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Un service d'information non-gouvernemental sur la Turquie

180

15th Year - N°180
 October 1991
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
 



Outcome of the 20 October 1991 Elections

ERA OF COALITIONS

    o Electors put an end to Özal's one-party ANAP power
    o Demirel's DYP obtained highest vote, but fell short of forming a single-handed government
    o Divided social-democrats failed to be the leading political force
    o Kurdish national movement emerged as a political force in the East
    o Extreme-right's rising menaces  process of democratization
   
    As already expected, the October 20 elections have put an end to the 8-year power of Özal and his Motherland Party (ANAP) and Turkey has entered, after a 11-year interval, into the period of "coalition governments". In his first post-electoral interview in the daily Hürriyet of October 22  said "My era has ended."
    Although Özal and his party were severely punished by the electorate, none of the other five running parties arrived to obtain 226-seat majority to run the country with a homogeneous government. So Turkey faces a new period of political instability and further steps in the way of democratization remain dependent on the composition of future coalitions.
    The left-wing parties which seem more committed to adopt international norms of democracy failed to gain over the confidence of the majority because of their internal quarrels.  They together received only 31,94% of the votes and obtained only 95 seats in Parliament, while they had obtained  33.34% of the votes and 99 seats in 1987 elections.
    The main opposition party, the Social Democrat Populist Party (SHP) of Erdal Inönü received  20.75%% of the votes and obtained only 88 seats in Parliament , while it had obtained  24.81% of the votes and 99 seats in 1987 elections. 
    The other social democrat party, the Democratic Left Party (DSP) of Bülent Ecevit raised its votes to 10.75% from 8.53% in 1987, but obtained only 7 seats in Parliament     As for the Socialist Party (SP) which participated in elections for the first time, it obtained only 0.44% of the votes.
    A study published by the daily Cumhuriyet of 24 October shows that if the SHP and the DSP participated in the elections with a common list, they would have obtained 190 deputies in Parliament and could easily put in practice their commitments in the field of human rights.
    The future Parliament will, as in the past, be dominated by the right-wing parties which have contradictory attitudes as regards human rights. They together received 67.92% of the votes.
    The new leading party of the Right is the Correct Way Party (DYP) of Süleyman Demirel which raised its votes to 27.03% and the number of seats to 178 while they were respectively 19.15% and 59 in 1987 elections.
    The loser in the Right isthe Motherland Party (ANAP). The electorate pulled down its score from 36.29% in 1987 to 24.01% and the number of its seats in Parliament from 292 in 1987 to 115. Despite this fall, the ANAP holds the second rank in Parliament and becomes the main opposition party by replacing the SHP.
    As the DYP was attracting votes from rural areas and small towns, the ANAP managed to maintain its leading position in big cities such as Istanbul and Ankara.

        1991            1987            Difference        Seats 91    Seats 87    Difference

Electorate    29,978,837        26,340,265        +3,638,572        450        450        -
Participants    25,157,089        24,621,518         +535,571
Rate of Participation    83.92%            93.47%            -9.55%

VALID VOTES    24,416,526        23,961,552         +454,974                           
       

DYP        6,600,644 (27.03%)        4,589,530 (19.15%)        +2,011,114 (7.88%)        178 (39.56%)    59 (13.11%)    +119
ANAP        5,862,639 (24.01%)        8,696,504 (36.29%)        -2,883,865 (-12.28%)    115 (25.56%)    292 (64.89%)    -177
RP        4,121,292 (16.88%)        2,599,677 (10.84%)        +1,521,615 (+6.04%)    62 (13.78%)    0        +62

TOTAL RIGHT    16,584,575 (67.92%)    15,885,711 (66.28%)    +698,864 (+1.64%)    355 (78.88%)    351 (78.00%)    +4   

SHP        5,066,546 (20.75%)        5,944,537 (24.81%)        -877,991 (-4.O6%)        88 (19.56%)    99 (22.00%)    -11
DSP        2,624,310 (10.75%)        2,044,680 (8.53%)        +579,630 (+2.22%)        7 (1.56%)    0        +7
SP        108,374 (0.44%)        -            +108,374 (+0.44%)        -        0        0

TOTAL LEFT    7,799,230 (31.94%)    7,989,217 (33.34%)    -189,987 (-1.40%)    95 (21.12%)    99 (22.00%)    -4   

INDEPENDENTS    32,721 (0.14%)        86,624 (0.38%)        -53,903 (-0.24%)    0        0        0   


ALARMING RISE OF EXTREME-RIGHT

    The most alarming result of this election is no doubt the rise of the extreme right especially in Central Anatolian provinces.
    The Welfare Party (RP) of Necmeddin Erbakan, fundamentalist, thanks to its alliance with two other extreme-right parties, surged to fourth place with 16.88% of the votes and 62 seats in Parliament. The total score of these three parties in 1987 election was 10.84% and they had no deputy in Parliament.
    The Nationalist Labour Party (MCP) of Türkes, neo-fascist, and the Reformist Democracy Party (IDP) of Aykut Edibali, fundamentalist,  had to give up participating in elections with their own tickets because of the 10% national and 20 or 25% provincial barrages for being represented in Parliament. Considering the fact that in1987 elections the MCP had obtained 2.9% and the IDP 0.8% of the votes, the leaders of these two parties became candidates in RP lists.    
    The percentages obtained by this alliance in the following provinces show that the extreme-right has become the leading political force of many Central Anatolian provinces:
    Konya (1): 39.89%
    Konya (2): 27.25%
    Konya (3): 26.60%
    Yozgat: 38.87%
    Sivas: 37.40%
    Bayburt: 36.90%
    Erzurum(1): 36.60%
    Erzurum (2): 36.19%
    Kahramanmaras (1): 35.19%
    Kahramanmaras (2): 33.52%
    Bingöl: 31.70%
    Kayseri (1): 31.49%
    Kayseri (2): 31.66%
    Gümüshane: 30.39%
    Elazig: 30.10%
    Cankiri: 29.27%
    Tokat: 28.82%
    Karaman: 28.60%
    Corum: 27.95%
    Aksaray: 26.60%
    Nevsehir: 26.41%

    Of 62 deputies of the Alliance, 40 belong to the RP, 20 to the MCP and 2 to the IDP.     The unfairness of the system is so evident that the neo-fascist MCP of which the share in the national vote is estimated at 3% in maximum  gained 20 seats in Parliament as the DSP's seats were remaining at 7 although its votes passed over 10 percent.
    Both the RP and the MCP are the continuities of the National Salvation Party (MSP) and the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) that existed before the 1980 military coup. Both their predecessors and themselves represent different ideological stands.

AN ANTI-EEC GROUP IN PARLIAMENT

    The RP is for the formation of Islamic unity among the Moslem countries all over the world, with Turkey to be its leader.
    According the right-wing daily Tercüman of November 5, 1991, the RP is distinguished from other right-wing parties by the following demands:
    - The European Communities are a part of the "Great Israel" Project. Instead of adhering to the EC, Turkey should develop a Common Islam Market with Islamic countries.
    - In the military field, Turkey should be withdrawn from the NATO and should set up, with other Islamic countries, a Common Islamic Defence Organization.
    - The State should open a Koranic Courses in every village, a religious high school in every district and a university of theology in every province of Turkey
    - Local assemblies should be authorized to decide to teach in schools any other language [particularly Arabic or Kurdish] by the side of Turkish.
    - However, the education carried out exclusively in some foreign languages [particularly  English, French and German] in certain higher education schools, aiming to spread imperialist cultures in the country, should be
abolished.
    - Since taking interest is considered as a sin by the Koran, interest on bank accounts and commercial transactions should be prohibited and the economic life should reorganized on a "no interest" basis.
    The RP has always made it clear that it is completely against the equality of sexes. The party leaders has recently refused to employ female secretaries when they were setting up the bureau of their parliamentary group in Parliament.
     However, the extreme-right alliance received votes not particularly from de religious and nationalist people, but also from areas where small business owners and producers are located. The RP's electoral manifesto addressed to different social categories including workers. The RP promised new administrative management in the work place, like the participation of workers in management and not to fire any worker without the authorization of the Supreme Arbitration Council.

GREY WOLVES IN PARLIAMENT

    The MCP, on the other hand, is a neo-fascist party which develops its policies on a racial basis. It is the only political party which advocates the unity of all Turkish speaking peoples of the world. The changes in the Soviet Union, this dream seems more realisable for Türkes and other MCP leaders. Although they too pretend to be attached to Islamic values, both the Islam for them is only one of the factors that can unite all Turks under the same flag.
    Moreover, the MHP was the main responsible of the political violence which led Turkey to a military coup in 1980. The Grey Wolves, the MHP's terrorist militants, murdered thousands of people prior to 1980.
    Although they were detained after the coup and kept in prisons for a few years, some of these murderers have managed to enter in Parliament as deputies thanks to their alliance with the RP. Among them are also Muhsin Yazicioglu and Muharrem Semsek, two former chairmen of the Idealist Youth Organization (UGD), terror organization of Grey Wolves; Ökkes Sendiller, principal author of the massacre of more than 100 people in Kahramanmaras in 1978; Esat Bütün who had shot dead with machine gun 30 people in a bus in Ankara.
    The ideological differences and the provocations of former Grey Wolves may any time lead to a divorce between the RP and the MCP. However, since 20 deputies are enough to form a parliamentary group, 20 deputies coming from the MCP may easily leave the RP group in future.
    However, with the remaining 40 deputies, the RP will be one of the key political forces in the Parliament to play a key role in coalition bargainings.
   
KURDISH NATIONAL MOVEMENT'S SUCCESS

    The overwhelming success of the SHP in southeast Turkey thanks to the presence of former HEP leaders in its electoral lists has proved the Kurdish people's decisiveness to raise their struggle for national rights as well in Parliament as by means of armed resistance.
    In fact, 21 of the 27 HEP candidates who ran in the elections on the SHP ticket have gotten into Parliament.  Graphic showed that in Kurdish areas under constant State terror, the electorate shifted its support  to the SHP, or rather to the HEP candidates in the party.
    The Workers' Party of Kurdistan (PKK) too announced during the electoral campaign that it supported the Kurdish candidates on the SHP ticket.
    The following are the percentage of the SHP obtained in main Kurdish provinces:
    Diyarbakir (2): 71.72%
    Diyarbakir (1): 32.70%
    Tunceli: 64.20%
    Sirnak: 62.31%
    Batman: 54.30%
    Mardin: 53.96%
    Mus: 45.70%
    Siirt: 43.60%
    This result also reflects a polarization in Turkish politics on the ethnic basis.
    According to some comments, the SHP's success in the East might have been obtained in the detriment of its electoral chance in the West, particularly in metropolitans.
    During the electoral campaign, DSP leader Bülent Ecevit stated that the votes to be cast for the SHP would mean to have been given to the illegal PKK.
    Aware of the extensive influence of the Kurdish national movement in the East, President Özal had furthered his opening to a dialogue with the Kurdish movement and, in a pre-electoral speech in Hakkari, said: "We have to talk openly about everything, including a federation... The PKK has already been talking of this. We must also give our opinion about why a federation cannot happen. Everybody should be free to talk of their ethnic identity. The problem cannot be solved by force of arms. We have to find a rational solution to the problem."
    The PKK is reported to have welcomed Özal's remarks and declared itself ready to discuss a political solution. "If Özal is serious about a federative solution, this is something we cannot ignore," Osman Öcalan, brother of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, told a Turkish reporter in northern Iraq.
    In a gesture of goodwill, the PKK released eight Turkish soldiers who had been kept as POW since early August.
    However, DYP leader Demirel, in his first press conference after his electoral success, appeared less comprehensive than Özal as regards Kurdish question. He promised to crush "separatist rebels" in the southeast. "If a gang is killing people in the southeast, does this mean they are justified over other murders committed elsewhere?" he said. He also said that he would not hesitate to give order the Turkish Army to raid anywhere in the neighbour countries supposed to be used as training base by the PKK even if this gives way to a deterioration of relations with the country in question. This was an allusion to Syria which has been allowing the PKK to be based in the Bekaa Valley.
    This hawkish attitude of the future Prime Minister has already rendered difficult his party's coalition with a SHP with Kurdish deputies in its parliamentary group.
    Although the SHP had broken new ground in the Kurdish issue in 1990 with a report which advocated recognizing Kurdish cultural identity, the Kurdish deputies insist that the SHP adopt a more advanced programme on the national question.

URGENT DEMANDS BY KURDISH DEPUTIES

    After the election, in a 20-point memorandum, new 22 Kurdish deputies asked the SHP to adopt the following "urgent demands":
    1. The Kurdish national identity should be accepted in the Constitution and in legislation as a sociological reality;
    2. All reserves as regards Kurdish national identity put earlier in international conventions by the Turkish Government should be lifted;
    3. The Kurdish nation's rights to free expression and to have education in Kurdish language should be recognized; Kurdish radio and TV broadcasting should be allowed;
    4. It should be created a democratic order allowing to freely discuss the Kurdish national question and its solutions;
    5. The state of emergency should be lifted with all its institutions;
    6. All repressive decrees should be lifted;
    7. Special security teams should be withdrawn from the [Kurdish] area;
    8. The Counter Guerrilla Organization should be dismantled;
    9. The system of village protectors should be lifted;
    10. The Anti-Terror Law should be lifted;
    11. A general amnesty should be proclaimed in a view to eliminate all consequences of the 12 September [military coup d'état of 1980];
    12. Prisons should be adapted to the norms of human rights and dignity; members of Parliament should be allowed to control all prisons and detention houses;
    13. The period of police detention should be reduced to 24 hours and a detainee's interrogation should be made in presence of his lawyer;
    14. All murders committed by unidentified persons should be investigated and their authors should be punished;
    15. The electoral system should be rendered more equitable;
    16. All destroyed and burned villages should be reconstructed and their inhabitants should be indemnified;
    17. All production relations which are systematically been destroyed should be revived; ban on the utilisation of pastures should be lifted;
    18. The right to trade union, collective bargaining and strike should be recognized to all working people;
    19. The right to general strike and strikes for solidarity should be legalized;
    20. A democratic constitution should be adopted; the Army's General Staff should be depended on the National Defense Ministry.
    Former HEP Chairman Fehmi Isiklar, elected as Diyarbakir deputy on SHP ticket, said: "Our people are in need of internal peace and democracy, and we will contribute to this process."
    Questioned on whether the HEP would consider issuing a call to the PKK to put down their guns and accept a cease-fire, Isiklar indicated there were conditions that would have to be met before doing this.  "This is something to be done much later. If the government continued with its policy of rejecting the Kurdish problem, and if it was racist, the consequences would be different. If, however, the Kurdish question is accepted and if a peaceful solution is brought forth, if the issue is open to a debate in which people are not persecuted or punished for their opinions, if the circumstances enable everyone to speak his or her mind, then such a [cease-fire] call could be considered," he said.

TOWARDS A POLITICAL INSTABILITY

    Whatsoever is the outcome of the coalition bargainings among different political parties represented in the new National Assembly, any coalition government without DYP seems out of question.
    Demirel is, after a 11-year opposition period, very eager to form a coalition government with any party which will accept him as prime minister. In a move to assure his accession to power, he has already forgotten his intransigence against President Özal.
    At his first post-electoral press conference on October 22, Demirel said that his party, which emerged as the winner of the elections, will lead a coalition government.  Asked whether his pre-election views that Özal should be ousted are still valid, Demirel said "What has been said during the campaign is now buried there and we will not rehash anything. There may have been a few insignificant bitter moment during the campaign, but all this has to be forgotten. The country will not be left without a cabinet."
    Although Demirel claims that his future government will respect human rights and freedoms recognized by international agreements his political past was full of flagrant violations of human rights.
    He was six times prime minister  since 1965 and twice ousted by the Army. His policies cracking down on the Left and the Kurdish people and encouraging the extreme-right terrorism of the Grey Wolves gave the military pretexts of taking over the country's rule, in 1971 and in 1980.
    In spite of his electoral promises on human rights and freedoms, in his first post-electoral declaration Demirel swore to crush the Kurdish national resistance and said that he would make a coalition with a political party which share his stand concerning the Kurdish question. 
    In the economic field, his electoral campaign was largely built on promises of relief from inflation running at 67 per cent a year. he has pledged a 500-day stability programme to put the economy right.
    However, it should be recalled that inflation first sky-rocketed in 1980 when Demirel was prime minister.
    Moreover, the DYP's promises such as to grant each family two keys, the one for a new house and the other for a car, seem completely unrealistic.
    Whosoever will be Demirel's partner, those who do not forget his disastrous performance as regards socio-economic and political problems cannot expect a considerable amelioration under Demirel's rule.
    According to the daily Hürriyet of October 31, it is believed that the outcome of the October 20 Elections has already paved the way for a fresh general election.
    When would it take place?
    Since the ANAP has not undergone an electoral disaster, it may soon force the DYP to a new early election. In fact, both the United States and the Turkish business circles wish to see a DYP-ANAP Coalition in Turkey.
    They justify their option with the ANAP's unexpected performance in big cities. For example, in Istanbul ANAP emerged as the first party with 22.4% of the votes, while DYP remained at 14.4% and SHP at 13.8%.
    Even if DYP forms for the time-being a coalition with SHP or RP, the USA and the big business will always insist on a coalition between DYP and ANAP, because they think that only a coalition between two parties of which economic policies are very near and even identical may establish "political stability" and satisfy their expectations in economic field. They even envisage a merging between DYP and ANAP.
    For putting in practice  any of these two scenarios, ANAP seems determined to wait until a time when DYP's coalitions with other parties doomed to failure. ANAP hopes to emerge again as the leading party and to dictate its own conditions to DYP.
    ANAP leaders do not mention a definite date for the early election. Yet ANAP leader Mesut Yilmaz gives a rough estimate: "Demirel is presenting a 500-day programme. Therefore, it is only reasonable to give him 500 days." This indicates that the election may come in eighteen months from now.

STATE TERRORISM PRIOR TO ELECTIONS

    The electoral system applied during the last voting prevented many political forces to take their place in the race with their own identities; many of political parties founded on class or ethnic basis, such as the PKK, are still outlawed and their all declarations and actions are considered "crime of terror" by the new law.
    Those left-wing parties which succeeded to be legalized, except for the Socialist Party (SP), could not participate in elections because of high national and provincial barrages or of some preliminary conditions such as to be organized in all provinces or to have held its national convention before a certain time.
    Some members of these political groups entered in the race as "independent candidates", but this attempt remained symbolic, because the electoral system did not recognize them any chance.
    In addition to these restrictions, security forces have been mobilized for preventing the electoral campaign by these groups and people.
    Even some left-wing or Kurdish candidates participating in election on the party tickets could not save themselves from being prosecuted.
    The Public Prosecutor started legal proceedings against the Socialist Party Chairman Dogu Perincek, new elected SHP deputies Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle and Sedat Yurttas for their electoral speeches. All of them are accused of contravening the Anti-Terror Law.
    The Prosecutor's Office is also carrying out an action with a view to ask the Constitutional Court to close down the Socialist Party because of its electoral programme.
    Below are a few other examples of the pre-election repression:
    28.9, Nizamettin Karadeniz, a candidate for the DYP in Diyarbakir, and Mehmet Karadeniz, Silvan chairman of the same party, were stopped and beaten by gendarmes in Hazro .
    29.9, in Izmir, about 50 people were detained by police after a SHP rally, and 19 of them were later indicted for participating in an unauthorized meeting.
    29.9, in Van, political police arrested six SP members after having raided their houses. The party headquarters announced that they were subjected to torture.
    30.9, in the district of Fatsa in Ordu province, three persons were arrested as they were putting SHP posters on walls.
    11.10, the office of independent Kurdish candidate Ibrahim Aksoy was raided by the police and all propaganda material confiscated.
    11.10, in Istanbul, SP candidate Attila Celik and two other party members were arrested as they were putting party posters on walls.
    13.10, a SHP poster concerning torturers was confiscated in Istanbul.
    14.10, in Urfa, 43 people were detained for having shouted slogans in Kurdish during a SHP meeting.

    Other repression by the State

    15.9, in Mardin, a Kurd named Abdulmecit Cetinkaya was shot dead in the Cimenli Village by some persons presenting themselves as "Counter Guerrilla".
    20.9, in Izmir, of 100 people detained by police as alleged members of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Turkey (TDKP) nine were arrested by the Izmir SSC.
    20.9, in Hekimhan, Kaya Ünsalan was sentenced to a 20-month prison by a penal court for having distributed anti-war posters during the Gulf Crisis.
    20.9, in Izmir, the Rights and Freedoms Association (Özgür-Der) was raided by police and 30 people detained.
    22.9, seven people were detained in the province of Kars for carrying out activities of an illegal organization.
    22.9, special security teams raided a village, Uluköy, in the district of Kiziltepe and three Kurdish peasants detained.
    22.9, the trial of 13 Kurds, of whom 8 women, detained during a demonstration in Nusaybin on August 13, began at the Diyarbakir SSC.
    23.9, five officials of the Union of Training Workers (Egitim-Is) in Bornova were indicted in Izmir for carrying out trade union activities banned for public servants.
    24.9, in Ankara, 12 people detained during an exhibition on the occasion of the 12 September military coup's anniversary were indicted by the Prosecutor of the Ankara SSC. Four of them will be tried under arrest.
    24.9, a Kurdish student, Yücel Halis was sentenced to 10-year imprisonment by the Ankara SSC for participating in PKK activities.
    26.9, in Ankara, 44 parents of political prisoners were tried by the Penal Court No. 11 for having protested the restrictions on visits to prison. Each faces three years in prison.
    26.9, in Zonguldak, 20 people were detained on accusation of belonging to an underground organization.
    27.9, police announced the detention of 17 people in the district of Bismil, 9 people in Bursa and 5 people in Mardin for political reasons.
    27.9, the Kirsehir section of the Association of Teachers (Egit-Der) by the governor for having some political publication in its office.
    27.9, three alleged Revolutionary Left (Dev-Sol) members were tried by the Istanbul SSC. They face prison terms of from 5 to 22 years.
     28.9, in Istanbul, Yusuf Hüseyin Albayrak was arrested by a tribunal for having told President Turgut Özal "You are always talking of his successes, talk a little bit of the bad things that you have done," during his visit to the quarters of Süleymaniye. He is accused of having insulted the President of the Republic.
    29.9, in Izmir, Egit-Der which had been raided on September 20 by police was closed down by the decision of the governor.
    29.9, in the village of Akcapinar in Mardin, unidentified persons shot dead Ali Erdem by raiding his house and wounded four others.
    1.10, in the district of Turhal, the headman of the Kuzualan village, Ilhan Güney was gravely beaten and threatened with pistol by gendarmes for having prevented soldiers from cutting wood in the forest.
    3.10, a 16-year old young girl was subjected to torture at police station for having refused to reveal the whereabouts of her uncle. The legal medicine found eight traces of cigarette burning on her body.
    6.10, the Istanbul section of the Human Rights Association of Turkey (IHD) has reportedly been subjected to 16 different legal pursuits of which 4 resulted in opening court proceedings. In these cases, the IHD officials face prison terms of up to 7 years and in two cases the prosecutor claims the closing down of the section.
    6.10, police announced the detention of 50 people in Van within last ten days. According to the Human Rights Association (IHD), among the detainees are also 70-year old persons and many of them were subjected to torture.
    7.10, in Trabzon, 15 students of the Technical University were detained for distributing political tracts.
    8.10, in Ankara, 87 people were detained during a commemoration ceremony for Necdet Adali, a left-wing militant executed after the military coup d'état of September 12, 1980.
    8.10, Malatya local chairman of the People's Labour Party (HEP), Mustafa Türk was arrested for making separatist propaganda in the speech he made at the funeral of a PKK militant. By virtue of Article 8 of the Anti-terror Law, he faces a prison term of up to 5 years and a fine of TL 100 Million.
    9.10, the Ankara SSC decided to stop trying Nabi Yagci (Haydar Kutlu) and Nihat Sargin, respectively chairman and secretary general of the United Communist Party of Turkey (TBKP) for contravening Articles 140, 141 and 142 of the Turkish Penal Code because these articles were lifted. However the SSC decided to transfer their files opened by virtue of Articles 158 and 159 to a penal court
    10.10, the Istanbul SSC began to try seven alleged Dev-Sol members. The prosecutor claims capital punishment for each of the defendants.
    13.10, the IHD reported that many villagers in the district of Kozluk were detained and subjected to tortured.
    14.10, a demonstration in protest against the educational system by the students of the Medicine Faculty of Bursa was prevented by the gendarmerie and seven students detained. Same day, five students of a Tourism School in Aydin were detained for organizing a meeting and sent to the Izmir SSC.
    14.10, it is reported that in last two weeks ten people were detained in Izmir and Manisa for "separatist" activities.
    15.10, a woman named Mediha Curabaz alleged that she was tortured and violated during her detention in Adana police headquarters between August 15 and 20. Her lawyers applied to the Prosecutor's office for an investigation.
    15.10, Switz citizen Miss Barbara Anna Kistler's demand to be released was turned down by the Istanbul SSC. She had been arrested five months ago together with a group of Turkish political activists.
    17.10, in Istanbul, three alleged members of the Union of Revolutionary Communists of Turkey (TIKB) were detained. During the operation, a young woman, Lale Colak was wounded by police.
    18.10, police has detained 20 people during a 3-day operation in Ankara.

TURKISH ARMY'S ANNIHILATION OPERATION

    As Turkish political parties were racing in electoral campaign to promise ameliorating the country's human rights record, the Turkish Army restarted bombing Kurdish villages in northern Iraq on October 11, on a pretext to retaliate for four cross-border raids by PKK militants in which 24 Turkish soldiers were killed..
    The incursion into northern Iraq was continued from October 25 on with special crack troops supported by F-104 fighter jets and helicopters hitting at alleged PKK bases.
    According to Iraqi sources, 12 people were killed in Turkish raids on eight Kurdish villages in northern Iraq. Iraqi Foreign Ministry, in a letter to U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar, said the incursion represented "a flagrant violation of the U.N. Charter and international law."
    The target of these attacks, the Workers' Party of Kurdistan (PKK), in a press communique issued on November 1st in Europe, said that the Turkish Army's operation had been a total failure.
    "Fighters F4 and F104 as well as helicopters bombed villages and towns and carried out flights on cities for terrorizing the population," said the PKK.     "The air-ground operation in Southern Kurdistan could not give us  any considerable loss. Only during our attack on the military post in Cayirli, four combatants of the ARGK (Popular Liberation Army of Kurdistan) perished and six others were wounded.
    "According to other sources, Turkish fighters killed 12 civilians, including women and children, and wounded a number of civilian people?
    "It was proved before the Western journalists who were in the region of Dohouk and Zakho that the Turkish State used napalm bombs during the operation. Using of napalm destroyed a number of villages and burnt many fields. Destroyed villages: Seladiza (12 thousand inhabitants), Qadise, Banik, Kakne, Silan, Siyar, Surya, Dédeluk, Begova, Barzan, Berberka, Bilé, Rezan, Konamij and Spindar.
    "The Turkish State's declaration such as 'We are going to annihilate the PKK' and 'We have subjected the PKK to heavy losses" have doomed to a total failure. "
    Kurdish Democratic Party leader Massoud Barzani, accusing Turkey of bombing and strafing Kurdish villages, said they will fight back if Turkish ground forces attack again. "The Turkish should remember that we can do many things against them on the ground inside Turkey if we choose. If the Turks think they will get us to change our position on autonomy with these tactics, they are mistaken. We faced the Iraqi army and chemical attacks, a few Turkish warplanes do not frighten us."
    Even the USA, main supporter of the Turkish regime, admitted that Turkey bombed civilian targets.
    U.S. Assistant State Secretary on Human Rights Richard Schifter, after a briefing on the Oslo Summit Conference for Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), on October 29, said to Turkish journalists: "It appears that you have missed your targets."
    Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi,  on October 30, called for U.N. action against Turkish "land and air attacks launched against the poor Kurds and civilians and children." He called the operation "a massacre."
    Germany protested on October 14 against the Turkish bombing and vowed to do all in its power to stop the attacks. '"We made it clear that the federal government will use all means at its disposal to protect the lives of the innocent and suffering Kurdish population in Iraq," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hanns Schumacher said. Furthermore, according to the daily Hürriyet of November 1st, Germany asked Turkey not to use German armoured vehicles in the Southeast. The German armoured vehicles, which are suitable to combat guerrilla warfare and detect mines, were transferred to Turkey as part of a military aid package as agreed during the Gulf Crisis.
    Despite the international reaction and protests, as well the Turkish Army as Turkish political parties seem determined to carry on "annihilation operation."
    Turkish Chief of General Staff General. Dogan Güres said on October 17 that the Turkish military could finish off the PKK in six months.
    The National Security Council, composed of all Army chiefs and some ministers, held a 6-hour meeting on October 31 with the purpose of taking more efficient measures to cope with the Kurdish resistance.
    According to press reports, it was decided to establish a "Command Control Center" under the framework of the Regional Governate to coordinate the military war on the PKK. Besides, new commando troops and armoured vehicles will be deployed for coping with the PKK militants.

A KURDISH FILM PRODUCER TORTURED

    A Kurdish film producer, Senar Turgut  was tortured after being detained for aiding the PKK.
    The producer of the film Xene u Siyabend, based on a Kurdish legend, was detained in Van on September 28. After a 13-day police detention he was sent to the Diyarbakir State Security Court . He will be tried by virtue of the Anti-Terror Law.
    Turgut  told journalists that he was subjected to all sorts of torture, similar to the torture depicted in scenes in his former film, Karartma Geceleri (Blackout Nights).
    Turgut was also detained after the shooting of Blackout Nights and was later on given a special award by Parliament.
    During shooting of the film, the crew met with difficulties and restrictions. They could not get permission to stay at Heset village where the film was being shot, instead they had to travel between the city of Van and the village each day. The art director of the film, Akif Adsiz said that Turgut had nothing to do with any political movement. "The main point of his work is to initiate the birth of Kurdish cinema," he said.
    The script writer of Xene u Siyabend and chairman of the Kurdish PEN Club, Hüseyin Erdem, has taken initiative for gaining support from international circles such as Amnesty International, George Bush and Hans Dietrich Genscher.

INCREASING ATTACKS ON JOURNALISTS

    According to a communique by the Press Council of Turkey, attacks on journalists have been intensified for last three years.
    In 1989, 48 journalists were attacked in 24 cases; in 1990, 54 journalists in 27 cases; within the eight months of 1991, 44 journalists in 21 cases.
    The Press Council, pointing out that 58 out of 72 attacks in last three years were carried out by State agents, said: "Harassing journalists has been a hobby for the State agents. Among them are district governors, prosecutors, Electoral Board members and even some judges."

PRESSURE ON THE MEDIA PRIOR TO ELECTIONS

    22.9 writer Fikret Baskaya was indicted by virtue of Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law for separatist propaganda in his book entitled The failure of Westernization, Modernization, Development and Paradigms. This book had earlier been confiscated by the State Security Court. The author faces five years in prison and a fine of TL 50 Million ($10,638). Besides, the prosecutor claims a fine of  TL 100 Million ($ 21,276) for the publisher of the book, Mehmet Selim Okcuoglu.
    24.9, the distribution of a musi-cassette of popular singer Melike Demirag was prohibited by the decision of the Culture Ministry. Demirag has been deprived of Turkish nationality for her anti-regime activities abroad. The banned cassette, entitled Chanting From Abroad, contains the songs she produced in exile
    28.9, Cizre correspondent of the weekly Yeni Ülke, Abdullah Arisoy  was sentenced by a local court to a 3-month imprisonment for having collected aid for Kurdish refugees. The prison term was later commuted to a fine.
    29.9, new issues of the weekly Yeni Ülke, No.49 and the fortnightly Emegin Bayragi, No.50, were confiscated by the Istanbul SSC by virtue of Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law.
    2.10, a book by journalist Rafet Balli, entitled File On Kurds, was confiscated by the Istanbul SSC for "separatist propaganda. It contains a series of interviews of Kurdish leaders and public figures.
    3.10, the printing and distribution of a poster against the Anti-Terror Law, produced by the Human Rights Association of Turkey (IHD), was forbidden by the Governor of Istanbul.
    3.10, the trial of sociologist Prof. Ismail Besikci began at the Ankara SSC. Besikci is accused of instigating separatist activities by writing anti-Turkish propaganda in his book entitled State Terror in the Middle East. If convicted, Besikci can be sentenced to up to five years in prison and a fine of up to TL 100 million ($ 21,276) by virtue of Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law.
    4.10, the responsible editor of the daily Günes, Isik Yurtcu was indicted by virtue of Article 30 of the Press Law for having revealed a formal charge before it was read at tribunal. He will be tried by a penal court in Istanbul.
    4.10, it is reported that 18 out of 49 issues of the weekly Yeni Ülke published in last one year have been confiscated by the Istanbul SSC. Public prosecutors opened against the weekly's editors and writers a total of 47 legal proceedings at the Istanbul SSC and 55 at different penal courts in Istanbul. 29 of these cases have been opened by the virtue of the Anti-Terror Law.
    6.10, writer Esber Yagmurdereli, journalist Ragip Duran and trade unionist Attila Yalcin were indicted by the Prosecutor of the Istanbul SSC for the speeches that they made during a IHD meeting on September 8. They are accused of contravening Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law.
    6.10, the responsible editor of the local newspaper Gözlem in the district of Yalova, Zeki Öcal was indicted by virtue of Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code. The prosecutor of the Istanbul SSC claims a 3-year prison term for the journalist.
    6.10, the Nusaybin correspondent of the weekly Yeni Ülke, Vahap Aslan was indicted for a news about the funeral of a PKK militant. He will be tried by the Diyarbakir SSC.
    9.10, the last issue of the youth review Devrimci Genclik was confiscated by the Istanbul SSC for separatist propaganda.
    10.10, the public prosecutor opened a new legal proceeding against Prof. Ismail Besikci for an article he wrote for the monthly Toplumsal Kurtulus. Besikci and the review's responsible editor, Necdet Kandemir, will be tried by virtue of Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code. Both face a prison term of up to 4 years.
    11.10, the responsible editor of the daily Karaman'in Sesi, Alibey Akkan was arrested for insulting God and religions in an article.
    19.10, four people distributing in Istanbul a special issue of the fortnightly Emegin Bayragi, concerning elections, were taken into custody.
    19.10, the monthly review Halay was confiscated in Sanliurfa for containing the text of a play that the prosecutor considers contravening Article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code.

18 SUSPICIOUS DEATHS IN DETENTION

    The Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TIHV) issued on October 4 the list of  18 suspected deaths occurred within the nine months of this year:
    1. Cumali Copur was found dead on January 12 in Nevsehir Prison Type E.
    2. Tevfik Timur, detained in Ankara on January 5, his dead body was handed over to his family on January 14.
    3. Birtan Altunbas, detained on January 10 in Ankara, died in hospital on January 16.
    4. Haydar Arman, detained on January 17 in Istanbul and sent to Ankara, died in Central Prison of Ankara on January 24.
    5. Irfan Basbuga, detained on January 31 in Ankara, died same day in Anafartalar Police Station.
    6. Kasim Aras, after a two-month imprisonment, died in Ankara University Hospital on January 30.
    7. Ali Riza Agdogan, detained on February 12, entered in coma  two days later and died in hospital on February 16.
    8. Imran Aydin, detained in Ankara on February 2 and died next day in police station.
    9. Yusuf Eristi has disappeared after his detention in Istanbul on March 14.
    10. Hasim Sincar, detained in the district of Solhan of the Bingöl province on April 4, died same day at the Gendarmerie post during his interrogation.
    11. Veli Geles was detained on April 1st in Ankara, his dead body with three holes of bullet was transferred to hospital on April 5.
    12. Haydar Altun has disappeared since his arrest in a Kurdish camp in Iraq in March.
    13. Alaattin Kürekci, detained in Istanbul on May 16, was hospitalized next day and died there on May 20.
    14. Osman Ekinci, shepherd, died in a a gendarmerie post in Sirnak after his detention on July 20.
    15. Hanefi Göllü, detained in Gaziantep on August 11, died same day at the Police Headquarter during his interrogation.
    16. Süleyman Dalga, detained for aiding the PKK in the district of Digor, died at the Dagpinar gendarmerie post on August 9 during his interrogation.
    17. Serafettin Celik died at the Police Headquarters of Gaziantep on September 8, during his interrogation.
    18. Osman Keles, detained on September 7 in the district of Patnos, died on September 18 at the Police Headquarters of Agri during interrogation.

EUROPEAN REPORT ON TORTURE IN TURKEY

    The Council of Europe's Committee for Prevention of Torture is in the process of preparing a report on Turkey. A five-member committee visited Turkey between September 25 and October 7, and observed various prisons and police stations in Ankara, Istanbul and Diyarbakir.
    The Agreement for Prevention of Torture, to which Turkey is a signatory, gives the committee the right to conduct inspections in a country without previous notice.
    The committee's report will be released to the press after Turkish authorities have an opportunity to add their own views and express possible reservations.
   
HUMAN RIGHTS SYMPOSIUM IN TURKEY

    Prior to the elections, the ANAP Government, in a move to charm Europe, organised in Turkey a symposium on "The International Protection of Human Rights and and the Turkish Grand National Assembly."
    Opened by President Özal on October 5 in Antalya, the symposium was attended by some 500 people. However, there was little agreement among the speakers or audience as to the facts about human rights in Turkey.
    While many Turkish politicians and foreign personalities were invited to the symposium as lecturers", the Human Rights Association (IHD) and the Human Rights Foundation (TIHV) of Turkey were invited with "observer" status.
    TIHV Chairman Yavuz Önen protested Ankara's attitude in following terms:
    "We condemn the Turkish Grand National Assembly for manipulating human rights as a subject of political exploitation. No excuses can be raised for the prevention of our organization from speaking and participating in discussions in such a symposium on human rights. It  is obvious that the aim is to fool Europe and conceal the human rights related problems in Turkey."
    IHD Chairman Nevzat Helvaci told reporters that torture was still being used extensively in Turkey as a means of interrogation and suppression. "The Anti-Terror Law put into affect this year carries provisions that actually works to protect the practice of torture. The detention period is very long, ranging from 48 hours to 15 days and even 30 days, depending on different situations," he said.
    In his opening speech, President Özal blamed the West for using human rights as a weapon and a foreign policy tool. "An intervention into the internal affairs of other countries for the sole purpose of promoting human rights and liberties may lead to unpredictable disturbances in the internal balances of the countries concerned," he said.
    EC Ambassador to Turkey Michael Lake stated that Turkey's dismal human rights performance coloured its image in the West and the EC, even though the government was taking significant steps to improve the situation. "Turkey actually has fallen behind the former Communist countries and it must correct that situation quickly," he said.

INDEX OF THE 15th YEAR INFO-TÜRK COLLECTION

    NOVEMBER 1990, No. 169:

    Turkish Gladio: the Counter Guerrilla Organization • State of emergency extended • Özal's new diplomatic manoeuvres • On-going prosecution of children • International solidarity with Info-Türk editors • Arrests at Human Rights Congress • Hunger-strikes in Turkish prisons • Death sentences reached 315 • 962,855 persons recorded • State terrorism in October • Prosecution of the Media in October • Mass protests by university students • A television scandal • Minister: "Flirting = Prostitution" • Questions on Özal's family's fortune • Members of Parliament bribed! • An alarming report on fundamentalist penetration to educational system  • Turkey's population: 57 Million • 21 Million deprived of social security • ILO urges the Turkish regime

    DECEMBER 1990, No. 170:

    Fait accompli: Özal, more warmonger than Turkish generals, proclaims general mobilization • Info-Türk editors appealed to the European Commission of Human Rights • Turkish Gladio used against Kurdish Guerrilla • Special war in Turkish Kurdistan • Pacifist school girl's tumultuous trial • Prosecution of minors in November • State terrorism in November • Prosecution of the Media in November • 48,000 miners' strike turned into a non-stop anti-government demonstration • Discrimination of women in Turkey • Towards a new left-wing party • Paris Charter and Turkey • Towards a Black Sea Community

    JANUARY 1991, No. 171:

    Second Front in the Gulf War • Strikes forbidden throughout Turkey on the pretext of war • Massive anti-war demonstrations • Özal's expansionist designs • Awful persecution of children • Deportation decree modified! • 15,000 suspects wanted by police • 10 Billion TL for informers • Arrests, trials and pressures in December • Killings in Turkish Kurdistan • 1990: Black Year for the Press • Persecution of the Media in December • The business claims more democracy

    FEBRUARY 1991, No. 172:

    The Hour of Truth • Human Rights summary of the year 1990 in Turkey • Five deaths in detention • Treatment centre for torture victims • One-fourth of prisoners are ill • Censorship on the Turkish Press • 2000'e Dogru again banned • Pressure on the Media in January • State terrorism in January • Debates on Turkey at European Parliament

    MARCH 1991, No. 173:

    Betrayal to Kurds • Crack-down on Kurds in Turkey • Two more deaths in detention • Amnesty International on Turkey • Yüzyil reporters underwent torture • Pressure on the Media in February • State terrorism in February • Mrs. Özal's political ambitions • Belgian stand on Kurdish Question • Turkey's deficit over $2 Billion • Women subjected to torture • Özal's visit to the Soviet Union • Turkish protests in Bulgaria

    APRIL 1991, No. 174:

    A Sham Amnesty • Stockholm Conference on Kurds • Brussels Colloquy on the Christians of Turkey • Political refugees and Stateless opponents under menace • Real face of the releases • Articles 140, 141, 142 and 163 • Remaining repressive articles • A new repressive law • New menaces to the Press • Torturers under State protection • Last prosecutions under Articles 142 and 163 •

    MAY 1991, No. 175:

    After the sham amnesty, State Terror reinforced • Full text of the Law to Fight Terrorism • Police terror on May Day • Turk-Is leader indicted • Other cases of State terrorism • Suspicious deaths • Persecution of the Media • Turkey again on ILO's agenda • Turkish regime found guilty • Turkey not even semi-democratic •

    JUNE 1991, No. 176:

    Lifting of the ANAP • State terror in Turkish Kurdistan • Is the Constitution still valid? • Ecevit's surprising talk with Özal • Bush to visit Turkey in July • Fear of political attempts in Ankara • Increasing left-wing armed actions • Özal's attack on the Press • Recent persecution of the media • Dr. Ismail Besikci awarded • Hunger-strikes throughout Turkey • International reaction to Anti-terror Law • No hope for EC membership • Socialist International in Turkey • World Bank and OECD are pessimist • Gulf Crisis burden: $6.2 billion • An Islamic private TV channel • Using of three colours banned • Execution without trial • First anti-terror trial • Trial of torturers halted • The trial of TBKP officials goes on • Persecution of legal parties • DISK not yet freed • Detained for Christian propaganda @ Other cases of State terrorism •

    JULY/AUGUST 1991, No. 177/178:

    Turkish Army and Death-Squads spread terror • A balance sheet of the Kurdish Guerrilla in Turkey • Attack on the Kurds in Iraq • "Poised Hammer" Force in Turkey • Further Turkish expansionism? • TIHV's Torture report • Helsinki Watch's report • Discrimination of Kurdish prisoners • Emergency censorship in Kurdistan • TBKP closed down by court • DISK acquitted after 11 years • State terrorism in June-July • Virginity test for a German tourist • Dr. Besikci again under arrest • Persecution of the Media in June-July

    SEPTEMBER 1991, No. 179:

    Elections: 20th October • Turkey: a country of torture • A new torture rehabilitation centre • Police brutality throughout Turkey • Children still prosecuted • Articles 141-142 still in force? • 8,743 people on a new black list • Kurdish language still denied • Özal and the leaders of Iraqi Kurds • Warning to foreign tourists • No burial in Turkey for a dissident •Persecution of the Media in two months • DISK restarts its activities • No immediate solution on Cyprus • Turkish contestation in Greece • Turkish contestation in Bulgaria

    OCTOBER 1991, NO. 180:

    Outcome of the elections: Era of Coalitions • Alarming rise of Extreme-Right • An anti-EEC group in Parliament • Grey Wolves in Parliament • Kurdish national movement's success  • Urgent demands by Kurdish deputies • Towards a political instability • State terrorism prior to elections • Turkish Army's annihilation operation • A Kurdish film producer tortured • Increasing attacks on journalists • Pressure on the Media prior to elections • 18 suspicious deaths in detention • European report on torture in Turkey • Human Rights Symposium in Turkey