Droits de l'Homme / Human Rights

Turquie: un modèle pour le monde arabe?

par Maison du Peuple de Genève et Maison Populaire de Genève

Depuis début de l’année 2011, un vent de liberté souffle sur les pays arabes. Des pouvoirs totalitaires tombent l’un après l’autre (Tunisie, Egypte..,). La grande préoccupation de l’Occident consiste actuellement au remplacement de ces régimes archaïques. Dans ce cadre, la Turquie, avec à sa tête le parti islamiste de Recep Tayyip Erdogan, est fréquemment donnée comme exemple ces dernières semaines. Voyons de près si le régime turc peut constituer un exemple pour le monde arabe.

Un Etat bâti sur des génocides

Les fondateurs de la Turquie dite « moderne » ont bâti ce pays sur le génocide des peuples et de leurs cultures. Leurs successeurs ont poursuivi la même sale besogne. En voici quelques exemples :

- Le génocide des Arméniens et des Assyro-Chaldéens (1915-1917) : 1,5 million d’Arméniens ont été massacrés par l’armée turque entre 1915 et 1917
- Le massacre des Kurdes, Alévis et Kizilbachs de Koçkiri (1919-1921)
- L’expulsion brutale de 1.2 million Grecs (1923-1924)
- Massacre des Kurdes et des Assyriens après la révolte de Sheikh Said (1925-1928)
- Les massacres des Kurdes, Alévis et Kizilbachs de Dersim : 40’000 morts et 12’000 personnes déplacées (1935-1938)
- Les lois iniques et les déportations d’Arméniens, de Juifs, de Grecs (1942)
- Les pogroms d’Istanbul et d’Izmir contre les Grecs, les Arméniens et les Juifs (1955)
- La guerre contre les Kurdes de 1984 à ce jour, plus de 40’000 Kurdes ont été tués.
- La destruction de 3848 villages kurdes et les déplacements forcés de trois à quatre millions de paysans kurdes entre 1989 et 1998. Le but des auteurs de ces crimes contre l’humanité était de « turquiser » les terres de ces peuples, en exterminant d’abord les non-musulmans, puis les musulmans non-turcs et/ou, à défaut, de les assimiler.

Actuellement, on ne compte que 76.000 Arméniens, 15’000 Grecs et 2’000 Assyriens vivant en Turquie. Quant aux Kurdes, s’ils constituent le plus grand peuple du monde sans Etat (plus de 20 millions en Turquie), ils sont toujours opprimés et menacés dans leur existence.

En effet, la politique d’assimilation des Kurdes, par les gouvernements successifs turcs, a rencontré de fortes résistances. Aucune solution, autre que militaire, n’a jamais été réellement mise en œuvre pour sortir de l’impasse : la guérilla du PKK s’exerce depuis 1984 et la lutte antiterroriste a déjà coûté 250 milliards d’euros et 42 000 vies humaines, 4 000 villages brûlés, des millions de déplacés et une obsession sécuritaire qui maintient la société turque dans un état de «terreur ». Et le PKK n’est que le vingt-neuvième mouvement d’insurrection lancé contre la Turquie en moins d’un siècle… Le gouvernement d’Erdogan ne fait pas exception à la règle. Pourtant, ce dernier avait lancé en grande pompe, en 2009, une démarche (y compris auprès du PKK) pour chercher une solution à la question kurde. Peu de temps après, les autorités turques ont lancé une opération de grande envergure pour incarcérer près de deux mille dirigeants, élus (y compris des maires) du parti pour une société démocratique (DTP, pro-kurde) et des organisations de la société civile telles que l’Association des droits de l’homme. Le discours tenu par M. Erdogan, à la veille des élections législatives (prévues en juin 2011), est guère différent que le parti d’Action nationale (fasciste) turc.

Violations des droits de l’homme

Le bilan des violations massives des droits de l’homme est effrayant en Turquie :

- Durant les 20 dernières années, 20 000 (vingt-mille) opposant-e-s ont été victimes d’exécutions sommaires et extrajudiciaires, plus de 1200 autres de disparitions forcées. 428 enfants ont été tués par les forces de l’ordre turques et/ou par l’explosion des mines anti-personnelles.
- Durant ces 8 dernières années (règne du parti de M. Erdogan : de 2002 à fin 2010) :
- 8 710 personnes ont été torturées ;
- 87 513 personnes ont été placées en garde à vue, dont 11 034 ont été inculpées et incarcérées ;
- 232 partis et associations ont été interdits ou ont fait l’objet d’une procédure d’interdiction ;
- 627 organisations, parti politiques, agences de presse et associations culturelles dont les sièges ont été perquisitionnés ou saccagés ;
- 671 publications interdites ou censurées ;
- 200 journalistes ont été incarcérés ;
- 2 498 personnes poursuivies en raison de leurs opinions ont été condamnées à un total de 6155 années de prison et 108 milliards TL d’amende ;
- 980 étudiants ont été interdits de cours de 1 semaine à 1 an et 104 autres ont été expulsés pour avoir revendiqué l’enseignement dans leur langue maternelle.
- Selon les chiffres officiels, les prisons turques comptent actuellement 6217 prisonniers politiques et 2113 enfants. Laïcité en Turquie

Selon les données du Ministère des affaires religieuses (Diyanet Isleri Baskanligi), ce dernier gère 82000 mosquées et emploie 94207 fonctionnaires. Rattaché au Cabinet du Premier Ministre, son budget s’élève à 2,7 milliards Livres turques [1]. Ce qui équivaut aux budgets cumulés de huit ministères. A titre de comparaison, la Turquie compte 67000 écoles publiques et 1200 hôpitaux.

Contrairement à la pluralité de son titre, les activités du Ministère des affaires religieuses sont destinées exclusivement aux musulmans sunnites. Les minorités religieuses, reconnues pourtant par le traité de Lausanne (Chrétiens et Juifs), ne bénéficient pas du budget dudit ministère. Il en est de même pour les Alévis qui constituent pourtant près de 20 % de la population de la Turquie. Pire, les biens (immobiliers) des minorités religieuses non musulmanes, confisqués il y a plusieurs décennies, ne sont toujours pas restitués. La politique poursuivie est de forcer les minorités religieuses à se convertir au sunnisme.

De plus, ce ministère, au travers de sa fondation (Türkiye Diyanet Isleri Vakfi) créée en 1976, occupe une place importante dans l’économie turque avec un millier de filiales et des trillions de capitaux. Il est actif dans les domaines suivants : construction, publications, alimentation, assurances, textile, enseignement, chimie et finances.

Dette extérieure, chômage et pauvreté

L’économie turque est encore et toujours sous le coup des politiques néolibérales dictées par des institutions financières internationales (FMI et Banque mondiale). La dette extérieure de la Turquie s’élève actuellement à 254 milliards de dollars américains dont 124 milliards ont été contractés par le gouvernement d’Edogan ces huit dernières années.

Suite à l’application des politiques néolibérales, pratiquement toutes les entreprises étatiques ont été privatisées et des centaines de milliers de personnes ont été licenciées. Selon les chiffres officiels de 2009, il y a trois millions de chômeurs en Turquie. Ce chiffre ne comprend pas les sans -emplois dans les zones rurales et les bidonvilles (estimés également à trois millions) ainsi que les femmes au foyer (12 millions). Ainsi, la Turquie compte 23 millions d’actifs (y compris à temps partiel) sur une population de 73 millions.

Toujours selon les chiffres officiels, plus de 12 millions de personnes (18,8 % de la population) vivent au-dessous du seuil de la pauvreté. Selon une recherche du syndicat DISK, un salaire mensuel de trois mille livres turques est nécessaire pour un ménage de quatre personnes. Or, le salaire minimum fixé par le gouvernement turc au début de cette année est de 796.50 livres turques.

Conclusion

Membre de l’OCDE, de l’OSCE, du Conseil de l’Europe et du G20, la Turquie « moderne » est un allié stratégique de l’Occident. De plus, elle est membre de l’OTAN, possédant la deuxième plus grande armée (en effectif) de ce pacte militaire impérialiste. A ce titre, elle joue le rôle de gendarme pour les intérêts occidentaux.

Avec la Turquie et Israël, l’Egypte constitue une pièce maitresse de la politique occidentale dans la région. En effet, depuis l’accord de paix entre Israël et l’Egypte en 1979, ce dernier a reçu (depuis cette date) des Etats-Unis 64 milliards de dollars d’aide dont 40 pour l’équipement militaire. La perte du contrôle de ce pays pour l’Occident aura des conséquences désastreuses. C’est ce qui explique certainement l’éloge occidentale à Erdogan (qualifié pourtant d’inculte dans des câbles diplomatiques américains rendus publics par Wikileaks).

Ironie du sort, l’Occident propose comme modèle aux anciennes colonies de l’Empire ottoman un régime qui rêve de mener une politique néo-ottomane dans la région.

La tentative d’imposer le modèle turc aux peuples arabes signifie que ces derniers sont condamnés à vivre sous la répression, dans la pauvreté et le chômage. Cela signifie également que les peuples arabes n’ont pas le droit à vivre dans la démocratie et jouir des libertés fondamentales.

Si la Turquie constitue vraiment un modèle, pourquoi l’Union européenne la laisse-t-elle poireauter à sa porte depuis 1987 ?

A l’instar d’autres peuples, les peuples arabes aspirent à la liberté et la démocratie. Ils n’ont pas besoin de modèle ; ils sauront trouver le régime qui leur convient pourvu qu’on les laisse en paix. (http://www.assmp.org/spip.php?article560,  27 février 2011)

Nearly 200 thousands faced trial under AKP's rule

Peace and Democracy Party's Selahattin Demirtas says 196,566 filled the courtrooms of Turkey in 53,193 trials during AKP's rule since 2002. “This is the balance sheet of freedoms in Turkey” he said.

Speaking in his party's group meeting Demirtas said more than four thousands of these trials were opened against organizers of demonstrators which aims to protest the AKP government.

Demirtas also mentioned a dramatic rise in so called honor killings saying that 4,289 women were killed by his relatives in the last eight years.

“When AKP came to power in 2002 the number of women who were killed in the name of honor was 66. There was a huge increase in women murders year by year. Is this a coincidence?” he said.

“Those who raped a 13 year old are sentenced to only 3 to 4 years in prison while a child is sentenced to 17 years for throwing stones.”

Demirtas harshly criticized the statement of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on press freedom saying that he can be nominated for the Best Actor Prize of the Oscar Academy. Reminding that Turkey is ranking 138 in the “Press Freedom List” which evaluates countries in aspect of press freedom Demirtas said “Nearly 50 journalists are in prison. During AKP's rule newspapers and magazines were ordered shut down for several times.

Demirtas compared Erdogan with one of the late Ottoman sultans Abdulhamid who was famous for oppressing journalists and intellectuals.

Demirtas also criticized Erdogan for his silence on mass graves in Kurdish cities where dozens of Kurdish guerrillas were buried.

In recent excavations in Bitlis and Wan, more than 20 bodies were exhumed which are said to be of Kurdish guerrillas who were killed in clashes in 1990s.

On recent popular uprisings in Egypt, Tunusia and Libya, Demirtas said Turkish government has strong relations with dictators and oppressive regimes in the Middle East.

“He (Erdogan) did not criticize Mubarak until the uprisings began. El Bashir was behaved like a honorable guest in Turkey. The relations with Iran is clear” Demirtas said.

Demirtas mentioned Erdogan's lack of criticism against Muammar Al Gaddafi. “See what will Erdogan say about Gaddafi after he receives a call from Obama” he said.

To mark UNESCO's Mother Language Day Selahattin Demirtas made a part of his speech in Kurdish. As he started to speak in Kurdish, TRT stopped live broadcasting of BDP's group meeting. (ANF, February 22, 2011)

55 Children Arrested in One Week

The Anti-Terror Law (TMY) prepares the ground for the arrest and heavy punishment of thousands of children and juveniles merely because they attended a demonstration. The legal amendment of the TMY effected in July 2010 did not bring the expected relieve. Now, the courts apply Articles 220/6 and 314/2 of the disputed law.

Hence, the children stand accused of "committing a crime on behalf of an organization" and "membership in an armed organization" respectively.

Juvenile courts instead of high criminal courts

Lawyer Keziban Yılmaz told the Dicle News Agency (DİHA) that the amendments of the TMY mean that the children and juveniles who attended demonstrations and meetings shall not be tried on charges of "terror crimes" for the offences they allegedly committed in the course of the event. However, they are still being tried as members of illegal organizations for all other sorts of crimes, Yılmaz explained.

Lawyer Canan Atabay from the Diyarbakır Bar Association pointed out that most of the children and juveniles are being tried under allegations of carrying Molotov cocktails since this offence was not removed from the scope of punishment upon the amendments of the TMY.

While the arrested children and juveniles were tried before High Criminal Courts prior to the amendments, they are now being prosecuted for the same reasons at Juvenile Courts.

Many protest actions were carried out around 15 February to mark the day when Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the armed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) had been brought to Turkey. Öcalan is imprisoned on İmrali Island (Sea of Marmara) since 1999. In the course of this year's demonstrations, many children were taken into police custody in Istanbul,  Diyarbakır, Hakkari, Mardin, Batman, Mersin, Urfa, Adana, Van, Siirt and Şırnak, mainly Kurdish-majority cities in southern and south-eastern Turkey. A total of 55 children and juveniles were arrested and imprisoned by Juvenile Courts under Articles 220/6 and 314/2 of the TMY.

Amnesty International criticized Turkish authorities

Amnesty International (AI) launched a campaign for children and juveniles who were taken into custody and arrested merely for attending a demonstration from 2006 till the present.

Amnesty International emphasized that thousands of children were subjected to prosecution. The organization conceded that amendments made last year were being appreciated but underlined that not all of the children were released from prison as a result.

As reported by the Fırat News Agency (ANF), Amnesty International urged the officials to abide by international norms on human rights and the Turkish law regarding the judicial system for children. "Turkish authorities did not fulfil the obligation of a reliable, consistent and effective investigation regarding the ill-treatment of arrested children in custody and during interrogations", AI criticized. (BIA, 24 February 2011)

Transgender Individuals Sued after Groundless Custody

Three activists of the Pink Life Association stand trial for alleged resistance against the police. The three members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organization were stopped by the police in a traffic control in Ankara. After checking their IDs, the police decided to take the three individuals to the police station without giving a reason.

This was the third hearing of the case against the LGBT activists. As in the two previous sessions, the complaining police officers again failed to appear at court.

The defence lawyers stated that there was no evidence that would confirm the allegations and requested their clients' acquittal.

The judge decided to review a CD that contains footage of the three activists being exposed to violence while they were taken into police custody and to investigate the statements of the lawyers related to a solution.

The police officers were absent despite a decision to appear on compulsion. The Ankara 15th Criminal Court of First Instance decided that they had to attend the following hearing on 3 May.

"Criminal complaint of Pink Life members not considered"

The Pink Life Association criticized in an announcement that trials against defenders of transgender people's rights were being continued while criminal complaints filed by transgender activist who were exposed to violence did not advance at all.

"Transgender individuals are in the focus of violence every day. They remain even more defenceless in the aspect of the negative attitude of the judiciary against transgender individuals and regarding the impassiveness towards arbitrary custodies or applications of violence by the police".

Arbitrary application of Law on Misdemeanour

The police stopped the three transgender human rights defenders on 19 June 2010 on the busy Bağlar Avenue in Ankara. The police wanted to take them to the police station by reason of the Law on Misdemeanour and was going to apply a monetary fine. The Pink Life members protested the applications. Thereupon, the police made the three individuals to leave their car and took them into custody.

The three persons later on filed a criminal complaint by reasons of ill-treatment and insult experienced at the Esat Police Station. At the same time, two police officers complained about the three activists.

The complaint of the three Pink Life members was not being considered, whereas the complaint filed by the police officers resulted in a trial under allegations of "resistance against the police", "insult" and "harming public property". The defendants are facing prison terms of between six months and three years.

The first two hearings were held in October and December 2010. The court decided to bring in the two complainants on compulsion after they had not appeared at either of the sessions.

Similar cases resulted in acquittal

Five other transgender human rights defenders, also members of the Pink Life organization, experienced police violence and ill-treatment on 17 May 2010 in the same area. Subsequently, they stood trial on charges of "resistance to the police" and "insult of a civil servant on duty". The case was criticised by the European Human Rights Commission, the Council of Europe and international human rights organizations. At the first hearing, the judge decided for the acquittal of the defendants due to lack of evidence for the alleged offences. (BIA, Burçin BELGE, 25 February 2011)

Ecarter les gauchistes pour mieux raser les quartiers

Le 18 février à 5h. du matin, les forces de sécurité turques agissant comme une véritable police politique à la solde de l'AKP, ont mené une descente dans une association de quartier, nommément le centre pour les droits de Gülsuyu/Gülensu à Maltepe. Au cours de cette opération coup de poing visant prétendument le Parti/Front révolutionnaire de libération du peuple (DHKP-C, organisation marxiste-léniniste clandestine), un membre de l'association dénommé Serkan Sülü est tombé du troisième étage de l'immeuble. Sa vie n'est cependant pas en danger.

Plusieurs domiciles ont également été perquisitionnés dans le quartier. Cette vaste chasse à l'homme appuyée par un hélicoptère de la police a duré une grande partie de la journée. Certaines des personnes arrêtées ont été torturées sous les yeux de leurs familles et de leurs voisins. Au total, 18 personnes ont été arrêtées et un grand nombre de livres et de CD-Rom saisis.

Contactés en soirée, les avocats ont communiqué les noms des 18 militants associatifs arrêtés. II s'agit tous de membres du Front populaire (Halk Cephesi), une organisation sociale agissant dans la légalité et de lecteurs de l'hebdomadaire militant Yürüyüs. La police turque Iivre depuis plusieurs semaines une guerre sans merci contre Ies sympathisants du Front populaire. Cet acharnement n'est pas sans rappeler que dans Ie cadre d'un plan de rénovation urbaine radicale avec à Ia clé des contrats juteux au profit des requins de I'immobilier pro-AKP, I'administration Erdogan s'apprête à détruire un million d'habitations dans Ies quartiers déshérités d'Istanbul où Ia gauche révolutionnaire est socialement et politiquement implantée. (turquie.rebelle@gmail.com, 21 février 2011)

Vidéo de l'opération du 18 février 2010: http://webtv.sabah.com.tr/webtv/videoizle/istanbulda_dhkpc_operasyonu_380301993622

Massive Police Intervention on Campus

Students of the Black Sea Technical University (KTÜ) in Trabzon encountered massive police violence when they demonstrated against the construction of hydro-electric power plants (HES) during a symposium visited by the Minister of the Environmental, Veysel Eroğlu. The police and Special Security Units (GÖP) of the university intervened against the students when they tried to communicate their requests.

Thereupon, the number of attendees of the "Eastern Black Sea Region Inundation Symposium" was being limited for "security reasons". Students were not allowed to join the activity organized on the campus.

It was reported that the students faced massive police violence; four students were heavily beaten.

Minister Eroğlu visited the campus on 10 February. A good 2,000 students protested against the planned construction of more than 700 HES power plants in the Black Sea valleys. KTÜ student Volkan Bilgin talked to bianet about the police intervention.

"We were going to voice our criticism on the Hydroelectric Power Plants to the minister. But we encountered an attack as it could be seen on the pictures published in the media. The actual intervention happened in the vans of the police though. Four of our fellow students were heavily beaten".

"We were beaten one by one"

Initially, everybody was empowered to participate in the symposium. However, when the protesting students walked towards the conference hall, the security forces blocked their way. Organizations from the Black Sea region condemned the attack after photographs of the massive police intervention were published in the media.

Student Bilgin said that the students who were taken into the police vans after the intervention were beaten one by one:

"They took us to the vans and closed the doors behind us. The door was opened again and policemen entered the van. The actual severe attack happened here, in the van. They beat everybody one by one. Four of our fellow students were injured quite seriously".

No medical report for beating if students recover within two days

The students were kept in police custody from 11.00 am to 6.00 pm. They had no opportunity to give their statements but waited the whole time, Bilgin recalled. He said that the hospital they went to refused to issue a report to document the beating. The students were told that they did not need a report because they "would recover within two days".

"Students have their say"

Bilgin expressed the students' solidarity with the people from the Black Sea Region. "We think that the university students have their say regarding the problems of the region", Bilgin said and reported that they were going to carry on with their protest actions.

Organizations from the Black Sea region and platforms who are struggling against the hydroelectric power plants criticized the police intervention against the KTÜ students.

In a written statement, the Fellowship of the Streams Platform criticized the intervention by the police and the private security forces and condemned that students were dragged along the ground, heavily beaten, kicked at their heads and taken into police custody. "These attacks against the young people who support us in our struggle for our life space should be stopped instantly. The people responsible for this have to be taken to account", it was stated.

The Black Sea Insurrection Platform announced in writing, "We know that the preference of the political power does not prioritize the people, life or science but groups with economic interest".

"The patience of all defenders for life was challenged when the minister carelessly talked about how our valleys have been sold unconcerned. The struggle pursued by the students as members of the Students Collective showed how difficult it is to protect the geographical region we live in".

Acar: "This was an attack against the entire people in the region"

Hüseyin Acar from the Fındıklı Streams Protection Platform condemned the attack as well. The platform particularly campaigns against the hydroelectric power plants in Viçe, a district of Rize on the eastern Black Sea coast. "The people are being ignored and the ones who voice their opinions are being silenced. We look at this attack as an attack against our entire people. But we will never be intimidated", Acar claimed.

The Platform Against Commercialization of Water (STHP) condemned the intervention at the university in the course of a protest action on Galatasaray Square in Istanbul. The platform protested against the "Renewable Energy Law" which passed through parliament and was approved by the Prime Ministry. (BIA, Emir CELIK, 14 February 2011)

522 Unsolved Murders in 5 Years

According to the Report on Human RightsViolations in the Eastern and South-Eastern Region issued by the Diyarbakır Branch of the Human Rights Associaiton (İHD), 106,479 cases of rights violations were registered between 2006 and 2010. Data compiled by the Documentation Centre of the Turkish Human Righst Foundation (TİHV) revealed 1885 unsolved murders in Turkey between 1990 and 2009.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced, "There were no rights violations at my time on duty". Yet, a couple of rights violations, disappearances and unsolved murders were on the agenda of the media. On 9 February, the "Investigation Commission on Unsolved Murders" was established as part of the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission. The first case to be investigated by the commission will be Tolga Baykal Ceylan who disappeared in police custody in 2004.

The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Deputy for Şırnak, Hasip Kaplan, criticized that disappearances in police custody and unsolved murders were crammed into the work of the sub-commission. Leman Yurtsever, member of the İHD Commission against Disappearances in Police Custody, was also skeptical. "We did not want such a commission. We requested to establish a commission made up of scientists, intellectuals, doctors and experts", Yurtsever said.

Raci Bilici, secretary of the İHD Branch in Diyarbakır (south-eastern Turkey), said in an interview with bianet that also the cases of Uğur Kaymaz, Ceylan Önkol, Aydın Erdem and the people who died in the incidents in May 2006 belonged to the group of unsolved murders.

"They said he hung himself in the cell"

The İHD report also includes the testimonies of relatives and close friends of the disappeared. Gurgin Yavuzer applied to the İHD Diyarbakır Branch on 7 June 2005. He recalled, "We are living in Batman but my brother Murat Yavuzer, born in 1977 in Mardin, and my sister are registered in Diyarbakır. Murat was taken into custody by the police forces on 1 June 2005 in Diyarbakır. First he was taken to the downtown police station and later on to the Sağlık Police Station. We were informed that my brother died on 2 June 2005 at 10.00 o'clock. The police officers said that my brother hung himself in the cell. However, the ceiling of the cell they kept him in was very low and Murat was tall. We think that he did not commit suicide".

The İHD report shows the following figures regarding deaths caused by unsolved murders and by violations of the military's and police's authority to use a weapon in the Eastern and South-Eastern region:

2006: 72
2007: 103
2008: 52
2009:  91
2010:  57
Total:  375

According to the report, 93 people died of mines and other explosives, 336 were injured. Additionally, the association received 3121 applications related to torture and maltreatment between 2006 and 2010.

In their general report on Turkey, the TİHV determined a number of 522 unsolved murders between 2006 and 2010 including incidents in custody and prison. (BIA, Ayça SÖYLEMEZ, 11 February 2011)

Saturday Mothers Demand Political Determination

At their 307th gathering, the Saturday Mothers expressed their concern that the recently established parliamentary Sub-Commission on the Investigation of Unsolved Murders will not be effective as long as it is not joined by independents members.

The Saturday mothers gather every single Saturday on Galatasaray Square in central Istanbul to draw attention to the fate of their relatives who disappeared and were killed for political reasons.

Last Saturday's session was organized by the Commission against Disappearances in Custody Istanbul Branch of the Human Rights Association (İHD). About 200 human rights defenders and relatives of the disappeared attended the protest action.

Every week, the relatives of the disappeared address the government with their questions and carry signs that feature the picture and the name of the person they lost. A banner read "The perpetrators are known, where are the disappeared" and the protestors demanded the prosecution of the ones responsible for the disappearances.

A few of the relatives had a meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan last week and appreciated the establishing of the sub-commission, saying that even though it was a small step, it was an important one. Others indicated that their expectations had not been fulfilled: "Instead of coming to us he called us to see him. What can you expect from people who impose a publication ban on Mutki anyways".

Mutki is a district of the Kurdish-majority city of Bitlis in south-eastern Turkey. According to official numbers, 15 bodies were found buried in a waste dump of the gendarmerie this January.

Serpil Taşkaya read out a press release on behalf of the İHD Commission against Disappearances in Custody Istanbul Branch. Taşkaya lost her father Hüseyin Taşkaya in 1993. She announced the requests that were forwarded to the Prime Minister during the meeting in the Dolmabahçe Palace on the European banks of the Bosporus.

Taşkaya said that they demanded to assign independent people to the commission for the investigation of disappearances established in the Turkish Parliament last week. She also urged the government to sign and implement the United Nations International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and requested to investigate mass graves in accordance with scientific principles.

Moreover, the statement criticized the governments for not assuming responsibility by saying "It did not happen during our time" and pointed to the rule of "continuity of the state".

Taşkaya conveyed the claim for concrete solutions to concrete demands.

"We do not accept to make a distinction between our sorrows. Justice is the joint expectation of all of us. We expect total reconcilement and a cross party approach regarding the parliament's disclosing of the fate of our disappeared relatives and the prosecution of the perpetrators. It is our most basic concern that politics are not being made upon our grief. We do not want compassion, we want justice", Taşkaya argued. (BIA, Elif GENÇKAL, 13 February 2011)

ECHR: Turkey Pays and Pays...

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg found Turkey guilty of a violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights regarding freedom of expression. The ruling was communicated on 8 February. It was based on the complaint of Ünsal Öztürk, owner of the Yurt Publishing Company. He applied to the ECHR because national courts had continuously refused to return books published by his company.

The books had been confiscated in the 1990 for containing separatist propaganda and concerned the works of sociologist İsmail Beşikçi in particular. Öztürk is still facing a heavy prison sentence for the books on subject. Beşikçi was sentenced to more than 100 years in jail on the grounds of his books published by Yurt Publishing. He was released in accordance with the Conditional Amnesty Law later on. Öztürk demanded to have the books returned after the trial was finished.

However, the courts rejected Öztürk's request although Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law was repealed and even though the legal basis for the ban had been eliminated.

The ECHR decreed for a violation of Article 10 of the convention. Turkey is to pay € 9,000 to the publisher for non-pecuniary damage and € 500 for costs and expenses.

Human Rights Advocate Tuncer receives compensation

In the scope of another case, the ECHR decided for a fine of € 18,100 including costs and expenses payable to lawyer Gülizar Tuncer. Tuncer had been exposed to police violence when she attended a protest action against the introduction of F Type prisons in Turkey in December 2000.

Tuncer was injured in the incident. The ECHR decreed for a violation of Articles 3 and 11 of the convention on the "prohibition of inhumane and degrading treatment" and "freedom of assembly and association", respectively. Furthermore, the ECHR declared that the degrading behaviour against Tuncer had not been effectively investigated. (BIA, Erol ÖNDEROĞLU, 9 February 2011)

Complaint about Court Board for Deadlock of Procedures

A group of lawyers filed a criminal complaint on behalf of the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD) about the court board of the Beyoğlu 4th High Criminal Court that handles the case of killed Nigerian refugee Festus Okey. The complaint was submitted the Beyoğlu Public Prosecutor to be forwarded to the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK).

Okey was shot in the Beyoğlu (central Istanbul) Police Center on 20 August 2007.

A group of members of the ÇHD and the Immigrant Solidarity Network gathered in front of the Beyoğlu Courthouse and protested against the handling of the Festus Okey trial.

"Not the perpetrators but the rights defenders are being prosecuted"

Lawyer Hüseyin Boğatekin read out a press release on behalf of the group. He said that the court board forgot about the perpetrators and the action on trial and therefore about the fact that they are defendants tried on charges of murder. Instead, they started to prosecute the human rights defenders who are seeking justice, Boğatekin criticized.

He recalled that the police officers were taken to court in an official car by the then Chief of Police of the Beyoğlu District when they had to appear at court for the first time after Okey's death in 2007. The lawyer continued:

"The suspected police officer was not taken into police custody for a single day and he was not suspended from duty. The most important evidence to determine the shooting distance was the victim's t-shirt. Yet, the t-shirt was lost in hospital, but procedures were dropped against the persons who lost it".

"Trial did not move an inch in the past three years"

Boğatekin said that the court did not touch upon any crucial issues regarding the essence of the case. "The court is stuck with trying to determine whether the victim's name really is Festus Okey. This investigation will highly probably not yield any results because of the chaos in Nigeria and a social structure that is based on tribes. The trial has not moved an inch during the past three years because of this investigation".

Boğatekin pointed out that the lawlessness experienced during the trial has increased lately.

"The court dismissed the requests of human rights defenders for joint plaintiff status. After that, the court filed a criminal complaint about the people who applied for joint plaintiffship by reason of 'attempting to influence a fair trial and insulting the court'.  Until today, the court filed complaints about approximately 40 people, including Güray Dağ and Süleyman Gökten, members of our steering board". (BIA, 9 February 2011)

Graduate Student Remains in Detention - Reasons Unclear

Graduate Student Hüseyin Edemir has been detained for one year now on the groundsof his alleged membership of the Party and Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of the Turkish People (DHKP-C). At the hearing on Tuesday (8 Feburary), the porsecutor requested the acquittal of Edemir, student at the renowned Middle-East Techincal Univeristy, but the court decided to keep him in prison.

Detained defendant Edemir attended the Tuesday hearing at the Beşiktaş (Istanbul) 10th High Criminal Court. Defenant İlker Alcan was absent since he has not been arrested yet upon an arrest warrant issued before.

The sixth hearing of the case saw a change of the court board and the prosecutor. Prosecutor Kasım İlimoğlu said that the allegations put forward against Edemir in the indictment streched from 12 October 2001 till 24 Feburary 2009, the day he was arrested. İlimoğlu claimed that "there is no evidence that would suggest any affiliation to the organization during that time" and requested Edemir's release.

The prosecutor suggested Edemir's release upon the decision for judicial control. Additionally, İlimoğlu demanded to investigate the validity and the lawfulness of the evidence regarding Edemir's alleged membership of the terrorist organization and to investigate the relation with Edemir.

Presient Judge Ali Alcık and the members of the court board, Hadi Çağdır and İbrahim Balık, decided to keep Edemir in detention. It was also decreed to wait for the arrest of defendant Alcan. The trial was adjourned to 8 March.

Lawyer Aslan: Prosecutor's request dismissed without reasons

Edemir's lawyer Oya Aslan talked to bianet after the hearing. She drew attention to the fact that the court did not decide for an investigation into the evidence.

"The evidence is investigated in similar cases. The prosecutor requested Edemir's release because there was no evidence that proved any relation between Edemir and the organization. It was a just request that was dismissed by the court. Moreover, the court declined this request without giving any reason", Aslan criticized.

Friends and lecturers from ODTÜ supported Edemir

Edemir's fellow students from ODTÜ and his family released a press statement in front of the Beşiktaş Courthouse before the hearing.

The statement was read out by Edemir's fiancée Sevgi Göğülter. She said that the only piece of evidence against Edemir was based on a print out that was apparently acquired in an unlawful search ten years ago. Göğülter demanded Edemir's acquittal and a reimbursement for the losses.

The press statement was also joined by Edemir's fellow students and lecturers from ODTÜ, among them Tayfun Altay and Ferdan Ergut. They carried banners reading "Freedom to Hüseyin Edemir", "We are Hüseyin Edemir's witnesses" or "Hüseyin Edemir is seeking justice". The defendant's brother, Murat Edemir, and his parents came from Ardahan in north-eastern Turkey to attend the hearing.

Edemir was also supported by Kadriye Karcı from Germany, Member of Parliament for Die Linke party. "I hope that justice will be dispensed by releasing Edemir". (BIA, Emir CELIK, 9 February 2011)

Policeman who Beat Juvenile Claimed Self-Protection

On 23 April 2009, the day that marks the annual children's day in Turkey, a juvenile in the south-eastern province of Hakkari was chased, caught and beat with a rifle but by a special operations police officer. The 17-year-old was severely injured in the incident. To his defence, the police officer stated at court that his "psychological situation was bad" at the time.

The juvenile had attended a protest action regarding the operation against the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), which was banned by the Constitutional Court later on. Many people allegedly affiliated with the legal political party were arrested in the course of the operation. A 14-year-old juvenile rolled into a nearby stream when he was trying to escape from the police and died.

This time, the lawyers' efforts resulted in a trial opened against he policeman who beat the juvenile with a rifle but. Yet, many comparable incidents are being filed away without investigation. However, this incident was being recorded. The very same day, television channels all over the country broadcasted the footage of an armed police officer in a camouflage suit and a snow mask chasing a young person and beating him until he was lying on the ground.

The video showed that the police officer left the juvenile on the ground when he was not moving anymore and went away with another police man who had been watching. (BIA, Erhan ÜSTÜNDAĞ, 8 February 2011)

51 ans de prison réclamés pour un chef de la police

Un procureur d'Istanbul a réclamé 51 ans de prison contre un ex-chef de la police pour complicité avec une organisation d'extrême gauche, un procès qui intervient après ses révélations sulfureuses dénonçant le noyautage de la police turque par une confrérie musulmane, a-t-on appris lundi de source judiciaire.

Hanevi Avci, incarcéré à Istanbul depuis son arrestation en septembre dernier, est accusé aussi de violation du secret de l'instruction et détention d'armes à feu non enregistrées, selon l'acte d'accusation.

Son procès doit s'ouvrir le 13 avril dans cette ville avec vingt-et-un autre suspects, dont son épouse, accusés d'être membres d'une organisation d'extrême gauche peu connue (Le Commandement révolutionnaire), qui aurait comploté contre le parti gouvernemental (Parti de la justice et du développement, AKP, issu de la mouvance islamiste).

Hanefi Avci, un policier très connu, est l'auteur d'un best-seller qui dénonce le noyautage de la police turque par la confrérie de Fethullah Gülen, et qui montre comment cette entreprise a débouché sur les multiples révélations de complots et sur les vagues d'arrestations spectaculaires de militaires ou de personnalités laïques qui les ont accompagnées.

Le policier met en cause la crédibilité de l'affaire Ergenekon, un complot antigouvernement présumé, en estimant qu'elle repose sur des preuves fragiles et en dénonçant le recours systématique à des écoutes téléphoniques douteuses, suscitées par des éléments de la police qui seraient liés à la confrérie Gülen.

M. Avci rejette les accusation et estime que sont arrestation est l'aboutissement de la contre-offensive qu'a lancée la confrérie Gülen, depuis la parution de son livre.

Agé de 69 ans, M. Gülen, un ancien prédicateur qui prêche un islam modéré et vit aux Etats-Unis depuis 1999, a rejeté les accusations. (AFP, 7 fév 2011)

"Saturday Mothers" meet Prime Minister Erdoğan

Family members of people who have allegedly disappeared while in custody, a group known as the “Saturday Mothers,” met Saturday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at his office in Istanbul’s Dolmabahçe Palace.

Kadriye Ceylan, the mother of the missing Tolga Baykal Ceylan, said she was “hopeful” after the meeting, which lasted two hours despite having been scheduled for 30 minutes.

“I learned that the petition I wrote to the prime minister did not reach him. He was very surprised too. He listened to us with great patience until the end,” she said.

Sebla Arcan, a member of the Commission Against People Lost in Detention, was less optimistic, saying, “The meeting does not mean anything unless solid steps are taken.” She added that Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, has not made “a single move” toward finding the missing victims despite having been in power for eight years.

Participants in the meeting, who included 12 relatives of the disappeared, as well as one representative from the Human Rights Foundation, or İHD, called on the prime minister to “Let our sons at least have a grave” and demanded solid steps be taken, including signing the United Nations’ international treaty from 2006 on disappeared people. “If we did not sign it, there must be a reason for it,” Erdoğan said.

Speaking to the “Saturday Mothers,” Erdoğan said he was tortured while in detention in 1979 by being kept in knee-high cold water. Addressing the press Sunday, the prime minister mentioned Tolga Baykal Ceylan and said he believed there had not been any unsolved political murders during the AKP’s time in office since 2003, but had learned at the Saturday meeting that Ceylan disappeared in 2004.

Saying the party’s sole wish is for unsolved murders “to not be exploited,” Erdoğan added: “Otherwise, to not leave these murders unsolved is the most important duty of an administration respecting human rights in scope of a democratic parliamentary system. We have to do this [and we are] doing it.”

The “Saturday Mothers” have been meeting at Istanbul’s Galatasaray Square to hold up pictures of their lost relatives every Saturday since the 1990s. Their family members were allegedly killed under torture while in detainment or kidnapped by unidentified parties, which they claim were plainclothes members of government security forces. None of them know what happened to their relatives or where their bodies are buried. (Daily News with Radikal, February 6, 2011)

Turkey's Stumbling Blocks: Freedom of Speech and Torture

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found Turkey guilty regarding the conviction of Faruk Temel, executive of the Hakkari Youth Branches of the People's Democracy Party (HADEP). Faruk Temel had applied to the international court upon his conviction on the grounds of condemning the USA intervention in Iraq and the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned leader of the outlawed armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

In the decision announced on Tuesday (1 February), the ECHR ruled for a violation of Articles 6 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the right to a fair trial and on freedom of expression respectively because Temel had been deprived of legal support during the investigation. Turkey has to pay € 16,000 (approx. TL 32,000) to Temel in compensation.

ECHR: Desde's torture complaint was not investigated

In another case, the ECHR sentenced Turkey to a monetary fine of € 21,000 (approx. TL 42,000) in compensation, including cost and expenses, payable to German national Mehmet Desde. The court concluded that allegations of torture imposed to Desde when was taken into police custody upon his entry to Turkey in 2002 had not been investigated and necessary measures were failed to be done.

Desde had been interrogated at the Izmir Anti-Terror Branch and subsequently prosecuted over allegations of "membership of the Bolshevik Party of Northern Kurdistan/Turkey organization". He was convicted and arrested. Desde was released from the Tire Prison (Izmir) on 7 September 2008.

Desde stated that he had been tortured in police custody but the police officers who registered the complaint did not take effective measures. (BIA, Erol ÖNDEROĞLU, 2 February 2011)

Court rules Turkey must pay for forced 'virginity check'

The European Court of Human Rights has ordered Turkey to pay 23,500 euros in compensation to a 16 year-old girl who was subjected to a gynecological examination without her consent or that of her parents.

In 2002, a 16 year-old girl taken into custody on suspicion of assisting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, was forced to go through a gynecological examination by authorities who wanted to determine whether she had been raped or not. She had no parent or guardian accompanying her during the check, and suffered from depression and stress once she was released, according to a health report.

The case file went to the European court in 2006; the court found Turkey had violated the laws of the European court pertaining to torture and failed to properly investigate the incident.

The European court had previously condemned Turkey and ruled it must pay compensation for two women taken into custody in the Mediterranean province of İskenderun on suspicion of being PKK members and for a German citizen taken into custody in 2008 and sentenced to 15 years in prison for the same reasons.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. (Radikal, February 2, 2011)

Turkey Takes the Lead in Europe in Violations in 2010

Among 47 countries under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, Turkey ranks at the top position regarding the number of convictions in 2010.

The court decided 278 files of applicants from Turkey. 228 of these cases comprised violations of at least one article of the European Convention on Human Rights, the court announced. Only nine files concerning Turkey did not include any violation of rights as ruled by the ECHR.

Turkey is followed by Russia (217 judgments), Romania (143) and the Ukraine (109).

Too much even for the ECHR

At the same time, the work load of the ECHR has considerably increased according to the court's statement.

"Approximately 139,650 applications were pending before a judicial formation on 1 January 2011. More than half of these applications had been lodged against one of four countries: Russia, Turkey, Romania or Ukraine", the court announced. 10.9 percent of all applications come from Turkey.

In 2010, the ECHR considered a total of 41,000 applications. 1,499 decisions came out of 2,607 applications.

37 percent of all decisions made by the Strasbourg court were related to violations of the right to a fair trial. Decisions regarding Turkey were mostly based on violations in aspect to the fairness and the length of trials. (BIA, Erhan ÜSTÜNDAĞ, 31 January 2011)

Pression sur les médias / Pressure on the Media

Police Raid on "People's Daily" - Two Journalists in Custody

The Editor-in-Chief of the People's Daily ('Halkın Günlüğü') newspaper, Hıdır Gürz, and the paper's representative in Mersin, Deniz Kısmetli, are among the 23 people who were taken into police custody in the course of police operations carried out in seven different provinces.

The operations conducted by the Anti-Terror Branch started on Tuesday evening (22 February) and went on till the morning hours of 23 February. A considerable amount of material was confiscated during the searches of the offices of the People's Daily newspaper and the Democratic Peoples Association and the homes of members of the Democratic Peoples Federation (DHF).

It was announced that the people who were taken into custody during the operations in Adana, Amed (Diyarbakır), Hatay, Iskenderun, Istanbul, Mersin and Zonguldak were brought to Adana (eastern tip of the Mediterranean coast).

Chief Editor Gürz was in Zonguldak (western Black Sea coast) because of work at the time of the operation, it was reported. He was arrested in a raid on the house he was accomodated in as a guest.

DHF calls for protesting the operation

On Thursday (24 February), the DHF organized protest actions and released press statements in protest of the police custodies in seven different provinces. The federation called for "increasing the solidarity with the revolutionary, democratic and progressive public opinion".

Protest actions were organized for Dersim, Antalya, Denizli, Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir. (BIA, 25 February 2011)

Court of Appeals Quashed 21-year Sentence of Journalist Kılıç

The Court of Appeals overturned the 21-year prison sentence handed down to journalist Ozan Kılıç, former Editor-in-Chief of the Kurdish Azadiya Welat newspaper.

The Court of Appeals 9th Chamber ruled that the sentence was disproportionally high and overturned the decision given by the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court in February 2010.

Kılınç, the then concessionaire of the Kurdish daily, stood trial under allegations of "spreading propaganda for the PKK organization", the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party. On 9 February 2010, the local court concluded that Kılıç had opposed the Anti-Terror Law (TMY) with the contents published in the Azadiya Welat newspaper and that he "committed a crime on behalf of an illegal organization without being a member of that organization". He received a prison sentence of 21 years and three months accordingly.

The court furthermore decided to release an arrest warrant for the journalist. He was taken into custody in the course of a police operation on his home in the Karapınar district of the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakır (south-eastern Turkey) on 22 July 2010. Kılıç was then arrested and incarcerated in the Diyarbakır D Type Prison.

10 months in jail for journalist Kutal on propaganda charges

As reported by Günlük, another daily paper published in Kurdish, Azadiya Welat employee Emine Kutal was recently sentenced to ten months behind bars. She was tried since 2008 on charges of "making propaganda for an illegal organization".

Journalist Çetin facing five years in jail for news about funeral

Journalist Abdullah Çetin, reporter of the Dicle News Agency (DİHA) for Siirt (south-east), is facing prison terms of up to five years on the grounds of a news item published by the Fırat News Agency (ANF). Also Çetin is charged with "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization".

Çetin had covered the funeral of Asiye Gündüz, a member of the People's Defence Forces (HPG) as an armed wing of the PKK. Gündüz died in an armed conflict in the Tatvan (Tux) district of Bitlis; the funeral took place in the Eruh district. Çetin was taken into police custody upon his return to Bitlis. His photographs, his cell phone and the memory card were seized by the police. Çetin was released after he had given his statement.

The Diyarbakır Special Authority Public Prosecution prepared an indictment about Çetin under allegations of "propaganda for an illegal organization", which was then accepted by the Diyarbakır 5th High Criminal Court.

The indictment seeks prison terms of between 10 months and five years for journalist Çetin. (BIA, 23 February 2011)

Pınar Selek: What will the Supreme Court of Appeals do now?
 
We are all concerned not being so sure of the third acquittal of the court. For Court of Appeals is unpredictable. For its decisions are more of a “save the government” and less of a “jurisprudence” kind and the rest is “lex non curat de minimis” (Scepticals can take a look at TESEV’s study among the arbitrators: www.tesev.org.tr)
 
In fact Pınar Selek being on trial is shameful enough, for all of us.

Because:
 
1. There is no valid evidence against Pınar Selek.
 
The only evidence present in the file, which was impermissable anyway, is the statement made under duress by Abdullah Mecit Öztürk while being tortured that he has since disclaimed. Thus Öztürk has been acquitted, and the prosecutor has not challenged the decision but sent only the acquittal of Pınar Selek to the Supreme Court of Appeals.
 
2. There is no BOMB either.
 
As well as the police reports, the expert reports also state the incident as “gas leak” (see the list is below), which the Supreme Court takes no notice. However, Ministry of Interior (not a party to the case, by the way) unasked has had an ANONYMOUS report put in the case file saying it is a “bomb” which the Supreme Court does not fail to see. Also at the scene there is evidence of a chemical called “pyroxylin” which is allegedly used in bomb making! Actually it is not confined to the spot but found at various places among other substances at the venue.
No evidence. No bomb. What is it to be?
 
3. Why then did Pınar Selek stay in prison for so many years, and the Supreme Court wants her in prison for life?
 
Not so difficult to deduce. Those were the days of “Psychological War” and we were all on the target board, the PUBLIC. To create an agenda for the public feigned events were produced (Güçlükonak massacre, General Bahtiyar Aydın, Colonel Rıdvan Özden assassinations) or unplanned occurances grabbed for the same purpose. Explosion in the spice bazaar, Mısır Çarşısı: 7 dead, many injured... OK, let’s say PKK did it. Well we need a bomber. Take that girl who is interviewing the PKK leaders for her so called research, she should solicit, and add a culprit from the torture chambers. Let’s see, prepare a mise en scene and take their statements accordingly.
Unfortunately a botched up job for a mise en scene is done, so that at every step of the way they stumble. They could not have known Pınar’s resilience, that she could stand all the torture inflicted, that her father was an experienced lawyer and could check each evidence meticulously, invalidating them all.
 
 (For the brief story of events go to:
http://www.antenna-tr.org/Sites.aspx?SiteID=29&mod=article&cID=134&ID=2260)
 
Never forget what is beneath the iceberg, in the delight we feel for Pınar’s acquittal.
 
CPJ: Press Freedom in Turkey Unstable

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has published its 2010 report on "Attacks on the Press - a Worldwide Survey by CPJ". The organization works for defending journalists' rights and is based in New York. In their latest report, the committee criticized obstacles before freedom of expression in Turkey.

Joel Simon, CPJ Executive Director, and his assistants presented the report to the United Nations (UN). They claimed that global and regional organizations failed to protect press freedom and journalists worldwide.

In 2010, 44 journalists were killed worldwide and 145 journalists were arrested, the report said. The most dangerous country for journalists was Pakistan, where 14 journalists were killed throughout the last year, followed by Iraq with four murdered journalists. 34 out of 145 journalists were arrested in China, 34 in Iran. Simon also emphasized the importance of protecting internet journalists since half of the journalists who landed in jail that year were internet journalists.

Restrictions in Turkey persist

Regarding Turkey, the report points to ongoing restrictions and oppression: "Authorities paraded journalists into court on anti-terror, criminal defamation, and state security charges as they tried to suppress critical news and commentary on issues involving national identity, the Kurdish minority, and an alleged anti-government conspiracy".

* The Constitutional Reform Package said to strengthen democracy and approved by a referendum in 2010 "failed to address severe limits on press freedom".

* As far as the European Union (EU) Progress Report is concerned, the CPJ report summarized, "The European Union broadly criticized Turkey's press freedom record (...).It faulted authorities for prosecuting journalists for expressing nonviolent opinions and raised particular concerns about the high number of criminal cases brought against journalists reporting on the anti-government plot known as the Ergenekon affair".

* "Anti-terror legislation, which provides for harsh prison penalties and fines, was used against numerous critical journalists, many of them writing about Kurdish issues (...)." The convictions of İfran Aktan from the Express magazine and editor Merve Erol were quoted as related examples.

* "Journalists and editors from across the political spectrum were targeted for their coverage of the Ergenekon conspiracy". Büşra Erdal and Melih Duvaklı from the Zaman newspaper and Helin Şahin from the Star newspaper were facing several charges of violating state secrets, for instance.

* The report also touched upon Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink who was killed in 2007: "As 2010 drew to a close, nearly four years after Dink's assassination, the government had yet to obtain a conviction in the case".

* The Doğan Media Group received a heavy tax fine after reports critic of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), a decision that was believed to be politically motivated.

Answering journalists' questions after the representation of the report, Simon recalled that years ago at the beginning of their work the number of imprisoned journalists in Turkey was much higher. He added:

"Turkey considerably improved in this aspect. Journalism in Turkey is more open and vivid nowadays. But the arrests of journalists in recent time are utterly disturbing and worrying. It is alarming to see the achievements in the area of press freedom in Turkey vulnerable and open to attacks." (BIA, 18 February 2011)

Trois journalistes d'opposition inculpés, réaction américaine

Trois journalistes turcs de l'opposition ont été inculpés et écroués dans la nuit de jeudi à vendredi dans le cadre d'une enquête sur un complot présumé visant le gouvernement islamo-conservateur, des inculpations qui ont provoqué les protestations des Etats-Unis.

Soner Yalçin, 45 ans, auteur de plusieurs livres et propriétaire du site internet Odatv.com, et deux journalistes de ce site, farouche critique du Parti de la justice et du développement (AKP, issu de la mouvance islamiste), au pouvoir, ont comparu devant des juges d'un tribunal d'Istanbul qui ont décidé de les inculper, selon l'agence de presse Anatolie.

Anatolie ne précise pas les chefs d'inculpation retenus contre eux. Mais d'autres personnalités pro-laïques arrêtées dans le cadre de l'affaire Ergenekon, une tentative présumée de déstabilisation politique, qui aurait poussé les militaires à renverser le régime, avaient été notamment inculpées de "tentative de renverser l'ordre constitutionnel".

M. Yalçin et trois autres journalistes d'Odatv.com avaient été arrêtés lundi. L'un d'eux a été relâché à la suite de son interrogatoire.

L'opposition et une partie de la presse ont protesté contre ces arrestations, affirmant que le gouvernement cherchait à museler toute contestation.

Washington a déclaré mercredi qu'il suivait "de près" cette situation.

"Nous avons de sérieuses inquiétudes concernant une tendance à l'intimidation sur des journalistes en Turquie, nous l'avons dit directement au gouvernement turc et nous continuerons à le faire", a déclaré le porte-parole du département d'Etat Philip Crowley.

L'AKP a rejeté ces critiques, accusant les Etats-Unis d'ingérence dans les affaires interieures turques.

"Nos clients ont été interrogés sur des enquêtes réalisées dans le cadre de leur travail de journaliste. Il est clair que cela va à l'encontre de la liberté de la presse et montre que les médias sont sous la menace, en Turquie", a déclaré leur avocat, Me Huseyin Ersoz, selon Anatolie.

Il a affirmé que les textes incriminés trouvés dans un des ordinateurs des journalistes avaient été introduits secrètement par un programme informatique, envoyé par spam en septembre.

Les journalistes ont aussi été interrogés sur des entretiens téléphoniques avec le leader de l'opposition Kemal Kilicdaroglu, a-t-il ajouté.

Plusieurs autres journalistes ont déjà été emprisonnés dans le cadre de l'affaire Ergenekon. (AFP, 18 fév 2011)

Zarakolu received a Lifetime Honorary Medal in Armenia

Publisher Ragıp Zarakolu, 2008 IPA Freedom to Publish Prize Winner, received a Lifetime Honorary Medal in Armenia, becoming the first Turk to take home the prestigious honour. IPA congratulates him and the Turkish Publishers Association (TPA), hoping that this spirit of cooperation between Turks and Armenians on the one hand and among the various stakeholders of the book chain on the other hand will pave the way to a successful Yerevan, World Book Capital 2012.

Turkish publisher Ragıp Zarakolu was awarded the Hagop Meghapart Lifetime Honorary Medal by the Armenian National Library, becoming the first Turk to win the honour. The owner of the Belge publishing house was presented his award at a ceremony held in the capital Yerevan on 15 February 2011. Ragıp Zarakolu said the award had great moral significance for him as he was the first Turk to take home the honour, although he said he believed more Turks would soon also win the honour. “There are many intellectuals like me in Turkey who do not fear expressing the pains in the country and take human rights as the basic criteria. Moreover, these people do not hesitate to use the word ‘genocide,’” he said, adding “Receiving this award is an honour for me. I might be the first, but I believe more Turkish intellectuals will win this medal”.

Says Jens Bammel, IPA Secretary General: “IPA congratulates publisher Ragıp Zarakolu on receiving this prestigious award. Once again we rise in deep respect for this publisher, to celebrate his courage and humanity, his love for different cultures and quest for truth and reconciliation. This Armenian National Award shows that, despite difficulties, Armenians and Turks can work together.

The opening of Armenia, which the award underlines, is a very promising sign for Yerevan World Book Capital 2012. As the initiator of the World Book Capital initiative, and as with all World Book Capitals since 2001, IPA will strive to contribute to the success of Yerevan, World Book Capital 2012”.

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

More about Ragıp Zarakolu, freedom to publish in Turkey and Armenia:

Ragıp Zarakolu is a Turkish publisher born in 1948. Since starting his publishing house Belge with his wife Ayse Nur in 1977, he has been subjected to harassment from the Turkish authorities. Ragıp Zarakolu refused to abandon his campaign for freedom of thought, striving “for an attitude of respect for different thoughts and cultures to become widespread in Turkey”. Over the years, the charges brought by the Turkish authorities against Ragıp  Zarakolu and his wife resulted in imprisonment, confiscation and destruction of books, and the imposition of heavy fines, endangering the survival of the Belge publishing house.

Ragıp Zarakolu was condemned for the crime of « insulting Turkishness » under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code on in June 2008 for having published a book on the Armenian genocide entitled The Truth will set us free. Armenians and Turks reconciled by George Jerjian. This was the first conviction since the 30 April 2008 amendment to Article 301.

Zarakolu, who is also the Chairman of Freedom to publish committee of the Turkish Publishers Association (TPA), is the holder of many national and international awards for freedom of expression. He has also received an award from the Sarajevo-based International Association of Genocide Scholars, or IAGS, and freedom of expression awards from the Norwegian Writers’ Union and the Turkish Journalists’ Association.

Turkey has come a long way, freedom of expression wise since the 1990s, but much progress remains to be done: there are around 70 cases of writers and publishers on trial currently in Turkey, the majority on charges of defamation or insult to various Turkish institutions, or on charges related to commentary on the Kurdish or Armenian issues.

In Armenia, although freedom to publish is overall respected, there are other significant freedom of expression issues that need to be worked on.

For more, please see the joint IPA-PEN International-Index on Censorship UPR reports on Armenia and Turkey:

Arm.: www.internationalpublishers.org/images/stories/MembersOnly/FTPC/UPR/armenia_upr%208th%20session.pdf

Tur.: www.internationalpublishers.org/images/stories/MembersOnly/FTPC/UPR/turkey%20upr%20_3_.pdf

More about World Book Capital (WBC), Ljubljana WBC 2010, Buenos Aires WBC 2011 and Yerevan WBC 2012:

Every year, at the initiative of IPA, the International Booksellers Federation (IBF), the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), UNESCO, and IPA designate a city as World Book Capital for the 12 months between two celebrations of World Book and Copyright Day (23 April). This initiative is a collaborative effort between the representatives of the main stakeholders in the book sector and the cities which have committed themselves to promote books and reading.

Yerevan was named as the “World Book Capital 2012” at the conclusion of the selection committee meeting, which was held at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters in July 2010. The city of Yerevan was selected “for the quality and the variety of its detailed, realistic, grass-roots programme, focusing on universal issues, and linking all the aspects and actors of the book chain”.

The current World Book Capital is Ljubljana, Slovenia (en.ljubljanasvetovnaprestolnicaknjige.si/home). Buenos Aires, Argentina, will be World Book Capital 2011 starting on 23 April this year. On 25 April 2011, on the occasion of the Buenos Aires Book Fair (20 April – 9 May), IPA will award its 2011 IPA Freedom to Publish Prize to a courageous publisher. See: www.capitaldellibro2011.gob.ar

 
More about IPA:
The International Publishers Association (IPA) is the global non-governmental organisation representing all aspects of book and journal publishing worldwide. Established in 1896, IPA's mission is to promote and protect publishing and to raise awareness for publishing as a force for cultural and political advancement worldwide. IPA is an industry association with a human rights mandate. IPA currently has 65 member associations in 53 countries.
 
For further information, please contact:
 
Jens Bammel
Secretary General or
Alexis Krikorian
Director, Freedom to Publish
International Publishers Association
3, avenue de Miremont
CH - 1206 Geneva
Tel: +41 22 704 1820
Fax: +41 22 704 1821
bammel@internationalpublishers.org
krikorian@internationalpublishers.org
www.internationalpublishers.org

Four Oda TV writers in Custody after "Ergenekon" Raid

The building of OdaTV.com in Beyoğlu (Istanbul) was searched by the police on Monday (14 February). The police also raided the home of four writers of the news portal that is run by journalist Soner Yalçın.

Oda TV writers Soner Yalçın, Barış Terkoğlu, Ayhan Bozkurt and Barış Pehlivan were taken into police custody. Their homes were searched in the scope of the investigation.

Serkan Günel, lawyer of Oda TV News Director Teroğlu, announced, "They gathered in the living room and started the search with the book shelves. They showed me a search warrant. Barış Terkoğlu was at home together with his wife. He stands accused of membership of the Ergenekon organization and of inciting the public to hatred and hostility in that context".

It was reported that journalist Yalçın's friends came to his house in Levent (Istanbul), namely journalists Hakan Aygün and Oray Eğin and Republican People's Party (CHP) Istanbul MP Çetin Soysal.

TGC: Intolerance against journalists reached grave state

The Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) declared, "Democracy is the art of tolerance. Intolerance against journalists who try to fulfil their duty to the public benefit has reached a grave state".

Press Council: Intolerance against dissident publications

The Secretary General of the Press Council, Ersu Oktay Huduti, said in a statement, "Freedom of communication and press freedom are the indispensible building stones of democracy. This seems to be the continuation of the existing intolerance against dissident publications in our country which we find worrisome".

Also Atilla Sertel, Chair of the Turkish Journalists Federation, President of the Izmir Journalists Association and current Head of the Freedom for Journalists Platform, criticized the incidents. He said that the confidentiality of a journalist's source was guaranteed by law. Sertel criticized the raids, the seizure of computers and the violation of secrecy regarding the news sources and the blotting out of private life.

According to CHP Deputy Chair Gürsel Tekin, it seems that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) cannot even put up with internet sites anymore. "Our people feel this pressure already", he said.

Video of police training related to Ergenekon

The operation was allegedly carried out because of footage of a training that was given two days prior to the search at the Zir Valley in the scope of the Ergenekon investigation.

Together with the images it was said on the site, "The police officers appointed to Ergenekon were trained by Americans". (BIA, Emir CELIK, 15 February 2011)

Detained Journalist Suzan Zengin's Release Rejected

At the first hearing held on February 15, the 10th High Criminal Court, Beşiktaş (Istanbul) rejected the release of journalist Suzan Zengin, İşçi-Köylü ('Workers-Peasants) newspaper representative, in prison for about two years under the charge of "being  member of an illegal organization." The second hearing will be held on June 14, 2011.

Suzan's detention has already been protested by human rights and press organizations.

Suzan Zengin was working lastly for the translation of  Berlin Conference, about "Ethnic Cleansing Anatolian Christians during Frst World" War.(Litt Verlag, 2004). She translated before "An Anthology of Cyprus Greek Literature"; also "An Anthology of Assirian Folk Stories and Songs"; Karl Otten’s "Albania 1912": "An anthology of Thessaloniki Stories in Greek Literature".

Prior to her trial, Suzan Zengin had issued the following letter to all defenders of human rights:

"My name is Suzan Zengin, I am in Prison"

"Hello,

I have been detained in the Bakırköy [Istanbul] Closed Prison for Women for the past one and a half years. At the same time, I am one of dozens of journalists who are currently kept in prison.

I was taken to court exactly one year after I had been arrested. The court decided to continue my detention despite the lack of any evidence. The second hearing was postponed for six months to 15 February 2011. If I am not being released at the hearing on 15 February, the following hearing will be postponed another six months and my unjust detention will be continued. I am writing this letter to put pen to paper about the rights violations I experienced.

I was informed about the state of the public opinion and the procedures of my case while I was being detained. I want to remind and reiterate a few things related to the trial.

I am tried on charges of "membership to an illegal organization" upon a file and an indictment that does/cannot be related to me in any way and that openly shows that I am not involved. It was tried to create a "proof" for this accusation from material that was clearly seen as belonging to the newspaper I was working for and that did not contain any unlawfulness!

The 15 February hearing is going to show if this arbitrary-unlawful detention period that lacks any basis will be continued.

This process can certainly not be tolerated even by the slightest social opposition. The ever-lasting broad-scale oppression and obstruction against the dissident press has increased during this process.

The imprisonment of dozens of dissident journalists shows the increase of applications imposed to the dissident press such as suspension fines, seizures, raids and arrests.

The vast majority of imprisoned journalists are tried upon files created on the grounds of "illegal activities - membership of an illegal organization" etc as a result of conspiratorial measures, just as my own example shows. This is a situation on its own. One aim this is driven by is the application of "terror crimes" with this sort of conspiracies to the people who are arrested/tried because of their dissident opinions since they are dissident journalists. Besides, efforts are being taken to disgrace and discredit these people in front of the public and the society. Additionally, the number of journalists tried for their opinions is aimed to be kept at a low official figure (because of EU harmonization laws etc). What did a government official say a few months ago: "They are terrorists dressed up as journalists!".

Just this statement on its own verifies my aforementioned comments on the purpose.

My lawyer applied in accordance with the law related to lengthy detention periods enforced on 31 December 2010. Yet, the application was dismissed. It is not clear how much longer I will be detained without any evidence. As we know, the law's comment on detentions for political reasons is a bit "problematic"! So, it takes a really long time to recognize a long detention period!

This includes my own specific experiences. It will be understood on 15 February if my imprisonment of 1.5 years that lacks any concrete evidence will be accounted for as long enough.

Suzan Zengin / Detained Journalist-Interpreter
Bakırköy Closed Prison for Women B/4"
(BIA, 15 February 2011)

Pinar Selek acquittée



La Cour d'assises d'Istanbul a acquitté mercredi Pinar Selek, une sociologue et activiste turque poursuivie dans d'un procès très controversé concernant un attentat meurtrier commis 13 ans plus tôt.

La Cour a refusé de suivre l'avis de la Cour de cassation, qui préconisait une peine de prison à vie pour la scientifique, et a maintenu sa décision d'acquitter la jeune femme, a déclaré à la sortie du tribunal l'avocat de la défense Bahri Bayram Belen.

Pinar Selek, 39 ans, connue pour ses recherches sur le conflit kurde, était accusée d'avoir aidé des rebelles kurdes à commettre un attentat à la bombe à l'entrée du touristique marché des épices d'Istanbul, qui a fait sept morts et 127 blessés en juillet 1998.

Elle a été impliquée dans l'enquête après avoir refusé de donner à la police les noms de rebelles qu'elle avait rencontrés dans le cadre de ses recherches. Placée en détention préventive, elle a été libérée en 2000 après la publication d'un rapport attribuant l'explosion à une fuite de gaz.

La Cour d'assises, estimant que le caractère criminel de l'explosion n'était pas établi et prenant en compte la rétractation du principal témoin incriminant Pinar Selek, avait déjà acquittée à deux reprises la chercheuse, qui vit actuellement à Berlin et n'a pas assisté à l'audience.

Mais à chaque fois, la Cour de cassation a cassé la décision.

L'annonce de cet ultime acquittement a été accueillie avec des cris de joie par des intellectuels, universitaires, féministes et militants des droits de l'Homme turcs et européens réunis devant le tribunal pour soutenir Mme Selek, parmi lesquels figurait notamment l'écrivain turc Yasar Kemal.

"C'est une grande décision, qui va peut-être redonner confiance aux Turcs en leur justice", a déclaré à l'AFP l'eurodéputée Hélène Flautre, co-présidente de la commission parlementaire conjointe Turquie-Union européenne.

Interrogée au téléphone par l'AFP, Mme Selek s'est félicitée d'une victoire sur des forces antidémocratiques agissant au sein de la bureaucratie turque.

"Ils ont voulu me punir parce que j'étais une femme, une sociologue issue des milieux alternatifs et parce que j'ai touché à trop de choses, mais ils ont perdu", a-t-elle déclaré, désignant une "coalition de forces militaristes et nationalistes au sein de la bureaucratie". (AFP-Info-Türk, 9 fév 2011)

Voir: http://www.info-turk.be/390.htm#Flautre

Publishers Association:  "Release Journalist Zengin"

The Publishers Association demands the release of journalist Zengin from the Işçi-Köylü newspaper after one year in detention. Suzan Zengin is also a human rights activaist and translator of minority and genocide issues. Her first hearing was on 26 August. Next trial will be in 15 February. 

Spokesperson Zarakolu criticized, "As long as the Anti-Terror Law is in force, journalists will be treated arbitrarily".

Suzan Zengin, İşçi-Köylü ('Workers-Peasants) newspaper representative of the Kartal office (east of Istanbul) has been detained. The first hearing of her next case is scheduled for 15 February. Ragıp Zarakolu, President of the Freedom of Publishing Committee of the Turkish Publishers Association (TYB), said that Zengin should be released. The Court postponed next trial to 15 February.

The association hold a press conference in August in the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD) to draw attention to the situation of Zengin and also to demand the release of writer Erdoğan Akhanlı and Suzan Zengin. Both are the writers of Belge International Publishing House , which focused on human and minority rights issues.. German citizen Akhanlı returned to Turkey 18 years later. He was arrested at the airport and detained in Metris Prison (Istanbul). After a succesful campaign, Akhanli was reliesed in 8 December. Later he was expelled from Turkey.

Zarakolu criticized that the Anti-Terror Law (TMY) is used to oppress the socialist and the Kurdish press:

"A campaign against the TMY has to be initiated. As long as the TMY is in force as it is, arbitrary applications will be imposed on journalists. Zengin is being detained for more than a year without a reason.”

Suzan Zengin was working lastly for the translation of  Berlin Conference, about "Ethnic Cleansing Anatolian Christians during Frst World" War.(Litt Verlag, 2004). She translated before "An Anthology of Cyprus Greek Literature"; also "An Anthology of Assirian Folk Stories and Songs"; Karl Otten’s "Albania 1912": "An anthology of Thessaloniki Stories in Greek Literature"

Zengin's second hearing was scheduled for 10.00 at the 10th High Criminal Court, Beşiktaş (Istanbul), on  15 February 2011

Please send a solidarity card Suzan Zengin

Adress:
Ms Suzan Zengin
Tutuklu Gazeteci- Çevirmen
Bakırköy Kapalı Kadın Hapishanesi
B-4 Koğuşu
Bakırköy - İstanbul
 
Journalists under Threat of Unemployment and Imprisonment

Radikal newspaper reporter İsmail Saymaz was supported by members of the Freedom for Journalists Platform (GÖP) at his hearing before the Bakırköy (Istanbul) 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance.

The hearing on 3 February was attended by Turgay Olcayto, Deputy Head of the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC), Head of the TGC Press Chamber Nail Güreli; the General Co-ordinator of the Press Institute Association, Yurdanur Atadan; the Secretary General of the Press Council, Oktay Huduti; Mehmet Demir as a member of the Media and Communication Workers Union (Haber-Sen) Supervisory Board and Yasemin Göksu from the Arts for Peace Initiative.

The trial was postponed to 14 April. Olcayto made a press announcement on behalf of GÖP after the hearing. "We are here to support our colleague Saymaz who strives for the right of the people to be informed correctly and unbiased" he said. He reiterated that 58 journalists are currently detained pending trial, about 2000 cases are being tried and 4,000 investigations are being carried out.

"Press freedom constantly diminishing under laws and politics"

Olcayto pointed to Turkey's ranging on 138th position of the World Press Freedom Index. "Journalism is having a hard time", he argued and mentioned the following points in his speech:

* Journalists are trying to work under the threats of unemployment, trials and imprisonment.
* The constant diminishing of press freedom stems from investigations and trials against journalists based on certain articles of the criminal laws on one hand and from political oppression on the other hand.
* Unemployment in this work field significantly increased by the collective lay-offs of two big media groups.
* As GÖP we aspire to create an environment where journalists can freely express their thoughts without any discrimination.

"Trials and investigations are proof for lack of freedom"

The platform also supported Zaman newspaper reporter Büşra Erdal at her hearing on 2 February at the Istanbul 11th High Criminal Court. GÖP had announced that the trials and investigations launched against journalists were in fact the proof for a lack of press freedom and freedom of expression in Turkey. (BIA, Emir ÇELİK, 7 February 2011)

Journalist Güler Sentenced, another Trial Pending

Journalist Erdal Güler, owner and Editor-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Democracy newspaper ('Devrimci Demokrası'), was sentenced to imprisonment of six months on 3 Feburary. Güler had just been released in October 2010 due to an incorrect notification after he had been in jail for three years on the grounds of alleged praising of the armed outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the clandestine Maoist Communist Party (MKP) in his publications.

The Istanbul 10th High Criminal Court convicted Güler of "making propaganda" for the MKP according to Article 7 of the Anti-Terror Law (TMY) by reason of issue no. 37 published in March 2004. The court initally ruled for a one-year prison sentece and a monetary fine of TL 440 (approx. € 220).

Güler's sentence was then mitigated to six months and TL 366 (approx. € 180). The journalist's lawyer, Ümit Sisligün, told bianet that the sentence has not been finalized yet and that they were going to file an appeal.

Criticizing Ertosun for Medal of Honour accounted for as offence

According to the indictment, Güler "identified people as a target for terrorist organizations" in his writing entitled, "Expert on massacre and isolation receives medal". The journalist had criticized the fact that Ali Suat Ertosun, former Prisons and Arrests Stations General Director, was awarded with the "Medal for Excellent State Service" by the Justice Minister, Cemil Çiçek.

Ertosun was Prisons and Arrest Stations General Director in 2000 when the police violently ended the "death fasts" of hundreds of political prisoners, called the "return to life" operation. The Prisoners had protested against a transfer from large wardens to F-type cells with only 3 or 4 prisoners.

The charges also stem from the articles entitled "Let's lift up the challenge", "Revehale Imam", "Regarding studies on the elections", "Newroz is a heartburn, Buddy!", We will live with the awareness of challenge, not with fear", "Dead soldier Bıra", "Weapons are not being carried as decoration" and "Imam Boztaş was killed by JİTEM in Dersim".

Another trial postponed to April

Also on 3 February, the same court held a session on another case against journalist Güler. Again, he stands accused of "spreading propaganda for an illegal organization". The court allowed additional time for Güler to prepare his defence and decided to adjourn the case to 19 April.

In 2007, the Istanbul 10th High Criminal Court convicted Güler under Article 7/2 of the TMY and handed down a monetary fine of TL 20,000 (approx. € 10,000). However, the referring notification was sent to the wrong address. Thereupon, lawyer Meral Hanbayat appealed against the decision and the court decided to stop the implementation of the sentence.

Güler was released from the Kandıra No. 1 F Type Prison on 26 October. He had been imprisoned since his arrest in 2007. (BIA, Emir CELIK, 7 February 2011)

Defence of Taraf Newspaper Staff in 38 Trials

Many employees of the nation-wide Taraf newspaper gave their statement in not less than 38 trials at the Kadıköy (Istanbul) Courthouse on 28 January. Among the defendants are the General Publications Director of the daily, Ahmet Altan, and his deputy Yasemin Çongar.

Altan gave his statement in the scope of two cases pending against him. The journalist is indicted over allegations of "insulting İlker Başbuğ" (former Chief of General Staff) on the grounds of an article entitled "The lie of the General Staff". He is furthermore charged with "inciting the public to hatred and hostility" based on his articles "Mehmet Nuri" and "Dark Friday".

At the hearing related to the case on the article "The lie of the General Staff", Altan reminded the fact that the prosecutor obtained the opinion of an expert. He asked, "The prosecutor cannot comprehend whether the writing contains an insult or not; he is asking an expert. How can a trial based on insult be opened if not even the prosecutor understood the writing?"

"I am trying to save children but the judiciary prosecutes me"

Regarding the trial on the writing "Mehmet Nuri", Altan stated, "This trial was opened according to an order of the General Staff. The prosecutor adopted the sentences from the writing sent to him by the General Staff and opened a trial against me".

"The child mentioned in this writing was killed by a military bullet shot from behind. Another child called Ceylan was torn into pieces by a rocket shot by the military. It is the primary duty of the people living in this country and of the people holding a pen in their hand to save these children", Altan claimed.

"These children were between 12 and 14 years old when they were shot. Why should talking about the death of these children be incitement to hatred and hostility? I am trying to save children but if the Turkish judiciary is prosecuting me for that, then there is something wrong here".

Çongar: Indictment does not explain where the insult occurred

Journalist Çongar presented her defence for two different cases. She is alleged of "insulting İlker Başbuğ" in her article entitled "Authenticity". Moreover, she stands accused of "insult and the attempt to influence a fair trial" on the grounds of the article "Kuban and Üskül". She stated, "I did not understand where in the article the allegation of insult put forward by the prosecutor stem from. In fact, this is not mentioned in the indictment either".

Taraf writer Neşe Düzel gave her statement in a case related to two interviews. She is charged with "insulting the memory of Atatürk" (founder of the Turkish Republic) and "insult via the media". Reporter Bahar Kılıçgedik is indicted over charges of "violation of privacy" based on several of her articles. She is facing three separate trials and presented her defence speeches accordingly. Writer Markar Esayan, reporter Bahar Kılıçgedik and former Taraf employee Nevzat Çiçek were acquitted.

TİHV Chair Fincancı also persecuted

Adnan Demir, editorial manager of the www.taraf.com website, and Prof. Şebnem Korur Fincancı, Chair of the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TİHV), stand trial for publishing an interview on inadequacies of the Forensic Medicine Institute and the institution's susceptibility to external influences. Both defendants are facing prison sentences.

Demir and Fincancı are tried under Artilce 125 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK) (Insult) at the Kadıköy 4th Criminal Court of First Instance. At the 25 January hearing, the case was postponed to 14 April.

Also on 14 April, Fincancı has to attend a trial filed against her at the Kadıköy 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance. This trial is again related to her opinion voiced on the Forensic Medicine Institute. (BIA, Emir CELIK, 2 February 2011)

76-year-old Diseased Author Aydın Imprisoned

Executives of Ceylan Publishing, Ragıp Zarakolu as the President of the Freedom for Publishing Commission of the Turkish Publishers Association (TYB) and the Istanbul Branch of the Human Rights Association (İHD) released a press statement to criticize the arrest of author and human rights defender Hasan Basri Aydın.

The declaration was attended by Yılmaz Koruk, owner of Ceylan Publishing, the company's editor Mukaddes Erdoğdu Çelik, writer Aydın's daughter Alanur Aydın and Ragıp Zarakolu. They claimed that Aydın, who is in a desolate health condition, should be released.

"The state is acting within the limit of vengefulness. [Aydın] should not have sent to prison at his age and in his desolate health condition, Erdoğu said in the joint press release.

76-year-old Aydın was taken into custody in Firuzköy (Istanbul) one week earlier. He was taken to prison on 22 January on the grounds of two finalized prison sentences of two years and two months in the scope of two court cases. In one of the trials he was convicted of "insult" of Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek.

The statement critized the fact that Necmettin Erbakan, a former Turkish Prime Minister, was saved from going to jail while Aydın was sent to the Paşakapısı Prison.(BIA News Center, 1 February 2011)

Turkish Singer Lands in Jail for Mentioning Revolutionist

Turkish folk music singer Pınar Sağ was sentenced to ten months imprisonment for praising leftist revolutionary İbrahim Kaypakkaya at the Traditional 9th Munzur Natur and Culture Festival in Dersim.

Sağ was facing prison terms of up to two years under article 215 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK) because her speech made at the festival allegedly contained "praising" of Kaypakkaya, founder of the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist Leninist (TKP/ML) and the Turkish Workers' Peasants' Liberation Army (TİKKO). He got known in 1968 and was killed by severe torture in 1972.

Sağ did not attend the hearing on 27 January. The Malatya 3rd High Criminal Court handed down a prison sentence of ten months to the singer.

At the same day, the same court sentenced Kurdish folk singer Ferhat Tunç to a one-month prison sentence on the grounds of "praising 17 militants, members of the Maoist Communist Party".

"Stop 'judicial terror'"

The Istanbul Branch of the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD) declared in a written statement, "Freedom of thought and expression as guaranteed by the constitution and international agreements became once more the subject of a severe and open violation".

The association expressed the opinion that the court decision was given "in defiance of all concrete and procedural rules of law". The statement continued, "It is remarkable how the judiciary slowed down regarding the Hezbollah case and how much it sped up for the trial against Sağ. The Hezbollah defendants are being released while Sağ is being convicted".

The association called to stop the "judicial terror" and applications that disregard freedom of thought and expression. About Kaypakkaya, who was the subject of the verdict, the association said the following:

"İbrahim Kaypakkaya was made the reason for this conviction. He was killed by torture on 18 May 1972 in Diyarbakır. There is not a single court decision decreeing that Kaypakkaya was guilty. To the contrary, Kaypakkaya, who was killed by torture, does not owe anything to the judicial system but the system owes him". (BIA, Emir ÇELİK, 31 January 2011)

Quick Decision in Case against bianet?

The trial against Taylan Tanay, official of the Contemporary Lawyers Association (ÇHD), and bianet website co-ordinator Ertuğrul Kürkçü, was continued before the Ankara 25th Criminal Court of First Instance on Thursday (27 January). The court decided to postpone the case in order to complete deficiencies of the case file.

Ali Suat Ertosun, member of the Judges and Prosecutors Supreme Council (HSYK) and former Prisons and Arrest Stations General Manager, filed a TL 15,000 (€ 7.500) compensation claim against the lawyer and the journalist because of an alleged attack on his personal rights. The charges stem from an article entitled "Ali Suat Ertosun's place is not on the HSYK but in the dock", published on 31 July 2010.

The Thursday hearing was presided by Judge Şule Yıldız due to a change of judges. Both the plaintiff's and the defence lawyers appeared at court.

Plaintiff lawyer Rabia Balkanlı demanded to decide the case, whereas the defence lawyers requested additional time to add missing documents to the case file. Tanay's lawyer furthermore requested that the court wait for the result of file no. 2010/172 of the Bakırköy 13th High Criminal Court. The coming hearing was scheduled for 10 March at 10.10 am.

Disclaimer from journalist Talu

Ertosun made journalist Umur Talu from the Habertürk newspaper publish a disclaimer in his column on 27 January by reason of previous articles about Ertosun.

The disclaimer was a response to Talu's articles entitled "If you had ultimately resigned, Mr Tosun!", "The insects in the castle", "Obedience and progress", "Justice is a matter of sense, first of all!", "Party party justice!", "Two tan-tans, one media", "Leapfrog" and "This court left you a heritage!".

The text referred to articles about Ertosun and the "Return to Life Operation" during his time as Prisons and Arrest Stations General Manager in December 2000. In the disclaimer it was said that they were "unreal allegations and comments deceiving the public that included a personal insult". (BIA, Emir ÇELİK, 31 January 2011)

Kurdish Folk Singer Sentenced after Appeal

The Malatya 3rd High Criminal Court sentenced Kurdish folk musician Ferhat Tunç to imprisonment of one month and decided to postpone the pronouncement of the judgement. Tunç was tried on the grounds of a concert at the 2nd Nazımiye Düzgün Baba Festival on 12 August 2006 where he allegedly praised 17 people who died in a military operation against the illegal Maoist Communist Party (MKP) in 2004.

The artist will not have go to prison if he does not commit the same sort of offence within the coming month. Additionally, he has to cover costs and expenses of the trial procedures.

Punished after Court of Appeals quashed former verdict

Tunç did not attend the hearing on Thursday (27 January). The Public Prosecutor demanded to follow the reversal of judgement according to the decision of the Court of Appeals 9th Chamber that quashed the verdict for Tunç's acquittal. The prosecutor claimed that the song entitled "17 lives" performed by the singer "praised crime and a criminal".

The court ruled in favour of the Court of Appeals' decision and sentenced Tunç to imprisonment of one month on charges of "praising crime and a criminal" as stipulated in Article 215 of the Turkish Criminal Law (TCK).

Süzen: Some of the killed people were his friends...

Tunç's lawyer Osman Süzen claimed that the speech and the song performed at the festival did not constitute any criminal offence. He emphasized that a couple of the artist's friends were among the people who were killed and hence it was natural for him to write a song about it.

Application to the ECHR

Tunç commented, "It is rather thought-provoking that an artist is punished because of his speeches and that a folk song he performed is used as evidence against him in a country that is said to be democratic". He added that he was going to apply to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) with this "document of shame". (BIA, Elvan KISMET, 28 January 2011)

Kurdish Question / Question kurde

Chomsky On The Prospect of Kurdish Independence

By NAMO ABDULLA

Noam Chomsky, one of the world’s most influential and sought-after thinkers, recently agreed to an interview with Rudaw English’s editor-in-chief, Namo Abdulla, on the longstanding Kurdish question in the Middle East and the prospect of an independent Kurdish state in the north of Iraq. Abdulla here introduces Chomsky and discusses the significance of the man and his work:

Five months ago, I sent Noam Chomsky an email asking if he was interested in giving an interview on the Kurdish question in Iraq and Turkey. Chomsky’s reply indicated that the 84-year-old American philosopher and political activist was still closely following the Kurdish issue.

“Just back from Istanbul, a conference on freedom of speech, concentrating mostly on the Kurds,” he wrote. “I wish I could manage another interview. I'm afraid I've had to turn down all requests until at least January. Just not a moment free before that, hard as it may be to believe.”

Chomsky’s first interest in the Kurdish issue perhaps dates back to 1975, when he joined a group of some of the world’s most renowned thinkers in signing an open letter  <http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1975/may/29/plight-of-the-kurds/> to the international community entitled “Plight of the Kurds,” which strongly condemned the Iraqi government’s atrocities against the Kurds and called for the Kurd’s right to self-determination.

Although I have often read Chomsky’s political writings with great interest, it has always been a difficult task for me to try and say who Chomsky is. Actually, I don’t think anybody could do that in a few lines, or even a few paragraphs. Although he is perhaps beyond conventional description, Chomsky has been described as a thinker, linguist, philosopher, anarchist, anti-American, anti-West activist, and a supporter of the oppressed. “Judged in terms of the power, range, novelty and influence of his thought,” wrote the New York Times, “Noam Chomsky is arguably the most important intellectual alive today.” He has written over 150 books and hundreds of articles.

The following interview was conducted by phone on February 15th, with Chomsky speaking from Boston, United States, where he now lives:

NAMO ABDULLA: In my last interview with you, we focused on the Kurdish question in Iraq, but this time, I want to be broader and talk to you about Iraqi as well as Turkish Kurds. Given all the changes we are seeing in the Middle East, and what happened in Egypt and Tunisia, I am interested in having your thoughts on the Kurdish situation in general, especially in Turkey and Iraq?

NOAM CHOMSKY: Well, it is not just Turkey and Iraq. It is also Syria, Iran, parts of Russia. Kurds, you know – I don’t have to tell you – are the largest national, cultural group that has never been able to achieve a national territory. There are steps forward. So, for example, in northern Iraq, there is a degree of autonomy that never existed before, and also a security. There is a question of how the Kurds there will be able to exploit this opportunity to create a really decent society for themselves and a model for others.

"There is a question of how the Kurds there will be able to exploit this opportunity to create a really decent society for themselves and a model for others."              

In Turkey, where actually I just was a few weeks ago, the situation has improved. First time I was there, over 10 years ago, it was pretty awful. It was right at the end of the period of extreme violence, repression and destruction. People were afraid to use Kurdish colors and could not talk their language except in secret, and so on. So that’s improved slowly. So now, there is some recognition by the government, and by a large part of the population, of the legitimacy of Kurdish identity. Kurds no longer have to be identified as “mountain Turks,” just speaking some strange dialect. So now, Kurdish is recognized to an extent. There are options for a Kurdish broadcasting of radio and television. There is a promise about teaching Kurdish in schools – [an issue] that has not been resolved. And there are steps backward. When I was there in October, there were trials coming up of 150 Kurdish leaders, including some well-known ones, like Osman Baydemir, the mayor of Diyarbakir. [They were] non-violent activists and the charges were completely frivolous, but they were there, and I think they have been delayed. The government likely doesn’t want to pursue them. In general, there are steps forward, there’s some degree of progress. But, I think over time that could and should unify somehow with the Iraqi Kurds, and then there is a serious problem [about] what happens elsewhere. 

Turkey has improved its government-to-government relations with Syria and with Iran, but, as far as I know, it has not affected the status of the Kurdish minorities in these countries. So there is a long distance to go, but I think there are…steps forward, and the relative autonomy in northern Iraq has given many impetuses to this, and opened up opportunities that can be pursued.

NA: As you said, there are definitely developments happening in Turkey, but, it seems that the Kurds are not happy with those developments, especially the BDP [the Peace and Democracy Party] and the PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party].

CHOMSKY: In fact, the current trials are about organization of political party. It still has not been possible for a legitimate Kurdish political force to be recognized within the country [Turkey], and that is a struggle that is going on. But there are possibilities I think. I mean, the conference I was [at] in Istanbul just in October, was a conference of mostly Turkish journalists, artists, intellectuals, activists, and some foreigners were there, like me and others. There is a growing recognition, considerably more than in earlier years, that the suppression of Kurdish identity is illegitimate, and will have to be overcome. 

It is true the Kurds have a lot to be dissatisfied with, like the persecution of the political party and these completely frivolous trials that are coming. They may or may not happen, I don’t know; they are being delayed. But still, overtime, there is progress that I think we should be encouraged by and regard it as an opportunity, as a kind of legacy that you can build on to proceed further.

"The end result could be that a move for an independent Kurdistan in northern Iraq...could lead to a country with no access to the outside world. That would be devastating."       

NA: Do you think these developments that you mention in Turkey are a result of the fact that an Islamic party is in power, that is the Justice and Development Party [AKP], under the leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan? 

CHOMSKY: I mean, it’s complex. You can’t sort of give it a grade. But there have been some positive developments. And in general, I think the policies of the Erdogan administration have been pretty sensible, like the policy of opening toward the East and having no enemies. That is in general a sensible policy, I think, and has improved things. For example, Erdogan is now the most popular figure in the Arab world, in recent polls. If you take a look at the Egyptian uprising in the last few weeks – a spectacular uprising in Egypt – Erdogan is about the only political leader who has given a very strong support from the beginning. Everyone else was isolated, and that has an impact on the region.

NA: But recently, [Abdullah] Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the PKK, called on the Kurds to just do what the Egyptians did to get rid of Hosni Mubarak, their president. He said the Kurds could only be free if they pour on to the streets and call for their rights in the Kurdish cities, like Diyarbakir. Is that a reasonable thing?

CHOMSKY: They should call for their rights, but you have to have goals. In the case of Egypt for example, there was a very narrow but explicit goal: get rid of Mubarak. Then there was a broader goal: get rid of the ruling elite. They are just now beginning to formulate broader goals. In fact, just yesterday, or a few days ago, I think for the first time, the coalition of human rights and activist groups [in Egypt] came out with a longer-term program for civil and political rights that they want to see achieved. That is actually the first time that was done since January 25th.   That makes sense and they have got to do. It is going to be a struggle to achieve those rights. There’s plenty of established power that is not going to give it up easily. But what they are doing in Egypt is kind of an inspiring model, but you can’t duplicate it elsewhere. So for example, what is happening in Tunisia is not identical to what is happening in Egypt. They have different circumstances and different problems. The same is true with the Kurds. They have to consider carefully what the circumstances are they are facing, and ask, what are the right tactics in these circumstances? I mean that is an old problem. It goes back to the origins of the revolutionary or even reformist movements in the nineteenth century, and think of, say, what Marx wrote about revolutions. Karl Marx was in favor of socialist and communist-socialist revolutions, but he had a pretty nuanced view about it. For example, he said that, in England, where there was more or less a functioning parliamentary system, he believed that it would be possible for the workers to gain their rights, including control over production, industry establishment, the socialist state and society, through parliamentary measures. There are now other places that would take popular revolutions. He may have been right, or he may have been wrong, but his general attitude was correct: you have to adjust tactics to existing circumstances and situations. There is no mechanical rule as to what the right tactics are.

"What is called the “embassy” in Baghdad is a city, basically, within a city. There is no embassy like it in the world, and it has not been built in order to be abandoned. It’s actually increasing in size under Obama."

NA: But as far as I know, sir, you are an anarchist and a great supporter of civil disobedience. Don’t you think it’s time for the Kurds in Turkey – whose political parties are still banned, and they still can’t study in Kurdish in schools – to just do what the Egyptians did to have a more democratic state?
 
CHOMSKY: Take civil disobedience: I have often participated in it and been in jail or faced long jail sentences, but it is a tactic; it’s not a principle.  You do it when you think it is going to be effective. Civil disobedience’s main goal typically is to try to arouse and inspire others to join and do something. Well, sometimes that is a good tactic, sometimes not. As for the Kurds, the Kurds cannot demonstrate on the streets of Diyarbakir and say get rid of the president. That is not a sensible tactic. But it was a sensible tactic in Egypt, in Cairo. But it is not a sensible tactic in Diyarbakir, because the circumstances are different. And, remember that the Egyptian protest – while quite spectacular and [it showed] courage and dedication – right up until the present has had a pretty narrow goal:  Mubarak must leave. That was the goal and there is no comparable goal for the Kurds in Turkey, northern Iraq, or Syria – or anywhere else. I mean the goals are broader. Again, a much broader range of civil rights, and you have to ask yourself what tactic would be useful for that: would civil disobedience be helpful or are there better ways? That is a delicate problem. I would not even try to give any advice from the outside. It needs careful evaluation of the circumstances and the likely consequences.

NA: Talking about Iraqi Kurds here: as you said, there has been a lot of economic prosperity, and massive oil reserves have been discovered here in Iraqi Kurdistan, and it is much safer than the rest of Iraq. You know, many Iraqi Kurds, especially in the Kurdistan region itself, are now saying that is time for them to secede from Iraq, a country that is still war-torn and volatile.  They say it is the best time – after what happened in the broader Middle East – for them to breakaway from Iraq. What do you make of that?

CHOMSKY: I think there are a lot of questions to think about seriously. For one thing, Arab Iraq will of course be strongly opposed. Turkey would probably be opposed. Iran will certainly be opposed.  The end result could be that a move for an independent Kurdistan in northern Iraq, even if it could be implemented, which is very questionable, could lead to a country with no access to the outside world. That would be devastating. So if any moves in that direction are going to be taken, you have to think carefully about the relations with the neighboring regions and neighboring states. You can’t move towards that without bringing those questions into consideration. Now maybe, on balance, when these things are thought through, it will appear to be a good thing to do, but you can’t just say let’s do it, it’s the right thing. It could lead, for example, to a major military conflict, which could be devastating. Look how hard it is just to try to settle the issue of Kirkuk.

"The United States had pretty definite war aims.  They weren’t stated clearly in the beginning – because, you know, it’s not nice to state them."

NA: As you said, there is the issue of Kirkuk and the other areas that are disputed between the Arabs in the south and center of Iraq and the Kurds in the north. But, many people believe that remaining part of Iraq will be more dangerous for the Kurds, if the Iraqi central government, dominated by the Arabs, becomes stronger. They believe the sooner they “get rid of” the rest of Iraq, the better it will be for them, and they think the possible closing of borders by neighboring countries will not be something long-term.

CHOMSKY: Well, I wouldn’t be so sure that, even in the long-term, Turkey would be pleased to have an independent Kurdistan next door, just because of its impact on southeastern Turkey. So it could be a serious long-term problem. However that’s the kind of thing you have to think through. Look, I just returned form Taiwan and China a couple of months ago. In Taiwan, there is a very extensive and serious discussion about how they should deal with relations with China. China, of course, regards Taiwan as part of China. They don’t consider it a separate area. If the Taiwanese were free to make an independent choice, most of them would probably choose independence.  On the other hand, there are consequences to your actions. You have to ask yourself, well, what are the best means to achieving your basic goals. And, I think a rather general feeling is –probably sensibly – that the best method there is to just not do anything at all dramatic, let events take their course, [and] overtime there will be more cultural contacts, commercial contacts, and people flowing up and back. There will be some kind of integration…maybe some kind of a federal structure. Well, ok, they have to wait to see how things work out. And, it is different in other places, I mean, it is different in the Palestinian occupied territories, for example. In fact, anywhere you look, you find problems like this. Kashmir has its own problems, very serious ones. Kashmir, as the most militarized part of the world, has a very serious problem. But they can’t just say, well, what they did in Egypt, we will do the same thing. You can’t mechanically carry over the lessons of one partial success into another dilemma. You have to think through the consequences of any actions that you undertake, in the circumstances which you live, and they differ in different places.

NA: Talking about the issue of Kirkuk and other disputed regions, some people here believe that as soon as the American forces are withdrawn from Iraq, there could be an Arab-Kurd war over those issues. How possible is that?

CHOMSKY: You know better than I do. I don’t think anyone really knows. For another thing, I don’t really think that it’s very likely that the American forces will be completely withdrawn. It doesn’t look like it, but it is a hard problem. I have not seen a sensible proposal about Kirkuk. I am not in a position to make any sensible prediction about it.

NA: In our previous interview, by email, you made a great comment: that the Americans “did not invade Iraq in order to withdraw.” Do you now think they are going to completely withdraw from Iraq and leave the country like this?

CHOMSKY: Well, we don’t know. There is a commitment to withdraw, but there is a long distance between commitments and actions. So for example, take the status of the military bases that the US has been building throughout Iraq. Well, there is very little information about them, but, as far as anyone can determine, they are still being built. What is called the “embassy” in Baghdad is a city, basically, within a city. There is no embassy like it in the world, and it has not been built in order to be abandoned. It’s actually increasing in size under Obama. So I think the Americans are just feeling their way to see how much control they can maintain – how much of a position they can maintain within Iraq. It is worth remembering that the Iraqi invasion was a serious defeat for the United States. The United States had pretty definite war aims.  They weren’t stated clearly in the beginning – because, you know, it’s not nice to state them – but, as the US had to back down step by step and abandon its aims, they were finally stated quite clearly. So by 2007 and 2008, the Bush administration came out with official pronouncements about what it intended and what its minimum objectives were. They included, stated in January 2008, an agreement which would allow the US to have a major military base in Iraq to be able to carry out combative operations in Iraq, and to have arrangements with the Iraqi government that would privilege US corporations in oil exploration. That was January 2008. Within a few months, Washington had to abandon those aims in the face of Iraqi nationalist resistance. In fact, if anyone was the victor of the Iraq war, it was probably Iran.

"It is worth remembering that the Iraqi invasion was a serious defeat for the United States...In fact, if anyone was the victor of the Iraq war, it was probably Iran."


NA: Some people believe that it will be very strategic for the Americans to build a military base here in the north of Iraq, given the fact that there is Iran on one side and Syria on the other. Would that be strategic?

CHOMSKY: I don’t doubt that the United States would like to do that. Whether Iraqi Kurds should accommodate that, or they should permit it, is another question. In my view, they shouldn’t. I don’t think it’s a good idea for Iraqi Kurdistan to turn into the major US military base in the region. That is a recipe for oppression, violence, constant wars and so on. I mean the US has had major military bases in eastern Turkey, and it doesn’t have the same access to those as it had in the past. And they are used. I mean military bases are there for a reason; they are there for oppression, violence and repression. The best thing for the region would be to extricate itself from the grip of the imperial powers. That is pretty much what is happening in much else of the world. Take, say, South America: I mean, South America has been the US backyard for a long time. But, by now, the South American countries have excluded the US from all military bases in South America. And I think that is quite a healthy development. It’s good for them and it’s good for the world. 
NA: But certainly, the Kurds’ neighbors have not been historically friendly with them, and the Iraqi Kurds view only the US and the West as their staunch allies. They don’t trust Iranians; they don’t trust Turks or Syria, because of historical wars.

CHOMSKY: But it is good to have a little bit of memory. Remember in the 1970s, when Kurds trusted the US to defend them against the Shah of Iran, and they sold them out. And there was a massacre. In fact, you know better than I do, the famous Kurdish statement that “Kurds have no friends but the mountains.” Well that is basically true; you cannot trust outside forces. They are looking out for themselves, not for you. There may be a temporary alliance, which will be helpful, but you cannot place your trust in outside forces. Kurds know this better than anyone else.

"I don’t think it’s a good idea for Iraqi Kurdistan to turn into the major US military base in the region."

NA: My final question: will there ever be a state for the largest stateless nation of the world, that is the Kurds?

CHOMSKY: I think we can look forward to such a development, but it is going to have to come step by step. I think the prospects are better now than they were ten years ago, but there is a long way to go. Just think for a moment about the Ottoman Empire: I mean, nobody wants to restore the Ottoman Empire.  It was brutal, harsh, corrupt, and obliviously you don’t want it. But, nevertheless there were some things about the Ottoman Empire that are worth recovering. For example, during the Ottoman period, you could travel from Cairo to Baghdad to Istanbul without crossing any borders. You did not have to have a visa; it was all one region. Partly because of its corruption, the Ottoman Empire left local regions more or less to themselves. The Armenian community could run its own affairs; the Greek community could run its own affairs. They had many close interconnections – commercial, cultural and so on – but they had a degree of autonomy. That long-term structure is not a bad one to move towards, I think. In fact, Europe is moving towards it to an extent with recognizing regional autonomies like, say, Catalonia within a broader federal structure. I think, overall, those are pretty healthy developments. They have plenty of problems, lots of unpleasant conflicts can arise, but it makes sense to think of it as a kind of long-term vision.

NA: Finally, thank you so much for your great comments. I really appreciate them.

CHOMSKY: Good to talk to you.
(http://www.rudaw.net/english/author/namoabdulla/,  27 February 2011)

1,469 Bodies in 114 Mass Graves - More to Come

According to a research on mass graves carried out by the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), bones belonging to 1,469 people have been found in 114 mass graves so far. Excavations of 26 mass graves uncovered the remains of 171 people. The TTB announced that the real dimensions of this issue were going to exceed these numbers by far.

The research delegation was joined by TTB Central Council members Dr Osman Öztürk, Dr Halis Yerlikaya besides the Secretary General of the Ağrı Medical Chamber Dr Heval Bozdağ and Osman İşçi from the Human Rights Association (İHD).

The members of the research delegation went to the predominantly Kurdish region of south-eastern Turkey between 19-20 February and talked to relatives of disappeared persons in Mutki (Bitlis), Siirt, Batman, Diyarbakır and the districts of Kozluk, Hazro and Silvan. They furthermore spoke with executives of the İHD and MEYA-DER, the Mesopotamia Solidarity and Culture Association for Families who Lost their Relatives. The experts also carried out field research at the mass graves.

A preliminary evaluation was announced at a meeting on 21 February attended by Dr Eriş Bilaloğlu, President of the TBB Central Council, and council membes Öztürk and Dr. Arzu Erbilici.

"At city centres and on roadsides"

* It was stated that bones belonging to 1,469 people were found in 114 mass graves so far. The remains of 171 people were found during the excavations of 26 mass graves. However, the experts expect much more to come. In the broad geographical region between Hakkari and Tunceli, thousands of unidentified bodies were buried in hundreds of mass graves.

* Mass graves were found in city centres, on roadsides, in waste dumps and rural areas.

* Article 10 of the Application Regulation of the Forensic Medicine Institute (AKT) Law foresees 15 days for the "duration of display" to complete the autopsy procedures in order to determine the identity of an unidentified body. However, this "duration of display" was not granted to the people who died in armed conflicts; family were denied the opportunity to take the bodies.

* The families' "right to a farewell" was not being recognized since the families were not given the bodies of their deceased relatives. This paved the way to chronic traumata.

* The families of the people who died in armed conflicts or became victims of unsolved murders demand to open the mass graves immediately and to let them have the remains of their dead relatives. Some families do not apply for this because they are afraid of oppression.

"Evidence might be obscured"

* Evidence might be obscured because the excavations have not been carried out according to the Minnesota Autopsy Protocol so far. The excavations were done without the necessary caution by using shovels and diggers; techniques for opening mass graves and identifying the bodies were not applied.

* The files sent to the Forensic Medicine Institution a long time ago for a DNA analysis necessary to confirm the identity of a body are still lacking results.

The TTB announced that information on mass graves should be taken into account to determine further locations. The medical association demanded to protect these areas and to apply the rules of the Minnesota Autopsy Protocol as approved by the United Nations. "The excavations have to be carried out carefully by using archaeological techniques. Forensic medicine experts should be appointed to collect and evaluate biological evidence revealed in the excavations", the association urged.

Mass grave found in Bingöl

The Human Rights Association Branch of Bingöl declared that 237 mass graves were found in the centre of Bingöl and the surrounding districts. İHD Bingöl Branch President Nihat Aksoy said in an interview with bianet that 156 of them are officially recognized while information on other locations were based on local sources.

Aksoy said that the other 81 mass graves have not been recognized by the official authorities yet despite solid evidence.

Lawyers not informed about excavations in Mutki

On 22 February, the excavation of a mass grave recently found in the garden of the Gendarmerie District Command in Mutki (Bitlis) was continued. The involved lawyers and the attorneys of the İHD were not informed about the continuation of the excavation because the file had been labelled as "classified".

The excavation was initiated upon allegations that five people had been buried in the area. After the prosecutor had ordered the excavation upon the statement of a witness, 18 bodies were found in this location.

İHD Bitlis Branch President Hasan Ceylan told bianet that they were informed about the continuation of the excavation a while after it had been resumed. Ceylan said that they objected the labelling of the file as "confidential". Lawyer Enis Gül, Head of the Bar Association in Bitlis, went to the location and monitored the excavation later on. (BIA, 23 February 2011)

RojTV condemned Turkish blocking of its broadcast

Kurdish satellite television RojTV condemned Turkish government for illegally blocking its broadcasts in various Kurdish cities. There are reports in the last few weeks that the Turkish Government appears to have cut off access to the station by jamming satellite signals. RojTV's signal has been completely blocked off in several cities throughout Northern Kurdistan such as Diyarbakir, Van, Hakkari, Iğdır, Kars, Erzurum, Bitlis, Muş.

Experts claim that jamming transponders on a commercial satellite is a relatively easy thing to do with the available modern technology. Such a method effectively blocks satellite signals and disallows viewers from watching satellite stations cut off.

RojTV released a statement condemning the blockage and said it's working on methods to broadcast to Northern Kurdistan.

“As it's a well known fact Turkish state is attacking our channel and trying to block it for some time. Despite the international diplomatic efforts and attacks failed Turkish state is insisting to block our broadcasts. It's obvious that Turkish government is disturbed by the broadcasts of our television. Turkish government is trying to provoke the process before March and general election” the statement said.

RojTV said the Turkish government is giving signals of its plans against Kurdish people in the near future with this blockage attempt.

The statement said that the blockage is an attempt to silence the Kurdish media and condemned such efforts.

Turkish government ordered shut down of various Kurdish newspapers and magazines for several times since 2008.

Last week Firat News Agency's website was a target of DDOS attacks which is originating from Turkey. The website was down for about a week. (ANF, 22 February 2011)

KNK: Rapport on Mass Graves In Turkey

http://www.kongrakurdistan.net

As the Kurdish question still remains the most important problem in the country, the recommencement of armed confli is evaluated as a serious and ominous development. Again, we state that solving this problem in a peaceful and democratic way becomes obligatory. One of the main reasons why the problem has never reached the point of being resolved or addressed is that the state, whilst recognizing the Kurdish question legally in 2009, has not taken any further steps to solve the problem. There are several reasons that explain why the process has been frustrated and reached the point that it has: the local election results of 2009 have not been analysed in political terms; the penal legislation is full of prohibitions and limitations in terms of working politically (especially in terms of freedom of expression); the state has not declared its road map about the Kurdish Initiative policy; it could not establish the matter of correct 'addressee'; it did not legislate or pass any laws relating to human rights or establish the human rights institutions which were mentioned at the start of the process; it has not permanently solved problems relating to children who are in conflict with the law; it has not abolished the special competent and incumbent courts which are a continuation of the State Security Courts (DGM); heavy violation of rights have still occurred in prisons; members of the Peace Group have been arrested and subjugated to inhumane treatment; it has turned a blind eye to subjects related to the Kurdish Initiative in the Change Proposal for the Constitution and shows no willingness to heal the wounds of the past, etc. At this point, the government has taken no steps that aim to shed light on the thousands of enforced disappearances that have taken place. At the height of the conflict during the 1990's, thousands of people disappeared. Their families have met a wall of silence in their struggle to find out what happened to loved ones. To tackle this issue today can put Turkey on the road to reconciliation and achieving justice, to a peaceful solution for the Kurdish issue and for democracy.

THE DARK LEGACY CONTINUES TO REMAIN AN OPEN WOUND IN TURKEY

The dark events regarding enforced disappearances in Kurdistan since the 1990's are coming to the forefront of discussions and public attention. At that time, while human rights defenders, press members and politicians who were bringing this issue to the public's attention and demanding that it be researched were being exposed to attacks and lawsuits, no procedures were being carried out against members implicated in such events (soldiers, village guards or JİTEM - the Gendarmerie Intelligence and Counter-terrorism Unit), and if anyone did anything about it, they were obstructed in short order. In reality, during that dark period, everyone knew that people were being executed after being detained, but they remained silent. The inability of people who had been killed in the mountains to be identified by their spouses without fear, displayed the extent of the terror and fear that was created in those days.

Sevket Akdemir, the regional representative of the Association of Human Rights (IHD) that denounced this "nightmare" from the 1990's when more than 4,000 Kurdish villages were destroyed, has stressed the manner in which the impunity of security forces has weakened the confidence of citizens in the law: "The most moving events to the conscience of the company were missing, murders were not solved, extra-judicial executions and mass graves" have been the consequence and result, he said.

Emma Sinclair Webb of the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch says the disappearances were part of a state policy to terrorize the local civilian population. "In the early 1990's, there was a policy of rounding of hundreds and thousands of Rue Jean Stas 41 1060 Bruxelles Tel: 00 32 2 647 30 84 Fax: 00 32 2 647 68 49 Home page: www.kongrakurdistan.net - E-mail: kongrakurdistan@gmail.com 3

civilians, and giving no proper trial or judicial process, but rather taking them in, threatening them, torturing them. There was systematic torture throughout that period, and a lot of others simply were not heard of again and in that region, thousands disappeared or bodies were found too at the time, but not identified and there was no attempt to discover how the killings took place and who by. So there is massive legacy and impunity. For the past abuses, for the disappearances and killings", Webb explains.

Turkey has been committing serious crimes against humanity in the Kurdish regions for the last 30 years. This has been proved once more after recent excavations of mass graves in the Mutki district of Bitlis province, where human bones were discovered. The Turkish government has been refusing to investigate unsolved political murders conducted from the 1990's. Regardless of many complaints filed by the relatives of those forcibly disappeared and the confessions of clandestine intelligence and witnesses of these crimes, the Turkish government remains silent. Moreover, it has been trying to cover up the evidence. The perpetrators of these crimes are known to the government but it continues to fail in its commitment to comply with the Human Rights Convention by not investigating these matters.

MASS GRAVES IN TURKEY

Turkey knew of the presence of mass graves in 1989, a Kurdish journalist, Gunay Aslan, has revealed. Kasaplar Deresi (Butcher's Creek), a place of discharge/refuse from the army in the province of Siirt, was the first mass grave discovered in which nine people were exhumed by the authorities, but the names of at least 73 others buried in this mass grave came to light. The guerrillas (killed in clashes) or people abducted by the security forces had been thrown here, sometimes from garbage vehicles. More than 100 bodies found in this mass grave were exhumed over the past 20 years.

These are not isolated, unrelated events. At least 31 mass graves have been discovered by human rights organizations and the inhabitants of the Kurdish region. Two mass graves were discovered in September 2010 in Diyarbakir, capital of the Kurdish region, where clothing and bones of PKK members had been found. According to eyewitnesses, the bodies were burned and abandoned by the army after heavy fighting near Zera, a village in the region of Diyarbakir. But justice has not yet been achieved for the dead.

The Association of Human Rights in Turkey claims to have been informed of the existence of more than 100 mass graves in Bitlis province, populated mainly by Kurds. The Kurdish media is trying to raise awareness and articulate the concerns of families of missing by reporting upon new revelations about mass graves and the evidence of the "war room". Each story testifies to the atrocities of the Turkish army in the 1990's. Testimonies from villagers and PKK guerrillas have revealed the locations of mass graves, in particular, in the cities of Bitlis, Siirt, Hakkari, Sirnak, Diyarbakir, Batman and Bingol. Extrajudicial, summary executions, bodies burned, mutilated or crushed by tanks, severed heads, fighters and villagers thrown from helicopters or signs of torture and chemical weapons are listed as crimes against humanity and war by the witnesses. But the Turkish authorities and the media do not always come out of their silence.

IHD reports that mass graves are located in Newala Qasaba, Eruh town centre, Twan, Şawiran, Çevirimtepe (Girdika), Ergüven (Baluka), Kikan, Yeşilkonak (Kadîya), Kurtalan, Harat, Ekmekçiler (Binêve), Gözpınar, Yelkesen (Basixrê) and Bozatlı (Basnê) village countryside in Siirt, Hizan, Arsan River (Newala Warê Hiro), Kokarsu (Arpêt), Bındaki mountain, the countryside of Tatvan, Çakalsöğüt (Xaştax), between Hora Şêxan and Hora Kurmanca, Cengiz Village, Pıhok, Duav Pasture, Güroymak, Mutki and Dikilitaş zone in Bitlis. There are also 19 graveyards in different locations in Diyarbakır, 9 in Van, 8 in Batman, 6 in Hakkari, 5 in Bingöl, 4 in Şırnak, 4 in Mardin and 1 each in Elazığ, Ağrı, Iğdır and Gaziantep.

The Human Rights Association (IHD) - Diyarbakır Branch reported on February 2nd 2011 at its press conference in Diyarbakir that 469 corpses had been secretly buried in 114 mass graves in Turkey since 1989. Over the past years, authorities have unearthed 171 corpses from 26 mass graves.

Jailed PKK chief Ocalan surprises all at Imralı

A very important book has been released on Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, at İmralı prison.

“Öcalan'ın İmralı Günleri” (Öcalan’s days at İmralı), by Cengiz Kapmaz has been published by İthaki. If you are interested in the Kurdish issue and especially if you are curious about what has been discussed behind closed doors within the past 10 years you should definitely read this book.

Cengiz Kapmaz is a 38-year-old journalist who follows the Kurdish issue from the Kurdish point of view. I’m sure he wrote his book based on meetings with Öcalan’s lawyers and notes written from the date Öcalan set foot on İmralı until 2009.

In this book you’ll find out what has been discussed behind closed doors, Öcalan’s daily routine and his negotiations with the Turkish state. This book explains very well why the Kurdish issue has not been resolved yet. It destroys taboos and old clichés explaining in an apprehensible way what it is Öcalan really intends to do.

Since 1999 when Öcalan was brought from Kenya to İmralı, many, including me, thought, “The job is done, meaning the Öcalan issue closed and the PKK is about to be dispersed.”

I clearly need to say that after reading Kapmaz’s book I better understood how Öcalan created this miracle.

The entire book is based on conversations with Öcalan’s lawyers and it reflects the views of only one party to the issue. We don’t have the chance to check the information out for ourselves. I based my evaluations on information written in the book.

Öcalan received all his strength from the Kurdish society and made careful use of it. More interestingly, he knew how he needed to change himself from the day he set foot on İmralı. We can clearly see this by looking at his 10 years of imprisonment.

This did not suffice and he managed the PKK out of his tiny cell, forced them to change their way of thinking, channeled newly created parties and corrected mistakes.

Unbelievable.

It is quite amazing how he exercised such power through his lawyers, whom he saw only once a month or once every two months. While reading his struggle of 10 years full of ups and downs one feels sorry for lost opportunities, for all the sufferings told from firsthand accounts.

Based on conversation with his lawyers, Öcalan, in his 10 years of imprisonment, appears before us from day one as a leader who is in constant search for his own solution.

His only fear is a war between Turks and Kurds.

On one hand he tries to convince state representatives and on the other hand he tries to keep the PKK under control by drawing them into politics. He tries to settle arguments on a democratic ground.

According to information in the book the Turkish state, with its remittent attitude, either is unable to read Öcalan correctly or it does not care to do so. It looks as if it perceives the fight as beneficial. It tries to destroy the PKK with weapons and tire Öcalan. It does not care very much about a mutual solution.

The state’s own measure is to scare and keep Öcalan at bay.

Despite being unsuccessful with such politics, according to Öcalan, the state can’t come up with a solution.

Never got along with the AKP

Meeting minutes in the book also sheds light on Öcalan’s relation with the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP.

To tell the truth, the AKP is one of the rare political parties to take a positive step in the Kurdish issue. No matter what, he took vital steps to ease the issue. But according to Öcalan, “easing” the issue was all it ever did.

Öcalan tirelessly wrote letters and sent messages to Erdoğan but did not succeed in drawing the prime minister’s attention.

The book also clarifies another issue.

The general judgment, or what the society in Turkey is told, is that “The Kurds don’t know what they want. Everybody says something different. There is no real leadership.” But Öcalan within the past 10 years has proved that he is the real leader of this issue and that he has produced many detailed solutions.

But the state of Turkey did not take Öcalan seriously and preferred to camouflage the issue instead of producing a lasting solution.

The state winked at him, then turned around

From the moment Öcalan entered İmralı his relation with representatives of the Turkish state has been full of ups and downs. We understand from notes written by his lawyers in reference to their meetings, the so-called negotiations were more “exchanges of opinion” or “listening” types of thing.

According to these notes, the state exhibited an inconsistent approach. Meetings held between military, security forces and the National Intelligence Organization, or MİT, in the 1999-2001 period were full of hope. State representatives treated Öcalan quite kindly. It shut its eyes to his meetings with his lawyers, to messages he gave and even encouraged him.

Between the years of 2001-2005, these relations first turned into a crisis then into a showdown. The state got upset.

Between 2005 and 2009 it came to a point of breaking ties.

Öcalan frequently used to receive cell arrest. His room would be changed and guardians would treat him badly.

Interestingly, Öcalan would receive the greatest support from young Kurdish people. Each stringent step taken by the state would turn into a fireball on streets.

In short, this book, comprising notes from İmralı, openly reveals that within the ruling party there is still a lack of political willpower and determination of rudimentary politics in respect to the Kurdish issue.

MEHMET ALİ BİRAND
Thursday, February 17, 2011
© 2009 Hurriyet Daily News
URL: www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=jailed-pkk-chief-surprises-all-at-imrali-2011-02-17

Un jeune Kurde se serait immolé par le feu pour Öcalan

Un jeune Kurde de 17 ans se serait immolé par le feu à Diyarbakir, principale ville du sud-est à majorité kurde de la Turquie, pour obtenir la libération du chef rebelle kurde Abdullah Öcalan, a-t-on appris mercredi de source proche de l'enquête.

Le corps calciné d'un lycéen a été retrouvé lundi soir par la police dans un terrain vague sur les rives de l'Euphrate. Une lettre a été retrouvée, expliquant qu'il réclamait la libération du chef-fondateur du Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK, interdit), a-t-on souligné de même source.

Mais la police enquête pour déterminer s'il s'agit d'un suicide à caractère politique, ou d'un homicide.

Les activistes kurdes ont par le passé procédé à des gestes de ce type pour attirer l'attention de l'opinion publique internationale.

Des gestes de désespoir similaires ont eu lieu ces derniers temps dans plusieurs pays arabes, notamment lors des contestations populaires en Tunisie et en Egypte.

M. Öcalan purge une peine de prison à vie dans le nord-ouest de la Turquie depuis 1999. Mardi, à l'occasion du douzième anniversaire de son arrestation au Kenya, de nombreuses manifestations ont été organisées dans le sud-est anatolien, provoquant des heurts avec la police. (AFP, 16 fév 2011)

Police clash with Kurdish protesters and Many Kurds arrested

Turkey has turned into a huge demonstration area since thousands of Kurds from all over Turkey wanted to mourn the anniversary of the capture of Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan on February 15, 1999. Conducting fierce house raids and arrests, police officers took many Kurds into custody just in case though most of them not attended protest demonstrations. Showing the police’ anger against Kurds; one hundred police raided Süleyman Çelik’s house in the early morning in Istanbul and seized all books in the house. There is no total number of arrests.

The demonstrations have continued for three days in Diyarbakır, Şırnak, Dersim, Mardin, Siirt, Hakkari, Van, Muş, Iğdır, Ağrı, Batman, Hakkari, Urfa and their districts, Dörtyol district of Hatay, and some of districts of Adana, Mersin, Hatay, Istanbul, Izmirm Bursa.

Particularly today, these places became a ghost city since 90 % shopkeepers did not open their shops, highschool students did not go to school, drivers shut off the engines, black flags were flown, people dressed in black and main roads were blocked.

Meanwhile many protestors were injured in Diyarbakır and Hakkari due to police intervention. Being hit by a gas bomb at home, a nine months pregnant woman filed a complaint against police officers in Diyarbakır.

Nineteen students from Democratic Patriots Youth (DYG) were arrested for being member of an illegal organization in Istanbul. They were arrested in İstanbul on Saturday during demonstration.

Batman, Mersin, İstanbul, Hakkari, Antep and İzmir are the cities where the police conducted many house raids and arrested more than one hundred people.

According to the latest information, there are 70 arrests only in Istanbul and İzmir through house raids. However police also took many demonstrators into custody after interfering the protests; 11 including 4 under age children in Yüksekova district of Hakkari, 6 in Kızıltepe, district of Mardin, 8 in Antep.

Izmir, Eleven year old child, D.S. hit in his back by police’ gas bomb in Izmir was immediately taken into operation in the Tepecik State Hospital. According to the latest information, his lungs and kidneys were damaged because of the bomb thrown by police during the intervention to demonstrators.

Police clash with Kurdish protesters and Many kurds arrested are continuing.  (Kurdish Info, February 15, 2011)

Des milliers de Kurdes manifestent à Strasbourg pour faire libérer Öcalan

Plusieurs milliers de Kurdes ont manifesté samedi à Strasbourg pour réclamer un "Kurdistan indépendant" et la libération d'Abdullah Öcalan, détenu en Turquie depuis 1999.

Selon la préfecture ils étaient 6.500 alors que les organisateurs affirmaient qu'"au moins 30.000 Kurdes" avaient fait le déplacement.

Öcalan avait été arrêté en 1999 au Kenya par des agents turcs avec l'aide des services de renseignement américains.

Transféré en Turquie, il a été condamné à mort pour "séparatisme" en juin 1999, peine commuée en 2002 en prison à vie après l'abolition de la peine capitale. La Cour européenne des droits de l'Homme à Strasbourg avait recommandé en mai 2005 l'organisation d'un nouveau procès, estimant que celui de 1999 était "inéquitable".

De nombreuses famille kurdes, venues d'Allemagne et de France, mais aussi de Belgique, des Pays-Bas ou de Suisse, ont défilé pacifiquement de la gare jusqu'au quartier de la Meinau où ils devaient participer en début d'après-midi à un pique-nique géant accompagné de prises de parole.

Organisée par la Fédération des associations kurdes en France et "Les amis du peuple kurde", la manifestation a réuni un cortège très coloré d'où surnageait une mare de drapeaux à l'effigie d'Öcalan.

Les banderoles réclamaient "Liberté pour Öcalan" et "Kurdistan autonome".

"Europe réveille-toi" réclamait une autre banderole, alors que les manifestants scandaient "A bas le régime fasciste en Turquie" et "Solution politique pour le Kurdistan"

"Hier la Tunisie, aujourd'hui l'Egypte, demain le Kurdistan", proclamait une banderole des "Jeunes Kurdes".

A l'appel d'Öcalan, ses partisans ont décrété une trêve unilatérale le 1er octobre 2006, rejetée par Ankara. Les rebelles kurdes ont prolongé leur trêve unilatérale jusqu'en été 2011. (AFP, 12 fév 2011)

New mass grave to be unearthed in southeast Turkey

Another mass grave in the Tatvan district of Bitlis province will soon be excavated, according to officials from the Human Rights Association, or İHD.

Some 33 people are believed to lie in a grave called Geliye Karoka by locals in Tatvan, Sami Görendağ, the İHD’s Van branch secretary, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Wednesday, adding that the group was waiting for official procedures to be completed before excavation began.

“It is in a very high location. I believe the excavation may need to wait until May due to the snow,” İHD Bitlis Branch Head Hasan Ceylan told the Daily News on Wednesday.

Görendağ also said they had been receiving intelligence on another mass grave in the Başkale district of Van and expected to make an announcement on the development soon.

The recent discovery of human bones in the Mutki district of Bitlis has brought renewed attention to mass graves in eastern Anatolia. Some are believed to have been killed after being detained by security forces, while other unidentified mass graves are thought to hold the remains of murdered members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. The İHD has been collecting information about places where mass graves may be located.

The Bitlis branch has also made an application to excavate three other sites in Mutki.

The Turkish Gendarmerie General Command on Tuesday broke its weeks-long silence on Mutki and said the bodies belonged to PKK members killed in clashes in 1999 and were buried after autopsies were performed with the knowledge of public prosecutors.

“The bodies were buried after the proper licenses were obtained,” the statement said.

The statement was deemed a “confession to the crime” by Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, co-leader Gülten Kışanak, who called on doctors, police and the burial teams who had firsthand knowledge of the original burials to come out and talk.

Mutki Mayor Mehmet Saik Birlik spoke to daily BirGün on Wednesday and said the bodies were buried with their clothes on, suggesting they had not been examined medically at all. The mayor said they would file criminal complaints against all relevant parties. (Hürriyet Daily News, February 9, 2011)

Shocking confession by former mayor of Siirt confirmed mass grave

After the recovery of 18 corpses in the mass grave in Mutki, former Mayor Bilek admitted that Newala Qesaba was used by gendarmerie in the '90s as a mass grave just like Kurdish people always suspected. Newala Qesaba is the first place confirmed to be a mass grave.

Former mayor Bilek stated that before becoming "mayor of Siirt, we use to be told by our family elders that many Kurdish people were buried in the garbage area of Newala Qesaba. When I was elected mayor in 1989 my official relation with gendarmerie began. I witnessed that all the rumors were true. Many unidentified bodies were being delivered to the municipality by the authorities and we were asked to bury them. This situation was something I had to deal with in my conscience."

Former mayor Bilek continues his confession saying that he "applied to the Siirt Public Prosecution Office to excavate this place. Finally, the prosecutor was convinced that there might be indeed a mass grave and ordered the excavation. During the excavation in the early 1990, we found eight corpses disfigured beyond recognition and buried with their clothes. There was no response from authorities of that period after my denouncement. Eventually we put all the remains in bags and reburied them separately at Zewye Grave Yard. All corpses had many bullet marks.”

After Bilek’s confession, Şakir Demir, lawyer for Başçı family (one of the families of killed Workers’ Party (PKK) members) applied to the Public Prosecution Office only to be answered by military authorities: “We buried your relative in Nawala Qesaba garbage. We will not deliver the body to you.”

Selim Özalp also an applicant, added that families "believe that this land will be dug after all these denouncement and requests."

According to allegations, there are around 200 corpses waiting for being recovered under the ground of Newala Qesaba. (ANF, February 9, 2011)

Basques and Kurds will meet in Venice to talk peace

The City of Venice is organizing, through its Peace Centre, a major conference to take place on 11-12 February 2011. The conference will be a kind of ‘second chapter’ of the first conference organised last year (November 2009) about peace processes and conflict resolutions. At the 2009 conference the Basque Independent Left (its organisation being banned since 2002 by the Spanish state), the Kurdish DTP (banned in December 2009) and the Irish Sinn Fein, have discussed and proposed viable processes to the solution of the conflicts in the three different countries (Spain, Turkey and Ireland).

Among the many speakers, from the pro-Kurdish party BDP, the vice president Demir Celik and mayor of Semdinli Sedato Tore. Mayor of Diyarbakir, Osman Baydemir, can not attend the conference because of a traveling ban on him, but he has sent a video message to be shown on Saturday. Speakers from the Basque country include lawyer Jone Goirizelaia and mayor of Hernani Marian Beitialarrangoitia. Also attending former mayor of Pasajes, Juan Carlos Alduntzin, member of Udalbiltza, the union of Basque municipalities recently acquitted. Also leading speech by Sinn Fein Alex Maskey. Maskey is former mayor of Belfast and MLA at the North of Ireland Assembly. For Sinn Fein Maskey is also travelling to the Basque country just before the Venice conference to help the process there. From the European Parliament, EMP Jorgen Klute will be attending.

Because of its role as a city always promoting dialogue and encounters, Venice tried to build upon the 2009 conference always supporting peace processes attempts and proposals for dialogue, strongly believing that indeed political dialogue, on equal terms, among all of the parties involved is the way forward. Recognising that each conflict has its own specificity and characteristics, what emerged from the 2009 conference is the fact that the ‘Irish peace process’ has certainly a ‘guiding’ role for the other processes because it has put the bases for an agreement based on the fact that two very different “political projects” are able to discuss on political grounds only, with violence being removed from the political arena. In the 2009 conference the Basque Independent Left has presented (in Venice and the Basque Country simultaneously) the political decision (the document, ‘Stand up Euskal Herria’, Zutik Euskal Herria!) to opt for a democratic process without violence in the search for a just and lasting peace. And on January 10 this year ETA has declared a “permanent, general and verifiable ceasefire’. The Kurdish DTP has presented in Venice the basis of what has become known as ‘democratic autonomy’ project. The PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) is still observing a unilateral ceasefire to favour the creation of conditions for dialogue. This new conference then aims on the one hand to discuss the current situation of the political projects proposed in Venice in 2009. But on the other hands it intends to discuss and present concrete experiences that are taking place in Ireland, Basque Country and Kurdish region of Turkey, in terms of building the common. Which means building a governance able to take into account all of the political discourses to be found in any specific situation. (estella24@tiscali.co.uk, February 7, 2011)

Turkey is preparing for a large scale operation

Turkish government is preparing for a large scale operation against Kurdish guerrillas despite the unilateral ceasefire declared by the PKK since 13 August 2010. Turkey is constructing hundreds of new army outposts in Kurdish region and preparing to buy 116 new fighter jets as well as helicopters.

AKP government's military budget is about 20 billion dollars. AKP is planing to set up a professional army which will be deployed to Turkey-Iraq border which is frequently scene of clashes between Turkish army and Kurdish guerrillas.

10 billion dollars will be spent on buying new generation fighter jets while at least 4 billion dollars will be spent to army helicopters.

According to the plans F35 jets will replace F16s which are used against Kurdish guerrillas in Kurdistan by 2014.

Israel's daily Haaretz reported that Turkey is negotiating with Italian and US companies for new generation attack helicopters.

There are also plans for building new army outposts. In 2009 Turkey announced plans to build new outposts in Batman, Bingol, Diyarbakir, Hakkari, Sirnak, Siirt, Mus, Erzurum, Kars, Dersim and Urfa. Most of these outposts are planned in border region.

Turkish government allocated 650 million dollars for the modernisation of outposts.

The professional army plans of Turkish government is also on the agenda of 2011. Army statements say the new army will consists of 10 thousand soldiers and will gradually expand to 50 thousand. The soldiers of this army will have 2,500 YTL (1700 USD) salary.

The main deployment areas for the special army is Hakkari, Siirt and Sırnak. (ANF, 2 February 2011)

Increase of Rights Violations in South-Eastern Turkey

The Report on Human Rights Violation in Southern and South-Eastern Anatolia released by the Human Rights Association (İHD) shows an increase in the number of armed conflicts in the pre-dominantly Kurdish region and also in the number of violations due to judicial pressure.

In a press statement made at the İHD branch of Diyarbakır (south-eastern Turkey), Member of the Steering Board Şevket Akdemir announced, "In the course of the government's efforts to initiate an opening process in the beginning of 2010, hopes ran high to resolve the deadlock and the clashes on peaceful and democratic grounds".

"However, the intolerance developed by the government against differences and opposing voices was the reason for the hopes fuelled in the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 for peace and a solution to vanish quickly".

Accordingly, the number of deaths and injuries increased because clashes started again after the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) announced the expiry  of the ceasefire that had been declared on 1 June since the military operations were still being continued.

"Again, death and injuries caused by mines and unclaimed explosives were experienced continually. These incidents of death evolved from the negligence and premeditation of the security forces. The incidents harmed the public conscience as well as well as the society's sense of justice by continuing the policy of impunity towards the people who are responsible".

Rights violations

Burning down villages: "Setting villages on fire was the nightmare of the people in the region in the 1990s. In 2010, it was put to the agenda once more. Three villages belonging to the Hasankeyif District in Batman were set on fire including the surrounding fields, for example. The year 2010 was marked by a significant increase in the number of forest areas burnt down by security forces, mainly as a result of military operations".

Mass graves: "In 2010, many applications were filed to our association regarding mass graves. Research carried out by our association revealed a vast number of mass graves. In order to achieve a sound solution, a commission has to be established urgently to disclose the facts, as we have always claimed".

Bodies of PKK members: "The desecration of corpses of PKK militants by destroying the body's physical integrity with chemicals or other the use of other methods sparks anger and indignation in society and most of all in the families".

Special Authority Courts: "The number of arrest and prosecutions significantly increased as a result of oppressive policies applied by the arm of the judiciary against freedom of assembly and freedom of speech. A court board arbitrarily restrained Kurdish politicians and human rights defenders on trial from presenting their defence in their mother tongue. The right to a fair trial and the right to defence were violated that way".

"Torture continues":

İHD executive Akdemir stated that taking people into custody and beating and torture applied by the police forces at social events in particular strengthened the argument that torture has been brought to the streets. He furthermore drew attention to the fact that fatally ill convicts were not released from prison. (BIA, ErHan USTUNDAG, 28 January 2011)

Vous avez aimé Ben Ali? Vous adorerez Erdogan

par Amitiés kurdes de Bretagne

Non, bien sûr, vous ne pouviez pas savoir : vous n’aviez pas "pris la mesure des souffrances du peuple tunisien", comme a dit le président Sarkozy, et vous revendiquiez, hier encore, le droit à une certaine réserve, par rapport aux informations "surprenantes" venant d’hommes et de femmes chassés de leur pays ou emprisonnés, faisant même des grèves de la faim ! Non, les témoignages de ces gens-là, défenseurs des droits et des libertés, vous apparaissaient comme trop partisans, manquant de recul, incapables d’analyser objectivement la situation et proposer des solutions crédibles pour leur pays. Vous êtes aujourd’hui plus circonspect et observez avec plus de prudence ce qui se passe en Egypte, en Algérie, en Lybie, en Jordanie et même au Yémen.

Et en Turquie ? Silence radio.

Les 500 000 touristes français (900 000 en Tunisie) passent d’agréables séjours à Istanbul et dans les stations balnéaires de Kusadasi, Bodrum ou Antalya (qui valent bien celles de Monastir, Hammamet ou Djerba). Les intérêts français sont aussi très présents en Turquie (exemple : RENAULT ; sa filiale Oyak-Renault, c’est en 2009 5,5 % des effectifs du groupe, 277 572 véhicules soit 12,2 % de la production totale et 14,8 % de parts du marché automobile). Les coopérations sont nombreuses, même avec la police, lutte anti terroriste oblige : l’Etat turc n’est-il pas victime des attaques d’une organisation terroriste ? La Turquie, amie de la France, membre de l’OTAN, membre du Conseil de l’Europe, candidate à l’entrée dans l’Union européenne avec laquelle elle a signé en 1995 un accord d’union douanière, est un pays cultivé avec lequel nous entretenons de solides relations culturelles : l’année 2009 (1er juillet 2009 au 31 mars 2010) ne fut-elle pas l’année de la Turquie en France ?

Bien sûr, vous n’avez jamais entendu parler du communiqué du collectif pour les Droits de l’Homme en Turquie  qui à cette occasion a rappelé, force exemples à l’appui, que "les violations des droits civils et politiques et les atteintes aux droits culturels, économiques et sociaux sont nombreuses dans ce pays".

Vous n’avez pas non plus entendu les appels nombreux des Kurdes exilés en France et en Europe et des "Amis du Peuple kurde" dénonçant la politique antidémocratique du gouvernement turc dirigé par Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Vous ne savez sans doute pas que des milliers de Kurdes croupissent en prison pour des motifs politiques et que tout opposant est considéré comme un "terroriste". Le procès de Diyarbakir censé juger 151 personnalités kurdes s’enlise et aucune libération n’est espérée avant de longs mois, bien au contraire : de nouvelles arrestations de militants kurdes se comptent chaque semaine par dizaine ; en moins de trois jours, la police vient de procéder, dans dix villes différentes, à 105 arrestations ; 18 personnes ont été écrouées.

Vous ignorez également que les syndicats, excédés, dénoncent la politique anti-sociale du gouvernement islamo-conservateur et que les étudiants sont également descendus dans la rue à Ankara et Istanbul, mais aussi à Diyarbakir, Urfa et Erzerum : pourtant, même l’AFP (dépêche du 27/01/11) a dû signaler que l’agitation estudiantine se poursuit en Turquie depuis novembre et qu’elle est violemment réprimée par les forces de l’ordre.

Vous n’aimez plus Ben Ali ? Aimerez-vous encore longtemps Erdogan ?

(andre-metayer@orange.fr , 31 janvier 2011)

Minorités / Minorities

Discrimination and Racism in Turkey Fuel Concern

The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) published a new report on Turkey. ECRI's Chair, Nils Muiznieks, said that, while there have been improvements in certain areas, some issues give rise to concern, such as the situation of the Kurds, Roma and asylum-seekers, discrimination against members of minority religious groups and misuse of criminal law provisions.

The report highlighted also positive developments: "The 'democratic initiative' launched by the government for addressing unresolved issues with respect to Kurds through peaceful methods, and similar initiatives have helped to build a greater willingness in Turkish society to discuss issues of concern to persons belonging to minority groups", it was said.

"Some of the most flagrant forms of discrimination have been criminalised, and training has been provided to the judiciary on human rights standards in force. Efforts have also been made to prevent misconduct by law enforcement officers, including against members of minority groups", Muiznieks added.

However, Turkey cannot rest on its laurels. The report emphasized that the application of anti-terror provisions has exposed some groups - notably Kurdish children - to a greater risk of breaches of their rights.

"Many Kurds moreover continue to live in difficult economic and social conditions; while welcome steps are in place to help internally displaced persons return, obstacles remain and progress is slow. The Roma also still suffer discrimination in many fields of daily life, and remain exposed to forced evictions".

The report also points to the problematic situation of refugees and non-Muslim minorities in Turkey: "Refugees recognised by the UNHCR have only a precarious status in Turkey, and asylum-seekers have suffered from serious failings in the applicable legal provisions and procedures. While benefiting from some favourable provisions, recognised non-Muslim minorities in Turkey face difficulties in education due to a lack of teachers and textbooks. Non-Muslim foundations' property rights remain an issue. There have also been fatal attacks and serious assaults against individuals that appear to have had a religious motivation".

Recommendations

In its report, ECRI makes a number of recommendations:

* Strengthen criminal law provisions against racism, in particular by making racist motivation an aggravating circumstance for all ordinary offences;
* Exempt asylum-seekers and refugees from the payment of residence fees;
* Establish an independent body entrusted with investigating allegations of misconduct by members of the police or security forces.

These three recommendations will be revisited in two years' time. The report is based on the ECRI's visit to Turkey in October 2009 and considers development up to March 2010.

The ECRI is a human rights body of the Council of Europe that monitors, prepares reports and issues recommendations for member states. On 8 February, the commission also published reports on the situations in Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Monaco and Spain.  (BIA, Erhan USTUNDAG, 9 February 2011)

Dink: Ankara dément l'ouverture d'une enquête sur des agents publics

Le ministre turc de l'Intérieur Besir Atalay a démenti mardi que le parquet ait ouvert une enquête concernant d'anciens hauts fonctionnaires pour de possibles négligences dans la protection du journaliste arménien de Turquie Hrant Dink, assassiné en 2007 à Istanbul.

Des "demandes" en ce sens ont été adressées au procureur, "mais aucune enquête n'a encore été ouverte. Il faut attendre la décision du parquet", a déclaré M. Atalay à des journalistes de la télévision.

Il réagissait à des déclarations faites lundi par l'avocate de la famille Dink, Me Fethiye Cetin, selon laquelle un procureur a répondu favorablement à sa demande d'ouverture d'une enquête judiciaire concernant une trentaine de fonctionnaires.

Parmi les personnes visées figurent selon l'avocate l'ex-gouverneur d'Istanbul Muammer Güler, l'ancien chef de la police d'Istanbul Celalettin Cerrah et Ramazan Akyürek, l'ex-chef de la police de Trabzon, ville du nord-est de la Turquie d'où sont originaires les auteurs présumés de l'assassinat.

Un tribunal administratif d'Istanbul a renoncé en 2008 à poursuivre M. Cerrah. M. Akyürek, accusé dans un rapport de n'avoir pris aucune mesure de protection alors qu'il avait reçu des informations sur un projet de meurtre visant Dink, a été rétrogradé et muté.

Me Cetin n'était pas joignable dans l'immédiat mardi pour commenter la déclaration du ministre.

Hrant Dink a été tué par balle le 19 janvier 2007 à Istanbul devant les locaux de l'hebdomadaire bilingue turco-arménien Agos, qu'il dirigeait, par un jeune nationaliste dont le procès et celui de ses 18 complices présumés se poursuit depuis quatre ans.

La demande d'une enquête séparée est motivée par la condamnation en septembre de la Turquie par la Cour européenne des droits de l'Homme (CEDH), qui a jugé que les forces de l'ordre turques avaient échoué à protéger le journaliste haï par les milieux nationalistes turcs, avait expliqué l'avocate lundi en marge d'une audience du procès des assassins présumés.

Dink s'était notamment attiré la colère des nationalistes pour avoir qualifié de génocide les massacres d'Arméniens commis en Turquie entre 1915 et 1917, un terme rejeté par Ankara. (AFP, 8 fév 2011)

Dink: Brief Hearing - New Investigation

The Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court finished the hearing of the Hrant Dink murder case on Monday (7 January) within one hour. The court dismissed the request for a merger of the Dink murder case tried in Istanbul and the trial opened against the then Trabzon Gendarmerie Regiment Commander, Colonel Ali Öz, heard at the High Criminal Court of Trabzon (eastern Black Sea coast).

Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, founder of the Armenian Agos newspaper, was killed in front of his office in Şişli (Istanbul) on 19 January 2007.

The court has still not received an answer from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) on the recovery of the footage recorded by a camera of the Akbank branch at the time of the murder. Hence, the court board requested to have the delivery of the report expedited.

It was decided to continue the detentions of defendants Erhan Tuncel and Yasin Hayal.

The trial was adjourned to 28 March. Until now, the hearings were scheduled in intervals of three to four months, whereas the coming hearing was set in less than two months.

Police notification for absent witnesses

The court had previously required in writing the ascertainment of the addresses of Emsale Çakmakçı and Şahabettin Şahin, supposed eye-witnesses of the murder. However, the court has not received any reply yet. Thus, at the Monday hearing, it was decreed to file a criminal complaint against the employees assigned to this task due to negligence.

Additionally, the court decided to bring in Erhan Şivil by compulsion. Şivil sat next to prime suspect Samast on the coach back to Trabzon after the murder. It was also decided to apply for the statement of witness Mehmet Ali Temelocak who apparently sat right behind Samast on the coach and to notify the Dink family lawyers accordingly so that they will attend the referring hearing.

The plaintiff lawyers are also going to be informed when police officer Necati Ekinci will be heard at court. Ekinci had several telephone conversations at the time with Mustafa Öztürk, former head of the so-called Alperen Organization, a far right nationalistic youth group linked to the Great Unity Party (BBP).

Furhtermore, the court accepted the request of the joint attorneys of the Dink family to have the statement of witness Sinan Reşitoğlu taken again in their presence since it had been taken without notifying the lawyers.

Defence lawyer Erdoğan Soruklu demanded to investigate the conditions of detention of his client, defendant Erhan Tuncel. The court board rejected the request, saying that this issue did not concern the court.

The Monday hearing was attended by defendant Salih Hacısalihoğlu. Detained defendants Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel did not appear at court.

Investigation about Güler and Cerrah

A new investigation in the scope of the Dink murder was now opened about Muammer Güler, then Governor of Istanbul, Celalettin Cerrah as former Chief of the Istanbul Police, Ramazan Akyürek, Chief of the Trabzon Police at the time of the murder, and another 27 people.

Hakan Bakırcıoğlu and Fethiye Çetin, two joint attorneys of the Dink family, very much appreciated this development.

Together with the other joint attorneys, they submitted a petition to court on 17 January 2011 and demanded the prosecution of Güler, Cerrah, Akyürek and Ergun Güngör, Ahmet İlhan Güler, Bülent Köksal, İbrahim Pala, İbrahim Şevki Eldivan, Volkan Altunbulak, Bahadır Tekin, Özcan Özkan, Reşat Altay, Engin Dinç, Faruk Sarı, Ercan Demir, Özkan Mumcu, Muhittin Zenit, Mehmet Ayhan, Hüseyin Yılmaz, Metin Yıldız, Ali Oğuz Çağlar, Ali Öz, Hüsamettin Polat, Gazi Günay, Gökhan Aslan, Hacı Ömer Unalır, Uğur Erdoğan, Önder Aras and employees of the Trabzon Police Directorate Anti-Terror Branch, the Istanbul Police Directorate Anti-Terror Branch and the Trabzon Gendarmerie.

Dink family has six requests to the government

In a letter sent recently to the Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, the Minister of the Interior, Beşir Atalay, and the Justice Minister, Sadullah Ergin, the joint attorneys of the Dink family urged for the implementation of the decision given by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in December 2010. The letter included the following requests:

1. The investigation of connections between public officials and defendants of the murder case.                                                               
2. An investigation about the people who concealed or destroyed evidence.  
3. The prosecutors should open an investigation directly and should re-launch the entire number of investigations carried out by the Trabzon Prosecution which all resulted in impunity.
4. A special prosecutor should be appointed to review a potential racist motive for the murder.
5. Law No. 4483 should be amended since it was criticized by the ECHR as an ineffective means of investigation.
6. Obstacles before freedom of expression should be lifted and positive measures should be taken to protect individuals from potential attacks on freedom of expression.

State Supervisory Board opens file on Dink Murder

Upon the directive of President Abdullah Gül, the State Supervisory Board (DDK) is now involved in the handling of the Hrant Dink murder as well.

Journalist Ergun Babahan, columnist for the Star newspaper, indicated that the involvement of the DDK was an important step for Turkey to face its recent history and to bring light into the murder of Hrant Dink.

Journalist Kürkçü: "First lunge of a power struggle"

Journalist Ertuğrul Kürkçü considers the involvement of the DDK on Gül's behalf as one of the first lunges of a beginning power struggle between President Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan which can be expected to increase step by step, he argued. Kürkçü is pessimistic on the yielding of results by involving the DDK. "Unfortunately, I do not believe at all that the involvement of the DDK is going to reveal the network behind the murder of Hrant Dink. And I cannot believe that Gül's move was made out of immediate concern to clarify the murder. This undertaking can rather be interpreted as one of the initial moves of a fight for power between President Gül and PM Erdoğan which will evidently and gradually intensify", Kürkçü said. (BIA, 8 February 2011)

Government's Minority Policy: Let Things Drift

First things first, it should be noted that the government  set up by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) has taken unprecedented steps in terms of religious minorities - i.e. "Non-Muslim minorities" as the only religious minority group according to Turkey's interpretation of the Lausanne Treaty.

Even saying "non-Muslim" is not easy nowadays. According to a news appearing in the media last summer, the Minister for EU Affairs and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis, taking into consideration the criticism made by a Christian clergyman, announced their decision  to use the term "different faith groups" instead of "non-Muslim" in all the correspondences of the  Secretariat General for EU Affairs.

Of course, in the meantime, the wheels of the State continue to turn, still using the Treaty of Lausanne against the minorities with the restrictive interpretation it has adopted for years, which serves the state well despite its wrongness.

AKP changed the Foundations Law in 2002 despite all the nationalist opposition in the parliament (Republican's People Party + Nationalist Movement Party) and despite the state policy that confiscated the immovable properties of minorities on various grounds and excuses based on that ominous decision given by the Court of Cassation in 1974; with this change, AKP accepted, to a degree, the arbitrariness of this old practice.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to explain in so short a space all those things done before 1974. The Foundations Law, changed three times since 2002, proved a partial improvement as regards the return of some of the minority properties, yet it falls short in completely righting the wrongs done over the long years.

Some immovable property categories were included within the Law's scope, while a large portion of the properties of listed foundations were excluded from the return scheme, and an arrangement is yet to be made about the properties "transferred/sold" to third parties, which are said to have no place in the law.

Compared to the Turkish governments serving since the earliest days of the Republic and never giving an inch about these matters, this government has taken substantial steps in line with the European Union (EU) harmonization laws. These issues have now started to be discussed openly. All these have been positive developments that broadened the horizons.

Standstill period

For the last three or four years (you can extend the number of these years as you want) the government has almost entered a standstill period with regard to its minority policies. Instead of adopting a broadly inclusive and perpetual freedom of religion and faith and inclusive and long-term minority rights policies, the government chose to make some "nice gestures" about some specific minority issues, inventing a new "day-to-day" policy to manage the situation with these gestures.

As a consequence, many arbitrary practices were seen in the implementation of the law, and some were even referred to courts and went as far as the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). This legislation that fails to bring clear freedoms is still used arbitrarily by various governmental organizations and also by the judiciary, an institution that has never changed its historical attitude and practices in these matters. (BIA, Engin PAREV, 7 February 2011,  Full text: http://www.bianet.org/english/minorities/127715-governments-minority-policy-let-things-drift)

Discrimination: le Conseil de l'Europe invite la Turquie a réagir

Il n'existe pas de définition de la discrimination raciale en droit turc, regrette mardi un rapport sur la Turquie publié à Strasbourg par l'Ecri, l'agence spécialisée du Conseil de l'Europe sur le racisme et l'intolérance.

"Les motivations racistes ne constituent pas une circonstance aggravante pour les infractions pénales de droit commun", déplore l'Ecri qui demande la création d'un organe national indépendant de lutte contre le racisme et la discrimination.

Dans son rapport périodique, qui fait suite à une visite dans ce pays en avril 2010, l'agence observe qu'il n'y a toujours pas de législation globale sur l'asile en Turquie, bien que des travaux soient en cours.

Elle demande aux autorités que la législation sur la lutte contre le terrorisme "ne soit pas appliquée de manière discriminatoire pour des motifs tels que la +race+, réelle ou supposée, la langue, la religion ou l'origine nationale ou ethnique".

Selon le document, des membres de groupes minoritaires sont décédés pendant leur garde à vue et les allégations de mauvais traitement lors d'arrestations a augmenté, alors que l'usage excessif de la force par la police lors de manifestations est également un source de préoccupation.

Les Roms continuent de subir des discriminations dans tous les domaines et sont confrontés à des cas de destruction de leurs quartiers et à des expulsions forcées.

Les représentants alévis (courant progressiste de l'Islam particulier à la Turquie, 15 à 20% de la population turque) se plaignent d'un traitement discriminatoire dans l'exercice de leur religion tandis que la formation du clergé reste un problème majeur pour la communauté grecque orthodoxe.

Le rapport souligne toutefois quelques progrès depuis 2005, évoquant "des mesures bienvenues" pour apaiser les tensions à propos de la situation des Kurdes "qui continuent à vivre dans des conditions économiques et sociales difficiles".

Des mesures ont aussi été adoptées en matière d'accès aux soins de santé dans des régions où vit une proportion élevée de groupes minoritaires.

Le nombre d'enseignants est en hausse dans les écoles arméniennes et la Turquie a procédé à une révision de tous les manuels scolaires pour en éliminer le contenu discriminatoire, même si des progrès restent à faire dans ce domaine, conclut le rapport. (AFP, 7 fév 2011)

L'exode des chrétiens vers le Kurdistan s'accélère

L'exode des chrétiens vers la région autonome du Kurdistan s'accélère en raison des menaces auxquelles ils sont confrontés dans le reste de l'Irak, selon le dernier rapport de l'Organisation internationale pour les migrations (IOM), publié ces derniers jours.

Au 31 janvier, 1.078 familles s'étaient installées dans les trois provinces du Kurdistan, dont les trois quarts à Erbil, contre seulement 331 familles lors du précédent recensement de l'IOM datant du 15 décembre.

Selon l'IOM, cette croissance s'explique notamment par l'arrivée de 200 familles originaire de Ninive, la province du nord qui fut le berceau du christianisme irakien.
 
"En dépit de l'accroissement des mesures de sécurité à Bagdad, un profond sentiment d'insécurité persiste parmi les chrétiens de la capitale et beaucoup pensent à partir ou émigrer", assure le rapport.

"Un nombre croissant de familles chrétiennes déplacées veulent s'établir là où elles ont été déplacées en raison de la sécurité qui y règne et l'accueil de la population".

Par ailleurs beaucoup de chrétiens émigrent, selon l'IOM.
 
"Nous ne nous occupons que des déplacés à l'intérieur mais nos enquêteurs rapportent avoir entendu qu'il y avait beaucoup d'émigration et que ceux qui espéraient pouvoir le faire à l'avenir étaient nombreux", a confié à l'AFP Keegan de Lancie, responsable de la surveillance des mouvements de population en Irak pour l'IOM, basée à Amman.

Les attaques perpétrées contre les chrétiens se sont multipliées depuis les menaces d'Al-Qaïda, qui avait revendiqué le carnage de la cathédrale syriaque catholique à Bagdad, où 44 fidèles et deux prêtres avaient péri la veille de la Toussaint.

Sur les 800.000 à un million de chrétiens qui vivaient en Irak avant l'invasion de 2003, il n'en reste plus que la moitié. (AFP, 6 fév 2011)

Démolition prochaine d'une statue de l'amitié turco-arménienne

Les élus locaux de la ville turque de Kars (est) ont décidé mardi de démolir un monument érigé à la frontière avec l'Arménie et dédié à la réconciliation entre les deux pays, une décision qui intervient après une demande en ce sens du Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"Lors du conseil municipal d'aujourd'hui (mardi) il a été décidé que cette statue soit déplacée", a souligné au téléphone à l'AFP Özlem Öztürk, porte-parole de la mairie de Kars.

Interrogé sur la question de savoir si l'énorme monument en béton, haut de 30 m pouvait être transporté sans être démoli, le responsable est resté vague, évoquant "des évaluations techniques des autorités".

Le monument qui représente deux figures, mais en fait un seul être humain, déchiré en deux, avait été commandé en 2006. Il a été érigé, mais les travaux restent inachevés.
 Lors d'une récente visite à Kars, M. Erdogan a déclaré que les constructions non-conformes à l'architecture locale devraient être démolis. Désignant la statue, il avait notamment dit: "Ils ont érigé une monstruosité ici", ordonnant aux autorités locales de la démolir dans les plus brefs délais.

Les travaux de démolition devraient prendre deux mois, selon M. Öztürk.

Mehmet Aksoy, le célèbre sculpteur turc de la statue, avait estimé impossible que son oeuvre soit déplacée sans être détruite en raison des tonnes de ciment utilisées pour l'attacher à son socle, situé sur une colline.

Il avait affirmé que si la statue était détruite, le gouvernement islamo-conservateur serait mis au ban de la communauté internationale.

Cela constituera une "répétition de ce qu'ont fait les talibans en Afghanistan, en détruisant les statues de Bouddha" en 2001, dans la vallée de Bamiyan, a-t-il dit.

La Turquie et l'Arménie, divisées par la question des massacres d'Arméniens sous l'Empire ottoman (1915-1917), qu'Erevan voit comme un génocide, ont signé en octobre 2009 des protocoles de réconciliation. Mais le processus s'est enlisé dans des accusations mutuelles. (AFP, 1 fév 2011)

Turkish Supreme Court Rules Against Assyrian Monastery

In a ruling issued on January 26, 2011, Turkey's Supreme Court granted substantial parts of St. Gabriel Monastery, an Assyrian Christian religious center established in the 397 A.D. in south-east Anatolia, to the Turkish Treasury. This decision reversed a June, 2009 ruling by the district court of Midyat, which had rejected the claim of the Treasury, sending the case to the Supreme Court in Ankara. Kuryakos Ergün, the chairman of the foundation of the monastery, could not comment on how the monastery will react to the verdict, as the details are not clear yet.

Click here for pictures of the St. Gabriel monastery.

The trial is part of an orchestrated effort since 2008 by three neighboring Kurdish village heads associated with the ruling party AKP and the Turkish State to expropriate the monastery's lands (full coverage). The treasury claims land inside and adjacent to the monastery, which the monastery has owned for decades and has paid taxes for, belongs to the State. The many trials concerning this case have been closely followed internationally and have raised many concerns about religious freedom of Christians in Turkey. The monastery is one of the oldest monasteries of Christendom.

Symbol of repression of Christianity in Turkey

Erika Steinbach, the spokesperson for Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid of the German Parliamentary Group, said in a statement on January 27th, "The deprivation of the land of the monastery of St. Gabriel stands as symbol of repression of Christianity in Turkey. Even though we do not yet have the verdict and the full-text available and it has not yet a legal force, this landmark decision is a major setback for Christians in Turkey. The negative trend in religious freedom in Turkey is incompatible with human rights."

Dr. Renate Sommer, member of the European Parliament and an expert on Turkey, characterized the verdict as "expropriation." She regards the repeated postponing of the trials against the monastery as a demoralization effort towards the remaining Assyrians in Turkey, to induce them to leave the country. Regarding the plaintifs, she said "Unfortunately these fanatics are supported by the Turkish government, which has put a spoke in the monastery's wheels for decades. Since 1980 the monastery has been prohibited from educating priests. In addition to that the governing AKP supported the plaintiffs against the monastery."

Ironically on the day of the verdict the Turkish President Abdullah Gül, while visiting Strasbourg, criticized in another context the discrimination against Christians by the authorities of his country. However, such statements are perceived as camouflage. While recent constitutional changes in the course of the EU accession process might indicate compliance with formal requirements of Turkey towards rule of law (Article 2 of the Turkish Constitution), the legal practice, at least as applied to Christian minorities, is obviously far from that. As some observers conclude, the undemocratic composition of the some constitutional organs, such as the courts, in tandem with a state ideology enshrined in the Constitution, do not allow a viable application of rule of law.

According to the 2010 EU Progress Report on Turkey, "the number of rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) finds that Turkish violations of the ECHR continued to increase. During the reporting period the court delivered a total of 553 judgements finding that Turkey had violated the ECHR. The number of new applications to the ECHR went up for the fourth consecutive year. Since October 2009, a total of 5,728 new applications were made to the ECHR. The majority of them concern the right to a fair trial and protection of property rights. As of September 2010, 16,093 cases were pending before the ECHR regarding Turkey."

In the same report, the case of St. Gabriel is highlighted too, stating that Assyrians "...continue to face difficulties in property and land registration procedures. A number of court cases are in progress concerning both individuals and religious institutions. The St. Gabriel Syriac Orthodox monastery court cases regarding land ownership continued throughout the reporting period."

As an example, Turkey has yet to implement the ECHR judgment from March 2009 on the property rights of a Greek Orthodox church on the island of Bozcaada (Tenedos).

One option for St. Gabriel would be to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. (AINA, January 30, 2011)

Politique intérieure/Interior Politics

Décès de l'ancien Premier ministre islamiste Necmettin Erbakan

Necmettin Erbakan, premier chef de gouvernement islamiste de l'histoire de la Turquie et ancien mentor de l'actuel Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan, est décédé dimanche à 84 ans d'une crise cardiaque, ont annoncé son entourage et des médecins.

"La Turquie a perdu une de ces plus grandes personnalités", a déclaré son adjoint Oguzhan Asilturk, à la télévision NTV.

"Son rythme cardiaque s'est affolé brusquement... et nous n'avons rien pu faire", a déclaré à la presse le médecin chef de l'hôpital d'Ankara où il avait été admis début janvier.

M. Erdogan a immédiatement transmis ses condoléances à la famille de l'ancien leader historique du mouvement islamiste de Turquie.

"Il a été un bon exemple d'enseignant et de dirigeant pour les jeunes générations, de part sa personnalité, ses principes et le combat qu'il a mené", a-t-il déclaré aux télévisions.

Necmettin Erbakan, qui dirigeait le petit Parti du bonheur (Saadet, islamiste), était devenu Premier ministre dans un gouvernement de coalition en 1996.

Il avait été contraint un an plus tard à la démission sous la pression de l'armée, gardienne des valeurs laïques du pays, alors que son parti faisait la promotion de l'islam dans la vie quotidienne et de liens plus étroits avec l'Iran ou la Libye.

En 1998, la Cour constitutionnelle avait interdit sa formation, le Parti de la Prospérité (Refah), pour atteinte à la laïcité, et l'avait déchu de ses droits civiques. Des modérés, dont Erdogan, avaient alors pris leurs distances.

Il avait été condamné à deux ans et quatre mois de prison en 2002 -sanction commuée en assignation à résidence- pour falsification de documents.

M. Erbakan a été le mentor de M. Erdogan, mais ce dernier rejette aujourd'hui son passé islamiste, et affirme défendre une "démocratie conservatrice", ou "démocratie avancée", avec son Parti de la justice et du développement (AKP).

Surnommé "Hoca" ("Maître"), Necmettin Erbakan, sous des dehors bonhommes -silhouette rondouillarde, petite moustache blanche- était un vieux renard de la politique.

Il avait fait son retour en octobre dernier, se faisant élire à la présidence du Saadet, formation fondée en 2001 sur les cendres du Parti de la vertu (Fazilet), dissout par la justice.

Né en 1926 à Sinop, sur la mer Noire, étudiant brillant, il milite pour l'islam dès l'université. En 1948, il est ingénieur mécanicien. Il entame une carrière académique en 1948 puis passe un an à l'Université technique d'Aix-la-Chapelle (Allemagne).

Agrégé en 1953 à 27 ans, il est le plus jeune professeur agrégé des université turques, avant de retourner en Allemagne travailler en usine.

De retour en Turquie, il entre en politique en 1969. Rejeté par le Parti de la Justice (prédécesseur du Parti de la Juste Voie, le DYP de Tansu Ciller), il est élu député non inscrit en 1969.

Il crée le Parti de l'Ordre National (MNP, islamiste) en 1970, interdit en 1971 sous la pression des militaires. En 1972, il fonde le Parti du Salut National (MSP, islamiste) qui remporte 12% des voix aux législatives de 1973.

Il devient vice-Premier ministre de la coalition formée en 1974 entre le Parti Républicain du Peuple (CHP, social-démocrate) du premier ministre Bulent Ecevit et le MSP.

Après la rupture de cette alliance, il devient partenaire d'une coalition à quatre dirigée par Suleyman Demirel (1975-1977).

Comme beaucoup, il est interdit de politique pour dix ans après le coup d'Etat de 1980. L'interdiction est levée en 1987, et il devient chef du Refah.

En 1995, le Refah devient le premier parti avec 21% des voix. Erbakan devient Premier ministre en juin 1996, grâce à son alliance avec Tansu Ciller. (AFP,  Sibel Utku Bila, 27 fév 2011)

Le chef de l'opposition s'affirme victime d'écoutes téléphoniques

Le chef de l'opposition pro-laïque turque, Kemal Kiliçdaroglu, s'est dit victime mercredi d'écoutes téléphoniques ordonnées, selon lui, par le gouvernement islamo-conservateur, a rapporté l'agence de presse Anatolie.

"Mes téléphones (portables), ceux de ma maison et ceux de mes enfants sont mis sur écoute (...) Si cet acte honteux est commis par le gouvernement, que puis-je dire ?", s'est interrogé le dirigeant du Parti républicain du peuple (CHP), deuxième force politique de Turquie.

Il était interrogé par la presse sur des révélations concernant des écoutes téléphoniques pratiquées par les autorités visant le journaliste d'opposition Soner Yalçin, arrêté mardi dans le cadre d'une enquête concernant un projet présumé de putsch, l'affaire "Ergenekon".

Dans un récent entretien à l'AFP, le chef de l'opposition a dénoncé une dérive "à la Poutine" (Vladimir Poutine, Premier ministre russe) du Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan, citant notamment de nombreuses "atteintes à la liberté de la presse".

M. Yalçin, personnalité très connue de l'opposition, devrait comparaître prochainement devant un juge, et risque une incarcération.

Selon la loi, une écoute peut être ordonnée par la justice en cas d'urgence ou d'intérêt d'ordre public, notamment pour les affaires de terrorisme. (AFP, 16 fév 2011)

"Judicial Reform Bill" Passed through Parliament

The "Judicial Reform Bill" was passed through parliament on 9 Feburary after series of discussions between the government, ruled by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the main opposition party.

Meetings of the Justice Commission had started in a rather tensed atmosphere. Discussions on the "Draft Law on the Amendment of Certain Laws" had made some members of the Republican People's Party (CHP) to resign from the committee.

The high judiciary will be re-structured according to the new bill. The number of chambers of the Court of Appeals will be increased from 32 to 38; the number of chambers of the State Council will rise from 13 to 15.

As reported by the ntvmsnbc.com website, the new regulation enables the Court of Appeals and the State Council to allocate procedures to other chambers in case the workload exceeds the normal amount. Given that there will be enough members in the Court of Appeals chambers, some files can be handled by two court boards.

The law provides a significant number of employment opportunities within the high judiciary. A total of 722 staff members will be assigned to the Court of Appeals, the State Council and the Forensic Medicine Institution. In order to overcome a shortage of senior staff, members of the Court of Appeals First Presidency Board can also be elected if they were not members of the Court of Appeals for four years already, as it was ordered by the former version of the law.

One amendment is related to compensation claims. Accordingly, judges and prosecutors are no longer entitled to open compensation cases. Only the state can do that.

Ergin: Significant steps to come

In his speech of thanks after the draft law was accepted by the members of parliament, Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin said, "The strengthening of the high courts was an important step to prevent long trial procedures in Turkey".

"The next steps to be taken are foreseeable steps. The EU officials, the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and academics in Turkey will refer to these steps to a significant extend", Ergin indicated.

Minister Ergin mentioned some parts of the regulation such as "making the establishment of compromises instead of criminal procedures more effective" and "establishing a mediator for legal discrepancies". He said that "the workload of the high courts was going to be decreased by installing court of appeals".

CHP member İnce: "You will be taken to account"

Muharrem İnce, Group Deputy Chair of the CHP, said that Turkey was not going to change for the better when the decision is being passed.

"Nobody in Turkey trusts in the law any more. You have passed on the legislative authority to the head already, now you have also passed on the judicial authority".

"You might have taken over the YÖK members with the new regulations, but you cannot take over the judges. The Turkish judges have a conscience and they will take you to account for this". (BIA, 11 February 2011)

Les réformes démocratiques se font attendre

par Amitiés kurdes de Bretagne

Élections libres

Ankara, jeudi 3 février. L’union des journalistes dénonce une vague de licenciement sans précédent dans les médias turcs : sont particulièrement visés les journalistes qui auraient présenté le parti au pouvoir sous un jour défavorable ou révélé des violations des droits humains. Pour l’union des journalistes, c’est une première mesure d’un plan pour contrer l’opposition politique en vue de la préparation des élections législatives de juin prochain.

Droit syndical

Ankara, vendredi 4 février. 10 000 manifestants ont été violemment dispersés par les forces de police, faisant de nombreux blessés. Ils venaient, à l’appel de leurs syndicats, demander le retrait des lois modifiant le code du travail et réduisant sensiblement leurs droits, alors qu’ils sont déjà durement exploités. L’ironie du sort voulut qu’au même moment, dans un quartier tout proche, 16 ouvriers périssent dans les flammes de leur usine en feu, les pompiers n’ayant pas pu maitriser l’incendie faute de moyens en eau suffisants :

Les citernes des camions-pompiers étaient vides, note l’association des juristes progressistes, alors que les canons à eau des forces de l’ordre étaient utilisés pour réprimer les travailleurs défendant démocratiquement leurs droits.

Droit à une justice indépendante

Siirt, samedi 5 février. Les familles de personnes disparues ont organisé une marche sur les lieux de la découverte d’un deuxième charnier au lieu dit "Newala Kasaba" pour demander que justice soit faite. Des milliers de manifestants, dont Ayla Akat Ata, Députée de Batman, sont venus de Diyarbakir, Mardin, Sirnak et Kurtalan pour soutenir la manifestation, avec l’appui de Meya-Der (association d’aide aux familles de tués), IHD (Association pour la Défense des Droits humains) et la section de Batman du Barreau des avocats : la manifestation s’est heurtée aux forces de sécurité qui ont procédé à des interpellations. Un sit-in est organisé chaque semaine par IHD à Diyarbakir pour que soient élucidés les crimes "à auteurs inconnus" et que les coupables soient traduits en justice (photo).

Droit à étudier

Istanbul, samedi 5 février. L’IHD publie un rapport sur les violences dont ont été victimes les étudiants kurdes à l’Université de Marmara. Selon l’IHD, la pression a été telle que certains n’ont pas eu d’autre choix que de quitter l’université,

Droit à revendiquer son identité

La revendication identitaire est venue spectaculairement sur le devant de la scène avec le procès de Diyarbakir des 151 personnalités kurdes réclamant le droit de présenter leur défense dans leur langue maternelle. Cette demande a été refusée et le procès ajourné au 18 avril prochain (en attendant, les 2 000 détenus politiques restent scandaleusement en prison). Pour autant, la campagne pour "la vie en deux langues" continue comme le montre la section de Hakkari de l’IHD qui accroche sa nouvelle enseigne écrite en deux langues. (André Métayer, dimanche 6 février 2011)

Forces armées/Armed Forces

Espionage, Blackmailing and Prostitution within the Military

The Istanbul 11th High Criminal Court accepted the indictment based on the "investigation of espionage and blackmailing within the military". The related investigation had been initiated on 4 August 2010 upon information on a prostitution ring.

The 250-page indictment includes the names of 56 suspects, 16 of whom are detained, among them also retired Colonel İbrahim Sezer. The court decided to keep the 16 defendants in detention. The first hearing is scheduled for 20 and 21 April.

Investigation set off with allegations of prostitution

The indictment says that military officers İbrahim Sezer and Zeki Metsen frequently sent women for prostitution from a prostitution ring. These women were met by top rank commanders, military officers and even students in rented houses. The indictment claims that the criminal organization was structured in separate cells and illegally obtained personal data of approximately 5,000 people.

Espionage allegations

A significant part of the indictment prepared by the Istanbul Public Chief Prosecution deals with alleged espionage carried out by the organization.

Colonel Sezer is the supposed head of the organization. Together with the other suspects, he illegally obtained about 165,000 digital documents and data from residence registries and offices. This data should have remained confidential since it concerned the security of state according to Articles 326 ("Documents relating to state security"), 327 ("Obtaining information relating to state security") and 334 ("Obtaining prohibited information") of the Turkish Criminal Law.

The documents

The documents include information on defence projects developed by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) with other companies, modernization of helicopters and planes, classified information on weapons production, "highly classified" methods and plans of defence strategies and writings concerning the state security.

Additionally, secretly recorded footage of "classified" locations is mentioned in the indictment such as submarines, war ships, confidential military facilities, war planes, hangars for those planes and maintenance workshops. Moreover, classified information and documents regarding strategic weapons, combat vehicles and technical specifications of submarines are included.

Documents allegedly for sale

As indicated in the indictment, the members of the organization were systematically spying on the TSK, the Undersecretaryship of Defence Industries, the General Staff Electronics Systems Command (GES), the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) and the Air Electronics Industry (Havelsan).

A part of these documents was allegedly paid for by the members of the organization. Some documents they apparently tried to sell to foreign governments. (BIA, 25 February 2011)

Un tribunal turc ordonne l'incarceration de 162 militaires accusés de putsch

Un tribunal turc a ordonné vendredi l'arrestation de 162 militaires, dont des hauts gradés, en cours de jugement pour leur implication supposée dans un projet de coup d'Etat en 2003 contre le gouvernement, a rapporté l'agence de presse Anatolie.

Le tribunal a ordonné que 133 accusés, présents à l'audience de vendredi, soient mis en détention parmi lesquels les anciens chef de l'armée de l'air et de la marine Ibrahim Firtina et Ozden Ornek qui ont aussitôt été emmenés en prison.

Le tribunal a également ordonné l'arrestation de 29 autres accusés qui n'assistaient pas à l'audience et parmi lesquels figure le supposé "cerveau" du projet de putsch, l'ancien général Cetin Dogan.

Auparavant le procureur avait demandé le placement en détention préventive de quelque 180 militaires.

Au total, 196 suspects, dont des officiers supérieurs d'active, encourent 15 à 20 ans de prison pour "tentative de renversement du gouvernement ou utilisation de la force et de la violence pour l'empêcher d'accomplir ses fonctions".

L'acte d'accusation leur reproche d'avoir projeté en 2003 une série d'actes de déstabilisation, allant d'attentats contre des mosquées au crash d'un avion de combat turc lors d'un accrochage avec la chasse grecque, pour créer un climat de chaos favorable à un putsch visant à chasser de pouvoir le gouvernement issu de la mouvance islamiste.

L'ex-général Dogan, qui commandait au moment des faits la Première armée basée à Istanbul, a affirmé que les documents saisis par la justice provenaient d'un séminaire et n'étaient qu'un scénario parmi d'autres, décrivant une situation fictive de tension pour évaluer les meilleures façons d'y réagir. (AFP, 11 fév 2011)

L'armée turque identifie les corps d'un charnier comme ceux de rebelles

L'armée turque a identifié mardi une quinzaine de corps découverts dans une fosse commune de l'est du pays à l'occasion d'une enquête sur le sort de Kurdes portés disparus comme étant ceux de rebelles kurdes tués lors de combats en 1999, a rapporté l'agence de presse Anatolie.

Saisi par des familles de disparus, le procureur de Mutki, une ville de la province de Bitlis, peuplée en majorité de Kurdes, a ordonné début janvier le lancement de recherches dans un terrain vague servant de décharge publique à la sortie du bourg, aboutissant à la découverte de 16 corps.

Après enquête, il a été établi que les corps de 13 rebelles du Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK) appartenant à un groupe de 15 rebelles tués lors de combats les 8 et 9 septembre 1999 ont été enterrés par la mairie dans la zone en question après autopsie et enquête d'un procureur, a affirmé l'état-major de la gendarmerie dans un communiqué cité par Anatolie.

Deux autres rebelles tués une semaine plus tard ont également été enterrés au même endroit, selon la même procédure, ajoutent les militaires.

"Les photographies, les rapports d'autopsie et les permis d'inhumer des rebelles sont dans les dossiers de l'instruction, les procès-verbaux et les documents de l'inhumantion se trouvent à la mairie de Mutki", affirme le document, selon Anatolie.

L'est et le sud-est de la Turquie, peuplés en majorité de Kurdes, ont été le théâtre de violents affrontements entre les forces armées turques et le PKK, depuis le début de l'insurrection du PKK en 1984.

Le conflit a fait environ 45.000 morts, des dizaines de milliers de déplacés et a donné lieu à de nombreuses allégations de violations des droits de l'Homme par les deux camps, incluant des exécutions extrajudiciaires.

Une précédente enquête dans la province de Sirnak, voisine de celle de Bitlis, a conduit à l'ouverture en septembre du procès de sept prévenus, dont un colonel de gendarmerie, accusés d'avoir participé aux exécutions sommaires de 20 personnes dans les années 1990, quand le conflit kurde battait son plein. (AFP, 7 fév 2011)

A general admits land mines planted by TSK

Contrary to an earlier argument that land mines which killed six Turkish soldiers in Çukurca, Hakkari province, were planted by the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Maj. Gen. Gürbüz Kaya has said the mines were planted by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).

However, he put the blame for the deaths of the soldiers on Brig. Gen. Zeki Es, saying, “How can I know everything about land mines planted upon an order by Es?”

Kaya’s remarks came on Tuesday during the hearing of a trial into the deaths of the soldiers. The soldiers were killed in a mine blast in May 2009.

The explosion was initially blamed on the PKK, but a telephone conversation between Es and Kaya that was anonymously posted online revealed that the mines had been planted by the TSK. In the conversation, Es said the land mines were not remotely set by the PKK and had in fact been planted earlier by the TSK. In an attempt to console the general, Kaya said: “It is not at all important. We are fighting at the cost of our lives. A few simple mistakes can be made.” Es is the only suspect who is under arrest.

“I did not give any illegal order to the commander of the brigade [Es]. Military units planted the land mines in 181 areas under my command on their own,” Kaya said, and added that Es did not inform him about planting land mines in the Çukurca area.

However, Es denied the claims that he planted the mines without the knowledge of Kaya, and said: “I had a booklet prepared about where to plant land mines in the area. And I shared the booklet with Kaya. Some other [military] officers witnessed when I submitted the booklet to the general.”

Kaya in addition admitted that it was his voice in the recording but argued that he spoke longer at that time and only some parts were cut and posted online. “I was just trying to console Es,” he noted.

According to Kaya, he was misled by an earlier statement by a commander about the land mines and that was why he claimed that the mines were planted by the terrorist PKK. “Es told me that the land mines belonged to the TSK, but a commander said the contrary. And I trusted him.”

In response to a question by the lawyers of families of the slain soldiers about why a hand-drawn map of the area where the soldiers were killed was later changed, Kaya said the map was indeed changed, and added that it was done so as to better show the details of the area. He denied arguments that the map was altered to change the facts about the mine blast.(TODAY’S ZAMAN, 3 February 2011)

408 Suicides of Soldiers in 5 Years - 408 Doubts

The National Defence Minister, Vecdi Gönül, announced that 408 incidents of suspicious deaths of soldiers were ascertained throughout the past five years. With this statement, Gönül responded to a resolution of questions submitted by Fatma Kurtulan, Peace and Democracy Party MP for the south-eastern city of Van. Gönül stated that the number of deaths declined compared to previous years.

In her resolution of questions submitted on 12 November 2010, BDP member Kurtulan pointed to the suspicious deaths of Kurdish soldiers such as Hasan Çakır, İdris Çiftçi, Erdi Alkan, Şaban Koçak, Sait Kızılkaya and Mehmet Çavdar. She had inquired about the kind of measures taken to clarify these deaths and about the number of soldiers who died between 2002 and 2010.

"Number of suicides decreased"

It was said in the response of the Ministry that the investigations related to those deaths were still being continued. As far as the death of Sait Kızılkaya is concerned, it was announced that the investigation carried out by the Military Prosecutor of the Gendarmerie Public Security Corps Command resulted in the decison against prosecution. The decision was in the process of notification, it was declared.

Moreover, the reply of the Ministry put forward that 408 soldiers of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) "died as the result of suicide" within the past five years. In the course of applied precautions, the number of suicide incidents in the TSK declined compared to previous years, it was said.

Soldiers take psycho-social tests

The reply indicated that reports related to accidents and suicide attempts that resulted in death were prepared "meticulously" and analyzed. The measures taken to prevent this sort of incidents were described as follows:

"Guidance and Counseling Centres are functioning in all military posts of the TSK. Conscripts are taking psycho-social test and are kept under control continuously. Soldiers who are under the risk of suicide are not being appointed to the duty of armed guards. Materials that could be used for a potential suicide such as weapons or drugs are being kept under control". (BIA, Ayça SÖYLEMEZ, 2 February 2011)

Colonel's remarks show extrajudicial killings were routine in Southeast

Recent accounts by retired Col. Arif Doğan -- a key suspect in the Ergenekon case, who confessed to having killed or ordered to have killed hundreds of people in Turkey’s Southeast while he was the head of an illegal intelligence unit during the 1990s -- have revealed that extrajudicial killings were routine back then.

Doğan’s shocking confessions about JİTEM, an illegal network inside the gendarmerie that is believed to have been responsible for thousands of unsolved murders in eastern and southeastern Turkey in the ‘90s, have outraged relatives of individuals who are believed to have been killed by JİTEM. His confessions came two weeks ago during the 96th hearing in the second Ergenekon trial, where dozens of suspects stand accused on coup charges. Since then, he has appeared on many television programs and has attracted attention with his calm demeanor when discussing the murders he ordered or committed. He also acknowledged these murders in a recent book. Relatives of the JİTEM victims, however, say they just keeping losing confidence in the state each time they see Doğan on television and hear his confessions.

Baran Vural, a co-plaintiff in the ongoing JİTEM trial in which 16 suspects in are being accused of multiple murders, arson and bomb attacks in Diyarbakır, Mardin, Batman and Şırnak, said Doğan’s remarks reveal that murder was routine in the Southeast during the ‘90s. He says it would be wrong to refer to the deaths of hundreds of people during those times as unsolved murders. “The perpetrator of these murders is the state. They are not unsolved,” he said.

Vural argues that Doğan is trying to gloss over the truth by shouldering all the responsibility. “The people he killed were civilians and defenseless. What is important here is the trial of the forces behind Doğan,” he says.

Ahmet Ceylan is thought to be one of the victims of JİTEM. He was detained by members of JİTEM in 1994 in Diyarbakır prior to going missing. His family applied to the gendarmerie, police and the prosecutor’s office but no explanation was made to them. His body was then found in an empty field five days later. (Today's Zaman, Feb 1, 2011)

Affaires religieuses/Religious Affairs

Closure Trial for Alevi Association

The Çankaya Cem House Founding Association is facing a closure trial because they did not withdraw articles from their statutes that recognized Cem houses as places of worship. Cem houses are Alevi houses of assemblage. The first hearing is held today (10 February) before the Ankara 16th Civil Court of First Instance.

Fevzi Gümüş, President of the Pir Sultan Abdal Culture Association, and lawyer Ali Yıldırım, Head of the Alevi Research Centre, made a joint statement to support the Çankaya Cem House Founding Association. They declared, "The Alevi expect as much respect for their beliefs as they demonstrate for other beliefs. This is the most natural thing!"

From Department of Religious Affairs via the ministry to court

The dispute as subject of the legal proceedings was initiated by a writ (no. 1773) sent by the Department of Religious Affairs to the Ministry of the Interior on 17 December 2004. It conveyed the opinion that "Shiism as a sub-interpretation of Islam will not have separate places of worship apart from the 'mosques and prayer rooms' used as common places of worship. For the aforementioned reasons, it was not possible to evaluate Cem houses and similar places as places of worship".

The Directorate of the Associations Office within the Ministry of the Interior replied to the Ankara Governorship on 30 March 2005 (writ no. 1277). The Çankaya Cem Houses Founding Association was requested to remove the articles that recognized cem houses as places of worship from their statutes.

The Ankara Governorship forwarded the ministry's evaluation to the foundation three times and demanded to withdraw the related articles 2 and 4 from the statutes.

The association rejected the request and answered to the governorship that "Cem houses were accepted as places of worship in the common opinion of the Alevi community. The provisions in the statutes are not going to be changed". Thereupon, the issue was taken to court.

The Governorship applied to the Ankara Public Chief Prosecution for the closure of the Çankaya Cem House Founding Association. (BIA, 10 February 2011)

"Religious Indication on IDs Contrary to Human Rights"

Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights at the Council of Europe, urged Turkey in a letter to lift the religious indication from identity cards and to abolish religious education at school.

In February 2010, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) had in fact decided for a violation of freedom of religion upon the application filed by Turkish national Sinan Işık in 2005. According to the decree, the religious indication on IDs breaches Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights on conscience and religion. The court emphasized that a person is not obliged to announce his/her religion and beliefs.

In 2007, the ECHR ruled upon the application of Hasan Zengin that compulsory religious education at school should be lifted.

In his letter, Hammarberg also recommended the opening of the seminary for religious education on Heybeliada, one of the Princess Islands off the coast of Istanbul in the Sea of Marmara.

Hammarberg's letter was answered by Ambassador Daryal Batıbay, Permanent Representative for Turkey at the Council of Europe. Batıbay said that the investigation regarding the lifting of the religious education on IDs was still being continued.

According to data compiled by the ECHR, Turkey was among the countries with the most violations of the European Convention on Human Rights between 1959 and 2009. (BIA, Erol ÖNDEROĞLU, 7 February 2011)

Un millier de manifestants à Istanbul pour soutenir le peuple égyptien

Un millier de personnes se sont rassemblées après la prière musulmane du vendredi devant une mosquée d'Istanbul pour exprimer leur soutien à la révolte du peuple égyptien, a constaté l'AFP.

"Vive l'intifada mondiale", "personne ne peut arrêter l'islam" ont scandé les manifestants, 750 selon la police, réunis à l'appel de plusieurs organisations islamistes turques.

Les participants, qui pour nombre d'entre eux arboraient des drapeaux égyptiens et palestiniens ainsi que des portraits du président égyptien Hosni Moubarak barrés du slogan "les tyrans ont peur, l'intifada progresse", ont également prié pour les victimes du soulèvement égyptien.

"Le pharaon est en train d'être renversé. Que cela serve de leçon à tous les leaders du monde musulman qui soutiennent Israël (...) Désormais, le feu de la liberté est en train de flamber", a affirmé devant la foule Bülent Yildirim, le président de l'association humanitaire islamiste IHH.

C'est cette association qui avait affrété en mai un navire d'aide humanitaire à destination de Gaza à bord duquel ont péri neuf militants lors d'un assaut par l'armée israélienne.

Interrogé par l'AFP, M. Yildirim a affiché des sympathies pour l'organisation islamiste égyptienne des Frères musulmans.

"Les Frères musulmans sont une organisation puissante dans tout le Proche Orient, en Turquie et dans le monde entier. Ils soutiennent le peuple. Ils participeront aux élections (...). On verra bien qui sera le gagnant. En tout cas, le monde devra respecter l'issue de ce scrutin" a-t-il déclaré. (AFP, 4 fév 2011)

Un film turc venge dans le sang israélien les morts du Mavi Marmara

On ne tue pas impunément un Turc. Telle est la leçon inculquée à l'armée israélienne par une superproduction stambouliote sortie en salles vendredi, qui venge dans une débauche d'hémoglobine la mort de neuf compatriotes en mai à bord du navire d'aide humanitaire turc Mavi Marmara.

"La Vallée des Loups - Palestine", programmé dans une dizaine de pays européens et plus de 20 pays du Proche Orient, promet de recueillir un franc succès auprès du public de la région, mais risque de compliquer la tâche des diplomates turcs alors que les relations turco-israéliennes sont au plus bas.

"Allez-y, montrez au monde qui est vraiment l'Etat d'Israël". En ce lundi 31 mai, peu avant l'aube, c'est par ces ordres que l'incarnation du mal, un officier israélien dénommé Moshe Ben Eliezer dans le film, lance le signal de l'assaut contre une flottille d'aide humanitaire à destination de Gaza.

Quelques scènes de massacres --tournées cet hiver à bord du vrai Mavi Marmara-- plus tard, l'heure de la vengeance a sonné: Polat Alemdar, justicier turc à mi-chemin entre l'agent secret et le chef de gang, arrive en Israël avec deux comparses, et il n'est pas content.

Son objectif: exécuter l'odieux Moshe, une mission dont il s'acquittera au terme de 110 minutes de fusillades ponctuées d'exactions commises par l'armée israélienne contre d'innocents civils palestiniens, comme l'enfouissement d'un enfant paralytique sous les ruines de sa maison.

Avant même sa sortie, le film a déjà créé la polémique: en Allemagne, où une avant-première prévue jeudi coïncidait avec les commémorations de l'Holocauste, une commission a décidé de l'interdire aux moins de 18 ans, en raison de son caractère violent et "propagandiste".

L'ambassadeur d'Israël en Turquie a pour sa part dénoncé des relents d'antisémitisme.

"Même dans les extraits, on voit qu'il s'agit d'un pamphlet (...) Il y a des généralisations relatives au peuple juif et quelques approches antisémites assez dérangeantes", a déclaré Gabby levy, cité par l'agence Anatolie.

"La Vallée des Loups", série très populaire diffusée en Turquie depuis 2003, avait déjà provoqué une controverse avec Israël en janvier 2010, en raison d'un épisode dans lequel Polat Alemdar prenait d'assaut une mission diplomatique pour sauver un enfant turc kidnappé par les services secrets israéliens.

Ses créateurs se défendent pourtant de tout sentiment antijuif.

"Nous n'avons aucun problème avec aucun peuple. Il n'y a pas d'antisémitisme là-dedans", a déclaré Necati Sasmaz, l'acteur incarnant Polat Alemdar.

L'ennemi, c'est le sionisme, pas les juifs, assure Bahadir Özdener, scénariste du film: "Nous pointons du doigt une idéologie fascisante et raciste, c'est elle que nous mettons à mort sous les yeux du public."

Une jeune et belle juive américaine est d'ailleurs entraînée dans les aventures de Polat, et finira par prendre fait et cause pour les Palestiniens.

Dans un contexte de fortes tensions entre Israël et la Turquie --Ankara exige des excuses et des compensations pour l'attaque du Mavi Marmara-- le film fait néanmoins tiquer les milieux diplomatiques.

"Ils (l'équipe du film) sont motivés par le profit. Ils ont fait un premier film sur l'Irak et pensent maintenant qu'ils vont bien réussir à vendre celui-là, notamment dans le monde arabe", a affirmé à des journaliste un diplomate turc de haut rang.

"Ca n'est sans doute pas très bénéfique mais on ne peut pas les empêcher de le faire", a poursuivi cette source, parlant sous le couvert de l'anonymat.

Un premier film sorti en 2006, "La Vallée des Loups - Irak", a attiré 4,25 millions de spectateurs. (AFP, 28 jan 2011)

Socio-économique / Socio-economic

"Bag of Laws" Passes from Parliament

The controversial "Bag of Laws" was passed into law by the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM). Many parts of the draft bill were criticized by labour trade unions before it went to parliament. The law has still to be approved by President Abdullah Gül.

The law regulates several kinds of amnesty and social rights. Regarding the amnesty for students, the way was paved for students who were expelled from university to return to the higher education institutions. However, cases related to sentences based on "terror crimes" were not considered.

As far as the victims of the military coups in 1972 and 1980 are concerned, the right to a loan of social security benefits for the time they spent in custody or prison was only granted to the ones who were acquitted at the time. They have to apply within six months.

Workers' protests were considered

Labour unions had protested a number of issues while the draft bill was being discussed in parliament and some of their points were considered by the politicians.

Some provisions of the draft bill were withdrawn such as the "equalization" related to work life, "an extended probation period" and "working from home or a remote place".

Acquited debt for Erbakan

The law provides a reduction of debt for Necmettin Erbakan, former Prime Minister and Chair of the Prosperity Party, in respect of the "Lost Billions" trial. A referring proposal was submitted by State Minister Cevdet Yılmaz and added later on as a provisional article.

Originally, Erbakan had to pay TL 12.5 million (€ 6.25 million) including interest. With the new law, his debt will shrink to approximately TL 1.2 million (€ 600,000). Considering the inflation rate, Erbakan will have to pay TL 1.8 million (€ 900,000) the most.

Other regulations:

- Silicosis patients will retire.

- Goods and services for subsidizing the Turkish Coal Mines are exempt from the Public Procurement Law.

- The finances of political parties will be audited by the Constitutional Court. Political parties may incure any sort of expenditures on political activities.

- Tax fees and Social Security premiums that were not paid until 31 December 2010 will be re-configured. The claims will be re-calculated according to the inflation rate.

- Monetary fines and particularly traffic fines below TL 120 (€ 60) will be lifted. Only the cigarette fine is exempt from this regulation.

- A female labourer who gives birth to a premature baby is entitled to use her full maternity leave after the birth including the time she was not able to take off before the birth. Whatever is left from the eight weeks maternity leave before the birth can be added to the eight weeks maternity leave after the birth.

- The statistics to be issued by the trade unions after 30 June 2011 shall be considered.

- The Turkish Banking and Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) and the Capital Markets Board (SPK) are going to be relocated to Istanbul.

- Social aid and solidarity foundations may accept conditional grants to be issued to entitled students of higher education institutions and legal persons until 31 December 2015.

- Taking any kind of animal into forests will be forbidden. (BIA, Elif GENCKAL, 15 February 2011)

La reprise économique en Turquie ne console pas les sans-emploi

La Turquie peut se vanter d'une reprise économique spectaculaire après la crise globale mais le citoyen ordinaire a peu de raisons de se réjouir dans un pays où le taux de chômage reste fort tandis que le gouvernement mène une politique d'austérité.

Bayram Dalyan à 31 ans. Malgré son diplôme universitaire, il enchaîne les emplois temporaires: manoeuvre, serveur ou coursier. Il est actuellement enquêteur contractuel et gagne un peu moins de 200 euros par mois, soit le quart d'un salaire décent.

Il fait partie des 300.000 jeunes enseignants qui désespèrent de travailler dans les écoles publiques malgré une carence d'instituteurs, et ce en raison de restrictions draconiennes à l'embauche imposées par le gouvernement, qui offre seulement des contrats temporaires pour contenir le budget de l'Etat.

"Les chiffres macro-économiques peuvent sembler corrects, mais concernant les vraies demandes du peuple, vous verrez que l'économie est désastreuse", bougonne-t-il.

Sirotant un thé dans un café du centre-ville d'Ankara, l'aspirant enseignant ironise sur l'état de l'économie: "Effectivement, l'économie se porte bien: Je vois de plus en plus de gens recueillant les fruits gâtés et les restes de légumes sur les places des marchés le soir..."

Plus loin, bravant le froid, Eyüp Kostan vend des calepins qu'il fabrique lui même.

Ce jeune homme de 24 ans a postulé à de nombreux emplois depuis sa sortie d'une école technique en 2007.

"Quand je lis tout ces articles sur le succès économique, j'enrage", dit-il, et de continuer: "Il s'agit uniquement des banques, des taux d'intérêts et de la Bourse. Mais que devient le peuple?"

Plongée dans la récession avec la crise financière mondiale, l'économie turque a enregistré une croissance de 11,8%, 10,2% puis 5,5% durant les trois premiers trimestres de 2010, dépassant largement le rythme de la reprise globale.

Le secteur financier en particulier, réformé de fond en comble au début des années 2000, s'est montré très résistant.

Cependant le chômage reste un défi majeur pour le gouvernement dans un pays où la moitié de la population active est constituée de jeunes. Le secteur agricole en déclin pousse en outre les non diplômés à émigrer vers les villes.

Pour le trimestre septembre-novembre, le taux de chômage s'est chiffré à 11,2% de la population active, soit 2,9 millions de sans-emplois, selon les statistiques officielles. Toutefois selon les experts, le chiffre réel serait de l'ordre de 20%.

Le taux est d'autant plus alarmant pour les jeunes de moins de 24 ans: 21,3%.

Conséquence: le week-end dernier à Corum (centre), plus d'un millier de candidats ont fait la queue pour passer un examen au palais de justice local qui embauchait 16 greffiers, tandis que 4.300 autres personnes étaient en compétition à Izmir (ouest) pour 160 postes similaires.

La presse rapporte régulièrement des cas de jeunes diplômés obligés de faire des petits boulots, et le problème semble s'amplifier avec la volonté controversée du gouvernement d'inaugurer des dizaines de nouvelles universités.

Le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan a balayé les critiques, arguant qu'"il vaut mieux être un chômeur diplômé" que sans diplôme.

Son parti issu de la mouvance islamiste, le Parti de la justice et du développement (AKP), a tenté d'adoucir les mesures d'austérité en vigueur par une série d'arrangements sociaux ciblant les classes les plus pauvres: accès aux services sanitaires, construction de logements et distribution alimentaire.

Aux élections législatives prévues cet été, l'AKP part favori et brigue un troisième mandat consécutif. (AFP, 11 fév 2011)

Police Violence against Demonstrating Labourers

The police in Ankara intervened with tear gas and water cannons against labour rights defenders just when Kasım Birtek, Secretary General of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Public Employees (KESK), called on the Ankara Governorship "to end the obstruction of a legal, legitimate and democratic right". The police set up roadblocks on the Ziya Gökalp Avenue in the centre of the capital; clashes occurred between demonstrators and the police on Thursday afternoon (3 February).

The controversial "Bag of Laws" was on the Thursday agenda of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM). Demonstrators tried to pass through the roadblock set up by the riot forces and armed combat cars. The protestors had planned to encircle the parliament building with a chain of people and to make their voices heard. Some groups of demonstrators threw stones at the police. Several protestors were injured. The police made use of tear gas as they had already done against protesting TEKEL workers. Also Çetin Soysal, Member of Parliament of the Republican Peoples Party (CHP), was affected by the tear gas.

Demonstrators shouted slogans such as "Tayyip, take the law and forget about it" or "The capital of the workers' union will be eaten up". Members of the Platform of KESK Branches went on a sit-down strike in front of their branches to express their condemnation for the police terror.

Protests against the "Bag Law" were initiated in mayor cities across the country such as Istanbul and Izmir in the west, Diyarbakır in the south-east and Trabzon on the north-eastern Black Sea coast. People from 81 provinces joined the protest. In the course of the protest march in Ankara on Thursday, the Governorship refused permission to the protstors to form a chain of people around the parliament building, announcing that this would be illegal. KESK Secretary General Birtek condemned the announcement and said, "Neither will the labourers join the bag nor will they give up the struggle for the protection of their rights".

Çerkezoğlu: Extensive security measures

Ali Çerkezoğlu, Secretary General of the Istanbul Medical Chamber, told bianet that rights defenders from the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions (DİSK), KESK, the Turkey Union of Chambers of Architects and Engineers (TMMOB) and The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) gathered in front of their organizations' head offices in the morning.  Çerkezoğlu drew attention to extensive security measures.

Keskin: Police announced demonstration to be illegal

Subsequently, the protestors came together on the College Square and started walking down the Ziya Gökalp Avenue heading for the parliament building. Gökhan Keskin, student of the Ankara University Faculty of Communications (Ilef), told bianet that the police had set up roadblocks and announced that 'the demonstration they had joined was not legal' in order to disperse the crowd.

Yet, the roadblock set up by the police created tension. The police used tear gas and water cannons to intervene against the demonstrators.

In line with the Governorship, the Minister of the Interior, Beşir Atalay, pointed to the law that bans demonstrations, marches and meetings around the parliament building. "The unions are using expressions like 'We will encircle the Parliament' which is not included in any official notification. Tolerating this kind of unlawful actions is out of the question".

Closed session in the Parliament

At the same time, the Parliamentary General Assembly held a closed session to accept a proposal submitted by members of the CHP. The session took ten minutes.

The proposal was related to the third section of the "Bag Law" on the "increase of pay for insured and entitled persons". It was submitted by Muharrem İnce as the Deputy Chair of the CHP Parliamentary Group and his colleagues.

"Your attacks cannot stop our rightful struggle"

Many people came together on Istanbul's Taksim Square to voice their protest against the police intervention in Ankara. The protest action was organized by the Platform of Istanbul Branches of KESK. They said that the police state of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) attacked the workers who wanted to voice their most ingenuous democratic demands in Ankara. "The attacks will not be enough to stop our rightful and legitimate struggle", it was said.

About 200 people from KESK, the Students Collective, the Education and Science Workers' Union (Eğitim-Sen), the Community Centres, the Platform for Social Freedom and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) walked down Istiklal Avenue until the Galatasaray Square to express their protest. (BIA, 4 February 2011)

La police réprime une manifestation de travailleurs à Ankara

La police turque a fait usage de canons à eau et de gaz lacrymogène jeudi à Ankara pour disperser plusieurs milliers de travailleurs réunis dans la capitale turque pour dénoncer un projet de loi controversé du gouvernement sur le code du travail, a constaté l'AFP.

Plus de 10.000 personnes se sont rassemblées dans le centre-ville à l'appel des syndicats d'ouvriers afin de marcher vers le Parlement où est actuellement débattu le projet en question.

Mais la police anti-émeutes déployée en grand nombre a empêché les manifestants d'avancer à l'aide de barricades, canons à eau et gaz lacrymogène.

Les travailleurs ont riposté en lançant des pierres et des bouteilles à la police.

Au moins un manifestant a été blessé.

Le ministre de l'Intérieur Besir Atalay avait mis en garde mercredi les syndicats, indiquant qu'il ne seraient pas autorisés à avancer vers le Parlement.

Selon les syndicats, le projet prévoit de sévères restrictions dans les droits des travailleurs du secteur public et privé tandis que le gouvernement islamo-conservateur affirme que la législation augmentera l'efficacité personnelle dans le monde du travail. (AFP, 3 fév 2011)

Explosions dans une zone industrielle d'Ankara: 17 morts, nombreux blessés

Le bilan des morts dans deux explosions survenues jeudi à plusieurs heures d'intervalle dans un quartier industriel d'Ankara, qui seraient dues au gaz, est passé de 16 à 17 morts, ont annoncé vendredi les autorités.

Une puissante déflagration s'est d'abord produite dans la matinée dans une unité de production de groupes électrogènes, dans le quartier industriel et de commerce Ostim. Six personnes ont alors été tuées et une vingtaine blessées.

L'explosion serait due à une fuite de gaz ou à des bouteilles d'oxygène, selon les autorités.

Deux étages de l'immeuble abritant l'usine se sont effondrés.

Selon des responsables locaux, des ouvriers seraient encore bloqués sous les décombres. Plusieurs secouristes accompagnés de chiens pisteurs s'activaient dans le froid à leur recherche malgré la tombée de la nuit, selon les images diffusées par les chaînes de télévision turques.

La déflagration s'est produite dans un vaste atelier situé dans un bâtiment de quatre étages fabriquant des générateurs et des machines de forage pour une compagnie privée. Près d'une centaine d'ouvriers travaillaient dans l'atelier, selon le gouverneur.

Dans la soirée, un incendie s'est déclaré dans un atelier de produits inflamables utilisés dans la production de peinture, non loin du lieu de la première explosion.

L'incendie a provoqué l'explosion d'une citerne contenant du gaz liquéfié, tuant quatre ouvriers et blessant huit autres, a indiqué le gouverneur sur les lieux du sinistre.

Plusieurs autres ouvriers seraient en outre piégés dans les décombres et des secouristes tentaient de les retrouver, a rapporté la chaîne d'information CNN-Türk. (AFP, 3-4 fév 2011)

La polémique enfle en Turquie sur des restrictions contre l'alcool

Une nouvelle réglementation qui durcit d'un cran la vente d'alcool en Turquie provoque une virulente polémique, les laïcs dénonçant une nouvelle ingérence du gouvernement islamo-conservateur dans la vie privée et les libertés individuelles.

La nouvelle législation entrée en vigueur début janvier renforce notamment les conditions de délivrance de licence pour vendre de l'alcool, impose des restrictions à la commercialisation et limite les ventes à certains secteurs bien précis des magasins.

Nouveauté controversée: la vente et le service de boissons alcoolisées devient interdite au moins de 24 ans lors de festivals, foires et autres événements publics alors qu'à l'âge de 18 ans, tout Turc peut acheter de l'alcool dans le commerce ou trinquer en compagnie d'amis au restaurant et dispose du droit de voter ou d'acheter une arme à feu.

Récemment un cinéma d'Istanbul a dû renoncer aux apéritifs lors d'une première, faute de licence appropriée, craignant une amende.

Babylon, une des boîtes de nuit branchées d'Istanbul, a décidé d'imposer des contrôles d'identité à l'entrée pour les moins de 24 ans si la soirée est sponsorisée par une marque d'alcool.

"C'est une perte considérable de prestige au niveau international (...) Nous avons besoin de sponsors pour nos spectacles", a estimé Mehmet Ulug, co-propriétaire de l'établissement, cité par la presse.

L'autorité de régulation du marché des tabacs et alcools (TAPDK) et le Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan ont justifié ces nouvelles mesures par le souci de "protéger les jeunes" des effets négatifs de l'alcool, argument approuvé par la puissante classe conservatrice turque.

Musulman pratiquant, M. Erdogan a affirmé que son parti "ne s'est jamais mêlé du style de vie de personne depuis huit ans", expliquant même que les gens pouvaient "boire à tire-larigot".

Les laïcs en colère y voient eux une nouvelle offensive du parti gouvernemental de la justice et du développement (AKP), qui prend ses racines dans l'islam politique, contre un style de vie jugé inconciliable avec la religion musulmane, qui bannit la consommation d'alcool.

"L'objectif n'est pas de protéger les jeunes mais de s'imiscer de manière sournoise dans la vie sociale", pour imposer les valeurs musulmanes, accuse le chroniqueur libéral Mehmet Tezkan.

Le rejet des nouvelles règles s'est notamment traduit par des appels lancés sur Facebook à se réunir dans plusieurs grandes villes pour trinquer en public.

A Ankara, ils étaient ainsi nombreux ce week-end à se rassembler dans un parc. "Nous ne sommes pas des alcooliques, nos droits sont bafoués", expliquait une jeune femme, une cannette de bière à la main.

La nouvelle réglementation a par ailleurs été contestée devant la justice par plusieurs associations au motif qu'elle entrave les libertés individuelles.

Depuis son arrivée au pouvoir en 2002, l'AKP a augmenté considérablement les taxes sur l'alcool, une façon selon l'opposition de décourager les gens de boire.

"Nulle part ailleurs il n'y a une taxe aussi élevée, c'est comme si l'on voulait montrer que l'on fait quelque chose de mauvais", souligne Aytekin Eker qui tient un bar à Ankara.

Selon des études, les lieux de consommation se sont réduits en Turquie à cause de restrictions bureaucratiques imposées par les autorités locales et des pressions exercées pour imposer un mode de vie musulman.

Les Turcs sont pourtant loin d'être de grands buveurs. La consommation annuelle est de 1,5 litre d'alcool en Turquie, contre une dizaine de litres en Europe de l'Ouest. (AFP, 31 jan 2011)

Relations turco-européennes / Turkey-Europe Relations

Erdogan a dénoncé l'Allemagne de la xénophobie

Le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan a dénoncé dimanche l'Allemagne de la xénophobie, et a demandé aux travailleurs turcs dans ce pays de s'intégrer, sans renoncer à leur culture.

"Nous voyons avec beaucoup d'inquiétude la xénophobie dans certains pays européens, en particulier l'Allemagne... Nous demandons aux responsables politiques, et plus particulièrement aux médias... de ne pas attiser ce sentiment", a déclaré M. Erdogan lors d'un meeting réunissant des immigrés turcs à Düsseldorf (Allemagne), dans un discours retransmis par les télévisions turques.

"L'islamophobie est un crime contre l'humanité, autant que l'anti-sémitisme", a déclaré le dirigeant, qui est à la tête d'un gouvernement islamo-conservateur.

L'Allemagne accueille environ 2,5 millions de Turcs ou de personnes d'origine turque, pour la plupart des travailleurs visant dans des communautés souvent peu ouvertes sur la société allemande.

"Je veux que tout le monde apprenne l'allemand et accède à la meilleure éducation... Je veux que les Turcs soient présents à tous les niveaux, en Allemagne, dans l'administration, la politique, la société civile", a-t-il ajouté.

"Oui à l'intégration... mais non à l'assimilation... Personne ne doit nous arracher à notre culture", a-t-il lancé.

M. Erdogan doit rencontrer lundi la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel, à Hannovre.

Erdogan tance vivement l'Allemagne

Le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan critique vivement l'attitude de la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel dans les négociations d'adhésion de la Turquie à l'UE, dans la presse allemande samedi.

"Ce que la population turque attend, c'est que l'Allemagne joue un rôle moteur au sein de l'UE dans les négociations d'adhésion de la Turquie, comme ce fut le cas sous d'anciens gouvernements CDU", le parti de Mme Merkel, affirme Erdogan dans le quotidien de Düsseldorf (ouest) Rheinische Post.

"Bien évidemment le déroulement jusqu'ici du processus d'adhésion donne l'impression d'une discrimination", poursuit le Premier ministre qui doit arriver dimanche en Allemagne. "Par moments nous ne sommes même pas mis sur le même plan que des pays qui n'ont pas de perspective au sein de l'Union européenne", ajoute-t-il.

"On n'a encore jamais mis de telles entraves politiques à un pays candidat à l'adhésion", a-t-il dénoncé.

Jeudi, Recep Tayyip Erdogan avait déjà fait un coup de colère contre des propos du président français Nicolas Sarkozy, qui avait réitéré son opposition à l'entrée de la Turquie dans l'Union européenne.

"J'ai mis de nombreuses fois en garde M. Sarkozy sur cette question. Nous lui avons dit que son attitude concernant la Turquie est totalement erronée et nous allons l'interroger sur ce point", avait déclaré M. Erdogan, lors d'une interview à la télévision turque ATV, jeudi tard dans la soirée.

La France et l'Allemagne sont favorables à l'établissement d'un "partenariat privilégié" entre l'UE et la Turquie, une option rejetée par Ankara, qui a entamé des négociations d'adhésion en 2005 après un vote à l'unanimité des pays membres du bloc européen.

Mais les négociations piétinent depuis, avec seulement 13 chapitres de négociations ouverts sur 35.

Dimanche, Erdogan doit tenir un discours devant la communauté turque à Düsseldorf avant d'inaugurer lundi, avec la chancelière, le salon des hautes technologies Cebit à Hanovre (nord).

Dans cet entretien, il réitère des propos sur les dangers de l'assimilation des Turcs en Allemagne, qu'il considère comme "une infraction au droit international" et qui avaient suscité un scandale il y a trois ans lorsqu'ils les avaient tenus pour la première fois.

"Dans le droit international il existe une règle selon laquelle les immigrés doivent entretenir la langue et la culture de leur pays d'origine dans les pays dans lesquels ils vivent", affirme le dirigeant turc. "Par conséquent une politique qui consisterait à priver les immigrés de leur langue et leur culture serait une infraction au droit international".

Erdogan avait déjà suscité un tollé en février 2008 en mettant en garde ses compatriotes immigrés contre l'assimilation. "Personne ne peut exiger de vous l'assimilation", avait-il martelé devant quelque 20.000 personnes à Cologne (ouest).

Quelque 1,8 million de personnes possèdent un passeport turc, auxquelles s'ajoutent 700.000 Allemands d'origine turque, constituant la première communauté étrangère en Allemagne. (AFP, 26-28 fév 2011)

Les pourparlers UE-Turquie traversent une crise majeure

Le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan, de plus en plus frustré de devoir rester à la porte de l'Union européenne, se rend mardi à Bruxelles pour tenter de relancer les pourparlers d'adhésion de son pays aujourd'hui dans l'impasse.

Le voyage à Bruxelles de M. Erdogan, le premier depuis presque deux ans, interviendra peu après la visite mouvementée à Ankara du président français Nicolas Sarkozy. Et au lendemain d'une rencontre à Berlin avec la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel.

Paris et Berlin comptent parmi les capitales européennes les plus opposées à l'entrée de la Turquie, lui préférant un partenariat privilégié.

M. Erdogan ne veut pas en entendre parler et a accusé les Européens d'avoir durci les règles d'adhésion depuis l'ouverture en 2005 des pourparlers avec son pays.

A ce jour seuls 13 des 35 chapitres thématiques qui jalonnent ces négociations ont été ouverts et un seul a pu être bouclé.

Une majorité sont gelés, notamment en raison du blocage politique sur l'île divisée de Chypre car Ankara refuse de normaliser ses relations avec la République de Chypre, membre depuis 2004 de l'UE.
 Les pourparlers stagnent depuis neuf mois. "Si les choses continuent comme ça, alors prenez une décision et annoncez: +nous ne voulons pas de la Turquie+" dans l'Europe, s'est emporté M. Erdogan à l'adresse du président français.

Outre la France et l'Allemagne, l'Autriche et d'autres pays européens sont eux aussi réticents à l'idée de faire entrer ce pays de 78 millions d'habitants dans l'UE.

A l'inverse, la Grande-Bretagne, la Suède, la Finlande ou l'Italie sont traditionnellement plus ouverts à l'égard de la candidature de ce pays charnière avec l'Asie et le Moyen-Orient.

Mais les Turcs sont les premiers responsables du blocage des négociations, estime un diplomate européen: "Au lieu de remplir les critères, ils essaient toujours de marchander en faisant valoir leur importance stratégique de puissance régionale".

La Commission européenne, qui, dans son dernier rapport sur le sujet, a dressé un tableau peu encourageant des efforts de réforme turcs, entend toutefois insister mardi sur la nécessité d'approfondir les relations avec Ankara.

La visite à Bruxelles de M. Erdogan "servira surtout à rappeler la communauté d'intérêts croissants entre l'UE et la Turquie face aux urgences du jour: économie, immigration, énergie, politique étrangère et notamment les révolutions qui traversent le monde arabe", selon un diplomate.

Les Européens sont aussi conscients qu'une partie de leur approvisionnement énergétique passe par la Turquie.
 Ils redoutent enfin que le régime islamo-conservateur turc, qui pourrait servir de modèle aux nouvelles démocraties en gestation sur la rive Sud de la Méditerranée après les révolutions tunisienne et égyptienne, ne se détourne de l'Europe au profit du monde arabo-musulman.

Ces dernières semaines les dirigeants turcs ont fait des visites remarquées au Qatar, au Koweit ou au Yémen, avec lequel la Turquie vient d'abolir les visas comme elle l'a déjà fait avec la Libye, la Syrie, la Jordanie ou le Liban.

L'immigration est un autre enjeu important car la Turquie est devenue une plaque tournante de l'immigration clandestine.

Les pays de l'UE ont finalisé jeudi un important accord sur la réadmission par Ankara des immigrés illégaux arrêtés en Europe après avoir transité en Turquie.

Mais là aussi, les négociations seront ardues. Alors que Paris et Berlin notamment, selon un diplomate européen, ne veulent "pas de lien entre l'accord de réadmission et la question des visas", Ankara vient de faire savoir que sa signature serait conditionnée...à l'ouverture de négociations sur une libéralisation des visas. (AFP, 27 fév 2011)

UE: 53% des Français pas favorables à l'entrée de la Turquie

Une majorité de Français (53%) ne sont pas favorables à l'entrée de la Turquie dans l'Union européenne, une opinion toutefois en baisse, selon un sondage publié vendredi, jour d'une visite de Nicolas Sarkozy à Ankara.

Quelque 21% des personnes interrogées sont "plutôt pas favorables" à l'entrée de la Turquie au sein de l'UE, et 32% "pas favorables du tout" à cette idée, selon ce sondage TNS-Sofres qui précise toutefois que ces catégories sont en baisse (-2% et -3%) par rapport à une enquête similaire de 2002.

Parmi les plus fervents opposants à l'entrée de la Turquie dans l'UE figurent les sympathisants de l'UMP (71%) et du FN (87%), ainsi que ceux du MoDem (68%).

A l'inverse, 29% des personnes interrogées se disent "plutôt favorables" (+5%) à l'entrée de la Turquie, tandis que le nombre de personnes "très favorables" s'élèvent à 6% (+1%), selon ce sondage réalisé en février pour la chaîne de télévision Canal+.

On y retrouve surtout les 18-24 ans (45%), les cadres et professions intellectuelles (48%), les sympathisants de gauche (47%) et les sympathisants écologistes Verts (50%).

Les Français opposés à l'entrée de la Turquie avancent comme principaux motifs "les différences culturelles et religieuses" (44%) et sa situation géographique par rapport à l'Europe (38%).

Viennent ensuite le manque de démocratie (33%), le nombre important de pays déjà membres de l'UE (24%) et l'attitude de la Turquie sur certaines questions internationales (22%). Seuls 16% évoquent des raisons économiques.

Nicolas Sarkozy est arrivé en début d'après-midi à Ankara pour une courte visite consacrée "essentiellement" au G20, présidé par la France. Les autorités turques ne cachent pas leur mécontentement par rapport à l'opposition réitérée de Nicolas Sarkozy à l'entrée de la Turquie dans l'UE. (AFP, 25 fév 2011)

Sarkozy en Turquie: assauts d'amabilité après un début de visite mouvementé

La visite vendredi de Nicolas Sarkozy en Turquie s'est achevée par des assauts d'amabilité après un coup de colère du Premier ministre turc en raison du refus de Paris de voir son pays adhérer à l'Europe, même si le président français n'a pas modifié sa position.

"La Turquie est un acteur absolument incontournable de la scène internationale. De par sa puissance, son histoire et sa géographie, elle peut apporter beaucoup au monde", a déclaré le président français, avant un entretien en tête-à-tête avec le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"Nous avons conscience du rôle de grande locomotive de la France en Europe et nous avons la détermination de renforcer les relations franco-turques", avait pour sa part assuré auparavant le président turc Abdullah Gül devant la presse.

M. Gül a invité M. Sarkozy à effectuer une visite d'Etat en Turquie, ce que le président français pourrait faire cette année. Le chef de l'Etat français souhaite se rendre également à Istanbul, capitale économique du pays.

Cette visite de quelques heures avait commencé sous de mauvais auspices, M. Erdogan ayant fait un coup de colère, par presse interposée, au sujet du refus de M. Sarkozy de voir la Turquie intégrer l'Europe.

"J'ai mis de nombreuses fois en garde M. Sarkozy sur cette question. Nous lui avons dit que son attitude (...) est totalement erronée et nous allons l'interroger sur ce point", avait déclaré M. Erdogan, lors d'une interview à la télévision turque ATV, jeudi soir.

Selon le Premier ministre turc, "l'Union européenne a besoin de la Turquie, la Turquie a besoin de l'Union européenne".
 "Mais si les choses continuent comme ça, alors prenez une décision et annoncez: +nous ne voulons pas de la Turquie" dans l'Europe, avait-il ajouté, à l'adresse du président français.

Dans une interview au journal turc Posta, publiée vendredi, le président français déclarait notamment: "Je reste convaincu que la Turquie et l'UE doivent entretenir des relations aussi étroites que possible, sans aller jusqu'à l'intégration, qui ne profiterait en réalité ni à la Turquie, ni à l'Union Européenne". Une position maintes fois exprimée.

Les négociations entre la Turquie et l'UE, qui ont commencé en 2005, sont au point mort, du fait de la question de Chypre et de l'opposition de plusieurs pays, dont la France et l'Allemagne, à une adhésion turque.

M. Sarkozy considère que la Turquie ne fait, géographiquement, pas partie de l'Europe et estime que ce pays devrait former "un partenariat privilégié" avec l'UE.

Il n'a cette fois-ci pas utilisé cette expression, préférant déclarer qu'entre une adhésion et une "association" refusée par Ankara, "il faut discuter pour trouver les voies d'un compromis".

"Entre le tout adhésion et l'association (...) il y a un chemin d'équilibre qu'on peut trouver (...) qui ne conduise ni à la déstabilisation de l'Europe ni à l'humiliation" de la Turquie, a encore déclaré M. Sarkozy.

Mercredi, dans un entretien à l'AFP, M. Erdogan avait eu des mots durs contre le président français, estimant que cette visite très courte et, selon la volonté de Paris "essentiellement" dédiée au G20 que préside la France, n'était pas "à la hauteur" de l'amitié franco-turque.

Sur cette question du G20, les deux pays ont exprimé leur volonté de "travailler ensemble", dans une déclaration commune, notamment sur la réforme du système monétaire international et la régulation du prix des matières premières.

Sur ce dernier point, M. Sarkozy a proposé d'organiser en avril "un séminaire en Turquie avec nos amis russes".

La situation dans les pays arabes a également été évoquée, notamment la Libye, et M. Sarkozy a affirmé: "M. Kadhafi doit partir". (AFP, 25 fév 2011)

Statue antique réclamée par la Turquie: les menaces sont contre-productives

Les menaces d'Ankara de fermer les fouilles archéologiques allemandes en Turquie si Berlin ne restitue pas une statue de Sphinx ne contribueront pas à trouver une solution, a répliqué vendredi la fondation allemande propriétaire de la pièce.

"Les menaces de fermer les chantiers de fouilles allemands en Turquie (...) ne créent par un climat propice pour trouver une solution" à ce problème, affirme Hermann Parzinger, président de la Fondation des biens culturels de Prusse, qui regroupe les collections des principaux musées publics berlinois, dans un communiqué.

La Turquie réclame la restitution de la statue "depuis les années 1930" et "rien n'a changé en ce qui concerne les appréciations juridiques divergentes" des deux parties", souligne encore M. Parzinger.

Jeudi, le ministre turc de la Culture, M. Günay, avait lancé un ultimatum à l'Allemagne dans un entretien au quotidien Tagesspiegel, donnant jusqu'à juin à l'Allemagne pour rendre la statue antique d'un Sphinx sous peine d'interdire les fouilles d'archéologues allemands dans tout le pays. Le Sphinx a été découvert dans l'ancienne cité hittite d'Hattusha (est de la Turquie). Les archéologues allemands travaillent depuis plus d'un siècle en Turquie.

Cette pièce se trouve au musée Pergamon à Berlin depuis 1915 où, à l'origine, elle devait simplement être restaurée.

L'Allemagne se refuse généralement à restituer les objets antiques, quand ceux-ci ont été acquis en bonne et due forme.

Une porte-parole du ministère allemand des Affaires étrangères a indiqué jeudi à l'AFP que des discussions devaient bientôt avoir lieu avec la Turquie sur ce thème.

Berlin est également aux prises depuis longtemps avec les autorités archéologiques égyptiennes qui réclament un buste de la reine Néfertiti, découvert en 1912 par l'archéologue allemand Ludwig Borchardt. C'est l'une des cinq pièces inestimables exposées à l'étranger dont l'Egypte réclame le retour avec notamment la pierre de Rosette, qui a permis de déchiffrer les hiéroglyphes et qui est détenue par le British Museum. (AFP, 25 fév 2011)

Erdogan en Allemagne et à Bruxelles pour relancer l'adhésion turque à l'UE

Le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan se rendra la semaine prochaine en Allemagne et en Belgique pour évoquer avec les dirigeants allemands et de l'Union européenne le processus d'adhésion de la Turquie au bloc européen, ont annoncé jeudi des responsables turcs.

Lundi, M. Erdogan aura un entretien avec la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel à Hanovre, où les deux dirigeants inaugureront le salon de la technologie CeBIT, a affirmé le Premier ministère dans un communiqué.

Le jour suivant, il se rendra à Bruxelles où il rencontrera le président de la Commission européenne, José Manuel Barroso, et le président de l'UE Herman Van Rompuy.

Le déplacement de M. Erdogan doit être précédé par une visite en Turquie vendredi du président français Nicolas Sarkozy, farouche opposant à l'adhésion turque.

La France et l'Allemagne sont favorables à l'établissement d'un "partenariat privilégié" entre l'UE et la Turquie, une option rejetée par Ankara, qui a entamé des négociations d'adhésion en 2005 après un vote à l'unanimité des pays membres du bloc européen.

Les négociations piétinnent, avec seulement 13 chapitres de négociations ouverts sur 35.

Interrogé par l'AFP, le ministre turc des Affaires européennes Egemen Bagis a indiqué que M. Erdogan se rendrait également aux Royaume Uni fin mars.

"Je pense que cette série de rencontres va aider la Turquie à saisir la véritable position de l'Europe", a-t-il déclaré.

"La Turquie est plus confiante en elle-même qu'elle ne l'a jamais été. Avec son bourdonnement économique, son dynamisme, les opportunités autour d'elle, la Turquie a prouvé qu'elle peut se passer de l'Europe mais est-ce que l'Europe peut se passer de la Turquie?", a commenté M. Bagis.

"Il est temps pour les intellectuels européens de calculer le coût d'avoir une Turquie dans l'UE et celui de la laisser en dehors de l'UE. Et ils vont réaliser qu'il vaut mieux avoir la Turquie dans l'UE car elle devient plus forte chaque jour", a-t-il dit, évoquant une croissance de 8,5% du PIB turc en 2010. (AFP, 24 fév 2011)

La Turquie veut assister aux sommets européens, un allègement des visas

Le ministre turc des Affaires européennes Egemen Bagis a renvendiqué jeudi le droit pour la Turquie de participer aux sommets européens et une libéralistation du régime des visas pour les ressortissants turcs.

"La Turquie, comme les autres candidats (à une adhésion à l'Union européenne) devrait être invitée aux sommets européens, nous pourrions alors partager nos observations, nos attentes et nos aspirations pour le monde", a déclaré M. Bagis à l'AFP.

Insistant sur les relations privilégiées que la Turquie entretient avec plusieurs pays du Proche Orient, une région en proie à une vive agitation politique, M. Bagis a poursuivi: "Au moins l'Europe pourrait tirer profit des possibilités de la Turquie".

"La Turquie est le pays qui a le plus d'influence dans cette partie du monde et je pense que c'est une honte que les pays candidats ne soient pas invités aux sommets européens depuis l'adhésion de la Bulgarie et de la Roumanie", le 1er janvier 2007, a-t-il ajouté.

Le ministre, interrogé à la veille d'une visite en Turquie du président français Nicolas Sarkozy, opposant résolu à l'adhésion turque, a également appelé à une libéralisation rapide du régime des visas appliqué par l'UE aux citoyens turcs.

"Les citoyens du Bélize, de l'Uruguay et du Paraguay, avec tout le respect que je leur dois, peuvent voyager dans l'espace Schengen (...) sans visa; mais mes citoyens doivent faire la queue devant les consulats pour obtenir un visa. Ce n'est pas correct, c'est ridicule", a-t-il estimé.

Le ministre a indiqué qu'un important accord sur la réadmission par la Turquie des immigrés clandestins arrêtés en Europe après avoir transité par la Turquie avait été finalisé, mais qu'il restait conditionné à l'obtention par la Commission européenne d'un mandat pour négocier la libéralisation des visas.

"Quand la Commission aura ce mandat, nous signerons l'accord de réadmission et nous attendons l'instauration de facilités pour les visas, puis, quand nous aurons achevé les négociations, une libéralisation" complète du système de visas, a-t-il expliqué.

Les négociations d'adhésion de la Turquie à l'UE ont débuté en 2005 mais elles marquent le pas, avec seulement 13 chapitres de négociation ouverts sur 35. (AFP, 24 fév 2011)

La FEA critique le rapport de Mme Oomen-Ruijten

Communiqué de La Commission des Affaires Etrangères du Parlement européen a adopté ce jeudi 10 février 2011 le rapport 2010 sur les progrès accomplis par la Turquie préparée par Mme Oomen-Ruijten (PPE-Chrétiens-Démocrates, Pays-Bas). En dépit des nombreuses critiques – y compris au sein de son propre groupe politique – qui ont mis en exergue la rédaction lapidaire du rapport qui fait l’impasse sur la plupart des questions importantes concernant les relations UE-Turquie.
 
Parmi celles-ci, la non-reconnaissance de Chypre, la question kurde ou encore la reconnaissance du génocide des Arméniens, qui avaient été totalement censurées dans le rapport initial, ont fait l’objet d’importantes tentatives de réintroduction par le biais de nombreux amendements déposés par des Parlementaires issues de différents groupes politiques.
 
Des députés, chrétiens-démocrates (PPE), socialistes (S&D), communistes (GUE), conservateurs (ECR) et souverainistes (EFD) ont demandé la reconnaissance du génocide des Arméniens par la Turquie. Cependant, comme les années précédentes, ils se sont heurtés à la sévérité de la rapporteure sur cette question, qui sous couvert d’équilibre et de modération, refuse toute mention au génocide.
 
Toutefois, au vu des amendements déposés par tous les groupes politiques sur le paragraphe concernant les relations entre l’Arménie et la Turquie, Mme Oomen-Ruijten, n’ayant pas obtenu le retrait des amendements par ces collègues, a consenti de rajouter, à la ratification des protocoles, la mention « sans pré-conditions », et de retirer le passage dans lequel elle demande à la Turquie « de contribuer à la résolution du conflit gelé du Haut-Karabagh ».
 
Au cours des années précédentes, le Parlement européen exigeait l’abrogation de l’article 301 du Code Pénal turc, modifié en 2008 en « insulte à la nation turque », utilisé encore aujourd’hui pour incriminer toute personne qui reconnaît le génocide arménien.
 
 La Fédération Euro-Arménienne déplore le refus de la rapporteure de demander la suppression de l’article 301 ainsi que des autres articles liberticides du Code pénal turc.
 
 « Le Parlement européen aurait tort de se conformer à la culture de demi-mesures cosmétiques instaurée par le gouvernement de l’AKP en matière des Droits de l’Homme et d’éthique politique ; Il ne doit pas fléchir sur son exigence de voir la Turquie admettre sa responsabilité d’Etat dans le génocide des Arméniens », a déclaré Hilda Tchoboian, Présidente de la Fédération Euro-Arménienne.
 
La Fédération rappelle qu’en novembre 2008, l’Union européenne a adopté la Décision-Cadre contre le Racisme et la Xénophobie qui punit, entre autres délits, le négationnisme des Génocides. « L’Europe ne pourra pas exiger demain de la Turquie la pénalisation du négationnisme si elle n’exige pas aujourd’hui la reconnaissance », a annoncé Hilda Tchoboian.
 
La résolution sera votée à la première session plénière de mars 2011. (mail@eafjd.org, 12 février 2011)

EP calls on Turkey to intensify reforms

Turkey should intensify it reforms. This is Parliament's key message in its Resolution on Turkey's 2010 Progress Report which was adopted today in the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee with a vast majority (51 votes in favour and 5 against).
Rapporteur Ria Oomen-Ruijten said: "I would like to commend Turkish citizens and civil society for their support for further democratisation and their commitment to an open and pluralistic society. At the same time, I very much regret the confrontational political climate between the political parties and the strained relations between key political institutions."
 
According to the EP Rapporteur, the lack of a consensus on reforms between the government and the opposition is the real weak spot in Turkish politics today. Positive announcements therefore often have too little concrete follow-up and bring too little concrete improvements as far as, for example, the lives of citizens of Kurdish origin are concerned.
 
Regarding religious freedoms, the European Parliament notes that there have been a number of positive gestures but stresses that a systematic approach towards Alevis, as well as the Greek, Armenian, Aramean and other Christian communities is needed. "Furthermore I call on the Turkish government to revitalise efforts in the framework of the democratic opening to comprehensively address the Kurdish issue", Mrs Oomen-Ruijten said.
 
Ria Oomen-Ruijten also underlined the serious conclusions in the Resolution regarding the deterioration of the freedom of expression. "Pressure on newspapers, legal writs against journalists and the disproportionate ban of numerous websites are unacceptable. The judiciary should particularly protect the freedom of the press and contribute to a proper functioning of the system of checks and balances."
 
Furthermore, the European Parliament is worried about the increase in 'honour killings' and the very limited participation of women in the labour market. Ria Oomen-Ruijten continued: "I also call on political parties to use the opportunity of the upcoming elections to strengthen women's active engagement in politics."
 
However, Mrs Oomen-Ruijten appreciates the number of positive developments related to the political criteria, in particular the judicial reform as well as the adopted constitutional amendments which provide the basis for the establishment of an ombudsman, improvements in trade union rights and an increased civilian oversight of the military.
 
The European Parliament also notes Turkey's increasingly active foreign policy, aimed at strengthening its role as a regional player and urges the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, to intensify the existing dialogue with Turkey on foreign policy issues of mutual interest and for the coordination of foreign policy objectives. The EP calls upon the Turkish Government to step up its foreign policy coordination with the EU.
 
Finally, there has been no progress towards the normalisation of bilateral relations with the Republic of Cyprus. Turkey has not met its obligation of the full, non-discriminatory implementation of the Additional Protocol to the Association Agreement. This will continue to affect the process of negotiations.
 
The plenary vote is expected in the second week of March. (epp-press@europarl.europa.eu, February 10, 2011)

Turkey's uphill route to the EU

The Cyprus-Turkey deadlock, lack of dialogue among Turkish political parties and the undermining of press freedom and other basic rights in Turkey are the key factors slowing down its EU accession talks, say Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs in their resolution, approved on Thursday, on the 2010 progress report on Turkey.

MEPs welcome Turkey's adoption of constitutional amendments in 2010 as "a step in the right direction" but stress that this cannot be the final solution: "an overall constitutional reform" is still needed to transform Turkey into a real democracy that ensures the protection of basic rights and freedoms, they say.

Among the key remaining challenges, MEPs list:

·         the worrying deterioration of press freedom, which is leading to self-censorship of national media and internet sites, and criminal prosecution of journalists denouncing human rights violations,
 
·         the situation of women and rising rates of honour killings and forced marriages. The government must ensure the application of the law which obliges municipalities of over 50,000 inhabitants to provide shelters for women and minors in danger. Political parties must also find a solution to the headscarf ban in universities, "based on the respect for free choice of women", and
 
·         the lack of protection of religious minorities. "Only limited progress" has been made to ensure their legal protection so that they can own properties, open houses of worship or train clergy. The Kurdish issue and ongoing trial of 151 Kurdish political activists and local mayors is also highlighted.
 
A question of political balance
 
The wording and specific demands of the text were hammered out in tough negotiations among Parliament's political groups. Just minutes before the vote, the EPP group agreed to withdraw  an  amendment calling on EU institutions to "study the possibility" of establishing a "privileged partnership" with Turkey, as an alternative to  full EU  membership . In exchange,  the committee rejected several amendments  by the S&D group that would have explicitly mentioned the "common goal of full EU membership" for Turkey, or called upon Member States to take an "open and constructive" approach to it.

The Committee instead chose the same wording as last year, describing the opening of Turkey's accession negotiations in 2005 as the "starting point for a long-lasting and open-ended process".
 
Tensions with the neighbours
 
Turkey's continuing refusal to implement the "Additional Protocol", signed five years ago, which  requires the country to open its airports and harbours to Greek Cypriots, continues to affect the negotiating process. MEPs call on the Turkish government to "facilitate a suitable climate for negotiations by immediately starting to withdraw its forces from Cyprus", and to open access to military zones and archives to the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus. The Turkish-Cypriot authorities must also stop new settlements of Turkish citizens on the island, add MEPs.
 
On Turkey's problems with Greece, Foreign Affairs Committee MEPs note the intensified efforts by both parties to improve their relations but warn the Turkish government to stop violating the Greek airspace and halt Turkish military flights over Greek islands. Turkey must also "preserve the bicultural character" of Gokceada (Imvros) and Bozcaada (Tenedos) islands and improve access to education and property for the Greek minority, they add. (EuroparlPress@europarl.europa.eu, Fdebruary 10, 2011)

Hélène Flautre Observes Dink Murder and Pinar Selek Trials

Hélène Flautre, Co-president of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, will be in Istanbul to observe the trials of, Hrant Dink murderers on Monday, the 7th of February, and Pinar Selek on Wednesday, the 9th of February.

Ethnic Armenian journalist editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos (Ակօս),Hrant Dink was murdered in Istanbul in January 2007, by Ogün Samast, a 17-year old Turkish nationalist. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has already convicted Turkey of a violation of the right to life, the right to an effective remedy and freedom of expression in the scope of the trial on Dink's murder.

An appeal in support to Pinar Selek has been launched at the European Parliament. The text of the appeal and the list of signatories as it stands up to the 4th of February is as follows:

"This February 9, Pinar Selek will be retried for the umpteenth time after 13 years of judicial harassment. Kafkian trials where she is charged of having placed a bomb in the Egyptian Bazaar in Istanbul despite several reports attributing the explosion to a gas leak.

"What are the "Crimes" this Turkish sociologist, writer and activist is accused of? Nothing else than analyzing society, questioning its taboos and engaging herself with the most vulnerable people. As an engaged citizen, she pays dearly her will to understand the Kurdish matter in a period dominated by a police state where torture was systematic.

"Already cleared twice, her case is returned to the Supreme Court of Appeals' Grand Chamber without any new evidence brought to the file; she now faces life imprisonment after judicial twists as incomprehensible and unacceptable in the light of Turkey's commitments to human rights.

"We listened to Pinar's story when she was invited by the European Parliament, a story of injustice and continuing threats during the past 13 years. Convinced, as were the judges of first instance, of her innocence, we decided to join the "Friends of Pinar" group. We hope she will again be cleared on February 9 so she can finally build a free life.

"We decided to bring this claim to the European Parliament debate and to support her battle for justice."

BÉLIER Sandrine (Greens/EFA - France)
BESSET Jean-Paul (Greens/EA - France)
BREPOELS Frieda (Greens/EFA - Belgium)
CANFIN Pascal (Greens/EFA- France)
CASHMAN Michael (S&D - United Kingdom)
CHOUNTIS Nikolaos (GUE/NGL - Greece)
COHN-BENDIT Daniel, (Greens/EFA - France) - Co-President of the Greens/ EFA group
DE BRÚN Bairbre (GUE/NGL - United Kingdom)
DELLI Karima (Greens/EFA - France)
DUFF Andrew (ALDE/ADLE - United Kingdom)
FLAUTRE Hélène, (Greens/EFA - France) - Co-President of the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee
GOMES Ana (S&D - Portugal)
GRÈZE Catherine (Greens/EFA - France)
HADJIGEORGIOU Takis (GUE/NGL - Cyprus)
HALL Fiona (ALDE/ADLE - United Kingdom)
HAUTALA Heidi, (Greens/EFA - Finland) - Chair of the Sub-committee on Human Rights
JADOT Yannick (Greens/EFA - France)
JOLY Eva (Greens/EFA - France)
KELLER Franziska (Greens/EFA - Germany)
KIIL-NIELSEN Nicole (Greens/EFA - France)
KOPPA Maria Eleni, (S&D - Greece) - Vice President of the EU delegation to Turkey
KOUMOUTSAKOS Georgios, (EPP - Greece) - Vice President of the EU delegation to Turkey
LAMBERT Jean (Greens/EFA - United Kindgom)
LOCHBIHLER Barbara (Greens/EFA - Germany) - Member of the Sub-committee on Human Rights
LUDFORD Sarah (ALDE/ADLE - United Kingdom)
MCCARTHY Arlene (S&D - United Kingdom)
PAPADOPOULOU Antigoni (S&D - Cyprus)
RAPTI Sylvana (S&D - Greece)
RIVASI Michèle (Greens/EFA - France)
ROMEVA i RUEDA Raül (Greens/EFA - Spain)
RUEHLE Heide (Greens/EFA - Germany)
SØNDERGAARD Søren Bo (GUE/NGL - Denmark)
STAES Bart (Greens/EFA - Belgium)
STAVRAKAKIS Georgios (S&D - Greece)
SVENSSON Eva-Britt (GUE/NGL - Sweden)
TAYLOR Keith (Greens/EFA- United Kingdom)
TAVARES Rui (GUE/NGL - Portugal)
VERGIAT Marie-Christine (GUE/NGL - France) (EK)
(BIA, 4 February 2011)

Les propos d'un ministre turc sur le racisme en Europe critiqués à Bruxelles

Des déclarations d'un ministre turc, à Auschwitz, affirmant que l'UE était "menacée d'être submergée par une mentalité raciste" digne des "méthodes fascistes des années 1930", ont provoqué jeudi une réaction courroucée de la Commission européenne.

Le commissaire européen chargé de l'Elargissement, Stefan Füle a demandé des explications à M. Bagis, a indiqué jeudi sa porte-parole, Natascha Butler.

Selon la porte-parole, M. Bagis aurait expliqué à M. Füle que ses propos ne visaient que les groupes extrémistes et non l'Union européenne dans son ensemble.

"Les mots (employés par M. Bagis) auraient pu faire l'objet d'un choix plus judicieux", a commenté Mme Butler. Il aurait mieux valu "tenir compte du lieu et du moment où ces mots ont été prononcés", a ajouté la porte-parole de M. Füle.

"L'UE, fondée pour éliminer les menaces de cette période afin d'aboutir à la paix, est désormais menacée d'être submergée par une mentalité raciste qui ne peut pas incorporer ses propres valeurs et imite les méthodes fascistes des années 1930", avait déclaré le ministre turc chargé des Affaires européennes, Egemen Bagis, selon une transcription officielle de son discours.

M. Bagis a tenu ces propos mardi, lors d'une commémoration de l'Holocauste à Auschwitz.

Le seul remède à "la mentalité pervertie" de l'Europe est l'adhésion de la Turquie à l'UE, avait ajouté M. Bagis qui dirige les négociations d'adhésion de son pays à l'Union européenne.

Samedi, le vice-Premier ministre turc, Ali Babacan, avait déclaré de son côté que l'UE tendait à devenir un "club chrétien" qui est "tourné vers lui-même".

Ankara a commencé en 2005 les négociations d'adhésion mais le processus est bloqué en raison de l'opposition de plusieurs pays clés comme la France et l'Allemagne qui préfèrent un partenariat privilégié, mais aussi en raison du conflit de Chypre et du manque de progrès dans les réformes intérieures. (AFP, 3 fév 2011)

L’Adhésion de la Turquie à l’UE et la Position des Kurdes

Ahmet DERE, 1er février 2011

L’entré de la Turquie à l’Union européenne a été un point essentiel parmi les tâches de tous les gouvernements turcs, depuis 1987, la date où la Turquie a fait officiellement sa demande auprès de cette institution. Mais, depuis lors, aucun gouvernement turc n’a fait des progrès dans le sens de faire progresser ce pays, selon les critères européens. Certains gouvernement ont voulu faire avancer la Turquie vers l’Europe, comme ce du l’ANAP, Parti fondé par Turgut Ozal, mais, malheureusement, ils étaient toujours confrontés à un mûr dure des forces militaires et paramilitaires.

Après avoir été reconnu candidat pour le processus de la candidature à l’UE, en 2005, la Turquie a été acceptée, en tant que pays candidat, par l’institution européenne. Suite à cette décision attendue de l’UE, le 12 juin 2006 les négociations ont commencées entre les autorités turques et celles de l’UE. En totale on a déclarés 35 points à négociés, afin que ce pays ait un niveau démocratique et prospère pour devenir membre de l’Union européenne.

Malgré une « volonté » toujours prononcée par les gouvernements turcs, en ce qui concerne l’adhésion à l’UE, jusqu'à maintenant, je ne vois pas beaucoup d’évolutions pratiques dans ce pays, surtout en ce qui concerne les critères politiques et celles des droits de l’homme. Donc, cette réalité doit être traduite comme un comportement insincère de la Turquie envers de l’Europe. Je sais que sur ce point, surtout derrière des rideaux fermés, il y a toujours des discussions très sévères entre les autorités turques et européennes. Même, de temps en temps, les critiques très sévères de la part des autorités européennes, envers la Turquie, sont prononcés devant les médias.

En Turquie, il y a des organisations qui peuvent jouer un rôle positif dans le processus de négociations. Par exemple TUSIAD et les autres organisations civiles. Mais, malheureusement, au sein de ces organisations aussi il y a ceux qui ne sont pas favorable à l’UE. Il faut savoir que cette position est aussi influencée par la concurrence économique entre les différentes sociétés turques. Certaines grandes sociétés turques qui ont déjà de bonnes alliances en Europe et qui n’ont pas de difficultés pour développer leurs actions, sont contre l’adhésion de leur pays à l’UE. Ce point peut paraitre comme une contradiction, mais, il est une vérité de la mentalité politique et commerciale de ce pays. C’est pourquoi d’ailleurs, les organisations de différents domaines du travail ne se sont pas bien engagées dans le processus.

La position des Kurdes

Avant tout, il faut  savoir que, la racine kurde qui est indo-européenne. Ainsi, les Kurdes ne sont pas fondamentalistes, au niveau religieux. Parmi les peuples du Moyen Orient, les Kurdes sont plus ouverts à l'intégration vers l'Europe. Sur ce point ce n’est pas simplement les Kurdes de Turquie qui sont favorables, mais aussi les Kurdes de l'Irak et de Syrie et même les Kurdes de l'Iran partage la même volonté.

Pour les Kurdes, le fait d’être européen est perçu différent que les autres nations du Moyen Orient et les Turcs de l’Anatolie Centrale. Le fait que les Kurdes sont indo-européens et leur langue fait partie du groupe des langues européennes, approche ce peuple vers l’Europe. Aussi, depuis 1960, avec surtout la politique d'immigration de la Turquie, beaucoup de Kurdes sont venus en Europe et ils y vivent une vie demi-européenne. Actuellement, il y a à peu près un million cinq cent mille Kurdes vivant en Europe, dont des millions aussi de proches parents au Kurdistan qui sont en relations régulières. Donc, ceci est un point aussi essentiel qui approche un peu plus l'Europe vers les Kurdes, les Kurdes vers l'Europe.

Pas simplement au niveau de la langue, au niveau de la modernité aussi les Kurdes sont plus ouverts à une progression dite européenne. Même, si la plupart des Kurdes est musulmane, les Kurdes sont plus ouverts à l'intégration avec les autres religions. Comme le Kurdistan a été dominé par les autres forces, les Kurdes ont été obligés de vivre avec les autres nations et peuples. Ceci a intégré les Kurdes parmi les autres peuples. Et donc, le racisme n’est pas fort chez des Kurdes.

Les Kurdes sont bien déterminés que l'adhésion de la Turquie peut influencer la Turquie afin qu'on puisse trouver une solution pacifique à la question kurde. Si la Turquie devient membre de l'Union européenne, la question kurde devient plus ou moins une question européenne. Et, à ce moment-là, les institutions européennes seront obligées de s'en occuper d’une façon plus active. Actuellement, comme la Turquie n'est pas encore membre de cette Union, il y a des institutions européennes qui prétendent que ; « la question kurde est une question interne à la Turquie, donc nous ne pouvons pas se mêler ». Une foi que la Turquie est devenue membre de l'UE, à ce moment-là, ils ne peuvent pas se tenir à part de ce problème. Entre guillemets, il faut dire que l'adhésion de la Turquie n'est pas garantie encore. Il y a encore beaucoup d'obstacles devant la Turquie.

Pour trouver une solution à la question kurde ; premièrement, on peut forcer plus la Turquie, avec le soutien des institutions européennes, deuxièmement, on peut développer une intégration encore mieux entre les communautés européennes et le peuple kurde, troisièmement, on peut avoir un soutien au niveau économique aussi pour développer les régions sous-développés du Kurdistan.

 C’est pour ces raisons que, et pendant longtemps, beaucoup d’organisations kurdes en Europe ont fait du lobbying au sein des institutions européennes, comme le Parlement européen notamment, afin que la Turquie soit acceptée en tant que candidate à l'Union européenne.

L'Union européenne devient "un club chrétien" déplore un ministre turc

L'Union européenne tend à devenir un "club chrétien" qui est "tourné vers lui-même", a déploré samedi à Davos le vice-Premier ministre turc Ali Babacan, en regrettant l'absence de progrès dans le processus d'adhésion de la Turquie à l'UE.

 S'exprimant lors d'un panel au Forum économique mondial à Davos (est de la Suisse), M. Babacan a jugé que "la politique de la porte ouverte (n'existait) plus" dans l'UE.

"Nous avons toujours pensé que l'Union européenne était un grand projet de paix, et puis le processus d'élargissement s'est purement et simplement bloqué", a-t-il dit.

"L'une des grandes raisons pour lesquelles la Turquie ne peut devenir membre de l'Union européenne est que celle-ci est un club chrétien. C'est à nos yeux très dangereux", a-t-il remarqué.

Ankara a commencé en 2005 les négociations d'adhésion mais le processus est bloqué en raison de l'opposition de plusieurs pays clé comme la France et l'Allemagne qui préfèrent un partenariat privilégié, mais aussi en raison du
conflit de Chypre et du manque de progrès dans les réformes intérieures.

A Berlin comme à Paris, en raison des difficultés à faire fonctionner une Europe à 27, on privilégie désormais l'approfondissement de l'UE par rapport à son élargissement, même si l'adhésion des pays des Balkans occidentaux est prévue.

Plusieurs chapitres du dossier d'adhésion turc restent bloqués en raison du refus de la Turquie d'ouvrir ses portes à la République de Chypre, un Etat membre qu'Ankara ne reconnaît pas, en raison de la division de l'île entre sa partie grecque et sa partie turque.

"Le type d'Union européenne que nous allons voir émerger à l'avenir sera d'une immmense importance pour la tonalité du message que notre région va recevoir", a-t-il dit, en soulignant que la Turquie et les pays de la région observent de très près cette évolution. (AFP, 29 jan 2011)


Turquie-USA/ Turkey-USA

La Turquie n'interviendra pas dans une affaire de ventes illégales à l'Iran

La Turquie ne compte pas prendre de mesures contre les entreprises installées à Istanbul d'un homme d'affaires iranien inculpé aux Etats-Unis pour exportation illégale de matériaux sensibles vers l'Iran, a déclaré mardi le ministre du Commerce extérieur Zafer Caglayan.

"C'est la liste noire des Etats-Unis, pas la notre. Nous sommes liés par les résolutions du Conseil de sécurité de l'ONU" sur les sanctions contre l'Iran, a déclaré M. Caglayan à des journalistes.

La Turquie a déjà affirmé qu'elle appliquerait les sanctions contre l'Iran votées à l'ONU, mais pas les mesures supplémentaires décidées unilatéralement par les Etats-Unis et l'Union européenne.

"La Turquie a ses propres lois (...) Il est hors de question pour nous d'imposer des sanctions à ces entreprises ou d'interdire leurs activités en dehors du cadre défini par le droit turc", a-t-il poursuivi.

Ankara applique "rigoureusement" les résolutions de l'ONU, a indiqué M. Caglayan, ajoutant que son pays avait ses propres mécanismes de contrôle du commerce des matériaux utilisés dans l'armement et de ceux pouvant avoir un "double usage".

Un Iranien de 36 ans, Milad Jafari, a été inculpé aux Etats-Unis d'exportation illégale vers l'Iran de métaux spécialisés notamment utiles à la construction de missiles balistiques.

Le Trésor américain a parallèlement annoncé la semaine dernière avoir inscrit M. Jafari, six membres de sa famille et cinq sociétés commerciales en Turquie et en Iran sur la liste des "sanctions contre les entités aidant à la prolifération des armes de destruction massive et leurs soutiens".

Selon le Trésor, "M. Jafari gère un réseau de passation de marchés qui soutient directement le programme iranien de fabrication de missiles en procurant des métaux, dont des alliages d'acier ou d'aluminium, à des sociétés travaillant pour l'Organisation iranienne des industries aérospatiales" (AIO).

M. Caglayan a précisé que le problème concernait trois entreprises enregistrées à Istanbul, avec des actionnaires majoritaires iraniens et des partenaires turcs. (AFP, 8 fév 2011)

Turkey, US aligned on strategy for Egypt's transition process

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has expressed his support, following a conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama, for the U.S. strategy of imposing a “transitional government” in Egypt to carry the country to elections.

“A democratic transition should be ensured in the shortest possible time ... If this is achieved, I believe the people will definitely accept such an outcome,” Erdoğan told reporters Sunday before departing for Syria.

Saying he had not changed his view that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak should leave office, the Turkish prime minister emphasized the ground should be prepared for that outcome. “An administration of confidence that gives an opportunity for such a ground – and this could be an interim election administration – will ensure everything,” he said.

Erdoğan’s remarks came following a telephone conversation late Saturday with Obama and Greek Prime Minister Yorgo Papandreu, who has postponed a planned visit to Egypt. “They exchanged views on Egypt,” the prime minister’s office said.

The Turkish prime minister was previously quoted as saying that Mubarak’s pledge to stand down in September was not enough, and that the embattled Egyptian president should go immediately. Erdoğan stressed Sunday that Turkey did not have any intention of interfering in Egypt’s internal affairs.

Underscoring that democratic change in Egypt would have a positive impact on the whole region, Erdoğan said: “We hope the Egyptian people’s democratic will for rights and freedoms will be met. This is very important for peace and prosperity in the region, since the result Egypt would achieve on this would have a very positive impact on the region.”

Visiting Syria for a ceremony for a joint “Friendship Dam” to be built over the Orontes River at the border between the two countries, Erdoğan said he might discuss demands across the Middle East for democratic change with Syrian President Bashir al-Assad.

“In all our meetings with my brother Bashir al-Assad we have discussed both the functioning of our state and the functioning of all democracies,” the Turkish prime minister said.

Erdoğan said he believed that developments in the region, and around the world, constituted an opportunity for all leaders to assess both the current situation and their view of the future. Speaking at the dam ceremony, he said what was happening in the region had an impact on all countries within it. “Egypt is not just a matter for people there, it also a matter for us,” he said.

“Everybody should be sure that Turkey only wants peace, stability and prosperity in this region. We want this region to also economically develop as Turkey develops,” Erdoğan said, drawing attention to the fact that Syria was also developing in that way, indirectly giving support to al-Assad in his speech.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu meanwhile stressed Saturday that a reasonable transition period was needed in Egypt that would allow a political scene to take shape and political actors to ready themselves for full-fledged multi-party elections.

“Once these are laid down, it will be appropriate to schedule the elections for a reasonable date. If a healthy election is to be held, political parties and actors should be allowed to make preparations. If new political parties are to be formed, time should be allowed,” he said, speaking to reporters ahead of his talks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. “Such a dynamic multi-party election has not taken place in Egypt in the near past. A reasonable amount of time needs to be allowed for that.”

Citing the phone conversation between Erdoğan and Obama, Davutoğlu also reaffirmed that Turkey and the United States share “100 percent identical views” on Egypt. “The good side is the views are 100 percent identical; the regional perspective, the worries, the concerns are the same,” he said.

Clinton was due to join EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to discuss efforts to revive the stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.

On this topic, however, Davutoğlu took a position diverging from that of Washington, saying Turkey believes it is not the time to discuss pushing forward the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. (Hürriyet Daily News, February 6, 2011

Relations régionales / Regional Relations

La Turquie rapatrie 125 ressortissants qui avaient été pris en otage en Libye

La Turquie a envoyé dimanche un avion militaire pour rapatrier 125 de ses ressortissants qui ont été libérés après avoir été pris en otage, a annoncé un communiqué du ministère des Affaires étrangères.

Le bref communiqué du ministère a indiqué que l'avion cargo est parti dans la soirée pour Tripoli pour "rapatrier 125 compatriotes qui étaient retenus en otage à Tripoli et ont été sauvés à la suite d'efforts entrepris par notre ministère".

Le communiqué ne précise pas par qui ces ressortissants turcs étaient retenus. Aucun commentaire n'a pu être obtenu de responsables du ministère contactés par l'AFP.

Environ 30.000 Turcs étaient basés en Libye avant la révolte populaire qui a gagné le pays, pour la plupart employés par les 200 entreprises turques qui travaillent principalement dans le bâtiment et les travaux publics.

La Turquie a monté une opération de grande envergure pour rapatrier ses ressortissants.

Dimanche soir, deux navires de la marine turque transportant plus de 1.700 Turcs et étrangers sont arrivés en Turquie, venant de Benghazi (Libye), selon le ministère des affaires étrangères.

Environ 500 de ces passagers sont de 25 nationalités différentes, selon la même source.

Depuis le 19 février, la Turquie a évacué plus de 17.000 personnes de Libye. (AFP, 28 fév 2011)

Turks escaping from Libya recount panic, hunger on journey home

The last few days have been rife with panic, fear, hunger and sleeplessness, according to thousands of Turks now safely back in Turkey following harrowing experiences in Libya while waiting for evacuation from the turmoil-stricken country.

“We had nothing to eat, nothing to drink, it was so difficult,” 24-year-old Muhamet Selim, a Turkish construction worker who was working in the North African country when an uprising swept the country, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Thursday after landing at Istanbul Atatürk International Airport. “It was so cold during nights and we had to stay outside even when it was raining.”

Thousands of Turks evacuated from coastal Libyan cities arrived at the Aegean Turkish port of Marmaris at midnight on Thursday, and hundreds of others have also begun arriving at Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport after suffering for days as they searched for a flight out of Tripoli’s airport.

While Selim was one of those lucky enough to board a flight back home, he said he was unsure of what would happen to his father, Kemal Selim, who has not yet been able to leave Libya.

Kemal Selim, a 52-year-old father of seven, was among many Turks who were prevented from entering the Tripoli airport by Egyptian citizens who were reportedly angered that only Turkish citizens were being taken to their own country. “I am not angry at the Egyptians for their actions, as they had been waiting for days like us, hoping that a plane would take them back to their homeland,” Selim said. 

Selim and about 360 other Turks arrived at Atatürk Airport early Thursday morning. Both he and his father had been working for three months as construction workers for a Turkish company when an uprising to oust Col. Moammar Gadhafi began sweeping the country Feb. 15.

Everything remained normal at their construction site, located three hours from the capital Tripoli, until protesters raided the site, stealing money and any valuables possessed by the workers there.

“They told us to step back, and they took everything we had,” Selim said, adding that some of the protesters were also carrying knives.

Selim and his father then left the site together with the other Turkish workers, who numbered about 150.

“The security guards helped us leave for Tripoli,” he said, adding that they arrived at the capital penniless before going to the Turkish embassy to ask for assistance.

“We were told to go to the airport, from there we would then be taken to Turkey,” Selim said, adding that there were few people there when they arrived on Feb. 20.

“However, the exterior of the airport became really crowded in the following days,” Selim said, noting that 15,000 people from countries as diverse Tunisia, Egypt, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Russia and Germany had appeared by the third day of their wait, desperate to escape as well.

The men largely slept outside the building, as only women and children were allowed into the terminal by Libyan security forces, Selim said.

The situation became increasingly tense during the last two days of their stay in Tripoli, Selim said, adding that they continuously heard the sounds of bullets around them.

“There was a lot of violence, we could see it, hear it and feel it,” he said, noting that authorities at the airport had warned all foreigners not to use telephones or cameras to record the events they were witnessing. “When some did so, their cameras were taken and images were deleted.”

Men waiting at the front lines in front of the airport were also beaten by Libyan police whenever they pushed the lines as they struggled to enter the terminal and escape the violence, Selim said.

“The crowd was not manageable, people pushed each other struggling to be the first to step inside the airport,” Selim said. “Once we were in there, though, we knew we had survived.”

Selim said he prayed continuously that his father and friends could board another plane from Tripoli. No information has been provided about the flights scheduled to arrive from Libya at Atatürk Airport, and airport authorities said they had not received any information on the flights, leaving everyone to wait anxiously for loved ones.

Many hours passed with people wondering what could be happening at the Tripoli airport, when the good news came as the clock showed 17:14.

A plane from Tripoli finally landed at 5:14 p.m. Selim was overwhelmed by emotions when he saw his father emerge from the gate, while Sahit Buğraçayır, a mutual friend arriving on the same flight, said, “We have returned from death.”

Turkish embassy did not look after us

While Selim, Buğraçayır and many other friends said they were delighted with the assistance they had had received from the Turkish Embassy in Tripoli, others said the opposite.

“The Turkish Embassy left us waiting at the airport for more than two days,” Erdal Akpınar, a 36-year-old electrician who had been working for a Turkish electric firm in Tripoli for the past year, told the Daily News on Thursday.

Citizens of other countries such as Germany and France were assisted and evacuated immediately without having to wait outside the airport, he said.

“There was no organization, embassy authorities did not come immediately to our help,” he said.

Escaping from Alexandria

Many Turks trying to leave Libya as soon as possible chose to escape through the country’s land borders rather than risk going to Tripoli or the city of Benghazi. More than 160 Turks that had been working for different construction firms in Libya crossed the border to Egypt to escape the fighting.

“Libyans raided our workplace and set everything on fire on the afternoon of Feb. 17,” Orhan Sarıtaş, who had been working as a lift-operator for nine months in the western city of Derne, told the Daily News on Friday.

“They told us that the reason they burnt the construction site was that they did not want it to become a shelter for Gadhafi’s soldiers,” he said, explaining that the Derne residents did not support the government and consequently joined the protests.

Unlike Turkish workers in the suburbs of Tripoli, who had to look after themselves after their workplace were raided, Sarıtaş said his company had taken care of their employees, including 111 Vietnamese workers.

“We were first taken to a wedding hall by our company, where we stayed for five days,” he said, adding that women and children stayed with Libyan families during the whole time for safety reasons. “We were very scared, even when at the wedding hall, especially during the first two days, as well as during the nights.”

“We were treated very well with food and drinks,” said Hakan Kaskan, a 37-year-old construction worker who had been working with Sarıtaş at the same company.

He said, however, that it had been difficult to sleep in the crowded hall and added that there were problems with sanitation.

Kaskan and other workers said they had had problems in communicating with their families, as mobile phones and the Internet were not functioning while they were at the hall. “We could only speak for a few seconds when our families managed to catch the line and call us,” Kaskan said.

“We witnessed so much violence in Derne’s streets and also saw how protesters killed some Gadhafi soldiers by throwing stones at them,” said a 30-year-old construction engineer who refused to give his identity.

After their five-day stay in the wedding hall, they traveled for 11 hours to the border with Egypt, where they then waited a few more hours.

“Then Turkish diplomats took us to Alexandria,” he said, adding that diplomatic missions in Libya had not been organized enough to extricate them from the difficult situation.

Turkish diplomatic missions in Libya should have been more vigilant about the situation and should have warned their citizens about possible troubles, according to Sarıtaş, who said even 4-year-old children begging in Derne’s streets had told them protests could erupt within a few days in the country. “The consulate should have warned us in advance.” (Hürriyet Daily News, ERISA DAUTAJ ŞENERDEM, February 25, 2011)

L'ambassade israélienne à Ankara en pratique fermée après les menaces du Hezbollah

L'ambassade israélienne à Ankara "ne fonctionne pas" - bien qu'elle ne soit pas officiellement fermée- du fait de mesures de sécurité prises face aux menaces du mouvement armé chiite libanais Hezbollah, a déclaré vendredi à l'AFP une source diplomatique israélienne.

La situation est la même au consulat israélien d'Istanbul, selon la même source.

"Nous ne sommes pas officiellement fermés. Mais en pratique, on ne fonctionne pas. Nous avons complètement changé nos règles de sécurité, les horaires (d'ouverture) changent, et il est difficile de dire quand nous sommes là", a précisé cette source, qui a requis l'anonymat.

Ces mesures ont été prises "à cause du Hezbollah", a précisé cette source.

Le Hezbollah a menacé mercredi d'envahir le nord-est d'Israël en cas d'attaque israélienne contre le Liban voisin, et de s'en prendre aux "dirigeants" israéliens, pour venger la mort de l'un de ses leaders assassinés.

"Je dis aux combattants de la Résistance islamique, soyez prêts: si une guerre est imposée sur le Liban, le commandement de la résistance pourrait vous demander de prendre le contrôle de la Galilée (nord-est d'Israël), c'est-à-dire de libérer la Galilée", a dit le chef du Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah.

Un diplomate israélien à Ankara avait indiqué mercredi que des mesures de sécurité supplémentaires avaient été prises à l'ambassade d'Israël en Turquie, mais que la mission diplomatique restait ouverte.

Le ministère israélien des affaires étrangères a annoncé mardi avoir provisoirement fermé quatre de ses missions diplomatiques à la suite de menaces d'attaque, mais n'a pas précisé lesquelles.

Auparavant, le ministère avait annoncé le renforcement de la sécurité de plusieurs de ses ambassades à la suite de récents "incidents inhabituels".

Le "bureau de lutte contre le terrorisme", qui relève du bureau du Premier ministre Benjamin Netanyahu, a récemment mis en garde les ressortissants israéliens contre des risques affectant leur sécurité dans sept pays: l'Egypte, la Turquie, la Géorgie, le Venezuela, le Mali, la Côte d'Ivoire et la Mauritanie.

Les relations entre la Turquie et Israël, pays jadis alliés, se sont considérablement dégradées. (AFP, 18 fév 2011)

Iran-Turquie: Peine capitale et exécutions sommaires

Ces derniers temps, l’Etat iranien, toujours « gouverné » par des Ayatollah, de nouveau défraie la chronique avec ses pendaisons d’un autre âge. En effet, depuis le début de cette année, 71 personnes, y compris des prisonniers politiques, ont été exécutées dans ce pays. Le 27 janvier 2011, Farhad Taroum, un prisonnier politique Kurde a été exécuté dans la prison d’Orumieh au Kurdistan d’Iran et quelques jours plus tôt, le samedi 20 janvier 2011, un autre prisonnier politique Kurde, appelé Hossein Khizri a été aussi pendu dans la même prison. 16 autres prisonniers politiques, d’origine kurde, attendent actuellement dans les couloirs de la mort. Si les agissements de l’Etat obscurantiste iranien provoquent, à juste titre, l’indignation de l’Occident, son voisin turc, bénéficie au contraire une sympathie grandissante.

Certes, membre de l’OTAN, de l’OCDE, de l’OSCE, du Conseil de l’Europe, du G20, de la Conférence islamique et candidate à l’adhésion à l’Union européenne, la Turquie « moderne » est un allié important de l’Occident.

Pourtant, malgré son apparence démocratique et la suppression de la peine capitale, la Turquie n’a rien à envier aux pays de mollahs. En effet, les autorités turques ont recours à d’autres méthodes pour éliminer ses opposants : 1748 prisonniers politiques ont été tués au cours de ces dix dernières années sous la torture et/ou par manque de soin. L’an passé, 13 enfants ont été tués sous les balles des forces de l’ordre turques et/ou suite à l’explosion des mines anti personnelles. Pour ne citer que ces deux exemples.

D’un côté, un Etat islamique obscurantiste, de l’autre, un Etat prétendument laïc/démocratique et présenté comme model aux pays musulmans qui pratiquent les mêmes politiques : élimination de toute opposition.

Au nom de ses intérêts « supérieurs », l’Occident soutien des régimes oppresseurs comme la Turquie. Mais, les peuples enverront, tôt ou tard, les criminels et leurs alliés aux  poubelles de l’Histoire comme nous le démontrent les révoltes populaires dans le monde arabe.  (Maison populaire de Genève, 8 février 2011, http://www.assmp.org )

L'Iran et la Turquie veulent tripler leurs échanges à 30 milliards de dollars

L'Iran et la Turquie veulent tripler leurs échanges commerciaux à 30 milliards de dollars d'ici 2015, ont déclaré des responsables des deux pays réunis à Téhéran et cités lundi par l'agence officielle IRNA.

"La signature d'accords mutuels peut permettre d'atteindre l'objectif des responsables des deux pays de porter le niveau des échanges à 30 milliards de dollars", a déclaré Mehdi Ghazanfari, ministre iranien du Commerce, lors d'une rencontre avec le ministre turc chargé du Plan, Jodat Yilmaz.

"Les dirigeants des deux pays ont fixé un objectif clair pour les échanges futurs (...). Cet objectif est facilement atteignable en tenant compte des capacités actuelles", a estimé M. Yilmaz.

Le nouveau ministre iranien des Affaires étrangères, Ali Akbar Salehi, qui a fait du développement des liens avec la Turquie l'une de ses priorités, a confirmé que "l'objectif d'atteindre un niveau d'échanges de 30 milliards de dollars d'ici cinq ans n'(était) pas hors de portée", toujours selon IRNA.

Les ministres ont espéré pouvoir "finaliser un accord de préférence tarifaire" entre les deux pays lors de la visite en Iran du président turc Abdullah Gul la semaine prochaine.

Les échanges commerciaux de Téhéran sont passés en dix ans d'un milliard de dollars à près de 11 milliards actuellement.

L'Iran et la Turquie, qui comptent ensemble une population de 150 millions d'habitants, se sont rapprochés ces dernières années sur le plan économique mais aussi politique, Ankara devenant un allié de poids pour les Iraniens dans leurs délicates négociations nucléaires avec les grandes puissances.

En septembre, le Premier ministre turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a appelé à un "rapprochement économique avec l'Iran", en dépit des pressions occidentales pour isoler Téhéran.

L'Iran, qui exporte déjà 15 à 18 millions de m3 de gaz par jour vers la Turquie, a signé en juillet un contrat d'un milliard d'euros avec une compagnie turque pour la construction d'un gazoduc de 660 km, qui permettra d'ici trois ans d'exporter chaque jour 60 millions de m3 de gaz vers la Turquie. (AFP, 7 fév 2011)

Assad et Erdogan pour la réalisation des aspirations du peuple égyptien

Le président syrien Bachar al-Assad et le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan ont espéré dimanche "la réalisation des aspirations du peuple en Egypte" secoué par un mouvement de révolte qui réclame le départ du président Hosni Moubarak, selon l'agence officielle syrienne Sana.

Les deux hommes ont exprimé l'espoir lors d'un entretien à Alep, dans le nord de la Syrie, que "le calme revienne en Egypte et que les efforts s'unissent pour épargner au peuple égyptien davantage de souffrance et répondre à ses revendications et aspirations", a indiqué Sana.

Ils sont convenus par ailleurs de "déployer tous les efforts possibles pour la stabilité et la sécurité au Liban" où le nouveau Premier ministre Najib Miqati poursuit ses consultations en vue de la formation d'un gouvernement.

MM. Assad et Erdogan ont enfin souligné l'importance que la Syrie et la Turquie "poursuivent leur dialogue (...) afin de parvenir à un climat de sécurité" dans la région.

En matinée, M. Erdogan et son homologue syrien Mohammad Naji Otri ont posé la première pierre du "Barrage de l'amitié" qui sera construit sur l'Oronte à la frontière entre les deux pays.

Le barrage se situe entre les villages syrien d'al-Allani (nord-ouest de la Syrie) et turc Ziarat.

Le barrage de 580 m de long et de 14,5 m de haut devrait générer 16 millions de kWh par an et irriguer 10.000 hectares de terres arables dans les deux pays.

Le fleuve Oronte (405 km) prend sa source au Liban, traverse le nord-ouest de la Syrie puis la Turquie, avant de se jeter dans la Méditerranée.

Ce projet a pour objectif également d'"attirer les investissements en vue de développer les régions frontalières" entre la Syrie et la Turquie en créant de nouveaux emplois pour les habitants de cette région, selon l'agence.

Les relations syro-turques se sont développées de manière importante ces dernières années après une longue période de tensions liées au partage des eaux de l'Euphrate et au statut de la province du Hatay, territoire syrien cédé en 1939 à la Turquie par le pouvoir mandataire français en échange de la neutralité d'Ankara au cours de la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

En 1998, la Turquie et la Syrie avaient été au bord de la guerre en raison du soutien fourni par Damas aux rebelles kurdes de Turquie sur son territoire.

Les deux pays ont supprimé leurs visas en 2009. (AFP, 6 fév 2011)

Erdogan exhorte Moubarak à écouter le peuple, reporte une visite en Egypte

Le Premier ministre turc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a exhorté mardi le régime égyptien de Hosni Moubarak à "satisfaire sans hésitations la volonté de changement" de son peuple et lancé un appel plus général en faveur de réformes démocratiques au Moyen-Orient.

M. Erdogan a aussi décidé de reporter une visite prévue pour la semaine prochaine en Egypte en raison des événements dans ce pays.

"Ecoutez les cris du peuple et leurs revendications très humanistes (...) Il vous faut satisfaire sans hésitations la volonté de changement provenant du peuple", a-t-il déclaré au Parlement dans un discours hebdomadaire devant les députés du Parti de la justice et du développement (AKP, issu de la mouvance islamiste), retransmis à la télévision.

Expliquant vouloir "faire une recommandation, donner un avertissement sincère au président Moubarak", M. Erdogan l'a appelé à être "le premier" à adopter les mesures démocratiques nécessaires pour la paix, la sécurité et la stabilité de son pays.

Il espère que l'Egypte pourra "satisfaire les revendications légitimes et compréhensibles" du peuple. "Les libertés ne peuvent être niées ni repoussées à plus tard", a estimé le chef du gouvernement turc.

M. Erdogan, un ancien militant islamiste converti à la "démocratie conservatrice" et qui s'est forgé une forte popularité dans le monde arabe et musulman pour ses virulentes attaques contre Israël notamment, a aussi, sur une note plus personnelle, conseillé au président égyptien de penser à l'Au-delà.

"Nous sommes tous mortels (...) Ce qui importe c'est que l'on se souvienne de vous avec respect. Nous devons écouter notre conscience et la voix de notre peuple, et être prêt à entendre leurs prières ou leurs malédictions", a-t-il dit.

Il a souligné par ailleurs avoir ajourné son déplacement au Caire pour une série d'entretiens axés sur la promotion des relations commerciales bilatérales, les 8 et 9 février, qu'il espère réaliser "une fois que la situation retournera à la normale" dans ce pays.

M. Erdogan a aussi appelé le gouvernement de transition en Tunisie, formé après que le départ du président Zine El Abidine Ben Ali chassé par un soulèvement populaire en janvier, à aller de l'avant avec les réformes démocratiques.

"La Turquie soutiendra la Tunisie et le peuple tunisien pendant ce processus critique", a-t-il assuré.

La Turquie, musulmane mais laïque et candidate à l'intégration à l'Union européenne, se veut un modèle de démocratie pour le monde arabe avec lequel elle a tissé des liens étroits depuis l'arrivée au pouvoir à Ankara de l'AKP, en 2002.

Dans ce contexte M. Erdogan s'est prononcé mardi en faveur de changements démocratiques au Moyen-Orient afin d'assurer "un avenir plus libre, juste et prospère" pour les peuples de la région. "On ne doit jamais avoir peur d'élections libres, justes et démocratiques et de la volonté du peuple", a ajouté M. Erdogan.

Des dizaines de milliers d'Egyptiens se rassemblaient mardi au Caire pour une journée de manifestations que l'opposition espère décisive, après une semaine de révolte sans précédent pour exiger le départ du président Moubarak.

Le mouvement de contestation, qui a débuté le 25 janvier, a fait au moins 125 morts et des milliers de blessés. (AFP, 1 fév 2011)

Ankara demande à l'Egypte de répondre aux "demandes légitimes" du peuple

La Turquie a demandé lundi à l'Egypte de répondre aux "demandes légitimes" du peuple tout en mettant en garde contre une instabilité prolongée dans le pays.

"Nous pensons que le peuple égyptien doit pouvoir exercer ses droits élémentaires et ses libertés d'une manière légitime et exprimer ses revendications par des moyens démocratiques et non-violents", a déclaré le vice Premier-ministre Cemil Cicek après une réunion du gouvernement.

"Nous espérons que (...) l'Egypte et les autres pays où des troubles ont eu lieu, pourront surmonter les incertitudes en prenant des mesures pour répondre aux demandes légitimes de leur peuple", a-t-il déclaré à la presse.

M. Cicek a souligné que l'Egypte occupait "une position clé pour la paix et la stabilité dans toute la région" et appelé le pays à restaurer "la paix aussi vite que possible pour éviter d'être entraîné dans l'instabilité".

Il a souligné que "les parties devaient s'abstenir de recourir à la violence" et mis en garde les contestataires contre "les actions destructrices qui prennent notamment pour cible l'héritage culturel, les lieux de cultes et les biens publics".

Le Premier ministre Recep Tayyip Erdogan doit traiter en détail de la question égyptienne mardi lors de son intervention hebdomadaire au Parlement, a-t-il indiqué.

Des dizaines de milliers de personnes ont continué de manifester lundi au Caire pour réclamer le départ du président Hosni Moubarak, malgré l'annonce d'un nouveau gouvernement. Au moins 125 personnes ont été tuées lors des manifestations qui durent depuis une semaine. (AFP, 31 jan 2011)


Chypre et la Grèce / Cyprus and Greece

Cypriots Call for a "Military-Free Nicosia"

People in Cyprus demonstrated for a "Military-free Nicosia" once more on 19 February. This demonstration became an annual tradition since the first event in 2006.

The event was organized upon the call of the New Cyprus Party. The demonstration moved around the New Gate (Magosa Gate) in the district of Çağlayan as part of the capital of Nicosia. This gate was used as a transition point after the coup in 1974. The group of demonstrators made their press statement in front of the gate.

At the same time, the Initiative for a Nicosia without Military and Transition Points came to the ceasefire line in the south of the divided city to issue a press release.

The demand for a military-free Nicosia voiced in both announcements included the regional withdrawal of the military as well as the withdrawal of the military from the entire island. Hence, the homes and offices left in the buffer zone could be used again and the dividing line could be replaced by locations that unite Cyprus, the demonstrators emphasized.

A withdrawal of the military would open up the ceasefire line and one third of the island covered by the buffer zone to civil use again. This would be important for the democratization and also for daily life from traffic to tourism, from agriculture to cattle dealing and many other sectors of civil life that would be significantly affected, the demonstrators declared.

The participants were carrying banners featuring "Miliatry-free Nicosia, Military-free Cyprus" and "We revolt against occupation". The demonstration was supported by the European Bureau for Conscientious Objection. (BIA, 22 February 2011)

Manifestation anti-turque à Chypre-nord: Ankara change son représentant

La Turquie a nommé un nouveau représentant diplomatique dans l'entité turque de Chypre après une controverse provoquée par une manifestation anti-turque dans cette partie non-reconnue internationalement de l'île qui a suscité l'ire d'Ankara, a indiqué jeudi une source diplomatique.

Kaya Türkmen, un diplomate de carrière au rang d'ambassadeur, a été nommé à un autre poste et sera remplacé par Halil Ibrahim Akça, le chef de la mission d'aide technique en République turque de Chypre du nord (RTCN, reconnue par la seule Turquie), a souligné cette source sous couvert d'anonymat.

Cette décision intervient après une polémique sans précédent entre le gouvernement d'Ankara et les autorités chypriotes turques née après une manifestation survenue le 28 janvier à Nicosie-nord (turc).

A l'appel d'un groupe d'opposition, plusieurs milliers de personnes ont

manifesté contre le plan d'austérité du gouvernement chypriote-turc, et un groupe de manifestants a déployé des banderoles où on pouvait lire:"Ankara, bas les pattes!".

Certains manifestants ont brandi des drapeaux chypriotes (grecs) et sur une pancarte on pouvait lire des injures visant notamment l'armée turque déployée dans le tiers-nord de l'île méditerranéenne.

Le Premier ministre turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan s'en est vivement pris aux manifestants et à l'administration chypriote-turque de ne pas avoir réagi à temps.

Il n'a d'ailleurs pas mâché ses mots: "Nous les nourrissons et ils nous disent de partir, pour qui se prennent-ils?", a-t-il dit, affirmant que la Turquie soutient financièrement le nord de Chypre.

Chypre est divisée depuis 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. (AFP, 10 fév 2011)

Unionists in Northern Cyprus Protest PM Erdoğan

Some trade unions and non-governmental organizations in Northern Cyprus gathered in front of the Turkish Embassy on Monday (7 February) to protest against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Reason for the demonstration was Erdoğan's saying "It is significant that the ones who are nourished by our country move into this direction" subsequent to another demonstration on 28 January. On Monday, PM Erdoğan met the second President of Northern Cyprus, Mehmet Ali Talat, in Ankara.

The Trade Union Platform, established by unions in Northern Cyprus, protested Erdoğan's reaction by gathering in front of the Embassy at Nicosia. Regarding the animosity in Northern Cyprus against Turkey, the PM had said, "Who do you think you are? It is significant that the ones who are nourished by our country move into this direction".

"Don't hide behind the referendum"

The unionists wanted to submit a letter to the Ambassador in Nicosia, Kaya Türkmen, to be forwarded to PM Erdoğan but they were stopped by the police. The Embassy said that the letter would have to be sent by mail. The union members criticized the embassy's approach: "As if we came to invade or loot the embassy or to carry out a terrorist action. This attitude is unacceptable".

The letter read, "Once more we remind the ones who are trying to usurp the political will of Turkish Cypriots that every people has the right to a free and independent life in the geographical region they live and the right to govern themselves. You should stop hiding behind the "Yes" voted by the Turkish Cypriots in the referendum in 2004".

The Greek part of Cyprus in the south of the island accessed the European Union (EU) in 2004. Turkish Cypriots supported the plan to join the EU as a single United Cyprus Republic in a referendum on 24 April 2004 but the Greek Cypriots rejected the plan.

Meeting between Erdoğan and Talat

İzzet İzcan, Secretary General of the United Cyprus Party (BKP), said, "We will hold Prime Minister Erdoğan responsible for any violence and oppression imposed to any of the participants of the demonstration on 28 January".

The President of Northern Cyprus, Derviş Eroğlu, met represenatives of political parties that are represented in the parliament on Sunday (6 February). The Parliament of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) furhtermore held an extraordinary session on Monday morning. The agenda was not announced.

The meeting between Erdoğan and Talat at the headoffice of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara lasted one hour and 45 minutes. It was announced that the politicians discussed the banners posted at the demonstration on 28 January.

What did Erdoğan say?

The demonstrators on 28 January posted banners featuring slogans like "Have we been rescued? To hell with it!", "We do not want money, a package or civil servants from Ankara", "Ayşe ran out of money and stole some on holiday" and "Ayşe, go home, we'll pay the fare".

Başbakan Erdoğan criticized the slogans, "The provocative actions in Northern Cyprus are being done together with the South. They tell us 'Get out of here'. They are insensitive towards their government. They do not have the right to carry out such a protest action against Turkey. They say 'Turkey, get out of here'. Who do you think you are! I have dead soldiers and veterans, I have a strategic interest. Whatever Greece has to do with Cyprus, Turkey has the same business with Cyprus in a strategic aspect. I look and see that he wants an appointment with me. I will call him and talk to him, we will ask him about this".

While some parties in the opposition in Cyprus criticized Erdoğan, he was supported by Eroğlu as the President of Northern Cyprus, İrsen Küçük, the Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus and Rauf Denktaş, founder and first President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. (BIA, Erhan ÜSTÜNDAĞ, 8 February 2011)

Cold winds blow between Turkey, KKTC after protest

A protest against austerity measures in Turkish Cyprus has strained ties between Ankara and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan lashed out at anti-Turkey slogans, bluntly pointing out that Turkish soldiers died to protect Turkish Cypriots and that it is the Turkish financial assistance that helps the KKTC authorities pay the salaries of civil servants.

Erdoğan's remarks, made during a visit to Kyrgyzstan last week, have divided Turkish Cypriot politicians. Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister İrsen Küçük said Erdoğan's reaction reflected Erdoğan's deep sadness over the anti-Turkey placards during the Jan. 28 protest, while three opposition leaders have issued a joint statement condemning Erdoğan's remarks. President Derviş Eroğlu, for his part, said the Turkish reaction to some of the slogans, which he said could be considered “insulting,” was natural but also noted that some of this reaction stemmed from “misinformation” about the situation on the island.

“Ankara, take your hands off us; this land is ours, we will run it” and “Ankara, we don’t want your money or [austerity] package” were some of the messages the protesters wrote on placards on Jan. 28. In Kyrgyzstan, Erdoğan said protesters told Turkey to “get out” and said it was meaningful that those who rely on Turkey for their salaries come up with such a protest. “Who are you to tell me to get out? I have martyrs [who died during Turkey’s 1974 intervention in Cyprus to protect Turkish Cypriots from Greek Cypriot attacks], I have strategic interests,” Erdoğan said. “We are supporting Turkish Cyprus. Shouldn’t this be reciprocated?”

He also said the lowest salary for a Turkish Cypriot civil servant was TL 10,000 -- a figure later disputed by Eroğlu, who said as president, even he does not make that much money.

The dispute raised prospects of a revision in policy towards the KKTC. The issue is likely to come up when the Cabinet gathers for a regular meeting today.

Turkey annually transfers TL 450 million to help the Turkish Cypriot economy, which has been isolated from the rest of the world for about three decades due to an international trade embargo. This year, the KKTC government estimated the budget deficit at TL 600 million and prepared a package of austerity measures to meet TL 150 million of that deficit, which resulted in up to 40 percent cuts in civil servant salaries. The Turkish donation of TL 450 million will also be used in meeting the budget targets. In addition to the donation, three public banks also transferred 10 percent of their revenue to the KKTC to help raise living standards on the island.

Greek Cyprus linkage

On Sunday, both Erdoğan and Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek, who is in charge of relations with the KKTC, appeared to put the blame on Turkish Cypriot groups that they said have links with the Greek Cypriot administration.

“What happened is the act of a group that has links with the south [Greek Cyprus],” Erdoğan told reporters before departing for the southern province of Hatay, where he later took part in a ceremony to launch construction of a dam on the border with Syria.

Çiçek, speaking to Today’s Zaman, said protesters worked in cooperation with “elements supported by the Progressive Party of Working People [AKEL],” the former party of Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias. The Greek Cypriot administration, on the other hand, denied any link with Turkish Cypriot protesters on Sunday, with Greek Cypriot government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou claiming that the Turkish Cypriot protesters sent a message to Turkey about “Turkey’s illegal presence” on Cyprus, referring to about 35,000 Turkish troops deployed in Turkish Cyprus since 1974.

Çiçek blamed “bad management” of the economy for the current austerity measures in the KKTC. “One of the main problems of the KKTC economy is mismanagement of the funds coming from Turkey. When the global economic crisis came on top of this, the Turkish Cypriot government had to take some measures. But trade unions and opposition parties blame Turkey for this,” Çiçek told Today’s Zaman, also accusing Turkish Cypriot leaders of remaining silent in face of protests against Turkey until Erdoğan spoke out. (Today's Zaman, ERCAN YAVUZ, 7 February 2011)

Immigration / Migration

Dix mois à cinq ans de prison pour avoir financé le TKP/ML

Douze personnes d'origine ou de nationalité turque ont été condamnées vendredi à des peines allant de 10 mois à 5 ans de prison ferme par le tribunal correctionnel de Paris pour avoir contribué, en France, au financement d'un groupe d'extrême gauche turc, le TKP/ML.

Les prévenus appartenaient à une association à vocation, selon eux, culturelle ou caritative mais qui, selon l'accusation, avait pour objet de financer les activités "terroristes" d'un groupuscule communiste turc.

Selon le ministère public, "la majeure partie de l'argent collecté finissait dans les caisses de la branche armée" de ce groupe, le TKP/ML (Parti communiste de Turquie/marxiste-léniniste).

Plusieurs prévenus qui ne s'étaient pas présentés à l'audience ont été condamnés à trois et cinq ans de prison ferme et un mandat d'arrêt a été requis à leur encontre.

Un autre, présent à l'audience, a été condamné à quatre ans de prison et incarcéré immédiatement. Un dernier, qui était jusqu'ici en détention provisoire à la prison de Fresnes, a été condamné à deux ans d'emprisonnement.

Un seul prévenu, sur les treize jugés devant la 16e chambre du tribunal correctionnel, a été relaxé.

C'est la première fois que la justice française jugeait des membres présumés du TKP/ML.

Les faits avaient débuté avec la séquestration d'un homme en septembre 2005 à Paris. Les malfaiteurs l'avaient relâché au bout d'une journée après s'être emparé de sa voiture. Cette séquestration est le seul acte violent du dossier.

Interpellés en 2006, principalement à Paris et en Bretagne, les suspects répondaient pour la plupart "d'association de malfaiteurs à visée terroriste et de financement du terrorisme".

Proche du parti indépendantiste kurde PKK, le TKP/ML s'était illustré par des actions violentes en France notamment en 1996 à Strasbourg, lorsque des cocktails Molotov avaient été jetés contre des vitrines d'agences de voyages turques. (AFP, 18 fév 2011)

La Grèce rejette une demande d'asile d'un ex-cadre du DTP

La Grèce a rejeté mardi la demande d'asile d'un ancien cadre du parti pro-kurde pour une société démocratique (DTP), dissous par la Cour constitutionnelle turque en 2009, qui avait été arrêté en décembre à Salonique (nord), a-t-on appris de source policière.

Ancien vice-président du DTP, Mustafa Sarikaya, 46 ans, a été arrêté à la mi-décembre à l'aéroport de Salonique pour détention "de faux passeport" et "entrée illégale" sur le territoire grec, lors d'une escale de son avion en provenance de Paphos (Chypre) et à destination de Sofia (Bulgarie).

Après avoir été jugé en flagrant délit par la Cour correctionnelle de Salonique et acquitté car il se trouvait "en état de nécessité", M. Sarikaya a déposé une demande d'asile aux autorités grecques, qui ont finalement décidé de le renvoyer à Chypre, en vertu de l'accord européen dit de Dublin II qui prévoit le renvoi des demandeurs d'asile dans leur pays d'entrée dans l'Union.

Lors de sa déposition devant la cour, M. Sarikaya a indiqué qu'il avait passé vingt ans dans les geôles turques en raison de son activité politique et que sa vie serait en danger en cas de retour en Turquie.

La décision de la Cour constitutionnelle turque de dissoudre le DTP en 2009 avait été qualifiée d'"inquiétante" par le ministre suédois des Affaires étrangères, Carl Bildt, dont le pays présidait alors l'Union européenne.

Parmi divers problèmes qui entravent le progrès des négociations entre l'UE et la Turquie engagées depuis 2005, figure le respect des libertés politiques. (AFP, 1 fév 2011)

Strasbourg: deux familles d'origine turque visées par des départs d'incendie

Un ou des inconnus ont tenté d'incendier les maisons de deux familles d'origine turque dans la nuit de jeudi à vendredi à Hoenheim, dans la banlieue de Strasbourg, et y ont tracé des croix gammées, a-t-on appris auprès du maire qui a dénoncé une "intention de tuer".

Des croix gammées ont été dessinées avec un gros feutre noir sur le crépi blanc des maisons ainsi que sur le véhicule d'un des habitants, a précisé le maire centriste Vincent Debes, selon qui cet "acte raciste" n'a pas été revendiqué.

Les pompiers, appelés vers 04H30, ont pu rapidement maîtriser le feu qui commencait à se propager au rez-de-chaussée d'une des habitations après que la porte d'entrée se fut consumée, selon M. Debes.

La famille qui compte deux enfants a pu sortir à temps car elle a été réveillée par les crépitements.
 "On a évité le pire: à une minute près, la maison prenait complètement feu. Les occupants ont dû sortir par la fenêtre, car la cage d'escalier était en feu", a souligné le maire. "Ce sont des actes barbares, criminels. On avait l'intention de tuer", a-t-il ajouté.

La famille échappée des flammes s'est alors aperçue d'un autre départ de feu devant la porte de la maison d'en face, elle aussi occupée par une famille franco-turque de quatre personnes. Alertée, cette dernière a pu sortir de chez elle à temps.

Personne n'a été blessé mais les dégâts sont importants dans l'une des deux maisons visées, et ses occupants devront être relogés.

Le maire de Strasbourg, Roland Ries, et le président de la communauté urbaine, Jacques Bigot, se sont déclarés "consternés" par "cet acte criminel qui vient allonger une série déjà bien trop longue d'actes à caractère xénophobe ou antisémite".

"Il est maintenant important que toutes ces affaires soient rapidement élucidées", selon les deux élus socialistes.

L'agglomération strasbourgeoise a connu depuis un an une impressionnante série d'agressions ou de dégradations à caractère raciste ou antisémite, qui ont provoqué l'indignation de la classe politique locale. (AFP, 28 jan 2011)


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