editorslinks

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

158

14th Year - N°158
December 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 Ankara regime has got just what it deserved

NO TO TURKEY'S EC MEMBERSHIP

   
    The European Commission decided on December 17, 1989 to advise EC governments against starting negotiations on Turkey's application for Community membership until after the completion of the single European market in 1993.
    According to The Financial Times, by this recommendation, Turkey's application to join the EC was effectively rejected. 
    The Guardian reports that Turkey has been told that it cannot expect a full member of the European Community while its progress to democracy and full human rights remains incomplete.
    Although the Commissioner responsible for relations with Mediterranean countries, Mr. Abdel Matutes paid tribute to the economic progress and political reforms achieved in Turkey in recent years, he added further action was needed to complete the movement to democracy and respect for human rights. "There must be an opening to minorities and to all political parties," said Mr. Matutes, in a reference to the conflict with Turkey's Kurdish minority and the continued banning on some far-left parties.
    The Commission also said that Turkey's relative poverty and large population --containing as many farm workers as exist in all 12 EC states together--  would overburden Community resources.
    By this recommendation, the Ankara regime has got just what it deserved.

TURKEY TO EUROPE'S 4th CIRCLE?

    To soften the blow on Ankara,  the Commission was careful to call into question the controversy over whether Turkey has a "European" or an "Islamic" vocation.
Mr. Matutes stressed the Commission's desire to exploit to the full Turkey's 1963 treaty of association. Because of its preoccupation with the perennial threat to stability in the Middle East, the Community is likely to propose a special dialogue with Turkey. He underlined "Turkey's moderate role in the the Middle East" and pointed out that it shared borders with Iran and Syria -- "countries with which the EC has had difficulties."
    What can be the mode of developing dialogue and cooperation with a Turkey which is not considered fit to EC membership?
    According to some commentators, the European Community is envisaging a "multiple circles project": Europe will be formed by four circles. The first one will include the 12 countries of the EC itself, followed by a second circle including the six closely associated countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA): Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland. East European countries form the third circle.
     Mediterranean countries as Turkey, Cyprus, Malta and Morocco are designated as part of the fourth circle. So, Turkey which has lost all chance of being a full member because of his 9-year record of human rights will remain in the farthest circle.

SCANDALOUS EXPULSION AND PROSECUTION OF KURDISH DEPUTIES
       
    While seven Kurdish deputies who had participated in a conference of the Kurdish question in Paris were being expelled from the main opposition Social Democrat Populist Party (SHP), the State Security Court started a procedure in order to try them for "separatism."
    The Prosecutor of the State Security Court in Ankara has launched a legal proceeding against eight left-wing Kurdish deputies: Seven of them, Mehmet Ali Eren, Kenan Sonmez, Ismail Hakki Onal, Ahmet Turk, Adnan Ekmen, Salih Sumer and Mahmut Alniak have recently been expelled from the SHP. The eight one, Ibrahim Aksoy had earlier been expelled from the SHP for his declaration at the Turkey-EEC Joint Parliamentary Committee in Strasbourg.
    The prosecutor asked the Justice Ministry to start a procedure in a view to lifting parliamentary immunity of eight Kurdish deputies and to judging them at the State Security Court for separatism.
    The decision to expel seven deputies is causing havoc in the SHP. In a protest against the expulsion of seven deputies, nine left-wing deputies and local party officials in 12 southeastern provinces inhabited by Kurds resigned from the party.
    In a joint letter of resignation the deputies said SHP had moved away from giving hope and confidence to the people and carrying progressive political forces to power. "SHP is straying from the belief and direction of achieving true democrat in Turkey," said the letter.
    The deputies singled out Deniz Baykal, the secretary general of SHP, as the chief culprit responsible for the party's failure. They said Baykal indulged in struggles with his opponents in the party and by endeavoring to establish the supremacy of his faction ignored the need to canvass opinions on party policies.
    On November 26,  at a meeting in Istanbul, many members of the SHP shouted protests demanding the resignation of party leader Erdal Inonu. Same day, Inonu posters were torn up by members in Diyarbakir.
    However, Inonu refused to bow to protests and defended the party's disciplinary committee decision to expel seven deputies.
    "Of course there are people in Turkey who speak Kurdish and call themselves Kurds. But we are trying to make all our people live together rather than emphasize the cultural differences between them. No one would benefit from such discrimination," he said.

Turkish opposition deputies too concealed the persecution from European Parliament

    The Turkey-EEC Joint Parliamentary Committee met in Brussels on November 27-29, 1989, and made an evaluation of the Turco-European relations as well as the impact of the recent developments in the East on these relations. The meeting was assisted by the Turkish Vice-premier Ali Bozer as well.
    Before coming to Brussels, the Turkish delegation was asked by the Turkish Government to base all their arguments related to the situation of human rights in Turkey on a report drawn up by the Foreign Ministry.
    During the meeting, Italian communist deputy Vecchi presented a detailed report on the situation of human rights in Turkey and forwarded many criticisms to some ongoing anti-democratic practices.
    To the great astonishment of journalists, even the opposition deputies in the Turkish delegation, including SHP Secretary General Deniz Baykal, acted in Brussels as the spokesmen of the Ankara regime.
    At the end the meeting, Turkish and European parliamentarians adopted a resolution of recommendation asking the EEC-Turkey Association Council meet as soon as possible in a view to developing Turco-European relations.
    Both sides also declared their common concern about the killings at the Turco-Iraqi border allegedly committed by Kurdish guerrillas.
    During the meeting, the co-chairman of the Joint Committee, Turkish deputy Bulent Akarcali, in an interview to the Turkish press, used derogatory expressions against the opponents of the regime who inform the European opinion of the violation of human rights in Turkey.
    At the joint press conference held on November 30, Info-Turk's chief editor reproached  the head of the Turkish delegation for such an attitude which is not at all compatible with the claim of democratization in Turkey.
    He also asked both parties of the Joint Committee why didn't they react against the persecution of eight Kurdish deputies of whom one, just a few months ago, was a member of this committee.
    The members of the committee replied that they were not aware of this persecution. However, Mr. Vecchi said that they would study the case.
    The next meeting of the Joint Committee will take place in Turkey on March 22-23, 1990.


ONGOING STATE TERRORISM UNDER OZAL'S PRESIDENCY

    Although Ozal, after taking over the presidency of the Republic, claimed fundamental rights and freedoms would be respected, during the first month of his term the state terorism continued as before with arrests, political trials and bans.
    On November 12, eleven films, 449 books and 25 pamphlets were burnt in Istanbul by the order of the governor.
    Cumhuriyet reports in its November 16 issue that 189 films have been banned in Turkey since the 1980 coup. 114 of these films carry in their credit titles the name of Yilmaz Guney either as director or as actor.
    Guney, Cannes award winner in 1982 with his film Yol, was stripped of Turkish nationality when he was in exile. The military decreed that the works of all those who were stripped of Turkish nationality cannot be made public in Turkey. Guney died in Paris in 1984.
    Articles 141, 142 and 163 of the Turkish Penal Code which Ozal hinted to lift still remain in force and many intellectuals are being prosecuted by the virtue of these articles.
    In November 1989, seven reviews, Emegin Bayragi, Toplumsal Kurtulus, Yeni Cozum, Yeni Demokrasi, 2000e Dogru, Medya Gunesi, Komun and two books, The case of Democracy and The Situation and Our Tasks, have been confiscated and their responsibles indicted by virtue of Article 142 of the Turkish Penal Code.
    According to the daily Cumhuriyet of November 23, 1989, among 230,000 people brought before military tribunals since 1980, the number of defendants tried by virtue of Articles 141, 142 and 163 of the Turkish Penal Code rises up to 71,000.
    The Ministry of Justice reports that civilian courts, in last six years, have tried 14,855 people in 9,508 cases opened by virtue of these three articles. The number of the people who are either condemned or under arrest because of these articles is about 3,000.
    Among these victims of the said articles are also socialist writers and journalists.  At least 100 different issues of various socialists reviews have been confiscated by virtue of Article 142 and public prosecutors have claimed a total of 5,000 years imprisonment for the responsibles of these publications.
    Another survey appeared in Cumhuriyet of November 18, 1989 reveals that more than 3,000 journalists have been tried in 2,000 cases between September 1980 and April 1988. Military or civilian tribunals have pronounced a total of 5,000 years imprisonment for journalists.
    As for the period of Ozal's government, 2,127 journalists have been tried in 1,246 cases since 1983.
     23 journalists are still in prison by the end of November 1989.
    The number of the prisoners whose death sentences were sent to the National Assembly for ratification was 253 by the end of November 1989. Of these condemned, 129 belong to left-wing organizations and 27 right-wing. 93 have been condemned for ordinary crimes. There are also four Palestinian militants who were condemned to death sentence for a raid on the embassy of an Arab country in Ankara.

STATE TERRORISM IN NOVEMBER

    4.11, the chief of the State Hospital of Cizre in Mardin, Dr. Abdullah Bolcali,  who had been  tortured under arrest for having given medical care to some Kurdish militants (See Info-Turk, No.156)  was subjected to a new repressive measure. After his release, Dr. Bolcali was dismissed from his post and sent to the district of Cekerek in Yozgat.
    6.11, in Bandirma, 369 workers were brought before a criminal court for having carried out a demonstration without permission on April 13, 1989. Members of the Oil Workers' Union (Petrol-Is), all defendants face a total of 1,107 years imprisonment.
    7.11, the State Security Court No.1 of Istanbul sentenced two alleged members of the Communist Party of Turkey/Union (TKP/B) to 8 years and 4 months imprisonment each.
    8.11, police announced the arrest of four alleged militants of Dev-Yol in the province of Mugla.
    9.11, the State Security Court No.1 in Diyarbakir sentenced four alleged members of the PKK to prison terms of eight years and four months.
    14.11, police announced the arrest of 28 alleged militants of the Revolutionary Workers-Peasants Army of Turkey (TIKKO) in Tunceli.
    22.11, in Adana, 16 alleged members of an underground organization were captured.
    23.11, the Military Court of Cassation approved the condemnation of 10 leading members of the Socialist Workers' Party of Turkey (TSIP) to prison terms of 5 to 10 years. They had been condemned by the Martial Law Court of Istanbul in 1985.
    24.11, police announced the arrest of 11 alleged members of the Marxist-Leninist Armed Propaganda Unit (MLSPB) in Istanbul.
    30.11, the trial of 10 alleged members of the TKP/B began at the State Security Court No.2 of Istanbul. They face prison terms of up to 15 years.

RECENT PERSECUTION OF THE MEDIA

    21.10, the director of the Yurt Publishing House, Unsal Ozturk was detained by police in relation with the trial of DISK.
    22.10, Erdogan Yasar Kopan and Aslan Sener Yildirim, respectively responsible editor and writer of the monthly Yeni Cozum were condemned by the State Security Court of Istanbul to seven years and six months imprisonment each. Prison terms in different cases against Kopan already total to 37 years.
    24.10, five monthly reviews, in a joint communique, announced that Aytac Varol, responsible editor of the monthly Yonelis had been under arrest since September 21 for "separatist propaganda."
    25.10, Miss Gulten Demir, publisher and responsible editor of the monthly Devrimci Genclik was arrested by the State Security Court of Istanbul. She had been taken into police detention on October 17.
    26.10, Prof. Yalcin Kucuk, chief editor of the monthly Toplumsal  Kurtulus, was indicted again by the State Security Court for his interviews with the PKK leader.
    4.11, the daily Sabah was sentenced to a fine of 20 million TL ($10,000) for a series of articles about Turgut Ozal's family life, entitled "Autumn in the Royal Garden". Same day, the daily Hurriyet too was condemned a fine of 7.5 million TL ($3,750) for an article of former minister Kaya Erdem.
    5.11, the representation of the Birlik Theatre in Ankara was banned by the governor and an actor, Latif Tiftikci was taken into custody.
    Same day in Istanbul, a panel discussion on "crimes against humanity", organized by the Association of Solidarity with the Families of Prisoners (TAYAD), was banned at the last moment by the governor. The inauguration of the editing office of the TAYAD Bulletin was also banned by the same governor. TAYAD also announced that its secretary general, Zeynep Gungormez, was detained after returning from Samsun where a branch of the association was set up.
    6.11, famous singer Ahmet Kaya's concert in Adana was banned by local police authorities.
    9.11, the new responsible editor of Devrimci Genclik, Tayfun Yuksekbas was taken into custody in Istanbul.
    12.11, the director of Alan Publishing House, Ragip Zarakolu was detained by police in Istanbul for carrying in his pocket a letter coming from a political prisoner.
    17.11, in Konya, the publisher of the monthly Sozcu, Salim Kocak was sentenced to 3 months and 15 days imprisonment and to a fine of 2,2 million TL ($1,OOO) for an article criticizing Ozal.
    20.11, a cultural soirée entitled "Resistance, it is a ballad!" was banned by the governor. Besides, five members of TAYAD, organizer of the soirée, were taken into custody.
    23.11, Bulent Solgun, member of the Social and Cultural Research and Solidarity Association of Workers (EMEKAD) was detained in Istanbul.
    24.11, the prosecutor of the State Security Court of Ankara started an investigation about a TV program on the freedoms of opinion and belief. Mr. Ceyhan Baytur, chairman of the Information Department of the Turkish Television was interrogated by the prosecutor.
    27.11, Bayram Kaya, representative of the monthly Yeni Cozum was arrested in Bursa.

NEW UNREST IN TURKISH PRISONS

    Rumors that all political prisoners in the Aydin Special Prison are to be retaken to the Eskisehir Prison has given rise to anxiety among the parents of prisoners.
    The Eskisehir Prison had a bad reputation for its inhuman conditions and ill-treatment of prisoners. For this reason, political prisoners went on a hunger-strike in June. As a sanction, all inmates were transferred to the Aydin Prison. The prison authorities used the discovery of two tunnels inside the building as a pretext for this transfer. This operation caused to the death of two political prisoners who already fainted from a 35-day hunger strike and were not in a state to endure a voyage of 300 kilometers in cars.
    The Turkish press reports that the Eskisehir prison was restored and would be operational in 1990.
    On the other hand, political prisoner in the Ergani Prison started a hunger strike in protest again inhuman conditions. In response, on November 21, the Justice Ministry transferred all hunger strikers to another prison in Bismil.

INEQUALITY IN SERVING LIFE-PRISON

    Hundreds of prisoners in Turkey are spending more time in prison than they should. If contradictions in new legislation in particular Law 3257 on Execution of Sentences published on 19 March 1986 in the Official Gazette are not ironed out, many others too will be the victim of this injustice.
    On 4 June 1989 Mahmut Çigdemal wrote to human rights organizations from Malatya E-type Prison telling that he should have been released by then, since he had been imprisoned since 1974, but that Law 3257 had created injustice and he would have to serve another 19 months and 15 days. 
    Article 13 of the Turkish Penal Code provides that life imprisonment is equivalent to 36 years' imprisonment, the maximum penalty under Turkish law. This provision was confirmed by a decision of the Supreme Court (constitutional court) of 13 March 1979. Law 2148 on Execution of Sentences passed in 1978 granted reduction by one third, plus a further reduction by one fifth of the remaining two thirds; in other words 16 days of each month had to be served. This meant that prisoners sentenced to 36 years imprisonment had to spend 19 years two months and 12 days in prison. 
    Law 3257 on Execution of Sentences which replaced some provision of Law 2148 and which was published on 19 March 1986 in the Official Gazette provides that half the sentence plus a further one fifth of the remaining half is reduced; in other words 12 days of each month have to be served (usually the calculation is done by taking 40 % of the sentence). Any prisoner sentenced to 36 years imprisonment would have to spend 14 years, four months and 24 days in prison. 
    The difference now occurs because under Article 19/1 of the Law on Execution of Sentences as amended in March 1986, a life sentence is executed by 20 years in prison but still to be reduced by one fifth to 16 years. Thus people under sentence of life would spend one year, seven months and six days more than those sentenced to 36 years.
    The following are the names of the other prisoners sharing the same fate:

Name                                    Prison 
Imam Aygün                           Malatya E-type Prison
Hasan Kirteke                           Gaziantep L-type Prison
Mehmet Sahin                           Gaziantep L-type Prison
Lutfi Baysal                             Gaziantep L-type Prison
Hasim Kutlu                             Gaziantep L-type Prison
Sevinc, Aktas                            Gaziantep L-type Prison
Munir Ekmekci            Gaziantep L-type Prison
Erol Citak            Gaziantep L-type Prison
Farit Barut            Gaziantep L-type Prison
Cahit Atan Turan        Canakkale E-type Prison
(all of them political prisoners)
Veli Ozer                                   Adiyaman Half Open Prison
Huseyin Erdogan                  Foca Half-Open Prison

PERSECUTION OF CHILDREN

    The persecution of secondary school students continues as before under the presidency of Ozal.
    On November 10, three 13-year old secondary school children, OO, OA and AC were brought before a criminal court in Denizli for having painted on walls the name of an outlawed organization. The State Hospital, in a medical certificate, claimed that the three children had mental capacity when they committed this "crime" and they are liable to punishment. On the objection by their lawyers, the court designated a new medical expert .
    On November 19, in Istanbul, four young girls at the age of 16 and 17 were brought a criminal court for having distributed the tracts of an outlawed organization. Each girl faces a prison term of up to 12 years.
    On November 21, E.O., a 16-year old student of Hasanoglan Training School in Ankara, was expelled from school for having read Prof. Server Tanilli's book entitled "What kind of a democracy we want?" Besides, the public prosecutor indicted him and claimed a prison term of six months.
    On November 30, in Kayseri, a 15-year old secondary school student, Yildirim Ozdemir, was brought again before the State Security Court for communist propaganda. Earlier he had been condemned to 24-month prison by the same court and remained in prison for three months. The first sentence was overruled by the Court of Cassation. During his new trial, Ozdemir told journalists that he was completely isolated by his friends under the pressure of the police.

HUMAN RIGHTS PANEL IN TURKEY

    In a series of  panel discussions on democracy in Turkey, held in November 1989 in Istanbul, Turkish and foreign speakers expressed common arguments on the sine qua non conditions of democracy in Turkey -centering on the lifting of articles 141, 142 and 163 of the Turkish Penal Code and insisted the political prisoners bu released.
    Former leader of the Correct Way Party (DYP), Husamettin Cindoruk said: "The Communist Party, operating underground for 70 years, should now come out into daylight."
    Koray Duzgoren, chairman of the Contemporary Journalists' Association, said that 650,000 people had been taken into custody in Turkey since the 1980 coup, 210,000 people had been tried, and 177 of those in custody had been handed over to their families dead. "About 4.5 million people have been listed on police records," he added.
    Former Minister of Education Necdet Ugur insisted that changing the articles in the Penal Code was not enough to restore democracy in Turkey. "Only if the constitution is in favor of the people, if it has been drawn up with the people's participation and dictates that the state is at the service of the people, can a constitution be called democratic."
    Vladimir Kartashkin, a Soviet law expert, said Turkey and the Soviet Union should pay particular attention to the human rights issue and the promotion of democracy.
    British lawyer John Bowden and Greek deputy Stratis Korakas too expressed  their suggestions on respecting human rights in Turkey.

TURKISH PRESS AWARD TO THE IPI

    The Journalists' Association of Turkey presented the first annual Freedom of the Press Award to Peter Galliner, director of the International Press Institute (IPI) on November 29 in Istanbul.
    In his acceptance speech, Galliner said that while the political situation in Turkey had improved dramatically, especially since the 1980 military coup, there was still much progress to be made.
    "It seems to me essential that the last obstacles to press freedom must be removed. The press laws must be abolished. This is imperative not only from the point of view of Turkey's image abroad, but to establish a true democracy where freedom and human rights are universally respected," Galliner said.
    "Journalists are still brought before the courts, sentenced to long prison terms and fined excessively. Newspapers are still being banned for publishing articles unpalatable to the authorities, and only a short time ago, some journalists fell victim to brutal mafia killings," he said, referencing the attacks on a reporter at Istanbul daily Gazete last month by a clan leader.

ARMY AGAINST DISARMAMENT

    Although disarmament is the order of the day throughout much of the world, General Necip Torumtay, Turkey's armed forces chief, believes this country will not be able to benefit from reduced military spending.
    In an article published at the end of November 1989 in Newspot, a government weekly in English, Torumtay said Turkey's geopolitical location and obsolete military hardware do not permit it to reduce its defense expenditure.
    "The first and only country to be seriously affected by changes in defense concepts will be Turkey because of its long air, sea and land borders with Warsaw Pact countries, primarily the Soviet Union. Turkey is also the only NATO ally which has borders with Middle East countries that remain outside the disarmament drive.  Even if a numerical balance were established (between NATO and Warsaw Pact), the low quality and obsolete nature of the military hardware used by the Turkish Armed Forces would still make Turkey's position disadvantageous. That is why Turkey has to maintain its military modernization program in order to establish balance in quality. We believe our American friends will assess carefully our concerns in Turkey as a new global balance is set." he said.
    Commenting General Torumtay's stand, the daily Günes of November 22 asked: "While it is expected that detente will bring more freedom and affluence to people all over the world, is Turkey going to live in poverty under strained conditions and the remnants of the military regime of September 12?"

WILL TURKISH ARMY CROSS THE BORDER?

    Following  a series armed attack by Kurdish guerrillas on border villages in Turkey, Turgut Ozal talked of the possibility of the Turkish Army entering Iraqi territory in "hot pursuit".
    Local security authorities in Hakkari claimed a group of PKK militants made a surprise attack on Ikiyaka, a village near to the Iraqi border on November 24 and killed 20 people, 12 of them children and six women.
    The Minister of Interior also claimed that "Armenian terrorist groups were involved in the attack."
    Kurdish groups in Europe, contradicting this claim, say that this attack might be a provocation carried out by the State agents with a view to discrediting Kurdish resistants and to giving the Turkish Army a pretext for crossing border.   
    On November 28, President Ozal told reporters: "If necessary, Turkey's hand can extend to places beyond the border. We are in contact with Iraq. The separatists have suffered considerable losses as a result of security operations in the area during the last four or five months and some men have surrendered to the security forces. In the spring we will again begin a clean-up operation against the terrorists in the caves they are using as hideouts.," said the President.
    However, Tariq Abdeljabbar Jawad, the Iraqi Ambassador to Ankara disagreed with Ozal. "We are ready to collaborate with Turkey. But at this stage we don't see any need for Turkish army units to launch an operation on Iraqi soil. Our government dispatched troops to northern Iraq after the last killings. As for Turkey's military operations inside in Iraq in 1986 and 1987, those actions took place under special circumstances which do not exist anymore."
    Besides, the Turkish press reports that the protocol on border security which permitted Turkish Armed Forces to cross the border expired in 1988.
    According to the daily Cumhuriyet of November 29, 1989, at least 1402 people have been killed since August 15, 1984, during the armed conflicts between Kurdish guerrillas and Turkish security forces. Among those who were killed by Kurdish militants are 22 army officers, 22 non commissioned officers, 228 soldiers, 23 policemen, 53 protectors of village, 10 village headmen (muhtar) and 15 school teachers.
       
WOMAN CONVICTED OF SPEAKING KURDISH

    A 61-year old woman was sentenced to a one-year prison term in Diyarbakir on November 21, 1989, for speaking Kurdish during an election rally in March. The case drew criticism from Turkey's human rights circles.
    Saliha Sener was found guilty of violating election rules and the law banning the use of Kurdish as an official language. The prison sentence was first converted into a fine of 2.6 million TL ($1,150). Then the court deferred the payment on the ground that Sener gave the impression that she would not break the law again. However, if she should commit the same offense again she could be liable for the fine and face a similar prison sentence at the same time.
    In her testimony, given in Kurdish with the help of a translator, Sener said: "I don't know Turkish? That is why I spoke in Kurdish. I told the people to vote for the SHP. I told them to vote for SHP so that the price increases would stop."
    After the trial, the 61-year old woman told journalists: "I have never been educated and my family married me off at the age of 15. I am a villager. I have to speak Kurdish because I don't know Turkish. I do not accept the sentence. Even if they hang me I have to speak Kurdish because I am a Kurd."

U.S. CONCERN ON TORTURE IN TURKEY

    A US delegation which took part in the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) meeting in Sofia announced that allegations of torture in Turkey were a serious problem that causes concern in Washington.
    Mr. Joshua Gilder, one of the assistant undersecretaries of the US State Department told Turkish journalists that prison conditions in Turkey are not up to international standards. "Much effort and investment are needed to improve prison conditions in Turkey. The most important matter is to allow detainees under detention to consult with their lawyers," he said.
    Gilder said the administration of George Bush considered the Workers Party of Kurdistan (PKK) a terrorist organization. Nevertheless, Gilder asked for more leniency for the Kurds from the Turkish Government: "It is obvious they speak a different language. They should be allowed to use their language."
   
WORKERS HIT BY TAXES

    Turkish workers have more deducted from their wages at source than do workers in any EEC country, according to a report based on statistics compiled by the OECD. The state takes an average of 35.9 percent from gross pay for social security premiums and income tax. Deductions go up as much as 45 percent as wages increase.
    In no EC country does the level of deduction reach this figure. In Greece, because wages are supplemented by welfare payments nothing is deducted; in Luxembourg the figure is only 2.8 percent. In four other EC countries deductions amount to less than 20 percent of workers' gross pay: 17.9  percent in Belgium, 13.3 percent in Spain, 9.8 percent in Portugal and 9.3 percent in France.  Denmark takes 32.2 percent, Holland 27.2, Ireland 22, Italy 21.5 and West Germany 21.1 percent.
    Turkish workers getting minimum salary must work 92 days a year to cover social security premiums, income tax and other deductions from their wages. This figure climbs to 105 days for the workers getting higher wages.

WOMEN'S SELF-DEFENSE ACTIONS

    To struggle against the harassment on the street to which women are subjected by men, Turkish women's groups have started a campaign. Istanbulites were surprised at the beginning of November 1989 by distribution of the long pins topped by purple beads on the ferries and at the Tuyap Book Fair.
    "The associations chose the pin as a symbol," said Handan Koc, one of the leaders of the campaign. "When our grandmothers were young, the women in villages used to have pins on their dresses, either for sewing or to help protect themselves in cases of harassment. The aim of the campaign is to shout out 'No' to sexual harassment everywhere and anywhere in buses, trains, cinemas and on the streets."
    "In comparison with European countries or the United States, Turkey's rape incidents are not very high, but instead, Turkish men prefer harassment with their hands, their eyes or ugly words," Koc maintained. She said that now is the time to protest against such harassment. "Traditionally, Turkish women have carried their bodies as heavy burdens. we do not want to carry this shame anymore. Turkish women should declare that the real ones to blame for harassment are men, not women. We think Turkish men harass women not out of ignorance, but because they feel they have rights to women's bodies. We must shake their absolute authority in the world," she added.
    In a further step, over 30 women from different women's associations paid visits on November 24, 1989, to men's local eating and drinking places, often called meyhanes. "Meyhanes have been male-dominated places for years," said one of the protesters. "We did not see any women at the meyhanes that we visited. At first, the men thought some kind of film was being shot there because none of them were used to seeing women in meyhanes. But as we sat at tables and ordered drinks and meals, they realized that we came to eat and drink and they were shocked."
    During the women's actions no incident happened.

BAD NOTES FOR TURKISH ECONOMY

    Turkish industry is not very promising, according to the annual competition and reliability lists released by the World Economic Forum this year. Turkey appeared in the lower ranks of the 22 countries included In terms of using its natural resources, Turkey is the least developed country. Turkey also ranked at the bottom of the list for economic dynamism, with the report indicating that Turkey has lost its dynamism of previous years.
    Turkey ranked 18th in reliability in the rankings, ahead of Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece.
    The experts who drew up this year's list for the World Economic Forum stated the following reasons for regarding Turkey as a unstable country:
    - Failure to bring down inflation.
    - Stagnation, coupled with inflation.
    - Political instability.
    - Ozal's tardy announcement of his presidential candidacy.
    - The continuous election atmosphere prevailing in the country.
    - The drop in domestic production.
    - The slowdown in industrialization.
    - The continuous changes in economic decisions.

MORE FOREIGN INVESTMENTS TO TURKEY

    Prisunic, the large French supermarket and department store chain known for its discount pricing policy, will open its first Turkish "hypermarket" in Istanbul. This market will cover a surface area of more than 3,000 square meters and will price products for 10 percent to 20 percent less than they are priced in bakkals (foodshops).
    In cooperation with the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Prisunic founded a society called Belpri. The venture will be majority-owned by Turkish interests, with Prisunic responsible for administration and management. The French firm contributed 30 percent of the project's capital (about 4 million FF).
    Rhone Poulenc of France, the ninth largest pharmaceutical firm in the world, has announced it will expand its activities in Turkey, in collaboration with Eczacibasi, Turkey's leading pharmaceutical company. Rhone Poulenc has been active in Turkey in the pharmacy, vaccinations, chemical products and pesticides fields for 10 years. From now on, it will increase its investments particularly in the pharmacy and pesticides sectors
    On the other hand, the Krupp Markmaan and Moll Bohrtecnik (KMMB) Co., an affiliate of the West German Krupp Co., plans to establish a plant to assemble drilling machinery and spare parts in Turkey in cooperation with the Erke Foreign Trade Co. of Turkey.  KMMB and Erke established a joint venture with a pre-agreement in August 1989.
    A West German banking and insurance company, Goather Group too announced that it was going to set up a new insurance company in Turkey. It has already invested 5 billion TL for this venture and hopes to realize a profit of 5 billion TL to 8 billion TL in premium income during its first full year of operation.

ISLAMIST ACTIONS FOR TURBANS TURKEY

    The issue of religious attire in schools and universities has regained importance and provoked heated debates as hundreds of female students wearing head scarves protested not being allowed admission to universities.
    The ban on religious head scarves, called turbans, was imposed early this year in Turkey after much debate; In Istanbul, turbans are still accepted in most of the universities, but in Ankara and Izmir, the schools have been much more strict about not letting women wearing turbans get past their gates.
    In Ankara, 400 people marched on November 8, 1989 in protest of the ban. Ass the group, composed mostly of university students and older women with children approached the radio facility of Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), several men tried to join in but were stopped by the police. Seven protestors, three women in turbans and four men, were taken into custody.
    In Istanbul's Technical University, a group of 30 men broke into a classroom, harassing Prof. Ilhami Cetin and several students before writing in spray paint on the blackboard, "Head coverings will drive the system o the grave."
    Those who defend turbans argue mainly that the head covering is not a political but a moral and religious symbol which should not be banned if Turkey is a democratic country.
    Those, on the other hand, who support the ban, are intimidated by the threat to secularism posed by the turban, which they feel represents the political ideology of Seriat, the establishment of a state based on Islamic law.
    A distinguished sociologist Mrs. Nermin Abadan-Unat said: "It may be correct to argue, as do several intellectuals and writers, that in a society which accepts democratic values and liberties, one is free to dress as he or she wishes. But when an attire, revealing or concealing, gets used to support a political motive, it becomes a political symbol."
    Sureyya Agaoglu, the first female lawyer in Turkey, voices the opinion of Turkish women who fight for equality by saying that the turban will destroy all steps taken to liberate Turkish women. She believes that the rights given to women by the Republic are in danger due to traditionalist fundamentalists.
    However, Asst. Prof. Nilufer Gole, a sociologist at Bosphorus University, represents another line of thought: that one cannot associate the radical Islamic movement with traditionalism. "The new fundamentalist radicals think of themselves as analytical intellectuals who have acquired in depth knowledge about Islam and want to study the past to come up with changes for today. For this reason, they choose to use the turban instead of a simple scarf to define themselves as different from the average, believing person," she said.
    Islamic daily Zaman asserted in an article by Fehmi Koru that the turban became a "matter of political regime" when the ban on university students with turbans was imposed by the Constitutional Court last spring.
    "Even in France, where secularism means rejecting religion, the minister of education urged that Moslems wearing Islamic garb not be expelled from class."
    Mrs. Bahriye Ucok, a former professor in the School of Theology in Ankara, firmly argues that covering the head is not a Koranic law, and that the Koran has often been misinterpreted due to the difficulties of the Arabic language and script. She maintains that during the first years of Islam, honest women were urged to cover their bodies completely to show they were not prostitutes or slaves.
    The Board of Higher Education (YOK), which runs Turkey's universities, sent instructions to all campuses not to allow headscarved women students into classes.
    On November 10, after Friday prayers a group of 15 to 20 bearded men raided the exhibition hall of the Press Museum where an exhibition of pictures and photographs featuring headdresses worn by women during different periods of Turkish history was on show. The attackers tore some of the pictures, overturned stands and destroyed a total of 150 pictures before leaving.
    On November 24, after Friday prayers in Istanbul a group of 2,000 men and chadored women began an unauthorized demonstration in Sultanahmet, the city's tourist center. Carrying slogans in Turkish and English protesting the ban on head scarves on university campuses, the fundamentalists defied police orders to disperse While tourists visiting the Blue Mosque, Ayasofya and the Topkapi Palace looked on in surprise, the demonstrators shouted, "Hands off head scarves!", "Our cover is our honor," "We shall crush the hands that reach for our head scarves."
    Police seized five men, four of whom were arrested by the Istanbul State Security Court.
    "The ban against headscarves has been in effect for years.. Everyone knows that Turgut Ozal is against the ban. In a press conference while he was prime minister he declared that he was against it. Since he is now president of the Republic, everyone is expecting that a solution to the problem will soon be found," said Koru.

TURKEY RATIFIES EUROPEAN CHARTER, BUT...

    The Turkish Government ratified on  November 29, 1989, the European Social Charter which introduces a set of principles governing labor relations.     However, Ankara stipulated that it would not consider itself bound by two particular articles in the charter.
    The Turkish Foreign Ministry declared Turkey introduced these stipulations because its labor law do not allow government employees to form unions and to go on strike.


TURKISH IMMIGRANTS IN THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY

    The Turkish Dateline of November 11, 1989 published an article on    
Turkish Immigrants in Europe. Below, we are reproducing this article written by Dr. Faruk Sen, director of the Institute of Turkish Studies in Bonn, West Germany:

    According to 1989 figures, there are 15,300,000 people who live in the 12 European Community (EC) countries who are not natives of those countries. Of these 15 million, 5,600,000 come from non-EC countries, and the largest group –2,200,000– in this category are Turks.
    Turks have a 29-year history of emigrating to the 31-year-old EC. They were first encouraged to do so in 1961. While Turkish entrance into the EC is still being discussed, Turks have long waited to become the 13th nation of the European Community.
    Because European Turks have lived for so long in EC countries, they identify themselves with Europeans and are, in most cases, disinclined to return to their native country.
    Only 715,000 of the over two million European Turks are workers, so the remaining majority are members of their families.
    Because European Turks are a young community, an analysis of this Turkish society abroad, especially that in West Germany, reveals interesting facts. In West Germany, 500,000 of the 1,512,000 Turks living there are under 16 years of age; of these, 75 percent were born in Germany.
    After West Germany, the second largest Turkish community is in the Netherlands, where there are 173,000 Turks.
    Three major points must be stressed when observing the development of the Turkish community in Europe:
    First, from the beginning of the 1980s there has been a decrease in the number of Turks returning to Turkey, especially from West Germany. The tendency to stay in Europe is thus increasing.
    Whereas polls in 1980 revealed that 40 percent of the Turkish community in West Germany wanted to stay in that country, this figure rose to 56 percent in 1985. A survey carried out later by the Turkish Research Center showed that in 1986, 60.4 percent of the Turkish population intended to stay in Germany.
    The latest figures were obtained in 1988, when the center conducted a survey in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of West Germany. Only 13 percent of the Turks living there intended to return home.
    The same tendency was observed in the Netherlands. In 1987, a general survey showed that only 24 percent of the Turks wanted to leave the country.
    Secondly, young Turks living in Europe now identify themselves as European.
    Especially in West Germany, young members of the Turkish community are interested in professional schools and want to be classified as skilled workers.
    The number of Turkish teenagers enrolling in professional schools is steadily increasing, as more and more learn to speak the language of the country in which they are living. Thus, the first generation of unskilled workers who emigrated to Europe in the '60s and '70s will be replaced by a generation of skilled workers who have been brought up in professional schools.
    The third important development is the fact that more and more Turks are establishing their own businesses in Europe. There are 40,500 Turks who run their own businesses in West Germany, Great Britain, France and the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg).
    Of these, three-fourths live in West Germany; that is, about 30,000 enterprising Turks have made a total investment of DM 5,1 billion in Germany, and their annual sales are over DM 23.5 billion.
    In West Germany alone, Turks provide employment for 105,000 people, and their success can no longer be ignored.
    Evaluating the situation in general, we see that Turks have identified with the countries in which they reside, made investments there and and purchased homes.