From corina at igc.apc.org  Tue Jan  4 16:21:23 1994
From: corina at igc.apc.org (corina at igc.apc.org)
Date: Tue, 04 Jan 1994 08:21:23 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Nation: 'Are We Not People Too?'
Message-ID: <APC.1.0.54efc6cb.557@igc.apc.org>

From: Corina Hughes <corina>
Subject: Nation: 'Are We Not People Too?'

/* Written  1:10 pm  Jan  3, 1994 by nation at igc.apc.org in igc:nation.samples */
/* ---------- "'Are We Not People Too?'" ---------- */
/* Written  1:07 pm  Jan  3, 1994 by nation in igc:nation.online */
/* ---------- "'Are We Not People Too?'" ---------- */

Turkey's Kurds Fight On Alone
ALIZA MARCUS

In southeast Turkey, where a war is raging between separatist
Kurdish guerrillas and the Turkish Army, the village of Caglayan
is struggling to stay alive. Last year, Turkish soldiers--apparent-
ly angered by the villagers' refusal to join the Kurdish militia,
which the government has organized to fight against the guerril-
las--burned down a third of the stately two-story homes and told
Caglayan's some 600 residents to move out. Most people fled, sell-
ing their animals and cramming in with relatives and friends in
the nearby tumbledown city of Cizre.
      About twenty families stayed behind in this village of lush
gardens and clear streams (Caglayan means "waterfall" in Turk-
ish), living amid the collapsed stone houses and charred buildings.
They have no electricity, no school, and every night the army
shells the village from bases high up in the mountains. "We have
to sleep here, in this tunnel," an elderly man told me as he care-
fully stepped over an unexploded tank shell. "When the shooting
gets really bad, we run and hide in the mountains."
      The man's wife and children now live in Cizre, but this past
summer the whole family returned to Caglayan to pick the ripe
figs, walnuts, and green and purple grapes that grow in tangles
along the sides of the dirt path leading to the village. "I am wor-
ried that we could be killed," he said, pointing to a hole in the
roof of his house, the result of a mortar fired the night before.
"But we have no work in Cizre, no money. If we stay there we
will starve. This is our home, and the army can never make us
leave it."
      In many other villages in the southeast the people have
given up. The Turkish Human Rights Association says that at least
729 villages have been forcibly emptied by soldiers since late
1991. These evacuations (reminiscent of Iraqi President Saddam
Hussein's destruction of more than 4,000 Kurdish villages in
northern Iraq from the mid-1970s through 1991) have been
stepped up over the past few months, the military having grown
increasingly frustrated with its inability to stem attacks by--and
support for--guerrillas from the Kurdish Workers Party (P.K.K.).
      "The soldiers can't find the guerrillas, so instead they shoot
us," said a 15-year-old boy from Yamac--separated from Caglayan
by a stretch of mountains--as we walked through his village one
morning last September. Soldiers guarding a radio tower on a
mountaintop overlooking the village often open fire at night, he
said. He showed me wheat fields black from wayward shells and
mud-brick houses pockmarked with bullet holes.
      "We have to leave," the boy explained while his family load-
ed bedding and dishes on the back of a tractor. "The soldiers
were here a few days ago, and they told us to move out or else
they would come back, burn our homes and kill us." The boy's
brother is with the guerrillas (training in Lebanon, he whispered
proudly), and the boy was thinking of joining him. "There is no
life here, and at least with the guerrillas, I will have a chance to
defend myself."
      It has been nine years since the P.K.K. started battling the
Turkish Army for control of the southeast, which is home to about
half the country's estimated 12 million Kurds. In the intervening
years, the P.K.K. has grown from a band of 300 fighters to a well-
organized and well-trained group of at least 10,000 men and
women. Although the guerrillas are outmanned and outgunned--An-
kara has a force of about 180,000 in the region, backed by exten-
sive military hardware--the P.K.K. effectively controls much of the
high ground.
      As the war has picked up so has U.S. and European backing
for the Turkish government and its military. The tanks that patrol
the dusty roads are from Germany. The Cobra helicopter gunships
that patrol the skies come from the United States. The weapons
are not cheap, but Ankara can afford the war in part because of
U.S. aid: more than $400 million a year, making Turkey the third-
largest recipient of U.S. largesse, after Israel and Egypt. The
United States also gives or sells Ankara hundreds of millions of
dollars in high-tech weaponry, on top of the military hardware
Turkey buys directly from U.S. military contractors. In December
of 1992 Turkey struck a $1.1 billion deal to buy and produce
ninety-five Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters, which the P.K.K. will
have trouble shooting down. American support has not wavered
with a change in the White House.
      Turkey has long been uncomfortable with the presence of
Kurds, who make up about 26 percent of the population. Since the
founding of the republic in 1923, successive governments have
tried to wipe out Kurdish nationalism through a combination of
force and forcible persuasion. Shortly after the 1991 Gulf War,
with international attention briefly focused on the plight of the
Iraqi Kurds (who had flooded into Turkey to escape Saddam Hus-
sein's postwar offensive), Ankara relaxed its ban on the Kurdish
language. But it remains illegal to use Kurdish on television or
radio, in schools, or to say anything the government does not
like. People who write books about Kurdish history generally end
up on trial, facing long prison sentences and hefty fines for dis-
seminating "separatist propaganda."
      Now the application of force has reached a new mark. The
fighting has left more than 10,500 dead on all sides. Exact military
breakdowns are impossible to determine, according to human
rights officials, because soldiers who shoot civilians often later
claim the dead were armed guerrillas. Among civilians the reports
of human rights abuses by the security forces range from the
burning of villages to the torture of detainees and worse.
      "I don't know where to begin," said M. Ali Dincer, a lawyer
who heads the Turkish Human Rights Association's office in Cizre,
a city swollen with refugees. "There are so many things we are
scared of. We are scared for our lives, for our families. The sol-
diers come and shoot us, and there is nothing we can do. I can't
even speak out. Cizre is a small place, and I can easily be killed."
Last August soldiers opened fire on Dincer's office, compelling him
to work out of his home.
      Over the past two years Kurdish activists in the region
have been assassinated. Among the people killed--estimates exceed
530--were three officials from the Human Rights Association, fifty-
three members of the pro-Kurdish Democracy Party, a Kurdish
parliamentarian and at least thirteen journalists (mainly from pro-
Kurdish papers). Ankara denies that its military is behind the
killings, but the choice of victims--and the fact that many have
been taken away by men claiming to be police or soldiers--raises
doubts about those denials.
      "In such situations, people start believing that there is no
way to gain rights except through an armed struggle," explained
Remzi Kartal, one of the seventeen Kurdish activists in Parliament.
When Kartal and the others were elected deputies in late 1991,
there was widespread hope that Kurdish complaints would finally
be heard. Then-President Turgut Ozal, who as Prime Minister had
set up much of the repressive apparatus in the southeast, had
begun slowly to encourage discussion of Kurdish issues. His Prime
Minister, Suleyman Demirel, had come to office that same year with
promises to respect "the Kurdish reality." But from the start of
the Kurdish parliamentarians' terms, they were ostracized, shouted
down and even physically attacked when they tried to speak in
Parliament.
      Pressure to isolate the deputies has increased since Tansu
Ciller, Turkey's first female Prime Minister, came to power in June
1993 amid much national and international fanfare. Two months
earlier Ozal had died, and Demirel had taken his place, opening
the way for Ciller, who had served as an economics minister in
the Demirel government. Ciller started off with what appeared to
be good intentions, suggesting that Parliament debate the question
of allowing Kurdish television and radio broadcasts. But she did
not take into account Demirel's hard-line shift, nor the military's
strength. Chastised by Demirel and top generals time and again,
she backed down from many conciliatory statements in favor of
the military's line: briefly stated, no "concessions" to Kurdish de-
mands. 
      Now Ciller affects a harsh rhetoric that claims Turkey has
no Kurdish problem, only a terrorism problem. Her economic aid
package for the long-ignored southeast envisions things like a
soccer stadium in Sirnak (the town was virtually destroyed by the
military in August 1992) and livestock credits for farmers (most
grazing land has been put off-limits by the army). Ciller has also
suggested widening the anti-terror law. Already the law defines
terrorism so broadly that anyone calling for almost any reform can
be accused; Ciller's proposal would restrain news coverage of the
southeast and make it even easier for people to be charged with
"separatism."
      Indeed, the government seems intent on closing off all dem-
ocratic paths for discussion of Kurdish demands. Last July the
People's Labor Party, the legal Kurdish party whose representa-
tives sit in Parliament, was banned (it later reappeared as the De-
mocracy Party). In September a deputy investigating the spate of
mysterious murders in the southeast was assassinated. In Novem-
ber the pro-Kurdish paper Ozgur Gundem was ordered shut down
for four weeks for publishing the views of the P.K.K. Now the
prosecutor in Ankara is trying to strip the remaining Kurdish
deputies of their immunity. This would allow the state to try the
deputies for treason, which can carry the death sentence.
      Yasar Kaya, former chairman of the Democracy Party, who in
October was imprisoned for two years for making pro-separatist
speeches, told me: "I say that peace is possible between Turks
and Kurds. But the Turkish state has no viable program. It keeps
saying it can solve the Kurdish question by military means. Tur-
key has a history of using denial and oppression to deal with its
Kurds. We need constitutional guarantees to protect Kurdish iden-
tity."
      Kurdish activists hoped that President Clinton would use
Prime Minister Ciller's state visit to Washington in October to urge
Ankara to recognize Kurdish demands for cultural and political
freedoms. Kurds note that while Washington works hard to protect
the Kurds in northern Iraq--enforcing a "no-fly" zone as part of
Operation Provide Comfort to deter another attack by Saddam Hus-
sein--it pays little attention to their brethren across the border.
In fact, some believe Ankara struck a deal with Washington back
in 1991, promising to continue to lend its air bases for Operation
Provide Comfort in exchange for a U.S. pledge to look the other
way on Turkey's treatment of its own Kurds.
      But in October Clinton took no steps to address the imbal-
ance. Turkey's Kurds should not have been surprised. As a secu-
lar Muslim state, Turkey is seen by the United States as a coun-
ter to feared Iranian influence in the mainly Muslim Central Asian
nations that broke off from the old Soviet Union. In addition, An-
kara's cooperation has been crucial to maintaining the U.N. eco-
nomic embargo against Iraq. Prior to the Gulf War much Iraqi oil
was shipped through Turkey, and Washington is mindful of recent
remarks by Ciller (later denied) that she would like the embargo
lifted.
      While Clinton referred vaguely to Turkey's need to respect
human rights, he quickly added that the country faces a real
problem with terrorism. Ciller may not have got everything she
wanted--among other things, aid to make up Turkey's losses from
the embargo--but she must have been pleased to come away
unrebuked. And maybe she got more. Clinton did suggest that the
United States would offer greater "cooperation" with Turkey in its
fight against "terror." Turkish newspapers speculated that this
means the C.I.A. will supply Ankara with satellite photos to help
the military spot P.K.K. bases.
      Some European countries have been as accommodating, mix-
ing soft criticism with steadfast support. In November, Germany -
banned the P.K.K. and its associated offices after Kurds launched
their second attack in six months against Turkish missions and
businesses in Europe. France detained more than 100 Kurdish ac-
tivists and outlawed two P.K.K.-backed groups. This may please
the Turks, but it is likely to radicalize the P.K.K. further. During
the past year, the guerrillas stepped up their attacks against sea-
side resorts on Turkey's western coast and kidnapped close to
twenty foreigners traveling in the southeast. (Ankara estimates it
lost about $1 billion this year in tourism revenue.) The guerrillas
may now decide to start hitting more foreign interests inside and
even outside Turkey.
      By all accounts, the conflict is now Turkey's number one
domestic concern. Harsh state policies are being met by harsh
P.K.K. responses. The guerrillas have consolidated their strength
in the region. They have warned journalists who work for Turkish
papers to close shop or be killed. Kurdish officials from Turkish
parties were told to resign their posts. After a two-year lull,
P.K.K. killings of civilians--mainly the wives and children of the
government-organized Kurdish militia--are on the rise again.
Turkish teachers are also frequently targeted.
      Despite the heightening danger, Ankara seems to have no
interest in negotiating.      Although the P.K.K. is no bastion of
democracy (Stalin is one of the guerrillas' heroes), a number of
the group's demands are similar to those made by anti-P.K.K.
Kurds and Turkish human rights activists. For starters, the P.K.K.
wants the state of emergency in the southeast lifted, the Kurdish
militia disbanded, cultural freedoms insured and people allowed
back into their villages. Then the P.K.K. wants a referendum, in
which Kurds could decide whether they wish to live together with
Turks. Ultimately, the P.K.K. would like to see a socialist Kurdish
state, but like other national liberation movements, it may be will-
ing (or forced) to settle for much less.
      "It is not possible to finish off the P.K.K. militarily," ob-
served Kartal, the Kurdish parliamentarian. "I have told people
that the state can pour oil and gasoline all over everything in the
southeast and burn it all up. And for a while, this may seem like
a solution. But Kurds who live in western Turkey may turn
around and burn down that part of the country and then there
will be nothing for either Kurds or Turks. We must ask the Kurds
themselves what they want, and provide an atmosphere where peo-
ple are free to express their opinions. I believe it is still possible
to create a situation where Kurds could live with pride and honor
and equality with Turks. But if the bloodshed continues, I am
afraid it will put an end to that will to live together."
      That will is already being severely tested. As tension in the
country rises, Kurds in western Turkey are coming under attack.
Many Kurds who went west after their villages were burned com-
plain of being denied housing and jobs. Funeral services for
Turkish soldiers killed by the P.K.K. are turning into mass demon-
strations against Kurds. Some believe the Turkish government is
deliberately inflaming passions against the Kurds, hoping to
strengthen support for its harsh policies. 
      Turkey thinks it can destroy the P.K.K. through a combina-
tion of military actions and legal decrees. But the P.K.K. is more
than a guerrilla organization; it is a reaction against seventy
years of oppression. And the government's fight against the guer-
rillas has turned into a fight against the Kurdish nation and
against human rights. For many Kurds, the only question is how
much more blood will flow before the Turkish government realizes
it cannot deny a people its identity.
      "Are we not people too?" a young man in Cizre asked as he
lifted his shirt to show me the marks left after he was "ques-
tioned" by the police. "They treat us like we are not from the
same country. If that's what they want, then maybe we should
have our own state."

Aliza Marcus is a journalist who specializes on Turkey. 

This article is reprinted with permission from the January 3/10,
1994, issue of The Nation magazine. (c) 1993 The Nation Company,
Inc.

Special offer to new subscribers: 24 weekly issues for just $13.95
(a savings of $40.05 off the newsstand price). Box CP, 72 Fifth
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For more information, e-mail: 

nation-info at igc.apc.org


From mim at blythe.org  Sun Jan 23 16:48:23 1994
From: mim at blythe.org (mim at blythe.org)
Date: 23 Jan 1994 16:48:23
Subject: Kurds Advance;Turkey Steps up Repre
Message-ID: <bac1c849.eZmmgc56w165w@blythe.org>

Subject: Kurds Advance;Turkey Steps up Repression
From: mim at blythe.org (Maoist Intl'ist Mvmnt)
Reply-To: mim at blythe.org (Maoist Intl'ist Mvmnt)


* * * *  The Maoist Internationalist Movement  * * * *

         -    MIM Notes 85, February 1994   -


KURDISH STRUGGLE ADVANCES:
IMPERIALISTS RESPOND WITH REPRESSION

by MC206

Recent advances toward the liberation of the
Kurdish people in Turkey-controlled Kurdistan have
provoked domestic counter-offensives and foreign
repression. The Turkish government has placed more
troops in Kurdistan and is preparing a "war of
annihilation" against the Worker's Party of
Kurdistan (PKK).(1)

On Nov. 26 the German government banned 35
organizations affiliated with the PKK (the PKK
itself does not exist in Germany). Twenty-nine of
the 35 organizations banned were Kurdish cultural
centers. German police immediately raided Kurdish
clubs, businesses, and apartments, confiscating
the organizations' assets. According to Chancellor
Kohl the organizations were banned "because they
use violent means to reach their goal."(2)

GERMANY AND AMERIKA SUPPORT FASCISM

Germany doesn't complain about the violence of the
Turkish state against the Kurds. In the last three
years the Turkish armed forces have destroyed more
than 850 Kurdish villages, attacked Kurdish
civilians inside northern Iraqi borders, and
ignored a cease fire which the PKK honored.(1,3)

The Kurdistan National Liberation front (ERNK) has
called Germany "enemy number two" - the Turkish
state being "enemy number one" - because of the
economic and military support it gives Turkey.(2)
Germany is Turkey's largest trading partner,
accounting for 15% of Turkey's exports and 18% of
its imports. German tourists alone account for
almost 1% of Turkey's GDP.(4)

In 1988 Germany gave Turkey $45 million in
military aid.(5) The Amerikan government spent
about $500 million in military aid to Turkey each
year from 1988 to 1991. That's on top of Turkey's
own military budget of $2-3.5 billion per year.

Turkey has one of the highest military spending
rates of the countries in NATO, despite being one
of the poorest.(4,5) NATO likes to think of the
Turkish armed forces as "buffers" (read: cannon
fodder). Germany has even entertained plans to pay
the Turkish state for giving the German military
its own Turkish brigade.(5)

Turkey occupies an important strategic position
close to both the Middle East and the ex-Soviet
Union. During the "Cold War," the United States
stationed nuclear weapons in Turkey and based much
of its intelligence services there. There are
listening posts near the center of Turkey-occupied
Kurdistan, for example.(5) Now these military
facilities are used to enforce the "new world
order" in the Middle East.

Both Germany and the United States used eastern
Turkey as an airbase during the Gulf War. Neither
said or did anything when Turkey stepped up its
war against the Kurds following the Gulf war -
even though the United States was cynically
protecting Kurds in Iraq-controlled Kurdistan
against Iraqi repression with "Operation Provide
Comfort."

Turkish fascism and militarism have been
alternately encouraged and overlooked by these
imperialist powers seeking to protect their
interests.

COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY ESPIONAGE

The Turkish government enthusiastically greeted
the recent ban of Kurdish organizations in
Germany. Turkish president Tansu Ciller said she
was pleased that Turkey had finally convinced the
international community that the PKK was an
organization with "terrorist characteristics."(2)

One of the more immediate reasons given for the
ban was a spree of firebombings across Germany
attributed to PKK sympathizers. A representative
of the PKK expressed suspicions that these
bombings were performed by agent provocateurs.

Turkish consulates are also known to contain large
stockpiles of weapons.(3) The German government
has not seen it fit to ban this counter-
revolutionary espionage, however.

PKK CONFIDENCE

The latest offensive of the People's Liberation
Army of Kurdistan (ARGK), launched in June after a
unilateral cease fire, has been very successful.
There are many areas where the power of the
Turkish state has been restricted to isolated and
fortified barracks - and these barracks are the
targets of continued ARGK attacks.

Turkish President Ciller has increased the Turkish
military strength in Kurdistan by 50,000 to
200,000 troops.(1) This number does not include
the 30,000 member state-financed Kurdish
militia.(6) The PKK has approximately 10,000
guerrillas in the area.(1)

The PKK and ARGK have begun to move from their
traditional strongholds in the countryside into
the cities. In Diyarbakir, the largest city in
Turkish-controlled Kurdistan, "Turkish sovereignty
vanishes with the sun."

Under pressure from the PKK, leading Turkish
parties have closed their offices in Kurdistan.
State-owned businesses, such as the Turkish
airlines, can only operate under the protection of
the police.(1) The PKK has banned the Turkish
bourgeois press in the area, as it had been
echoing the Turkish state's propaganda.

The PKK has also had a hand in deciding which
construction projects can be completed in
Kurdistan. In late 1992, the ARGK halted the
construction of an asphalt road which would have
increased the mobility of government troops.
Guerrillas told the Kurdish workers to stay in
their trailer while trucks and other items were
being firebombed. When asked whether the
guerrillas conducted propaganda among the workers
during this attack, one worker said, "No, it isn't
necessary." The workers already knew why the PKK
would target the road.(6)

These victories, along with the election of a
Kurdish national assembly and steps towards the
formation of a national front unifying the PKK and
other national forces, led PKK representative Kani
Yilmaz to say, "From now on, the national
liberation movement in Kurdistan will go from
victory to victory." "If they [Kohl's Government]
insist on cracking down on the Kurdish people and
its organizations, they will lose a lot and our
people will resist all the more and become more
determined."(3)

NOTES:
1. Der Spiegel #49, 1993, pp. 170-174.
2. Sueddeutsche Zeitung 11/27/93.
3. Kurdistan Report #15, 1993.
4. World Economic Data, Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO,
1991, pp. 206-207.
5. Turkey Newsletter 3/89.
6. Aliza Marcus, Turkey's Kurds after the Gulf
War: A Report from the Southeast, in: Gerard
Chaliand, ed., A People Without a Country: The
Kurds & Kurdistan, London: Zed Books Ltd., 1993,
pp. 238-246.

MIM Notes is not copyrighted. Please credit MIM when
redistributing or referring to this material.

Subscriptions are $12/year (12 issues), U.S. mail or e-mail.
Send only cash, stamps or check made out to "ABS." Write:
MIM Distributors, PO Box 3576, Ann Arbor MI 48106-3576.
E-mail: mim at blythe.org


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From ahgan at igc.apc.org  Thu Jan 27 14:08:52 1994
From: ahgan at igc.apc.org (Ahmet Yazgan)
Date: Thu, 27 Jan 1994 06:08:52 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Ozgur Gundem and Aydinlik Photocop
Message-ID: <APC.1.0.54efc6cc.234@igc.apc.org>

We are preparing monthly news and commentry summary of Ozgur Gundem's 
photo-copies to be distributed in the US and Canada. The September issue 
is done and ready to go. Others will follow.  The format may change in 
the future for easier reading. The photo copies are in Turkish and 
contain selected news and articles. 
Also, a similar book of Aydinlik is available. In the future other 
publications like Gercek, Birikim etc willbe available. Please send 
requests to P.O. Box 192783 SF. CA, 94119.


From stk at schism.antenna.nl  Sat Jan  8 17:42:00 1994
From: stk at schism.antenna.nl (stk at schism.antenna.nl)
Date: 08 Jan 1994 17:42:00
Subject: UmraniyeWas Not The First Massacre!
References: <199601080221.VAA06659@locust.cic>
Message-ID: <010894154213Rnf0.77b9@schism.antenna.nl>

------------------------------ forwarded message -----------------------------
Arm The Spirit <ats at etext.org> writes:

Fascist Attack Against Revolutionary Prisoners In Buca-Prison, Izmir - 
September 1995 

THE STATE COMMITTED A MASSACRE IN BUCA
FASCISM IS CONDEMNED TO DEFEAT IN THE PRISONS

   "Do not resist..."
   "Submit yourselves..."
   "Surrender..."

For years fascism has spoken in this way to the revolutionary prisoners. For
years fascism has tried to separate the  revolutionaries from their
revolutionary personality. Fascism does not want to tolerate that the
prisoners defend the honour of the  people, their dignity and desires,
despite the repression, without surrender. For years fascism has tried to
capture the revolutionary prisoners in the prisons as well.
This is very important to the oligarchy. The road the get the people in their
power leads by way of the surrender of the revolutionaries. 
The ruling classes see the prisons as the best places to get the
revolutionaries out of their ideas. Especially after the coup of September
1980 and the following years, there were many examples of state repression in
the prisons. As  well in the prisons in Turkey, as in Kurdistan, one could
see distress and resistance. Fascism used all its physical, political and 
psychological possibilities. In the years in which fascism kept large parts
of the revolutionary opposition imprisoned, the prisons were  transformed
into bases of resistance, the bodies of the prisoners became barricades
against every kind of distress and infamy.  "Where it was not enough to
resist untill the end, they went into death." With hungerstrikes and fasting
till death they beat back the attacks, they did not allow their dignity to be
trampled...
In the following years the oligarchy did not stop to get the revolutionary
prisoners to surrender their personality. Taking away rights,  torture and
isolation followed each other. However, all their "efforts" glanced off a
wall of resistance. The oligarchy set their hopes on  detention in isolation.
At the end of 1991 a special isolation prison was opened in Eskisehir. But
this policy failed as well because of  the resistance by the prisoners and
the public opinion. Two years later, the oligarchy tried once more to push
through isolation and  transfer of the revolutionary prisoners and taking
away their rights. This attack was beaten off by the resistance of the
prisoners from  Devrimci Sol. The oligarchy suffered one defeat after the
other. And furthermore several revolutionaries successfully escaped from the 
prisons.
Good, but what could the oligarchy do? Accepting defeat and stopping the
attacks against the revolutionary prisoners was impossible.  That would
contradict the nature of the ruling system.

   ...September 21, 1995...
   Buca-prison, Izmir...
   "Do not resist, otherwise we will massacre you..."
   "Subject yourselves, otherwise we will massacre you..."
   "Surrender, otherwise we will massacre you..."

After these events three people have died and dozens of people got wounded.
Inside the prisons the oligarchy threatens the prisoners  with massacres and
annihilation. After they did not succeed to get the prisoners to give up
their personality, they try to get rid of them  by executions. The
oligarchy's aim is very clear. The massacre of Buca is not just the result of
the prison policy of the state. The  oligarchy is very conscious of the fact
that their rule is coming to an end. They go through one crisis after the
other. They have  nothing more to offer to the different segments of the
population. So they see no other solution as state terror and more and more 
massacres. In the strikes of the workers, in the demonstrations, in the
working areas were the rebellion mounts day by day, and in the  protest of
the youth: the people only meet with batons and bullets. They want to
exterminate the Kurdish people by massacres,  chasing into exile, and burning
and destruction of the villages. In this war against the people, more and
more blood is shed. The  government does not tolerate even the least kind of
objection.  From a state, which has transformed into a rule of the
contra-guerrilla,  which takes the leading role in the contra-revolutionary
war, one could not expect that it excludes the revolutionary prisoners from 
this wave of repression. Fascism knows that the revolutionaries are an
example to the people. With this massacre in Buca they wanted  to say to the
people: "Watch your steps." With the knowledge that the terrorist face of the
state shows itself day by day, the massacre in Buca will not be the last one
of this  kind, as will the resistance which is caused by it. 

BUCA: A MASSACRE WHICH WAS PLANNED, STEP BY STEP

Already before the massacre in Buca the attacks against the prisoners have
been planned step by step. In Buca they tried to  take away the rights from
the prisoners with violence, and they tried to legitimize this. History
describes the attacks before this  massacre and the steps they took:
   July 17, 1995: 4 prisoners from the DHKP-C (Revolutionary People's
Liberation Party-Front) - Ali Riza Kurt, Tevik  Durdemir, Bulent Pak and
Celalettin Ali Guler) successfully escaped on visiting-day. The oligarchy was
astonished. The impossible  had happened. The prisoners took back their
freedom. Ordered by the chiefs of the contra-guerrilla, the directors of the
prison  increased its terror against the prisoners on the same day and all
their rights were taken away.
   July 18, 1995: During a so-called search of the cells the possessions of
the prisoners were plundered. Books were  torn to pieces, radios and cassette
players were confiscated. On the same day a prisoner from DHKP-C was beaten
up and wounded  by guards on his way to court because he refused to have his
shoes searched. The prisoners did not allow that their dignity was taken 
away, the prison board had to stop their attacks because of their pressure.
   July 20, 1995: Before a court-session, prisoners from the PRK-Rizgari
(another Kurdish liberation movement) were  attacked because they resisted
the search of their shoes and the application of hand-cuffs. The prisoners
were seriously wounded and  had to be taken to hospital. Three of them will
probably be paralysed forever.  
After the trial the prisoners were attacked once more during a inspection in
the prison. Thereupon the women in this block protested  with slogans and a
lot of noise. This protest was taken over by other blocks. On orders of
prison director Ya_ar Aslan, the guards  attack several women among the
prisoners. The clothes of one of the prisoners are torn up. The women respond
with resistance and  counter-attacks.
   July 21, 1995: The families of the escaped prisoners are arrested because
of complicity. They are not jailed in the block of  the DHKP-C prisoners. The
prisoners and their families protest against this treatment and they demand
to be put together. After one  day of resistance and barricades, this demand
is met. The action is ended.
   July 23, 1995: The prison board uses chicane against the prisoners and
their visitors by restricting the number of  visits and the visiting-times,
inspecting the visitors and taking away the brought food from the prisoners.
   July 28, 1995: On July 27, 1995, the escaped prisoner Ali Riza Kurt is
murdered in Izmir by the special units for  torture and executions. The
prison board uses the opportunity and once more they attack the prisoners
from the DHKP-C with the  pretext of searching the cells. The guards attack
when all, except four, prisoners are in the prison court. They attack the
four prisoners  and destroy the pictures, flags and portraits of the fallen
comrades. Thereupon the director, the chief-guards and some guards are  taken
hostage by the revolutionary prisoners who resist with barricades. The prison
board has to call back its attacks.
   August 20, 1995: 22 prisoners from the PRK-Rizgari are attacked by guards
and police on their way to court. One  prisoner has his eardrum cracked as a
result of heavy blows with sticks by soldiers. Another prisoners has his
eyebrows torn and his  head wounded. The other prisoners have head-wounds as
well.
   September 12, 1995: A prisoner from DHKP-C (Revolutionary People's
Liberation Party-Front) is attacked in the  court-room by soldiers and
seriously wounded. Thereupon the prisoners in the blocks of the DHKC and the
TDKP broke open the  doors of their cells. The prisoners from the TKP-ML, the
MLKP, the TKP (ML), the PKK, the DHK and the TIKB joined the  uprising.
Jointly the blocks are occupied and barricades are thrown up. The prisoners
from the DHKP-C and TDKP later refused to be  counted as a protest against
the growing attacks and the withholding of the rights of the revolutionary
prisoners by the prison board  and the military. The nightly counting is
refused for one week.
   September 18, 1995: During the search of the cells on July 28, they wanted
to lock up the prisoners who were in the  innercourt. But this was prevented
by the resistance of the prisoners. On the same day the cells were searched
once again, this time by  a lieutenant-colonel. The last steps of the
massacre were being planned. The soldiers, standing ready, were supposed to
intimidate the  prisoners. From this day on, the revolutionary prisoners
refused to be counted, at night, as well as in the morning.

INSTEAD OF SOLVING THE PROBLEMS, THE STATE CHOOSES THE MASSACRE

The attack on September 21. was a massacre, prepared weeks ahead. After the
escape of the DHKP-C prisoners the prison board tried  to cancel the
prisoners' rights. By taking back for example the visiting rights of families
and lawyers, the prison board believes they  can punish the prisoners and
have their revenge. That's why the prisoners began to refuse to be counted.
Their repeated attempts to  talk with the prison board were not answered, the
massacre was already being prepared. The prisoners in Buca-prison talk about
the  preparations for the massacre and the reason why Buca was choosen as the
place for it:

THE REPORT OF THE PRISONERS:

"(...) While the days go by and we negotiated with a beseeching state
prosecutor, it became clear to us that a attack against us  was being
planned. And the enemy really started a planned attack, an aimed attack. 
Resistance, conditions and attempts for a  solution don't count for them. The
attack, planned by the National Security Council and the general staff, must
be carried through.  The revolutionary prisoners, in the frontline of the
struggle, were to be separated from the others and brought to the prisons of 
Aydin and Canakkale. All revolutionary prisoners, all progressive people, all
democrats, all revolutionaries and patriots, in other  words the whole
people, were to be intimidated. This attack and this massacre was part of a
plan to eliminate the revolutionary  prisoners. Immediately after this, they
planned to attack the other prisons. Buca did not have to be the first
prison, they could have  picked another prison. But Buca was in the
spotlights because of the escaped prisoners and the resistance against
repression.  That's why there were no sincere negotiations after the
cancelling of the rights and that's why they planned the first massacre 
here." One of the prisoners who witnessed the attack relates: "Previous there
were page-long stories in the media, inciting against the prisoners. We could
see the enemy's attack  coming."
"The escape of the four prisoners, the resistance which did not break under
the attacks, and our unbending attitude made the enemy  go crazy. He wanted
to break this spirit of resistance and show it to us all. Those who resisted
were to be stopped, they wanted to  intimidate them. In Buca the prisoners
were free in spirit, despite their captivity. They wanted to suffocate this
freedom. That's why  the massacre started in Buca." The war between the state
and the prisoners is a war of will-power. The state wants to push through its
will at any price. For that  purpose they initiated an attack against all
prisons, to break the resistance. The press was also involved in the plot.
They had to  prepare and legitimise the attack against the prisons. In this
plan, Buca was choosen as the first target. The enemy takes its last
preparations, a last look at the plans...

When September 21. came closer, the enemy finished his preparations and
secured the plans for a last time. A DHKP-C prisoner  looks at the events
which occurred three days before the massacre: "(...) On Monday, September
18, there was a general search of the cells. This was done, very precise, by
a lieutenant- colonel. The comrades who's cells were already searched were to
be gathered in the court and kept there. We resisted this locking  in, which
never happened before, and prevented the locking of the door of the
innercourt. When the lieutenant-colonel and his aids  were having dinner in
the canteen, one of the soldiers suddenly wanted to close the doors, but our
comrades prevented this. The  soldiers didn't dare to close the doors with
violence. They just stood there, ready to attack, with batons lined to their
arms. Then the  lieutenant-colonel came to measure the pulse. When he left
the cells, he must have reached the conclusion that our resistance could  not
be broken without violence."
A DHKP-C prisoner from Block-6 reports about the situation shortly before the
attack: 
"(...) It was the third day since September 18. that we refused to be
counted. The environs were calm. There was no movement in  the corridors.
Around noon a lot of soldiers came up to Block-6 and the stayed there,
standing before the block. All we could see  through the door were the
lieutenant-colonel, his aids, the state prosecutor of the prison, the first
and second director, and a lot of  guards. At first we didn't see any
soldiers. In the morning the message came that the doors in Block-2 were not
opened for the  prisoners to go the innercourt. Furthermore they disconnected
the electricity to our block. Those were the first signs of a apparent 
attack. We knew this, because of the experience we gathered through the years
in prison." 
In Newsbulletin nr. 18 from the Revolutionary People's Liberation Front from
September 29, 1995, the reasons for the  massacre in Buca and the
preparations were depicted as follows: "On September 21, 1995, the
contra-guerrilla forces of fascism, with hundreds of soldiers, policemen,
guns and bombs,  attacked the cells were the prisoners from the Revolutionary
People's Liberation Party-Front were kept. They wanted to destroy  them. They
wanted to silence the voice of the Party-Front. They said: '... When you keep
resisting, when you keep escaping, when you  do not surrender, we can not
rule the prisons...' This is an old and a new fact. When the freedom of our
people, the independence of  our country, needs heavy sacrifices, we are
prepared to give them. We always want to be in the frontline, happy to give,
resolute and  brave. When necessary, we want to sacrifice ourselves. The
prisoners from our Party in Buca were confronted once more with such  a
situation. They stood before a test of history, of our people. On July 17,
Ali Riza Kurt and three comrades used their right to  freedom. The enemy went
mad. Their policy was mixed up. Since the foundation of Buca they had never
seen something like this  before. Buca was free. The enemy attacked, the
prisoners kept closer together, showed solidarity, and grew stronger. The
wind of  freedom blew from Buca to the masses. The enemy looked for a
opportunity to take revenge. The voices of freedom in Buca were to  be
silenced. The Party-Front should keep quiet. They wanted to teach a lesson,
so that there would be no more plans to escape, no  more resistance. The
government of Tansu Ciller planned, together with the institutions of the
contra-guerrilla, the massacre in  Buca, step by step. It was as if the
massacre wanted to announce itself. After our action of freedom, the attacks
did not come to an  end. Almost every day there were attacks, intimidations,
and threats. The prisoners prepared for an even bigger attack. On  September
20, the contra-guerrilla took its last preparations. The torturing policemen
from the Political Department, the  commander of the Gendarmerie, the
officers and the state prosecutor of the prison walked across the floors,
made last  improvements of their plan and did not forget an attempt to
intimidate the prisoners..."

THE ATTACK BEGINS...

The surroundings of Buca-prison offered a special spectacle on this day. The
number of soldiers outside the prison was very high.  When the relatives of
the prisoners ended their visits around noon, and left the prison, they also
noticed the extraordinary situation.  But their was nothing they could do,
the attacks against the revolutionary prisoners in the prisons was already
planned beforehand.  When the visitors had left the prison, the state
prosecutor in the prison gave the order. They had taken all the preparations.
All the  military vehicles, the police-cars, the fire-brigade and the
ambulances showed that a massacre was going to take place.  The murderers
were ready. After the orders of their superior the soldiers, policemen and
the special units, equipped with bullet-proof  vests, moved. They had the
same goal: killing the revolutionary prisoners. "They knew we would not
surrender, Their preparations were the preparations for murder"
 "After three days of waiting, they disconnected the electricity on a
Thursday afternoon. At that time one could hear the sirens  of the
fire-brigade behind the garden-wall. A few minutes later one saw the
representatives of the attorney-general, a lieutenant- colonel from
headquarters, the state prosecutor from the prison, the first and second
director, all in front, a lot of soldiers and  personnel from the board; all
in the corridor in front of Block-6. After the door was opened and they
briefly spoke to our  representative, they ordered the attack. People knew
they had not come to talk because they came with fully equipped
attack-troops.  After the order to attack, we, the prisoners of Block 6 and
7, barricaded the doors. The troop of murderers did not know how to  confront
our resistance. They tried to demolish our barricades with iron and wooden
bars. When they didn't succeed, they used the  fire-engines as watercanons.
However, all attempts failed and so they began using other methods (...)
We took our preparations, based on previous experience. The enemy did not
succeed in penetrating our cells for a long time. After  the escape and death
of our commander Ali Riza Kurt they attacked after the search, but they had
to calculate this end. The  torturers who lost in these attacks, already
looked for a long time for a possibility to take revenge. They  iterated this
on each  occasion. This time they came in a different way. The preparations
they took were sufficient to show us that this was going to be a  big
operation. All this could not deter us. As in the past, we cried with the
same resoluteness "You can never take us, if you attack,  you have to walk
across our corpses". From the tradition of our resistance they knew our
determination and therefore they could  not penetrate. This attack was going
to be a massacre. They prepared for murder (...)
Especially trained special units were sent to demolish the barricades, but
they didn't succeed. To prevent a fire, they pumped water  in the rooms of
Block 6 and 7 with their fire-engines. But with all our strength we had
sealed off the windows with pillows, blankets,  and wooden planks, so we
could prevent the water coming in to some extend. (...)

The number of bombs which were thrown into the cells; around 60 (*)

"After one hour they started to hammer with force against the walls behind
the library and on the roof above the cells. It was  noticed that they wanted
to make a hole in the roof and in the wall to come through. Our comrades were
just preparing, with  wooden sticks in their hands, to act against those who
wanted to come through the hole, when a loud explosion was heard. One  could
hear several successive explosions. They threw noise-bombs through four holes
which they had made in the roof and the wall.  But these bombs did not cause
any panic, neither in our block, nor in block 7. Everybody kept their quiet.
One of our comrades took  a noise-bomb, which was thrown into our cell, in
his hand to throw it in the innercourt, when it exploded in his hand. (...)
Around  60 bombs were thrown in the cells (...)
There was a haze everywhere, the smell of gunpowder bit in our noses. The
soldiers made the signs of the Grey Wolves. They  withdrew the tanks from the
door. From our block we could see everything very clearly. So we warned the
comrades from Block 6.  We tried to tell them with signs what the soldiers
were doing. We tried signs because our voices could not be heard because of
the  bombs, the slogans and other noise. They made a hole in the wall on top
of the barricade, through this hole they threw the bombs  and used the
fire-engines once again. (...) The barricade was slowly demolished, the hole
they made was getting bigger. Thereupon we set fire to the barricade in our
block.  The material we prepared for the fire, caused a considerable
fire.(...) The barricade in Block 6 was slowly removed.
* In the "Protocol", made by the chief of the gendarmes who participated in
the attack, it was said that 85 bombs were used during  the operation:
"...through the observation-holes in the cells, gasbombs, fog-grenades and
noise-bombs. But these bombs were caught by the  terrorists with wet blankets
and made useless. (...) during the events 35 gasbombs, 24 fog- grenades and
26 noise-bombs were used,  furthermore 15 shields, 9 helmets and 7 batons
were made useless".

THE ATTACKERS MADE THE SIGN OF THE GREY WOLVES

Our comrades tried to strengthen the barricade with sticks, pieces of glass,
plates, spoons, in short with everything they could  get in their hands. The
special units went crazy with joy, every time they overturned a cupboard.
They cried with joy and made the  sign of the fascists. They were
bloodthirsty. They thought they could force us on our knees with their
attacks. But later they will  notice that they can only take our bodies with
their attacks, but never our will-power. (...)
Eventually, the soldiers succeeded in breaking through the barricade. The
soldiers and our comrades met each other. The soldiers  all had protective
helmets. There was one civilian among them. His moustache looked like the one
fascists wear. Probably he was  one of the cops who led the operation.
Another cop was in the back. He was apparently waiting for the comrades to
come to the  innercourt. It was exactly like we suspected, this was a planned
operation with cooperation of the MIT (the National Intelligence  Service),
the police and the military. Suddenly they started to use a fire-hose against
the prisoners. he comrades were hurled back. Some of them managed to keep
hold  of the barricade, despite the pressure of the water. With their fists
they fought the enemy. With hand-made batons, which were not  that solid,
they tried to hit the enemy. The soldiers and the fascist guards beat the
comrades which they pulled from the barricade to death. They only had one
goal: KILL.

One of them hit a comrade, who was on the floor, repeatedly with an iron bar.
As if it was not a human being, but a concrete wall,  which he hit again and
again. They were furious. The aimed at the vital organs and especially the
head. We saw that the soldiers  gathered in the blocks. A officer tried to
get a soldier away from a comrade who was on the floor, covered with blood.
The soldier  yelled at him "Mind your own business. I will kill this one."
After the officer was gone, the soldiers went on beating. Afterwards they 
brought the wounded comrade to the entrance of the court. (...) Almost every
prisoner in the blocks was beaten unconscious and then brought to the court.
Afterwards we heard the were beaten  there as well by hundreds of policemen
and soldiers. They piled up our comrades in front of the door of Block 1.
When the noticed a  sign of life, they said "this son of a bitch is not dead
yet" and kept on beating. Now we could very well imagine how these soldiers 
could cut of the ears of killed guerrillas in Kurdistan and pose at it. These
soldiers are the people's enemies." 
IT WAS THEIR AIM TO FORCE THE REVOLUTIONARY PRISONERS TO SURRENDER BY A 
MASSACRE

They were in the majority when they attacked the revolutionary prisoners. The
used iron bars, chains, batons and gasbombs against  the prisoners. The
consciously hit the vital organs and caused a bloodbath. Three prisoners from
the DHKP-C (the Revolutionary  People's Liberation Party-Front), Ugur
Sariaslan, Turan Kilic and Yusuf Bag, were killed in this attack. 39 other
prisoners were  wounded, some of them seriously. All were wounded at their
heads and chests. "The entrance to the prison-court looked like a bloodbath"
After the policemen and soldiers broke through the barricades, they attacked
the defenceless prisoners. A prisoner in Block-6  explains:
"(...) We withdrew, fighting, to the end of the block. There we were beaten
unconscious by the soldiers. They pulled the one after  the other from the
barricade and brought them, all the while beating, to the entrance of the
court. I was pulled from the barricade  as well, suddenly I got a heavy blow,
right in my face. My cheek burst and my nose was broken. I fell to the floor.
There was about  10 centimetres of water on the floor. I almost drowned in
this water. They kept kicking and beating me. I swallowed water. Then  they
took me to the courtyard, all the time hitting me. My head, my nose and my
cheek were bleeding and caused a bloodbath. My  eyes were swollen, and I
could only see a little bit with my left eye, albeit vaguely. I see a hairy
piece of skin. Other comrades must  be doing even worse. (...)
A prisoner, who was wounded very seriously in this attack, explains: "(...) I
try to determine where I am. There is light coming in through a window, I
must be in the entrance to the courtyard. On the  floor, where I'm lying,
there is a pool of blood. Meanwhile the attack continues. They hit me, I'm
supposed to have opened my eyes.  (...)

THEY ASKED THE DEAD FOR THEIR NAMES

Nevzat Sagnic, a member of parliament from HADEP (Democratic People's Party),
who was also imprisoned in Buca during the  attack, explains about the
attack: 
"(...) With this attack they were aiming at a massacre. That's why they
always hit the vital organs, on purpose. The prisoners  were dragged across
the floor and brought to the corridor. There they were beaten again by an
estimated 300 policemen and  soldiers. The repeatedly hit their heads. The
corridor looked like a bloodbath. The whole corridor, 25 meters long, was
filled with  blood. On the walls, on the ceiling, there was blood everywhere.
The sound of breaking bones and batons mixed. The soldiers left  the corridor
with the slogan "Happy is he who may call himself a Turk" on their lips. And
they kicked the prisoners, lying on the  floor, while they left. They were
very happy they rose to the occasion of "protecting the motherland". Then the
special units in plain  clothes left the corridor. Now it was the guards'
turn. The prisoners, lying unconscious on the floor, were kicked and beaten
by the  guards this time. They didn't move, they were unconscious. They
especially hit the heads. The fatigued guards tried to establish the  names
of the prisoners to bring them to the cells. They held pictures of the
prisoners in their hands. But the prisoners were beaten  so badly, that they
could not be recognised anymore. That's why they asked the unconscious for
their names. For hours they kept the  prisoners in the corridor. They waited
for the number of the dead to rise..."

Another prisoner, from another block and who did not take part in the
resistance, says:

"When we saw the blood in the corridor and the busted heads and the hands, we
became sick. Some of us had to throw up..."

"When we came out of our block we could see everything what happened in the
corridor. On September 21, they closed the doors in  our block. In our block
there are mainly working people. Therefore we could suspect that something
was wrong in the 6. block. With  curiosity, grieve and fear we began watching
the event. (...) In the corridor we saw hundreds of guards, the directors of
the prison  board and the chief-guards, the soldiers with their batons, the
special units withe their protective shields and helmets, the state 
prosecutors. The fire-brigade came in. Slogans were yelled. Water was poored
in. It was a real chaos. (...) They poored water into  block 6 and 7. Bombs
were thrown. (...) They ordered us to carry the wounded from block 6 to the
lower cells by blankets. It was a  bloodbath. It was a real atrocity. When
the people from our block saw the blood, the smashed heads and hands, they
couldn't stand  it any longer. Some had to throw up. Some of them fainted. r
7 couldn't bear it anymore, they couldn't carry the wounded  anymore and they
went back to the block. Only a few, like myself, could stand this atrocity,
albeit barely. (...) We began to bring the  wounded to the ambulance in their
blankets, covered with blood. The blood ran across the floor. We couldn't
watch. Some had to  throw up again. They went back to the block. Some guards
attacked the prisoners even more brutal as the soldiers did. Later they made
us clean the corridor. Then we went to clean block 6. I especially went there
because I wanted to know how the  resistance had taken place. The holes of
the bombs were covered with concrete. On the floor there were torn books and
things  everywhere. The smell of gunpowder and blood was still there. In
block 7 there were still barricades. Slogans were shouted. They  all wore red
bands around their foreheads. We were very impressed..."
The torture is continued in the hospitals...
The torture against the prisoners was continued when they were brought from
the prison to the ambulance. The torture did not even  stop in the hospitals.
The prisoners were hurled into the corridors by the soldiers. The soldiers
tried to prevent the medical treatment.  The stories from the
health-representative in the Buca-prison confirm that the torturers planned
to let the prisoners die, as many as  possible. "Immediately after the
attack, the rescue-units came into the prison. However, they didn't operate
on the prisoners  who fought for their lives, or they were hindered on
operating. While the prisoners lay on the floor, on top of each other,
covered  with blood and almost unconscious, the responsible prison directors,
the plain clothes  policemen and the soldiers made fun about  them with
remarks and terms of abuse. Despite the fact that the rescue-units were
already at the prison at 4.30 p.m., the prisoners  could just be brought to
hospital at 6 p.m. Thus valuable time slipped by for a possibly life-saving
operation. The wounded were  transported to the ambulance with 3-4 persons on
a stretcher. The vehicles went off without escort from the rescue-units. As
well  during the transport in the rescue-vehicles, as in the transport in the
hospitals, the wounded were dragged literally across the floor.  It is a
certain fact, besides the fallen prisoners, there are more prisoners in
hospital who's life is in danger life and who will, even if  they can be
saved, suffer for a long time from the injuries from these operations. The
statement from the hospital doctor, "things  like this happen all the time.
But now they have gone beyond all limits", shows the opinion of the hospital
personnel and the  measure of this atrocity. The statement from a hospital
nurse in the Yesilyurt state hospital about the deeds of the torturers inside
the hospital, shows us how far remote these torturers are from humanity:

 "The soldiers kicked the wounded prisoners in intensive care" 

"(...) 300 soldiers and contra-guerrillas took part in the attack. When the
prisoners were brought from the prison, they were  grabbed by their legs and
arms and thrown out. The were piled up like a heap of meat. When the
ambulance arrived, they were met  by a pile of meat. Of all who were brought
to the state hospital of Yesilyurt, the heads had to be stitched. Hands and
arms were  broken. We ran to help the people, the police tried to hinder us.
The soldiers kicked the wounded in intensive care in their beds.  "What are
you doing?", I yelled. I said: "In the first place he's a sick person, he
came to me because he has to be examined. This is  a disrespect towards me."
Of course the whole personnel in the hospital wanted to help them, because in
the first place they saw  sick people in those who were wounded. The soldiers
tried to prevent this as much as they could. All this happened during the
first  night. On the second day all sick people were in a ward, their feet
were chained to the beds. The soldiers marched around in the  intensive care
station. They cursed at the wounded and said: "We can not kill you now, but
next time we'll kill you." (...) They beat  them so gruesome, there was
nobody who didn't need stitches in the head. A lot of people had broken arms.
Immediately one noticed  that they tried to beat them to death. All the
employees in the hospital thought, what kind of people are they, who can do
something  like this...

"Let them die, don't give them food"

Their eyes were black and swollen. Their heads hang and were wrapped up in
bandages, their arms in gyps. They needed so much  care, but we were hindered
where ever possible. The soldiers threatened us: "Let them die, don't give
them food". They hit people,  bring them to hospital and then they even
hinder us to help them. What could be lower than that?" The condition of the
seriously injured is described by Adnan Aras, a brother of the prisoner Enis
Aras who was brought to  hospital:

 "These murderers must be called to account"  

"(...) I knew already for a long time about the oppressive and offensive
actions of the prison board. However, I didn't know I  was to encounter such
a situation. They especially hit on the heads. When the mothers saw their
children, they were appalled, of  course. A mothers' heart could never
approve of such an atrocity. (...) After a while the mothers quieted down.
They expressed their  anger towards the attackers with the words: "The hands
which did this to you, should be broken. They must be called to account". A 
wife of one of our friend fainted. He is a young friend. He couldn't even
imagine such an event. He only knew about the inhumanity  of those in front
of him for a short time."

THE BALANCE-SHEET OF THE MASSACRE

In the attack against the cells in block 6, three DHKP-C (Revolutionary
People's Liberation Party-Front) prisoners were killed, 39  prisoners were
seriously injured.

The fallen comrades in Buca-prison:
1. Turan Kilic
2. Yusuf Bag
3. Ugur Sariaslan

The seriously wounded:
1. Nevzat Kalayci
2. Ali Gedik Osmanogullari
3. Mesut Ors
4. Yusuf Sarp
5. Murat Candar
6. Enis Aras
7. Metin Bozoglu
8. Murat Karaoglan
9. Umit Kanli
10.Metin Yapan
11.Riza Dogru
12.Esin Kurt
13.Yasin Kilic
14.Mustafa Tokur
15.Ibrahim Sertel
16.Murat Karakus
17.Ahmet Kurban
18.Sahin Yilmaz
19.Dogan Unal
20.Baris Kaya
21.Inan Coban
22.Mesut Avci
23.Mehmet Gocekli
24.Erdal Arikan
25.Murat Becerikli
26.Yusuf Karatas
27.Serdar Karabulut
28.Bernar Satar
29.Sinan Gulen
30.Halil Bozkurt
31.Murat Kus
32.Baris Yildirim
33.Savas Kocabas
34.Ali Dogru
35.Kaan Toksoy
36.Ismet Ayel
37.Harun Toraman
38.Mustafa Yuksel
39.Mehmet Kurnaz (He was in coma for almost two weeks. He still suffers of
loss of memory. Meanwhile he has been released from hospital.)

REPORTS OF THE POST MORTEM INQUESTS OF THE MASSACRED

Post mortem report of the killed Ugur Sariaslan

After a message from state prosecutor Yucel Tezel, that there had been a
prisoners' revolt in Buca-prison on September 21, 1995, that  the prisoners
had refused to obey the count and Ugur Sariaslan died on the same day, state
prosecutor Cemal Tugcu and other aids  immediately went to the state hospital
in Yesilyurt. There, it was established that the police and the gendarmerie
had brought the  revolt under control and 43 wounded had been brought to
hospital. Among the wounded was the body of the prisoner Ugur Sariaslan  as
well. 

The prison-directors Halil Karakoc, Ayhan Yildirim and Yilmaz Agdas came to
confirm the identities of the killed persons. The  prisoners' numbers were
compared with each other. To questions, the prison directors answered:  "The
body which you have shown to us, is the body of Ugur Sariaslan. His fathers'
name is Niyazi, his mothers' name is Feride.  He was born in 1971 in Kayseri
Konakli. We were able to establish his identity because of his bracelet which
is issued to the  prisoners to identify the prisoners. Despite the wounds in
the prisoners' face, we are certain that this is the body of Ugur 
Sariaslan."

Then the body is described by state prosecutor Dr. Nejat Altdiga: The body is
the body of a human being, 1.80 m tall, weighing  70 kg., approximately 25
years old, brown skin with black hair, black beard and brown eyes. The body
is dressed in an old, soaked  brown woollen pullover. This is taken off.
Under that a brown shirt with yellow stripes. This is taken off. (comment:
the rest of the  clothes is described) It is established that there is a
wound to a bone in the head. In the area covered with hair, there is a cut,
4-5  cm. long. Above the right eye-brow there is a wound, 4 cm. long,
reaching untill the bone. Above the right cheek-bone, a cut 1,5 cm.  long. At
the right ear several traces of blood, coming from the inside, are
identifiable. At the mouth, traces of blood are visible as  well. Near the
chin, a wound, 1 cm. long, reaching untill the bone, is identifiable. On the
lower lip a wound, 3 cm. long, is  identifiable. On the left cheek, swellings
and further wounds are visible. At the neck-bone, a wound, 4 cm. long, is
visible, covering  the neck. On the right and left shoulder bruises are
visible as well. On the back and the arms and legs, there are many bruises.
It is  established that there are no other cuts, other than the above
mentioned. It is not possible to determine the cause of death, based on these
findings. To determine the cause of death, it is decided to send the  body to
the forensic surgeon.

Post mortem report of Turan Kilic

At the time the body was delivered to the forensic surgeon, the body of Turan
Kilic, who was brought wounded to the hospital  and died in the ward for
brain surgery, was delivered to the morgue. It is decided to bring this body
for a post mortem inquiry. The  beginning is identifying the body with the
help of the bracelet. It is the body of Turan Kilic, fathers' name Veli,
mothers' name  Zumru, born in 1958 in Kinik/Tastepe. The man's body is 1.60
m., 60 kg., approx. 37 years old, with a brown skin, high forehead,  and a
moustache. The blood-soaked underwear is cut and removed. It is established
that the body has a approx. 7-8 cm. long cut on  the left part of the head,
reaching to the bones. Blood traces are visible from the left ear. The nose
was stitched on the cuts on the  front. Blood traces are visible from the
mouth. Both cheeks show bruises and swellings. Also the eyes show bruises.
The upper part  of the back shows swellings. The left arm and both hands show
swellings as well. It is established that the body did not yet look  livid. 
On the sexual organs, no pathological findings were established. No further
cuts are shown on the body, except those above  mentioned. No shot-wounds or
traces of sharp objects are established. The concrete cause of death can not
be established based on these findings. Therefore it is decided to send the
body of Turan Kilic,  as well as the body from Ugur Sariaslan, to the
chairman of the forensic surgeons to establish the concrete cause of death.
For this  purpose both bodies are handed over to hospital-policeman Yusuf
Halac. signatures

Post mortem report of Yusuf Bag

Because of the refusal by the prisoners in prisoners-camp 6, to cooperate in
the necessary count, a uprising occurred on September  21, 1995, in the
prison-institution of Buca. Therefore the prisoners-camp 6 was attacked by
the security forces who broke down the  barricades which were build by the
prisoners. Yusuf Bag, convicted because of membership in a armed gang, was
wounded during  this attack and brought to the state hospital of Yesilyurt.
Despite all efforts, he could not be saved and thus died of his wounds. The 
state prosecution of Izmir came to the hospital to identify the body. A
official from the execution-security department from the Buca- prison, Tahsin
Akyol, was present to determine the identity. He states: "The body which was
shown to me belongs to Yusuf Bag  who was in our prison on account of
founding an armed gang. He was born in 1974 in the village of
Kayseri/Pinarbasi. I am not  completely sure about his identity because the
head of the body was already shaved. However, the identity can be determined
with  the help of the bracelet, given to the prisoners. Yet, I believe it is
Yusuf Bag's body."
Because of the fact that the official from the execution-security department
can not sufficiently identify the corpse, the police- officers from Izmir are
ordered to take the fingerprints from the body for comparison. Kenan Guler, a
policemen who takes the  oath, arrives for this purpose. He states: "The
corpse is that of a 1.80 m long, medium built, dark-haired, a little bearded,
21 year  old man. The corps looks already livid and shows black spots. On the
head, near the hairy part, there is a wound, approx. 10 cm.  long, which has
been stitched. On the right side of the head there is a wound, 20 cm. long.
In this wound a rubberish object is found.  The wound has been stitched. On
the right ear-lobe there is a wound, approx. 1 cm. long, stitched. Near the
mouth, ears and nose,  blood traces are visible. On the left eye-brow a 2 cm.
long stitched wound is identifiable. On the left side of the forehead, on the 
right cheek, as well as on both eyes bruises and swellings are shown. Beneath
the belly-button there is a 3 cm. long cut. The skin  shows cracks, caused by
massage of the chest. On the back, the legs and the arms, several swellings
and bruises are identifiable. On  the left shoulder there is a cut, 10 cm.
long and stitched. Besides to the cuts, already mentioned, no further cuts,
shot-wounds or  signs of sharp objects are found. It was established that
Yusuf Bag, with no. 91741, was brought to the department for brain surgery of
the state hospital in Izmir on  September 21, 1995. (Comment: the operation
is described next) Despite all the efforts, Yusuf Bag could not be saved and
thus died  on September 22, 1995 at 2.20 a.m. Result: Since the concrete
cause of the death from Yusuf Bag could not be established, it is recommend
to bring his body to an  autopsy.
signatures

Comment:
In the protocols from the forensic institute from the Justice department in
Izmir, which follow next, they concentrate on the question  wether the
prisoners died as a result of a bleeding liver, a trauma or the breaking of
the brain bone or not.

THE PEOPLE WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MASSACRE

In News bulletin no. 18 from the Revolutionary People's Liberation Front from
September 29, 1995, the responsibility for the  massacre is established as
follows:

"(...) The responsible people and the executioners of this massacre are the
coalition government of DYP and CHP, the minister  of Justice, the chief of
police in Izmir, the governor and the commander of the gendarmerie in Izmir,
the chief-prosecutor in Izmir,  the directors of the Buca-prison and the
commander of the prison-gendarmes in Buca. They are first responsible for the
planning  and execution of this massacre and therefore the ones who are
guilty. The whole police force, the forces of the gendarmerie, the  members
of the DYP-CHP coalition, all the parties, the members of the MHP, and all
the guards who took part in the massacre,  have made themselves guilty.

THE DYP-CHP GOVERNMENT:

The contra-guerrilla staged a massacre on September 21, 1995. They attempted
to scare the revolutionary prisoners, who resist  with honour, and tried to
separate them from their ideology. The DYP-CHP government are the accomplices
of the contra-guerrilla. The government, responsible for dozens of massacres
and  tortures, this time tried to break the personalities from the
revolutionaries by torture, the taking away from rights, detention in 
isolation, and transfer of the prisoners. With the opening of the
isolation-prison in Umraniye they gave a new dimension to their attacks. To
make their attacks easier, and  to perpetrate them without protest if
possible, they already put the press in beforehand. The smear campaign and
tirades in the  press were meant to help legitimising the state terror. After
the escape of the prisoners from the Buca-prison, they started to carry  out
their plans of attack. The DYP, the CHP, the MHP and all the other parties
are accessories to this massacre. Especially prime-minister Tansu Ciller, 
minister of Justice Mehmer Mogultay and the minister of the Interior Nahit
Mentese are the organisers of this massacre. 

The minister of the Interior NAHIT MENTESE:
With his statement "The prisons have become training centres for terrorists",
he gave the signal for the attacks, prior to the massacre.

The minister of Justice MEHMET MOGULTAY:
In the report which he wrote for the prisons, he said: "The prisons with the
terrorists in them, are meant for 40-110 persons. In these cells terrorists
are trained. Since members of terrorist organisations are in the prisons, our
responsibility is very high," Preparations were made and these ended on
September 21, 1995 with a massacre. He too, is guilty of the massacre.

The state prosecutor of Buca-prison, YASAR ASLAN:
After the rights of the prisoners were removed, the prisoners demanded an
interview. This was denied. The families, which came for this interview, were
literally thrown out. Yasar Aslan prepared the massacre on September 21,
1995, and gave the starting order. 

The prison ADMINISTRATION:

After they took away the rights, they rejected every demand for negotiations
and began preparing the massacre. The revolutionary prisoners, who didn't
accept the robbery of their rights, made this public and rejected the
counting of the prisoners from September 19.
The administration was unable to count, but their measures against this were
futile. They refused to open the canteen and the prison yard and they tried
to prevent to contacts of the prisoners with the outside world. They even
rejected to care for the basis needs. The 1. director Vedat Engin and the 2.
directors Yusuf Tanriverdi, Hasan Vdag and Serhat Unal participated in the
massacre of September 21. 3 revolutionary prisoners were murdered in this
massacre. They refused all medical care for the wounded and let them die.
They are also guilty of the massacre.

The prison DIRECTOR:
He was the willing aid of the political responsible. He executed their policy
by taking away the rights and the order to torture. He too is guilty of the
massacre.

The chief of police in Izmir, KEMAL YAZICIOGLU:
He is a contra-guerrilla leader, an enemy of the people. The attack was
planned and the police participated in executing the attack in the prison.
The special units took part with bombs, weapons and batons and they attacked
the families and lawyers and tortured them. The chief of police in Izmir is
guilty of the massacre to where dozens of prisoners were wounded.

The director-general of the police, MEHMET AGAR:
He too is a leader of the contra-guerrilla, an enemy of the people. During
the operation he was in Izmir personally and gave the orders.

The commander of the district gendarmerie, TEVFIK KACAR:
He sent forces of the gendarmerie to Buca, during and after the massacre. He
participated in the preparation of the massacre. During the massacre
sharp-shooters were put on the watchtowers on his orders from were the cells
could be seen. The bombs were thrown through the holes on his orders. During
the operation dozens of gendarmes made the sign of the Grey Wolves and they 
attacked the prisoners in the most gruesome manner. The treatment of the
wounded prisoners in the hospital was not allowed and even the families of
the wounded were denied access to the hospital. The officers of the
gendarmerie, the lieutenant-colonel, his aids and all the other officers and
soldiers are guilty of the massacre too.

The MEDIA:
The media were the voice of the contra-guerrilla during the preparations of
the massacre. Television channels like SHOW TV, ATV, TGRT, Kanal D and Star,
papers like Milliyet, Hurriyet, Aksam, Zaman, Turkiye, Gunaydin, Sabah and
Meydan daily spread reports like "The prisons are filthy", "The state is not
present in the prisons", "The organisations are led from the prisons" and 
"The prisons are just like luxury hotels". They chattered about the massacre.
Immediately after the massacre they gave a false picture of the events and
kept the true events secret to the public.

The governor of Izmir, KUTLU AKTAS:
The seat of the governor in Izmir is one of the arms of the contra-guerrilla.
With means like the contra-guerrilla he tried to frighten the prisoners and
silence them. He belongs to the people who planned and executed the
operation.

THE RESISTING AND FIGHTING PRISONERS, FREE IN THEIR MIND, CAN NEVER BE
DEFEATED:

After the massacre in Buca the bourgeois press and the other big media
proceeded with spreading their lies. They wanted to hide the  openly visible
massacre. With distortions "Uprising in prison" they wanted to legitimise the
massacre of fascism. However, the  scenarios of a "outbreak of rising" were
also a part of the planned massacre. Only, there was no uprising. The
revolutionary prisoners demanded their natural human rights, like the rights
which were taken away  from them. These demands were emphasised with protests
and urges. The prisoners tried to talk to the prison administration and the 
state prosecution about the problems to solve them. However, the traditional
prison policy of the state and its vengeful face were  shown again. All
demands to negotiate were rejected by the administration and the state
prosecution, in stead the massacre was  planned and executed, although all
demands of the prisoners could have been acknowledged. Only after dozens of
protests, resistance  and a balance-sheet with three dead and many wounded,
the demands were acknowledged by the responsible for the massacre. This  case
shows, what ever may be, the massacres are executed on purpose by the state.
The revolutionary prisoners were conscious of the  fact that the events and
the barbaric attitude of the administration could end with a massacre. But
they could not give up their own life  in honour and surrender to fascism.
Their resistance is a resistance of the will. On one side of the struggle are
those with honour and  values who fight for a free and just country, the
incarcerated revolutionaries. On the other side: the exploiting fascist state
who wants  to force the revolutionaries to give up their identity by
repression, torture, with attacks and murder threats. It can be said that
both groups in this struggle did what was to be expected from them.
The contra-guerrilla and the Mafia-government executed this massacre for two
reasons. First, because they already try for years to  terrorise the
prisoners and yet, they did not succeed in defeating the prisoners. Since
years they don't succeed with their policy of  repression, torture, taking
away the rights. In this lack of perspective and desperation they even
increased the terror. This time the message to the prisoners was to be even
more gruesome: "Do not resist, otherwise we will massacre you." The second
reason why the fascist state has to show its barbaric face so openly, is the
political, social and economical situation which  the state is in. Because
the ruling forces are confronted with a big crisis and they can not offer a
solution to anyone anymore, their  only solution is repression and state
terror. The fascist state can not tolerate the slightest form of dissent.
This clearly shows that the  state is now at the end of its road. With
murders it wants to extend its life with another day and for this it drowns
all the people who  live in this country, all nations and religions, millions
of people, in a bloodbath. When one keeps this in mind, it will be seen that
the  state had two aims with planning the massacre in Buca. Not just the
revolutionary prisoners, all the people were to be terrified. The message is
not only meant for the people within the boundaries of the prison walls. It
is meant for the people outside as well.

"KEEP SILENT, OTHERWISE WE WILL MASSACRE YOU AS WELL"

Before, during, and after the massacre in Buca, the revolutionary prisoners
did what was expected from them. They refused to be  intimidated by murder
threats. They did not their honour trampled upon. What they defended, was in
the same time the honour of the  people. The prisoners who resisted in the
Buca-prison, who fell but were not defeated, are part of the tradition which
also created  "Free Prisoners" in prison. They knew that one has to resist
and fight the misery and exploitation, also under the conditions in the 
prisons. Even the thick walls and the cells were not able to separate them
from their people and the peoples' struggle for a free  country.
And the Free Prisoners knew that endless repression and resistance are two
sides of the same coin in prison. As long as there is  fascism in our country
and there are prisons of fascism, so long repression will not come to an end.
And when the end comes for  fascism, it will become more cruel, and
repression will increase in new bloodbaths. In this situation the only
decision of the Free  Prisoners could be to confront the endless repression
with uncompromising resistance. Any other decision would mean to renounce 
ones own personality, human dignity, and the independence of the people
through the revolution. That would be ones own end. The Free Prisoners did
not choose the "end" in Buca, the choose the struggle against fascism,
despite the huge sacrifice and the fallen  comrades.

That's why they, and the people, walk with their heads up high. The Free
Prisoners are not the ones who are defeated, fascism is.

The heroic deeds in Buca lighted the joy of resistance and honour. They gave
the people in our country a heroic victory. They have  shown us how to fight
misery and the barbaric acts of fascism.

The resistance and the heroic deeds in Buca mixed up the plan of the
contra-guerrilla. Fascism has come to the point where it can no  longer help
itself.

The resistance and the heroic deeds in Buca have shown us that no repression
can make the Free Prisoners into unfree prisoners.

WE BOW FOR THE HEROIC FALLEN COMRADES FROM BUCA

(End of forwarded message from DHKC Informationbureau Amsterdam)


 ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++
   ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++
     ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++

+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++==
Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist collective based
in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of
material, including political prisoners, national liberation
struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight
against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings,
research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins
called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact:

Arm The Spirit
P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A
Toronto, Ontario
M5W 1P7 Canada

E-mail: ats at etext.org
WWW: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~ats
FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit
+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== 



----------------------------- end forwarded message --------------------------
**********************************************************
Solidaritygroup Turkey-Kurdistan
Memberorganisation of Foundation Initiativegroup Kurdistan
P.O. Box 85306
3508 AH Utrecht
The Netherlands
stk at schism.antenna.nl
**********************************************************

From stk at schism.antenna.nl  Sat Jan  8 18:09:00 1994
From: stk at schism.antenna.nl (stk at schism.antenna.nl)
Date: 08 Jan 1994 18:09:00
Subject: THE RESISTANCE OF THE POLITICAL PRI
References: <010794005022Rnf0.77b9@schism.ant>
Message-ID: <010894160940Rnf0.77b9@schism.antenna.nl>

------------------------------ forwarded message -----------------------------
karel at schism.antenna.nl (karel at schism.antenna.nl) writes:

------------------------------ forwarded message -----------------------------

Amsterdam, January 5 1996

THE RESISTANCE OF THE POLITICAL PRISONERS IN TURKEY IS RISING!

After the recent fascist attack at the political prisoners in the
Umraniye-prison in Istanbul which costed five lives and whereby dozens
of people were seriously injured, poliical prisoners all over the
country rose up. In the following prisons political prisoners rose up
and occupied prisonwigs, builded barricades etc: Buca-prison in Izmir,
Merkez Kapali-prison in Ankara,  the prison in Yozgat and the
Sagmalcilar-prison in Istanbul.

In the Merkez Kapali-prison in Ankara, the prisoners took 15 guards
and three high prison-official hostage. Their demands: News about the
situation in Umraniye. 

In the Buca-prison in Izmir, 21 guards are held hostage.

Involved are political prisoners of the following organisations:
DHKP/C, TKP/ML, TIKB, TDKP, HDP, TKEP-L, TDP,  DY, Direnis Hare Keti,
MLKP and HKG.

Also in the city of Istanbul, hundreds of people went on the streets.
They builded barricades and threw molotov-coctails to the police. The
6 `o clock news said that untill that time more than 300 persons have
been arrested.

We call again on all revolutionary, democratic and human-rights
organisations and individuals to voice their protest against the
murdering politics of the Turkish state regarding  the more than
10.000 political prisoners.


Protest Fax:

Attorney-General of Istanbul          0090-212-5166809
Director of Prisons, Zeki Gungor    0090-312-4524066
Minister of Justice                          0090-312-4173954
umraniye-prison :                           00-90--2164432523

Portable telephon of director of prison, Zeki Guengoer: 0090-532-2110807
Portable telephone of replacing Minister of Justice ,Jusuf Kenan
Dogan: 0090-312-4191342
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Please be so kind and check out the URL
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ozgurluk/dhkc1.html
For regular information regarding the 
Peoples Liberation Struggle in Turkey
->email: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl
----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------- end forwarded message --------------------------
              **************************************************
                           Karel
                           karel at schism.antenna.nl
              **************************************************


----------------------------- end forwarded message --------------------------
**********************************************************
Solidaritygroup Turkey-Kurdistan
Memberorganisation of Foundation Initiativegroup Kurdistan
P.O. Box 85306
3508 AH Utrecht
The Netherlands
stk at schism.antenna.nl
**********************************************************

From schism at schism.antenna.nl  Tue Jan 11 21:37:00 1994
From: schism at schism.antenna.nl (schism at schism.antenna.nl)
Date: 11 Jan 1994 21:37:00
Subject: AI: more than 3 death in Umraniye m
References: <199601110338.AA22374@xs1.xs4all_>
Message-ID: <011194193713Rnf0.77b9@schism.antenna.nl>

------------------------------ forwarded message -----------------------------
ozgurluk at mail.xs4all.nl writes:

AI INDEX : EUR 44/01/96

TURKEY: PRISONERS BEATEN TO DEATH LATEST VICTIMS OF OFFICIAL
INDIFFERENCE

Three more prisoners were apparently beaten to death by Turkish
security forces invading an Istanbul prison yesterday, bringing
the total number of prisoners killed in such incursions in the
past 18 months to eight. 

      ~The failure of the authorities properly to investigate
the death and injury of so many prisoners in previous incidents 
is encouraging police and soldiers who are storming into prisons
to think that they can attack prisoners with impunity,~ Amnesty
International said.

      Orhan Ozen, RIza Baybas, and Abdulmecit Seckin reportedly
died of head injuries when an estimated 200 police and gendarmes
entered the newly opened Umraniye Special Type Prison following
clashes between warders and prisoners protesting at visiting
restrictions. In addition to those killed, 28 prisoners, six
gendarmes and one warden were injured and taken to hospital. The
condition of six of the prisoners is understood to be very
serious. 

      In a letter addressed to Turkey~s Minister of Justice
today, Amnesty International strongly condemns official
indifference to persistent reports of ill-treatment in Turkish
prisons and the recent deaths of prisoners in similar
incursions, and calls for urgent safeguards to prevent further
loss of life.

      Torture is widely and systematically inflicted on
detainees in Turkish police stations and gendarmeries. In
prisons, deaths and severe injuries are now occurring
increasingly frequently, when police or gendarmes brought in to
quell prisoners~ protests take the opportunity to ~punish~
alleged or convicted members of illegal armed organizations. 

      After police and soldiers entered Diyarbakir E-type Prison
on 4 October 1995, two prisoners died, one from suffocation, the
other from injuries. On 21 September 1995, three more prisoners
were beaten to death when police and gendarmes entered Buca
Prison, near Izmir, following prisoners~ refusal to appear for
roll-call. On that occasion, strenuous attempts by the local bar
association to avoid conflict were apparently obstructed by
prison officials. 

      On 13 December 1995, dozens of prisoners were also
injured, some very seriously, when police entered Umraniye
prison and beat inmates.



      Considerable tension is also being reported in other
prisons throughout Turkey where political prisoners are being
held, with prisoners occupying wings in Ankara Central Closed
Prison and Buca Prison.

       While acknowledging that prison authorities have the
responsibility to maintain order, Amnesty International is
appealing for the Justice Ministry to act urgently to ensure
that in dealing with such incidents the authorities avoid the
use of force or, where that is not practicable, restrict such
force to the minimum necessary.

ENDS\


                  ***************************

For further information on the incidents mentioned above, refer
to:

            AI Index: EUR 44/112/94 (Diyarbakir Prison)
            AI Index: EUR 44/98/95 (Buca Prison)
            AI Index: EUR 44/152/95 (Umraniye Prison)

**********
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Please be so kind and check out the URL
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ozgurluk/dhkc1.html
For regular information regarding the 
Peoples Liberation Struggle in Turkey
->email: ozgurluk at xs4all.nl
----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------- end forwarded message --------------------------


              **************************************************                
                           Infogroup Schism
                           Postbus/P.O. Box 2884
                           3500 GW Utrecht/The Netherlands
                           schism at schism.antenna.nl
              **************************************************