A non-government information service on Turkey
Un service d'information non-gouvernemental sur la Turquie

13th Year - N°152 June 1989
38 rue des Eburons - 1000 Bruxelles Tél: (32-2) 215 35 76 - Fax: (32-2) 215 58 60  Rédacteur en chef: Dogan Özgüden - Editrice responsable: Inci Tugsavul  

        The rise of fundamentalism in Turkey has manifested itself once more during the first prayer at the newly-opened Cezeri Kasim Pasa mosque in Cagaloglu, Istanbul's press center.
        On May 5, the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, thousands of fundamentalists flocked to the mosque, stopping traffic and beating up journalists on the pretext of marking what they called "Jerusalem Day."
        The faithful, most of them wearing beards, green coats without lapels and skull caps, stopped the traffic on the busy thoroughfare for hours when they used the streets for Friday prayers. When the prayers finished the crowd began shouting slogans and tossing pamphlets into the air.
        The pamphlets, which began ""In the name of God", declared that the last Friday of the holy month Ramadan is a day of struggle for all Moslems who must take back Jerusalem from Israel.
        The demonstrators began marching toward the main office building of the daily Hürriyet about 70 meters from the mosque, chanting slogans such as "Down with Zionists", and "Police are with us."
        In front of the Hürriyet building, the crowd protested what they termed the pro-Zionist policies of the newspaper. Several photographers who were taking pictures of the demonstrators were attacked by the group. Other reporters trying to cover the events in Cagaloglu were chased away by the demonstrators.
        The police did not move to stop the attack on the journalists.
        After the demonstrators cleared the Cagaloglu Square, a group of newspaper reporters left their cameras on the street in protest of the actions of the police. Besides, journalist organizations carried out a series of protest demonstrations in Istanbul, Ankara and Adana.
        Prime Minister Turgut Ozal told reporters that they should not exaggerate what happened in Cagaloglu.

PROTESTS FROM IPI AND CSCE

        The recent harassments of Turkish journalists have given way to immediate protests from international institutions.
        On May 11, the 38th General Assembly of the International Press Institute (IPI), held in West Berlin, issued a communique blaming the harassment of journalists and a series of facts as regards the violation of press freedom in Turkey.
        On May 13, at the Information Forum organized in London by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), the editor of the Financial Times, Mr. Malcolm Rutheford, qualified the Turkish police's attack on journalists as a heavy blow on the press freedom.

CENSORSHIP IN 50 PROVINCES

        The performance of more than one thousand films, videocassettes and musical productions have been banned by local governors in 50 provinces of Turkey on a wireless order (No. O41916) by the Ministry of Interior.
        Recently, on May 30, the exhibition of musicassettes of nine famous folksingers at the Samsun Book Fair was banned by the governor of the province.
        Since it is not possible, by the virtue of the legislation, to lodge a common appeal against all local interdictions, the authors of the banned works have to appeal against each one of the decisions of 50 provinces. Such a complicated procedure often dissuades the victims from resorting to justice.

36 PUBLISHERS IN THE DOCK

        On May 26, 1989, the trial of 36 publishers began at a criminal court of Istanbul for having published Henry Miller's "The Tropic of Copricorn." This book had been published in 1985 by the Can Publishing House, but immediately confiscated on the charge of "obsecnity." Publisher Erdal Oz and the translator had been condemned for "obscene publication."
        Last year, in a joint action, 36 publishers reprinted this book by removing the paragraphs considered "obscene". But this new edition included also the report of legal experts that was the basis of the confiscation of the book, was confiscated as well.
        The public prosecutor claims that the 36 publishers committed the same offence by printing this report which includes "obscene paragraphs", and demands to condemn all co-publishers. 

PROSECUTION OF JOURNALISTS AND ARTISTS

        According to a report presented to a meeting on Press freedom organized in Istanbul on May 30 by the Press Council, public prosecutors have opened 1,426 legal proceedings against mass media and 2,127 journalists brought before tribunals.
        Below are the prosecutions of the last one month:       
        May 1, the May Day special issue of the monthly review Yeni Demokrasi was confiscated by the order of the State Security Court of Istanbul.
        May 2, Mr. Tunca Arslan, responsible editor of the weekly 2000e Dogru, was brought before the State Security Court of Istanbul for having reported a press release of two outlawed political organizations. He faces a prison term of up to 14 years.
        Same day, the members of the folk music group Yorum who had been detained on April 30 for having performed a Kurdish song and the May Day March in Eskisehir, were brought before the State Security Court of Konya. After the arrest of the artists, police kept in detention for hours the 3-year old daughter of the group's soloist Mrs. Ilkay Akkaya, as well.
        May 25, The daily Sabah was confiscated for a series of articles entitled "The Dynasty's Boat" concerning Prime Minister Ozal's family. A few ago, the same newspaper had already been confiscated for another series on the same subject: "Autumn in the Royal Garden."
        May 26, Weekly 2OOOe Dogru was confiscated for having printed some erotic photos in an articled entitled "Woman in the eyes of Capitalism."
        Same day, two journalists from the daily Cumhuriyet, Cuneyt Arcayurek and Oktay Gonensin were condemned to a fine of 81,666 TL each for having slandered Premier Ozal in an article.
        May 31, two famous journalists of the daily Hurriyet, father and son, were brought before a criminal court in Istanbul for having criticized in their articles the attitude of two judges. Cetin Altan and Ahmet Altan face a 4-month prison term each.

YAGCI-SARGIN CASE AT STRASBOURG

        The European Commission of Human Rights, at its session of May 11, 1989, declared "receivable" the complaint lodged by the two top officials of the United Communist Party of Turkey (TBKP), Nabi Yagci and Nihat Sargin.
        They claim that, after their return from exile, they were subjected to torture, but their complaints on this subject were not taken into consideration by local authorities.
        The European Commission, considering that they exhausted all possible means of appeal in Turkey, decided to deal with the case.
        By virtue of the procedure, the Commission will, at its hearing of July 3, 1989, call the Turkish Government and the TBKP officials to find a friendly settlement. If such a settlement cannot be found, the Commission will transmit the file, with the arguments of both sides as well as its own opinion, to the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

MAY DAY DETAINEES TORTURED

        Of the 561 people detained during the May Day demonstrations, only 56 have been arrested on May 15 by the Istanbul State Security Court and charged with breaking the demonstrations and marches law.
        A group of 18 people, after their release, held a press conference at the Istanbul offices of the Human Rights Association (IHD) and claimed that they were tortured by police.
        Selim Aksu, a student at Istanbul University, who was among the detainees, said: "My both arms were broken, during scuffles with police on May Day. I was taken from hospital bed a day after the incidents. They took me to the Beyoglu Police station. My head was bleeding, both my arms were broken, and I had a wound in my left leg. They beat me up like the other detainees. I fainted."
        Besides, six lawyers submitteed a petition to the Public Prosecutor demanding the arrest of Governor Cahit Bayar and police chief Hamdi Ardali. The petition said these two top government officials might destroy or disguise evidence which could identify the policeman responsible for the May Day killing. The lawyers also said Prime Minister Ozal and Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu were as much responsible for the death of Dalci as the person who pulled the trigger.

100,000 POLITICAL REFUGEES FROM TURKEY

        The daily Milliyet of April 27, 1989, reported that the number of Turkish nationals who sought asylum in other countries rose to 100,000 according to the findings of the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
        Of these refugees, 50,000 are in the FRG, 14,000 in Switzerland, 20,000 in Scandinavian countries, 11,800 in Greece, France and Belgium, 4,000 in Iran and 200 in Libya.
        The Foreign Ministry estimates that at least 80,000 of the asylum seekers quitted Turkey for economic reasons.
       
A BRITISH TEACHER TO BE EXPELLED

        British teacher Noel Debbage, head of the math department at he American Girls' School in Uskudar and a resident of Istanbul for 10 years, was served notice on April 24 by Istanbul's security police headquarters that he must quit Turkey by May 5. Police did not give any reason for the revoking of his residence and work permits.
        "I'm told by legal advisers the only reason Turkish authorities revoke a foreigner's residency is for either communist propaganda, sexual perversion or Christian propaganda," Debbage said. "So the only possible category I could fit into is the latter."
        "I am a mere practicing Christian. I am not a tub-thumping evangelist, and as a matter of conscience I have always tried to respect the religious sensitivities which exist here in Turkey. I have never ever been questioned or investigated for any illegal activity here."
        According to Alison Stendahl, one of Debbage's math colleagues, Debbage is one of the most popular members of the school faculty. "He is extremely professional and discreet, both in the classroom and his personal life," he said.

CHIEF JUDGE ACCUSES THE GOVERNMENT

        The government and the Parliament have not respected the rulings of the constitutional court in drafting legislation, Mahmut Cuhruk, the chief judge of the Constitutional Court, said on April 25, during a ceremony marking the 27th anniversary of Turkey's top judicial body.
        General Evren, Prime Minister Ozal and the leaders of opposition parties were present during the ceremony.
        Cuhruk said democracies do not depend solely on the opinions of the majority, and so in some cases the wishes of the majority should be restricted. Like new legislation, Constitutional Court rulings go into effect only after their publication in the Official Gazette. The government, therefore, can delay the implementation of a ruling by simply not publishing it.

7,000 DEATHS SENTENCES CLAIMED

        The daily Cumhuriyet, referring to the data given by Info-Türk, reported on its April 4, 1989 issue that more than 7,000 death sentences have been claimed by military prosecutors since the 1980 coup.

MEETINGS ON TORTURE BANNED

        The Governor of Ankara province banned a meeting on the right to life, organized on May 20, 1989 by the Association of Solidarity with the Families of Prisoners (TAYAD).
        Reminding that another meeting on torture that they organized earlier was also banned by the same governor, TAYAD protest against his arbitrary and antidemocratic stand.

ARRESTS AND TRIALS IN MAY

        11.5, in Kayseri, local chairman of the Socialist Party (SP), Zihni Dursun, and five other party officials were sentenced to imprisonment of 4 years and 2 months each for having expressed their sympathy with the Kurdish people in a message that they sent to a party meeting in Van.
        13.5, the State Security Court of Ankara sentenced four people to 5-year prison each for distributing TKP/B leaflets in Samsun on the occasion of the 8th anniversary of the coup.
        17.5, in Adana, sixteen people were arrested for having made the propaganda of an outlawed organization.
        26.5, the Martial Law Tribunal in Adana, resuming two trials against the Communist Labour Party of Turkey (TKEP) and the Revolutionary Way (Dev-Yol), sentenced a defendant to capital punishment, three to life-prison and five others to different prison terms of up to 15 years.
        28.5, in Kozluk (Siirt), Primary School teacher Mehmet Muhbettin Demir was arrested and sent to the State Security Court for separatist propaganda in the school.

MORE TROUBLES IN PRISONS

        27 political detainees in the Prison Type E of Nazilli went on a hunger strike at the beginning of May 1989 in protest against deteriorating conditions of imprisonment.
        On May 5, 180 out of 533 people who were arrested during the May Day bloodshed in Istanbul and 25 university students arrested prior to May Day in Ankara announced that they went on a hungerstrike for protesting torture and ill-treatment at detention houses.
        On May 15, 1989,  Security forces made again a raid on the Bayrampasa Prison in Istanbul on the pretext that political prisoners attempted to make a tunnel for escaping from prison. Using clubs, broken glasses and pieces of wood, police wounded more than 50 prisoners. Though 37 of them were taken to hospital, they were put again in solitary confinement in prison after their first treatment.
        Besides, 165 political prisoners were transferred to special prisons in Bartin and Canakkale.
        On May 20, the defendants of Dev-Yol and TKP-ML Trials in the Military Prison Type E in Erzincan went on a hungerstrike.

A TORTURE VICTIM AT PARLIAMENT

        A 14-year old victim of torture, Tahsin Capulcu, was presented to the press at the Grand National Assembly, on May 17, 1989, during a press conference held by Social-democrat deputy Kamer Genc.
        After his arrest for theft, Capulcu was first subjected to falaka. Then, his interrogators poured hot tea on the head and boiling water on the body. The traces of torture on the body were still visible during the press conference.

POLITICAL PRISONER SUFFERING FROM LEUKEMIA

        A political prisoner suffering from leukemia is still being kept in detention despite the fact that such a grave illness should absolutely be treated in a hospital.
        37-year old Hamdullah Erbil has been in prison for 12 years for a political case and he still has four more years to serve.
        During his arrest and interrogation he had been subjected to torture. His parents claim that he was also subjected to tests of some new produced medicines and that these tests can be the reason of his grave illness.
        As an intellectual attached to his ideals, he has written many works on political and social matters in prisons where they stayed, but all of them have been confiscated and destroyed by prison authorities.   
        Currently, he is being kept in the Special Prison of Gaziantep and taken from time to time for a medical control to Ankara. Legal authorities refused him to stay permanently in a hospital.
        On April 27, 1989, other political in the same prison launched a campaign for an immediate hospitalization of Hamdullah Erbil.

WAGE RISES UNDER INFLATION RATE

        An agreement concerning approximately 600,000 workers in the public sector was reached at the end of the government-labour summit on May 17, 1989. The government's offer a 142 percent wage increase, excluding social benefits, was accepted by the chairmen of the five trade unions who had planned to go on strike on May 24.
        The trade unions, pointing to 75 percent inflation last year and an expected 60 percent inflation this year, had demanded pay hikes of as much as 220 percent over the next two years.
        In the past two months, workers have been protesting government policies through such tactics as work slowdowns, calling in sick in large numbers and refusing lunches provided by their companies.
        Just before the agreement, road workers in Diyarbakir found another way of expressing their dissatisfaction: Filing divorce petitions. About 1,500 wporkers marched in small groups to the local courthouse and formed a long queue. Each man held a petition in which he asked for a divorce. The identical petitions said the wages paid did not enable the workers to support their families and, as a result, family life had became unbearable.
        Despite the agreement, some labour unrest continues, including a strike by 24,000 state iron and steel workers whose independent union is asking for a 300 percent wage increase. Technicians are worried that the high oven and coke batteries at the Karabuk and Iskenderun Iron and Steel factories may be frozen as a result of a strike carried out by 24,000 workers since May 6.

INJUSTICE IN REGIONAL INVESTMENT

        Although investments in the framework of the Southeast Anatolian Project (GAP), brought 1.361 trillion TL to the area last year, the public and private sectors still prefer to put most of their money in the Marmara and Aegean regions.
        In 1988, total investment in projects all over Turkey was 11.636 trillion TL.
        The Marmara region is still the most favored area for investors. Last year, 43.1 percent of investments tied to government incentives, 5.19 trillion TL, went to this region. The Aegean region was the second choice; 1.687 trillion TL was invested there.
        Investments qualifying for incentive investment certificates amounted to 1.335 trillion TL in the central Anatolian region, 1.225 trillion TL in the Mediterranean region, 443 billion TL in the Black Sea region, and 310 billion TL in the eastern Anatolia
region. Major investments covering more than one city totaled 284 billion TL.

        Distribution of incentives according to regions

REGIONS

Marmara
Central Anatolia
Aegean
Mediterranean
Black Sea
East Anatolia
Southeast Anatolia

INVESTMENT
(Billion TL)

5,018.7
1,355.0
1,687.3
1,224.8
432.7
310.4
1,360.8

SHARE
(percent)

43.1
11.5
14.5
10.5
3.7
2.7
11.7

EMPLOYMENT

83,338
21,692
40,246
85,643
12,503
4,849
7,711

GROWTH OF TOP HOLDINGS

        Turkey's two biggest industrial groups, Koç and Sabanci, last year widened the gap between their sales and profits and those of other industrial groups. Koç made the most from sales, 8.1 trillion TL; Sabanci the highest profit, 750 billion TL. Total 1988 sales of the eight top holdings, Koç, Sabanci, Akkok, Profilo, Sönmez, Alarko, Sise Cam and Yasar Holding reached 19.5 trillion TL, a figure near Turkey's 1988 budget of 21 trillion TL.
        - Sales: Koç group sales were the highest at 8.1 trillion TL, followed by the Sabanci group with 6 trillion TL. Immediately after these longtime rivals came Sise Cam, one of Isbank's affiliates, with 2 trillion TL sales. Izmir-based Yasar Holding, which produces Pinar-brand foodstuffs, made 1.2 trillion TL in sales; chairman of the Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association Omer Dinckok's Akkok group 1 trillion TL; the Bursa-based Sönmez Holding 457 billion TL; Profilo 402.3 billion TL and Alarko 234.3 billion TL. In 1987, Koç and Sabanci sales were 4.3 and 3.2 trillion TL respectively.
        - Profits: Sabanci made a record profit in 1988, 750 billion TL. Koç, which did best in sales, came second in profits with 688.6 billion TL. Other groups which issued their balance sheets fell behind these two giants. Sise Cam made 135 billion TL, Akkok group 110 billion TL, Sönmez 67 billion TL, Yasar Holding 29 billion TL and Alarko 26.5 billion TL profit last year.
        - Exports: In 1988, the eight groups together exported goods worth $2.1 billion, 18 percent of Turkey's total exports of nearly $12 billion. Koç exported goods worth $552 million, Sabanci $278 million, Sise Cam $240 million, Yasar $159 million Akkök $113 million, Sönmez $87.2 million, Alarko $39.5 million and Profilo $12 million.
        - Profitability: Sönmez had the highest profitability ratio among companies issuing their balance sheets. Sönmez made 14.6 percent profit on every 100 TL worth of sales, i.e. 14.6 percent profitability. Sabanci ranked second with 12.5 percent profitability. The ratios of profitability over sales for other companies in the group are: Alarko, 11.3 percent; Akkok, 10.8 percent; Koç, 8.5 percent; Sise Cam, 6.7 percent. Profilo has not yet announced its sales.
        - Profit per Staff member: Sabanci ranked first in profitability per staff member, a figure calculated by dividing profits by the number of staff. Last year, at Sabanci, this figure was 25 minion TL. If we consider the average wage at Sabanci to be around 1 million TL per month, then every Sabanci staff member provided his company with twice as much as his annual salary. Koç ranks second, with a profitability ratio per staff member of 20.4 million TL. Comparable figures from the other groups are as follows: Akkok, 10.9 million TL; Sönmez 10.5 million TL; Sise Cam 7.3 minion TL; Alarko 4.0 million TL and Yasar 2.8 million TL.

ARMAMENT FAIR IN ANKARA

        A second International Defense Equipment and Aviation "IDEA-89" fair was opened in Ankara on May 2 with the participation of nearly 30 foreign countries. The fair was organized by the Defense Industry Development Administration of Turkey (SAGEB).
        The first international defense equipment and aviation fair was held in 1987. The director general of the fair's organizing body, Sedat Yilmazer, said the fair would be one of the biggest exhibitions of defense equipment in the world.
        Turkey's military modernization program of $10 billion, launched in 1986 and managed by SAGEB, is a special interest to exhibitors. SAGEB plans to complete five of 13 projects proposed this year. All are open to investment by international and local companies.
        An estimated 5 trillion TL ($2.5 billion) worth of equipment was displayed during the five-day event.
        The fair was dominated by french, British, U.S., West German, Italian and Spanish companies.
        First-time participants included firms from New Zealand, the Philippines and South Africa.  The Soviet Union and Greece did not participate in the fair.
        Highlights of the fair were the display of military aircraft, including the Mirage 2000 and the Alpha jet, capable of tactical support missions, the U.S. F-16, the Canadair-C and the Austrian HB 40.
        Turkey which is already coproducing 152 U.S.-designed F-16 jets, hopes to start joint production of armored troop carriers late this year with the U.S.-based Food Machinery Corp (FMC).
        China was among the countries interested in producing a 155 mm howitzer to modernize Turkey's artillery equipment. Chinese delegate Zhao Zheng said it was difficult to enter the Turkish market, because Turkey is a NATO member. "We seek to cooperate with the Turkish army not only in selling hardware, but also in coproduction of military equipment including mine sweepers," he added.
        ASEA Brown Boveri (Germany), Aeritalia Societa (Italy), Avion Marcel Dassault (France), Arms Corporation (Philippines), British Aerospace (U.K.), Boeing Company (U.S.A.), Canadair (Canada), China North Industries and China Shipbuilding (China), Dir. Gen. Ordnance Factories (India), Oscmar (New Zealand), Pakistan Ordnance factories (Pakistan) were among the companies participating in the fair.
        The Greens Party (YP) mounted a protest against the fair. Five members placed flowers on equipment on the French stand, and displayed a placard with the slogan, "Save the world from weapons." They were escorted from the exhibition by police.

US BASE IN TURKEY TO BE MODERNIZED

        The Ankara Government has accepted the United States plans to modernize the monitoring equipment in the Pirinclik Base in Diyarbakir. Pirinclik is one of the major US bases in Turkey monitoring communications and military activities in the Soviet Union and the Middle East.
        The Pentagon has been asking for permission to modernize its equipment at Pirinclik for the past two years, but Turkey has refrained from giving the go-ahead, using cuts in US military aid to Turkey as a pretext.
        The Foreign Ministry said permission was restricted to Pirinclik and did not cover other US bases such as Incirlik in Adana and other smaller stations on the Black Sea Coast.

TURKEY-SOUTH AFRICA TRADE

        The South African participation to the defense equipment fair in Ankara stirred some controversy.
        Though Turkey has no diplomatic ties with South Africa, Ankara has been trading with this country either covertly or through third countries, for the last few years. Turkey imports South African coal, for instance, and commercial delegations from South Africa have visited Turkey.
        A South African state-owned company is currently a contender for the 155 mm howitzer modernization plan of SAGEB, and the South African firm Iscor Co. is among the bidders for the State Railways iof the Turkish Republic (TCDD) project to import 8,000 Tons of sole plates and workshop equipment.
        An example of South African involvement in Turkey through third countries is gold exploration. The Anglo-American Corp. of South Africa has applied under its U.S. name for tights to conduct gold and rare mineral exploration in Turkey.

TURKEY-EEC PARLIAMENTARY MEETING

        Human rights were at the top of the questions discussed during the Turkish-European Community Joint Parliamentary Commission meeting, held in Ankara on April 24-28, 1989.
        The meeting was only the second held since 1980, when the EC suspended relations with Turkey after the coup; the first meeting was held in January this year.
        A date for the next meeting will be fixed after the European Parliament elections in June, when a new committee will be formed.
        The co-chairman of the Commission, Belgian Liberal Luc Beyer de Ryke, speaking at a press conference, voiced the Commission's displeasure about Turkey's current judicial system. He underlined the need for a reform in Turkey's penal code and harmonization with EC member countries' penal codes.
        A West German Christian Democrat deputy strongly criticized the on-going mass political trials in Turkey.
        Richard Balfe, a British socialist member of the EP, who wrote a report on the Turkish human rights situation, evaluating the three-day talks in Ankara, said there had really been no change in the last 10 months in this field. "It is a pity because up to then there had been a steady improvement. But that has not been continued. I think there is still an abuse of human rights on occasion, particularly in the police system. There is still a long way to go," he said.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ADOPTED THREE RESOLUTIONS ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN TURKEY

        The European Parliament, at its session of May 25, 1989, adopted three resolutions concerning the situation of human rights in Turkey.
        The first resolution was "on the May Day events and continuing aggravation of the domestic political climate in Turkey"

        "The European Parliament,
        "A. shocked at the fact that the police in Istanbul took deliberate aim at the demonstrators who went out into the streets to mark the May Day festivities with the result that one person died and thirty-six were wounded, some of them seriously,
        "B. indignant at the attitude of the Turkish Government in banning May Day festivities and at the Prime Minister's announcement that the police would take harsh action, which encouraged them in their brutal behaviour,
        "C. concerned at the fact that the government and the governing party sought to legitimize the deliberate shooting by the police and the death of a demonstrator as necessary 'fratricide' instead of condemning them and taking measures that would rule out such incidents in future,
        "D. concerned at the fact that in the ensuing days journalists who had been made responsible by the government for the events because of their reporting became the target of police harassment,
        "E. noting that orkers in Turkey have been demonstrating for weeks passively, peacefully and imaginatively for wage increases in order to offset at least partially the almost 60% drop in earnings in recent years,
        "F. concerned at the fact that since the last local government elections in March 1989 a deterioration in the human rights situation can be observed,
        "1. condemns the police's behaviour towards and deliberate shooting of demonstrators on May Day in Istanbul and the attitude of the Turkish Government towards these occurences;
        "2. calls on the Turkish Government to recognize May Day as a day of celebration of labour and workers, to respect all workers' rights and to allow free trade unions;
        "3. condemns the police harassment of journalists who reported the events critically;
        "4. calls on the Turkish Government to guarantee press freedom, to amend the existing press laws and to release all journalists held in Turkish prisons on account of their journalistic activities;
        "5. calls on all political forces in Turkey to ork for the restoration of democray, the release of political prisoners and freedom of opinion and of the press;
        "6. calls on its appropriate delegation to assess the recents developments in Turkey and to submit to the President and plenary a recommendation concerning future relations with Turkey;
        "7. expresses its conviction that Turkey's membership of the Community is sacrecly conceivable without freedom of opinion and association, without independent cours and with continuing torture and with the existence of the death penalty.
        At the same session, the European Parliament adopted two other resolutions: the one is on the imprisonment of school children in Turkey, and the other on the detention of a prisoner of conscience, Mr. Ahmet Atabey.
        "Gravely concerned by the continued trial and imprionment in Turkey of people below adult age for political offences and drawing attention to the case of Sasinaz Ilboga, a Kurdish girl of 17," the European Parliament "calls on the Turkish authorities to cease the prosecution of people for so-called political offences and in particular to release all those below adult age imprisoned for such offences."

OZAL'S FAILURE IN BRUSSELS TALKS

        Benefitting from the occasion of the NATO spring summit meeting, Turkish prime minister Ozal held a series of talks with Western leaders in Brussels, but failed to obtain the results he hoped.
        Prior to the meeting, Ozal  and Greek Prime Minister Papandreou met on May 28. Though some gestures of friendship such as addressing each other by their first names, Ozal and Papandreou again failed to agree on even a single point of any significance.
        During the talk, the fourt between the two men since February of last year, Ozal repeated his proposal to have a 4-party meeeting including the Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders, Papandreou and himself to discuss an overall solution to the Cyprus problem. Turkish diplomats said Papandreou "noted" the offer.
        Ozal also met in Brussels with Bush, Mitterand, Tatcher as well as with Jacques Delors, the chairman of the European Communities' Commission.
        During the talks, Mitterand and Tatcher refrained from giving Ozal any promise to support the Turkish demand to be a full member of the EEC. On the contrary, Tatcher said that his country would impose visa restrictions on Turkish citizens from June 23. As for Mitterand, he raised once again the question of human rights in Turkey and in Turkish Kurdistan.
        Jacques Delors told Ozal the European Community might grant "trade partner" status to Turkey instead of a "full member" status.

ANKARA'S ANGER AGAINST MRS. MITTERAND

        Foreign nationals are now required to get permission to visit Iraqi-Kurdish refugee camps in southeastern Anatolia, according to a letter sent on May 8 from the Turkish Foreign Ministry to all foreign diplomatic mission in Ankara.
        The measure follows the visit to the Mus and Diyarbakir camps by the French president's wife, Danielle Mitterand, during which she criticized Turkey's handling of the situation.
        Mitterand's visits to the Kurdish camps and the questions she put to the refugees angered the Turkish press, which reported the First Lady is a known sympathizer of the Kurdish cause. She is accused of having donated large sums of money to the establishment of the Kurdish Institute in Paris and maintains close ties with it.
        The Turkish note said the government had opened the camps to all visitors in the hopes foreign countries would extend aid. "However, the aid never followed this policy of openness," the letter said.

GROWING TENSION BETWEEN TURKEY AND BULGARIA

        The recent confrontation between Turkey and Bulgaria over the ethnic Turkish minority may result in a massive influx of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Turkish from Bulgaria into Turkey in coming months.
        The Turco-Bulgarian conflict arises from Bulgaria's decision to change Turkish names of the country's moslem citizens into Bulgarian names in 1984. Bulgaria justified this practice by declaring that those affected were originally people of Bulgarian origin but they had been converted to Islam during the Ottoman yoke.
        In response, Turkish Government said Bulgarian government documents have references to a "Moslem Turkish minority in the 1960s. "In 1965, the population census in Bulgaria listed 765,000 Moslem Turks. If we take into account the population increase among the Turks in Bulgaria there must be nearly 2.5 million ethnic Turks in that country now," Ankara claimed.
        In fact, many Moslem citizens have resisted  the Bulgarian government's practice. But they have been subjected to repressive measures. Amnesty International announced that many people had been imprisoned for resisting the "forced assimilation program" and hundreds of them were shot dead.
        Relations between the two neighbour countries were further strained in the wake of reports that Bulgarian security forces fired at demonstrating ethnic Turks on May 21, 1989, killing at least 25 people and wounding 40.
        This news gave rise to protest demonstrations as well in Turkey as abroad, the latter by Turkish immigrant workers.
        The protest actions are supported by left-wing opposition circles as well. While the two social democrat parties, SHP and DSP, were condemning the Bulgarian Government's practices and claiming that Ankara should react more energetically, the Writers' Union of Turkey (TYS), headed by distinguished Marxist intellectuals like Aziz Nesin, suspended its relations with the Bulgarian Writers' Union.
        In retaliation, Bulgarians held a series of demonstrations in front of the Turkish Embassy in Sofia and accused Turkish side of interfering in the internal affairs of a sovereign state.
        On May 29, Todor Zhivkov, the Bulgarian leader, accused Turkey of launching an anti-Bulgarian campaign and demaded it open its borders to the "followers of Islam in Bulgaria" who want to settle in Turkey. Even without attending a reply from Ankara, Bulgarian Government deported hundreds of ethnic Turks to Austria and Yugoslavia.   
        Ozal reacted to Zhivkov's offer in Brussels saying Turkey has never closed its borders to ethnic Turks coming from Bulgaria and was ready to start negotiations.
        "Any arrangement should also include safeguards for the property rights of these Turks," Ozal said. "They are sending them out with their hand luggage. What has happened to their lands and houses. Who is getting this property?"
        On the other hand, Ozal complained about the lack of strong reaction to Bulgaria's actions from Turkey's NATO allies. Despite his efforts at the NATO summit no further reference was made to the Bulgarian issue during the Brussel meeting.
        A week later, the Paris session of the CSCE became the scene of a diplomatic duel between Turkish and Bulgarian delegations.


ANKARA STILL DENIES KURDISH LANGUAGE

        The daily Hürriyet of May 21, 1989 reports that the National Security Council launched a new propaganda campaign denying the existence of a distinct Kurdish nation and Kurdish language.
        By the order of this semi-military council, composed of chief army commanders and some ministers, two pamphlets entitled "The fact of Eastern Anatolia" and "Newroz" are being distributed to all schools in eight eastern provinces where state of emergency is still in force. These eight provinces are inhabited by the people of Kurdish origin.
        The pamphlets claim that the Kurdish language is not a distinct one, but a dialect of the Turkish language. "As for the legend of Newroz, it too is a deformed version of the Turkish legend
Ergenekon."

GROUNDLESS ARRESTS IN THE EAST

        The Bar Association of Diyarbakir announced on May 11 that 200 people arrested in the first four months of this year on the charge of separatist activities have been released at the first hearings of their trials. The lawyers claimed that the arrest of their clients were made on the basis of deposition obtained under torture. For stopping this injustice, they suggest to allow lawyers to be present during the interrogation of their clients.

A 17-YEAR OLD PRISONER

        May 18, 1989, a 17-year old girl, Safinaz Ilboga, was tried by the State Security Court of Konya for separatist propaganda. She faces a prison term of up to 10 years.
        At the first hearing, the prosecutor claimed her release on ground that she has psychological problems and she had already been expelled from her school for this accusation. However, the court turned down this demand and decided to put Ilboga under medical observation.

FIRST WOMEN'S CONGRESS IN TURKEY

        Turkey's first Women's Congress was held in Istanbul on May 19 with the aim of discussing women's problems and their oppression in Turkey in as wide a forum as possible.
        But the closing manifesto revealed profound disagreement as to whether an independent women's group is needed or whether socialism itself is sufficient to give women full rights.
        The manifesto said that women who supported an independent women's movement felt the congress had not achieved what it set out to do, while socialist women's groups said they felt it had been successful and a similar congress should be organized in the future.
        The first group, made up largely of feminists and socialist feminists, felt the forum had been misused by socialist groups as a battle-ground against the feminists.
        Disagreement became acute when a man was to be allowed to speak. The move was strongly protested by the feminists. The breakdown led to the feminists walking out because they believed the congress was not beingused a true women's congress.
        At the 3-day congress, women discussed a wide number of issues from personal experience. Topics included being a single mother in Turkish society, social restrictions placed on women, the concept that a good women is a good wife, cook and mothjer; ideas which prevented women from developing their own skills, or personalities; the idea that women are always first and foremost responsible for their children; and that a woman's job takes second place.
        After the manifesto was read, a long list of demands by all the groups taking part in the conference wxas presented. The list included an amendment of 10, articles in the Turkish penal code which the participants said discriminated against women.
        While this congress was continuing, on May 21, Islamic fundamentalist women's groups organized a series of meetings in several cities.
        In Bursa, women clad in Islamic attire addressed an all-female audience declaring that equality between men and women was out of the question, according to the rules of the Islamich faith. Dr. Rukiye Tascioglu, a physician from Bursa, said the primary duty of women was to serve their husbands and bring up their children.

       
DRASTIC INCREASE OF PROSTITUTION

        The number of suspected prostitutes has increased drastically since 1987, according to Ankara police headquarters.
        Figures released by the general directorate of security show the number of suspected prostitutes rose from 1,398 in 1987 to 13,671 in 1988. There are 3,241 women who are legally registered as prostitutes, and practice their profession under government licence.
        The report also points to an increase in reported sexual assaults. In 1985, police records show that only 70 sexual assaults took place in Turkey while this figure increased to 219 in 1988.