de lui une cible pour les groupes ultranationalistes.

L'arrêt de la CEDH observe que "l'on peut raisonnablement considérer que les forces de l'ordre étaient informées de l'hostilité intense des milieux ultranationalistes contre l'intéressé".
 "Elles auraient dû savoir qu'il était tout particulièrement susceptible de faire l'objet d'une agression fatale et ce risque pouvait passer pour réel et imminent", selon les juges de Strasbourg.

Ils ont par ailleurs conclu que la confirmation du verdict de culpabilité pris à l'encontre de Hrant Dink par les juridictions pénales "a constitué une atteinte injustifiée à son droit à la liberté d'expression".

La CEDH a alloué 105.000 euros aux plaignants pour dommage moral.

Le ministère turc des Affaires étrangères a annoncé dans un communiqué que la Turquie ne ferait pas appel de la décision.

"Des travaux seront menés pour appliquer les attendus de la décision et toutes les mesures seront prises pour qu'à l'avenir de telles violations se produisent", a-t-il poursuivi.

Réunis devant les locaux d'Agos, les proches de Hrant Dink ont salué le verdict.

"Après cette décision, nous voulons croire que beaucoup de choses vont changer sur le plan de la justice et de la politique en Turquie", a déclaré la veuve du journaliste, Rakel Dink.

"Nous espérons que l'Etat turc (...) abandonnera son attitude de condamnation de l'innocent et accomplira les premiers pas vers le comportement d'un Etat digne de la confiance de la société", a-t-elle ajouté, en larmes, tandis que l'avocate Fethiye Cetin décrivait l'arrêt comme un "document de la honte pour la justice turque".(AFP, 14 sept 2010)

IFJ and EFJ Welcome Court Condemnation of Turkey over Dink's Murder

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its regional body in Europe the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) today hailed the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights which has ruled that Turkey failed to protect the life of a leading journalist who was murdered three years ago.

The Court says Turkey should have taken steps to protect Hrant Dink after they were warned that ultra-nationalists were plotting to kill him, but they failed to act and Dink, the outspoken editor of a Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos was brutally assassinated. The government has been ordered to pay Dink's family 105,000 Euros compensation.

"This is a landmark judgement that outlaws impunity and holds governments to account when they fail to protect journalists," said Aidan White, General Secretary of the IFJ and the European Federation of Journalists. "No government can escape its obligation to protect journalists who express dissent, even in the case of opinions not to their political taste."

The IFJ says that the judgement means all governments must act to protect journalists who come under fire from extremists because of their work.

Dink had angered nationalists with his appeals for Turkey to recognise its role in the killings of Armenians during World War I. He was shot in the head three times near the office of his newspaper, Agos, in Istanbul. In 2005, Dink had been given a suspended jail term because he was alleged to have denigrated "Turkishness" in writings about the mass killings of Armenians in 1915-1916.

 "In this case the neglect of security forces and the police allowed a courageous reporter and editor to be brutally murdered," said White. "It must never happen again."

The man accused of Dink's murder is currently on trial along with 18 suspected accomplices. (For more information, please contact IFJ on + 32 2 235 22 07)

Don't Forget The 6-7 Sept 1955 Pogrom

Today is the 55th anniversary of the beginning of the 6-7 September 1955 Pogrom in Turkey against Greeks and other Non-Muslim minorities. As the propaganda campaign related to the referendum on the new modification of the 1980 Constitution is being turned into a ridiculous circus show, either by the partisans or the opponents of this cosmetic changes, nobody among political leaders reminds this tragedy of the Republican period of Turkey. The Sept. 6-7, 1955 pogrom resulted in many deaths, huge property damage in Istanbul and Izmir, and precipitated the exodus of thousands of Istanbul’s ethnic Greek minority. Below is the extract of an article reported by Yorgo Kirbaki in Athens and  published on September 5, 2010, by the daily Radikal in Turkey:

On this occasion, one of the Greece's best-selling newspapers, Ta Nea, has marked the date with the distribution of a movie on the events, “Pains of Autumn,” made by Turkish film director Tomris Giritlioğlu.

“We – filmmakers – should work more for the two peoples’ wounds to be healed. For this [to be achieved], four films were made in the scope of Turkish cinema, of which two are mine. Unfortunately we do not see such examples from Greek Cinema. I expect similar works from Greek colleagues who share my artist sensitivity,” said Tomris Giritlioğlu.

Ta Nea devoted four pages to covering the pogrom, in which it featured memories from Greece’s top-selling crime fiction novelist and screenwriter, Petros Markaris.

Markaris, who was 18 at the time, spoke about the events at Heybeliada Island, where he was on holiday.

“The commander of the Marine School on Heybeliada convinced the police chief not to let demonstrators set foot on the island. The police chief pulled his gun and halted the demonstrators when they arrived. I faced total devastation the following day when I went to the Beyoğlu, Fener and Kurtuluş [neighborhoods of Istanbul]. Wherever Greeks lived, that neighborhood’s school and church had been destroyed. It was impossible to walk in Beyoğlu because of the broken glass from shop windows and the rolls of fabric that had been thrown onto the street,” he said.

“It is wrong to say that all Turks took part in or supported the events. There were Turks who helped their Greek neighbors, who protected and hid them,” he said.

Reminiscing over some of his friends at the Austrian High School, he remembers being told, “‘Tell your complaints to Greece.’” Another student, however, said, “‘We do not approve of what has been done.’”

Markaris said he never forgot his literature teacher telling him, “‘Petro, I want you to know, I am ashamed in the name of my people. I am apologizing to you.’ What my then 27-year-old literature teacher said, Turkey repeated 50 years later.”

The atmosphere in Istanbul had been tense in the lead-up to the pogrom, especially because of Cyprus and demands from some for “Enosis,” or union, with Greece.

“The word ‘Enosis’ was perceived as a curse by the Turks. The Greeks sensed they would be the scapegoats in this matter. The slogan ‘Speak Turkish, Citizen’ was becoming popular in Istanbul,” he said.

“They blamed Adnan Menderes [first PM of Turkey in the multi-party era] for the Sep 6-7 events. However, we now understand years later that is not really an accurate reflection of what was happening. The Greek, Armenian and Jewish minorities who dominated trade in Istanbul had been living in fear since the start of World War II. There was an evil person who wanted to ‘reset’ those minorities: İsmet İnönü.”

Markaris said President İnönü was a fan of the Germans and accused him of intending to emulate the Nazis and cleanse Istanbul of religious minorities.

“The ‘20th Draw Safeguards’ in 1941, and the ‘Wealth Tax’ in 1942, were implemented in this scope,” Markaris said, in reference to various official policies essentially designed to economically impoverish non-Muslims.

İnönü, however, was forced to loosen the measures after the Nazis were defeated at Stalingrad, giving religious minorities some time to recover, he said.

As for Menderes, Markaris said he supported a liberal economy. “He let the minorities take initiative. The same Prime Minister Adnan Menderes, who the Istanbul Greeks saw as a ‘savior,’ left those people to the mercy of the mob.”

Whether Turkey’s then-prime minister was notified of the pogrom beforehand or not, or whether the attack was a conspiracy from the secret services remains unknown.

“The Greeks of Istanbul held Greece and Cyprus [responsible] for what happened to them. The generation that experienced those events has no sympathy for Greek Cypriots because of this,” he said.

Politique intérieure/Interior Politics

Les législatives pourraient être avancées à juin 2011

Le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan a annoncé samedi que les prochaines élections législatives, initialement prévues en juillet 2011, pourraient être avancées à juin, a rapporté l'agence de presse Anatolie.

"Nous pouvons avancer les élections d'un mois, de sorte qu'elles coïncident avec la fermeture des écoles en juin. Nous ne devons pas attendre juillet", a-t-il déclaré à Istanbul au cours d'une réunion avec des dirigeants des médias turcs, selon Anatolie.

Les remarques de M. Erdogan interviennent après le large succès d'une réforme constitutionnelle soutenue par son Parti de la justice et du développement (AKP, issu de la mouvance islamiste) lors d'un referendum le 12 septembre.

La réforme, visant a démocratiser une Constitution héritée du coup d'Etat militaire de 1980, a été approuvée par 58% des électeurs, une victoire considérée par les analystes comme un test réussi par l'AKP avant les prochaines élections législatives.

Au pouvoir depuis 2002, l'AKP avait remporté haut la main le précédent scrutin, en 2007, avec quelque 47% des voix.

M. Erdogan a annoncé en août qu'il quitterait la direction de son parti si celui-ci perdait les prochaines élections générales.

M. Erdogan, 56 ans, est un ancien islamiste qui renie son passé, préférant qualifier son parti de "démocrate-conservateur". Mais les milieux laïques le soupçonnent de vouloir islamiser la Turquie en catimini. (AFP, 25 sept 2010

En quoi consiste le référendum en Turquie?

Ahmet DERE

Le 12 septembre dernier les électeurs turcs ont voté les 26 amendements concernant la constitution. Nous pouvons dire que, ces amendements « limitent », désormais, les pouvoirs de la hiérarchie judiciaire et de l'armée. Avec cette vote, on peut aussi constater qu’il y a eu une volonté de la majorité des citoyens de Turquie de sortir du régime de tutelle militaire lié à la Constitution de 1982 et de poursuivre le processus de la démocratisation vers une « mentalité européenne ».

Cette réforme constitutionnelle exige que le nombre des membres de la Cour constitutionnelle passe, désormais, de 11 à 17, dont trois nommés par le Parlement, qui est contrôlé depuis 8 ans par l’AKP. Ainsi, elles ouvrent la voie de jugement par la Cour constitutionnelle, pour le chef d'état-major des armées et ses quatre plus hauts commandants.

Un des points importants, dans le paquet de ces réformes, c’est celui qui donne le droits aux citoyens turcs de saisir la Cour constitutionnelle sur des questions des droits de l'homme, après avoir épuisé toutes les recours judicaires.

Ce nouveau changement, qui amende la loi fondamentale de 1982, héritée des militaires, après le coup d'Etat de 1980 et déjà modifiée à plusieurs fois, donne le droits au jugement, de manière plus systématique, des soldats en temps de paix pour tentative de coup d'Etat. Enfin, le texte autorise aussi le procès des leaders du coup d'Etat du 12 septembre 1980. Mais, actuellement il y a une vraie incertitude à ce sujet. Selon ces réformes, l’interdiction des partis politique deviennent aussi difficile, désormais, une seule institution judiciaire ne pourra plus décider la dissolution d’un parti  politique.

La principale force de l’opposition, CHP n’a pas voté pour, à cause tout simplement, sous le prétexte de défendre la laïcité, qu’elle veut défendre un régime sous contrôle des militaire. Personne ne peut défendre la position de ce parti par d’autres raisons.

Avec les résultats de ce référendum, on peut dire que le gouvernement de l'AKP a pris certaines mesures pour améliorer le respect de la loi. Néanmoins, ce parti n’a pas pu convaincre les kurdes. C’est pourquoi, le principale parti pro-kurde BDP a pris une position de boycotte. Suite à cette position de BDP, la participation dans les régions kurdes n’a pas passé de 45%, tendis que la participation nationale a été de 77%. Dans certains districts kurdes, le taux de la participation a été moins de 7%. Il ne faut pas traduire cette position des kurdes comme ils étaient contre ce changement, mais les kurdes voulaient que certaines articles concernant la reconnaissance des leurs droits culturels et identitaires soient aussi comprises dans le paquet des amendements. C’est pourquoi le BDP a définis sa position en faveur de la boycotte. J’espère que les autorités turques et aussi européennes, prendront, désormais, en considération le  nombre des électeurs qui ont boycotté ce référendum en demandant un dialogue entre les autorités étatiques et les kurdes.

Je sais que Bruxelles soutenait ces réformes et elle a encourager l’AKP dans ces démarches. Mais, d’après moi elle ne doit pas arrêter de faire la pression sur le gouvernement turc afin de faire une changement complète de la constitution. Si non, avec ces réformes, personne ne peut garantir le processus d’une démocratisation pour ce pays, ni un respect pour les critères européens.

Malgré le cessez-le-feu déclaré par le PKK, depuis le 13 Août dernier, des opérations armées turques ne se sont pas arrêtées. Entre temps plusieurs affrontements ont eu lieu et une dizaines de militants ont perdu leur vie. Dernièrement, le 16 septembre, dans une explosion de mine, actionnée à distance, attribuée à l’armée turque, neuf civiles de la région de Hakkari, ont été tuées et quatre blessées, dont un bébé de 15 mois.

Voilà, la photo de la Turquie et le référendum. (17 septembre 2010)

Ovipot: Les premiers enseignements du référendum du 12 septembre

Si la victoire du «Oui» semblait probable, son ampleur a malgré tout surpris, car le sondage le plus favorable effectué récemment (les 4 et 5 septembre derniers), par l’Institut Konda, avait pronostiqué un score de 56,8 %, se situant plus d’un point au-dessous du résultat final. Cette surprise est d’autant plus forte que le triomphe du «Oui» n’est pas seulement important pour la réforme constitutionnelle qui était l’objet de ce scrutin, il l’est aussi et surtout parce qu’il vient renforcer opportunément la légitimité du gouvernement de l’AKP, souvent mise en cause depuis les élections locales de l’an passé, qui avaient vu le parti majoritaire descendre au-dessous de la barre symbolique des 40% et reculer pour la première fois, par rapport au score qu’il avait réalisé lors de la précédente consultation. À ce tassement électoral s’ajoutait des rumeurs persistantes sur l’usure de la formation au pouvoir, suscitées, entre autres, par les difficultés de la politique d’ouverture kurde ou par l’avènement d’un nouveau leader à la tête du CHP. En remportant très confortablement sa 6ème victoire depuis son arrivée au gouvernement en 2002 (élections législatives de 2002, élections locales de 2004, élections législatives de 2007, référendum d’octobre 2007, élections locales de 2009, référendum de 2010), l’AKP a balayé d’un coup tous ces doutes, conforté le mythe de son invincibilité et démontré que la dynamique enclenchée il y a 8 huit ans était loin de marquer le pas. Ce succès, en outre, en appelle déjà un autre, car il fait pressentir la victoire du parti de Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, lors des prochaines élections législatives, qui doivent se tenir en 2011.

Le raz-de-marée de dimanche laisse ainsi l’opposition sinistrée. L’échec du «Non» est d’abord celui du CHP, d’autant plus grave pour les kémalistes que leur parti avait entamé une mutation sensible de son discours, depuis la consécration en mai dernier de Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Au cours de la campagne, qui a précédé le référendum, le nouveau leader a certes cherché à dépasser la rhétorique simpliste de son prédécesseur, abandonnant presque les thématiques de «l’agenda caché» ou du péril islamiste, pour choisir de souligner en priorité le danger d’une concentration des pouvoirs dans les mains du seul parti gouvernemental. Mais, suite à tant d’années où les propos à l’emporte-pièce ont été la règle, il faut bien reconnaître ce changement de ton sonnait un peu faux. Que pesait la proposition d’amnistie pour les rebelles du PKK, après les positions particulièrement nationalistes prises ces dernières années sur la question kurde ? Comment croire que le parti kémaliste était devenu le chantre d’un constitutionnalisme véritable, après les manipulations constitutionnelles à répétition de 2007 et de 2008 ? L’une des leçons de ce scrutin est sans doute que l’image du CHP, au sein de l’électorat turc, est loin d’avoir changée, et qu’elle reste par trop associée à un régime politico-militaire révolu.

L’autre grand perdant de ce référendum est sans nul doute, le parti du mouvement nationaliste de Devlet Bahçeli. Le MHP n’a en réalité jamais réussi à trouver sa place dans les débats qui ont précédé ce scrutin. Il a mené pour l’essentiel une campagne anti-kurde, en accusant le gouvernement de porter atteinte à l’unité de l’Etat. Mais comment un tel argument pouvait-il être crédible, alors même que la réforme proposée évitait justement la question kurde ? De surcroît, au cours des derniers mois, alors qu’une vague d’arrestations sans précédent a frappé nombre de responsables politiques kurdes et que les violences ont repris dans le sud-est, le gouvernement a souvent donné des gages de son nationalisme, coupant de ce fait l’herbe sous les pieds du MHP. La ligne de ce parti sur la Constitution était par ailleurs d’autant plus difficile à lire qu’en 2008, il avait soutenu, et même initié la révision constitutionnelle tendant à lever l’interdiction du voile islamique dans les universités. Trop de contradictions et d’ambiguïtés accumulées, ces derniers temps, par une direction vieillissante du MHP ont poussé une partie de l’électorat nationaliste à voter en faveur de la réforme proposée par le gouvernement. Mais une telle défection est d’autant plus dangereuse pour ce parti qu’elle pourrait en outre l’empêcher, en 2011, de passer la barre des 10%, lui permettant d’avoir une représentation dans le prochain parlement.

Hormis l’AKP, la seule formation à sortir renforcée du scrutin de dimanche est le parti kurde, BDP. Son mot d’ordre de boycott du référendum a indiscutablement été suivi dans le sud-est, même si l’intensité de l’abstention kurde s’avère malgré tout inégale géographiquement. La voie choisie par la formation kurde n’était pas simple, car celle-ci prenait le risque d’être désavouée par une partie de son électorat, sensible aux réformes de l’AKP et tentée de soutenir une accentuation de la démilitarisation engagée ces dernières années. Pourtant, le fait que la révision proposée à référendum ait totalement ignoré la question kurde, au moment même où celle-ci se posait avec une acuité renouvelée, aura sans nul doute joué en faveur du boycott. Il y a là une autre leçon du scrutin qu’à l’heure où il savoure sa victoire, le gouvernement devrait se garder d’oublier. (ovipot.blogspot.com/, JM, 15 sept 2010)

Ertugrul Kürkçü: Not a victory but the message of a Constitutional crisis

Less than 58 percent of the electorate said "yes" to the referendum. This is not a victory for Erdoğan and his party but the message of a Constitutional crisis for Turkey.

Can a Constitutional amendment be accounted for as a victory for Tayyip Erdoğan and his party, when it pulled in less than 58 out of a hundred voters? (*)

This is the case if you ask the mainstream media. Since 58 percent of the electorate that went to the ballot boxes said "Yes", the result of the referendum was a huge "Yes".

Yet, the facts shown by the absolute numbers are different from what we were told: 41.8 percent of the whole electorate saying "yes" make a total of 21,788,533 people, 30.45 percent said "no" which adds up to 15,854,780 people and 26 percent or 13,682,568 people did not vote.

However these figures are turned and twisted, 30,263,295 voters of a total electorate of 52,051,828 did not say "Yes" in the poll. This result is not a "victory" but the beginning of a crisis! The referendum on 12 September yielded one single clear political and social result: the amendments entirely dissociate the Constitution of the Turkish Republic of its social legitimacy.

The 12 September Constitution fell but there is not a new one!

One has to scratch the mainstream media's paint off the truth in order to comment properly on the result of the referendum. Regardless of opposing or supporting the referendum, considering the mathematics of the mainstream media, Turkey has been deluged by blue "ayes" and the coastal regions are lined with red "nays".

The south-eastern province of Hakkari is sky-blue for instance. Only 9 out of 100 voters went to the poll in Hakkari. If you ask the media though, it is the province that provided the strongest support to Erdoğan: 94 percent of the Kurds appear to have said "yes" although 91 percent did not vote at all. Another example is the province of Tunceli, the "homeland of [opposition leader] Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu", which turned out "glaring red". In fact, 33 percent of the people in Tunceli did not go to the poll and the number of no votes is equal to the number of abstentions from voting. Yet, in Dersim (Tunceli) 81percent of the electorate are counted to have voted "no".

Of course the result of the referendum is determined by the distribution of legally valid votes. But the social meaning of the voting does not lie in the ratio of votes but in the very attitude of the people. The majority of this country does not say yes to Tayyip Erdoğan and the Constitution, and neither to the Constitution of 12 September...

The role of the CHP

The main opposition party CHP (Republican People's Party) carries the main responsibility for this result. Together with the MHP (Nationalist Movement Party), the CHP suffered a huge defeat by turning this referendum into a plebiscite for Erdoğan. They enabled him to enter the 2011 elections with a significant moral advantage, whereas a widespread boycott of the referendum could have inflicted a huge loss on Tayyip Erdoğan and his party.

In the end, the AKP's and Erdoğan's approach of the 2011 election with an  increased power is mostly related to the CHP's appearance as a defender of the 12 September Constitution and its giving up on the spokesmanship for the need of a democratic constitution depending on the sovereignty of the people.

For a new regime

In this context, the result of the referendum makes it more feasible and more important than ever to struggle for a new constitution, or in other words for a new regime, starting from today.

Yes, the old constitution fell into decay, but the Constitutional amendments of the AKP do not make up for the need for a new regime that does not give place to ethnicity or belief and that is based on the sovereignty of the citizens. To the contrary, since the AKP clearly demonstrated their will of keeping the power by protecting the 12 September regime's central tool, which is assigning the sovereignty to the government against the public and all other forces, from now on the AKP positions itself on the target board of a democratic and social struggle.

The one and only political way out for the oppressed people in Turkey, for workers, employees, the poor, women, Kurds, Alevis and excluded people is to stand up for a new order no later than today, for a new regime and a new constitution, to take the initiative out of the hands of Tayyip Erdoğan and the AKP and to take position for saving the future from now on without leaving the opposition to the initiative of the CHP.

The boycott and the Kurds

Two further results of the referendum are at least as important. The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) made the Kurdish people follow their call for a boycott, no matter of what the pro-government media said. It also achieved to assume the right of regional representation more powerful than in previous elections. In many towns, the Kurds demonstrated their positive answer to the BDP's call for a "Democratic Autonomy" with a referendum within the referendum.

On the other hand, the "Boycott Front" managed to pull a significant number of voters along, not only in the pre-dominantly Kurdish regions but also in provinces such as Mersin, Istanbul and Ankara where district results showed that the turnout of voters ranged clearly below the usual average. This result indicates that a "labour and liberty front" has started to develop all over Turkey, which will play an important role for the boycotted political forces in the 2011 elections.

MHP's marginalization

The only positive outcome of the referendum is probably the preparation of the end of Devlet Bahçeli's political career, since the base of his National Movement Party (MHP) melted away between CHP and AKP during the run-up to the referendum. The referendum process dragged the "old style" politics of fascism to the edge by withdrawing the legitimacy of the 12 September Constitution and of the MHP leadership. Nevertheless, this result must not create the illusion that "fascism has been wiped away". After this result, CHP and AKP will be more prone to pay a premium on chauvinism to get their portion of the nationalist base. Yet, it is worth to keep in mind that the growing reaction of the "white Turk" at the "red" coastlines has the tendency to leak to the "left". (kurkcu@bianet.org, 14 September 2010)

* According to the data published by the Supreme Election Committee (YSK), the total number of the electorate is 52,051,828 and not, as commonly reported by the media, around 49 million. The other figures and ratios change accordingly.

Haluk Gerger: Kurds are the only opposition in Turkey

Boycott campaign a success and a stark reminder for Erdogan's government: Kurdish demands cannot be ignored anymore

A prominent Turkish political analyst says Kurds are the only opposition group in Turkey.

Haluk Gerger said the results of the Kurdish boycott campaign against the constitutional referendum in Turkey, shows the Turkish government can no longer ignore Kurdish demands for democratic autonomy.

"The results of the referendum tells us that Kurds are the only real opposition group in Turkey" he said.

Gerger underlined the importance of the support of socialist movements to the Kurdish opposition. "If socialist opposition can join the Kurdish movement, this countrys fate will change in a positive way" he commented.

Speaking about the referendum results in Kurdistan, Gerger said that Kurds protected their stance and put their autonomy demands forward by participating in the boycott campaign.

"Republic of Turkey can no more ignore the fact that the relation between the state and Kurds must be defined under a social contract" Gerger added.

"This is the first step of democratization. The level of democracy will become definite according to the positions against or for this social contract" he said.

He called the democratic opposition to immediately start to work for a new constitution.

Gerger labelled the boycott campaign a true success but he underlined the fact that Kurds and socialist now have to fully participate to the work for a new constitution. (ANF, Sept 14, 2010)

Référendum: un test avant les législatives de 2011?

La nette victoire du "oui" en Turquie au cours d'un référendum sur une révision constitutionnelle a ouvert la voie à un nouveau succès pour le parti islamo-conservateur du Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan aux législatives l'an prochain, estimaient lundi les analystes.

"Notre nation s'est prononcée très clairement en faveur du changement et de la démocratie", a déclaré le vice-Premier ministre Cemil Cicek après six heures de réunion du cabinet turc pour évaluer les résultats du vote.

Le Parti de la justice et du développement (AKP) était à peu près seul à faire campagne en faveur de la réforme, dont le but était de "démocratiser" une Constitution héritée du putsch de 1980, en limitant notamment le pouvoir de la hiérarchie judiciaire et de l'armée, bastions du camp laïc.

Il peut donc légitimement prétendre récolter seul les bénéfices des 57,88% de "oui" exprimés par les Turcs dimanche --contre 42,12% de "non", avec un taux de participation de 73,7%, selon les résultats officiels provisoires--, commentait lundi l'éditorialiste Semih Idiz dans le quotidien Milliyet.

"Dès lors que le référendum a été transformé par l'opposition en un vote de confiance au gouvernement, il faut bien admettre que le pouvoir AKP a remporté cette épreuve", affirmait l'analyste, qui voit dans ce succès un "feu vert" pour le gouvernement.

Le vice-Premier ministre a souligné que "tout le monde devait respecter" le résultat du vote "en parole et en action". "Nous pensons que l'actuelle Constitution a atteint sa date de péremption", a-t-il dit.

Ce bon résultat arrive à point nommé pour l'AKP, au pouvoir depuis novembre 2002 après avoir remporté haut la main les dernières élections générales en 2007 (47% des voix), mais qui a manifesté des signes d'essouflement aux municipales l'an dernier (39%).

"L'AKP a passé avec succès un test important avant les élections législatives de 2011", estimait Murat Yetkin, du journal libéral Radikal.

La Bourse d'Istanbul a d'ailleurs salué ce score, vu comme un gage de stabilité, en terminant lundi sur un plus haut historique, gagnant 2,7% à 62.260,11 points.

"Les marchés ont apprécié les résultats du référendum (...) Ils constituent un signe positif en ce qui concerne la pérennité du parti qui gouverne seul la Turquie" depuis 2002, après des décennies d'instabilité politique, a affirmé la banque Fortis dans son bulletin d'analyse des marchés.

La victoire pourrait aussi attiser les ambitions présidentielles de M. Erdogan, qui a arpenté des mois durant la Turquie pendant la campagne pour le "oui", selon Rusen Cakir, du journal populaire Vatan.

"On peut facilement avancer qu'après cette victoire incontestable, le désir et la détermination (de M. Erdogan) pour la présidence se sont renforcés, et que le référendum a été une répétition avant une prochaine élection présidentielle", prédit le journaliste.

L'AKP doit cependant se garder de tout triomphalisme et rechercher le compromis avec l'opposition s'il ne veut pas s'aliéner davantage les 42% d'électeurs qui ont dit "non" à sa réforme, mettaient en garde plusieurs analystes.

De nombreux électeurs de l'opposition soupçonnent l'AKP de vouloir islamiser le pays en catimini. L'opposition laïque et nationaliste a mené campagne contre la réforme au motif qu'elle menaçait, selon elle, l'indépendance de la justice et la séparation des pouvoirs.

La révision limite les prérogatives de la justice militaire et modifie, au profit du pouvoir, la structure de la Cour constitutionnelle et du Conseil supérieur de la magistrature (HSYK) qui nomme juges et procureurs.

L'Union européenne, avec laquelle la Turquie a entamé des négociations d'adhésion en 2005, a salué dimanche "un pas dans la bonne direction", mais a averti, par la bouche de son commissaire chargé de l'Elargissement, Stefan Füle, qu'elle suivrait "très attentivement" l'application de la réforme. (AFP, 13 sept 2010)

Post-referendum reforms require amendment of over 200 laws

Deputies will be busy passing new laws after summer recess. With the approval of the 26-article constitutional amendment package in a public vote on Sept. 12, Parliament is eyeing changes to more than 200 standing laws once deputies return from the summer recess on Oct. 1.
                                                                                                                       
The laws need to be modified to be brought into alignment with the constitutional amendment package. Bekir Bozdağ, the ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) parliamentary group deputy chairman, told Today's Zaman that the laws will be changed and new laws will be passed in a two-step package that will also include 17 EU harmonization laws. It is estimated that it will take at least six months for Parliament to complete aligning the laws with the 26-article package.

“We will bring laws that need to be passed immediately to Parliament as soon as October. We may collect them under a new harmonization package. But we may need more than one package. Relevant ministries will prepare separate reports as to which laws need to be passed the earliest. Some laws are more urgent than others. And some are not urgent at the moment. We may defer them until 2011. We may collect them under a separate harmonization package,” Bozdağ noted.

Ministries are awaiting an order from the government to make necessary legal preparations to complete the harmonization process. The harmonization recommendations that come from those ministries directly affected by the legal change will be evaluated by the Justice Ministry and then forwarded for approval to the Prime Ministry and then Parliament.

If this process goes smoothly, all preparatory work for the harmonization process will be completed in the summer months -- and Turkey will have completed its most comprehensive legal reform toward democratization since the Sept. 12, 1980 military coup d’état.

Which laws will be changed?

An addition to Article 10 of the Constitution that says “Precautions to be taken to protect special groups such as children, the elderly and persons with disabilities shall not be considered in contradiction with the principle of equality” will necessitate multiple changes to the Law on the Establishment and Trial Procedures of Juvenile Courts, the Population Law, the Green Card Law, the Social Security Institution (SGK) Organization Law and the Turkish Citizenship Law. The changes to these laws will be included in the first harmonization package.

A foreseen change to Article 41 of the Constitution will also make changes having to do with protection of the family and children’s rights. This will require a review of the Civil Code, the Social Services and Child Protection Agency (SHÇEK) Law, the Law on Disabled Persons and the Education Ministry Organization Law. A change to Article 20 of the Constitution will protect personal data, requiring changes to the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), the Law on Acquisition of Information and the Law on the Protection of Personal Data.

A change to be made to Article 23 of the Constitution will put an end to the arbitrary restriction of foreign travel on Turkish citizens -- meaning that nothing short of a court order can bar a person from leaving the country. In order to accomplish this, however, changes will need to be made to a slew of existing legislation: the Law on Debts, the Turkish Commercial Law, the Customs Law, the Passport Law, the Banks Law, the Checking Law, the State Tender Law, the Real Estate Tax Law, the Income Tax Law, the Establishment Tax Law, the Inheritance and Devolution Law, the Bankruptcy and Enforcement Law, the Law on Foundations, the Tax Methodology Law, the Capital Markets Law, laws on the organization of the police forces and many more laws related to the economy.

What will unions on ‘no front’ do?

The government is expected to frequently quarrel with labor unions that were opposed to the constitutional amendment package. The unions have not made a statement about the results of the referendum, and it is still a mystery what kind of a stance they will adopt when Parliament starts to make changes to laws that concern the business world.

Changes to Article 53 of the Constitution will also bring changes to the Unions Law, the Social Security Law, the Law on Civil Servants’ Unions, the Economic Social Council Law, the TCK and the Collective Bargaining, Strike and Lockout Law -- to repeal current laws on the right to collective bargaining and strikes. Because the right to collective bargaining will be given to retired persons, the relevant legislation will also be updated.

The establishment of an ombudsman system to be brought about via the amendment of Article 74 of the Constitution will mandate changes to the Law on Acquisition of Information, the Parliament bylaws and the laws on the Court of Accounts, the Supreme Court of Appeals and the Council of State. Meanwhile, Parliament bylaws will also have to be amended due to planned changes to Article 84 of the Constitution regarding the election and terms of office of members of Parliament.

Amendment on military-related laws

The proposed amendment to Article 125 of the Constitution in the constitutional amendment package seeks to open up a judicial path for those expelled from the military -- by decision of the Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) -- to appeal the decision. But this will require a scouring of the TCK, the Military Penal Code, the Law on Civil Servants, the Municipalities Law, the State Personnel Law, the Administrative Trial Methodology Law, the Law on Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) Personnel, the Gülhane Military Academy of Medicine (GATA) Law and the War Academies Law for sections that must be amended. In addition, the laws on the organization of the four force commands will also be reviewed.

Meanwhile, the changes proposed to Article 145 of the Constitution aim to pave the way for bringing members of the military to trial in civilian courts when it comes to crimes committed outside the scope of their military duties. This change to one article of the Constitution will require amendments to nearly 20 laws, including the Military Penal Code, the Law on the Establishment and Trial Procedure of Military Courts, the TCK, the Law on Criminal Trial Procedure, the Law on Legal Trial Procedure, the GATA Law, the Law on the National Security Council (MGK), the Law Regarding the Establishment and Duties of Military Administrative Courts, the Military Appellate Court Law, the Military Judges Law, the TSK Internal Administration Law, the Law on the Duties and Authorities of the Office of the General Staff, the Law on War Academies and the Law on Mobilization and Wartime.

HSYK may take months to change

The amendment to Article 114 of the Constitution will spell change for the Law on the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK).

A change to the structure of the HSYK also requires changes to the Justice Ministry Organization Law, the Law on the Supreme Court of Appeals, the Law on the Council of State, the Attorney Law, the Notary Law, the Law on Criminal Trial Procedure, the Law on the Trial of Civil Servants and Other Public Employees and the Law on the Establishment, Jurisdiction and Duties of the Constitutional Court. Making these changes alone could take Parliament several months and lead to serious debates. (Today's Zaman, 14 September 2010)


Winners: AKP and BDP; Losers: CHP and MHP

In the referendum held on the 30th anniversary of the Sept. 12, 1980, military coup, 58 percent of voters backed the 26 constitutional amendments proposed by the AKP in power while 42 percent opposed the changes. However 23 percent of the voters in Turkey refused to go to polls, an indication that the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP)'s call to boycott the vote was influential. So this party confirmed once again that it is the only legal representative of the majority of the Kurdish population in the country.

As in the 2009 local elections, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), mostly found support in the coastal areas around the Aegean and the Mediterranean, which largely voted in line with its “no” push.

The Nationalist Action Party (MHP), which also campaigned against the proposed reforms, faced a disappointment in most of the provinces where it won mayoral seats in the 2009 local elections. In Osmaniye, hometown of MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, the majority said “yes” in Sunday’s referendum.

According to ANF, the boycott of the constitutional reform referendum called for by the pro-Kurdish BDP was influential in the country's southeastern Kurdish provinces.

The BDP celebrated the referendum results in Diyarbakır with fireworks. In this most populated Kurdish city, nearly 70 percent of the voters joined boycott campaign. Only 276,609 of the total 840,859 voters casted their votes. Over half a million Kurds did not vote in the referendum.

In Van, second largest Kurdish city, voter turnout is 48 percent according to final results.

Only 7 percent of the total eligible voters showed themselves in ballots while a record of 93 percent joined boycott campaign in Hakkari.

77 percent of Sirnak's voters also boycotted the referendum.

Mardin, Siirt and Batman are the other cities where voter turnout stayed under 50 percent.

In Mus 46 percent and in Dersim 35 percent of voters joined the boycott campaign by the BDP.

BDP satisfied with referendum results

Peace and Democracy Party's (BDP) leaders says the referendum results as a historic victory for Kurdish people.

Speaking in a press conference in Diyarbakir BDP's co-president Selahattin Demirtas said the boycott campaign against the constitutional referendum was successful and preparations for  a new constitution must start immediately.

"People who demands a new and democratic constitutions are the real winners of this referendum" he said.

"The government has to take the autonomy and education in mother language demands seriously".

Demirtas said the Turkish government's politics on Kurdish issue in the near future is now more important.

"The results of the referendum Kurdish people's political response to AKP's repressive policies" he added.

BDP co-president Gultan Kisanak said despite all the pressure and anti-propaganda by the government Kurds managed to show the real will of the people.

"The boycott campaign paved the way to work on a new and democratic constitution" she said.

A prominent Kurdish politician Sirri Sakik said that the Kurds are calling for a new constitution to solve the Kurdish problem and a process for dialogue.

“This means the public is in favor of the government’s policies and that it finds the changes to be made important. This means the public thinks there is a need for a new constitution to solve the current problems.” he said.

The BDP celebrated the referendum results in Diyarbakır with fireworks. In Diyarbakır province, 279,000 people voted, of 849,000 registered voters. In 2007, 52 percent of Diyarbakır voters went to the ballots for the presidency referendum.

In Hakkari, Batman, Şırnak, Diyarbakır, Ağrı, Muş, Ardahan, Kars, Iğdır and Van provinces, most voters did not go to the ballots. (ANF, 13 September 2010)

Key issues in constitutional changes

Some key issues in a package of 26 reforms to Turkey’s military coup-era Constitution voted on in Sunday’s referendum:

Military -- Gives officers fired by the military the right to appeal. Redefines the jurisdiction of military courts, empowers civilian courts to try military personnel for crimes against state security or against the constitutional order -- such as coup attempts. Opens the way for the prosecution of Turkey’s 1980 military coup leaders.

Equality -- Strengthens gender equality and bars discrimination against children, the elderly, the disabled and veterans.

Privacy -- Recognizes the right to protection of personal information and access to official personal records.

Freedoms -- Restricts travel bans imposed on individuals.

Labor -- Allows membership in more than one union in a workplace. Recognizes the right to collective bargaining for civil servants and other state employees. Removes bans on politically motivated strikes.

Parliament -- Ensures elected lawmakers stay in Parliament if their political party is disbanded by a court decision.

Constitutional Court -- Increases the number of judges on the Constitutional Court from 11 to 17 and gives power to Parliament to appoint some of them. Recognizes the right of individual appeals to the court.

Judiciary -- Increases the number of members on the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), which oversees the appointments of judges and prosecutors in the country, from seven to 22. Opens the way for appeals of decisions to remove them from the profession.

Turkish Press Review after Referendum

One day after the majority of Turkish voters said "Yes" to the constitutional reform package, the referendum made the headlines on Monday (13 September). Read a selection of headlines in the Turkish press as follows:

Birgün: National conservatives once more did not change the picture

According to the result, the balance of "60 percent right - 40 percent left" was consolidated. The nationalist-conservative votes solidified the AKP [ruling Justice and Development Party]. The AKP took the first step for a presidential system.

Evrensel: Yes: 58 percent - No: 42 percent

58 percent of the electorate said "Yes", 42 percent said "No" in the referendum on the constitutional reform package. The boycott [of the referendum] was effective in provinces of the region [South-Eastern Turkey]. Labour and democratic forces announced to continue their struggle to meet the people's demand for a truly democratic constitution.

Günlük:  Kurdish people decided on Democratic Autonomy

The Kurdish people abstained from voting with a record high. By deciding on a "Democratic Autonomy, they demonstrated that the way to a solution is paved by a new democratic constitution".

Hürriyet: Second balcony speech

When Erdoğan commented the victory of the referendum, he used moderate words just as he did in the AK Party balcony speech he delivered after the elections in 2007. "Everybody won", he said. "Both the ones who said yes and the ones who said no have won. We will change the Constitution in 2011 by making compromises".

Sabah: Turkey corrected the shame of the coup: 58 percent said "yes"

The Turkish people said "Yes" to more democracy. The votes against the referendum package remained at 42 percent. The voter participation amounted to 77 percent. The ballot boxes provided a great support for a more democratic, more civil, more liberal Turkey without tutelage.

Milliyet: "Yes" with a difference of 6 million votes

While 21.8 million votes said "yes", the votes against the referendum package remained at 15.8 million. Erdoğan won the sixth ballot victory since 2002 by 58 percent.

Habertürk: 57.9 percent said "Yes", 42.1 percent said "No"

Turkey voted on the Constitutional amendments. The electorate voted in favour of the novelties by a majority of 57.9 percent. [Opposition leader] Kılıçdaroğlu, who had toured 70 provinces and 193 cities to campaign for a "No", was not able to vote and apologized.

Taraf: Democracy was seized

On the 30th anniversary of [the military coup on] 12 September, the Turkish electorate landed the biggest coup on the military tutelage. The referendum package was approved with a difference of 6 million votes. The turnout of voters amounted to 77 percent.

Vatan: Seventh victory

The constitutional referendum was Erdoğan's seventh victory at the ballot box since he was elected the Mayor of Istanbul in 1994.

Zaman: Victory of democracy

Turkey has made a historic decision on the anniversary of the coup on 12 September [1980]. A door has opened to a more liberal and democratic time by amending the coup constitution. With a turnout of 77 percent, 58 percent of the people said "Yes" to the first step of a civil constitution. Finally, the structure of the higher judiciary and the electoral system changed. Legal measures against decisions taken by YAŞ [High Military Council] and HSYK [Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors] became possible. The basic rights of all sections of society are assured, including the disabled people, women, children and civil servants.

Radikal: "Yest" but it is not enough

The mini constitutional reform was accepted. The ones who said "yes, but it's not enough", i.e. the people who wanted a new constitution, determined the result.

In a speech prior to the voting, Erdoğan thanked everybody including the left-wing groups.

TÜİSAD [Association of Turkish Industrialists and Business People], the organization that had not declared their vote beforehand, and MÜSİAD [Association of Independent Industrialists and Businessmen] both said "Yes" and requested a new constitution.

Cumhuriyet: "Yes" from the ballot boxes

58 percent said "Yes", 42 percent said "No". The boycott had an influence.

The votes of CHP [Republican People's Party] were not enough: The people decided on the constitutional reform package that

21.8 million voters out of an electorate of 49.5 million said "Yes". 15.8 million people voted against the package. In the coastal regions, where the CHP has a strong hold, the people voted against the package.

Tunceli is the leader of the negative votes: With a general turnout of 78 percent, the BDP's call for a boycott of the referendum effected the region of South-Eastern Turkey. The referendum was boycotted by almost 70 percent of the electorate in Diyarbakır and 90 percent in Hakkari. The highest ratio of "No" votes came from Tunceli. (BIA, Burçin BELGE, 13 September 2010)

Une réforme qui réduit le pouvoir des hauts magistrats et de l'armée

La révision de la Constitution votée par les électeurs turcs dimanche, selon les estimations des médias, comporte 26 amendements qui limiteront les pouvoirs de la hiérarchie judiciaire et de l'armée en conflit avec le gouvernement islamo-conservateur.

La réforme constitutionnelle prévoit que le nombre des membres de la Cour constitutionnelle passera de 11 à 17, dont trois nommés par le Parlement, contrôlé par le Parti de la justice et du développement (AKP, issu de la mouvance islamiste), au pouvoir depuis 2002.

Les citoyens pourront saisir cette cour sur des questions de droits de l'homme après avoir épuisé toutes les recours judicaires.

La Cour pourra aussi juger le chef d'état-major des armées et ses quatre plus hauts commandants en sa qualité de Cour suprême.

Le Conseil supérieur de la magistrature, chargé de la nomination et de la promotion des juges et procureurs, passera de sept à 22 membres mais le ministre de la Justice conservera son siège, très controversé, au sein de cette institution, de même que le secrétaire général du ministère.

Le nouveau texte qui amende la loi fondamentale de 1982, héritée des militaires après le coup d'Etat de 1980 et déjà plusieurs fois modifiée, prévoit le jugement, de manière plus systématique, de soldats en temps de paix pour tentative de coup d'Etat.

Il prévoit également que les militaires renvoyés de l'armée, notamment pour islamisme, puissent faire appel.

Enfin, le texte autorise le procès des leaders du coup d'Etat du 12 septembre 1980. Il y a cependant incertitude à ce sujet, des juristes estimant qu'il y a prescription pour ces putschistes.

Le texte retire à la seule institution judiciaire le monopole de la décision de dissoudre les partis politiques. En 2008, l'AKP avait failli être interdit pour atteinte à la laïcité. La Cour constitutionnelle avait finalement choisi de le priver d'une partie de ses subventions publiques.

La réforme accorde de nouveaux droits aux fonctionnaires, dont celui de mener des négociations collectives, mais pas celui de faire grève.

Elle promet la discrimination positive en faveur des personnes âgées, l'égalité des sexes et la protection des enfants, et prévoit la création d'un médiateur. (AFP, 12 sept 2010)

CHP emerges the loser in controversial campaign banner row

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), which had accused the government of posting campaign banners in İstanbul likening Islamic headscarves to nuns' habits, emerged the loser in the row after Interior Minister Beşir Atalay announced that the posters were the work of a district municipality under CHP leadership.
                                                                                                                           
The banner in question called on the voters to vote “no” in this Sunday's constitutional referendum arguing that a “yes” would mean approving Turkish women dressing like nuns. “We have found out how many banners were printed by whom and where. All those involved spoke up. The people who posted them on billboards also came forward.

The person who did this is CHP’s Avcılar Mayor Mustafa Değirmenci,” Atalay said on Saturday during a press conference. After the emergence of the highly controversial banner last week, the CHP denied responsibility for them and blamed the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), arguing that the ruling party was framing the CHP. CHP İstanbul Provincial Chairman Berhan Şimşek told reporters on Saturday that the banners have no link to the CHP and called on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Atalay to find those responsible for the “pirate banners.” He also filed a criminal complaint with the İstanbul Prosecutor’s Office.

CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu also said on Saturday that he had spoken with Şimşek and that he was convinced that the banners were not the work of the CHP, calling on the government to take action on the issue. “This is provocation. I feel sorry; a prime minister should not be so pitiful. The government will be responsible for [the banners] if they do not expose who is behind them,” he said.

The government’s response to the CHP came on Saturday evening from Atalay. Recalling that the CHP had accused the government of printing and posting the banners and that Kılıçdaroğlu even insulted Erdoğan by calling him “pitiful,” Atalay pointed to at Mayor Değirmenci. Stating that Ali Oral, an İstanbul city council member from the CHP, was also present when the banners were posted on billboards, Atalay added: “We are telling the CHP: ‘You did that. You may not be fully informed about what some of your party’s members did and you are using the term ‘low-down’ for our prime minister without shame. I am now announcing the names. We are announcing that Avcılar Mayor Değirmenci ordered these banners to be printed.”

Atalay also called on Kılıçdaroğlu and Şimşek to apologize to Prime Minister Erdoğan and the AK Party. However, CHP officials have thus far refused to apologize to the government.

Commenting on the issue, CHP Central Executive Board (MYK) member Gürsel Tekin on Saturday vowed to call those responsible for the banners to account. “This banner is wrong, regardless of which party posted it. The party administration will do what is necessary and punish those responsible,” he said.

Şimşek also stated that if what Atalay said is true, disciplinary action will be taken against Değirmenci. Meanwhile, Değirmenci is expected to make a statement on the subject today.

CHP parliamentary group deputy chairman Hakkı Süha Okay also announced yesterday that an intra-party probe would be launched into the controversial banner, underlining that the incident is unacceptable. (Today's Zaman, 6 September 2010)


Forces armées/Armed Forces

Balance sheet of the Unilateral ceasefire: 28 military operation

Turkish state has responded the unilateral ceasefire declared by KCK on 13 August with intensive military and police operations. Between 13 August and 20 September at least 9 civilians and 19 guerrillas have lost their lives. 554 persons were detained and 28 land operations as well as 26 mortar shell attacks took place. In addition, forest fires were started in 10 different regions.

On 13 August on the occasion of holy Ramadan and the upcoming constitution referendum Kurdistan Democratic Confederation declared a ceasefire. Despite the unilateral ceasefire while the Turkish state continued its military operations against the Kurdish guerrillas and hundreds of Kurds were detained and put into custody, the government also continued its rigid and nationalistic rhetoric. On the other hand, ambushes were laid on both Kurdish civilians and the guerrillas who were at defence position. Kurdish politicians were attacked in order to start provocations.

In the military operation against the Kurdish guerrillas which took part during this period 19 guerrillas lost their lives. On 16 September, a roadside bomb targeted a van carrying Kurdish villagers in Peyanis village of Hakkari and left 9 villagers dead 4 others injured. The government and pro-state media, with a guilty conscience, tried to immediately cover up the incident rather than enlightening it. 

Hunting the Kurds

Turkish state, government, paramilitary-powers and the media all hand in had tried to discredit and provoke the unilateral ceasefire which led heavy balance sheet for the Kurds. While the unilateral ceasefire was aiming at peace the Turkish state "hunted" the Kurds in this period.

According to news agency records from 13 August to 20 September at least 9 civilians and 19 guerrillas lost their lives, 554 persons were detained and 28 land operations as well as 26 mortar shell attacks took place. 10 forest fires were also started across the Kurdish region. The actual numbers estimated to be much higher.

Since 13 September, following the constitution referendum, 49 persons were detained in Diyarbakır, Şırnak, Urfa, Batman, Siirt, Hakkari and Muş.

On the day of referendum in İstanbul 94, in Mersin 20, in Antalya 4, in Çorlu 6 and in Bursa 10 in total 124 pro-boycott Kurds were detained. In Kurdistan the number of detentions reached up 164, in Van 77, in Batman 47, in Nusaybin 17, in Yükekova 15, in Silopi 5 and in Cizre 3.

Before the referendum between 13 August and 12 September 217 persons were detained 142 of which detained within the last two days before the referendum.

Between 13 August- 20 September at least 28 military operations conducted against the Kurdish guerrillas as a result of which 19 guerrillas lost their lives. Within this period also 26 shell attacks took place which caused forest fires in ten different regions both in Northern and Southern Kurdistan. Turkish shell attacks on Herguş, Mawata and Mamreşo villages in Zagros region left two villagers injured.

The number of the forest fires started by the Turkish army since July reached up 83. According to the ANF records in August 40 and in July 33 forest fires started by the Turkish army.(Kurdish Info, September 20 2010)

IHD urges an adequate investigation on Hakkari attack

Human Rights Association in Turkey (IHD) published a report regarding the road-side bomb attack on van carrying villager in Peyanis village of Hakkari which took place on 16 September and claimed lived of 9 civilians.

IHD following its mission to Hakkari and meeting the vice governor Davut Sinanoğlu and the mayor Fadıl Bedirhanoğlu prepared a report on the incident.

While unveiling the report to the press IHD representative Ali Akinci said the state officials failed to conduct a through investigation regarding the incident and immediately laid the blame on the PKK. “The officials without collecting evidence, listening to the eyewitnesses and investigating alleged involvement of the security forces reached the conclusion that the attack was carried out by the Kurdish guerrillas. In the past in relation to similar incidents in Semdinli, Elazig and Cukurca the officials performed a similar approach however later it was found out that the military was behind these incidents. The current approach of the officials reminds these incidents.” added Akinci.

Reminding the fact that there 3 military outposts and watch towers of the village guards are very close to the scene, that the attack took place in day light at 9 o’clock in the morning, that two bag full of military equipment belongs to the Turkish Army found 100 meters away from the scene, that unlike other ambushes military started no operation after the incident in order to catch the perpetrators IHD urged the officials to launch an efficient and prejudice-free investigation regarding the incident.

Reminding similar incidents carried out by the Gendarmerie Intelligence Service (JITEM) IHD representative Ali Akinci said: “The families of the victims are expecting an investigation. In order to prevent such right to life violations this country need brave prosecutors and politicians so that incident can be enlightened.” (ANF, 21 September 2010)

Prof. Oran Filed Lawsuit against Wiretapping of General Staff

The General Staff Military Prosecution launched a judiciary investigation over allegations related to illegal wiretapping ordered by General Aslan Güner, Deputy Chief of General Staff.

An administrative investigation had already been initiated by the General Staff on 30 August right after the news about the issue made the headlines of the nation-wide Taraf newspaper.

Güner allegedly purchased wiretapping equipment to eavesdrop on "members of the PKK", the militant Kurdistan Workers Party. Prof. Baskın Oran from the Ankara University Faculty of Political Science was among the approximately 2000 people who were wiretapped. Oran filed a criminal complaint on Wednesday (1 September).

Oran's lawyer Oya Aydın submitted her client's petition to the Ankara Public Prosecution. Aydın told bianet that that they filed a complaint against Güner and the other perpetrators who signed the wiretapping decision and who are to be ascertained by the prosecutor.

Three offences

Lawyer Aydın requested the punishment of all people responsible according to Article 257 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK) on "misconduct in office", Article 134 on "violation of privacy" and Article 132 on "violation of the confidentiality of communication", respectively.

The petition also demanded an increase of punishment as stipulated by law in case the offence was committed by a public official. Accordingly, Güner and the other persons responsible who are still to be ascertained are facing prison sentences of up to 10.5 years each.

Petition based on allegations put forward by Taraf newspaper

The petition includes the allegations put forward by Taraf newspaper. The daily had reported that Güner purchased wiretapping equipment for the General Staff Electronics System (GES) Command from Israel in 2007 when he was on duty in the General Staff Intelligence Presidency as a lieutenant general. According to Taraf, the equipment was ordered to "wiretap PKK members" but was used to eavesdrop on well-known people.

"Contrary to the guarantees of the Law and the Constitution, a top-ranking official of the military who had the basic duty of defending his country seized his authority and illegally wiretapped persons he supposed to be political enemies. These allegations constitute a very serious crime and should be investigated instantly", Aydın emphasized.

Administrative investigation

The General Staff Presidency announced that a judicial investigation was launched over allegations that even though the equipment was purchased in accordance with the legislation, the equipment was used beyond the reasons for the purchase.  The Presidency also said that Deputy Chief of General Staff Güner was not at the General Staff Headquarters at the date related to the allegations.

The statement included first findings of the administrative investigation launched on Monday (30 August). It read, "The allegations concerned with the purchase of the equipment have been investigated. It was confirmed that all procedures were made according to current legislation and referring modalities. All documents have been fully obtained".

In the same announcement, the General Staff declared that the minibus shown by Taraf when they initially reported the news was not the one the wiretapping system had been installed in. (BIA, Erol Onderoglu, 2 September 2010)

Military parades on national holidays indicate weak democracy

Yesterday was Aug. 30, a day celebrated as Victory Day in Turkey and a day that commemorates victory in the Battle of Dumlupınar, the final battle in the Turkish War of Independence in 1922. Celebrations were held across the country, but the biggest events were the military parades in stadiums, raising the question of whether it is healthy for a nation carrying out ambitious efforts to democratize to allow celebrations imbued with military overtones to be held.
                                                                                                                           
Tanks rolled through stadiums in big cities and on İstanbul's Vatan Street as part of the huge military processions -- made up of thousands of infantry -- to mark Victory Day. Although civilian participation rates are usually very high at these events -- as the public enjoys watching the military parade -- the sight of tanks, military heavy armor and even planes being put on display is of an undeniably Soviet character. Russia still holds spectacular military parades on May 9, that country's V-Day, across dozens of its cities. Military parades are usually associated with dictatorial regimes.

The only country in Europe that holds military parades is France. Other countries that rely on a significant military presence to mark their national holidays include China and North Korea. For many active in the human rights field, the military parades are only a demonstration of the military’s power.

This mentality is also apparent in a slogan the military started using around one year ago. It used the phrase “Powerful Military, Powerful Turkey,” on a poster prepared for the anniversary of the establishment of the Land Forces Command. The first slogan was criticized by writers, intellectuals and others, including Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay, who said a strong military would not make a great country, but instead the country has to be powerful first for the military to be powerful. In the face of criticism, General Staff did not feel the order of the two phrases was important, but in late June this year the military changed this slogan to “Powerful Turkey, Powerful Military” on its website. Human Rights Association (İHD) head Öztürk Türkdoğan also believes that the parades are being held by the military to demonstrate its power. Türkdoğan says: “The era of armies marching down the street in a show of force has ended. Armies making demonstrations of power on the street gives clues about the character of the regime in a given country. Turkey has problems regarding democracy and human rights. It cannot even rid itself of the Sept. 12 Constitution. The transition to democracy from a militaristic Constitution and state tradition can never be accomplished. But we should not see these merely as outdated ceremonies. Aug. 30 and similar ceremonies are the show of power of militarism itself. Turkey should lose these scenes of shame.” Türkdoğan said that a country’s greatness is not measured by the size or reputation of its army, or how many troops, tanks or missiles it has. “Today, the greatness and level of development of a country are measured by the level of democracy, human rights and the economy.”

He also said that Aug. 30 is a national day for the entire country, not only the military. “This is why such days should be celebrated with the participation of all the people in a festive air. These scenes also lag behind society’s development level. We should get rid of militaristic policies and civilianize.”

Prussian army model

Journalist Mehmet Altan says that the military parades on Aug. 30 and other national days are proof that Turkey’s regime follows a Prussian model. Altan said: “Since the regime in this country was set up by the military and since the duty of protecting and guarding it is also assumed by the military, we are always faced with scenes that are reminiscent of the Prussian army model. There is a constant glorification of the military and military service. The ‘we are a soldier nation,’ or ‘every Turk is born a soldier’ discourse is being disseminated to propagate the military.”

He said the way Aug. 30 is celebrated in Turkey has not changed a bit from the way it was celebrated in the 1930s. “Even the parade formation has remained the same. The military cannot change it even if it wants to. Politics, as an institution, does not want a change in the military. Political parties are not making an effort to change this regime. All parties are serving militarism. The regime is not democratic, but there are no efforts to transform it into a democracy, because the military-politics relationship has turned into a field for profit. The General Staff cannot be brought under supervision of the National Defense Ministry. Those who actually propose this are only doing so in return for political gains.” (Zaman, BARIŞ ALTINTAŞ/ERCAN YAVUZ, 31 August 2010)

New Chief of General Staff Isik Kosaner's Positions

General Işık Koşaner is the 27th chief of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), in his inaugural speech held on 28 August, emphasized his position as facing psychological operations of the army. Koşaner counted the risks of the region Turkey belongs to as "extreme nationalism, religious fundamentalism, terrorism and ethnic and sectarian conflicts". He said that he was close to the media. He ignored pluralism by saying that a common language provides one of the national prerequisites and that the "unitarian state guarantees to prevent the creation of minorities".

Read some section of Koşaner's speech as follows:

Kurdish question, democratic autonomy, PKK: Legal precautions to make the struggle [against the Kurdistan Workers Party PKK] easier could not be taken because of the sensitive balance between security and freedom. Accordingly, all sorts of improvements of individual rights and freedoms were perceived as a right gained through the organization. Due to the freedom provided by law, terrorists are able to live among the people. For the security forces it becomes more difficult day by day to distinguish the innocent people from terrorists.

Efficient legal measures must be taken quickly against the attempt to establish a second structure of power in the country. The Iraqi central government and the regional [Kurdish] administration have to take effective measures against the terror organization [PKK] nested in northern Iraq as soon as possible. The support provided by some European countries to the organization and its members should be prevented. It is important to further ensure the authority of the Turkish Armed Forces for operations in Northern Iraq.

Solving the problem of terrorism is only possible as a nation state and a unitary state. The individual rights and freedoms provided by democracy and the state of law, the concept of a nation state, the unitary structure, our integrity and our security cannot be used by threatening these values. That cannot be tolerated.

Message to the media to be more careful: it is the inevitable obligation of the media to obtain information about actions of the Turkish Armed Forces and to inform the public. Thus, it is a basic principle to communicate information concerned with the Turkish Armed Forces to the media channels and the public in a correct manner and at the right time. Correct news and constructive criticism by the media will always be carefully examined. Nobody can say anything against correct news and unbiased criticism. In fact, this is also necessary.

Of course, the press is independent and cannot be censored. Nobody can object to that. What is expected of the press is that it is really independent. News related to the Turkish Armed Forces in particular, some media bodies intentionally or unintentionally gave wrong information to the public and made comments and evaluations that were not compatible with the truth. We are watching this with sorrow and concern.

According to the TSK, press freedom means the freedom of dropping unfounded news and refraining from misleading the public, from provocation and making the public worry. By voicing certain thoughts and targeting the structure and the basic values of the Turkish Armed Forces, those people unnecessarily create worries with their striving for "transformation" under the excuse of "change".

It is the common proceeding of media bodies to accept the truth of a claim related to the Turkish armed forces in the first place without thinking about its accuracy or without feeling the need to review it. Even though this is not a criminal offence in terms of law, this proceeding is not in line with ethic values.

Even though some media bodies are not concerned with ethic values, we expect the respected other media institutions to be a bit more accurate and careful with their news and comments.

Change within the TSK, professional army: Koşaner said that the TSK was subject to constant change and development according to the needs. However, he distanced himself from a "professional army".

Investigations should yield results: Koşaner emphasized his strong wish for an immediate clarification of facts regarding investigations and prosecutions of retired and active members of the Turkish armed forces. (BIA, Tolga KORKUT, 30 August 2010)

Affaires religieuses/Religious Affairs

Un chef de la police écroué après avoir dénoncé un complot islamiste

Un chef de la police turque qui avait accusé le mois dernier dans un livre une influente confrérie musulmane d'avoir manipulé des enquêtes sur des complots visant le gouvernement a été écroué mardi pour aide à une organisation terroriste, ont rapporté les médias.

Hanefi Avci a été placé en détention provisoire par un tribunal stambouliote dans le cadre d'une enquête sur une organisation clandestine armée peu connue se faisant appeler Commandement révolutionnaire, a affirmé l'agence de presse Anatolie, précisant que le logement du suspect a été perquisitionné.

Selon la chaîne NTV, il est accusé d'"aide et soutien à une organisation terroriste".

Avci s'est illustré en publiant en août un livre dans lequel il affirme que des adeptes du mouvement dirigé par l'imam Fethullah Gülen, placés à des postes clé de la police et de la justice, ont manipulé des preuves dans des enquêtes sur des complots contre le gouvernement pour discréditer les forces laïques.

La publication de son ouvrage est intervenue alors que les enquêtes sur des complots présumés visant le gouvernement du Parti de la justice et du développement (AKP), issu de la mouvance islamiste, ont provoqué depuis 2007 l'incarcération de centaines de personnes, dont de nombreux militaires.

L'armée, qui a commis quatre coups d'Etat depuis 1960, se considère comme la garante de la laïcité, une valeur que les opposants de l'AKP jugent mise en danger par ce parti proche de la confrérie.

Agé de 69 ans, M. Gülen, un ancien prédicateur qui prêche un islam modéré et vit aux Etats-Unis depuis 1999 pour des raisons de santé, a rejeté les accusations.

Le Commandement révolutionnaire a revendiqué en août 2008 une attaque au mortier visant une caserne militaire à Istanbul, qui avait blessé trois employés municipaux, puis en décembre 2008 un attentat à la bombe au siège stambouliote de l'AKP qui a fait 10 blessés

Il affirme avoir pour but d'installer un régime socialiste au pouvoir en Turquie par la lutte armée et un soulèvement ouvrier. (AFP, 28 sept 2010)

10.000 manifestants à Batman contre le projet avorté de brûler le Coran

Quelque 10.000 personnes ont manifesté dimanche dans le sud-est de la Turquie pour protester contre le projet, abandonné depuis plus de deux semaines, d'un pasteur américain de brûler des exemplaires du Coran.

"Brisons les mains de ceux qui veulent brûler le Coran", "Nous sacrifions notre vie pour toi, Coran", affirmaient les banderoles des manifestants, qui scandaient "Allah est grand" au cours de ce défilé à Batman, une ville peuplée en majorité de Kurdes.

Dimanche dernier, 30.000 manifestants s'étaient mobilisés dans la ville voisine de Diyarbakir pour conspuer le projet d'autodafé.

Le pasteur d'une petite église évangéliste américaine avait menacé de faire brûler des centaines d'exemplaires du Coran le jour de la commémoration des attaques du 11 septembre 2001. Mais il avait renoncé à son projet qui avait suscité un tollé dans le monde. (AFP, 26 sept 2010)

Des galeries d'art servant de l'alcool attaquées à Istanbul: 5 blessés

Cinq amateurs d'art ont été blessés mardi soir lorsque des habitants en colère du centre-ville d'Istanbul se sont attaqués aux nombreux invités d'une exposition d'art parce qu'ils consommaient de l'alcool dans la rue, ont rapporté les médias.

L'incident s'est produit dans le quartier historique de Beyoglu (rive européenne), centre de la vie nocturne d'Istanbul, capitale européenne de la culture 2010, et le plus actif dans le domaine de l'art et du spectacle.

Une quarantaine d'hommes armés de couteaux, bâtons, barres de fer et d'aérosols de gaz paralysant se sont attaqués à des centaines de personnes qui assistaient à un vernissage collectif dans plusieurs galeries contiguës de la zone de Tophane, selon Nazim Dikbas, le curateur de l'un des établissements.

"C'était une attaque organisée et planifiée", a-t-il dit devant la presse, accompagné d'autres collègues.

"Ils nous ont attaqués sans aucun avertissement parce qu'on buvait dans la rue, juste devant la porte des galeries. Ils criaient Allah Akbar", a expliqué une invitée à la chaîne de télévision privée NTV.

Outre les cinq personnes hospitalisées pour coups et blessures, plusieurs autres invités ont été frappés, selon différents témoignages.

Les manifestants ont poussé les gens dans les galeries à coup de bâtons et de gaz lacrymogène, brisant les vitres, a souligné M. Dikbas.

"Barbarie en plein coeur d'Istanbul", a titré le journal libéral Radikal.

Sept personnes ont été arrêtées, selon le gouverneur de la ville, Hüseyin Avni Mutlu.

Interrogé par les journalistes sur les mobiles des assaillants, le responsable est resté vague, affirmant que "le bruit ou l'alcool" pouvaient en être la cause. Il a assuré que cet acte criminel ne resterait pas impuni.

Sur un site internet consacré aux habitants de Tophane, autrefois zone résidentielle populaire mais aujourd'hui en pleine restauration, on peut notamment lire que les cafés, galeries d'art et hôtels qui ont commencé à peupler les rues "dérangent les familles" et que les "habitants se sont retroussés les manches pour dire non a ce mode de vie immoral".

Depuis l'arrivée au pouvoir en 2002 du Parti de la justice et du développement (AKP, issu de la mouvance islamiste), la question de la consommation d'alcool en Turquie cristallise les tensions entre laïques et musulmans conservateurs.

Selon des études, les lieux de consommation se sont réduits en Anatolie et dans les grandes villes en raison de la "pression du quartier", exercée par ceux qui veulent imposer un mode de vie musulman. (AFP, 22 sept 2010)

30.000 manifestants en Turquie contre le Projet avorté de brûler le Coran

Quelque 30.000 personnes ont manifesté dimanche à Diyarbakir, dans le sud-est de la Turquie, pour protester contre le projet, abandonné il y a plus d'une semaine, d'un pasteur américain de brûler des exemplaires du Coran.

"Nous sacrifierons notre âme et notre sang pour le Coran", ont scandé les manifestants au cours de ce défilé qui s'est déroulé dans la plus grande ville du sud-est anatolien à majorité kurde.

Les protestataires brandissaient des exemplaires du Coran et scandaient des slogans hostiles aux Etats-Unis et à Israël. "Les sionistes et les croisés agissent de concert. Où sont les musulmans?", lisait-on sur une pancarte.

Les manifestants se sont dispersés après avoir brûlé des drapeaux américains et israéliens.

Le pasteur d'une petite église évangéliste américaine avait menacé de faire brûler des centaines d'exemplaires du Coran le jour de la commémoration des attaques du 11 septembre 2001. Mais il avait renoncé à son projet qui avait suscité un tollé dans le monde. (AFP, 19 sept 2010)

La première messe arménienne dans l'Eglise d'Akhtamar

Un millier d'Arméniens se sont rassemblés dimanche pour une messe dans une église du sud-est de la Turquie, la première jamais célébrée depuis que les massacres et déportations de la Première guerre mondiale les ont effacés de cette région.

Des bateaux ont fait la navette pour transporter les pèlerins, venus pour la plupart de Turquie, et certains d'Arménie, d'Europe et des Etats-Unis, jusqu'à l'île d'Akdamar (Akhtamar en arménien), sur le lac de Van, où se trouve l'église Sainte-Croix, un monument du 10e siècle.

Cette église est un des très rares témoins dans la région de ce qui fut l'importante communauté arménienne de la Turquie ottomane, victime de massacres et de déportations entre 1915 et 1917.

"Les mots me manquent pour dire ce que je ressens. J'étais là il y a deux ans pour la cérémonie de réouverture de l'église (après sa restauration). J'espérais qu'un jour, cette messe serait une chose possible", a déclaré à l'AFP, les larmes aux yeux, Anahit Micetchian, 47 ans, dont la famille avait échappé aux massacres.

Mme Micetchian est venue d'Arménie en autocar avec une quarantaine de personnes, via la Géorgie, la frontière turco-arménienne étant fermée.

Des haut-parleurs amplifiaient prières et cantiques à l'extérieur, durant la messe retransmise sur écran géant, de nombreux fidèles n'ayant pas trouvé place dans l'édifice.

Ankara a souhaité faire de cette messe, organisée à la demande de la petite communauté arménienne de Turquie, une occasion d'apaiser les tensions et de faire oublier un passé sanglant.

Mais des voix en Arménie ont qualifié l'initiative d'exercice de relations publiques, et appelé au boycottage.

La polémique est née du fait que la Turquie n'a pas installé, à temps pour la cérémonie, une croix sur le toit de cette église, qui a aujourd'hui le statut de musée. Les responsables ont expliqué ce retard par des lenteurs administratives.

La croix de deux mètres de haut a été placée sur un socle en bois, à l'entrée de l'église, dans l'attente de son érection sur le toit.

Le patriarcat d'Etchmiadzin, siège de l'église apostolique arménienne, est revenu sur sa décision d'envoyer sur place deux représentants, du fait de l'absence de la croix sur l'église.

"C'est une église arménienne, et quand on s'approche en bateau, on s'attend à voir une croix au faîte de l'église", a estimé Ani Kirimlioglu, d'Istanbul.

"En dépit de tout cela, le fait qu'il y ait un office religieux est très important... Cela apaiserait les choses dans les relations entre la Turquie et l'Arménie", a-t-elle ajouté.

A Erevan, plusieurs centaines de personnes se sont rassemblées au Mémorial des massacres de la Première guerre mondiale pour protester contre cette messe, avec des banderoles proclamant: "Nous ne louons pas notre église, elle est à nous".

"Nous ne voulons pas souffrir en silence, au moment où les autorités turques utilisent notre héritage culturel et historique pour une manipulation politique", a déclaré à l'AFP Hayk Demoian, directeur du Musée du génocide arménien.

La communauté arménienne de Turquie (environ 70.000 personnes) est aujourd'hui concentrée à Istanbul, où elle dispose de plusieurs églises.

La Turquie et l'Arménie ont signé l'an dernier des accords visant à établir des liens diplomatiques et rouvrir leur frontière commune, fermée depuis plus de dix ans. Mais le processus s'est enlisé dans des accusations mutuelles et l'Arménie a annoncé en avril qu'elle retirait ces textes de l'ordre du jour de son Parlement. (AFP, 19 sept 2010)

Socio-économique / Socio-economic

'Peace bridge' of 1969 rebuilt in Turkey's Southeast

The opening of the new bridge in Hakkari is set to be held Oct 1 with a 'peace concert' featuring Kurdish and Turkish bands and musicians. Milliyet photo

A bridge built in Southeast Anatolia in 1969 by members of a revolutionary student group, and subsequently bombed, is being reconstructed and will be inaugurated in early October with a peace concert at a nearby stadium.

A key symbol for the Turkish left, the Bridge of the Revolutionary Youth was originally built over the Zap River in Hakkari province by leading figures in the country’s revolutionary university movement as a reaction to the construction of the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul. The Zap bridge was bombed by unknown parties in 1999.

Announcing the completion of reconstruction after a year’s worth of efforts, author Cezmi Ersöz, who initiated the project, told participants in a press conference Monday that the bridge was “bombed by enemies of peace and justice.”

Ragıp Zarakolu, a publisher and human-rights activist who was part of both bridge projects, said 1969 was the year the revolutionary movement reached out to the country’s working class, villagers and Kurds. He said members decided to build the bridge to make a lasting contribution to the lives of locals.

“I am making a call here, let us direct the energy of the youth to reconstructing the demolished Kurdistan,” Zarakolu said.

Describing the original bridge as “one of the temples of the Turkish left,” former Esenyurt Mayor Gürbüz Çapan claimed the bombing in 1999 was the work of the government and said such projects are necessary to promote peaceful coexistence. “A call must be made of ‘Peace right now,’” he said. “War is easy; it escalates in a moment. It is peace that is hard.”

The Bosphorus Bridge, now the first of two crossing the Istanbul strait, sparked controversy leading up to its completion in 1973. Opponents criticized the use of public money for the $200 million project at a time when much of the country outside Istanbul lacked basic infrastructure such as electricity and running water.

Asked by the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review if the revived peace bridge in Hakkari is a response to plans to build a third bridge over the Bosphorus, Ersöz said the timing was “coincidental; actually it is a good [coincidence].” He added that the group does not support construction of the third bridge in Istanbul.

Peace concert

The opening of the new bridge in Hakkari is set be held Oct. 1. A “peace concert” featuring Kurdish and Turkish bands and musicians will be organized at Hakkari Stadium the following day. Bus service will be provided for people who want to travel from other parts of the country and members of the group who worked on the project will fly to the nearby province of Van and then travel to Hakkari by car. A condolence visit is also planned to Hakkari’s Gedikli village, where nine people were killed when a bus was struck by a roadside bomb Sept. 16.

A concert by various artists was held in Istanbul in 2008 to finance the new bridge over the Zap River, but it did not raise enough funds. Individual and organizational donors who stepped in to fill the gap will be thanked with a plaque to be placed near the new bridge, said Ersöz, who also thanked Hakkari Gov. Muammer Türker for his support for the project.

“This time, we will also put a sign that says, ‘Please do not bomb this bridge,’” Ersöz said.

The reconstruction initiative received support from dozens of nongovernmental organizations, municipalities, civil servants and other individuals, including Çapan; actor, author and director Yılmaz Erdoğan; singer and director Mahsun Kırmızıgül; and Şişli Mayor Mustafa Sarıgül.

Daily Milliyet and its then-Editor-in-Chief Abdi İpekçi contributed to the late-1960s effort and the newspaper is the press sponsor of the current project.(Hürriyet Daily News, September 28, 2010)

Culture Minister Impassive as Ancient Spa Settlement is Doomed

The ancient city of Allianoi close to the ancient sight of Bergama in the province of Izmir is about to be covered by sand due to the construction of the Yortanlı Dam. Six people were arrested in a protest action against the planned procedure, among them Güven Eken, President of the Nature Foundation. All six people were released later on. On 20 September, the activists had chained themselves to the heavy construction equipment taken to the site to cover the ancient city by sand.

Allianoi is an ancient spa settlement dating back to the Roman Empire. The city was in a surprisingly good condition and a rare sight of its kind in the Aegean region. The activation of the Yortanlı Dam will inundate the ancient remains and thus make them disappear for good. The Monument Protection Service had accepted a legal claim against the flooding of Allianoi in 2005. Nevertheless, the same office revised the decision in a non-public session two years later despite international protest of the UNESCO, the EU and ICOMOS.

The Gendarmerie arrested Eken and activists Tayfun Mützenmacher, Elif Mützenmacher, Ebru Tamer, Serhat Demirkol and Seray Yalçın, the latter of whom was wearing a nymph costume in reference to the excavated nymph that was mounted in 2006 and became a symbol of the Allianoi Rescue Campaign.

According to the government's project, Allianoi as one of the oldest ancient health centres will be entirely flooded with the activation of the Yortanlı Dam. Lawsuits filed by the activists postponed this process but the Monument Protection Service in Izmir paved the way to "covering the city in sand" with its controversial decision.

Activists will not give up

bianet spoke with Assoc. Prof. Ahmet Yaraş as the Head of the Allianoi Excavation Board. Yaraş explained the situation as follows:

"Allinanoi is being covered in sand brought by trucks right now. On 22 September, the walls will be covered by concrete and after that the water will come. Despite all efforts and reactions, the massacre takes its course".

Yaraş said that the authorities just watched everything happened and that they did not attend any of the protest actions. He said that the only thing left to do was to constantly monitor the process before the "massacre was being completed". Yaraş added: "We were here for the last action of the Nature Association. We are currently staying in Bergama. We will set up a tent again on Saturday (24 September) to continue our protest. We are working on informing the public. However, unfortunately, Allianoi is being buried".

One more resignation call to Minister Günay

The Chamber of Environmental Engineers addressed the Minister of Culture, Ertuğrul Günay, who had said that his hands were tied regarding Allianoi: "Dear Minister, while the trial is still pending and the entire scientific community and even the Head of the Allianoi excavation Scientific Board are regarding the practice as unscientific, the issue turned into an improvident and desperate situation because a district mayor did not veto".

"Do not become even more pathetic; show respect for your own past at least if you did not respect the world's cultural heritage and the past of mankind. You should resign, this is your only option".

President of the Nature Association Eken said during the protest action on 20 September: "We are demonstrating to document the crime which is being committed here. Minster Ertuğrul Günay is able to stop this massacre by a simple telegram". (BIA, Selin ALTUNKAYNAK, 23 September 2010)

Le FMI exhorte la Turquie à adopter des réformes fiscales

Le Fonds monétaire international (FMI) a appelé la Turquie a adopter dans les plus brefs délais des mesures d'assainissement budgétaire que le gouvernement d'Ankara avait annoncé reporter dans la perspective d'élections législatives prévues l'an prochain.

Dans un rapport annuel sur l'état économique de la Turquie dévoilé mercredi, le Fonds exhorte le gouvernement turc a faire passer "sans tarder" au Parlement un projet de loi prévoyant une réforme substantielle du système budgétaire turc.

"Si le projet est adopté sous sa forme actuelle, il introduira des réformes tant attendues pour une transparence de la gestion du financement public", souligne le rapport.

La Turquie a annoncé en août le report de ce projet, une décision qui constitue une aubaine pour le gouvernement islamo-conservateur avant les élections prévues en 2011 mais qui suscite des interrogations sur les objectifs d'Ankara en matière de réduction du déficit et de la dette publique.

Les investisseurs s'attendaient à ce qu'Ankara mette en place les réformes nécessaires à temps pour le budget 2011 après avoir exclu un nouvel accord de prêt avec le FMI.

Le Premier ministre turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, espère que le retour d'une croissance économique soutenue l'aidera à remporter une troisième victoire électorale l'année prochaine.

Après avoir subi une récession sévère l'année dernière, l'économie du pays devrait rebondir d'environ 6% en 2010 mais devrait ralentir les années suivantes.

Les mesures budgétaires évoquées prévoyaient de réduire le déficit du pays à 1% du produit intérieur brut (PIB) en dix ans et la dette publique à environ 30% du PIB sur la même période.

Le gouvernement vise un déficit à 4,9% du PIB en 2010 contre 5,5% du PIB l'an dernier, puis à 4% en 2011 et 3,2% en 2012. (AFP, 8 sept 2010)

Relations turco-européennes / Turkey-Europe Relations

Débat public: La Turquie  fera t-elle partie de l’Union Européenne ?

Le 3 octobre 2005 au Luxembourg, l’Union Européenne a officiellement ouvert les négociations d’adhésion de la Turquie à l’Europe.
 
Le 3 octobre 2010, 5 ans après, le Bureau Français de la Cause Arménienne (BFCA) organise un bilan d’étape sur la candidature turque à l’Union Européenne.
 
·        La Turquie a t-elle entrepris les réformes imposées par l’Union Européenne ?
·        La Turquie est-elle sur le chemin vers l’Europe ?
·        Quel est le prix à payer par la Turquie pour qu’elle adhère à l’Union Européenne ?
·        Quels sont les obstacles qui se dressent face à la candidature d’Ankara ?
·        Quels sont les facteurs qui favorisent la candidature de la Turquie ?
·        La Turquie fera t-elle partie de l’Union Européenne ?
 
à 15h30, à la Maison de la Chimie
28, rue Saint Dominique, Paris 7ème
Métro: Assemblée Nationale ou Invalides
(http://www.fra-france.com/index.php?page=article&id=618)

Sondage: la cause européenne recule en Turquie au profit du monde musulman

La cause européenne a perdu beaucoup de sa popularité en Turquie dont les habitants souhaiteraient davantage de coopération avec le monde musulman, selon le dernier sondage annuel réalisé par l'institut Transatlantic Trends et diffusé par le German Marshall Fund (GMF).

En 2004, un an avant l'ouverture des négociations d'adhésion de la Turquie à l'Union européenne, 74% des Turcs s'étaient déclarés favorables à une
intégration à l'UE, dans un sondage du GMF tandis qu'en 2010, ils ne sont que 38%, selon cette enquête reçue jeudi à l'AFP.

Celle-ci a été réalisée en Turquie, aux Etats-Unis et dans 11 pays de l'UE sur un échantillon représentatif de 1.100 personnes dans chacun de ces pays.

Et le nombre de Turcs sondés qui se disent favorables à une plus étroite coopération de leur pays avec les Etats musulmans du Proche-Orient a doublé de 2009 à 2010, passant de 10 à 20%.

Concernant le programme nucléaire de l'Iran, que les puissances occidentales accusent de fabriquer l'arme atomique, 48% des Turcs déclarent ne pas s'inquiéter de ce programme, que Téhéran affirme développer à des fins civiles.

Les Européens, par ailleurs, continuent d'être très partagés sur une adhésion de la Turquie à l'UE: 38% des sondés y sont favorables, contre 48% qui ne le sont pas.

L'UE a ouvert en 2005 des négociations en vue de l'adhésion de la Turquie, mais le processus piétine du fait notamment de l'opposition de plusieurs pays, dont la France et l'Allemagne qui redoutent l'arrivée dans le club européen d'un grand pays de 73 millions d'habitants, presque tous musulmans.

Cette enquête intervient alors que les Etats-Unis et des dirigeants européens se sont inquiétés de voir la Turquie, lassée selon eux des lenteurs du processus d'adhésion, se tourner vers ses voisins musulmans, notamment l'Iran.

La Turquie s'était opposée à de nouvelles sanctions contre Téhéran, adoptées par le Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU en juin.

Le gouvernement islamo-conservateur turc du Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan assure qu'il reste attaché à l'Occident, tout en se présentant comme une force régionale à la recherche de nouveaux marchés. (AFP, 16 sept 2010)

GUE/NGL: Une occasion pour Erdogan d'entamer le dialogue avec les Kurdes
 
Réagissant aux résultats du référendum dans lequel les citoyens turcs ont adopté une révision de la constitution telle que proposée par le Premier ministre Erdogan, le Président du GUE/NGL Lothar Bisky a déclaré:
 
«Avec la révision réussie de certaines sections de la constitution turque, le gouvernement de l'AKP de Recep Tayyip Erdogan a pris certaines mesures pour améliorer le respect de la loi. Il a aussi démontré son pouvoir et sa capacité à gouverner. Néanmoins, Erdogan n'est pas parvenu à convaincre les citoyens de certaines régions kurdes spécifiques où la plupart des gens ont suivi l'appel du BDP pour un boycott.»
 
Sur les affrontements sanglants qui ont lieu en région kurde de la Turquie, Bisky insiste: "Après l'offensive militaire de taille de l'armée turque contre les groupes d'opposition armés kurdes, le PKK a fait un pas vers le gouvernement et a déclaré un cessez-le-feu unilatéral. J'appelle le Premier ministre Erdogan à saisir l'opportunité de ce cessez-le-feu, et de faire usage de ce pouvoir renforcé en vue d'une «offensive vers la paix". Pour enfin parvenir à une solution durable et pacifique de la question kurde, un dialogue avec tous les représentants de la population kurde doit maintenant commencer.»
 
Bisky poursuit: «Bientôt, les citoyens turcs éliront un nouveau Parlement. Il est absolument nécessaire que les actes de criminalisation et de répression contre les politiciens kurdes cessent afin que la démocratisation, la paix et le processus de réconciliation sociale soient renforcées. En particulier, la clause de dix pour cent actuelle semble trop restrictive et devrait être révisée. Deuxièmement, les procès à venir des maires et militants arrêtés du DTP et BDP sera un test du respect du droit et l'histoire longue et triste d'interdictions de parti doit enfin se terminer. (www.guengl.eu, 15 septembre 2010)

L'horizon européen de la Turquie reste bouché malgré le référendum

L'Europe et les Etats-Unis ont salué l'issue du référendum constitutionnel en Turquie, présenté par Ankara comme un atout sur la voie de son intégration dans l'UE, une perspective qui continue néanmoins à susciter des réticences très fortes parmi les 27 pays du bloc.

Lundi, les partisans de l'adhésion de ce pays musulman de 73 millions d'habitants sont montés au créneau en se disant confortés dans leur attitude par les réformes constitutionnelles adoptées.

Le ministre espagnol des Affaires étrangères, Miguel Angel Moratinos y a vu "un signal clair de la vocation européenne" de la Turquie.

"Cela ouvre la porte européenne, même si cela prendra du temps d'en franchir le pas", lui a fait écho son homologue suédois, Carl Bildt.

Les Etats-Unis, qui militent ardemment en faveur d'un ancrage du pays à l'Union européenne et accusent cette dernière d'éloigner la Turquie de l'Occident du fait de ses atermoiements, ont salué par la voix du président Barack Obama le fort taux de participation au référendum.

Il y a vu le reflet de "la vitalité de la démocratie turque".

Mais les pays opposés à l'entrée de la Turquie, qui prônent à la place un partenariat privilégié, comme l'Allemagne, la France ou l'Autriche, campent sur leurs positions.

Paris s'est borné lundi à "prendre" note du résultat du référendum et à saluer les avancées démocratiques, sans se prononcer sur leur impact pour les négociations avec l'UE.

A Bruxelles, le ministre autrichien des Affaires étrangères, Michael Spindelegger, a lui douché les espoirs de déblocage rapide, jugeant que cela ne pourrait être cas "tant que la Turquie n'accepte pas que Chypre est un membre de l'UE" en lui ouvrant ses ports et aéroports.

Dans ces conditions, l'adoption des réformes constitutionnelles ne devrait guère suffire à désembourber le processus.

"Je ne pense pas que cela va modifier la donne. Les positions de plusieurs Etats clés de l'UE comme l'Allemagne ou la France se sont durcies sur la question de l'adhésion. Et quoi que fasse la Turquie aujourd'hui elles ne changeront pas", estime José Ignacio Torreblanca, analyste du European Council on Foreign Relations.

"Il y a une coalition du refus qui se forme dans plusieurs pays, alliant partis de droite anti-islam et pro-européens qui redoutent une dilution du projet de l'UE avec l'entrée de la Turquie. C'est une spirale très négative pour Ankara", juge-t-il.

La Turquie a entamé ces négociations en 2005 mais elles n'avancent que très lentement du fait de ces réticences grandissantes et de l'impasse à Chypre, partiellement occupée par Ankara.

L'UE, mais aussi Chypre et la France bloquent 18 des 35 chapitres thématiques qui jalonnent ces pourparlers d'adhésion, en raison principalement du problème chypriote. Seuls trois chapitres peuvent encore être ouverts, et bientôt l'impasse risque d'être totale, avec sans doute une vraie crise avec la Turquie.

Samedi, le gouvernement turc a tapé du poing sur la table lors d'une réunion à Bruxelles avec les ministres européens des Affaires étrangères, en exprimant "clairement" son mécontentement face à la lenteur du processus.

Son chef de la diplomatie Ahmet Davutoglu a accueilli fraîchement une offre des Européens d'engager avec Ankara un "dialogue stratégique" sur les grands problèmes du monde, indépendamment de la question de l'adhésion.

"La Turquie n'acceptera jamais la moindre alternative au processus de négociations" a prévenu M. Davutoglu, pour qui il est "difficile de développer une telle vision stratégique" de partenariat "s'il n'y a pas d'avancée dans les négociations" d'adhésion. (AFP, 13 sept 2010)

Bruxelles salue et suivra attentivement sa mise en oeuvre

La Commission européenne a salué dimanche l'approbation par un référendum en Turquie d'une révision constitutionnelle qui "constitue un pas dans la bonne direction", avertissant qu'elle suivrait attentivement sa mise en oeuvre et son application sur le terrain.

L'issue du référendum "démontre la poursuite de l'engagement des citoyens turcs en faveur des réformes, en vue d'accroître leurs droits et libertés", a estimé le commissaire chargé de l'Elargissement de l'Union européenne, Stefan Füle.

Il constitue un pas dans la bonne direction, "dans les efforts de la Turquie pour remplir les critères nécessaires pour son adhésion" à l'UE, relève M. Füle dans un communiqué.

"Mais son impact sur le terrain dépendra de sa mise en oeuvre. Toute une série de lois d'application seront nécessaires et nous suivrons leur préparation très attentivement", précise M. Füle.

Bruxelles partage "le point de vue de beaucoup en Turquie selon lesquels le vote d'aujourd'hui a besoin d'être suivi d'autres réformes nécessaires pour s'attaquer aux priorités qui subsistent dans le domaine des droits fondamentaux, comme la liberté d'expression et la liberté de religion", ajoute-t-il.

Il se dit également "d'accord avec ceux qui, à travers l'échiquier politique, pensent qu'une nouvelle Constitution civile fournirait un fondement solide à un développement durable de la démocratie en Turquie".

Les Turcs ont donné dimanche une nette victoire au gouvernement islamo-conservateur, en votant largement "oui" à une révision constitutionnelle qui limite le pouvoir de la hiérarchie judiciaire et de l'armée, deux bastions de la laïcité opposés au régime.

La révision limite les prérogatives de la justice militaire et modifie, au profit du pouvoir, la structure de la Cour constitutionnelle et du Conseil supérieur de la magistrature (HSYK) qui nomme juges et procureurs.

Alors que le pouvoir en place affirme que cette réforme renforce les institutions démocratiques de la Turquie, l'opposition laïque et nationaliste affirme qu'elle menace l'indépendance de la justice et remet en cause la séparation des pouvoirs. (AFP, 12 sept 2010)

Steven Vanackere salue les résultats du référendum

Le Vice-Premier ministre et Ministre des Affaires étrangères Steven Vanackere salue les résultats du référendum sur les modifications constitutionnelles qui a eu lieu en Turquie le weekend dernier. Les électeurs turcs ont ainsi pu manifester leur soutien à des réformes qui renforceront leurs droits et libertés. Les amendements constitutionnels qui peuvent désormais être réalisés constituent en effet des étapes importantes vers un meilleur fonctionnement de la démocratie turque.

En tant que Président du Conseil de l’Union européenne, notre pays s’est engagé à poursuivre le processus d’adhésion de la Turquie à l’Union européenne, qui a officiellement été lancé en octobre 2005. Ce référendum permet à la Turquie de franchir une nouvelle étape dans l’application des critères d’adhésion. Beaucoup dépendra néanmoins de la manière dont les nouvelles règles seront appliquées, et cette avancée doit avant tout encourager le gouvernement turc à poursuivre, avec la société civile turque, ses efforts dans la bonne direction.

Steven Vanackere se réjouit de pouvoir collaborer, dans les semaines à venir, avec ses collègues turcs, à la préparation de l’évaluation de décembre, sur base du rapport annuel de la Commission européenne sur les progrès réalisés dans le cadre du processus d’adhésion. Le référendum de dimanche dernier ne peut en tout cas qu’encourager toutes les parties concernées à s’investir pleinement dans le rapprochement de la Turquie avec l’Union européenne. Steven Vanackere espère que le gouvernement d’Ankara ne relâchera pas ses efforts pour mener à bien les réformes nécessaires. (info@diplobel.be, 13 septembre 2010)

Revue de presse européenne sur le référendum

La presse européenne estimait lundi que la réforme constitutionnelle adoptée par référendum en Turquie modernise le pays et le rapproche de l'UE, mais donne aussi au Premier ministre islamo-conservateur Recep Tayyip Erdogan les coudées franches pour gouverner à sa guise.

"Le Premier ministre turc a établi les fondations pour perpétuer sa domination politique. Ceci constitue une défaite majeure pour les partis d'opposition et l'establishment judiciaire", titre le journal grec Ethnos, pro-gouvernement.

"Un triomphe" pour Erdogan, "un plébiscite pour l'AKP", le parti islamiste modéré au pouvoir, confirme le journal français Libération. La plupart des amendements "représentent une avancée dans la démocratisation", mais "deux d'entre eux renforcent considérablement les pouvoirs de l'exécutif sur la haute magistrature", estime le quotidien de gauche.

Pour Le Figaro (droite), "cette victoire du oui apparaît à première vue comme un quasi-plébiscite en faveur du chef du gouvernement, mais elle confirme les tensions idéologiques au sein de la population, profondément divisée entre pro et anti-AKP".

En Allemagne, où vit la plus forte communauté turque hors de Turquie, la presse se montrait mitigée sur les leçons à tirer du référendum.

"La Turquie (est entrée) dans la modernité", estime le Süddeutsche Zeitung.

"La majorité des Turcs ne veut pas d'un retour aux années d'isolement politique et des combats idéologiques (...) et ils souhaitent un pays démocratique et libéral. L'Europe aussi devrait se réjouir de ce message", selon le quotidien bavarois de centre-gauche.

En revanche, le quotidien conservateur Die Welt regrette le côté fourre-tout du référendum, "à l'emballage raffiné et bien vendu" par ses promoteurs.

"Qui votait pour accroître les droits des femmes, votait aussi pour une possible mainmise accrue du parti islamiste modéré sur l'appareil d'Etat. Qui votait contre le renforcement du gouvernement, refusait un renforcement des droits des handicapés", observe-t-il.

En Espagne, El Pais juge que "les Turcs ont fait un pas de plus vers l'Europe". "La Turquie commence à ressembler à un pays normal trente ans après le dernier coup d'Etat avec des chars de combat dans la rue".
 "Mais, pour que la Turquie ne soit plus une démocratie imparfaite (...), il faut l'alternance au pouvoir", comme "dans n'importe quel pays européen", ajoute le quotidien de centre-gauche.

Pour El Mundo (libéral), le référendum "renforce le prestige du gouvernement" et les amendements à la Constitution "rompent avec le passé militariste (du pays) et rapprochent Ankara de l'Union européenne".

ABC (conservateur) salue "la plus grande réforme politique de l'histoire moderne de la Turquie". "Erdogan a créé un instrument avec lequel il peut refonder le pays à sa mesure. Maintenant, nous verrons quelle est la Turquie que le dirigeant islamiste a vraiment en tête", ajoute-t-il.

Pour le quotidien suédois Svenska Dagbladet, le large "oui" des Turcs à la révision constitutionnelle est une "victoire de rêve" pour M. Erdogan, mais celui-ci "doit gérer sa victoire pour ne pas diviser encore plus une nation partagée".(AFP, 13 sept 2010)

Davutoglu: "La Turquie n'acceptera jamais la moindre alternative"

La Turquie a tapé du poing sur la table samedi face à l'enlisement de ses négociations d'adhésion à l'UE, alors que l'Europe cherche par tous les moyens à garder arrimé à elle ce pays à l'influence grandissante dans le monde.

L'irritation d'Ankara a été exprimée à la veille du référendum sur une révision de la Constitution nationale, que le parti AKP au pouvoir présente comme un atout dans la candidature de la Turquie au bloc de 27 pays.

"La Turquie n'acceptera jamais la moindre alternative au processus de négociations" en cours avec l'Union européenne en vue d'une adhésion, a prévenu son chef de la diplomatie Ahmet Davutoglu, à l'issue d'une rencontre avec ses homologues européens à Bruxelles.

Les pays de l'UE lui ont à cette occasion offert de développer un "dialogue stratégique" avec eux sur les grands problèmes du monde, indépendamment des discussions sur l'entrée éventuelle du pays dans l'UE.

Ankara est devenu un acteur de poids sur la scène diplomatique, jouant les médiateurs dans le contentieux autour du programme nucléaire iranien ainsi qu'au Proche-Orient.

"Aujourd'hui, la Turquie a plus d'influence dans le monde que tous les Etats membres de l'UE pris individuellement", a estimé le ministre finlandais Alexander Stubb.

L'Europe craint aussi une dérive lente de la Turquie vers l'Est, le Moyen-Orient et l'Asie, compte tenu du quasi-blocage de son rapprochement avec l'UE.

"Nous, Européens, avons tout intérêt à ce que la Turquie reste orientée vers l'Occident et qu'il n'y ait pas de changement de cap", a relevé le chef de la diplomatie allemande, Guido Westerwelle.

Mais le ministre turc a estimé devant la presse qu'il était "difficile de développer une telle vision stratégique" de partenariat avec l'Europe "s'il n'y a pas d'avancée dans les négociations" d'adhésion.

"C'est la raison pour laquelle j'ai exprimé lors de la réunion aujourd'hui notre mécontentement face au rythme des négociations, je l'ai dit clairement", a dit M. Davutoglu, estimant qu'il fallait "changer d'approche" en cessant de lier les discussions à la situation à Chypre.

Ankara a entamé des négociations d'adhésion à l'UE en 2005, mais elles n'avancent que très lentement du fait de l'impasse à Chypre, de la lenteur des réformes en Turquie et plus fondamentalement du refus de certains pays comme la France et l'Allemagne d'accepter son entrée.

L'UE, mais aussi Chypre et la France bloquent 18 des 35 chapitres thématiques qui jalonnent ces pourparlers d'adhésion, en raison principalement du problème chypriote.

Seuls trois chapitres peuvent encore potentiellement être ouverts, après quoi l'impasse sera totale, avec sans doute une vraie crise entre l'UE et la Turquie.

Paris et Berlin prônent à la place un "partenariat privilégié" avec la Turquie. Et le chef de la diplomatie française Bernard Kouchner a campé sur la position de son pays. "Le débat (du jour) n'était pas suffisant pour la faire changer", a-t-il lâché.

Ankara peut en revanche compter sur le soutien d'autres pays.

La Grande-Bretagne, qui avait sèchement dénoncé en juillet le "non" de Paris et Berlin, a de nouveau estimé samedi par la voix de son ministre des Affaires étrangères, William Hague, "qu'il serait bon que ces négociations s'accélèrent" car une Turquie dans l'UE donnerait "une combinaison très puissante".

Plus dur, son collègue suédois Carl Bildt a jugé en référence à la France et Chypre, "totalement inacceptable que des pays bloquent pour des raisons politiques intérieures le processus d'adhésion, c'est contraire à l'esprit de l'Europe". (AFP, 11 sept 2010)

Turkey set to end defenses in freedom of speech cases

Under fire for its controversial defense in a high-profile freedom of speech case at the European Court of Human Rights, Turkey will reportedly stop trying to defend itself in such cases and seek friendly settlements instead.

“When there is a contradiction with universal or [European court] principles, [Turkey] does not necessarily give a defense. We are working on this issue to clarify what kind of precautions we can take in order to deal with these cases without going through the judicial process,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Tuesday in a televised interview with the private channel NTV.

Davutoğlu was careful not to confirm or deny the claim made by daily Radikal columnist Murat Yetkin that the Interior, Foreign and Justice ministries had agreed that Turkey would no longer defend itself in freedom of speech cases. But the foreign minister’s remarks indicated that the country might be considering a change in tactics after its much-criticized European court defense drawing parallels between Neo-Nazism and the perspectives of murdered journalist Hrant Dink.

When asked about Yetkin’s claim, Davutoğlu told NTV that he has been personally examining Turkey’s defenses in critical cases since September 2009 and that the country has asked for a friendly settlement in many of them on his recommendation.

Davutoğlu also said he has asked the country’s permanent representative to the European court to supply a classification of the cases opened against Turkey.

Turkey has some 13,000 cases pending in the European court.

In his column Tuesday, Yetkin wrote that the three ministries decided at a meeting Aug. 25 that Turkey would give executive power to a Friendly Settlement Commission to take action in cases of freedom of speech. This would mean that Turkey would automatically look for an amicable settlement rather than mounting a defense in such cases.

The Turkey vs. Dink case at the European court is the merger of two civil cases; one was filed with the European court as a challenge to the journalist being charged with “insulting Turkishness” under the infamous Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, while the second alleges Turkey failed to adequately protect the life of Dink, who received repeated death threats before his assassination Jan. 19, 2007.

The Dink case made headlines earlier this month when Turkey cited in its defense a case against a leader of a Nazi organization in Europe as an example supporting its prosecution of Dink. In an early reaction, Davutoğlu expressed regret and said, “As an intellectual and a minister, I could not digest this.”

Following this defense, Turkey asked for a friendly settlement, but the Dink family did not accept the request.

“There are two issues in the Dink case; one is about protecting the right to life and the other is [about] freedom of expression,” Davutoğlu said, adding that by offering the friendly settlement, Turkey has accepted that it has “some deficiencies on these two issues and agrees to do what is necessary.”

Hasip Kaplan, a Şırnak deputy from the Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review that the government should remove Article 301 altogether – along with articles 215, 216 and 220 of the Law to Fight against Terror – in order to make progress in the pending cases.

“It is in the government’s hands to make amendments to these articles, which will be the certain solution,” Kaplan said.

Kamil Tekinsürek, a lawyer following cases on behalf of complainants in the European court, said he does not believe the decision – if it indeed has been made – was made sincerely and said it was only done for the Dink case.

“Even if Turkey was to look for a friendly settlement in these cases, a majority of the complainants would not accept because they do not apply to [the European court] only for compensation but primarily to prove that Turkey is guilty,” he said.

Though he said Turkey’s record would be seen as cleaner due to the decision – since under a friendly settlement, it would not technically be found guilty – Tekinsürek said it would be “an obstacle before the judicial reforms in Turkey.”

Lawyer Ergin Cinmen meanwhile said he appreciated the decision because Turkey has to be more liberal where freedom of speech is concerned. However, Cinmen added that asking for friendly settlements is not enough. He said courts in Turkey, including the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeals, should give priority to the principles of the European court when they contradict domestic law. (Hürriyet Daily News, August 31, 2010)

Turquie-USA/ Turkey-USA

Washington invite la Turquie à "approfondir" sa démocratie

Les Etats-Unis ont invité lundi Ankara à mettre à profit la révision de la Constitution turque, approuvée dimanche par référendum, pour "approfondir les processus démocratiques" dans ce pays.

Le scrutin "a été un pas décisif vers une plus grande supervision civile des institutions démocratiques" que sont la hiérarchie judiciaire et l'armée, a commenté Philip Crowley, le porte-parole du département d'Etat.

"Nous espérons que le gouvernement utilisera ce mandat pour approfondir les processus démocratiques en Turquie et pour garantir la protection des droits de l'homme", a-t-il continué.

Le "oui" l'a emporté par plus de 57,9% des suffrages au référendum proposé par le gouvernement islamo-conservateur. La participation a atteint 73,7%.

La révision limite les prérogatives de la justice militaire et modifie, au profit du pouvoir, la structure de la Cour constitutionnelle et du Conseil supérieur de la magistrature (HSYK) qui nomme juges et procureurs.

L'opposition laïque et nationaliste a affirmé pendant la campagne que la réforme menaçait l'indépendance de la justice et la séparation des pouvoirs.

"La question n'est pas tant de savoir qui, des uns ou des autres, détient l'autorité, mais plutôt de savoir ce que le gouvernement va faire de ces nouveaux pouvoirs", a commenté sous couvert de l'anonymat un haut responsable de la diplomatie américaine.

Le président américain Barack Obama avait salué dimanche le fort taux de participation au référendum, signe de "la vitalité de la démocratie turque".(AFP, 13 sept 2010)

Obama salue le taux de participation au référendum en Turquie

Le président américain Barack Obama a salué dimanche le fort taux de participation au référendum qui s'est tenu en Turquie, aboutissant à l'adoption d'une importante révision constitutionnelle.

Le président "a reconnu la vitalité de la démocratie turque, reflétée par la participation au référendum", a indiqué la Maison Blanche dans un communiqué publié après un appel de M. Obama au Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Selon M. Erdogan, 77 à 78% des électeurs turcs ont participé à la consultation, qui s'est soldée par 58% de suffrages favorables à la révision constitutionnelle.

L'adoption de ce texte, qui limite le pouvoir de la hiérarchie judiciaire et de l'armée, deux bastions de la laïcité opposés au régime, est une victoire pour le gouvernement islamo-conservateur.

Les Etats-Unis sont alliés de la Turquie au sein de l'Otan. Mais Washington a été déçu, en juin, par le vote négatif d'Ankara à l'ONU sur de nouvelles sanctions contre l'Iran.

De nombreux experts américains estiment qu'Ankara se détourne progressivement de ses alliés occidentaux, au fur et à mesure que la Turquie s'affirme comme un poids lourd régional. Le gouvernement turc dément un changement de cap.

Barack Obama a aussi félicité M. Erdogan pour la réussite du Mondial-2010 de basket qu'organise la Turquie, et dont la finale opposera les Etats-Unis et la Turquie. (AFP, 12 sept 2010)

US seeks support from Turkey over Iran

US Chief of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen speaks to the media in Ankara. AFP photo
Turkey should help ensure Iran does not gain nuclear weapons, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said Saturday in Ankara, adding the country should extend its tour of duty in Afghanistan.

“The mutual goal of Iran not achieving a nuclear-weapons capability, that we completely agree on, we just need to reinforce,” Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a news conference Saturday.

Mullen visited Ankara to congratulate his newly appointed counterpart, Gen. Işık Koşaner, the new chief of the Turkish General Staff.

Mullen discussed Afghanistan and Pakistan, the formation of a new government in Iraq, the joint struggle of Turkey and the United States against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, Turkish Foreign Minister officials told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review Sunday.

Noting that the positions of both Turkey and the U.S. regarding the nuclear-weapons issue in Iran were the same, Mullen said he did not plan to "question or rebut" Turkey over its “no” vote, but instead welcomed Turkey's stated intention to abide by United Nations sanctions.

The admiral said both countries agreed Iran should not achieve "nuclear weapons capability," and needed to do everything to ensure such a situation.

Turkey voted “no” on the U.S.-backed U.N. sanctions against Iran in June, insisting on diplomacy as a solution to its neighbor's nuclear program.

Turkey’s veto on the sanctions, however, disappointed the U.S. Administration.

The admiral said NATO is discussing potential locations for a missile-defense system of radar and interceptors including Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania – although he did not specifically address the plan with Koşaner.

“The membership of NATO believes that having a missile-defense architecture is a very important capability that needs to be put in place and evolve over time,” he said.

The system will be discussed at the upcoming NATO summit in November.

Mullen praised Turkey’s role in charge of international troops in the region around the Afghan capital, Kabul, which expires in October, and in providing police training and staff for reconstruction teams.

“We would like to see Turkey sustain all of those efforts because they’ve been so important in Afghanistan and also because of the critical time in which we find ourselves in Afghanistan right now,” Mullen said.

A NATO official previously conveyed the demand to extend Turkish commands in Afghanistan for one more year.

Earlier, Mullen said the U.S has no intention of pulling weapons out of Iraq across Turkish territory.

“Though we certainly rely on Turkey’s infrastructure to move some equipment in and out of our area of operations, we do not transport weapons through Turkey, nor do we intend to in the future,” the admiral said Saturday.

The U.S. has moved 38,000 pieces of rolling stock and over 2 million other pieces of equipment out of Iraq quietly without incident using very robust lines of communication, Mullen said.

“Certainly none of the military equipment, and none of the people have come through Turkey,” he said.

The U.S’s current agreement with Iraq is to withdraw all American troops from the country by the end of 2011, Mullen said.

“We have withdrawn almost 100,000 troops under the current agreement; we would do the same over the next 15 or 16 months. No decisions have been made in terms of how to do that. We eagerly await the formation of a new government in Iraq to start discussions about the future strategic partnership with this country,” Mullen said.

Regarding claims that arms sales to Turkey would be banned due to pressure from the pro-Israeli lobby in the U.S., the admiral said Washington had a robust military sales program with Turkey and that program would continue to flourish in the future. (Hürriyet Daily News, SEVİL KÜÇÜKKOŞUM, September 5, 2010)

Les Etats-Unis ne participeront pas à des exercices aériens

Les Etats-Unis ne participeront pas à des exercices militaires aériens prévus en octobre en Turquie, a-t-on appris mercredi de source américaine, une absence qui s'explique selon la presse turque par le fait que les Israéliens en sont exclus.

"L'aviation américaine ne participera pas à la deuxième phase des exercices", a souligné à l'AFP une source diplomatique américaine, sous couvert d'anonymat.

Cette source a souligné que les chasseurs de l'US Air Force ont participé à une première série d'exercices en juin organisés dans le cadre du programme "Aigle anatolien", mais qu'ils seraient absents pour la deuxième phase prévue du 11 au 22 octobre, car a-t-elle indiqué, "ils sont engagés dans d'autres missions", sans cependant évoquer l'exclusion des Israéliens.

Selon le journal à gros tirage Hürriyet qui cite mercredi des sources non identifiées, Washington a fait savoir aux autorités militaires turques que les chasseurs américains ne participeraient pas aux manoeuvres tant que l'aviation israélienne ne serait pas invitée à ces exercices annuels.

Les relations entre la Turquie et Israël, autrefois alliés stratégiques dans la région, connaissent de vives tensions depuis l'offensive en hiver 2008-2009 de l'armée israélienne contre la bande de Gaza, contrôlée par le mouvement islamiste palestinien Hamas.

Les rapports se sont davantage crispés après l'abordage le 31 mai dernier par un commando israélien d'une flottille d'aide pour Gaza. Neuf passagers turcs avaient été tués pendant cette opération.

Pour exprimer son mécontentement, la Turquie a rappelé son ambassadeur, annulé des manoeuvres conjointes et exigé des excuses qu'Israël s'est refusé à lui présenter.

Israël avait aussi été exclu en 2009 de ces mêmes exercices militaires, ce qui avait entraîné le retrait, par solidarité, des Etats-Unis. Officiellement, la Turquie avait annoncé l'annulation de la "phase internationale" des manoeuvres, qui permettent aux avions israéliens d'utiliser depuis 2001 les vastes plaines de Konya (centre) pour s'entraîner aux côtés de pays de l'Otan, dont la Turquie est membre.

Les pilotes israéliens y faisaient des simulations d'attaques contre des systèmes de défense antiaériens ou des exercices de ravitaillement en plein vol pour des missions de longue distance. (AFP, 1 sept 2010)

Relations régionales / Regional Relations

Peres dit avoir refusé de rencontrer Gül à New York

Le président israélien Shimon Peres a déclaré lundi qu'il avait décliné une invitation à rencontrer son homologue turc Abdullah Gül, celui-ci ayant posé selon lui des conditions qu'Israël ne pouvait pas accepter.

"Il y a eu une proposition de rencontre entre le président Gül et moi-même. J'ai accepté. Mais ensuite j'ai reçu des conditions qui ont rendu, selon moi, cette rencontre impossible", a déclaré M. Peres à la presse.

Le projet d'une entrevue Gül-Peres, la première depuis un assaut de l'armée israélienne contre une flottille d'aide pour Gaza le 31 mai, au cours de laquelle neuf Turcs avaient péri, avait été évoqué vendredi par le journal Today's Zaman, proche du gouvernement turc.

Interrogé lundi lors d'une conférence de presse à New York sur une telle réunion, M. Gül a répondu: "Mon programme ne me le permet pas", selon l'agence de presse turque Anatolie.

Des responsables israéliens ont indiqué que la Turquie avait exigé qu'Israël présente des excuses pour ce raid, qui fait l'objet d'une enquête de l'ONU.

"Nous n'avons pas l'intention de faire empirer la situation, mais nous ne pouvons pas non plus approuver des préconditions qui sont totalement inacceptables", a déclaré M. Peres.

En réponse à une question sur les attentes de la Turquie vis-à-vis d'Israël, le président turc avait souligné de son côté que des excuses ne solderaient pas les comptes.

"Il n'est pas question que des excuses d'Israël signifient que +tout est oublié, tout est fini, laissons les morts enterrer leurs morts et occupons nous des vivants+. Tout le monde sait que la Turquie ne se comportera pas comme ça", a-t-il déclaré.

M. Gül a estimé que le droit international ouvrait deux voies à Israël: "la première est claire, c'est de s'excuser en disant +ce que j'ai fait était une erreur+, l'autre est de payer des réparations pour cela".

Les relations entre la Turquie et Israël, autrefois alliés stratégiques, connaissent de vives tensions depuis l'offensive israélienne de décembre 2008-janvier 2009 dans la bande de Gaza, contrôlée par le mouvement islamiste palestinien Hamas. (AFP, 20 sept 2010)

Turkic world eyes "1 nation with 6 states"

Leaders of the countries that attended a summit of Turkic-speaking nations in İstanbul on Thursday pose for a family photo in front of the Bosporus. A landmark summit of Turkic-speaking countries closed on Thursday in İstanbul with participants declaring firm will for building regional peace, stability and welfare through a newly-established Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, but not only looking after the interests of the participant states.
                                                                                                                           
Along with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kyrgyz Interim President Roza Otunbayeva and Turkmen President Gurbanguli Berdymukhamedov, Turkish President Abdullah Gül held a press conference closing the summit.

“As siblings who gathered following a long separation,” they are determined to develop cooperation and solidarity, Gül said.

 Stressing that the sole goal of cooperation among Turkic siblings is not protecting and increasing the interests of their own people, he said that they also aim at contributing to the development of peace, stability and welfare for all peoples of the region through this cooperation.

Leaders of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan conclude a key summit with a pledge to deepen solidarity to protect regional stability as well as the principles of democracy, human rights and market economy. The sixth nation, Uzbekistan, however, was absent

“Besides promising great potential, the geography where our countries are located also faces various problems and risks. We will not let these problems and risks harm opportunities for cooperation in our region. We have full confidence that the Turkic Cooperation Council will prove itself in a short time as a regional organization that completes the current cooperation mechanisms in the Eurasia geography,” Gül said. Next year, the summit will be hosted in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan will host the summit in 2012. As leaders of Turkic countries, they have been gathering a few times in a year or holding several bilateral meetings among them, Gül noted.

“I believe that this is very important. We have a saying: ‘When we are out of sight, we also become distant from each other's hearts.' When we are together, eye to eye, next to each other, and when we meet a few times a year and hold consultations; then our places in each other's hearts remains strong,” Gül said, saying hello to peoples of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan on behalf of Turkish people.

“We are from now on one nation, but we are also six states. We feel great pride and honor because of this. As it has been so until today, the hearts of your siblings in Turkey will beat together during our bitter and sweet days. Likewise, we will continue claiming our common cases and exerting joint efforts for a prosperous future for our peoples. Our political will for doing so is full,” Gül said.

The motto “One nation, two states,” has been used for a long time to describe bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey. It apparently inspired Gül when he remarked in describing the Council’s underlying motto, “one nation, six states.”

Yet, the sixth member of the summit of Turkic-speaking countries, Uzbekistan, which has not been represented at the presidential level at any summit since 1998, was not even represented at a low level during this İstanbul summit.

The establishment of the cooperation council was outlined during the ninth summit of the forum, which was held in Nakhchivan last October. Turkmenistan, however, has not put its signature on the agreement that was signed by participants of the Nakhchivan summit to establish the council. Turkmen officials cited their foreign policy based on “positive neutrality” as the reason for not signing the agreement.

Energy cooperation

The 10th summit of the Turkic-speaking countries also served as an opportunity for talks between parties on energy cooperation. During the press conference, Gül also touched upon this point, recalling that hectic bilateral meetings among heads of states, foreign ministers and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were held on the sidelines of the summit.

Referring to a trilateral meeting among energy ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Turkey that was held on Wednesday, Gül said the meeting focused on opportunities of cooperation regarding energy sources in the Caspian Sea basin.

“I would like to state that, when all of these contacts and meetings are taken as a whole, this important meeting is an activity that befits the Turkic world in regards to contributing to maintaining regional peace, stability and welfare,” Gül said. At the trilateral meeting to which Gül referred, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Turkey pledged to strengthen energy cooperation.

“We have developed projects such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan crude oil pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum natural gas pipeline and a natural gas pipeline crossing over the Caspian Sea,” Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said before the meeting.

“However, gas pipeline projects crossing over the Caspian Sea have not been realized due to certain reasons. But new projects, such as Nabucco, have been developed in the region,” Yıldız said, while he noted that he believed an agreement to support the Nabucco project will be signed in October.

“We also want to purchase natural gas extracted in Turkmenistan at the Caspian Sea coastline,” Yıldız stressed.

For his part, Azerbaijan’s Energy and Industry Minister Natiq Aliyev said that Azerbaijan hopes to make more investments in Turkey.

“We are working on establishing an electrical energy connection between Azerbaijan and Turkey. We attach high importance to carrying Turkmen natural gas to Europe via the Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan,” Aliyev said.

“The Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum natural gas pipeline united the economies of Turkey and Azerbaijan and we are working to promote this kind of cooperation,” he added. (Today's Zaman, Emine Kart, 17 September 2010)

Erdogan veut resserrer les liens économiques avec l'Iran

Le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan a appelé mardi à un rapprochement économique avec l'Iran en dépit des pressions occidentales en faveur de mesures de rétorsion contre Téhéran en raison de ses activités nucléaires.

"Pourquoi ne pouvons-nous pas établir avec l'Iran un mécanisme de commerce sans restrictions similaire à celui que nous avons avec l'Europe? Je ne vois pas personnellement de raison à ce que nous ne puissions pas le faire", a déclaré M. Erdogan au cours d'un forum d'affaires turco-iranien à Istanbul.

"Si nous nous dépêchons de finaliser les pourparlers sur un accord de commerce privilégié (...) nous pouvons atteindre 30 milliards de dollars d'échanges bilatéraux en cinq ans. Nous devons le faire", a-t-il ajouté, cité par l'agence de presse Anatolie.

La Turquie a affirmé en juillet qu'elle appliquerait les sanctions votées par l'ONU contre l'Iran mais pas celles, supplémentaires, décidées par les Etats-Unis et l'Union européenne.

Ankara est lié à l'UE par un accord d'union douanière et a entamé avec elle des négociations d'adhésion en 2005.

M. Erdogan a indiqué que le niveau des échanges bilatéraux avec l'Iran était d'environ 10 milliards de dollars actuellement, consistant pour l'essentiel en achat de gaz iranien par la Turquie.

"Il y a beaucoup de choses que nous pouvons donner à l'Iran", a-t-il souligné, insistant sur les "opportunités uniques" offertes par la proximité géographique des deux pays.

La Turquie, seul membre de l'Otan à la population très majoritairement musulmane, entretient de bonnes relations avec son voisin iranien.

Membre temporaire du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU, elle a voté en juin contre les sanctions frappant l'Iran, affirmant privilégier la voie diplomatique.

En mai, elle avait présenté avec le Brésil et l'Iran une proposition d'accord sur un échange de combustible nucléaire iranien en territoire turc. Cette initiative a été ignorée par les grandes puissances. (AFP, 16 sept 2010)

Flottille: le capitaine turc invité à témoigner par la commission en Israël

La commission d'enquête israélienne sur l'assaut meurtrier contre une flottille d'aide pour Gaza le 31 mai a invité le capitaine turc du navire amiral à venir témoigner, a déclaré à l'AFP le porte-parole de cette commission.

"Nous avons envoyé une lettre au capitaine du Mavi Marmara via l'ambassade de Turquie en Israël", a précisé ce porte-parole, Ofer Lefler.

"Nous voudrions qu'il vienne en Israël pour témoigner", a-t-il ajouté.

Datée de lundi, la lettre est adressée à Mahmut Tural, capitaine du Mavi Marmara, à bord duquel voyageaient les neuf Turcs tués lors de l'assaut.

Le mandat de la commission présidée par le juge de la Cour suprême à la retraite Yaakov Tirkel, qui compte deux observateurs internationaux, se limite aux aspects juridiques de l'assaut au regard du droit international. Elle doit ensuite soumettre ses conclusions, ainsi que celles d'une commission militaire israélienne, à un groupe d'experts des Nations unies.

Les relations entre la Turquie et Israël, autrefois alliés stratégiques dans la région, connaissent de vives tensions depuis l'offensive israélienne de décembre 2008-janvier 2009 dans la bande de Gaza, contrôlée par le mouvement islamiste palestinien Hamas.

Elles se sont encore crispées après l'abordage sanglant du Mavi Marmara.

Pour exprimer son mécontentement, la Turquie a rappelé son ambassadeur, annulé des manoeuvres conjointes et exigé des excuses qu'Israël s'est refusé à lui présenter.

Par ailleurs, le gouvernement israélien s'est engagé à coopérer pleinement avec la commission d'enquête après que cette dernière eut reproché au Mossad, le service de sécurité extérieure israélien, de ne pas lui avoir fourni des documents réclamés.

"Tous les documents demandés au Mossad seront fournis à la commission ce soir ou demain matin" (mardi matin), a indiqué un communiqué du bureau du Premier ministre qui supervise tous les services secrets israéliens.

Le quotidien Haaretz citait, sur son site internet, une lettre de la commission Tirkel au chef du Mossad, Méir Dagan.

"Je voudrais vous informer qu'en dépit de demandes répétées effectuées par écrit le 25 août et le 6 septembre, ainsi que les conversations téléphoniques, les informations liées au siège maritime de la bande de Gaza et aux efforts accomplis pour le renforcer ne nous sont pas parvenues", était-il écrit. (AFP, 13 sept 2010)

Chypre et la Grèce / Cyprus and Greece

La Grèce appelle la Turquie à retirer ses troupes de Chypre

Le ministre grec des Affaires étrangères Dimitris Droutsas a appelé jeudi la Turquie à retirer ses troupes de la partie nord de Chypre, en gage de sa bonne foi dans les pourparlers menés dans le but de réunifier l'île divisée depuis 1974.

"J'invite la Turquie à faire les gestes nécessaires et à transformer les mots en actes", a déclaré M. Droustas, en visite à Chypre. "J'appelle la Turquie à retirer ses troupes d'occupation de Chypre".

"Nous souhaitons envoyer un message: le problème chypriote est la première priorité de la politique étrangère grecque", a-t-il assuré après avoir rencontré le président chypriote Demetris Christophias.

Des pourparlers de paix ont été lancés sous l'égide de l'ONU en 2008 en vue d'une réunification de l'île, qui soulagerait la Turquie dans ses négociations pour adhérer à l'Union européenne (UE) bloquées par un différend sur la République turque de Chypre du Nord (RTCN), uniquement reconnue par Ankara.

Chypre est divisée depuis le 20 juillet 1974, lorsque la Turquie a envahi le nord de l'île à la suite d'un coup d'Etat fomenté par des nationalistes chypriotes-grecs soutenus par la junte des colonels alors au pouvoir à Athènes et visant à rattacher le pays à la Grèce.

La Grèce déplore le pillage du patrimoine culturel en Chypre du nord

Le ministre grec des Affaires étrangères Dimitris Droutsas a déploré jeudi auprès de la directrice de l'Unesco, Irina Bokova, "la destruction" et "le pillage systématique" du patrimoine culturel et religieux en Chypre du nord, depuis l'invasion de l'armée turque en 1974.

"Dans les territoires occupés après l'invasion de l'armée turque, le patrimoine culturel et religieux de Chypre est malheureusement abandonné", a indiqué M. Droutsas à l'issue d'un entretien avec Mme Bokova, en visite à Athènes.

"Ce patrimoine précieux est détruit au cours du temps et pillé systématiquement", a-t-il souligné après avoir effectué une visite mercredi à Chypre.

Le ministre a dit que ce sujet faisait partie des entretiens qu'il aura avec Mme Bokova, lors de son séjour ce week-end à Athènes pour participer à une conférence sur "L'égalité des sexes", organisée vendredi par l'Organisation des Nations unies pour l'éducation, la science et la culture (Unesco).

"En tant qu'Organisation spécialisée dans la culture, l'éducation, les sciences et la communication, nous sommes particulièrement sensibles aux inquiétudes des pays membres (...) et nous accordons une importance considérable à la protection du patrimoine culturel national mais aussi mondial", a souligné pour sa part Mme Bokova.

Plusieurs organisations culturelles ont déploré le pillage des églises orthodoxes dans le nord de l'île depuis 1974. Selon les estimations, quelque 520 églises, chapelles, monastères et lieux de pèlerinage ont été pillées et profanées et nombre de ces édifices ont besoin d'être restaurés d'urgence.

Lors de sa première visite dans la partie nord de Chypre en mars, l'archevêque de Chypre Chrysostomos II, en mission pour la sauvegarde du patrimoine orthodoxe de l'île, avait constitué une liste des églises détruites et vandalisées depuis 1974, qui devait être déposée auprès du Premier ministre turc Tayyip Recep Erdogan pour demander leur restauration. (AFP, 9 sept 2010)



Immigration / Migration

La Turquie invite l'Allemagne à réprimer les filières du PKK

Les autorités turques ont remis vendredi au ministre allemand de l'Intérieur Thomas de Maizière un dossier sur les agissements du Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK) en Allemagne, invitant ce pays à sévir contre ce mouvement interdit.

"Nous avons évoqué avec mon collègue allemand la question de la lutte antiterroriste (...) Je lui ai remis un dossier sur les informations dont nous disposons", sur les activités des rebelles kurdes de Turquie sur le sol allemand et européen, a expliqué le ministre turc de l'Intérieur Besir Atalay lors d'une conférence de presse avec le ministre allemand.

Le PKK est interdit dans les pays de l'Union européenne (UE) mais la Turquie souhaite que les ONG, fondations ou associations qui soutiennent la cause du PKK soient également réprimées par la justice.

La Turquie, qui souhaite intégrer l'UE, estime qu'une large part des financements du PKK provient de ses activités de blanchiment d'argent, de trafic de drogue et de migrants clandestins en Europe, où le mouvement dispose au sein de la communauté immigrée kurde d'un vaste réseau de militants.

M. de Maizière, en visite en Turquie, a indiqué que ses services étudiaient le dossier qui lui est remis. "Nos services de renseignements compareront leurs informations avec celles qui nous ont été fournies. Nous verrons s'il y a de nouveaux renseignements et, si nécessaire, des actions pourraient être prises", a-t-il souligné.

Il a aussi ajouté que la Turquie et l'Allemagne avaient décidé de mettre en place un comité politique pour "mieux coordonner" les efforts en matière de lutte anti-terroriste, que ce soit le PKK ou Al-Qaïda. (AFP, 24 sept 2010)

Les Turcs sont les étrangers les plus nombreux dans l'UE

Avec quelque 2,4 millions de ressortissants, les Turcs représentent le plus grand groupe de population étrangère établi dans l'UE, suivis par 2 millions de Roumains, premier groupe de citoyens européens vivant dans un autre pays que le leur, a indiqué mardi Eurostat.

Au total, 31,9 million d'étrangers ont été recensés début 2009 dans les 27 pays de l'UE, soit 6,4% de la population européenne totale. Sur ces 31,9 millions d'étrangers, 11,9 millions étaient ressortissants d'un autre Etat de l'UE, selon l'office des statistiques européen.

Les pays accueillant les plus grands contingents d'étrangers sont l'Allemagne (7,2 millions d'étrangers), suivis par l'Espagne (5,7 millions), le Royaume-Uni (4 millions), l'Italie (3,9 millions) et la France (3,7 millions).

Mais c'est le Luxembourg qui accueille la plus importante part d'étrangers (44% de sa population), suivi par la Lettonie (18%), contre 8,8% en Allemagne ou 5,8% en France, et moins d'un pourcent en Pologne, Roumanie ou Bulgarie.

Parmi les 19,9 millions d'étrangers originaires de pays extérieurs à l'UE, 7,2 millions venaient d'autres pays d'Europe, 4,9 millions d'Afrique, 4 millions d'Asie et 3,3 millions du continent américain.

Outre les Turcs, les plus importants groupes de citoyens non ressortissants de l'UE sont les Marocains (1,8 million) et les Albanais (1 million).

Derrière les Roumains, les groupes les plus importants de ressortissants européens vivant dans un autre pays de l'UE que le leur sont les Polonais (1,5 million) et les Italiens (1,3 million). (AFP, 7 sept 2010)

Opposition allemande à l'abrogation du régime des visas

Les pays qui demandent l'abrogation du régime des visas d'entrée dans l'Union européenne (UE) doivent d'abord mettre de l'ordre chez eux, a affirmé mercredi le ministre allemand de l'Intérieur Thomas de Maizière.

"Beaucoup de pays voudraient éliminer les visas mais certains problèmes doivent être résolus au niveau national", a déclaré M. de Maizière aux participants à un forum économique à Krynica, dans le sud de la Pologne.

"Il y a des pays, par exemple la Turquie, qui ne répondent pas aux exigences qu'ils ont promis de satisfaire", a-t-il précisé devant ce forum qui réunit des hommes politiques et des hommes d'affaires intéressés par l'Europe centrale et orientale.

"Nous devons lier la nouvelle politique des visas au rappel à ces pays qu'ils ont aussi des responsabilités à prendre comme par exemple celle d'accepter le retour de leurs citoyens entrés dans l'UE illégalement ou de ceux dont le visa a expiré", a-t-il ajouté.

Outre la Turquie, l'Ukraine et la Russie font partie des pays qui militent en faveur de l'abrogation des visas d'entrée dans l'UE, arguant que cela permettrait de faciliter les relations d'affaires.

Selon un projet soutenu par Varsovie, les habitants de l'enclave russe de Kaliningrad, coincée entre la Pologne et la Lituanie, toutes deux membres de l'UE, pourraient bénéficier d'un régime sans visas avant que cela ne concerne l'ensemble de la Russie métropolitaine.

En visite lundi en Lituanie, la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel a apporté un soutien prudent à cette proposition.

"Nous sommes en train d'en discuter au sein de l'UE. Cela nécessite une modification de la loi car cela va au-delà du petit trafic transfrontalier", a-t-elle dit aux journalistes à Vilnius.

"En principe, l'Allemagne accueille positivement cette suggestion faite par la Pologne", a ajouté Mme Merkel.

"Ce sera une libéralisation du régime actuel des visas mais, quant à l'abandon total des visas, il y a encore un long chemin à faire", a-t-elle ajouté. (AFP, 8 sept 2010)

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