editorslinks

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

200

17th Year - N°200
June 1993
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
 

AN IRON LADY FOR TURKEY

    After Demirel’s climbing to the Presidential Palace, on June 13, 1993, the convention of the major partner of the coalition government, the Correct Way Party (DYP) elected Mrs.Tansu Ciller, State Minister charged with coordinating the Turkish economy, to replace Demirel at the head of the party and the government. Next day, President Demirel received Mrs. Ciller and named her to form new government.
    A female politician’s election as chairwoman in a conservative party such as DYP and as prime minister in a country like Turkey where Islam fundamentalism has constantly been rising, has been applauded as an “unbelievable revolution” as well in the country as abroad.
    In one sense, such an election is really a big step forward for two reasons:     First of all, despite the discrimination of women especially in the right wing of the Turkish politics, Ciller succeeded to have the support of the majority of the DYP Congress which was entirely composed of moustached delegates. Such a result may be, in long term, a positive example to be followed by other political parties and may encourage  women to more actively taking part in politics.
    Secondly, Ciller’s election in spite of former DYP leader Demirel’s disapproval of her candidature and illicit support to another candidate, Interior Minister Ismet Sezgin, confirms the process of rejuvenation in political leadership. This process had already begun with Mesut Yilmaz’s election to the ANAP chairmanship in spite of Turgut Özal’s open opposition to his candidature.
    However, without seeing the composition and the programme of the government that Ciller to form and her first practices concerning human rights and social problems, it is too early to be entirely optimist.
    Ciller’s victory is not at all the fruit of a long time political struggle, but of a series of circumstances caused by President Özal’s death. After Demirel replaced Özal as President of the Republic, the DYP which was founded and developed as a “one man’s party” under Demirel’s leadership found itself in the constraint of seeking a new leader. Furthermore, since the electorate of this party was being taken over by the ANAP which had renewed its image under the leadership of young Mesut Yilmaz, the DYP too was in the need of a spectacular renewal.
    Ciller’s candidature despite Demirel’s disapproval was a golden opportunity for the party’s grass roots. A young woman at the head of the party might upset all political calculations and mobilize especially the female and young electors in the favour of DYP.
    What is more important, the grass roots’ these expectations very well coincided with the preoccupations of the big business which wished to see, at the head of the government, a person who was already tested in her commitment to the economic reforms such as handing over public economic enterprises to private sector and recognizing more privileges to capital to the detriment of  wage-owners. As well Demirel as Turgut Özal had been chosen and supported by the big business during the last decades for this reason. Without having a political experience behind them, both had been catapulted into politics by the big business in the periods of transition for the same reason (See: Info-Türk, N° 199, “Özal and Demirel: The men of the same cause”)
    Among for candidates for the DYP chairmanship, only Ciller was corresponding to the big business’ expectations. As Özal and Demirel, Ciller too developed her post-university education in the United States. During her all academic career, she always defended the cause of big capital. She did not stay only as a think-tank woman, but was also involved in financial transactions and became in a very short time one of Turkey’s wealthiest people.
    Moreover, using the advantage of being the first female prime minister of the country and creating an enthusiasm around her charisma, she could easily calm for a considerable time the anger of the low-income categories of the population against drastic economic measures.
    So, Ciller entered the arena as the new figure of the same cause.
    It is very significant that two major business organizations of Turkey, the Association of Turkish Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSIAD) and the Union of Turkish Chambers of Trade, Industry and Stock-exchanges (TOBB) announced their open support to Ciller from the very beginning of the race of DYP chairmanship.
    Moreover, TOBB Chairman Yalim Erez actively led Ciller’s electoral campaign. He contributed to a great extent to financing publicity actions in the media.
    He cleverly convinced the conservative DYP delegates that a woman at the head of the government  can easily fascinate European countries, make them forget their complaints concerning human rights and open the way to a full EC membership.
    Aware of the fact that President Demirel, in the fear of being eclipsed by the presence of a charming young lady at the head of the government, disapproved her candidature, Ciller countered this disadvantage with hastily having some tête-à-tête talks with international figures such as French President Mitterrand and former British Prime Minister Thatcher.
    Ciller, at the TV debate with the participation of all candidates for chairmanship,  succeeded to emerge as the favourite with her very Americanized airs and the public opinion conditioned for a long time by the American TV series with the images of attractive super women was easily fascinated by this unusual performance in Turkish politics.
    In addition to this à l’Americaine show, considering the conservative, nationalist and religious commitments of the DYP delegates, Ciller claimed very often her attachment to the music of the Ezan (the call for prayer), the sight of the Turkish flag and the traditional values of family. What is more, during the convention, she was surrounded by extreme-right delegates who dared, by her side, to greet the delegates with the sign of “Grey Wolf”, a gesture which is peculiar to the neo-fascist Nationalist Action Party (MHP).
    For the new Premier Minister of Turkey who is being greeted throughout the world a symbol of the women’s emancipation in a Moslem country, this way of campaign was in open contradiction with the image that she wish to give the world.
    In this mediatic frenzy, none of other candidates or delegates asked her why she failed in the application of her economic policies that she had announced during the 1991 electoral campaign supported by the graphic shows on her computer’s screen.
    Despite her charisma fascinating for the time-being the public opinion, the past failure of her economic policies, her doubtful relations with big business and extreme-right circles and the claims concerning the origin of her fabulous wealth will always be a serious headache for the new government to be led by Ciller.
    In addition to this, the partner that she is to choose for the coalition ; the level of satisfaction that she is to give, in the distribution of the ministry seats, to rival factions within the DYP; her way of relations with some high bureaucrats with whom she had many conflicts in past; and most important, her attitude concerning human and social rights and more particularly the Kurdish Question will be the factors to determine the level of her success at the head of the government.

CILLER'S CONTROVERSIAL PERFORMANCE

    When Ciller was elected DYP chairwoman and nominated Prime Minister, she has left behind a controversial performance as State Minister charged with coordinating the Turkish economy since November 1991. The economy's primary macro-economic problems still remained unsolved.
    During her electoral campaign in 1991, she promised each family of Turkey two keys, one for a house and the other for a private car. Let us forget the two keys, the rate of unemployment raised from 5,142,000 (21.6%) in 1991 to 6,144,000 (24.4%) in 1993.
    Despite the economic growth, which jumped from almost zero to 5.9 percent at the end of 1992, the unemployment, inflation, income distribution, public sector deficit and heavy borrowing questions have remained unanswered.
    Consumer price inflation remained at a socially-unacceptable rate of 65 percent in May 1993, challenging her reliability and denying the rosy promises.
    In the first half of 1993, the economy lost policy coordination and efficient planning as budget management largely deviated from its original track, and government borrowing went uncontrolled.
    The consolidated budget deficit rose to TL 35.82 trillion in the first four months of the year, nearly 65 percent of the deficit target for the entire year.
    The domestic debt stock reached TL 202 trillion at the end of February, representing 80 percent of the 12-month target specified in the government's fiscal program for the year. The losses of the State Economic Enterprises were TL 16.5 trillion at the end of 1992.
    As for the foreign debts, they climbed to $57 billion in April 1993. 
       
CILLER: THE WEALTHIEST PRIME MINISTER

     Ciller, beside being the first female prime minister of Turkey, has also the title of “the richest Prime Minister” with a wealth estimated at TL 500 billion. As well the controversial origin of this wealth as the accusations of fraud, embezzlement and misuse of duty against her husband Özer Ciller have already tarnished the new prime minister’s credibility.
    Ciller’s known wealth, according to her own declaration,  is as follows:
    • Villa in Yeniköy, 30 villas and a 16-flat apart hotel in Kilyos
    • Share in Bodrum’s Yesilyurtlular building cooperative
    • Share in building cooperative formed by members of Parliament
    • 200 sqm villa in the USA
    • 110 sqm flat in the USA
    • TL 1.1 billion share in Marsan Holding
    • Duplex in Ankara’s Bilkent
    • TL 700 million share in Markim Holding
    • TL 80 million share in Yesilyurt Tourism Agency
    • 78 acres of land in Uskumruköy, Sariyer
    • 90 acres of land in Kisirkaya, Sariyer
    • 29 acres of land in Kilyos, Sariyer
    • Quarter of 13 acres of land in Mugla
    Being the daughter of a low income family, it is impossible for a university professor to have such a wealth with her derisory salary. Her supporters attribute this wealth to her activities as a counsellors of the big business and the Confederation of Employers’ Unions of Turkey (TISK). If so, this is an admission of the fact that the new prime minister depends on the business circles not only for her commitment to private enterprise, but also for her personal interests.
    Moreover, there are serious doubts on the origin of this fabulous wealth. Her husband, Özer Ciller faces legal action brought by Istanbul’s Sariyer district public prosecutor’s office on suspicion of fraud, embezzlement and misuse of duty in some building cooperatives of which they are shareholders. A report annexed to the court file claims: “It is obvious that he manipulated the cooperative members to purchase, for exorbitant prices, property belonging to Tansu Ciller, and thus added to his wife’s wealth.”
    The report further blames Özer Ciller for having transferred large amounts of money accrued in the building cooperative’s bank accounts to the accounts of holdings he owns such as MITAT, MARKIM and MARSAN, all of which Tansu Ciller owns shares in.
    There is also an accusation that those agricultural lands owned by Tansu Ciller were attributed construction permission after Ciller’s being minister and their value have sky-rocketed in a few months.

COMPARATIVE SITUATION OF WOMEN IN TURKEY

                FEMALE    MALE

Population            27,931,152    28,215,464
Under 12 years        8,347,097    8,763,768
Over 12 years        19,584,055    19,451,696
Rate of illiterate (+6 yrs)    31.77%    13.45%

Of the population over 12 years:
In labour force        6,535,971    14,509,022
Not in labour force        13,048,084    4,942,674

Of the population in labour force:
Employed            6,118,544    13,373,404
Unemployed            417,427    1,135,618

Of the employed:
In urban areas        1,216,958    6,559,788
In rural areas        4,901,586    6,813,616

Working status:
Regular employee        1,020,866    4,960,740
Casual employee        129,641    943,464
Employer            18,727    961,976
Self employed            521,792    4,444,131
Unpaid family worker    4,427,518    2,063,093

Occupational groups:
Agriculture            4,744,031    4,779,691
Manufacturing        577,699    2,318,543   
Mining            4,526    132,899
Construction            11,361    864,274
Services            780,927    5,277,997

Of the population  out of labour force:
Housewifes            9,191,306    -
Disabled            1,783,085    1,011,759
Students            1,506,191    2,401,514
Retired            182,346    1,187,699
Others            385,156    341,702

_________________________________________________________
Source: Statistical Yearbook of Turkey, 1991, State Institute of Statistics, Ankara

SHP SEEKS A NEW LEADER

    Acting Prime Minister Erdal Inönü, the Social Democrat Populist Party (SHP) chairman, said on June 6 that he would not run for the leadership in the next party convention scheduled for September 11 this year, adding that he made the statement so early just to allow the new candidates to prepare for the party chairmanship from today.
    Inönü justified his decision in following terms:
    "There is one thing in parties which is always said but never done. Party chairman should from time to time be changed. How will this change be made? In Turkey, there is no accustomed method to do that. He will either die or retire or become president so that his post can become vacant and the party can choose a new chairman at its convention. For this reason, our party should assume a leading role in this respect"
    Inönü's statement, which coincided at a time when everyone is following the developments concerning the DYP convention, has shocked the political circles.
    As his opponents accused him of escaping from his responsibilities for personal concerns, some commentators appreciated his decision as gesture which should be an example for the other political leaders.
    Some deputies of the Republican People's Party (CHP) who had left the SHP for joining this new party claimed Inönü's decision was a delayed one. In any case, the SHP's life was almost coming to an end, and that it has stayed alive just because of the advantage of being a coalition partner.
    Public opinion polls have openly showed the SHP's decline, and assessments were such that the SHP would suffer a substantial loss if it fell out power. Inönü also noticed that whosoever be the chairman of the DYP, this right-wing party will prefer a coalition with the other major right-wing party, ANAP, rather than with the SHP. Furthermore, after Özal's death and Demirel's replacing him at the presidential palace, even a DYP-ANAP merger was not very far from being a reality.
    It is also significant that Inönü took such a decision after he supported Demirel's presidency. He may have thought that Demirel's move was a betrayal of the coalition protocol. He may have seen clearly that without Demirel a coalition between the DYP and the SHP cannot work.
    Another factor that may have pushed Inönü to come to a decision is the continuing factionalism within his own party. Internal fighting in the SHP did not stop even after Deniz Baykal (SHP's faction leader and Inönü's rival) left the party and became the leader of the CHP. After him, factions in the SHP carried on their activities behind the scene. Most recently, giving support to Demirel's ambitions brought the opposition in the SHP to the surface.
    Whatsoever be the real reasons of Inönü's decision, the SHP is now at a turning point. Following the examples of the two major right-wing parties, DYP and ANAP, which are now led by brand new leaders, respectively Tansu Ciller and Mesut Yilmaz, the SHP too have to chose a new leader capable to change the party's tarnished image
    Already the names of Ankara Mayor Murat Karayalcin, SHP Parliamentary Group Chairman Aydin Güven Gürkan, Foreign Minister Hikmet Cetin, Public Works Minister Onur Kumbaracibasi and Ankara Deputy Professor Mümtaz Soysal are pronounced as the future party leader.
    The issue of the coming convention also may be a further step towards the long-waited reunification of the three social democratic parties: the SHP, the CHP and the DSP (Democratic Left Party) of former prime minister Ecevit.


ANKARA AGAIN OPTED FOR MILITARY SOLUTION ON THE  KURDISH QUESTION

    A historical chance to establish peace in the country after a ten-year war between the PKK and the Army has unfortunately been missed due to the government’s lack of will to respond in a realistic way to the PKK’s cease-fire call. Refusing a political dialogue with the PKK and other Kurdish organizations, carrying on military operations against Kurdish villages and reinforcing the persecution against the defenders of Kurdish people’s rights, the government and army chiefs forced the Kurdish guerrilla to resume the armed struggle and Turkey again found itself in a dirty war.
    On the kidnapping and killing of 33 soldiers by the PKK guerrillas in Bingöl on May 24, the Turkish Armed Forces have extended military operations in the Turkish Kurdistan and announced a near offensive into the Northern Iraq in coming days.
    In a retaliation, PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan declared on June 8 an all-out war against Turkey, telling a press conference in eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley that the guerrillas considered the unilateral cease-fire they declared on March 20 had failed.
    The government and army officials accuse the PKK of not keeping its promise to respect cease-fire and of provoking the resumption of war.
    Although the Bingöl Operation of the PKK guerrillas has been an serious blow to the hopes of peace and severely criticized by many observers, the unilateral cease-fire has, in reality, never been respected by the security forces.
    Since March 20, despite the fact that the PKK guerrillas has not carried out a single armed action, the Army units, police and gendarmerie teams, village protectors have never ceased their armed operations against the Kurdish targets. Raids on Kurdish villages, mass arrests, kidnappings, extrajudicial executions, torture and persecution have never been stopped.
    Turkish Government and the military alike have made it very clear on many occasions that the PKK guerrillas, which they described as “bandits” or “terrorists, could not be an interlocutor of the Turkish state and as long as there are armed men in the country they were regarded as potential threats.
    Chief of Staff Dogan Güres said to the daily Sabah on April 7: “If the PKK does not come down from hills, we will force it to. There can be no federation. This nation would kill us if we agreed to a federation.”
    On April 8, General Yasar Büyükanit, secretary general of the Chief of Staff’s Office, confirmed the Army’s opposition to any attempt of conciliation. “[The PKK’s] cease-fire declaration is the result of its defeat against the security forces, the result of its panic,” he said. “The security forces continue to take the necessary measures until the bandits abandon their actions. It is ruled out awarding the outlawed PKK because it does not kill anybody now.”
    Despite this, PKK leader Öcalan extended cease-fire on April 16 and gave the Turkish Government a second chance. “We support the extension of this cease-fire until further notice but it should not be unilateral. Search operations by the Turkish forces must end. If they continue, we will resume operations. We will not be the first to fire but the PKK warriors are not lambs to be slaughtered,” he said.   
    This second chance too was missed by Ankara with a series of provocative practices.
    On April 20, at a NATO meeting in Brussels, Turkish military officials asked their allies not to oppose to using of the military equipment supplied by other NATO members against the PKK. Earlier, on April 7, the Turkish General Staff had announced that Turkey, under NATO regulations, was free to use weapons supplied by the alliance members for its fight with the PKK in the Southeast.
    In a significant provocative act, on May 5, the State Security  Court of Diyarbakir issued an international arrest warrant for Öcalan and asked the Interpol to arrest Öcalan and to deliver him Turkey for to be tried by virtue of Article 125 of the Turkish Penal Code which stipulates capital punishment for revolting against the State.
    Twelve days earlier than the PKK’s Bingöl Operation, on May 12, State of Emergency Regional Governor Ünal Erkan announced in a proudly manner that within past two months, despite the unilateral cease-fire, 131 “terrorists” were killed, four were wounded and 28 were captured. During the same period, 2,070 people had been arrested on charges of providing assistance for the outlawed organization. Erkan added that the number of the village protectors had increased to 38,000, with a recent 1,000 positions provided by the Interior Ministry.
    It is Ankara’s this negative attitude that pushed the PKK guerrillas on the mountains to resume their armed actions and PKK leader Öcalan, although admitting that the Bingöl attacks was "early and overdosed" and had not been carried under his planning, justified it by reminding that the Turkish Armed Forces continued on military operations despite the unilateral cease-fire. Consequently, he announced on June 8 an all-out war against Turkey.
    At his press conference in Lebanon, Öcalan said: "There is a lot of tension now and the situation in Turkey is heading for a comprehensive war.  We will escalate resistance operations. We have huge preparations and our efforts are great. We have mobilized more than 10,000 of our followers and we are going to escalate the armed struggle."
    Öcalan warned that his guerrillas would hit economic and tourist targets inside Turkey in what he said would be a bloody summer.
    "Let them [The Turkish Government] take this as a warning. With the cease-fire we tested the [Turkish] Government. They destroyed villages, they are hitting everything. Therefore, we have the right to retaliate. No one should have hollow dreams about attracting the PKK militants down from mountains. This is not possible until ye year 2000. We are for a union within the federal rule in Turkey. On that basis, we are ready for a political solution. Until this happens, the armed struggle will be escalated and lots of blood could be spilled."
    "Thousands, tens of thousands will suffer and this campaign will be the most ferocious of all our campaigns," he said. "Our organization has 10,000 members and 15,000 armed supporters. We have only one base left in Iraq but our fighters are in 100 positions in southeast Turkey.  The chaos will grow and problems will deteriorate. Whether the Kurdish problems is solved depends on the attitude of the army. If the army gives the green light, the politicians will start singing."
    In response to Öcalan, Interior Minister Ismet Sezgin said the government never took Öcalan's declaration of a cease-fire in March seriously. "They were never sincere. They declared the cease-fire to regather their forces and replenish their lost strength. They also aimed to win international recognition under the disguise of a political settlement," he said.
    In a visit to Diyarbakir on June 11, the chief of general staff, Gen. Dogan Güres said: “The bandits will be smoked out. there may be some innocent people among those in the mountains. There may be some people helping them in the cities and towns. They should give that up now. otherwise it will be too late for them in the end.”
    The daily Cumhuriyet of June 16 reports that, since the PKK’s Bingöl Operation, within 24 days, the government forces carrying on a widespread operation had shot 178 PKK militants, while 40 military and 26 civilians lost their lives.

A PROVOCATIVE DECREE OF AMNESTY

    In a move to provoke a dissension in the Kurdish guerrilla, the Turkish Government decreed on June 8 a partial amnesty for those PKK members that have committed no bloody acts of violence against security forces or civilians. Those militants, according to the decree which is valid only for those Southeastern provinces under state of emergency, will not be subjected to criminal investigation.
    The governmental decree, formulated by the National Security Council and approved by the Cabinet headed by President Demirel on May 24 had been suspended following the PKK ambush in Bingöl.
    Acting Prime Minister Inönü said that although "terrorist activity in the Southeast raged on, his government had decided to implement the decree, with the full backing of the military. "The governmental decree allows those [PKK] members to return to civilian life if they have not committed bloody acts of violence. I want all those adolescents to know this."
    Interior Minister Ismet Sezgin said the PKK militants who have been involved in terrorist attacks will have to face justice and may only benefit from the repentance law which requires terrorists to provide information about their armed group.
    PKK leader Öcalan, at his press conference held on the same day, dismissed the partial amnesty as a "false step" and PKK militants will not fall in this provocation aimed at to divide and weaken the guerrilla.

FOOTSTEPS OF A NEW GENOCIDE IN GERMANY

    The attacks against Turks living in Germany have clearly gained the nature of genocide. The killing of five Turks in an arson in Solingen on May 29 and other attacks in other German cities on following days show that there will be many more such brutal attacks. In the past 18 months, nine Turks were among the 26 people killed by neo-Nazis across Germany.
    Following the Moelln attack last November, hundreds of thousands of Germans marched in candlelight parades. The German Government promised prosecution of the neo-Nazis and preventing such aggressions. The attacks seemed to decline and the country was proud of itself. After 500 rightist attacks in September 1992, after the Moelln attack, there were only about 150 in January 1993.    
     The German government hoped that a law restricting immigration that goes into effect July 1 would lower the anti-foreigner sentiment in Germany. However, on the contrary, the last arson attack is proof that the law passed in May has encouraged neo-Nazis. The neo-Nazis remained as determined as ever to attack and kill as many foreigners as possible. They started again their crimes and committed 670 attacks through April 1993 alone, compared to 470 in the same period the year before.
    Yet, Chancellor Helmut Kohl, during his last visit to Turkey in May, repeated his promise that there would be no such attacks in the future.
    And less than a week after Kohl’s promise, a Turkish woman, Gülfün Ince (27), her three sisters, Saime Genc (5), Hülya Genc (9), Hatice Genc (18) and a visitor from Turkey, Gülistan Yüksel (12) were burned to death in Solingen.
    In the same city, earlier in May, two mosques and a Turkish supermarket had been firebombed. Skinheads had been gathering in the grassy park behind the apartment house to drink beer and shout their support for the Third Reich, but police had not begun a probe of neo-Nazis to take preventive measures.
    Right-wing militants have launched almost nightly firebombings and arson attacks against foreigners’ homes in Germany since May 29.
    It would be misleading to say that these racist attacks are merely the work of neo-Nazi gangs, which have flourished due to the ultra-nationalism which has come back to haunt Germany in the wake of the reunification.
    The Kohl Government sees the Turks in Germany as a headache, and is pursing a policy aimed at getting rid of them. As early as November 1982, Kohl had said that there were too many Turks in Germany and that a further increase in their number should be prevented, cutting down the overall figure to somewhere below one million from two million.
    Such harsh statements on the part of German politicians and their constant harping on the theme that Turks are unable to adjust themselves to the German society have created an extremely negative mood against Turks in the German people. This way, the Turks have become the target of the skinheads, who declare that they have done away with the Jews and that now it is the Turks’ turn.
    Turks living in Germany are at the end of their patience, ready to burst with indignation. In a rightful reaction to this murder and the German Government’s laxity, thousands of people, mostly Turks marched in Solingen, Frankfurt, Berlin, Bonn and other cities.
    Just after the arson attack, about 5,000 Turks took part in marches in Solingen. When Labour Minister Norbert Bluem came to visit the house of victims, Turks jostled his car and set fire to car tires.
    Hundreds of Turks lit a large bonfire on a road junction in Wuppertal and rampaged through the town, smashing and looting some 50 shop windows. Another group blocked roads to the international airport near Bonn. 
    Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s attitude too has given rise to violent reaction. Instead of attending the ceremony for the Turkish victims in Köln, he attended the opening of Berlin’s rebuilt Protestant cathedral.  About 800 Turkish and German protesters at the Berlin ceremony booed and shouted “Hypocrite,” “Kohl the murderer,” and “ Kohl the liar!” when Kohl arrived there.
    It is extremely worrying that some young Turkish groups attacked Germans and German interests seeking revenge. If such actions become widespread, the Turks will lose all their trump cards. What is also worrying is that Turkish groups with different ideologies clashed during the latest demonstrations in Germany. Turks belonging to the extreme-right Grey Wolves fought with left-wing Turks and hard-core German leftists, with both sides using sticks and stones as weapons.
    Chief of the federal internal security service Eckart Wertheback said the neo-Nazi arson attacks could lead to massive counter-violence by Turkish extremists. “There could be spiralling violence,” he said. Fritz-Achim Baumann, head of the internal security service of North Rhine-Westphalia declared to Welt am Sonntag: “There is a danger that the riots by the Turks will strengthen German right-wing extremists.”
    Although this claim is true, this violence is being provoked by the German authorities’ laxity, probably with the purpose of discrediting the Turkish Community, minimizing neo-Nazi crimes and, more import, justifying the anti-immigrant measures imposed by the government.
    Many of the young Turks who resorted to violence have no relation with extremist groups. Their violent demonstrations are spontaneous and the expression of their deception.
     “Of the 1.8 million Turks and Kurds living in Germany, only 34,000 are members of political or ideological organizations,” according to a recent report by Wertheback's Köln-based agency. “Some 5,000 are believed to be followers of the PKK. Another 6,700 count as Turkish nationalists, including Grey Wolves, while fewer than 5,000 are leftist extremists. As many as 17,000 belong to Turkish Islamic groups.”
    Even among them, it is only the Grey Wolves who largely benefit from the German authorities’ tolerance and share the neo-Nazis’ ideology have systematically been resorting to political violence.
    The Turkish community in general, refusing political violence, calls on dual nationality and the right to participate in local elections to be given to Turks in Germany as the most efficient measure to counter racist attacks.
    Although German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel spoke in favour of dual nationality, many of German political figures come against this proposal of dual nationality, claiming that this practice would not help Turks better integrate in Germany.
    The German Embassy in Ankara, in a report to Bonn published by the Frankfurter Allgemeine of June 9, advising against  dual nationality, said:Turkish identity has increased after the demise of the Soviet Union and the recent events in Germany had strengthened the search for this identity. Dual nationality for Turks in Germany will not ensure their cultural and political integration in Germany, but on the contrary, will be instrumental in the creation of a Turkish lobby.”
    Germany’s citizenship law, which dates from 1913, is based on blood and was used by the Nazis to justify prosecution of foreigners. Citizenship is now granted only to immigrants who prove German descent or pay fees and wait 15 years. Only about 1,500 Turks, in a population of 2 million, become citizens each year.
    As for the reactions from the Turkish authorities, they  were the usual, stereotyped "The State is with you" and "The State won't leave you alone." These weak statements came too late. The political leaders were on the prolonged holiday on the occasion of the Feast of Sacrifices. It was later learned that the Turkish Parliament's deputy chairman, Yildirim Avci, was in Germany when the murder happened, but learned of the event three days late despite the fact that all Turkish and German dailies were full of reports on the murder.
    The chief of Turkish Services of Radio Deutsche Welle, Beril Hofmann said: "We Turks, Deutsche Mark producing machines, have been left alone in Germany. We send the coffins to Turkey feeling pain, hopelessness, anger and helplessness. We were burning inside as we witnessed on television the sorrow of the villagers and the grandfathers and mothers - who perhaps could not read or write. But the Turkish youth in Germany cannot be stopped. They are not a generation to be content with praise or appreciation. Since they are paying large amounts of tax, social insurance, and solidarity levies, they are saying that they have some rights.  Watch out! The Turkish society in Germany may explode any day. To the German officials, it must be said that these people cannot be calmed with soft police precautions. The time for Turkish politicians to act has come and gone already."

PERINCEK FACES HEAVY PRISON

    The Chairman of the Workers’ Party (IP), Dogu Perincek was sentenced by the Ankara State Security Court to a 2-year imprisonment and a fine of TL 50 Million ($5,000) for the declarations concerning the Kurdish question he made during the 1991 electoral campaign as the chairman of the defunct Socialist Party (SP).
    Considering this punishment insufficient, the Prosecutor of the Ankara SSC resorted to the Court of Cassation with the demand of increasing 13 times the sentence.
    The Court of Cassation will deal with the demand on June 23.
    The attitude of the SSC prosecutor has incited a big reaction as well in Turkey.
    Perincek had made the condemned declarations at a round table organized by the Turkish State TV (TRT) with the participation of all other political leaders, including Premier Minister Demirel and Deputy Premier Erdal Inönü.
    The SP was later closed down by the Constitutional Court and Perincek was indicted by the Ankara SSC by virtue of the Anti-Terror Law, while Demirel and Inönü were forming the present coalition government. Since then, the government has taken no step for lifting anti-democratic articles of the Anti-Terror Law.

STATE TERRORISM IN MAY

    2.5, the police announced the detention of six alleged members of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Liberation Army of Turkey (TIKKO) in Istanbul on April 22.
    2,5, in Bismil, unidentified gunmen shot dead taxi driver Nuri Celebi.
    3.5, in Istanbul, six students of the Marmara University were detained by police for having attempted to organize a meeting in protest against extrajudicial executions.   
    3.5, in Batman, Mehmet Emin Gezer and Seyfettin Gül were assassinated by unidentified people setting their car on fire.
    4.5, in Izmir, lawyer Hülya Üçpinar, addressing to the Prosecutor's Office, claimed that her client Filiz Topcu had been subjected to electric torture during her police detention. In Ankara, lawyer Meryem Erdal accused the police of having tortured her client, Levent Yilmaz after the 1st May arrests.
    4.5, in Mersin, the family of Namik Erkek who had been detained on December 19, 1992, announced that they do not his whereabouts since then.
    4.5, in Samsun, a student association, CMYYO was closed down following a police raid on pretext that there were forbidden publications inside.
    4.5, in Istanbul, eight alleged members of the People's Liberation Party of Turkey (THKP) were taken into custody..
    5.5, in Midyat, a 18-year old Kurdish peasant, Faruk Döner was allegedly tortured for 25 days  after having been detained along with seven other peasants.
    5.5, security forces detained six people in Istanbul for Dev-Sol activities, seven in Mersin for TIKKO activities, two in Canakkale for TDKP activities and nine in Iskenderun for some other illegal activities.
    5.5, the daily Özgür Gündem reports the arrest at the Istanbul Airport of a political refugee after his return to Turkey. Mahmut Balkaya had fled Turkey after the 1980 Coup and stayed in France as political refugee for over eleven years.
    5.5, in Izmir, four people were sentenced by the Izmir SSC for three years and nine months in prison each for having given aid to the PKK.
    6.5, security forces detained seven Dev-Sol  members in Konya and 17 people in Elazig.
    6.5, unidentified gunmen kidnapped and shot dead Haci Özdemir (63) and Ridvan Berkan (27) in Nusaybin.
    7.5, in Adana, university student Ahmet Halifegil was reportedly tortured at a police station after his detention on May 2.
    7.5, security forces detained 13 people in Hatay and 20 in Tatvan for separatist activities.
    8.5, in Mardin, security forces raiding a house shot dead Yusuf Calis, wounded another persons and detained 12 people.
    9.5, in Istanbul, police raiding a house, shot dead Aydede Sarikaya, an alleged member of the Revolutionary Vanguards of the People (HDÖ). The victim's family accused the police of extrajudicial execution.
    9.5, in Cizre, 20 people were detained for PKK activities.
    10.5, the Istanbul SSC began to try 20 people accused of having participated in the Islamic Movement activities and some acts of violence. Two of the defendants face capital punishments and the others different prison terms of up to 15 years.
    10.5, in Batman, Mehmet Salih Satikalp and Ahmet Uysal were assassinated by unidentified people.
    11.5, in Istanbul, police detained five people for THKP/C activities.
    11.5, in Tunceli, police detained 40 people who participated in a ceremony at the graveyard for 12 fallen Dev-Sol militants.
    11.5, in Kulp, Abdusselam Eren who had been kidnapped on May 4 was found assassinated.
    11.5, the trial of 32 alleged PKK members began at the Istanbul SSC. The prosecutor demanded capital punishment for a defendant and prison terms of up to 22 years and 6 months for the other.
    11.5, the Ankara SSC sentenced five people to 15 years and five others to four years and six months for PKK activities.
    12.5, in Bismil, the gendarmery announced that Kudbettin Tekin who had been detained on April 20, was found dead in his cell. However, his family accused the gendarmes of having assassinated Tekin under torture.
    13.5, the Malatya SSC sentenced three persons to life-prison and ten others to different prison terms of up to 18 years for PKK activities.
    14.5, in Samsun, Ercüment Sahin Cervatoglu who had been detained on May 9 for having participated in a cultural meeting in Fatsa said that he was subjected to torture for three days.
    14.5, the Malatya SSC sentenced two Dev-Sol activists to life-prison and a third one to 12 years and six months for having assassinated a Turkish general and an American custom officer.
    15.5, security forces detained 14 alleged members of the HDÖ in Istanbul, 20 university students in Ankara and 24 alleged PKK members in Hakkari.
    15.5, the Havza section of the Education Workers Trade Union (Egit-Sen) in Samsun and the People's Cultural Association (HKD) in Istanbul were closed down by the orders of governors.
    15.5, in Nazilli, four local officials of the defunct Socialist Party (SP) were sentenced to 20-month imprisonment each and a total of TL 164 Million ($ 17,263) for separatist propaganda.
    16.5, security forces detained 23 university students in Samsun and thirteen people in Sivas.
    17.5, the trial of eight alleged TIKKO members began. Two defendants face capital punishment.
    18.5, the Ankara SSC sentenced three TDKP members to 10 years in prison and TL 600 Million ($60,000) for illegal activities.
    18.5, the Izmir SSC sentenced three Dev-Sol militants to prison terms of up to 12 years and six months.
    19.5, the prosecutor of the Izmir SSC started a legal proceeding against the Usak section of the Human Rights Association (IHD) on charges of inciting the people to commit crime.
    19.5, in Yüksekova, two shepherds were shot dead by gendarmes without any reason.  In protest against this murder, the tradesmen of Yüksekova closed their shops.
    20.5, in Gaziantep, Mehmet Kaya (28) and Necla Karacali (19) were found assassinated by unidentified gunmen.
    20.5, the Ankara SSC sentenced three people to 30 months in prison and TL 166,666,666 ($ 17,544) each for having participated in the activities of the Union of Young Communists (GKB).
    20.5, the Izmir SSC sentenced three Dev-Sol defendants to prison terms of up to 18 years and 6 months. At the same court, five people were sentenced to prison terms of up to 12 years and 6 months for PKK activities.
    20.5, in Eskisehir, police detained nine people for HDÖ activities.
    21.5, the Mersin section of the Municipal Workers' Union (Bel-Der) was closed down for unauthorized activities.
    21.5, in Istanbul, the Association of the Fellow-countrymen of Tunceli (TD) was banned by the governor.
    21.5, security forces detained 24 students in Kocaeli and 20 in Istanbul for having protested against the extrajudicial executions.
    21.5, in Idil, six people were detained by police.
    21.5, in Mersin, six university students were detained by police.
    22.5, in Istanbul, police opening fire on a car during a traffic control shot dead Kemal Aslan.
    22.5, security forces detained 17 people in Diyarbakir for PKK activities and many trade union officials in Malatya.
    24.5, the students who had been detained in Istanbul on May 21 for protesting against extrajudicial executions declared that they were subjected torture under police detention.
    25.5, in Bursa, security forces detained  eleven people for TKP-ML/GMKB activities.
    25.5, in Silvan, high-school student Semra Baran and another unidentified person were assassinated by unknown gunmen.
    26.5, in Mersin, 40 people were detained during a ceremony commemorating a fallen militant of the Union of Young Communists (GKB).
    27.5, in Aydin, five IHD members attempting to visit political prisoners in the prison were taken into custody.
    28.5, in Istanbul, Vakkas Dost was found dead at police station following his interrogation under torture.
    28.5, in Ankara, Muzaffer Erbas and Bülent Kömür alleged that they had been tortured at a police station in Ankara.
    29.5, Tayyar Büyük, at a press conference held at the IHD, said that he had been subjected torture for 15 days in May and witnessed the torturing of other detainees at the Malatya Police Headquarters.
    30.5, Interior Minister Ismet Sezgin, in answer to a written question at Parliament, reported that 170,453 citizens of Turkey were forbidden to get a national passport and to go abroad. Of these people, 142,813 were hit by court decisions, 24,948 for failing to pay taxes and 2,692 for political reasons.
   
ALARMING RISE OF FUNDAMENTALISM

    A series of alarming events happened in last months such as turning President Özal’s funeral into a religious demonstration, political assassinations committed by the Hezbollah, attacks on a daily publishing Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses, insults at a TV broadcasting to the minority sect Alevi, challenging declarations by the leaders of the Welfare Party (RP) and frightening growth of its side-organization, the National Vision  among Turkish migrants abroad have incited a considerable inquietude among democratic forces of Turkey.
    It is a matter of fact, independent of fundamentalist currents, Islam has regained ground in Turkey after the passage to a multi-party system in 40s and reinforced its influence thanks to the fact that almost all political parties counted on the card of Islam for gaining over believers.
    The radicalisation of the Islam in Turkey gained impetus after Saudi Arabia, with the open support by the United States aiming to counter progressive and nationalist movement in the Islamic world, began to take under its influence other Islamic countries by the means of  the Rabitat-ul-Alem-ul-Islam (World Islam League) in 60s and 70s. It is in these years that the Islam radicalism created its political organization, the National Salvation Party (MSP) and entered Parliament and even governments.
    The Iranian Revolution gave the second impetus to the Islamic fundamentalism in 80s. Benefiting at the same time from the military junta’s concessions aiming to use Muslim masses against progressive forces, it could easily infiltrate into all public services and institutions.
    The figures relating to the rise of the number of mosques and religious institutions in last three decades show very clearly to what extent the Islamic movement has grown in Turkey. 
    According to data from the Religious Affairs Directorate, the number of mosques in Turkey, which was 35,657 in 1963, 45,152 in 1973, reached today 66,674. 
    The number of mosques constructed between 1971 and 1981 was around 5,000. The must spectacular rise was registered with construction of 19,000 mosques after the September 12, 1980 Coup: 54,667 in 1984, 59,460 in 1986, 62,947 in 1988, 64,000 in 1990 and 66,674 in 1993.
    The number of Turkish mosques abroad is about 1,100 according to the same source.
    In addition to mosques, Turkey has 750 Islamic theological schools and lycees, as well as around 5,000 Koran courses in Turkey. The Religious Affairs Directorate which is directly affiliated to the State Ministry has over 85,000 employees in Turkey and 691 abroad.
    There is no official figures in relation to the number of the clandestine Koran courses and religious schools. But the figures concerning the pro-Islamic media can give an idea about the increasing influence of these movements.
    According to a survey  published by the Turkish Daily News on February 2, 1993, these movements have 290 printing houses, 40 country-wide and and 300 local periodical publications, 100 radio stations and 35 local TV stations throughout Turkey.
    Many of the pro-Islamic publications are also printed and distributed in European countries. One of the four pro-Islamic dailies, Milli Gazete, belongs to the National Vision movement, now represented on the political plane by the Welfare Party (RP), emanation from the defunct MSP.  Another pro-Islamic daily, Zaman, has already started publishing in Azerbaijan and Bulgaria as well.
    The pro-Islamic radio and TV stations very often broadcast excerpts from the Koran and programs produced by the Saudi Arabian television and radio.
    The Islamic fundamentalism, after having been an undeniable ideological and political force in Turkey thanks to concessions given by the successive governments, is now striving to propagate its influence as well within the Turkish immigration abroad as in the Turkish speaking countries or communities of the former Soviet Union and the Balkans.
    The National Vision claims to unite "1.5 billion Muslims of the world who differ from their Western influenced administration" under Turkey's leadership in a close relation with Saudi Arabia..
    The Welfare Party (RP) leader Necmeddin Erbakan, in an interview to the Turkish Daily News of March 12, 1993, said: "In the past two centuries, the West has occupied Muslim countries with its culture. It had withdrawn from these countries with a policy of leaving behind its influence on them. A supranational Islamic Union composed of the 1.5 billion Muslims all over the world from the United States to Australia should be established. Turkey should assume the leadership of the Islamic world instead of entering into the Western orbit."
    In his many declarations, Erbakan qualified the European Communities as the fifth column of the Zionism.
    The party's deputy chairman, Sevket Kazan, at a press conference held on March 29, 1993 in Turkish Parliament, accused the European Community of asking Turkey to change its national flag in order to be able to be a member, said: "The EC is weary not of the star and color on the Turkish flag, but of the crescent, which symbolizes Islam. Next, they will ask us to change our religion in order to get into the EC."
    He also claimed that the number of RP members, which was around 800,000 in 1991 elections, has risen to 1,300,000 and is expected to reach the 2 million mark by the end of the year. He also claimed that 2 million members would amount to 10 million votes, which would mean around 30 percent of the votes.
    At the last local elections in Istanbul, the biggest city of Turkey, the RP obtained about 25 percent of the votes.
    (For the rebirth and rise of Islamic Fundamentalism, see: Intégrisme islamique en Turquie et immigration, Info-Türk,1987 ; The Extreme Right in Turkey, Info-Türk, 1988, and Turcs de Belgique, Info-Türk, 1992).

A SHEIKH UL-ISLAM IN GERMANY

    The National Vision movement has recently taken a series of further steps in taking over migrant families and succeeded to legitimate its fundamentalist activities thanks to the heedlessness and even the open support of some progressive Turkish immigrant organizations.
    Despite its activities incompatible with the social and cultural promotion and integration of immigrants, the National Vision Organizations in Europe (AMGT)was admitted to take part among the founding members of the Council of Turkish Communities in Europe (ATTK) which was founded last year on the initiative of a number of left-wing organisations in a view to being the representative of Turkish migrants with the European Communities.  
    In a most recent spectacular move, the Secretary General of the National Vision Organizations in Europe (AMGT),  Ali Yüksel succeeded to get named the Sheikh ul-Islam (Representative of Muslims) in Germany by the so-called German Islamic Council (Der Islamrat in Deutschland) consisting of 14 Islamist organizations.
    Of the 140,000 members of the council, 80 percent are of Turkish origin. Some 10 percent are German Muslims and the remaining 10 percent are of Arab, Bosnian or other origin.
    The most powerful one of the member organizations of the German Islamic Council is the AMGT. Among the other Turkish associations in the council are also Cemaat-i Nur (Community of Nurcu sect believers) and the German Turkish Islamic Cultural Union (ATIB).
    The duty of the Sheik ul-Islam is to regulate relations between the Muslims and the State. According to some rumours, the Sheikh ul-Islam will have the authority to collect taxes like the Catholic and Protestant churches do, if the election is ratified by the German authorities.
    This election has given rise to a power struggle for the influence of Muslims in Europe, as the Muslim population in Europe rises due to the presence of 2 million Turkish migrants.
    In late 1970s, the Süleymanci, another fundamentalist group active in the Turkish Community of Germany had attempted to be registered as the official representative of Muslims in Germany with the authority to collect taxes, but they failed after the Religious Affairs Directorate of Turkey intervened.
    This time, the President of the Religious Affairs Directorate, Mehmet Nuri Yilmaz again intervened in and accused the German Islamic Council and Sheikh ul-Islam Ali Yüksel of attempting to abuse the "religious beliefs, homesickness and economic potential" of the guest workers in Germany. “I evaluate the sheikh ul-Islam affair in Germany as an unserious and artificial attempt. I want to believe that German authorities will act with common sense in this matter. The post of sheikh ul-Islam may be compared to a separate state announced within the German soil," he said.
    He also claimed that the religious affairs of the Turkish community of Germany are in the competence of the Religious Affairs Turkish Islamic Union (DITIB), an organization set up on the directives of the Turkish Government.
    In response to this declaration, Yüksel accused  the DITIB of working under the "instructions and orders" of the Turkish Embassy and its consulates there. "This is a violation of the definition of secularism which says religion and the state should not interfere with each other's affairs. We will not let the DITIB join the German Islamic Council unless it cuts its ties with the Turkish state and becomes a 'civilian' organization."
    Yüksel justifies his election to the post of "representative of Muslims in Germany" by reminding his success in obtaining a concession from German authorities: Last year, when some Turkish Muslims reacted to obligatory swimming lessons where their daughters would be together with half-naked boys, the German authorities accepted the German Islamic Council's proposal in the same sense. Now, swimming lessons in many states of Germany are not obligatory for Muslim girls.

A FUNDAMENTALIST SCHOOL IN BELGIUM
   
    In a move to propagate fundamentalism and to educate young girls as preachers, the National Vision Organizations in Europe (AMGT) opened a boarding school in the town of Hensies in the Mons region of Belgium.
    According to a report published by the daily Milli Gazete of 12 September 1992, this school is situated in a site of 19,000 Square Meters bought by the AMGT and has a capacity of 350 students. There are also 13 lodgings for teachers.
    The education is carried out during 25 hours per week only in Arabic language and is based on the Koran. Although the AMGT had obtained a permission for opening this school from Belgian authorities,  it has not yet been recognized an agreed school because its education programme does not correspond to the Belgian school regulations which stipulate that 36 hours of the weekly education be made according to the Belgian education programme and by the teachers recognized by the Education Ministry.
    Instead of conforming to these regulations, the young Muslim girls were ordered to quit Belgian schools and to follow this religious education in Arabic language alone. So, these young girls have been deprived of any education for their social and cultural promotion.
    Beside this full time education, many young girls between 10 and 18 years old too come to Belgium from Germany, Holland, Switzerland or Denmark during the annual summer holidays or at Christmas and Easter.
    The Chief of Training Section of the AMGT, Abdullah Yüksel said that they were planning to open religious classes for the young boys as well.
   
DISCRIMINATION OF THE ALEVIS

    The discrimination of Turkey's over 20 million Alevi community by the Sunni majority has recently began the object of debates after a Sunni preacher, Hasan Ali Buldan insulted the Alevis and distorted facts at a private TV programme on May 12, 1993.
    The Alevi is the second Islamic sect in Turkey after the Sunni and the Alevis are distinguished with the philosophy and way of living conforming to the standards of a civilian society. They have always taken part by the side of reformist and progressive movements and resisted against the repressive policies of the State authorities. Because of this attitude, they have very often been subjected to discrimination by the State and attacks and massacres by the Sunni fanatics. In late 1970s, a series of he bloody aggressions by the Sunni fanatics and ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves in a number of  Turkish cities, mainly in Kahramanmaras and Corum, resulted in the massacre of more one hundred Alevis.
    After the controversial TV programme, the Alevi associations announced that they would take Sunni preacher Buldan to court. The Semah Cultural Association, one of the leading Alevi movements, strongly denounced the arguments put forward by Buldan. "His statements were aggressive and counter to the values of secularism and democracy.  They also sowed seeds of hatred between the two sects," they said.
    Lawyer Cemal Özbey, a leading member of Turkey's Alevi community, said the TV station's aim had been purely to provoke a dispute.
    Meanwhile, the Turkish state is alleged to be regarding the Alevis as an "inner threat." The daily Aydinlik printed on May 14 what it called a confidential documents from the Turkish General Staff concerning the "inner threat"elements in the country. The document signed by former Chief of Staff General Kenan Evren mentioned the Alevis as one of the "inner threat" elements.
    The Alevis, constituting at least one-third of the overall population in Turkey, claim they have been deprived of their principle religious rights and have been subject to cautious but effective repression by the Sunnis.
    They see religious lessons, which were made mandatory by the 1982 Constitution, as a violation of principle human rights and want them to be scrapped.
    The Religious Affairs Directorate receives a certain share of money from all taxes collected from Turkish citizens. This money is for the exclusive use of the Sunnis -- an open example of religious discrimination, they say.
    The Alevis are distressed by the structure of the Turkish religious establishment and say the Religious Affairs Directorate represents only the Sunni majority in the country.
    In this context, the Alevis argue that there should be no place for an organization like this "religious affairs" directorate in a country which claims to be secular and where secularism is a constitutional guarantee.

ATTACKS ON AYDINLIK FOR RUSHDIE

    The daily Aydinlik has, after having started to publish Turkish excerpts from the Satanic Verses of Salman Rushdie on May 26, subjected to bans and a series of attacks and threats.
    First,  all copies of Aydinlik have been seized after going into distribution on the basis of an earlier governmental decision banning the entry of Rushdie's book into Turkey. Moreover, a public prosecutor of Istanbul launched an investigation about the responsibles of the newspaper.
    Accused of not lifting the ban on the Satanic Verses, acting Prime Minister Inönü said: The decision to seize copies of Aydinlik is a legal decision taken by a constitutional court."
    Aziz Nesin, the chief editorialist of Aydinlik, had already warned in February that unless the ban was lifted on the book, he would be forced to violate the government's decision.
    The responsibles of the daily said: "We intend to open a public debate in Turkey, which is dominated by a practicing Muslim majority, and expected every one, from the leftists to the Religious Affairs Directorate and even Iran to enter the debate.
    On May 28, in Istanbul, after Friday prayers, hundreds of fundamentalists raided Kaynak printing house, which is known to have close links with Aydinlik, shouting "May the hands that are raised against Islam be broken."
    On May 29-30, Aydinlik's Izmir office was attacked by groups of fundamentalists, while the newspaper's Diyarbakir office was arsoned and a distributor truck was attacked.
    On June 3, unidentified people hurled firebombs at a newspaper kiosk in Gebze (Istanbul) and Osmaniye (Adana).
    In Ankara, fundamentalists distributed leaflets containing death threats on newspaper distributors and kiosk owners if they continue to sell Aydinlik.
    The responsibles of the newspaper qualified these attacks and the seizure of the Aydinlik copies as a violation of the freedom of press.
   
PRESSURE ON ARMENIANS AND ASSYRIANS

    The daily Özgür Gündem of May 26, 1993 published a series of photos of Armenian schools in Istanbul as a new proof of the pressure on this community.
    As seen on these photos, the Armenian schools Dadyan,  Feriköy and Bezciyan were obliged to put in front of their buildings a plate with Atatürk's famous saying: "What a happiness to say I am a Turk!"
    Although the present government claims to respect the national identity and feelings of the minorities in Turkey, these plates  are still there.
    On the other hand, the daily Cumhuriyet of May 27, 1993 reported that the historic Assyrian  Saint Johanna Church in Sanliurfa was being transformed into a mosque.
    The decision of this transformation had been taken in 1984 on the initiative of the Dergah Foundation, but the execution of the project stopped at that time on the intervention of the Urfa Museum. 
    However, the General Directorate of Foundations has recently ordered to restart the works of transformation. Despite the protests, the works began and the officials already put in front of the church a plate carrying the name of "The Selahaddin-i Eyyubi Mosque."
    The Assyrian Federation in Sweden has recently sent a letter to Culture Minister Fikri Saglar, calling him to stop this cultural crime.
    According to the reports coming to the Mesopotamian Culture and Sport Association in Brussels, many Assyrian villages in the Southeast are being depopulated by the Village Protectors in the service of government forces.
    Since 1989, the following Assyrian inhabitants of the following villages have been forced to quit their homes and to search shelter in big cities on the pretext that they give aid to PKK guerrillas:
    Kizilsu (Sirnak), Hesena (Silopi), Xirabemiriske (Idil), Sederi (Midyat), Arbo (Idil), Arnas (Midyat), Aynvart (Midyat), Mizizeg (Idil), Sare (Idil), Temerze (Idil), Asagidere (Idil), Xapisnas (Midyat), Bate (Midyat), Yemisli (Midyat), Bagpinar, Cemesil, Badibe, Erde, Binkelibe, Derxabab, Derxube, Arbaya, Gundiksirko, Merhap, Giremira, Bingirye.
    On February 11, 1993, a team of village protectors raided the Assyrian village Ögündük (Midah) in Mardin. Local Assyrian leader Melke Tok reported that the team, after having gathered all inhabitants in the village square, set on fire their houses and demolished a cross symbolising the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
 BAN ON PRIVATE RADIOS

    In an unexpected anti-democratic move, the Demirel Government, at the beginning of April 1993, banned all private radio stations.
    Counting on the promises of the coalition parties, the first private radio station had begun broadcasting in June 1992. In 1993, some 250 private radio stations throughout Turkey.
    The government based this shocking ban on the pretext that Article 133 of the Constitution gives the monopoly of radio-TV broadcasting to the state.
    The ban gave rise to a huge public protest because the private radio broadcasting was a means of free expression, from right to left, and everyone could find musics or programs corresponding to his taste. It was a real joy to have such an extensive choice after having been obliged listened to the voice of the State alone for decades.
    In protest against the government's decision, antennas have been adorned with black ribbons and tracts saying "I wish my radio" distributed and put everywhere.
    On this mass protest, the government promised once more to lift Article 133 of the Constitution and to set free all those private radio stations which will be conforming to the new regulations to be adopted.
    However, the draft bill providing for the annulment of Article 133 of the Constitution has met with another obstacle: impossibility of having a minimum of 300 "yes" votes which is required for constitutional change. A number of planned parliamentary debates on the draft bill have been cancelled due to the failure of the coalition partners and the main opposition ANAP to force their deputies to be present at parliamentary sessions.

PRESSURE ON THE MEDIA IN MAY

    1.5, in Istanbul, Milliyet photographer Musa Agacik was beaten by the police while trying to take pictures of May Day demonstrators being hit.
    2.5, the issue N°51 of the weekly Azadi was confiscated by the Istanbul SSC for separatism.
    3.5, the responsible editor of the weekly Yeni Ülke, Bülent Aydin was sentenced by the Istanbul SSC to five months in prison and TL 117 Million ($ 12,316) in fine for propaganda in favour of the PKK.
    4.5, three journalists, Ümran Aras (Meydan), Mehmet Beytül (Türkiye) and Ahmet Uçar (Sabah) were harassed by police as they were covering the funeral of a victim of extrajudicial execution in Istanbul. The photographer of the daily Aydinlik, Mustafa Cetinkaya was detained and beaten for having shot the photos of this brutality.
    6.5, the issue N°6 of the review Toplumsal Dayanisma was confiscated by the Istanbul SSC for separatist propaganda.
    6.5, the house of journalist Rauf Yildiz, Diyarbakir correspondent of the daily Özgür Gündem, was raided and searched by police in his absence. His some documents, registered bands and photos were confiscated.
    7.5, sociologist Ismail Besikci was sentenced by the Istanbul SSC to 20 months in prison and TL 41 Million ($ 4,316) for his book entitled Some Reflections on the PKK.
    7.5, the Diyadin correspondent of the daily Özgür Gündem, Tacettin Yildiz was detained by police.
    11.5, the Istanbul SSC sentenced the responsible editor of the weekly Azadi, Sedat Karakas to six months in prison and TL 41 Million ($ 4,316) for separatist propaganda. The former owner of the weekly, Hikmet Cetin too was sentenced to a fine of TL 83 Million ($ 8,737).
    11.5, sociologist Ismail Besikci and the former responsible editor of the daily Özgür Gündem, Isik Yurtcu were sentenced to one-year imprisonment each for an article by Besikci for having insulted security forces. Same day, the Dicle correspondent of Özgür Gündem was taken into police custody.
    11.5, the issue N°90 of the monthly Emegin Bayragi was confiscated by the Istanbul SSC for separatist propaganda.
    12.5, a photo-reporter of the daily Hürriyet, Mehmet Oguz was harassed by police as he was covering a protest demonstration in Ankara and his leg was broken.
    13.5, the Istanbul SSC sentenced journalist Yusuf Cacim to ten months in prison and TL 166,666,666 ($ 17,544) in fine for two articles that he wrote in the weekly Yeni Ülke.
    14.5, the Cizre correspondent of the daily Özgür Gündem, Besir Ant was taken into custody.
    17.5, in Izmir, poet Ergun Akkir was taken into custody at the airport as he was leaving Turkey for participating in a cultural meeting in Germany.
    19.5, the Samsun correspondent of the weekly Mücadele, F. Hülya Tungan, and the Tokat correspondent of the monthly Partizan, Ercan Oskan were detained by police.
    19.5, the issue N°53 of the weekly Azadi was confiscated by the Istanbul SSC for separatist propaganda.
    19.5, two members of the musical group Yorum, Kemal Gürel and Elif Sumru Gürel were sentenced by the Izmir SSC to 20 months in prison and TL 42 Million ($ 4,421) for their concert in Denizli.
    20.5, two Diyarbakir correspondents of the weekly Gercek, Nasir Gül and Özer Yildiz were detained at the Diyarbakir SSC as they were covering a trial.
    23.5, the issue N°11 of the review Iscinin Yolu was confiscated by the Istanbul SSC for propaganda in favour of an illegal organization.
    27.5, a new legal proceeding was started against sociologist Ismail Besikci for his book entitled The Struggle for Imperialist Division of Kurdistan (1915-1925). The prosecutor demands a prison term of up to five years and a fine of up to TL 100 Million ($10,000) against Besikci and a prison term of up to two years and a fine of not less than TL 100 Million ($10,000) against his publisher, Ünsal Öztürk.
    27.5, the last issues of the daily Aydinlik were confiscated for having published Salman Rushdi's Satanic Verses.
    31.5, the issues N°17 of the monthly Newroz and N°28 of the monthly Devrimci Proletarya were confiscated by the Istanbul SSC for separatist propaganda.