IPS/TURKEY/JANUARY 1993

[PeaceNet Middle East Team]

From: <pnmideast>
Subject: IPS/TURKEY/JANUARY 1993

/* Written 12:07 am  Jan 11, 1993 by newsdesk at igc.apc.org in igc:ips.englibrary */
/* ---------- "TURKEY: Kurds blame the state for u" ---------- */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1993, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Asia, eastern
Title: TURKEY: Kurds blame the state for unidentified assassins


an inter press service feature

by nadire mater

istanbul, jan 8 (ips) -- ali erdocan left his home in the south-
eastern kurdish town of batman this week to go to work as usual.
he never made it. instead he became yet another victim of the
''single bullet'' assassins that are plaguing the region.

friends of the 30-year-old car mechanic in batman's industrial
district closed down their shops in protest when he was buried on
wednesday. they accuse the turkish government of allowing covert
hit squads from the security forces to target suspects at will in
their war on kurdish nationalists -- and killing the innocent.

concentrated mainly in the south-eastern provinces of turkey, the
kurds -- are estimated to constitute around a third of the 60
million population. batman, recently incorporated as a city with
150,000 residents, has become the centre for such murders.

in the last seven days four were committed, not all of them for
ideological reasons, city governor zeki sanal told ips after the
last incident.

''our main problem is that although we know what is behind these
ongoing incidents, we are unable to arrest the criminals and the
citizens here are unwilling to help. we can't find any
eyewitnesses.''

in the eight years of ongoing clashes in the region that began
with the first raid by the kurdish separatist guerrillas of the
pkk (kurdistan workers party) on a police station in 1984, about
7,000 people -- security forces, guerrillas and civilians -- have
died.

however in most of these cases who killed whom was quite evident.
the problem is the approximately 350 murders -- all committed
after the present coalition took office in november 1991 --
officially committed by ''unidentified criminals.'' most of the
locals believe that the ''criminal'' is most probably the state.

of the 350 assassinations of this type, ''at least 100'' were
committed in batman, according to governor sanal.

in many cases the victim is approached from behind while walking
alone on his way to or back from work and shot with a single
bullet to the neck. quickly mingling into the crowd, the murderer
effortlessly escapes the scene.

the victims come from various subgroups like the leaders and
members of the pro-kurdish hep (peoples labour party), teachers,
students, shopkeepers, workers, doctors, union leaders and human
rights activists. (more/ips)

turkey: kurds blame the state for unidentified assassins(2)

since 12 journalists were killed during 1992 in the region, these
acts are also commonly attributed to the same source -- the secret
counter-insurgency organisation.

the relatives of the victims unanimously accuse either the
counter-insurgency units of the state or the fundamentalist
islamic group 'hizbullah' -- alleged locally to be working in
cooperation with turkish security forces in a curious twist to the
factional divides that rent the islamic world's guerrilla forces.

arabic for 'party of allah,' 'hizbullah' is used as a blanket
term for pro-iranian groups within the islamic world. twenty or
more members of this clandestine organisation are thought to
operate in batman, though turkish minister of interior ismet
sezgin denies the existence of hizbullah in turkey.

sanal admits that hizbullah operates in his own region but
dismisses claims of a link between it and the state. ''speaking
only for the town of batman, i do not agree with the charges,'' he
says.

in this he is backed by the town's chief of police; ''that the
security forces are helping hizbullah is a lie,'' he told the
newspaper 'ozgur gundem'. ''hizbullah seconds the pkk as the worst
danger we face.''

but batman's hep deputy nizamettin tonguc is convinced that the
murders are committed with state support. ''according to the
information i gathered from the people, the police are directly
involved in the murders,'' he said.

he cites the fact that police immediately appeared on the scene
after the murder of ali erdogan on tuesday, yet were unable to
detain anyone. ''poor and ignorant people are bribed to commit the
crimes and the 'hizbullah' is a fictitious organization; even if
it does exist, it is under state control.''

the assassins' use of bullets made in turkey's state-owned
mechanical chemical industries suggests a link between the killers
and the secret services, whoever they are.

fear is widespread. batman has become a city where people live
every day of their lives with the prospect of an imminent death.
no one knows when, how and why he might be killed.

even journalists are targets. of 12 reporters killed in the
region, three were murdered in batman, all by the ''single-
bullet'' assassins. no one has been arrested so far.

the distribution of newspapers -- particularly the opposition
paper ozgur gundem -- is also being targeted. halil adanir, a
volunteer distributor, was burnt to death in his car by unknown
assailants and last month the region was left without newspapers
for several days when the regional distributor quit following
death threats. (more/ips)

turkey: kurds blame the state for unidentified assassins(3-e)

tonguc was pessimistic about the prospect of the incidents
subsiding. ''they are linked to the state and everything is done
not to catch the criminals,'' he says.

he mentions another incident: a 'hizbullah' suspect alleged to
have killed 13 people was found dead with a wounded colleague.
tonguc has not been able to obtain a single piece of information
about the case despite his privileges as a deputy. governor sanal
told ips the person is currently under arrest and no more.

furthermore, ''during the funerals of known members of hizbullah,
no intervention takes place,'' adds tonguc. ''at the funerals of
victims, ids are asked for, people are provoked to violence, some
are taken into custody.''

the minister of state responsible for human rights, mehmet
kahraman, voices governmental desperation: ''of the number of
problems over the past months, chief among them was the
unidentified murders.

''when the perpetrators remain unidentified then the law has no
force. the people refuse to collaborate. especially in the south-
east the situation is complicated. people are extremely worried,''
the minister admits.

(end/ips/rp/nm/jm/93)